You'd think that would be enough medical drama for the hour, but it's not. Comic relief, as usual comes in the form of Spinelli, completely smitten with nurse Jolene and facing 6 months for the unsafe discharge of the weapon he used to shoot himself in the foot. Of course, hero that the hitman is, Jason steps up and says he accidentally shot Spin. He is arrested at the end of the show, but not before the elderly woman who has patiently waited in the ER for the whole episode, and has been dismissed by nurse Layla as someone who frequents the hospital because she is lonely, collapses against him, bleeding from her side.

Yes, General Hospital: Night Shift is definitely grittier and more focused on the hospital. It has familiar faces in new situations that will probably, in some instances cross over and affect the daytime drama, but not with any symbiotic relationship or continuity. This is its own entity completely. High drama in the form of the patients, the ugliness of financing medicine in the form of Dr. Ford and Miss Sneed, sex appeal in the form of Doctors Scorpio and Drake, and just enough humor to keep it from getting too dark in the form of Spinelli, Maxie, and Cooper, all work together to make this new edition to the Soapnet line-up one of the best things to be associated with daytime drama in a long time.

For the next twelve weeks you can watch General Hospital: Night Shift on the Soapnet network on Thursdays at 11:00 pm, and repeats several times during the week.