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TV Review: General Hospital – Making The Rounds 3/9/06

I have no problem admitting that I was an avid fan of General Hospital back in the early 80s. Heck, who wasn’t? I even watched in the late 70s, (okay that one was a little bit harder to admit) but before this past December I hadn’t tuned in to GH in more than fifteen years. So what would make a sensible, very busy woman even consider visiting the world of soaps after such a break?

In a brilliant move by the powers that be, General Hospital has brought back some of the biggest characters from the golden days. Rick Springfield, Tristan Rogers, and Emma Samms all have returned in recent months with what started as guest spots or limited runs. Rogers has signed a contract and Samms and Springfield have both agreed to continue – Samms doing another limited run stint and Springfield appearing between concert performances. Rumors are flying that Finola Hughes and Genie Francis will be returning as well.

I tuned in to see what the writers would do with these characters from more than 20 years ago, and wouldn’t you know after just a few days I was sucked in. While we’re all watching and waiting to see if General Hospital can return to the cult-like status it had in the eighties, I will be dropping by a few times a week to cheer on the heroes, boo at the villains, and dish the dirt.

Today’s episode picked up at the Metro Court with Robin and Carly exchanging spiteful glances across the restaurant, instead of enjoying the company of the men they were there with. First of all, am I the only one who can’t figure out why Robin, after having found the courage to “go for it” with Dr. Patrick, would then take him to the one place in town she knows the woman she hates most on the planet will probably be? (For the drama, of course!)

For a good portion of the show these two exchanged evil glances, spiteful jabs, and just all-around cattiness. Twice, Jax and Patrick had to drag the two to the separate corners before it could escalate to blows. For what? Both these woman need to get over themselves! Robin needs to let go of the past and not worry so much about what’s going on in other people’s lives (as the junior Dr. Drake continues to remind her) and Carly needs to do the same. I suspect in the end we’ll find out Carly’s anger was driven by jealousy over the handsome young doctor. As if she could even handle one more thing on her plate. As it is, she’s been ignoring her own kids in order to be a pseudo-mother to Courtney’s baby.

Patrick came clean with Robin and admitted he hasn’t slept with Carly. He also tried to distract her from her anger with a rather intense kiss. I really like the way they’ve developed the young Drake character. He was new to the show about the same time I started watching again, and is coming into his own. He has started to let down the hard exterior edge and reveal the many layers that are lurking beneath. I am looking forward to watching this couple progress as well. I think the fireworks they often display when arguing could in turn become big, bright, and passionate ones as well.

Max provided some comic relief for these scenes today as well. Sent by Jason and Michael (and how annoying was that to have a little boy ordering his father’s employee around?) to baby-sit Carly, we learned the large bodyguard is light on his feet.

Emily and Sonny arrived in Spain for their romantic rendezvous. Can somebody please, PLEASE tell me why a self-respecting, bright, young medical student would lie to her mother and everyone else she cares about to run off with her mobster boyfriend? Especially after witnessing the brutally cold tantrum he exhibited with Courtney’s mother. Not that the woman didn’t deserve his anger, but come on . . . Emily has become a very weak character, and it’s really disheartening to see women portrayed that way.

Sonny had a nightmare that Emily had been shot. He pulled away emotionally, and she drew him back in . . . blah, blah, blah. This has been repeated more times than I can count since December. The only thing that is changing is it seems Sonny is falling deeper into his depression; my guess is he will eventually take Emily down with him, just like everyone has warned the two will happen.

Now that the Monkey-virus storyline is over, it seems they have decided to pick up where they left off with Lucas coming to terms with his sexuality. Along with Dillon and Lulu, Lucas rescues Georgie’s friend Guy from Frankie, the same man who attacked Lucas months ago. Dillion and LuLu wanted to call Lucky while Guy was being treated, but Lucas thought they should wait and see what Guy wanted. It was more then obvious he was feeling vulnerable and possibly just a little bit responsible. After being treated for his injuries, Guy informed the trio he had no other choice but to go to the police, and Lucas made giant strides by saying he would attest to what happened. This is another storyline I tune in for and hope they let it play out realistically.

Finally, there was, of course, the Sam and Alexis story. Alexis received information that the daughter she put up for adoption was killed at the age of three. This was happening about the same time Sam was being given an address, leading her straight to the woman who has been the main target of her pain and anger for so long.

Only in the mysterious world of soaps would birth mom and daughter live in the same town, have such extreme feelings for each other, and then find out what their relationship truly is.

Good grief! I’m predicting we can look forward to a lot more of Sam screaming at Alexis for totally ruining her life, and Alexis destroying herself with the guilt. I’m not saying Sam isn’t a little justified in her anger, which is actually more overwhelming grief. She’s lashing out and blaming Alexis for everything. Alexis continues to shoulder the weight of the world, willing to accept all the hate and blame the other woman can throw at her. Sure, Alexis has caused Sam pain, but not everything that goes wrong in the world is her fault. I don’t think the sailing is going to get any smoother for these two any time in the near future.

So much for today’s rounds, tomorrow’s previews promised Sam discovering the truth about her Alexis, Diego being released from a prison cell, and Tracy telling Georgie and Dillon they “are going to have the time of their lives.”

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"Perfect is boring and you're going to make mistakes. If you learn from them, let them go."