TV and Movies

[Tique]

Star of the Month: General Hospital’s Maura West!

Adriana Grecco

Congrats to Maura West (Ava, GH) who was selected as the star of the month for August!

August was full of a series of unfortunate events for Ava Jerome Cassadine. Ava’s soapy storyline gave West material to sink her teeth into which her fans have been looking for quite some time! It kicked off with Ava confronting Esme Prince for sleeping with her husband, Nikolas Cassadine. Ava already didn’t care for Esme considering she was responsible for burning her car and for framing Trina Robinson for the revenge porn video. Esme’s affair with Nikolas set Ava off and rightfully so!  Once Ava was aware of the affair, fans knew the confrontation would be spectacular scenes and West did not disappoint! The confrontation got physical and ended with Esme getting pushed off the parapet. West captured Ava’s mixture of emotions beautifully. As much as Ava hated Esme, she had no intention of killing her (at least not in this particular moment, ha!). 

Ava confided in Nikolas in what took place and he convinced her not to report the accident to the police as it could look like they are covering an attempted murder. This situation forces Ava to be in cahoots with her husband who she currently despises for his ultimate betrayal.  West showcased Ava’s vulnerability, anger, fear, frustration, and strength in a captivating performance that further proved why fans love Ava and West so much; West brings out Ava’s complicated layers with raw emotion, elegance, and the perfect blend of humor when applicable. West’s body language (no one holds a martini glass quite like her!), facial expressions, and cadence are always on point.   

Toward the end of August, many citizens of Port Charles gathered together at the Quartermaine picnic and the Cassadine’s were in attendance. Nikolas tried to convince Ava about the importance of keeping up appearances, but Ava couldn’t pretend to be in love with him. They had a heated argument in which Ava brought up the affair and Spencer Cassadine overheard. Spencer was gutted and furious. Ava and Nikolas’ argument escalated to the point of no return: Nikolas accused Ava of wanting to destroy his relationship with his son since Ava lost the chance of repairing her relationship with her daughter, Kiki Jerome, who was murdered by Ryan Chamberlin. Fans felt Ava’s pain through West’s brilliant performance; Ava was too stunned to speak right away, but did not hesitate to slap her husband across the face (rightfully so!). 

Ava left to take a moment alone to herself and she was brutally attacked! Josslyn Jacks found Ava and they do not have a good relationship to say the least. West captured Ava’s fear and pain as Ava pleaded with Josslyn to not leave her alone in order to get help. Thankfully, Ava was saved, but the mystery remains: who attacked Ava? Whatever happens next, fans know West will continue to knock her scenes out of the park.  

source: soapoperanews

[grandma r]

@Tique. I agree.  Ava finally had material worth her talent!!!  Maura West did a fantastic job during August.

[RainCityWoman]

---

@Wsmom wrote:

Cameron hopes to surprise Josslyn

Cam you keep trying because your days with Ms Jacks are numbered and hopefully so is your contract.

@Tique , I've noticed he's barely on anymore and it seems like it is just with EM with the exception of Spence yesterday.   I'd assumed it was to accomodate his school schedule.  Clearly she has a much lighter schedule than he does considering she is on so much plus she's there at SC on a beach volleyball scholarship so has to be practicing a lot.  I'd read an article with him saying how hard it is to juggle it all so we may be seeing less and less of him.  🤞🏻

---

Aw, I love Cam. I don't want to see him go, and I don't want to see Joslin hook up with Dex for a lot of reasons, the least of which I think he is too old for her. All in for Cameron. I like that he is exactly the age he should be and is somewhat innocent.

[RainCityWoman]

---

@mysoutherncomfort wrote:

So what's the deal with Shasha?  Seems to me the S/L is headed in the direction of a "mental illness"-type theme.  Baby Liam died, Shasha turned to drugs to cope, she got clean, she had a slip, but this latest outburst with Lucy; destroying a patron's cell phone was over the top.  Seems she now realizes that she "needs help".  IF not for the S/L (public), of course a meeting of the 3 equity holders of Deception would be held and discussed at the company offices.

So exactly what is Marshall's problem with Sonny?  Turns out that he never was part of the/a "mob".  Curtis is a big boy and can handle himself.  So what's the deal?

Trina, you wished Spencer well...let it go girl.  Don't think Rory is as he seems, but for now, enjoy!

Jordan's at Trina's party?  Really?  OK, be glad justice was done, but really...attending a party in her honor?  

OK TPTB, let's move it along to the bio, baby daddy scenario.  How long does it take for a respected physician to obtain a genetic counseling appointment?  Doesn't Dr. Portia have any pull at all?  

Hope y'all are having a lovely, safe and wonderful (and relaxing) Labor Day holiday.

---

Yes, Saha is in trouble, but I fault Lucy for even meeting up with her in a public restaurant. I think she knew exactly what was going to happen and did that on purpose. I never cease to be amazed at the utter self centered, insensitive way Lucy deals with things and always has. I think there were other ways to handle Sasha's predicament. After all, that's her company too. Never a Lucy fan myself.

[RainCityWoman]

You know Brook Lynn was a better person when she and Chase were raising Bailey, and it was evident that she didn't want to say goodbye to her. Then Maxie, supposedly obsessed with the baby, couldn't not even wait till Peter was gone before she jeopardized the baby's safety. Now she's got the kid, WHO is taking care of Bailey? It's as if she disappeared off the face of the earth, much like Carly's baby Donna.

[RainCityWoman]

Just finished watching GH today. Why on earth would Willow have gone to Nelle's grave? I mean she didn't like her, and she just had a horrible nightmare about her. What would compel her to be there? I guess the writers needed a place for Weeping Willow, Snarly Carly who NEVER does anything despicable, and Nina the Nimnol to have a throw down. I do like the new Michael, but he has his job cut out for him being one half of the most boring couple in the Soaps.

[mysoutherncomfort]

IMHO Maura West/Ava always delivers (even when the writers do not).  Congrats to Maura.

Auntie Stella....she's baaaaack.  Does she recall what she did with said signed divorced papers...or not quite yet?  FINALLY, both Curtis and Jordan ahhhh, duhhh, did we ever receive said final decree?  A legal document like that is usually, IRL, put away in a safe place; like a passport, etc.  It takes 2 minutes to look up online a recorded document with the court such as this.  Hmmmm, should take Curtis/Jordan at least a couple of months.........Aunt Stella as the officiant?  Why?  Makes no sense.

Oh goody, how lovely of Marshall to donate his music to the wedding festivities.  That was presumptuous; who asked him?  That would be like me saying to them...oh (though you didn't ask) I'll sing at your wedding.....................

Willow at Nelle's grave?  Here's one of my really's coming on?  She awakens from a horrific nightmare; goes downstairs and talks to Carly/Mikey, has tea, now it's dark (supposedly), goes upstairs and gets dressed to go to the cemetary....sorry, another really?

Nothing against the actress and her abilities, but I am soooo happy Nelle's (the character) short "visit" turns out to be a dream/hullicination...whatever.  

[cowboy sam]

I guess the guests enjoyed Cam' singing  and dancing

Duh..so now Curtis and wife is asking each other if they got divorce papers???After all this time they start to remember not getting them...smh!

Another Spencer good acting on his part while talking to Trina.

[Tique]

Guess I missed the show when Selina became Curtis's partner. The terminology she used when talking to Sonny was "we" and "our". Not sure if Curtis heard them but it looked like he had a slight reaction when Sonny walked away. 

This is the second time TJ has invited someone to an event where he was a guest, not a host. First time he invited Marshall to Curtis and Portia's housewarming and now he invited his mother to Trina's party. Maybe it's about time someone introduces him to party etiquette. Jordan should have had enough sense to know that was not the appropriate place for her to be. Didn't she feel awkward being right in the thick of things as Stella welcomed Portia into the family. It should have brought back unpleasant memories for Jordan because the situations couldn't have been more different when Stella found out Curtis was marrying Jordan.

[Tique]

Tone Deaf General Hospital Needs To Respect Port Charles Women

Hope Campbell

Lately, when we watch General Hospital we have had to wonder what this soap has against women and their right to make their own decisions and choose their own destinies while not being dominated by supposedly well-meaning men who may or may not realize they are handling some situations all wrong.

Elizabeth Baldwin’s Been Trying To Speak Up

When GH first let us know in not very subtle ways that recently-widowed Elizabeth Baldwin was set to be paired with Hamilton Finn, we were willing to give them a try despite the fact that she was just in a popular pairing with Franco Baldwin, a character who was inexplicably killed off.

However, the chemistry just wasn’t there, and we hoped that the show would realize it soon enough and drop it. Instead, what we have now is such a misogynistic mess we’re not even sure how the show plans to get out of it. Worse yet, we’re not sure the writers care or notice.

The first clue that something was off with this pairing was when Finn chewed out Elizabeth’s middle son, Jake Webber, and accused him of things that were just not true when he was not his parent and did this behind his mother’s back. That’s definitely not the role of a potential boyfriend who you haven’t even had a first date with.

We watched the subtle red flags about this relationship for months, as Finn berated Elizabeth for wanting to believe Franco’s ghost was contacting her and then practically ordered her not to check herself into Shadybrook when she knew she needed psychiatric help.

He disregarded her wishes not to visit, and he has gone behind her back more than once to dig into her past when she’s asked him not to. While we do believe GH thinks Finn is being written as the hero who is going to rescue Elizabeth, he instead looks like a controlling stalker, and that just doesn’t fly in 2022.

Sasha Gilmore Corbin Needs Legitimate Help

Then we have Sasha Gilmore Corbin, a woman who has been tortured over and over again in what is seemingly a never-ending plot to make a woman hit rock bottom, but the goalposts for rock bottom keep getting moved. Yes, Sasha has been on a downward spiral all year, and for a very good reason. Her child died at just a few days old thanks to a birth accident that deprived him of oxygen during his last moments in the womb. What woman can handle that without proper help?

Yes, Sasha turned to pills, and yes Sasha cchose to remain in denial, and then finally cracked when caricature reporter Grant Smoltz taunted her over the loss of her child. Should she have smashed his windshield? No. Did it show that she needs to spend time in Shadybrook and get the help she needs? Yep.

But instead, GH is giving us a conservatorship story about a man, Sasha’s husband, Brando, taking over all aspects of a woman’s life after a psychiatric breakdown, not even one year after pop star Britney Spears finally escaped the one her father placed her under in 2008 after Spears’s own very public mental breakdown. Again this is not the time for this.

No And Slow Down Mean No And Slow Down

Carly Corinthos came right out and said it to her mother the other day. Since she was 22 years old, her life has been dominated by two men — Jason Morgan and Sonny Corinthos — either separately or at the same time, and for the first time, she doesn’t have either one of them. She doesn’t even have her hotel anymore, but she still has herself, and if she wants to take things slow with Drew Cain, she has that right.

Well, don’t tell Curtis Ashford that. The man legitimately sat there in a small throwaway scene recently and told his buddy to ignore what Carly told him about not being ready for a serious relationship just yet, and go for it if he truly wants her. Say what? Just ignore her wishes because why? A woman doesn’t know her own self, and a man has to show her the way? Really? Once again, this writing is just so off in an era where MeToo was a battle cry.

Let us also not forget Britt Westbourne who told newcomer Cody Bell over and over again that she just wasn’t interested — and for good reason. He spent weeks insulting her, making misogynistic comments about her attitude, and showing up wherever she didn’t want him.

Now, GH is writing that as opposites attract, and it just leaves an extremely bad taste in our mouths.

Why Is Willow Now A Martyr?

Perhaps the most egregious writing choice with a female character the show is making right now is with Willow Tate. Since June 24, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, there has been headline after headline of women who wanted the children they were carrying but who could no longer make the choice not to carry that child due to their own health reasons or due to fetal anomalies not compatible with life.

So, this is the year General Hospital, which has tackled abortion before when teenage Lulu Spencer (then played by Julie Marie Berman) decided she wasn’t ready to be a mother, decided a woman is going to choose to die to save her fetus. Willow got the horrific news that she has leukemia while in her first trimester of pregnancy and is choosing to delay treatment so that her baby has a better chance at survival while not thinking of her own life or the child she already has who needs the only mother he has ever known.

Willow lives in New York, a state where she still has options so many women across the United States do not have, and they had a chance to tell a pro-choice story where a mother chooses to prioritize her own life no matter how agonizing it might be to know she could lose a much-wanted child. Instead, it’s choosing the complete opposite as Willow tells us that a man’s feelings are more important than her own because she doesn’t want to upset Michael Corinthos, the father of her children, with her cancer news, so she’s just not telling him.

Is it possible for the GH writers to be more tone-deaf about what is going on in the world around them when it comes to the gender that makes up the majority of the show’s audience? These are not the stories that should be told and we hope the show realizes that soon and chooses to course correct before any more female characters fall victim to this misogynistic writing.

source: soaphub