@Mafia Wife.
Thank you for your kind words.

Right on Elizabeth! He is like those people you see on HOARDERS, only he hoards daytime actors from other shows. And as you said, there are plenty of contract characters who have no relation whatsoever to core families. And even some who do (Valerie) are still newbies created out of rewritten history that bring absolutely NOTHING to the show in terms of family relationships. As much as I prefer this regime to the previous one, I think there needs to be a change at the top, meaning Frank V has got to leave! His vision of the show is clearly at odds with what the writers want to do, and it’s like a push pull to watch the show, and it’s tiring. There are so few people to root for on this canvas. Fran is supposedly a pro at bringing the show in on or under budget, and I get that that is all that matters to the bean counters. But…think how much MORE the show could be under budget if it would (and EASILY could) slash about 15 players from the team. I am Anti-Sonny in every way possible, and he is always at the top of my list of a character who could leave and never be missed. But I know that will not happen. When GH ends, (and I think the four network soaps have maybe 5 years of life in them on network t.v.), I m quite sure the final shot will be of Sonny with a halo around his head and a gun in his hand. I know there is a high-up mandate that Sonny cannot lose, Sonny must be written as a hero, etc. I get that. So my wish list for who could be written off always has Sonny at the top of the list. But after that, let’s go through a list of the superfluous, secondary characters eating up screen time with no real point or purpose for being on the show. Valerie, Brad, Lucas, Hayden, Nina, Franco, Dr. Finn, Obrecht, Jordan, TJ, Julian, Olivia, Nathan, Morgan, and the list goes on.

The show has something REALLY special happening with Kevin and Laura. Instead of focusing in on it, and capitalizing in on it, we get snippets of them every two weeks or so. It would be SO refreshing for this show to have a mature couple as the moral centre and compass of the show. Because Sorry, Sonny and Snarly do not qualify!! I like some of the stories the show is starting to tell…only the ones that are mostly free from the stain of Ron Carlivati’s ink.

The show has taken Nikolas way way too dark!! In a show already populated with murderers, why would a show take one of its ONLY solid, non mob related leading men, and with NO motivation or provocation, turn him into a darn near sociopath? Because the show gave us NO reason for his drastic extreme behaviour change (financial troubles? Really?), I made up a few of my own in my mind that would help write Nikolas out of his character assassination;

1) Helena was holding Emily ( and/or any other dearly departed loved ones the viewers clamor to have back), and forcing Nikolas to do her evil bidding. when he finally rescued Emily, then he could revert to being the fair prince, and some real romance would return to the show.

But they didn’t go there.

2) Tired and lame…but Helena somehow mind controlling him. I would have even accepted that to get our Nikolas back.

Nope.

3) Over-used and over done…but the doppelganger thing could have worked here, as Nikolas already had a look alike named Connor years back. I can’t remember if he died or not, but so what? No one dies.

4) A clone. I know Guiding Light did this, so it is hardly novel, but GH has had a long history of things like frozen embryos, cryogenics, aliens, etc. It would be not so far out.

There are other scenarios I envisioned, but you get my drift. There are a lot of ways to restore Nikolas, instead of making him just another villain for no reason. This show is top heavy with villains, and murderers, and there are precious few people to actually care about and root for.

And can I just say? The Jason storyline, which includes Jason and Sam, is just an epic fail on every level! Both actors mumble and look about as enthusiastic as a chubby kid being sent to fat camp. There is zero chemistry between them, and together, they actually drain energy and suck the life out of any scenes they appear in. They act holier than thou, and are so sanctimonious it is absurd, considering that Jason spent the better part of 20 years murdering people for money. And enjoying it. Sam loves her mobsters, but how much do you want to bet that she will viciously turn on Julian for trying to kill Alexis. If the writing was true to character, Sam the mob moll we have come to know and tolerate would be over the moon happy that she came from such high caliber mob stock!! She would feel like she was REALLY a genuine mobster by blood, not just a desperate brain dead cling on!

This storyline did a MASSIVE disservice to long-time viewers. For Jason to fully regain his memories, as promised, that should have been a major storyline in itself. He should have been traumatized and horrified at what his life had become. He should have raged and lashed out at sonny and Carly for taking advantage of him in his brain damaged state. He shoould HATE sonny for killing his brother AJ. Jason should want to bring Sonny down!! That would be the ULTIMATE downfall for Sonny…if the mentally fragile and damaged kid he plucked away from his family and turned into a cold blooded killer came back guns blazing and wanting revenge!! Then Jason could be torn between wanting to be a doctor as planned, and his desire for revenge on Sonny and wangting to reclaim 20 years of his life.

But no…suddenly Jason has his memories back, and his first scenes are with Sonny and Carly, all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns and marigolds. There was no follow up, no emotional fall out, it just went back to being mob business as usual. The personal struggles and emotional recovery of Jason QUARTERMAINE could have provided sophisticated storytelling for years to come. I could go on and on about this, and have! LOL.

I kind of meandered, but point is…most stories are not working at all because most of the characters on the canvas now are Ron Carlivati creations, and they are disjointed and not a part of GH proper. That would be like James Reilly leaving a show and Claire Labine having to come and in and try to fix it. Two diametrically different writing styles will ensure missed opportunities.

The cast is too big, and needs to be pared down and focus, like in the classic days of soap, have an A story, a B story, and a C story, and when they inersect, that’s when the shows would be very good! There are too many stories happening, too much going on, and not enough to root for. but like i said, there are some promising developments, but Valentin Cassadine is NOT one of them!! The actor, from anything i have seen him in, is unappealing. He looks NOTHING like a Cassadine. And do we REALLY need MORE evil characters on the show??? This Valentin was a character that originated somewhere almost ten years ago, and despite never being heard, seen, or mentioned, fans for some reason clung to the fruition of his character. The only good to come from this is that it should redeem Nikolas.