A Critic’s Review Of General Hospital: A Shocking Death Reverberates

When it comes to General Hospital, every fan has their opinion – and Soap Hub is no different. For five days we sat and watched the good, the bad, and everything in between, and now we offer you a handy review, and a cheeky critique, of the GH week that was.

General Hospital: A Critic’s Week In Review

Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) is dead. And we mean “dead, dead.” Like Alan Quartermaine, Tania Jones, and Barbara Jean Jones dead. And it was a twist that we did not see coming. Bully to the writers! Gentleman, you got us. And jaded soap critics generally don’t get to make that claim.

However, the fact that there’s little to no chance of Franco making a miraculous comeback – it is pretty hard to rebound after chilling inside a drawer in the hospital morgue – makes us wonder just exactly how the soap plans to keep Howarth around.

Might The Powers That Be be hard at work on hammering out a deal for the actor to return as Todd Manning, the character he played on One Life to Live and briefly transferred over to GH in the wake of that show’s cancellation?

Or is there a chance that we might soon be meeting a familiar-looking Drew Cain – one who’s NOT being played by Billy Miller? Guess there’s always the possibility that Heather Webber (Robin Mattson) and Scotty (Kin Shriner) had twin boys and that heretofore unmentioned sibling will be making his way to Port Charles.

Whatever the case may be, praise is certainly due to Howarth, Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth), and William Lipton (Cameron). Hand over the Daytime Emmy Awards now and save the bother.

Further GH Musings

* Not only were we handed the shock of Franco’s untimely passing, but GH also doled out the revelations about Finn (Michael Easton) and Jackie’s (Kim Delaney) long-ago affair, and the question it raised concerning Chase’s (Josh Swickard) paternity.

What we’re trying to say, in a roundabout way, is this was one of the most glorious, shock-and-awe-filled weeks of any soap in quite a few years. To head writers Dan O’Connor and Christopher Van Etten (and the rest of the writing staff), we thank you sincerely.

And a double thank you for raising Maxie’s (Kirsten Storms) IQ and having her send that dreadful Peter (Wes Ramsey) packing. And did anybody else notice the look she gave him when the announcement of Franco’s death was made? Looks like Miss Jones has a pretty good idea of who might have done the killing…but will she share her suspicions with anyone? Or will she choose to remain quiet?

Here’s hoping it’s the latter since Jason (Steve Burton) is in a bit of a sticky situation. Yes, he did agree to kill Franco if worse came to worse…but he’s actually innocent of this murder. At least he has Carly (Laura Wright) and Sam (Kelly Monaco) on his side.

* Dare we say it? Dare we hope? Is there actually forward movement in the long percolating, but so far, disappointing Sonny (Maurice Benard) storyline? That shady developer’s got an underling looking into good guy “Mike,” so surely his true identity will be uncovered sooner rather than later. Please? General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.