General Hospital is about to get a makeover in March. After five years, the head writing team of Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor is leaving the building to make room for another writing duo — veteran soap scribe Patrick Mulcahey and longtime GH writer Elizabeth Korte.
As ratings for the 60-year-old soap have declined and fans have voiced their complaints over countless stories that seem to lack luster and a point, this change can’t come a moment too soon. Here are five things that need to happen once Mulcahey and Korte’s vision for the show starts airing.
End The ‘Fiz’ Nightmare
Just end it. Right now. We thought Van Etten and O’Connor got the hint a little over a year ago when Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton) and Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) broke up, but apparently, the show thought giving them a break from one another would fix everything wrong with them.
They couldn’t be more wrong, especially when the biggest problem with this pair is a complete lack of chemistry. There is no story you can write to correct course when there is no spark between both the characters and the talented actors who portray them.
Making Liz’s life and backstory all about Finn’s man pain hasn’t helped their situation a bit, and fans are crying for their ‘romance’ to come to an abrupt end ASAP. Hopefully, Mulcahey and Korte do what’s needed to free BOTH Liz and Finn from each other.
Let Carly Be Carly Again
Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) is not a matriarch or heroine. Full stop. Van Etten and O’Connor’s determination to shoehorn her into that role has not done the character any favors. Plus, it all rings hollow and feels like the idea of Carly as a heroine has been forced down our throats without really changing her much.
Having Carly find a love of baking while continuing to do horrible things to people for her own benefit doesn’t suddenly make her a heroine. Neither does giving her heroine close-ups and background music while she continues her schemes and bullying also doesn’t work. We were told that Carly had a moment of growth while in Florida in 2022, but we didn’t actually see the growth.
And that is ok. Carly has always been a vixen, and that is the role that suits her. When she would screw up, the town would let her have it rather than sing her praises. That’s what we want to see again. Carly needs some comeuppance for her actions, as most vixens do.
Fix Laura’s World
Laura Collins (Genie Francis) is a forgiving woman who can somehow find the good in people who do heinous things. We get it. She even married the man who raped her and raised two children with him. But, that was 40 years ago, and she’s grown a lot since then. That’s why her blind acceptance of Esme Prince (Avery Kristen Pohl) has seemed so strange.
The 20th-century Laura we know and love would never take in the girl who emotionally manipulated one grandson and recorded another one having sex for the first time before blasting it onto the internet. Amnesia or no amnesia. Watching her call Esme “sweetheart” for a year and making excuses for her actions even after her memories returned did not sit well with fans.
Along the same lines of turning Carly back into Carly, we’d also like to see Laura become Laura again. The real Laura is smart, savvy, and certainly not a pushover. She doesn’t just blindly trust, and if someone hurts a member of her family, she doesn’t hold back. With Esme now dead and a new writing team taking over, we have hope that Laura can revert to form.
Give Willow Back Her Backbone
Once upon a time, Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) was a feisty young schoolteacher who escaped a literal cult, started her life anew, and wouldn’t let any man push her around.
Then, she fell into Michael’s (Chad Duell) world, and all of that changed. She became practically subservient to him and followed his family’s lead on everything. We saw a little bit of the old Willow in January when she kicked Michael out and told him she didn’t need his lies and protection because she could take care of herself.
A little over a month later, she was apologizing to Michael for ‘overreacting’ to his lies and took him back into her life and bed — no questions asked. Willow, with her backbone, was good while it lasted and something we’d like to see again — for the long term.
Send Nina To Therapy
It’s been 10 years since Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros, who talked about Nina here) emerged from the 20-year coma that her own mother placed her in by giving her a near-lethal dose of anti-depressants. During her first year out of the coma, Nina had a psychotic break, induced Ava’s (Maura West) labor, and kidnapped a newborn Avery. She spent some time in Ferncliff for that crime, and that was the last time we saw Nina address her mental health.
Despite having a good heart, Nina has made many petty and impulsive moves since then that have hurt both herself and others. A 20-year coma can cause a lifetime of trauma, and amazingly, this has not been addressed for nearly a decade. Sending Nina to therapy could help those who just see her as evil understand her more while providing Nina’s diehard fans with emotional moments they’ve been waiting years to see.
While it will take a lot to bring GH back to its former glory, the above suggestions are a good start to fixing what is wrong with our beloved soap.
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