A Critic’s Review of General Hospital: A Letdown, Eye Candy, And Triumph

When it comes to General Hospital, every fan has their own 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

General Hospital’s Tuesday episode, or at least the scenes pertaining to Britt Westbourne’s (Kelly Thiebaud) “intervention” was a complete triumph! Brava performances, dialogue that were both snappy and achingly sincere, and not a false note to be found.

The bar was set high that day. Did the rest of the week rise up and meet the challenge? Well, there were certainly some other high points.

Ryan Chamberlin’s (Jon Lindstrom) violent, blood-tinged daydream was a shock and half, and the sight of Mac Scorpio (John J. York) and Felicia Scorpio (Kristina Wagner) FINALLY roped into the proceedings was most welcome.

Rumors abound that the couple was actually supposed to play a much bigger role in the last storyline featuring Ryan but real-world issues ultimately precluded their participation. I’m tempted to believe that, especially given that I can remember when Felicia was suddenly sporting a hairdo that would make her Ava Jerome Cassadine’s (Maura West) double from behind. Ah, what could have been.

I was also slightly, cautiously, secretly intrigued by the possibility that there might actually be something more to Elizabeth Webber’s (Rebecca Herbst) storyline than meets the eye…but tell no one! I fear that if this gets out, General Hospital will go back to barely featuring Liz and her plight. Remember when we were all debating what was up with her and suddenly the whole thing was relegated to a few scenes one day a week?

I remain as disillusioned as ever with the writing for Marshall Ashford (Robert Gossett) and Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell). There is no way that a man diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 1970s never had another significant issue with his mental health. None whatsoever. There has to be more to this story that I don’t care about.

Additionally, the General Hospital writers are never going to endear Michael to me if they continue to give him lines like, “Ned is throwing a tantrum because he’s not getting what he wants.” Pot meet kettle much? Michael inherited that distinct lack of self-awareness from his mama. You can be sure of that!

That said, it was a nice twist that Dex (Evan Hofer) is on Michael’s payroll. I clocked Dex as a baddie on day one, but I figured he was working on behalf of the West Coast mafioso trying to infiltrate Sonny Corinthos’s (Maurice Benard) less than reputable business affairs.

Further GH Musings

* Correct me if I’m wrong – and I know that many of you will only be too happy to – but didn’t Britt discover that she merely had the genetic marker for Huntington’s, and not the disease itself?

If that is the case, does Chris and Dan/Dan and Chris not know the difference, because Liesl stated categorically on Tuesday’s show that Britt had Huntington’s.

* Kudos to the General Hospital set design team. Their latest creation, the Quartermaine stables/bunkhouse, is a feast for the eyes.

* Guess no more folks! Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) is indeed the man behind Society Setups – what a poor excuse for a story – and Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) is indeed Curtis Ashford’s (Donnell Turner) daughter.

* Though I’m still enjoying Josh Kelly immensely in his new role, I must backtrack what I wrote last week. Having observed him in a number of scenes opposite Kelly Thiebaud’s Britt, I must declare that I just don’t see the chemistry that I was so hoping to. Personally, I think Thiebaud has far more sparks with Cameron Mathison’s Drew.

* Who, I say, who was the Wu who betrayed Selena (Lydia Look)?

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.