A Critic’s Review of General Hospital: So Long, Farewell…For Now

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. Here we lead with optimism. Unfortunately, we don’t always get what we want. So here’s a review of GH’s week that was.

What I’m Feeling This Week: All the Feelings
(Trina Loses Spencer at Sea Thanks to Esme)

While I’m beyond happy for Nicholas Alexander Chavez, I’m sad that Spencer and Trina (Tabyana Ali) as a couple are on hold for a while. However, tragedies like Spencer going overboard and being presumed dead are par for the course for popular couples. They experience lengthy separations all the time. Also, I’m happy there are no split-second recasts. It’s something GH likes to do. Thankfully, it’s not what’s happening here.

And now we’ll get to see Trina in a different way than we’ve ever seen her before. Will she lose some of the light that’s been a part of her since the beginning? (How can she not?) Experiencing tremendous grief, pain, and anguish can do that to you sometimes. Seeing her build herself back up over time will be great to watch. Dealing with life without Spencer will build character.

But, I digress. I really loved how Spencer and Trina teamed up to fight Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) on that boat. Esme’s a fighter, and when it looked like she bested “Spence,” Trina saved his life. And then he saved her life out on that deck. That’s another thing that popular soap couples do — they save each other over and over again.

However, after they knocked Esme out, and Spencer and Trina ran out, couldn’t they have locked her in? Or at the very least, zip-tied her like she did Spencer? How about taking the deadly syringe with the “special medicine” with them and throwing it overboard?

Do I wish the show had wasted less time having Spencer spend so much time on acting like his brother was his son and thinking Esme was a good mom? Yes. Big time. It would have been great to see Spencer and Trina actually be a couple. Having said all that, I’m happy they got to experience a little Paris before all hell broke loose.

On Friday’s show, it was so good to see Eden McCoy back after she’d been off the canvas for weeks. Because I really felt the emotions between the best friends. Trina telling Joss about what happened made me feel all the feelings, including when Joss called Cameron (William Lipton).

Other GH Thoughts

Time for Goodbye #1: Courtney Fulk. Recasts are always hard but from day one Fulk slipped right in and I felt she did a great job as a temp Joss. Here’s hoping she lands somewhere else. Maybe Sydney on DAYS? That would be a good fit.

Time for Goodbye #2: Avery Kristen Pohl. She’s another one who knocked it out of the park from day one. I may think that the show botched any sort of redemption for the character. But, ultimately, Pohl was simply fantastic and I wish her well. And who knows, maybe we’ll see her back on GH down the line.

Hello, My Name Is: Adam Harrington. Whoa — Jagger’s back? Antonio Sabato Jr. once played Jagger (that’s when I started watching GH), but the character is now an FBI agent played by Adam Harrington from The Secret Circle, Supernatural, and The Lincoln Lawyer. It’ll be interesting to see how he adapts to daytime TV. First impression? He’s a solid addition to Port Charles. I really loved him in his primetime shows, so I’m excited to see what he will do on GH.

Loyalty Shmoyalty: It was difficult to see Sasha (Sofia Mattson), Maxie (Kirsten Storms), and less so Brook Lynn, sit there in front of Carly (Laura Wright) and show absolutely no loyalty to Nina (Cynthia Watros) whatsoever. Not even a cursory defense.

GH Wish List: Now that Finn’s (Michael Easton) malpractice lawsuit trial is mercifully over, can the show work up a storyline for Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) that focuses on her?

Stop the Madness: Suddenly, I’m not liking Gregory’s (Gregory Harrison) influence over Tracy (Jane Elliot). I want Tracy to be who she is, not what other people want her to be. Could she show some tact every once in a while? Sure. Could she choose certain battles to fight over others? Yes! But I was all for her elegant ceremony over Lois’s (Rena Sofer) Bensonhurst wedding. Glad a compromise happened, however.

So Exhausting: Laura’s (Genie Francis) willingness to give Esme the benefit of the doubt to almost the very end. This week she tried to rationalize Esme reverting back to Dark Esme once her memories returned: “She didn’t have time to reconcile her two identities before Nikolas (Adam Huss) came back and took her son.” Nope. Just nope. Esme might have had pure feelings for once in her life concerning Ace (Jay and Joey Clay), but those feelings were buried under a dark, toxic ocean of emotion that made Esme the girl who terrorized Port Charles — and Paris.

So Exhausting #2: Drew (Cameron Mathison) struck a huge blow in his war against Nina. He took Crimson away from her. That did damage. Nina’s feeling it. But, of course, he isn’t going to stop there. I’m glad people are seeing that Drew isn’t being Drew right now.

Spotted: Detective Bennett (Kendrick Cross). The show seriously needs to up his status on GH. If they won’t bring Zeke (Gavin Houston) back for Jordan (Tanisha Harper), why not have her flirt with Bennett instead of Brick (Stephen A. Smith)?

Family Reunion: Laura has lost of a lot of people in recent times but the show’s writers changed that when Nikolas (Adam Huss) and Ace (Joey and Jay Clay) showed up at her door. Huss infused his one line — “Hello, Mother” — with heartfelt emotion. Bravo!

Random Comments
-More Jordan and Anna (Finola Hughes) action scenes please — in Friday’s episode they were badass.
-Also, more Brennan. I really adore Charles Mesure and think Brennan could make a great foil for the Port Charles residents.
-Lois and Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) making up already without more of a fight and the same with Michael (Chad Duell) and Drew? Why even create conflict if you’re going to resolve it in two seconds?
-Did GH recycle the Tan-0 and Haunted Star for their Parisian sets? Well, at least they didn’t use a green screen for Paris like Y&R did this week. I kid, I kid. I completely understand the parameters and budget daytime TV is working with. They have to do what they have to do.
-Totally loved the Easter Egg GH served up to us when Laura looked at the image of little Spencer. Nice seeing Nicolas Bechtel who was such a great Spencer Cassadine from 2013 – 2020.

Burning Question: Are we headed somewhere with Ava (Maura West) and Sonny (Maurice Benard)?

General Hospital 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 GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

The best place for true soap fans to be is our Facebook groups. Have you joined? If you love soap spoilers, gossip, and fans as dedicated as yourself, check out Days of our Lives Fans, General Hospital Exclusive, The Young and the Restless Fans, and The Bold and the Beautiful Fans.