Victor Cassadine is back from the dead and making mischief on the Port Charles scene. In the hands of someone less skilled than fan-favorite Charles Shaughnessy, General Hospital could have been in danger of creating another Peter August — someone fans don’t love to hate but just hate — but Victor’s recent actions may be too much for even Shaughnessy to overcome.
General Hospital Villainy Runs Rampant
The ABC soap has certainly had its share of masterful villains over the decades — often with the last name of Cassadine — and fans have loved to hate them. Class, sophistication, clever writing, and nuanced acting can combine to make the perfect villain. Right now, Victor does seem to have it all — but the writing is teetering on the edge of too much.
How so? It feels oh-so-convenient that Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) would not only actually share the sonogram he holds of his supposed child with his detested father but let him have it? Really? First off, why on earth does he still have that? Sonograms are great when the baby hasn’t arrived yet but he has plenty of pictures of “Bailey” that he could have printed out and kept with him. Wouldn’t those be more meaningful?
It makes only a tiny bit more sense that Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) would cling to her sonogram of Louise simply because she supposedly wouldn’t have had a chance to snap a picture of her newborn before she was “taken” from her. Soap Hub realizes this was all done to move the story along but it just feels…off…and a bit contrived.
So, of course, Maxie would then have her purse spill out on the floor and of course, Victor would spot the sonogram and think — OMG — these two sonograms must be of the same baby! And just like Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot), he’ll put a puzzle together that no one (except for Chase) close to the two women involved with this baby switch has been able to do for almost a year. Granted, Tracy already had a piece of the puzzle which made it easier for her to play detective.
One of the things that bugs General Hospital viewers about Peter (Wes Ramsey) and his mustache-twirling villainy is that he seems to easily come upon so many people’s secrets — he could never be out-maneuvered and since he didn’t seem like a criminal mastermind (only the progeny of one), it made too many of our favorites seem easily out-witted by comparison.
Obviously, Victor has proven his worth in this department over the decades so he’s allowed a bit more leeway than Peter but the show needs to tread carefully. Making others seem uncharacteristically unaware in order to allow a villain to succeed is not a recipe for success. There is a fine line between love to hate…and just plain hate. This time, we’re hoping GH leans into the former and not the latter as Victor continues to plot and scheme.
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.
Surprise, soap fans! You asked for more puzzles and we listened! Look forward to daily puzzles in our spoilers, recaps, and some extra special articles.
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