Head writer Elizabeth Korte wasted no time in cleaning up some General Hospital stories that had gotten stale and infused new and exciting twists into the scene. Now that Chris Van Etten has returned, we take a look at their first week of co-headwriting the show together.
She Laid a Lot of Groundwork
In May, GH co-head writer with Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten, exited the show and was replaced by Patrick Mulcahey. However, Mulcahey was out several months later, and Van Etten returned. His first co-script with Korte aired August 8, and in the week since, they’ve really amped things up a notch, making GH exciting and must-watch TV again. (Learn more about the new GH writing team.)
Korte flew solo for a while, laying the groundwork for several stories while also cleaning house. Gone is the mismatched pairing of Finn (Michael Easton) and Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst), with him in rehab and his portrayer having exited the show completely. Whether or not he returns or is recast is unknown as of this writing. But their romance was so ill-timed, and Liz’s story got weird when it turned out she inadvertently killed Finn’s wife as a child that all sense seemed to have been thrown out the window, so we’re glad Liz has a fresh start here.
There are only so many times Nina (Cynthia Watros) can act impulsively before the villagers get restless and chase her out of town. Fortunately, the character has matured and made great inroads with her daughter, Willow (Katelyn MacMullen), and everyone’s calmed their intense dislike for her. She’s even learned to work (and have steamy sex) with Drew (Cameron Mathison), who used to hate her. She’s completely gotten over Sonny, and the memory of Nixon Falls has finally become water under the bridge. Perhaps an unorthodox romance with Michael (Chad Duell — see how he survived the recent earthquake) is in the cards for Nina?
Mac (John J. York) and Cody’s (Josh Kelly) story is moving along nicely; Cody and Sasha’s (Sofia Mattsson) budding romance is also sweet and endearing, keeping us engaged; a potential romance between Trina (Tabyana Ali) and Gio (Giovanni Mazza) makes us happy for the future; the kinder, gentler Tracy (Jane Elliot) has us loving her more than ever; and with Ric (Rick Hearst) and Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) returning, there’s an endless amount of good stories that can be told.
Let’s look at some of the other stories that are changing for the better.
Heather Could Be Freed
One of the most fun stories in the past year or so was when Ryan (Jon Lindstrom) and Heather (Alley Mills) — who also turned out to be the Hook Killer — escaped from the mental institute with their unwilling daughter, Esme (Avery Pohl) and were poised for a major killing spree à la Natural Born Killers. Sadly, that story fell flat and was a complete missed opportunity. They even killed off Ryan, who still had many more good murders left in him.
The revelation that Heather’s replaced hip had been poisoning her, turning her into a killer, seemed to be an awkward retcon. But as we’ve seen her transform from a raging lunatic to an articulate and put-together woman, we see the value in having Heather eventually get free from jail because she wasn’t in her right mind when she murdered people and perhaps suing the pants off of the artificial hip company. Sure, she could return to being a schemer, but that would be the icing on the cake. So, good for the new writing team for pushing Heather in that direction.
Agent Cates Will Fail Miserably
FBI Agent Cates was a misfire from the get-go. The character, formerly known as Jagger, was played by the fan-favorite Antonio Sabato Jr. back in the 1990s — who said he was still available to reprise his role — but was recently recast with Adam J. Harrington. Why they didn’t bring Sabato back to the role is a true head-scratcher because his vendetta against Sonny (Maurice Benard) would have hit long-time fans much more deeply than a guy who looks nothing like Jagger.
Anna (Finola Hughes) recently told him that many people have tried to take Sonny down and failed; he’ll be part of that list. We couldn’t help but laugh because she’s completely right, especially now that Sonny’s got his head screwed on right again. Cates buys into Ava’s (Maura West) lies, and even Sonny told him he was a fool for allying himself with her.
TJ and Molly Are (Most Likely) Kaput
Generally speaking, we like to root for our favorite couples to get back together. But TJ (Tajh Bellows) and Molly (Kristen Vaganos) have been supremely boring since the beginning. Molly has just been obnoxious since childhood, but with Vaganos stepping into the role, she’s made her a little more palatable. But by having their surrogate be Molly’s sister, Kristina (Kate Mansi), it opened doors for all kinds of marital trouble, and we continued to yawn. Now that Kristina has lost the baby, that storyline is done, and TJ and Molly probably are, too.
This is a good thing. More often than not, we’re rooting for couples to stay together for the long haul, like Mac and Felicia (Kristina Wagner), but these two make golf look more interesting to watch. Sending Molly and TJ on their separate ways would be a wise decision by the writers. This creates an opportunity for new horizons and new stories with other people with whom these two may have better chemistry.
Sonny’s Back!
For a while there, as the walls closed in on Sonny and he pushed nearly everyone away, it looked depressing and awful. He lost his best friends, Laura (Genie Francis) and Anna, because they suddenly decided they no longer liked that he was a mobster. Let’s not forget that Sonny is necessary to the balance of the Port Charles ecosystem. He keeps drugs and prostitution at bay as best he can and defends the city whenever the need arises, especially against rival mob gangs who have tried to take control of his territory and failed time and time again.
It was looking bad because Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) had exploited Sonny’s weakness by forcing the pharmacist to lower the dosage of his bipolar medication. Then Ava found out about it and had him change them completely to placebos. However, the new writing team has come to their senses, and everyone now knows what caused Sonny’s erratic behavior. Benard’s acting in recent weeks has also been incredibly amazing as Sonny realized something was wrong with his mind.
The old Sonny didn’t survive being head of the organization for thirty years by being stupid and careless, and that’s exactly what he was doing while off his meds. But now, the old Sonny is back and is perhaps wiser.
He’s not going to have Ava killed in such an obvious fashion that he would get caught. When he told Anna that he wouldn’t harm a hair on Ava’s head, we believed him, as it was certain that he was finally thinking clearly and rationally. Sure, he’ll probably have a hand in helping Ava kick the oxygen habit, but the Teflon don will remain untouchable by the law, and that’s how we like it.
Kristina’s Poised to Follow in Sonny’s Footsteps
After an altercation with Ava caused her to fall out of a window and lose her baby, Kristina wants blood…Ava’s blood. She asked her dad, Sonny, to help her with this cause, and because he’s rational now, he told her he’d take care of things and informed her that he gave photos of Ava laying hands on her to the cops and Ava would be punished that way. But it seems Kristina’s not completely happy with his answer and may want to take matters into her own hands. Here, the writers are perfectly setting her up as she’s starting to have eyes on his criminal empire.
It’s easy to picture everyone five, maybe 10 years into the future: Sonny might want to retire to his island, and Jason would rather stay as an enforcer than assume command. This would be the perfect way for Kristina to step into Daddy’s shoes. When she saw him beating the crap out of Dex (Evan Hofer), her eyes were opened to his dark and violent world and it nearly shattered her image of him. But now that she holds Ava responsible for her child’s death, she can clearly understand the power that Sonny wields and could start to crave it. She quickly made up with her dad and has embraced his ways, so if she fully accepts his way of life as Carly has, she’d be the perfect one to take over for him when the time comes.
Ava’s Delusional Twist
Ava has always been the femme fatale that we love to hate. She’s devious, conniving, and even murderous, and that’s part of her charm. However, recently, she released a recording of Natalia (Eva LaRue) saying hateful things, thereby ruining her daughter Blaze’s (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) singing career. Ava also messed with Sonny’s meds and seems to just be out of control, forcing the villagers of Port Charles to really consider chasing her with torches and pitchforks. She’s made an enemy of nearly everyone except Cates and Scotty (Kin Shriner) and for no good reason.
The thing about Ava is that she’s currently delusional: she believes her lies, and when she gets called on one, she changes her story and then firmly believes that one. Even Anna told her it must take a lot of energy to keep lying consistently. We’re hoping that instead of having Sonny kill her, the writers will take Ava down a path where she loses her grip on reality and gets committed or at least gets into some kind of treatment. We love this character and don’t want to see her end up taking a dirt nap!
One Twist We’d Like to See
There’s one story that the writers could really build up anticipation for — the return of Esme and Spencer (Nicholas Alexander Chavez). After falling off a boat in the Seine, they disappeared and were presumed dead. What if they ended up on a deserted island (it’s a soap, you know?) and a year or two later returned with a baby in tow? That would be wild, and the writers could have a field day with the fallout, especially if Trina and Gio start a romance!
Overall, the new writing team has been doing a magnificent job, and each recent episode has kept us on edge as we await the next one. We give them a firm “A” rating! Let’s hope they continue to keep up their magic!
What do you think? Has this writing team shakeup been good for the show? Let us know in the comments below.
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