Say What? Why Oscar’s Illness Makes Absolutely No Sense On General Hospital

Out of nowhere, a healthy teen has a seizure in the Corinthos living room on General Hospital, and suddenly he’s dying of a brain tumor and has been for a while now… except he doesn’t even know it.

And just how long has this been going on? When Oscar (Garren Stitt) was first brought into the ER, Kim (Tamara Braun) said he used to have seizures as a little boy, so it made sense that at 15, Oscar wouldn’t remember something from maybe 2 or 3 years old.

Then, Kim confessed to Liz that Oscar has a brain tumor and she’s known about it for two years. Well, um, that would make Oscar 13 when he started exhibiting symptoms. Perhaps that symptom was a seizure? Something Oscar would remember? Because he was 13.

And how did Kim find out about this tumor two years ago? And learn it was inoperable because, as she said, tests were done. Did they knock Oscar out with a mind-erasing drug when he had the tests showing this deadly tumor?

When he ‘passed out’ and convinced himself it was blood sugar issues due to not eating enough, he didn’t want to ask his mother if this had anything to do with those head scans he had two years ago that nothing ever came of — or so he thinks?

Yesterday, Kim was convinced Oscar would have at the very least one more birthday. Last week, she had no idea how long the poor boy had. Weeks? Months? Who can tell?

Also, Kim never seemed like a helicopter mom before, worried about her dying son. When we first met Oscar, we were convinced he was a homeless runaway who somehow got into school.

We never met his mother and never understood why any mother would let her kid roam freely through town. And, Oscar certainly didn’t want anyone to meet her.

Even when Kim was introduced, she didn’t care what he did, as long as she could track him via his phone, a la most parents of teens in 2018. When Drew first taught him to fight, she didn’t mention, oh, he has a deadly brain tumor, don’t teach him that.

Plus, Kim is a DOCTOR. Most doctors don’t give up that easily. No experimental treatments? No chemo to extend his life? Oh, that’s right. He’s not supposed to know. Kim would rather let him go sooner than let him know the truth.

Either GH is setting Kim up to be a little nuts and faking her own kid’s tumor (she didn’t allow any tests and we never actually saw Liz’s friend, Terry, do her consult), or there’s a really sloppy re-write here to give us a sudden teen death story to shove Josslyn into Cameron’s arms.

But really, this could have been done MUCH better.

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.