Of Sadists and Sociopaths and...WTF...?!
Jerry JACKS?!

Back when James Craig first appeared on our screens as the mysterious and shady cohort of Lorenzo Alcazar the boards went wild with speculation and excitement over what a perfect Jerry Jacks he would make.  I agreed.  Wholeheartedly, in fact.  Now?  Not so much.  Well, really not at all.  Not anymore.  TPTB ruined any potential they had to make him Jerry Jacks the moment Craig did anything sadistic and sociopathic.

Jerry Jacks was a loveable rogue, a scoundrel, and yes, a law-breaker.  What he WASN'T, was a terrorist, a sadist or a sociopath.  And come on, let's face it, those are not just personality quirks you pick up in a couple of years!  Jerry Jacks was a man capable of love, of looking outside of himself, James Craig is not.  Jerry Jacks did not take pleasure or gain amusement by torturing or killing innocent people.   James Craig most certainly does.  Jerry Jacks was in love with Bobbie Spencer and he would never torture, terrorize and threaten to kill her daughter, not to mention his brother's (most recent) fiancee.  James Craig could give a flying fig about what killing Carly would do to Bobbie -  or to Jasper Jacks!

My take on this fiasco?  TPTB (for once, maybe twice) actually HEARD the fans who praised James Craig and wanted to keep him.  They heard the same speculation and wishful thinking that I heard and a light bulb went off:

"Oh. Okay, let's keep him and we'll MAKE him Jerry Jacks."   Too little, too late.  The fact that they could not see what was immediately glaringly apparent to the fans - even those who weren't around in the days of Jerry Jacks - speaks volumes about how little thought they really give to the show or the characters.
 
The moment James Craig appeared onscreen his resemblance to Jasper Jacks was there for all to see.  And I don't mean that he is a carbon copy of Ingo/Jax, but he doesn't have to be, does he?.  The difference in their heights aside, Craig/Jax exuded the same Jacks "sparkle" and charisma.  Yet no one in power at GH SAW this?  Not until the fans started screaming about wanting to keep him, but after they destroyed Craig (by making him the sadistic sociopath he turned out to be) and ruined any real chance at him actually being Jerry Jacks.  Had he not done everything he did at the Metro-Court, and now to Nikolas, Robin, Emily and Patrick I would have been solidly on board with him being the misguided yet still lovable, roguish-but-redeemable Jerry Jacks.

How in the world can they possibly spin this to make Craig as Jerry believable or palatable?  In my opinion?  They can't.