June 5, 2006

And we’re off and running!  Summertime is here and I get to watch soaps in real time.  No more rising at 4:20 for 2-1/2 glorious months.  Can you feel my joy?  Hear me singing?  C’mon, let’s happy dance.  More home time means I can put fingers to keyboard and write again.  I love my soaps, especially GH.  Ready?  Set?  Dish! 

The only thing missing from the scene was the neon sign flashing in the corner that ordered viewers to notice Ric noticing Sam.  Maybe not in a lecherous way (I hope not) but definitely in a wow-I-never-realized-she-is-such-a-looker kind of way.  Since it was Ric ogling, an understated element of creepy mixed into the scene.  Is his dark side slipping out again?  In an effort to replace Jason as Sonny’s best bud, will he decide that Sam must be chained to a wall?  It’s like Sonny breaking glass.  When glassware shatters, I always have a quick wonder if he’s headed for one of his house-wrecking breakdowns, because that’s Sonny.  Sam was so posed that I almost laughed.  Certainly Kelly Monaco knows how to work a pose from her playboy bunny days.  Nice dress, nice bod, nice pose.  OK, message received - Sam is sexy and Ric noticed.  

Sam wonders if there are snakes in the grass outside the patio not realizing that the snake might be sitting inside on the couch with her mother. 

I admit to a healthy (or maybe unhealthy depending up one’s opinion) love of Jason and Sam as a couple.  And I understand that a soap generally breaks a couple to prevent them from disappearing into a happily ever after, kiss, kiss but no action place.  That doesn’t me I can’t pine for the happy days to hurry back again.  You know, the days when the bulletproof glass in the penthouse didn’t have bullet holes in it and Jason actually smiled.  Though I have to say, one of the reasons I enjoy Jason is his ability to be heartless and stone faced in one scene and heartbroken in the next.  Plus, Jason as MOB boss in a suit tickles my fancy (and maybe a couple other areas) too. 

Hold on…I am looking for a flyer that came in the mail the other day…the one about parenting your grown child…it should be on my desk somewhere….here it is!   

I need to send it to Alexis.  It’s the least I can do.  Really.  Because someone needs to bonk her over the head for her total lack of respect for Sam’s life.  Five minutes after believing that Sam is her long lost undead daughter she ran to the courts for power of attorney so she could make life and death decisions regarding Sam’s care.  Never mind that she had no proof.  Next she petitioned Jason to give up Sam for Sam’s own good.  Never mind that Sam and Jason have trekked emotional mountains together.  No, even when ordered by her grown daughter to leave the penthouse because Sam and Jason were holding an emotional, relationship building or burning (Sam was building, Jason was burning) discussion, Alexis just kept on talking and talking and talking….until my hands had a death grip on the blanket on my bed because I wanted to stuff it in Alexis’ mouth.  What part of Jason’s statement, “Stay at the hospital I will bring Sam to you,” did she not understand?   

Did you laugh as Sonny frantically dug up the yard with his ax?  Truthfully, I laughed because one does not usually dig up the yard in the middle of the night with an ax but tucked underneath the laugh was a twinge of discomfort because digging in the yard with an ax is not normal behavior, which means that he has a problem.  It isn’t nice to laugh at another person’s problems.  Though really, he is a do-it kind of guy who suddenly has nothing to do.  Why not start an herb garden on a whim?  Maybe a shovel would have worked better than an ax but what’s wrong with projects?  For that matter, what’s wrong with Corinthos Coffee Franchises on every corner (other than competition from Starbucks)?  I have a list of projects as long as my arm waiting for time out of my schedule.  Of course, I don’t usually start them with an ax, but hey, whatever’s handy. 

Sonny has some new looks and they have a strange affect on those around him.  They are his slipping-over-the-edge-of-sanity-but-hiding-it looks.  Here are a couple variations of his “look” and the “looks” he has drawn from others. 

Sonny’s slipping-over look and Alexis’

 oh-my-I-can’t-believe-I-had-sex-with-that-scary-guy look. 

Here we have Sonny’s obsessive-herb-garden look and Emily’s my-lover-digs-with-axes look. 

See how it’s working?  Sonny invents a look and the characters around him invent one too.  I am finding it very entertaining.  Seriously, I am happy that Maurice Benard is finally able to address Sonny’s breakdowns on GH and is playing it from a real standpoint instead of glossing over a serious life debilitating condition that affects millions of people.  Emily actually said the words Bipolar Disorder and had a discussion with Lainey about the condition.  This is the kind of reality I like on my soap.  Now if the writers can follow through with Sonny seeking medical attention instead of having Emily cure him with her love, I will be thoroughly impressed.  And yes, you may have detected a hint of cynicism there.  After all, Emily fought breast cancer and was cured by her love of Nikolas.  Pfft!   

And my personal favorite, Sonny’s delusional-coffee-franchise look and Jason’s uh-oh-better-not-mention-Starbucks look. 

Why does Emily persist in lying to Jason?  Remember, Emily, the brother who can spot a lie at 60 paces?  Poor, poor Max and Milo who have no clue what to do about Sonny but have to do something because Jason ordered them to.  I love that Max has lines and a personality now. 

What do you think happened to Maurice Benard’s nose?  Those stitches in his nose along with the swelling sure looked real. 

There goes Diego making a dash through the Criminal Careers R Us marketplace.  I think the writers are setting him up to be the next big die character.  I am sorry for Lorenzo and it hasn’t even happened yet.  To me, it looks a lot like Diego will be the next Zander.  Can we say November sweeps?  Big dramatic die by the poor misunderstood, incredibly handsome but not incredibly intelligent, thug.  The only redeeming part of Diego’s dash is the regular appearance of my favorite bartender, Coleman. 

Considering age and cohorts, teaming up Diego and Lulu makes sense.  However, I still wish Lulu and Many could become friends in a Beauty and the Beast kind of way.  She could rescue Many somehow and see the good deep inside him while Many becomes her devoted admirer and attempt to save her all pain in inappropriate ways.  Luke will never try to save his little girl from an imaginary boyfriend named Elvis, or Dillon or even Diego, but he might sit up and take action if he thinks Lulu is falling for Many.   

Surprisingly, I enjoy the pairing of Patrick and Robin.  One so conceited and the other sanctimonious, they make perfect foils for the other.  I can’t say that I dance with anticipation over whether or not they’ll show up on my screen each day, but I enjoy their sparring.  My favorite part of Robin and Patrick’s relationship would be Epiphany’s sarcastic quips as they make eyes at each other by the nurse’s station.  For whatever twisted reason, whenever anyone takes potshots at Patrick and Robin, I enjoy it.  Except Carly, she’s just mean. 

How cool is it that Stanford got a mommy on the show?  After a couple years of dreadlocks and a line or two a month, he suddenly acquired a family and lost his dreads.  More please. 

Sadly, Durant died, so much story potential wasted.  He is a great actor but a terrible character who wasn’t allowed to expand in any direction except as a caricature of a heartless lawyer.  But take heart, Wubs.net posted that Corbin Bernsen has found a gig on the USA Network in a show called Psych.   I’ll have to check that one out.  From the previews it looks entertaining. 

How many kids does it take to break a writer’s concentration?  Just one.  But I have 3 standing at my elbow at the moment waiting for summer entertainment.  Have a wonderful week.  I wish for you the joy of anticipation.   

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

–Carl Sagan