Someone, soapgod love ’em, FINALLY remembered what the Nurses’ Ball was meant to be. Manifest? On the surface it was the chance for the citizens of Port Chuckles to come together and let their hair down. They would sing, dance, project an air of happiness and togetherness, if only for one night. Was every NB about hand holding and singing love songs with mortal enemies? No, not a one of them! There was always tension balanced against wanted and unwanted surprises. Relationships were made and relationships were broken. There were the moments that lulled you into believing nothing bad could ever happen, just before you were hit between the eyes. Murder! Arrests! Affairs revealed!
The Ball has always been about more than Host Lucy Coe’s fantastic wardrobe changes. There was the latent content as well, the storyline below the surface, a storyline we did not know we were applauding. The Nurses’ Ball is also about hope, rehabilitation, renewal, and acceptance. Who could forget the first Nurse’s Ball following Stone’s death, with Robin’s public revelation that she is HIV positive? Keep in mind that Stone and Robin performed at the first ball just a couple of years prior!
Robin heard from AJ Quartermaine and others about the horrors of HIV, the terrible fears they had being in the same room as a person with the disease. She watched as Stone dealt with love and acceptance countered by fear and rejection, and without him, her time had come. Every Nurses’ Ball seemed to have at least one citizen of Port Chuckles using the ball to make a direct, or indirect, plea for acceptance.
I saw all of the above, and more, at this year ball.
Manifest
The musical numbers were all perfect. Fun, light, fantastic! Rebecca Herst? So amazing. I was shocked that her character “Liz” was thrown in with the young adult crowd, and then I looked at her, closely. No one would know that she was older than anyone in that group, and that she’d participated in the earlier Nurses? Ball. I’m not much of an Elizabeth fan, I haven’t been since the end of LL2 (Liz and Lucky) but Rebecca Herbst? She gets better with time! (Oh, and way to go making me miss Real Andrews, whose Det. Taggart would have been a perfect complement to Det. West.)
I was glad to see Liz and Ric at the ball. I have always enjoyed Elizabeth with Ric more than any other of her not-Lucky loves. There is something more real and less seedy about them than anyone else she’s ever been with and if she could just get beyond him holding Carly hostage in a panic room in their home, with the intent on stealing her child to give to Liz and then killing Carly, well.. .they could be very happy together. Right? Sadly, in daytime, that’s not even the WORST sentence you could write about a soap character. Still, Ric Lansing a damned bit better than a fair number of his GH colleagues, including brother Sonny.
Detective Sexypants? I refuse to be convinced that Nathan West (Ryan Paevey) is anything other than computer generated. He must be! How else can you explain how ridiculously good looking he is – no real person should be that gorgeous – ever! That RP happens to also be an engaging actor makes you wonder who, in casting, is not being paid enough after finding this guy. If Paevey doesn’t hit your “yum button”, no matter who you are, I think you should check your pulse. You may not have one.
My only complaint is that I’m a little upset with the writers for making me feel sorry for Brad (assuming it was their intent). Felix always deserved better than the treatment he received from his manchild boyfriend, but to have Felix and Lucas get close like that with Brad on the outside? Wow. I loved it, and still felt bad for the guy. There are no bad guys, ultimately, in this “brad centered triangle”. It has to end eventually and I will feel awful for the person who eventually has to bow out. Well done, writers! You’ve created the perfect triangle – one moving me to root for all involved, at least for now.
Latent
Maxie’s relationship with (what’s his name?) seems to be all about punishing herself for not being the person she thinks she should be, instead of accepting herself as she is. I can’t wait for Maxie to forgive herself and move forward. That guy is driving me nuts. It feels as if Maxie is living her own version of what hell must be like. He’s not a bad guy, just not the guy for Maxie.
Luke’s selection? “I am What I am” from La Cage Aux Folles. Pitch perfect selection, since we all know that this is not Luke Spencer! Tony Geary is so masterful that his eye movements in those scenes are Emmy worthy. Here is the question, GH fans: who DO we enjoy more? Real Luke or Faux Luke? Our Anti-hero has walked that dark line for so long that having him cross over didn’t change much, did it? I think Luke’s storyline is as much a Rorschach test for the audience as it is a reflection of Luke’s past – one filled with doing and being damaged to the point that no one misses the real Luke when he’s gone. There will never be another Tony Geary, folks. I can’t see this storyline working in anyone else’s hands.
We got to see that Obrecht really is the tree from which Britt’s apple fell. Obrecht may have a hard outer shell, but her repeated attempts to be accepted by the citizens of Port Chuckles suggests that she still wants more. She wants legitimacy if she can earn or steal it, but will live with having the town fearing and loathing her if it’s all she has. She is begging for Nathan’s affections, now. I have to wonder what will happen (to him) once she’s tired of begging and decides that he is not worth the trouble of trying to get him to love and accept her.
Thank you, GH, for a show so fantastic that I was inspired to blog, again.
Next stop? A review of Ronn Moss’ GH debut. I can only imagine he’s involved in exposing Faux Luke! Tune in, GH / Ronn Moss fans.
Nurses’ Ball highlights can be see by clicking HERE… including the MAGIC MILO group… and believe me, you don’t want to miss them.
Husband.
Will she learn that she was right (UGH), that the mob boys may engage in behaviors not condoned by society, but at least they’re loyal? Any bets on how long it will be before we hear Robin throw that line in Patrick’s face?
many years was it’s attention to details related to creating and building unparalleled love stories. Now all of GH’s love stories are on the rocks:
In case you’re wondering who the dark haired ‘gentleman’ is who rolled Luke into the cafeteria, it’s DL Brock, Bobbie Spencer’s murdered ex husband… and abuser. He is potentially an indirect linchpin between the old GH, the REAL GH, and a storyline that’s currently playing out on the new GH. Wouldn’t it be nice to make use of Bobbie’s history with Brock to have her figure out that Kristina in danger? The most the writers have ever managed to do is to remind the audience, whenever a little ‘tension’ was needed that Bobbie was once a hooker (though they’ve never seemed to make repeated use of Luke’s involvement in helping to pimp his underage sister). I think the writers could get much more mileage out of Bobbie’s past as a survivor, and possibly move toward an Emmy nomination for a useful storyline rather than the dreck they keep being nominated for (shame on you Emmy panel). Bobbie has gone on to free herself of her abuser, marry a man who loved her, raised children, moved up in her career, and regained control of her life.
I’m all about the ‘I told you so’ lately and I want to hand one out to the writers of GH. I’ve never been impressed with the casting of James Franco in the role of ‘Franco’ and have been horrified by the drooling and self-congratulating linked to the casting of JF in the role. The fact that the character was named Franco was enough to tell me about the lack of creativity attached his development. It seemed to be all about stunt casting and the hope that a primetime/big screen actor could save GH from falling ratings.
Quit making Carly an idiot who treats Jax’s child as Sonny’s future ‘kidnapped bait’ child. It’s disgusting. Notice that when Carly was listing off the children who were protected by Sonny’s grace, she included Josslyn, and not Molly? STOP IT!
Nora Buchanan. Nora is the woman who slept with her ex, Sam Rappaport, and passed his child off as her husband Bo’s child. Even better is the fact that she did it for Bo– whose son was recently killed. That was the rationalization she gave for betraying her husband, she most saintedly did it FOR his sake – all the while knowing that Sam was deeply in love with her and knowing what the emotionally fallout might be. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for all involved, after Bo and Sam’s deep pain, it turns out that Matthew was Bo’s son after all. Now we have Nora, who’d been warned/pleaded with/begged not to marry Clint because she didn’t really love him, has now left Clint to be with Bo – during a dark time in Clint’s life.
The storyline seems to be shaping up into one in which the person in need of rescue may be KIM, not Clint. He’s as intent on using her as she was on using him. I hope that doesn’t happen, because despite my exhaustion with female-male May-December romances, there’s something about this pairing that I like. Nice touch, writers, on having Kim’s plan fail when she underestimated his ability to hold his liquor. BRAVO for letting Clint walk away despite Kim’s offer to let him spend the night and having him warn her to quit while she was ahead. I could root for them as a couple – with Melissa Archer’s Natalie fighting with Kim and making her work to prove her love for Clint. I could <gulp> just as easily root for them developing a strong father-daughter relationship (Oedipal, I know) or have them remain as good friends. Either way, I’m hoping to see far more of Clint and Kim than Bo and Nora. SON’s 
Two words: Carly Manning. Two more words: EPIC FAIL. There are some soap staples I can’t get enough of: scheming liars who are eventually figuratively beaten down and forced to eat their own misery. Bad boys who are only clever by half and outwitted by their victims, victims they eventually fall in love with. Anything to do with corporate intrigue. Good old-fashioned romance. Deep dark family secrets – that have nothing to do with long lost children.
They know that talking with Mac is useless because he doesn’t want to go back to his old life of picking up the pieces for everyone else. He’s happy again and his happiness is like a drug that leaves him wanting more. What Mac doesn’t realize is that his drug state is both literal and figurative. Elle’s original plan was to slowly drug Mac, eventually killing him – until she learned about Robin and Patrick and knew they would investigate his death. She then begins working on ‘plan b’… setting Mac up for murder. If he can’t be made to pay for her father’s murder, he should be made to pay for someone else’s. She realizes the irony of taking a life to make Mac pay for the life he took, but she rationalizes her actions by planning to take the life of someone who ‘deserves’ it -unlike her heroic father.
Coffee At Cafe Russe 