Let Me Help . . .

If the Port Charles mobsters are starting to question any aspect of their business -- in this case the timing, if unfortunately not the propriety, of murder -- I think we should help out.

Sonny: To answer your question, I am close to this.  Maybe too close to this.  I just need your objective opinion.
Jason: Alright, first of all, Zacarra is the real problem.  Beyond that, I can't be objective.  Ric has hurt almost everyone I care about, and now you're telling me that his father is just like him?  I mean, how do we deal with someone like that?  What do we do, we wait for them to make a move?  Do we kill them before they make that move?  Where's the line?  When do we cross the line?

I can't be sure, but I think . . . around 1999?

Comments

[Becky]

If I may quote Joey Tribbiani, "You're so far past the line you can't even see the line. The line is a dot to you!"

That's how I feel about Jason, Sonny, Carly, Jerry, and all TIIC at GH - the line is a dot to them.

[Chimène]

That exchange leapt out at me too, as did Jason's line from last week: "[Spinelli] may have found a license plate of the people who may have threatened Elizabeth, and I'm going to tell you this right now. If Ric is involved, he's going to be face to face with Alcazar at the bottom of the harbor."

It's chilling to hear this almost casual talk right after seeing the romantic/sentimental aspect of Jason's character in a tryst with his sweetheart. An author cannot maintain the integrity (wholeness) and credibility of a character who is morally over-compromised. I suppose some viewers rationalize by saying "He suffered brain damage" but that explanation doesn't jibe with Jason's exquisite ethical sensibilities in many other situations.

I discovered your site a few weeks ago and--as a fan of the Golden Years/bemused current viewer of "General Hospital" and "Days of Our Lives"--have been enjoying it immensely.

[Becca]

Welcome, Chimène! I thought that "bottom of the harbor" line last week was interesting, in that it made clear that yeah, Jason was guilty of the murder he was just acquitted of. And therefore reinforced that the writers have completely lost track of what a good guy is.

And as far as Jason's brain damage, the writers haven't written that consistently in years. I seriously just want him to get bumped on the head and have it gone, because that would make as much sense as the way they write the character now.

Becky, have you seen our FAQ? We both love that episode!

[Chad]

And according to the previews Jason is going to threaten to murder Sam. 'Cause that's what we want from the romantic lead of a soap opera; threatening to murder the ex-love of his life.

[Melissa]

Salem desperately needs some twenty and thirty somethings that aren't related to Bradys or Hortons. It's just getting ridiculous, with the knotted family tree.

[Jenna]

Becky, I almost spit out my morning cup of tea onto the keyboard when I read your response.

Reprensible as the current IIC are - don't get me wrong, their moral vision is so skewed that I've sometimes wondered if they aren't, actually, doing all of this tongue-in-cheek, and that they've got a Bobby Ewing-like dream episode in the can that they're going to air one day - the roots of this anti-hero worship go back a lot farther into GH's history than '99. Try 20 years earlier, when Luke raped Laura and subsequently became GH's romantic lead. Nothing about that has EVER been okay. Nothing.

[Kels]

Color me shocked that either Jason or Sonny would recognize that there even is a line.

[Titian]

Ever get the feeling that GH writers created a beast that they don't know how to control? These mob storylines surpass the surreal. Imagine my unshock at seeing the caption GH Murders on the cover of the latest Soap Opera Digest. Characters go to Port Charles to die as do romance and humor and all the other reasons I bother to watch soaps.

[Andrea]

This is an interesting bunch of commentary. Yes, I think the writers have indeed created a world upside down and they don't know how to get out of. . . but I'm not sure it's not deliberate. I've never seen "The Sopranos," but I suspect they took its popularity as a sign to go farther in the direction they were already headed. They tried for a minute after Alan died to explore a different direction (remember, Jason had flashes of memory from his Quartermaine past. . . and there were rumors that JQ was about to re-emerge). But instead they went fully the other way, so that it's no longer necessary to create/maintain sympathy for Sonny and Jason by prosecuting them for things they didn't do. It's reached the point where Jason can be tried for a murder he did commit (at least as far as we know) and still be the innocent victim. A world truly upside down.

[Andrea]

This is an interesting bunch of commentary. Yes, I think the writers have indeed created a world upside down and they don't know how to get out of. . . but I'm not sure it's not deliberate. I've never seen "The Sopranos," but I suspect they took its popularity as a sign to go farther in the direction they were already headed. They tried for a minute after Alan died to explore a different direction (remember, Jason had flashes of memory from his Quartermaine past. . . and there were rumors that JQ was about to re-emerge). But instead they went fully the other way, so that it's no longer necessary to create/maintain sympathy for Sonny and Jason by prosecuting them for things they didn't do. It's reached the point where Jason can be tried for a murder he did commit (at least as far as we know) and still be the innocent victim. A world truly upside down.

To (try) to look on the bright side, this may be the first time I've seen the MobsterHeroes even question their criminal/glorious activities. At this point, I'll take what I can get out of this insanely morally twisted show.

More disturbing to me was today's episode - how many times is our wonderful little Cam going to be thrown under the bus in favour of the holy spawn? While Sam may have hired goons to scare Liz and her children (NO - I do not condone that in any way, shape or form) at least she remembered that Liz has TWO children. Oh, and Sam even remembers his name! From Jason's perspective there's Jake........and Liz. He rarely mentions Cam by name if at all.

A final note: Carly whining that Jax "slept" with Irina - what the hell was that?! Why is everything about Carly and how it affects her? Is she so self-involved that she can't see that her husband was raped? Maybe what he needs is caring and compassion (not to mention therapy) - not her raging "how could you do this to me?".