"To Have and To Hold, From This Day Forward, On Awesome Shows and Bad Shows..."

I started writing this entry by typing, "The past few days of General Hospital have been so utterly great that I've had to consult a thesaurus for new ways to say 'adorable', 'fabulous' and 'soapy'" and, as I re-read the sentence, I realized that I have not typed a sentence like that since, like, 1997. At least.

Then I started to worry. I mean, since when do "great" and "General Hospital" belong in the same sentence when not separated by "-ly disappointing"? And for the OG GH to demonstrate this newfound creative renaissance with Patrick and Robin? A couple that they barely cared to write for over the past few years and when they did deign to write for them, crafted storylines like The Blog Wars and The One Conversation and Night Shift: Season 1? Really? That's...unlikely. So I thought that, maybe, perhaps, I had just hallucinated the entire thing. "It finally happened," I thought to myself. "General Hospital actually BROKE MY BRAIN."

But I rewatched the episodes and it turns out that they were actually episodes that were aired, for real, and were great: Fabulous Scrubs wedding! Spencers, Cassadines and Baldwins, oh my! Sonny being STABBED! It's like the writers said, "You know what we should try for a few days? Writing some quality soap. It could be kind of fun, doing something different like that".

Whatever the reasoning, whether it's just them actually trying for once, Awesome Writer being handed the reins or the simple notion that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, I have to give these writers credit for creating a fantastic soap wedding.

The scenes leading up to the wedding, where people who are, like, related to each other did things like interact and reference history? So shockingly out of place on this show that I gasped.

Mac: Well, you know what? I'll be happy to walk you down the aisle and give you my blessing, but I will never give you away.

Aww!

Mac: I want cops at every intersection within four blocks of Queen of Angels, all right? Keep traffic moving. I want no-parking zones within a two-block radius. Tow first, write tickets later. 18:00 hours. I want everything in place immediately. My niece will not be stuck in traffic on the way to her wedding.

The nonstop parade of criminals, slaughterings and crooked trials makes one forget that there is a police presence in Port Charles at all, let alone that Mac is the police commissioner, so reminders like this are kind of nice.

Anna: I managed to see your dad. And he looks so much stronger. And he sends his love and he's so proud and yadda yadda.

Becca finally stepped away from the ledge she's been tNight Shift with this news.

Anna: Oh, okay. What about your hair? I can't do your hair. You know, I'm horrible with hair, I mean, clearly.

Clearly! Clearly a shoutout to us! Or, at the very least, the writers' subtle attempt to make Finola Hughes see the error of her ways.

But sometimes when characters on this show reference history, it makes me a little sad, and I weep for what once was...

Maxie: You know, I would always picture the perfect wedding. Not for me, but for my mom and Mac. He loved her so much. I always wanted them to get married so that we could be a family. They did eventually get married. It was a double-wedding with two people that you don't know, Kevin and Lucy.

It is a damn shame that Spinelli doesn't know Kevin and Lucy. They were such a huge, fun part of General Hospital and it breaks my heart a little bit that so many mobsters, mobsters' sycophants, mobsters' molls, and assorted nitwits make their way into Port Charles and Kevin and Lucy are MIA.

We all know how I feel about the endless speechifying that this town does on Jason being awesome at being awesome; my complaining about it is possibly even more tiresome than the speechifying itself. But I have to admit, the scenes where Maxie asked him to go to Robin's wedding didn't bother me. Perhaps because they sent me back to the halcyon days of the late 90s, when I thought that Jason and Robin were just the best thing since the song "Say You'll Be There". I do think that Jason and Robin were hugely important to each other and I liked their past being discussed, and it also gave us some quality Maxie zingers:

Maxie: Is that why you refuse to go to Patrick and Robin's wedding, because you have to whack someone? That's rude.

Maxie: How many weddings do you think Robin is going to have? I mean, this isn't like Carly, who gets married every five minutes so if you skip out on one, it's not that big of a deal.

Ha! But little does Maxie know that when Carly and Jax got married and Jason almost didn't show up, Carly pretty much had a breakdown and wasn't going to go through with it. Remember that? And the show expected us to get invested in Carly and Jax and be sad when their marriage fell apart? Oh, show. You and your drugs.

Jason attending the wedding led to the most bizarre part of the whole equation: the strange, vaguely homoerotic conversation between Sonny and Jason about their past

.

Sonny: I remember those first couple of years you worked for me. You used to ask questions all the time, not just about business but how to live in the world. You didn't understand how a person could say one thing and mean another.

Jason: It just seemed easier not to say anything, you know?

Sonny: It got to the point where you didn't -- you quit asking. But I knew when you were confused, because you would do certain things and I would sit you down and explain it to you, and you were a fast learner. I mean, I'd just tell you once. You got it cold.

Jason: I couldn't have had a better teacher.

I'm pretty sure that's the start of a porno...

Sonny getting himself stabbed and thrown in the river (as if the Russian mob would do that! Again, writers, watch Law & Order to see how the Russian mob operates!) was the Sonny-related highlight of the week, but the awesomeness of the wedding as a whole even led Sonny to get in a good line.

Coleman: Mr. Corinthos, hey. I didn't realize you were on the guest list.

Sonny: Yeah? I didn't realize you were the welcoming committee.

Coleman: Well, I'm -- I'm Patrick's best man.

Sonny: Yeah, well, times must be lean.

Hee! That's kind of a dick thing to say, but it still made me chuckle. Perhaps because Coleman, while amusing, skeeves me out more than a little bit. Like, way more than a little bit.

Coleman: Psst. Save me a dance at the reception, Barbara Jean. Tasty.

So...wrong. Not in the "so wrong, it's right" sense, either. Just...wrong.

And how outstanding did everybody look? Soap weddings are made to be full of pretty people looking pretty, but with these particular powers-that-be in charge, you never know how that's going to work out. Luckily for us, hair, wardrobe and makeup had their taste levels up to par.

Nadine looked beautiful. That color really works on Claire Coffee. Not well enough to make me forget how annoying Nadine is in general, but well enough to give her a temporary reprieve from my mocking.

Kelly, Lainey and Epiphany were similarly cute.

I feel like if I talk anymore about how perfect looking Becky Herbst is that I will have a restraining order filed against me, but, come on, I can't let this go without comment.

I don't think that the necklace really works with that particular dress; it's kind of distracting, no? But, again, the wardrobe people found another perfect color for one of their actresses to wear.

Their accessorizing skills are seriously not up to par, because I didn't feel like Anna's jewelry worked at all, with her dress and just in general. Bobbie...also attended the wedding.

Who do I write to to ask for more scenes of Ingo Rademacher in a suit?

John Ingle apparently had a medical procedure done, which is why Edward is wearing the jaunty hat. I love the hat, though, and I think he looks super cute. Monica also looked fabulous.

Kirsten Storms is lucky enough to have perfect skin, perfect hair and wears dresses well.

I'd hate her if she weren't so adorable.

And the GH people must have borrowed Night Shift's people for Kimberly McCullough, because she looked divine.

There were some not so great aspects of the wedding, like the weird, random, kind of uncomfortable scenes with Patrick and Olivia, that were part of a long run of "See Olivia? She's awesome! Love her! I SAID LOVE HER, VIEWERS!" scenes that we were treated to. I just don't see any real reason for their paths to cross, like, ever.

And then, the big one: Patrick being late to the wedding because he was operating on Anthony Zacchara.

FIRST OF ALL, Johnny Zacchara was so much better when he was jumping off of buildings. I like Brandon Barash a lot, but the writing for the character is so all over the place. Who orders someone to miss his wedding in order to perform surgery? Seriously, who does that?  And it wasn't even played for laughs like Seth Rogen's rant to the MIA obstetrician in Knocked Up ("I'm going have to kill you, I'm gonna pop a fucking cap in your ass. You're Tupac, you are fucking Biggie, you piece of shit")!

Johnny: Not at the expense of our father's life. I'm not going to have some doctor I've never heard of operate on my father.

I know Patrick rules in myriad ways, but come on. It's not like he's the only surgeon in the world and I doubt he was offering to have some random high school biology student perform the surgery on Anthony.

SECONDLY, what the hell was with Patrick not calling Robin or Coleman or someone to tell them that he was going to be late? I know it's a plot contrivance to give us all a dramatic entrance, but still! They could have written something even minorly plausible. Even no cell reception in the church would have been better! But no! He JUST DOESN'T CALL. Honestly, who does that?

THIRDLY, the motley crew at this wedding was the DUMBEST BUNCH OF PEOPLE ever assembled in a small space. Especially Spinelli.

Spinelli: No, I, I -- the Jackal made a thorough search. He's not answering his cell phone. He's not at home. He's not in the church. As I previously explained, he is most definitely missing.

Okay, so Spinelli is a super web stalker genius, most of the congregation has gone to medical or nursing school and there is a world renowned superspy there and that's what they come up with? Really? Is Sonny and Jason's stupid contagious? "He's not at home, and he's not here, and there is literally nowhere else in the world that he could be! Uh oh, no wedding!" MORONS. You don't look for the workaholic surgeon at the hospital? I know it was just another plot contrivance to aid the larger plot contrivance, but STILL. This is RIDICULOUS.

On the ridiculous subject, when the guests were worrying about more drama from Robin and Patrick, Epiphany said

Epiphany: Lord knows I'm a patient woman...

ELL OH ELL. Patient like a drill sergeant, Pip.

It led to two good things, though. The first being Edward and his cantankerous self...

Edward: Hmm. Those are very beautiful words, my dear. But unfortunately, the missing groom can't hear them. So if nobody else has the decency to escort you out, I'll do it.

Mac: Edward, I'm the uncle of the bride. It's my responsibility. I'll do it.

Ha! I loved that it was just a foregone conclusion at that point that Patrick wasn't showing and that Mac figured that part of his official bride-giving-away duties included ushering her back out when she got jilted. Is that written in an etiquette book somewhere?

And the second, of course, being Robin's complete and utter faith in Patrick and knowing that he'd be there.

Robin: You know, Patrick and I have done enough worrying for two lifetimes, but the second I agreed to marry him, I haven't had a second thought.

Robin: I know this isn't going exactly as planned, but it will. Eventually. All of you know me and Patrick, and you've seen us through our ups and downs, and many of you have given us much-needed advice. So I just -- I want to thank you for your support and remind you of what you already know, which is that Patrick and I love each other. And we always will. And yes, it may have taken us way too long to get to this point, but now that we're here, we're committed. And you may think I'm crazy, but there is not a doubt in my mind that he will walk through that door at any moment. So please just be patient. There will be a wedding today.

It was really beautiful! No drama, no Bridezilla antics, just a woman knowing that the man she loved would be there for her. Perfect.

And Patrick hotly running in all dramatically was the icing on the cake.

Muffin takes after her father, apparently, because she made a dramatic entrance of her own.

Father Coates: Everybody stay calm. Is there a doctor in the house?

Hee! And how awesome was it that pretty much all of the guests stood up? I mean, a good portion of them are nurses, not doctors so they didn't need to stand up and god knows that Kelly and Lainey should have been forcibly restrained from offering their services, but still, it was pretty impressive to see a group of medical professionals together on this show. The show that has the word hospital in the title.

But holy foreshadowing, Batman!

Kelly: This one's mine. Step back, father. We have a baby coming.

Yeah, Kelly's on the case, this labor will totally go smoothly! The rest of the guests must have silently been thinking, "Noooo! Not Dr. Lee! Muffin deserves better!" I know that's what I was thinking.

Kimberly McCullough was reliably fantastic in the labor scenes, and Jason Thompson being hotly paternal was..well, hot.

Robin: About the closet.

Patrick: You mean the nursery.

Robin: I know it's a closet. You know it's a closet. We have to get the kid out of there before she knows it's a closet. You know, once this is done, i think we should rethink our living arrangements.

Ha!

Of course, Robin and the baby are going to wind up in distress, because that's how General Hospital rolls. Healthy mothers and babies are so last century.

The labor drama did lead to more nice family scenes (!!! What is this show and what has it done with GH?)...

Mac: Ok, ok. Now I can panic. You know what? I don't think I've ever been this scared in my life.

Anna: It's childbirth, Mac. It's been happening for millions of years.

Mac: Not to Robin.

How cute was that? Mac is at his best when he's worrying about his girls.

...but if I can be bitchy for a minute: I do feel like the entire HIV pregnancy storyline has been absolutely bungled from the very start; the fact that Robin is HIV positive should have been enough to drive the story for months without resorting to the aforementioned blog wars and breakups and the other lame stuff that they throw at this couple in lieu of actually writing anything complex and...good. So as nice as this week's episodes have been, I also feel like this is kind of anticlimactic when one considers what could have been. Once again, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but the GH in my head is way better than the show.

Overall, though, the GH we saw this week, even if it doesn't compare to my imaginary GH, is miles better than it has been in ages, and I can't think of a better story to benefit from this upturn in greatness

Screencaps courtesy ofLizNJase

Comments

[Sarah]

Can we get an AMEN for Mallory?!?!?! Bitchen post :-)

Thank you for astutely recalling the highs and lows of this wedding and this whole week on GH. Scrubs chemistry overcame the months and years of shit writing, even with all the retarded plot contrivances at this wedding and with this pregnancy. The family goodness and zero bridezilla moments were pure Scorpio GH. Those family moments were as good as those in my head, and yours. It's good to know I am not the only one running a very different version of GH in my mind. Stockholm syndrome maybe?

Just imagine the entertainment of a Lucy and Spinelli conversation, more wasted opportunities of great soapness. And maybe Lucy could give Scotty back his brain? I miss Kevin too.

As good as it was to see Sonny get stabbed and sunk, we all know he ain't dyin'. Bummer. The majority of violence on this show is extra extra offensive because it rarely works, at least in regards to the murders. Does anyone not return from the dead on GH anymore? Guza writes his "whackings" like Mike Meyers did with Austin Powers and Dr. Evil. Elaborate funny creepy and ineffective. So unless there are sharks with laserbeams on their heads in the PC River Sonny's stab wound and drowning won't be fatal. The spoiler as how to he survives ,yet again, is so awful I won't mention it. But I will say I wish his savior died right along with him and the free weights holding him down!!!!

Maxie is perfection, I'm with Spinelli on that one.

Sonny and Jason going down memory lane (and maybe on each other) ....Bom chickee waaa waaan! But along with his scenes w/ Maxie I enjoyed this tiny glimpse of the old Jason, pre Carly Jason.

I liked the icky Coleman interactions too!

My favorite line in this post though was "Oh show. You and your drugs." That sums it all up perfectly.

Love the review. It was like Awesome Writer staged a coup, but didn't have time to completely fix everything Bob had written, hence why almost all of Patrick's lead up scenes to the wedding are disappointing and seem to be written by the same shitty writers. For instance, the tiny pleather jacket + Mock4.5 + Bensonhurst Barbie + misogynistic asshole stereotype view of marriage = enough totally not awesome to remind me I was watching General Hospital, just in case I forgot.

And one small thing, in furtherance of contrivance, Patrick had signed out of the hospital before getting locked into Z's surgery. So when Robin calls the hospital and asks, she gets told that he left an hour and a half ago, thus IMO letting Spindoctor off the hook. I did not enjoy seeing Patrick act like a douche, even bitching out his newfound brother who suggested he call to further a suckass plot contrivance. There were ways to amp up the "will he run" drama and have those scenes, without making Patrick appear like a horse's rectum. I've rewatched and FF'd the groom until he hits the church and find the scenes much more pleasurable that way.

And yes, all of this is wonderful now, but silly me, I expect a story that takes almost a year to tell, to have more than 3 good episodes. This whole story has been badly played from jump, and no matter how awesome "Last Attempt to Save Our Asses" sweeps ends up, it still doesn't make up for months of wasted time, or what this story could have been.

[Erika]

I actually can't bring myself to erase this week's episodes from my DVR because they were so awesome!! This is the week Scrubs fans have been waiting for for 3 years and I agree, the writers delivered. Unfortunately I am sure we will soon again be subjected to months of shootings, stabbings, hideously bad dialogue, etc. How long can a good thing last with Guza "The hatchet job" head writer at the helm? But at least for one brief shining moment we smiled a lot and felt good about a show that has not lived up to it's rich history for way too long.

Honestly, there are not even words for how awesome Kimberly McCullough and and Jason Thompson are!! They are the only reason I watch the show and are consistently the most real entertaining part of it. Even when the writing is atrociously bad, you can't help but enjoy them.

Here's an idea writers: You know how soaps are known for their groundbreaking storylines? How about the most groundbreaking storyline of all? A soap couple that actually stays together and is interesting. A married soap couple that is not torn apart in a matter of weeks by adultery and lies. I know it sounds beyond shocking, but think of the possibilities.

Bye the way, a few more Olivia and Patrick scenes and I am pre-emptively not watching anymore. I think the Scrubs fans deserve better.

[Jennifer]

I thought this week was perfect, and to add to it, Carly was not on AT ALL during the week. Thank the soap gods for small miracles.

[Jennifer]

Another thing, part of me wonders if these are the episodes that they plan to provide to the emmy nominating committee.

[Kels]

THANK YOU! I appreciate you pointing out that crap with Spin & for mentioning that Anna is, you know, a spy. It was just an unfathomable level of contrivance...along with the no calling. I'm trying to block that ish out and focus on the goodness that was there.

I was so hoping you would point out Pip's line about being patient. I nearly died laughing when she said that. Obviously she has quite a deluded image of herself.

As someone who was never ever ever a J&R fan, I'm just going to say I want him to go away....permanently.

And seriously GH needs a better OB-GYN or perhaps Guza & co need to realize that every single solitary birth that happens does NOT need to come with major life-threatening drama.

The HIV aspect of the birth should have been more than enough drama but as you so rightly pointed out they dropped that ball a loooooooong time ago.

[Tatiana]

I loooooved all the wedding stuff for Patrick and Robin. I thought it was going to be half-assed... you know like most of the HIV pregnancy story... but I was totally surprised.

So much word on what could have been if they wrote the pregnancy more seriously.

[ckn]

Great post! I especially love your last few remarks

Mac is at his best when he's worrying about his girls. CHECK! Love me some over protective Mac!

Overall, though, the GH we saw this week, even if it doesn't compare to my imaginary GH, is miles better than it has been in ages, and I can't think of a better story to benefit from this upturn in greatness. DOUBLE CHECK! Love me some deliciously cute Scrubs!

...but if I can be bitchy for a minute: I do feel like the entire HIV pregnancy storyline has been absolutely bungled from the very start; the fact that Robin is HIV positive should have been enough to drive the story for months without resorting to the aforementioned blog wars and breakups and the other lame stuff that they throw at this couple in lieu of actually writing anything complex and...good. So as nice as this week's episodes have been, I also feel like this is kind of anticlimactic when one considers what could have been. Once again, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but the GH in my head is way better than the show. QUADRUPLE CHECK!!! What took you so long?

I've been waiting for SD to address this seriously overlooked point. The Scrubs pregnancy s/l if compared to the rest of the show was above average, but compared to what it could have been was way below average.

It wasn't just the lack of HIV focus. It was the overall lack of Robin in her own pregnancy s/l. More often than not Robin's POV was either absent, superficial or ridiculed. Here's an example, Robin initially didn't want to marry Patrick and everyone including her mom called her an ungrateful control freak as a result! First, it's a total double standard given the fact that when Patrick told Robin he didn't see her or anyone as the mother of his children everyone including Robin agreed that Patrick had a right to his feelings on fatherhood and left him alone. Second, the writing ignores the fact that Robin had valid reasons to be hesitant about marriage in general and marriage with Patrick specifically. What's up with the huge oversight? I am a fan of Patrick, Robin and Scrubs, but I can't shake the feeling that Robin fans got the rawest deal over the past 10 months.

Bitching aside, I am grateful for the great stuff we got with Scrubs' almost wedding.

[natty3]

Word mallory!!!!!!! i actually felt giddy and ran home to watch Gh which i havent done since the mid to late 90's! all the family scenes with maxie robin mac patrick matt and anna were stellar. I loved the drake brothers interacting and cant wait to see more. All the vets left on the show were on for 3 episodes this week!! robin looked beautiful and patrick was hotness personified. i even loved coleman greeting guests and mac yelling at him to step up. THe best part was robin having faith in patrick and patrick knowing robin would understand. seriously after this week and seeing the boards buzzing why dont TIIC get a clue. and jason thompson/patrick should finally be the front and center male lead of GH period!

[Sue]

Great post ladies. GH hasn't been this good in a long time. I didn't understand how no one in the hospital realized Patrick was still there doing surgery but I guess it's another stupid plot point. Loved Patrick hotly running into the church. I loved when Father Coates asked if there was a doctor in the house and half the congregation stood up. Let's hope the scenes this week are just as good.

[jennyp]

Great wedding, and is it wrong that I like Dr Superfluous Hunter better solely because he shaved? Much easier for me to pretend that he has a purpose on GH--I'm sooo shallow.

[Tania]

I've gushed and EEEE'd and Awww'd all week so whats one more... Scrubs have been my favorites for nearly 3 years. Through the good and the bad I have been there, supported them, loved them, and had the faith that they WOULD be together and stronger in the end. I have waited for Muffin(and now I know her name EEEEE! But I'll refrain so non-spoiler folks will be surprised) and my Scrubtacular wedding. And now they are finally here.

This week just proves to me once more that Robin and Patrick SHOULD be front and center. Kimberly and Jason are utterly AMAZING; I can't say enough great things about them b/c when I stop I always think of more.

But on to this week, I can honestly say that although I would change some things, this week was PERFECTION. Yeah I can choose to dwell in some of the bad and idiotic things but I won't b/c this is MORE than I could have ever asked for... more than I could have imagined. The reason I can accept some of the stupid things that went down(although I did briefly yell at my tv) is b/c I knew they had a reason. Patrick being late could have been done a NUMBER of ways... as could giving the audience and people of PC reason to doubt him, but they chose this way and the ONLY reason I can excuse the DUMB that is him not calling is b/c I knew it was to show Robin's COMPLETE faith and trust in him even when everyone else thought she was crazy b/c it wasn't always that way, she had doubts and now she doesn't.

I do wish they had gotten married before her water broke but at least now when they DO get married they have a flower girl <3 I can't wait to see Robin, Patrick, and their daughter: Baby *enter first name* *enter middle name* Drake... This week's highlight was the wedding... next week is having my Drake(and I guess Scorpio since they didn't get married) family for the first time in all their beautiful, wonderful, amazing glory.

Awesome post as usual, loves... couldn't get more right if you tried.

[Lisa]

I've been waiting all weekend for your post!

Now am watching the Soapnet marathon to catch up to Friday, since I've learned that good characters got more than the one day. I'm on Wednesday...

Uh, why are JZ's boobies so incredibly huge? And oiled up? Has she started doing porn on the side to make up for her salary cut?

And Lucky can call to make he and Nicholas's excuses (But not Lulu's and Luke's? Er?) but Patrick can't ask a nurse to call the church before he heads into surgery? Then she could have been waylaid and not called, and he wouldn't have looked like an absent minded dork who'll forget the baby in her carrier on the car roof someday.

Still don't get these bridesmaid burgundy dresses with orange flowers. I assumed Liz's necklace was some precious gift from her baby daddy, but it's just ugly with too long of a chain? Anna's necklace looked like something the character would have worn back in the '90's, but her dress was great.

I thought KMc's labor was extremely realistic too, which is odd, since she hasn't had babies, while many of the over-dramatic soap births are with RL mothers. At least Robin really should be having a high risk birth.

[Mackenzie]

Great comments. I'm surprised you didn't mention the hilarious limo ride to the hospital. Those scenes provided some of the best GH screencaps so far this year. ROTFLMAO!!!

[Summer]

So I saw your posting and all the comments and recorded the Soapnet marathon to watch and....

The Scrubs stuff was great, the history, Philomena, seeing Edward being all protective about Robin, Maxie (and even..gasp..Spinelli!) FANTASTIC

However the Spencer/Cassadine/Baldwin thing? RIDIC! I see where Guza is going with this (because, you know, I've seen the show the last 10 years) and what is with the propping up of Scotty and Laura as cute and romantic, etc. And Luke telling Tracy she's the love of his life????????? WTF!!!???!!! Quit rewriting history, Guza! If this was leading to a thoughtful story arc featuring a Scott/Laura/Luke/Tracy and kids on the run story then that would be great....but we all know that this is so Guza can write
Genie out with Kin as former lovers rediscovering the old flame. (nevermind he FRAMED her for MURDER and cost her 8 years in a MENTAL HOSPITAL!!). If this doesn't go in this direction I'll be thrilled, but we know it is!

[Izzi]

Totally agree w/ you, although I did kinda like the JaSon scenes. It was really nice to hear ebody referencing the past and I think that's also a kudos to Kimberly coz she's the one that has the most memories from the show. I loved the wedding--totally agree with the phone call thing--STUPID! Kristen Storms is so adorable and the dress she wore was so pretty--Maxie is utterly perfect. And the Spixie scenes were cute. Robin being so calm ab Patrick showing up was wonderful.

I too have been enjoying the last days of GH, even if Alexis is totally MIA.

[Mary]

The writers have FINALLY gotten it right! Robin & Patrick should be at the front of all story lines on GH!! They truly are THE only reason to stay tuned into GH anymore. All Scrubs scenes from last week were terrific! JT & KMc are just plain awesome together!

Looking forward to seeing their everyday lives play out after the baby arrives....just watching Scrubs do nothing is preferable over the mob junk.

And, major suggestion to the GH powers that be: STOP the Olivia/Patrick scenes immediately. Totally unnecessary! If there is a hookup of these two intended for down the road...forget it! They don't go together at all.

Thank you for recapping the best thing that's happened to GH in a long time. It was so magical that it even managed to make me NOT FF Sonny/Jason...if that ain't magic, I don't know what is. I was even willing to overlook the whole Patrick-not-calling-the-church-lameness because I couldn't believe how good everything else was.

Still, I think we all know who we can thank for this great week...is it a coincidence that GH gets all soapy and good just as NS has ended? Methinks TPTB realized what worked on that show and are (please god let this be true) going to bring some of that over to OG GH permanently. I hope that by putting that out there I did not jinx it. I will just say thank you Sri Rao for this week--even though I know he didn't write it, I still give him credit because I shudder to think how it would have been without NS3 being how it was.

[Sarah B.]

oops, forgot to sign in, that last post was me.

Also meant to add I don't mind Patrick having scenes with Olivia or anyone else, if they made sense, which these only half made sense to me. I think maybe the show is trying to get Robin and Patrick out of their bubble (ahem, kinda like how they were integrated with everyone on NS3), and I'm all for that!

[CHIgirl]

WTF was Spinelli doing at the wedding???? will someone please beam him back up to whatever planet he came from. I cannot stand that character. I mean seriously - how many hot guys do you know hang around complete moron's like Spinelli? Yeah - I don't know any either...

Please let Sonny be dead. Lord knows he killed the English sentence years ago....

All in all - the wedding was very soapish and I mean that as a compliment becuase GH hasn't been ANYTHING like a soap opera in years....

[Jennifer]

Scrubs Wedding, Sonny stabbed, & no Carly...

HELLZ YEAH!!!! Totally Awesome!!!!

[junie]

Loved this post! Thanks!

[RAP]

The writing neglecting to have Patrick make a genuine effort to contact Robin or Mac or Maxie or anyone reminds me that even on good days, GH still does not understand how to tell a story. All they had to do was show him attempting and failing to circumstance beyond his control. The audience is willing to believe lame explanations, just provide one, stupid show. Patrick would have done more and I don't appreciate that the writers treated him badly in this case. There are too many gaps and holes that would be easy to fill, would not malign a character's integrity and would maintain the element of drama. But since GH sucks, I'm not going to hold that against Patrick. Guza, yes. Patrick, no.

Kimberly and Jason, as always, saved the lame writing. They were both fabulous. The range of emotions playing across both their faces felt real.

I appreciate the recap of Maxie getting in some zingers to Jason as I refuse to watch a single Jason scene. Not even to hear Maxie tell him off and especially not to hear Robin praise the murdering criminal. Blech.

All in all, it really was a delightfully wonderful soapy wedding. Well, almost wedding, which is just that much more soapy.

[CC]

Ditto to Mallory! Well said. I could not have said it better. When I was watching, all of what you said was running through my mind. I was getting irritated at the same places you described. Writers definitely could have done better leading up to the wedding. They could have really done something with that idea of making it seem as Patrick bailed, but unfortunately, it fell short. But yes, seeing Patrick run into the church so hotly frazzled makes up for it - but only so much because I still feel jipped. So many holes, but nothing new. So many holes in the past too. So while as a Scrubs fan, I am happy they are together, there are so many holes and things left with no closure in so many of their storylines in the past year or so to have the truly satisfying lead up to what should be the perfect wedding that Scrubs fans have hoped for, especially after all the PAINFUL scenes from late 2007 to early 2008, plus not so funny blog wars story, etc.. In our minds, GH could be so great! But as you said, GH this week of Scrubs wedding is better than it has been in a long time. Far from perfect, but far better than it has been.

[Sam]

Great recap! I especially love your recaps when they have pictures.

What made me really sad about the whole Patrick pre-wedding nonsense - first, with Olivia, and then, at the hospital - was that it just highlighted the fact that Patrick has no friends. (Seriously, Patrick went into work on the morning of his wedding because he didn't have a friend to have lunch with.) I wish ... well, I wish a lot of things when it comes to GH, but here I wish they had made Patrick and Nikolas friends after the Metrocourt fiasco, so that Patrick would've had someone to hang out with before the wedding.

[BarbE]

I had such a good time watching GH last week. Robin with her family were true wedding fairy tale stuff. I don't know how many times I rewatched the Scorpio family. And then the NS1 Skank character showed up in most of Patrick's hospital scenes. WTF? Having that character still anywhere near one of Scrubs are the ONLY time I have ever fast forwarded either R or P. I just can't take it. I knew then that GH didn't want me to have completely fond memories featuring Scrubs.

[Colleen]

Loved the blog....and couldn't agree more!!

Mallory the line that had me ROTFLMAO was: "Oh, show. You and your drugs. "

[Colleen]

oh I forgot.... I loved the nod to Georgie and Filomena!!!!! Just perfect!

[Nadja Griffis]

Loved everything about Robin & Patrick's wedding except... Patrick's freakin' skinny tie. Seriously, it must stop. He looked absolutely scrumptious and then I saw the tie. Why, why, why???

[Mel]

I'm not hating Olivia. Maybe this is because Guza is working so hard to get me to like her? Maybe because she's says really mean, hurtful, and true stuff about sonny. If she doesn't fall for Sonny I don't mind her somewhere on the gh canvas.