Masking My Pleasure

At least one General Hospital writer had a serious fondness for Scooby Doo during their formative years, because the show so clearly enjoys mask shenanigans: assumed identities, dramatic unmaskings, lingering closeups on plastic faces.

I can't say for sure whether I share this fondness. On the one hand, it is SO ridiculous and cartoonish and I can suspend my disbelief for a LOT of things, but this is kind of pushing me to my disbelieving limits.

On the other hand, is it really that ridiculous? In a world of aliens and undead serial killers and Sonny Corinthos being considered a romantc catch, why can't heavily accented supervillains have easy access to scarily realistic looking masks?

The first hand would like to raise an eyebrow and wonder how it is that Faison, who spent so many months in a Duke mask, didn't automatically realize that Anna was not Anna. Like, even if these are scientifically engineered masks that don't have the same revolting smell of plastic that a typical Halloween mask from Party CIty does and somehow feel exactly like human skin, you'd think that Faison of all people would be like "Wait a minute..." Especially because I feel like he's obsessively noted everything about Anna from her height and frame to the length of her fingers. "YOU ARE NOT ANNA! YOUR EARLOBES ARE TOO WIDE!"

The second hand (and the first hand concedes) that there is no place for logic and fact in a world that gave us the greatest Faison reaction shot of all time.

 

OF ALL TIME.

Comments

[C]

I don't care if it makes sense or not, my girl Dr. O ripping off that mask made. My. Week. #teamfiercemasks

And Faison seems TERRIFIED of her. I CANNOT wait until their scenes tomorrow.

[C]

Oh, and thank you Mallory, for memorializing this magic moment for all time. Dr. O in an Anna mask yay!

[Alison]

I love all things Obrecht, Faison, Anna & Robert!! Not necessarily in that order and you can add Jerry to that list as well! I was irritated that Finola Hughes was not even nominated for an Emmy last year... If this woman isn't nominated for her facial expressions alone today while Faison professed his love for Anna I simply give up on those awards... In the meantime I will clap like a deranged seal for the remaining time that these characters grace my tv!!

[Nancy]

I agree, it's so much campy fun, I dont care if any of it makes sense. Faison and Dr.O are such awesome crazy quilts that it makes for must see TV. I am so glad they are not just dropping Robin in Port Charles in a boring way, but giving us Robert and Anna going up against these guys. Just loving it! Thanks for the great recap Mallory!

[bethie]

I LOVED it! It only makes sense in soap opera world, but I was actually giggling with glee watching it. . .

And I invite you all to watch again and see just how incredible Finola Hughes is. . . when she starts to let the masquerade of being "Anna" drop, her face changes. . . it's amazing but she drops her mouth or something and actually starts to LOOK like Obrecht. The woman is amazing.

AND I worry for Faison. Not only did he cross Evil O by telling "Anna" about Robin being alive, but he very directly told her that 1.He knows DR. O loves him and is his most trusted helper. and 2.that he has NEVER returned her feelings and never will.

Uh oh. Watch out Faison.

[Daryl]

tis sad that as soon as she showed up at the prison i knew it wasnt Anna .... on the other hand seeing Faison reaction was fabulous

[Holly]

@bethie.. and Dr. O knows now that Faison gave her up to Anna as his accomplice holding Robin! Vengeance time!

[Sarah]

Anyone else hoping for a creepy as hell flashback of Britts conception after today's hilarious scenes? I'm a freak, but it's just too much fun!

Oh and Robin called Patrick - Squeee!!!!! On a sad low point note, baby Ben is more entertaining than Sabrina. JT is a terrific actor, but even he can't sell this pairing. Snoozefest.

[LauraBB]

I am LOVING most of our show right now. I can't even bring myself to complain about it as a whole. I am wondering why the heck Maurice Bernard insists on being so orange. Does he think that looks good? He is the greasiest, orangest man I have ever seen on television. For me it is even more annoying than him not knowing his lines... As for Robin etc. my husband was a little worried about me when on Friday night I was freaking out and saying, "I can't wait for Monday!". That doesn't happen. Ever.

[Cindy]

I absolutely loved Faison being freaked out by the mask. Karma time. Even though I too was wondering why he, of all people, hadn't sensed it was a mask.

I enjoy the show so much more when the Corinthos' clan is not on. I even enjoyed Olivia and Duke. Am I mistaken or did she wap him upside the head like she did Dante the other day, just like an Italian Mama?

[uliis]

the mask thing was pretty stupid, but the performances were great. Still loling at Faison's "vaguely" when Dr O asked him if he remembered Britt.

[Em]

I think Season 3 of Alias made me completely immune to mask shenanigans. What? You're saying super secret evil organizations DON'T have masks that look and feel exactly like real people?

But I'm enjoying the Scorpio/Devane/Drake/Faison goodness. I can't wait for the big reunion. And I'm so ready for Sabrina's exit.

[Sarah]

LauraBB, I'm pretty sure a couple of the Muppets on Sesame St are nearly as orange as Maurice Bernard. But they are far more believable and of course know their lines ;-)

[foolishbeat]

Oh it's campy as hell, but I loved it. Maybe it's just my Dr. Obrecht love making me crazy, but I actually felt kind of sad for her when Faison could tell she loved him even through the Anna disguise and went in for a kiss. I'll stop now.

So happy to see Anna (and Robert soon, I'm guessing) on the hunt for Robin. Should be some good material there, at least better than the Luke/Laura/Dante looking for Lulu storyline from a while back.

And I'm so happy that Robin is coming back and Sabrina is finally being treated as a poor substitute. I don't know if I could have stood it if I heard how much Emma loves her, she's such a good person, blah blah blah. If Sabrina were at all interesting, if the characters had chemistry, if she weren't annoying, if if if, I would say Patrick's an ass for leading her on. But as it is, I just wish Sabrina would go away forever. Robin's kidnapping is the most interesting thing to happen to Patrick in ages, and all he's done so far is pick up a phone!

[boes]

What's good is GREAT. Robin, Anna, Faison, Albrecht, Britt, Nicholas - even Tracy, at the moment, though Luke is, unfortunately NOT in a coma.

Olivia, however......if she calls Robert Scorpio ONE MORE TIME I hope someone drowns her in a vat of Sonny's tanning lotion. There's no reason for this character to be in these scenes, involved with these characters, or even in Port Charles as anything but an urn full of ashes on Dante's mantel.

STFU Olivia.

[boes]

^^^Add to my post "calls Robert Scorpio ROBBIE one more time^^^

[DN]

Boes, I so agree. It annoyed every time she referred to that Husky puppy as a wolf-dog, but hearing her call Robert "Robbie" down right pissed me off.

[Linda]

The masks remind me of the old Mission Impossible series. I always loved it when they did it and it still makes me smile - who cares that the body types don't match - height differences? - no problem. It's all in good fun. This is how Wikipedia explained the Mission Impossible masks (ah, good times): This almost always involved very elaborate deceptions, usually several at the same time. Facilitating this, certain team members are masters of disguise, able to impersonate someone connected to the target or even the target himself. This is accomplished with realistic latex face masks and make-up. Some impersonations are done with the explicit cooperation of the one being impersonated. Also bona fides would be arranged to aid infiltrating the target organization. In some cases, the actor playing the IMF agent also portrayed the person to be impersonated (this most frequently occurred during Martin Landau's tenure on the series, notably in the pilot) or the voice of the person being impersonated was dubbed. In other cases, a guest star would play the dual role of both the original and the imposter (Rollin, Paris, or Casey). Sometimes one or more IMF team members would allow themselves to be captured in order to gain more access to or knowledge of the organization they are infiltrating, either by conversing with the target or being held in a jail cell and hatching their plan there.

A few episodes of the early seasons showed the painstaking creation and application of these masks, usually by disguise and make-up expert Rollin Hand. This was later omitted as the series progressed and the audience presumably became familiar with the mechanics of the team's methods. In the 1980s revival, the mask-making process involved a digital camera and computer and was mostly automatic. Most episodes included a dramatic "reveal" (also referred to as the "peel-off") near the end of the episode in which the team member would remove the mask.

[Judy]

OMGOMG, I have been catching up on these and Finola Hughes is so KILLING IT! I have been alternately crying at her reactions and screaming with terror every time something goes wrong! And then Jason Thompson after hearing Robin's voice! DAMN! This is soooo good I cannot wait to see if they were back on today!

[ScorpiosRule!]

Judy,

Yes, yes they were! The only downside was having to listen to that thug of a petulant moobster, Sonny, maligning RobertF*ng!Scorpio and having to look at Duke answer his questions as if Duke is one of his minions or peons.

But we had some great Scorpio-ness today!!! Loved, freaking L-O-V-E-D! the scenes between Robert and Anna as they fought over whether and why HE was also going to go to Cassadine Island to "find our DAUGHTER."

[Em]

Damn it damn it damn it. I HATE how much I love the Scorpio/Drake/Faison/Obrecht/CASSADINE madness. I LOVE that Nik was the one to discover Robin because I used to love when they were BFFs. I love that Anna and Robert are headed to Cassadine Island. I love that Britta is about to have a show down with her father. I love that this show pulled the soapiest move of having a whole bunch of plot lines converge is a single point. And I HATE this show, because the last week (minus anything involving anything Kiki or Sonny - and I really HATE that Sonny gets to figure out Wells=Jerome - Duke should get that honor) has shown just how good soaps can be and the fact that it's not always this good makes me furious.