simply unable to stop obsessing about all the things wrong with gh

i love kirsten storms and her portrayal of maxie jones as much as anyone else, but i definitely do not love this:


or this. (also, it's a lot frightening to see how little her arms are, especially if you think about how the camera adds 10 pounds.)

i know that there are a lot of maxie-spinelli fans out there, but i'm just not entirely sold on this pairing. maxie has definitely made spinelli a more bearable character, since brad anderson tones down some of the spastic tics and expresses himself (albeit in a slightly more shakespearan manner) with a modicum of normality when spinelli addresses maxie. (note that it spins out of control when spinelli and winifred talk to each other. gh needs to seriously consider adding a health warning when those two are in scenes together: may cause fits of rage or hysteria when consumed for intervals longer than 20 seconds.

i could post a youtube video of some of their moments, but i will spare us all. instead i will focus on my original point, which was that while i do not mind that maxie and spinelli are friends, i still don't want them together as a romantic pairing. he doesn't need a clone of himself, but perhaps someone nice and wholesome, who he isn't obviously attracted to, but with whom he has good chemistry and who's forgiveness of his quirks makes a lot of sense...oh yeah, he had that...with georgie. so all these scenes where maxie essentially manipulates spinelli by confessing her attraction to johnny were a little on the absurd side. because if he is her essential person, then she should want to do what is good for him. and though she is selfish and self-whatever to the core, she also has a knack for seeing the truth of a situation, and it doesn't really fly that she would be so blatantly manipulative and hurtful. she isn't that oblivious.



now here's the thing, i actually really like johnny. i've liked brandon barash from the get-go. my problem with his storyline is that being with lulu makes him the most boring and miserable human being. mostly this is just due to the fact that lulu is the worst character that ever lived. to think that she was such an adorable baby and has turned into a shrill harpy...tsk tsk. anyway, johnny and lulu suck the miniscule amount of joy this show has right out of the screen. not to mention the fact that brandon barash and julie marie berman often look like they would rather swim in dog poo than share the screen together. so it's not surprising that i get a kick out of this:



but, i also really enjoyed this brief flirtation between matt and maxie, and think that a doctor is more appropriate for maxie than another mob guy. i mean, there is some serious soapy goodness that could come from a matt and maxie pairing. the connections between their families, her health issues, both of them have been neglected by their parents, and they are both legacy characters. here's the last time they shared the screen together:



and then the ball gets dropped in favor of the hospital crisis and neither of them have been on screen together since. why won't gh commit to any one storyline these days? especially love stories, am i wrong in thinking that the love stories is why most people start watching soaps in the first place? gh is all guns and misogyny and violence and the mob, it's about damn time we got some romance. and it's past time the show appropriately took advantage of its wonderful cast.

i know that a lot of people disagree with me, but i'm glad that carly and jax have found their way back to each other. i really think the writing for carly has shown a lot of growth for the character. she's actually behaving like a grown up, and has been significantly less shrill. if you ask me it makes sense that carly and jax have found their way back to each other, and i'm genuinely glad that they get to make another go of it. and it was very romantic.



screencaps courtesy of laurieluvsliason.