Supporting other characters is fine, but too many A-list soap men are treading water right now. Being on screen doesn’t equal story!
I’m looking at you, Jason Morgan. The General Hospital anti-hero can always be counted on to save his son or hide a body, but he hasn’t driven major story for a while — and there’s been no romance since he returned almost two years ago.
Jason (to Britt): “Why would you have a key fob to Dalton’s lab?”
He’s putting together the pieces of her story at The Five Poppies, but she’s hedging as usual (four months and counting).
Jason: “I know you’re in trouble and I want to help, but I can’t when you keep me in the dark.”
Britt: “I have to know you are worth me risking my life.”
Jason: “You can trust me.”
Britt: “If I tell you the truth you’ll stick around no matter what?”
Brrrring! It’s Sonny calling, saying Jason has to retrieve Dalton’s body from Laura’s trunk. Britt kicked him out. It’s hard to see them as a couple when Britt runs so hot and cold and gets mad because he has a job. If Jason was a doctor on call, would she be such a bitch when he had to leave to remove a gall bladder? I think not.
Jason’s most memorable moments since his return to GH have involved his escape from Sidwell’s compound with Anna, covering for Michael as the father of Sasha’s baby, standing by his son Danny, and the amazing scenes surrounding his mother Monica’s death. That’s not nothing. But those stories mostly supported other characters. And the closest Jason has come to a liaison (see what I did there?) involved dangling his legs in the Metro Court pool with ex-flame Elizabeth and a clandestine kiss with Anna in prison. He needs a Jason-centric tale (like Luke Spencer used to have). Something like going to find his missing son Jake with Elizabeth or infiltrating Sidwell’s organization or bringing down nasty WSB honcho Jack Brennan (save Joss!)
Sonny was spinning his wheels too, but they revved him up by making him Laura’s first call after she found Dalton in her trunk. Now the mayor and the mobster share a deadly secret, and it’s divine.
Sonny: “No body, no crime. Act surprised when you hear Dalton has disappeared.”
It’s not surprising Laura called Sonny instead of the cops since we watched her murder David Hamilton as a teenager (and let her mother Lesley take the rap). Laura’s panic during the ordeal was harder to buy after all those years running from the mob with Luke, but I digress.
Nick on The Young and the Restless is another one who hasn’t seen any real action for over two years; not since Sally dumped him for Adam (who she then dumped for Billy). His most recent stories include searching for Sharon when she went missing, searching for Mariah when she went missing and searching for Noah when he went missing. You see the problem. He’s got kids we never see (Christian, Faith, Summer) and does little more at the office than have the occasional fight with Victor or Adam. That gives short shrift to the scion of Genoa City’s most powerful family. It doesn’t make sense for Y&R to give front burner stories to recast versions of Cane Ashby and Matt Clark when Nick and fellow OGs like Adam and Devon sit languishing.
Aw, he still cares! Post-meeting, EJ surprised his former father-in-law Roman by thanking him for putting up with him. Roman responded that EJ is the father of his grandkids and he always wants to be civil. Enter EJ’s estranged son Johnny with new baby Trey who EJ hadn’t officially met, and the guy melted. It’s hard to reconcile that misty grandpa with the villain who ordered Gwen to keep Leo out of the lab or “Tony and Kristen won’t be the only ones missing,” but throw in a good love interest (I still like Belle) and they’re on the right track.
Which brings us to Beyond The Gates. It’s a little early to call out the new soap for mistreating its men, but Bill Hamilton had better go scorched earth on Hayley when it comes out that she’s a big home wrecker poisoning him for his money.
