Now that it is the last weekday of the month, I hope that the month long rendition of "Campbell's Hospital"--what I have called General Hospital for the last month--is over. While I respect what Campbell's and TPTB at ABC are trying to do--raise awareness during Heart Health Month--I think that there was a better way to do it, and shoving V8 and Healthy Choice soup down our throats wasn't it. Why didn't they just have Maxie have an honest, heart felt discussion regarding her heart transplant with Spinelli or Bobbie? That scenario would have been more believable that the blatant, out-of-character or out-of-storyline advertisements.Take the scene between Max and Diane, for instance. Diane just sat there with a smile on her face while Max basically told her she was fat. Granted, he didn't say the word fat. He rambled on and on about eating healthy, Campbell's related food and exercising, but the essence of the whole conversation was, "Diane, you're fat." Uh, first of all, Diane is not fat, and, to our knowledge, she has never had a physical problem with her heart. However, I'm sure that Max's whole speech gave her some emotional heart problems. Second of all, her reaction was so out of character. Diane, mob lawyer supreme, would have never just sat there with a smile on her face if it wasn't a Campbell's ad. She would have picked up her wine glass or her food and thrown it at Max. The only saving grace of that entire scene was the one afterwards, where Max walked in on Jax and Carly in bed and sat down next to them. If it wasn't for that scene, I would have thrown my food at Max as well.
Then there was the whole scene between Maxie and Spinelli after the fire. Yes, it was sweet that Maxinista was concerned for the Jackal's health, but telling him he had to replace his orange sodas with V8 was just wrong. Orange sodas are one of Spinelli's trademarks, one of the things that makes him unique. Taking away his orange soda is the equivalent of taking away Horatio Cane's sunglasses, House's cane, or Monk's antibacterial wipes. If you do it, you take away an essential part of the character.
Oh, and the Maxie dream sequence? That was just wrong on so many levels. Am I the only one who remembers that BJ was adopted and had brown hair, not some ridiculous red, Bobbie wannabe wig? Or that, had she lived, she would have still have been raised a Spencer and therefore probably wouldn't have been the angel Maxie made her out to be? Or that Mac was already the police commissioner back then or shortly thereafter (sorry, I can't remember if Sean and Tiffany had left town yet; I just remember Mac hunting down Frisco right before the transplant)? Anyway, those inconsistencies weren't the worst part. It was the fact that fake BJ wanted Mike to serve Campbell's soup at Kelly's. I'm sorry, but if I go to a restaurant and pay $10 for a meal, I want it to be home-cooked, not microwaved food from a can that would have only cost me $2 at Walmart. I'm sure the fictional residents of Port Charles feel the same.
I'm guessing that today General Hospital will still feel like an hour long advertisement. However, I hope that on Monday it will return the same old soap, tired story lines and all.
