Guest Author - Lynn McMonigal

First of all, please allow me to apologize for the lateness of this article. Between rushing around for the holidays and battling the nausea and fatigue of a pregnancy, I am not up to doing much lately. I am trying to keep up. My resolution this year is to update this site at least once a week.
Enough about me—on to ABC!!
I have to tell you—I love my soaps! The lives of these characters remind me that my life could be worse. Besides, where else can you see so many hot men and beautiful women in one place? Enjoying them so much makes it hard to pick out the faults sometimes. Still, I was able to find two things about each show that I did not particularly enjoy this year.
All My Children
My biggest complaint about this show this year was the new camera techniques they tried after the opening of Confusion. Trying something new is good. Realizing it doesn’t work is better. ABC execs took too long to figure out this new shooting technique was not working. The movements were jerky and nauseating. I actually had to stop watching AMC for a while there.
Equally nauseating was watching Tad testify against Dixie. I get that he was angry with her. She deserved his anger after faking her death and not allowing him to know his daughter was alive for four years. But to try sending her to prison for something that he did makes no sense. The love between these two is so obvious, even if they refuse to admit it. This was so out of character for Tad. Dixie showed that she is the better person by understanding his motives and forgiving him for it.
One Life to Live
Margaret Cochran is dead. No wait! She is alive, but she doesn’t know who she is. Hold on! Now she remembers everything but it’s too late. She is dead again. This was the stupidest story I’ve ever seen. Her arrival at Todd’s execution did make for some riveting scenes. But what was the point of bringing her back just to immediately kill her? Even a psychopath deserves better than that.
Speaking of psychopaths, Dorian seems to be in the running for the title. To “protect” her daughter from Rex, Dorian stalked her? If this is how she shows her love, it is no wonder her other daughter, Cassie, went insane. Dorian, you bring new meaning to “overprotective”. Question is, who will protect Adrianna from you?
General Hospital
My least favorite stories on GH this year had to do with the two dumbest males in Port Charles.
First, Dillon Quartermaine. He was so madly in love with his wife that he slept with his step-sister. All Lulu had to do was claim she saw Georgie cheating, and Dillon hopped into bed with the girl. I don’t really think it had so much to do with believing Georgie was unfaithful. I think Dillon was upset that Georgie refused to cut loose a friend he didn’t approve of. He couldn’t control his wife (and with the Quartermaines, it is always about control) so he chose to punish her. Perhaps if it had been a one time thing, Dillon would be forgivable. But that he kept the affair as an on-going thing proves he is not worthy of Georgie.
The other Port Charles Idiot of the Year Award goes to Lucky, though he has an excuse for his behavior. As a drug addict, Lucky would do anything to get a fix. Anything would include his boss’ daughter. In many ways, I think Maxie’s obsession with Lucky has less to do with loving him and more to do with missing Jesse. Lucky and Jesse were partners on the force. He probably knew and missed Jesse more than anyone else in town. Getting close to Lucky was her way of keeping Jesse alive. Not that she actually speaks of her dead lover much. The need to stay close to Jesse’s memory is understandable. Keeping his friend doped up, faking a pregnancy, then staging a miscarriage is not. Sad thing is, once Lucky learns that Liz’s baby is not his, Maxie’s lies may not matter.