Discover Top Posts Tagged with #emma scorpio

Emma definitely showed her Scorpio side

Why didn’t Patrick pick Emma up on the way home

#general hospital #patrick drake #Emma Scorpio

The Doctor's Order

Yet again, the mob has taken over General Hospital. Morgan’s caught in a battle of loyalties between the Jeromes and his father. Olivia’s throwing her weight around to support Sonny. Both Lucas and Brad discovered their fathers are mob heads—seriously, Brad’s dad too? Where did that even come from? But at least the show is delving into the weightier matter of living in constant violence. That’s especially apparent in Duke’s story, which came to a heartbreaking apex on Tuesday.

I didn’t expect Duke’s pain in dealing, or not dealing, with his long captivity to be mentioned again. The time to touch upon that seemed to have past, being as he’s been back in the real-fake world for a year. So I thought the opportunity for a meaty storyline about the loss of half his life had slipped away. But the writers proved me gloriously wrong. I hadn’t thought Duke’s willingness to throw in with Sonny would be tied into those issues, but as I learned, Duke’s Captain Ahab quest to overthrow Julian really stems from those years of helplessness more than from a desire to get back at the Jeromes. The anguish he feels was first seen on Anna’s face when Julian “benevolently” spilled the beans to her about Duke’s current state of employ. The casual manner in which Julian shared that news is truly the only time I’ve enjoyed him since he’s been crowned a mob king.

But it didn’t hold a candle to the anguish of the broken man himself. I in no way approve of what Duke’s doing, but how broken he feels breaks my heart. He has been portrayed as passive since his return, to the point that I’d been losing interest in him as a character, so to see that perception I’ve formed of him get validation onscreen was wonderful. I find it interesting how much Duke’s issues are tied into his sense of machismo; he feels emasculated by being rescued by Anna again and again and thinks asserting control through enacting revenge will make him more of a man. Obviously, I think it’s poppycock that being rescued by a woman should make him feel like less of a man, but not being the strong one, the provider per se, in the relationship is a problem many men struggle with so it rings true to me for a man like Duke. The good man Anna speaks of is the one I always fondly remembered, but I can’t deny how much the mob has always been in Duke’s past and taking part in it did give him validation as a younger man. The funny part of all this Duke angst for me, though, is that I have no idea what he’s actually doing to benefit Sonny. All he’s done is ally himself with Sonny again and again, but he hasn’t taken any actions to get back at Julian. How is this revenge of Duke’s supposed to come about? He’s already been exposed!

What I like most about Duke’s story, though, is how it plays against the shades of gray Anna has taken on since killing Faison. I do like my soap heroes to be truly good people who make mistakes, which is why I’m almost always on the sides of the law enforcement in this show, and Anna is not giving me any indication that she regrets serving Faison her own brand of justice. Just the opposite, in fact, as Obrecht’s recent release prompted Anna to confide in Robin how she should have made Obrecht “disappear” while in custody. The show made it clear that killing Faison was the wrong thing to do no matter how much he deserved it, so I think this is a purposeful character study of Anna. She made those comments about Obrecht just an episode before trying to convince Duke to let the police deal with Julian. To which Duke, chillingly and significantly, replied, “What have the police done about Julian Jerome, Anna? Nothing.” Anna, with what she’s done outside of the law and would still be willing to do to protect her family, can’t really argue against that.

I also think it’s telling that Anna will bend the law for her own purposes while she’s unwilling to accept Duke doing the same. In part, I think that’s because, no matter how much she loves Duke, he’s not as near and dear to her heart as her family is. And that family is Robin, Patrick, Emma, and Robert.

Anna and Duke are trying very hard to recapture their past romance, but when Anna and Robert are together, they fit together like the proverbial pair of gloves. They know each other deeply, how they think, what they treasure most, and it’s a bond I don’t think Anna and Duke can ever achieve, even if companions are all that Robert and Anna are to each other right now. Part of it is that Anna trusts Robert in a way that Duke has proven yet again she cannot do with him, and part of it is probably just my old Scorpio shipper coming out. Regardless, I’m loving how rooted in history and layered Anna’s scenes have been with both her leading men, even if I’m disappointed in how all three characters have dealt with their personal pain by pursuing vigilante justice.

I’m also happy to see the teen set engaging with the ethics of violence in their storyline. It was unfair of TJ to insinuate that murder runs in Rafe’s family, especially when TJ’s own father figure is a mob enforcer.

But I welcomed their debate, because it’s all part of the theme playing out on the show right now that no one in Port Charles is safe from the effects of a criminal life. Yet they all try to justify it, which is what TJ did after Rafe pointed out the hypocrisy in his claims. Heck, even Molly joined TJ in condemning the “snitching” so to speak (more on that later). TJ’s obviously trying to pretend the warehouse shootout never happened, but it did and Shawn’s the reason he was there, whether or not Shawn meant for him to be. The sins of the father come home to roost no matter how much the mobsters try to keep their families out of the action.

Heck, it’s even coming to roost among the chicks, which could be seen during their adventure on Spoon Island.

I’m sure Cameron and Emma encouraging Spencer not to rat out the supposed help was meant to be silly and amusing, but I was disturbed by their word choice. Spoon Island is no inner city, but “don’t snitch” is a common refrain in communities where crime is part of everyday life. Even the youngest Port Charles residents can’t escape that mentality—and how could they when most of their parents have lied to protect the mobsters at one point or another?

Prescription for Better Soap: I’d still prefer less mob and more hospital or spy drama, but I appreciate that the criminal life is no longer being bathed with the saintly light that it once was on this show. Multilayered explorations of the repercussions of lifelong violence and bending the rule of law is something I can get into, as well as using them as lenses for understanding the heavy identity issues both Anna and Duke are struggling with. Keep tying it all back to the characters we love, and you’ll keep my interest.

Becca

The rest of my General Hospital commentary can be found at All My Writers.

#general hospital #mob #duke lavery #anna devane #emma scorpio #don't snitch