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1988
 Best Wedding: Felicia
& Mac, Kevin & Lucy
"It was a double wedding with a
double whammy. Pretend bride and groom Mac and Felicia- the couple that
wasn't supposed to marry- ended up saying "I do" for real after Mac
proposed at the altar. Meanwhile, Lucy and Kevin- the couple that
was supposed to marry- saw their dream nuptials come to a screeching halt after
Eve burst into the church with proof that Lucy had rigged her car and helped
cause Serena's accident. In disgust, Kevin left Lucy at the altar. The
juxtaposition of Mac and Felicia's happiness with Kevin and Lucy's sorrow made
it an unforgettable day."
(SOW 12/22/98)
1999
 Prince Valiant-
Mac Scorpio "Profiles in Courage: As police commissioner, Mac is a
real stand-up guy- especially when it comes to his family. Recently, Mac's reflexes
were put to the test when somebody decided to use The Outback as target practice.
The instant the hidden shooters hand crashed through a bar window, Mac- who was standing
inside talking to Robin- went into protection mode and used his body to shield his neice
from the onslaught of bullets. Unfortunately, Mac got hit, and his critical injuries
caused him to lapse into a coma. Thanks to surgery at GH and some TLC from Felicia,
Mac regained consciousness and recovered from his wounds. He's now back in fine
law-enforcing form.
Forever Fearless or
Formerly Feckless: As hard as it may be to believe now, Mac was once a big-time
troublemaker. Back in '91, this brother of then-police commish Robert Scorpio showed
up in PC because he had been hired to sabatoge the ELQ tanker S.S. Tracy. Robert,
responding to the explosion, discovered his ne'er-do-well sib at the scene and threw him
in jail. The Scorpios battled back and forth for weeks, but it wasn't until
Robert got shot that the brothers mended fences. (Robert had blamed Mac for their parents'
deaths.) But with the love of his brother and a good woman- Dominique Taub- Mac
changed his ways and became the noble fellow we know today.
No Good Deed Goes
Unpunished... Or Does It? Despite sustaining life-threatening injuries while trying
to save Robin at The Outback, Mac nonetheless won the admiration and respect of all the
townsfolk (except maybe Moreno, who had arranged the hit). His police badge is more
golden than ever." (SOD 2/9/99)
GH's Faison:
The Installment Plan "General Hospital's Cesar Faison has been missed.
Arguably the show's best villan ever, Faison brings with him an air of mystery and
transcontinental cool that makes him so much fun to watch. Yes, he's creepy, but
Anders Hove imbues him with such a mystique that his mere presence commands
attention.
I was thrilled to
learn that GH was bringing back Fasion (and Hove), and couldn't wait to see what evil
things he'd be up to this time round. ABC was close-mouthed about his first scenes
(he was conspicuously absent from the usual story breakdowns), so like a regular viewer, I
had to watch the action without any prior knowledge.
What's more, GH spaced out Faison's first scenes
over several weeks, letting us see only snippets at a time. Talk about building the
suspense! First we saw him posing as Krieg with Luke in Europe. Then a week
later, we saw him speaking with Helena. (What was cool about this scene was that
though it was clear it was him, Faison never was actually shown.) Another week
passed before we saw Faison (and again, only his cigar smoke indicating his presence)
poring over news clippings about Robin and Felicia. His next appearance, the
following week, had him (with his new lover; I wonder what that's all about) basking in
the memory of Robert and Anna's murders.
On a show where the villians who are supposed to
be the most deadly- the mob- come off as no more threatening than your average
purse-snatcher, it's nice to see an evil presence with no qualms about committing the most
dastardly acts. Faison's been back barely a month, and the body count has already
started." (SOW 5/4/99)
Applause,
Applause "Kudos for the way GH re-introduced Cesar Faison. Since newer viewers
don't know the fiend, they learned about his evil deeds via Mac and Felicia's
recollections. Luke also recalled best pal Robert Scorpio on the anniversary of his
death (caused by Faison). Meanwhile, Luke is clueless that his fence, Krieg, and
Faison are one and the same person." (SOD 5/4/99)
 The
Skulduggery (pardon the expression) on GH "Felicia didn't think it was at all a laughing matter when Luke
withdrew not one but two skull from the crypt drawer that supposedly contained the remains
of George Alan Quartermaine on General Hospital. But thanks to writer Patrick Mulcahey's
gray matter and Anthony Geary's (Luke) equally cerebral wit and flawless comic timing, it
was a howl.
Luke's life has been short on merriment lately-
indeed, Geary won this year's Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actor on the strength of
his character's searing emotional anguish. So it was most welcome to see that mischievous
twinkle back in Luke's eyes, and to watch Felicia's exasperation as she tried to duck the
volley of bon mots he delfty lobbed at her with merciless abandon. To his further credit,
Geary kept a lid (oops!) on exaggerated silliness, even underplaying his delivery of some
knee-slappers and letting the words and his own exhilaration shrine- umm, shine on their
own." (SOW 8/3/99)
2000
 Addressing
Child Abandonment on GH
"Let's face it: Many preteen children exist on soaps
only to serve as new front-burning teen hunks and babes after they get SORASed.
In the meantime, they're usually relegated to seat-filling duty at obligatory
holiday gatherings and the tired telling of the Christmas story. As a result,
they usually get lost in the storyline shuffle, as their parents are preoccupied
with the drama dujour. This is why General Hospital is to be commended
for its refreshing tale on this child-abandonment syndrome.
Wholesome-mom-cum-wannabe-adventure-heroine Felicia has been AWOL on her brood a
lot this past year as she darts all over god's creation with Luke on one
Mission: Impossible after another.
But rather than sweep her two children under the storyline rug, GH has wisely
mined this as an interesting story point, exploring the very realistic effects
that such 'innocent' neglect would have on one's kids. For not only has Felicia
'closenes' with Luke threatened her marriage to Mac, but her conspicous absence
as a mother has caused estrangement between her and her children, especially
first-born Maxie, who has believably demonstrated a growing resentment.
That dutiful stepdad Mac, and now grandmother Mariah, have had to intercede on
Felicia's behalf has upped the storyline stakes. Now that Felicia has broken her
recent ultimatium-dictated promise to Mac by flittering off with Luke and Laura
in search of Lucky, Mac has been forced to pawn off Maxie and Georgie onto their
grandmother in Texas. This might have been the first time children should have
placed their missing mom's photo on a milk carton."
(SOW 5/2/2000)
2001
 Daytime's
Most Joyous Moments- AMC 5/30/01, Catching Up with the Scorpios "For
all too long, Robin Scorpio had suffered the slings and arrows of cruel fate
without a mother's loving embrace to offer her comfort during her darkest days.
But at last, the troubled young women received news which sent her battered and
bruised, but never defeated, heart soaring: Her mother, superspy Anna Devane
Scorpio, had not, as believed, perished in the explosion which supposedly had
left Robin an orphan. And as if that weren't enough to send the young woman's
spirits skyward, her mom had returned from "heaven" thanks to her own
strikingly familiar guardian angel- Anna's twin, Robin's aunt, Alex!" (SID
1/22/2002)
2003
 Mac and Georgie Talk About
Sex on GH Georgie's involvement with
Dillon is a bold echo of Robin and Stone, and that hasn't been lost on longtime
General Hospital viewers. Acknowledging the parallel would have been
worthy of mention, but the way GH executed it was sublime.
Mac's latest run-in with Dillon sparked a short,
sweet, frank and remarkably poignant discussion between stepfather and
stepdaughter about sex.
Assuming the worst after catching Dillon hiding
in Georgie's bedroom, Mac confronted her about whether she's been sleeping with
Dillon. "What if I am?" snarked the young teen. What
ensued was not a screaming match or a preachy, fact-laden PSA on abstinence or
AIDS.. Rather, a quiet and candid dialogue unfolded between a man worried
that the darkest chapter in his history would repeat itself, and a girl
teetering on the cusp of adulthood.
"Dad, I'm not like Robin," Georgie
adamantly protested. "That's what scares me, sweetheart- you
are," replied Mac solemnly, referring to his beloved HIV-positive niece. Mining one of the show's all-time greatest
stories lent the present-day tale a sobering resonance.
As a key player in the Robin/Stone AIDS
storyline, John J. York (Mac) drew on first-hand experience to do some of his
best work in years. And newcomer Lindze Letherman (Georgie) deserves
special kudos for keeping up with York. Together, they crafted some
starkly real moments in the midst of a show embroiled in over-the-top fare on
other fronts.
Mac and Georgie's talk proved that soaps don't
have to stage a grandiose production, go on location, or use stunt casting to
pull off excellence. Sometimes, the best moments are the quiet, meaningful
ones that are often too easily lost in the shuffle. (SOW
9/2/2003)
Standout Scenes- Mac Shares
His Fears: Having watched niece Robin have
her life turned upside down by a rebellious young man, Mac had every reason to
fear that Georgie was heading down the same path with Dillion. Rather than
preach or yell, Mac simply opened his heart in the hopes of keeping his daughter
out of harm's way. "I love you, Georgie, and I don't want to see you get
hurt or pregnant or arrested... or one day tell me you're HIV-positive."
The voice of parental reason may have been a while in coming, but when at last
it spoke, the scene was filled with fears for the future based on solidly on
past experiences. (SID 9/16/03)
2004
 Standout
Scenes- Zander Takes a Hostage! Troubled
young Zander was at the end of his rope, and he knew it.
With a bullet wound in his leg and what he perceived as a
tragic life ahead of him, his desperation reflected in his
every impulsive move. A fugitive from justice for a crime he
didn't commit, he flew into panic mode when Cameron brought
Alexis down to his hiding place in the boiler room of the
Port Charles Hotel. Pulling Maxie, his one last
unconditional friend, to him and pointing a gun to her head,
Zander threatened to shoot if anyone moved closer. Unaware
that Maxie had agreed to go along with Zander's plan, Alexis
and Cameron assured him that they were there to help.
"You carried your brother's death too long. I want to
make amends," his father pledged. But the damage to
Zander's psyche had long been done, and never showed more
than at that very moment. The urgency of the situation and
the years of repressed guilt rang loudly in Cameron's voice.
"I can't change the past! I can make sure you don't
suffer for somebody else's mistake again," he said,
making it clear that he belived in his son's innocence, but
was terrified of what would transpire next. "Please. I
lost one son. You're all I have left." Slowly, Zander
let Maxie go, handed over the gun, and told them of Ric's
plot to put him behind bars. "I'm going to get you
through this," a shaken Cameron assured. But Zander
knew that if history repeated itself, his father's support
was the last thing he could expect. "I don't
blame you for doubting me, but I'm going to prove you
wrong," Cameron vowed. Father and son finally
connected- but it was too late to matter. From the
exhausted, hopeless gaze in Zander's eyes, to the
devestation in Cameron's penitent tone, it was clear the end
was nigh. (SID 3/16/04)
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