General Hospital Storylines Even Die-Hard Fans Couldn't Get Behind
When a soap opera has been on the air for 58 years, there are bound to be storylines that are universally hated by fans. "General Hospital" premiered on April 1, 1963 (via IMDb), and with its nearly six decades on ABC, it's the longest-running of the four remaining network daytime dramas.
Fans have voiced their distaste at countless plots over the years. From an out-of-this-world alien named Casey (Bradley Lockerman) who hailed from the planet Lumina, to an evil version of Luke (Tony Geary) forming — known as Fluke — to an evil twin for the beloved late Emily Quartermaine (Natalia Livingston), "GH" has had a few stinkers, but perhaps not nearly as many as the year 2021.
There were stories in 2021 that some fans loved and some fans hated, like the consequences of Sonny's (Maurice Benard) time in Nixon Falls and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and Michael's (Chad Duell) romance. But there were also stories that diehard fans universally just couldn't get behind because some seemed pointless while others seemed out of left field, leaving fans infuriated.
Carly and Jason are suddenly in love
While Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) and Jason Morgan's (Steve Burton) relationship started as a one-night stand after a night of pool 25 years ago, the two have remained best friends who would die for one another ever since. But all that suddenly changed in a matter of weeks in 2021 when Carly and Jason decided to marry for the sake of their mafia business after Carly's husband, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) was presumed dead. A marriage of convenience seemed typical of a soap opera and was fine at first, but before fans could blink, Carly and Jason were kissing for the first time in decades while admitting they had always only loved one another (via Soaps.com). And just like that, years of popular soap romances were erased.
Carly spent most of the year grieving Sonny, a man she married a whopping five times and shared three children with. She was also happily married to Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) for several years and shares a daughter with him. She clearly loved these other men, but now she didn't because it was always Jason? Fans weren't buying it. They also weren't buying the idea that Jason never loved Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) or Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco). Thankfully, the entire Jarly Romance From Nowhere was cut short when Sonny returned from the dead, and then Jason was presumed dead after actor Steve Burton refused to comply with Disney/ABC's COVID vaccine mandate (via TV Insider).
Franco is killed for no reason
This character death seemed to come out of nowhere in March 2021 when fans finally thought someone was going to torture and rid the town of the nefarious cartoon villain, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). Instead of Franco Baldwin doing away with a universally-hated character, Peter ended up shooting Franco in the chest and killing him (via Soaps In Depth). And there was no reason at all to kill a character the writers and actor worked so hard to evolve from a serial killer (who did it all due to a brain tumor) to an art therapist, husband, and loving stepfather.
Franco was in a popular pairing with Elizabeth Webber Baldwin, and the two had finally found happiness when Peter so unceremoniously cut that short with the barrel of his gun. In addition, "General Hospital" made it clear from the start that Roger Howarth would be back on the show playing another character within months, and that is exactly what happened, so Franco's death was not because of an actor-network dispute (via Soap Opera Digest). It's been nearly a year since Elizabeth said goodbye to Franco, and fans are still scratching their heads about why this happened.
Maxie's confusing and pointless baby switch
As Peter is one of those characters fans hate to hate rather than love to hate, fans never got behind the idea of Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) having his baby, which was an ill-conceived idea from the start. But what was done was done, and "General Hospital" went ahead with this pregnancy, having Maxie realize halfway through that Peter was the nightmare man everyone warned her he was for two years. So, to protect her baby from Peter, she gave the baby to Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton), who had already been faking a pregnancy. Maxie claimed Louise had been kidnapped, Brook Lynn named the baby Bailey, and Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) thought he had another daughter. Then, Maxie went on with life not acting like a woman whose newborn was just kidnapped, which was a tip off to fans that this story was not going to work (via Soap Hub).
Flash forward nearly six months. Valentin learned he is not Bailey's father while Peter was finally in police custody, so Brook Lynn let Valentin believe Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) was the father and didn't tell him who Bailey really was, according to Soaps.com. Meanwhile, Maxie continued to go along with all of this when Valentin would understand the truth and protect the baby better than Brook Lynn and Chase. Maxie's parents are also super spies, as is her godmother, so now that Peter is in a coma, fans have wondered why she allows her baby to be kept in Brook Lynn's care.
General Hospital kills a baby just in time for the 2021 holidays
While the death of children and babies are part of soap opera life and make for gut-wrenching storytelling that fans never enjoy watching, these stories typically occur happen to advance the plot line and character development of front-burner, longtime players on the story canvas. In the case of Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattsson) and Brando Corbin (Johnny Wactor), that wasn't the case. Neither character ever had a big story, nor had they been around long enough for fans to become attached, but it was still nice watching Sasha's idyllic pregnancy the show wrote due to actor Sofia Mattsson being pregnant in real life and having a baby in July, according to her Instagram.
The idyllic pregnancy should have been the signal that it was all about to go wrong, and go wrong it did when Sasha went into labor, had a placental abruption, and gave birth to a baby who had been deprived of oxygen in the womb. Sasha and Brando hoped an experimental treatment might help, so fans held onto hope for a bit until the couple learned their baby was brain-dead and had to take him off his ventilator and say goodbye, according to Soaps In Depth. The scenes were heartbreaking as expected, but the fact that this took place so close to the holidays also caused fans to tune out for a few days as the end of the story played out.