GENERAL HOSPITAL: Is plot or character more important?

News that Kimberly McCullough was leaving wasn’t exactly a surprise.

Most fans guessed it when she agreed to return.

I think the surprise is that Jason Thompson is staying. I know I thought he was probably out the door with McCullough.

We don’t know how Robin will exit yet. According to McCullough, though, fans are going to hate it.

We’ve already heard some fan fiction about Robin being locked up at Shadybrooke because of post traumatic stress and Anna breaking her out and sending her off after Robert.

Personally? I don’t believe that for a second. Ron Carlivati has show he has no idea how Robin should be written, but I honestly don’t think he’d be dumb enough to go that far.

The truth is, there’s no feasible way that Robin would leave town without her daughter. If we’re made to believe Patrick and Robin are sharing custody of Emma while Robin is off canvas (like Carly and Jax) then maybe I’ll buy it. If Robin leaves town and doesn’t see Emma, I’m not going to buy that for a second.

I’m at an uncomfortable place with General Hospital right now. I don’t believe in dropping a show

because you lose one character. Robin leaving again, though, just may be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I love a lot of what RC has done, don’t get me wrong. We’re seeing vets that were sacrificed during Bob Guza’s reign of terror – and I’m eternally grateful for that. That doesn’t fix the mistakes, though.

I knew that RC was sinking when he wrote the terrible aftermath of Patrick and Sabrina’s non-wedding. There were plot holes big enough to drive the Haunted Star through in that story.

The truth is Kimberly McCullough and Tristan Rogers both helped bring GH’s ratings drastically up. Does RC think that fans will stay afterwards? Especially for writing like this?

The best writers in the world are character driven writers. RC is a plot driven writer. Every story he writes is just a series of beats until the next series of beats. That’s why we never got Patrick even appearing to care what had happened to Robin. Instead, the day after his aborted wedding, he was back at work because they needed him there for a plot beat to go looking for Sabrina.

RC doesn’t know how to write character driven stories. That’s why we have AJ running around drunk again (and we’re inundated with rumors that Sean Kanan is on his way out – again). RC promised fans the revitalization of the Quartermaines. Instead, we keep getting more and more stunt casting on an already bloated cast.

Just last week RC was touting “big casting news.” To GH fans that meant Genie Francis was coming back, or Jack Wagner, or they’d somehow managed to snag Tristan Rogers long-term.

Instead we got Donna Mills coming in. Who? If it was the 1980s you might know (or care) who she

is. Now? That’s pretty much akin to finding out that Richard Grieco is being cast as Sonny’s brother. It’s 20 years past being important.

When I sit down and really think about what I’m invested in on General Hospital right now, it’s a short list. It starts at Anna, winds around to Alexis, makes a shot stop on Spoon Island with Nikolas, winds back to Sam and ends in Lucyville.

I do not care about Ava Jerome. I love Maura West, but I’d much rather see Laura, Felicia or Lucy than Ava. Watching a grown woman freak out of a teenage boy isn’t hot – it’s pathetic.

I do not care about Silas’ sudden wife. I like Silas and I like him with Sam – but I don’t think he needs more backstory at the expense of other characters.

I certainly don’t care about BLT-obsessed Heather and her mutant offspring.

I don’t care about Olivia, her visions or her chemistry-free encounters with Sonny.

I don’t care about shrill Lulu and her sudden obsession with cheating on her husband because he told the truth in court.

I don’t care about Sabrina – no matter how much RC tries to prop her. You’re never going to make me like her. She could suddenly pull a lightsaber out of her pocket and start fighting the evil lords of the Sith and I’m never going to like her. It’s too late. The character was fumbled out of the gate. Now I hate her and the more you prop her the more I hate her.

I do like Lucas but I know he’s going to be thrown in a triangle with Brad and Felix – both of whom I hate – so I’m really worried about having to watch that.

I do like Nathan, but he’s apparently earmarked for Shrewlu until Maxie returns – setting up another

triangle between the two – and I’m not interested in watching two women fight over the same man.

And, as much as I love Obrecht, believing she's the new chief of staff is so insulting to fans it's like a smack in the face. There were other ways to keep her on the canvas, kicking the fans in the crotch and laughing at them with a plot contrivance is not one of them.

RC has the tools to make GH great, but the dead weight has to be cut and the storylines have to be streamlined. And, RC has to do start focusing on character instead of plot.

I won’t say I’ll stop watching when Robin and Robert are gone – but I will give it some serious thought.

What do you think? What parts of the writing do you like right now? Which parts do you hate?