12/19/02:

"The Inconsistencies of Port Charles"

Okay, this is a commentary, not really about Rali, but just something that has been bugging me for the longest time. And I had meant to write this MONTHS ago, but real life got in the way so I just never got around to it. So I'm not sure how much sense this will really make since I took so long to write about it, but I'm going to talk about it anyway.

Okay, I just have a bone to pick with the PC writers. They totally REWROTE history. First of all, you do all know that PC is a spin-off from GH, right? Well back in the early 1980s, the Barringtons were on GH. Now, I was only preschooler back then so obviously I was not watching, so I'm not *that* familiar w/ the history, but I do know from what I have read that Derek Barrington was/is Amanda Barrington's son. And unless there was another Barrington boy, he did not have a brother named Malcolm. Well Derek left Port Charles with Lorena Sharpe. Again, don't know their history. But the point is that Derek and Lorena are Alison's *real* parents. (And yeah, they messed with Alison's age too, but they always do that on soaps)

So when I heard Alison's mother would be coming back, I thought her name would be, of course, Lorena. Makes sense, right? But then no, they changed it to Elizabeth. Hmm. Well after they changed her mother's name, I had a feeling they would change her father's as well. And yep, they did. Malcolm Barrington. I'm sorry, but Alison's father will always be Derek Barrington to me.

But doesn't this raise the question...how consistent are the writers with the show's history? Well, the answer is not much. You'd think the writers would keep in mind the history of the characters. After all, they have done a good job with talking about Lucy and Kevin's past on GH. I guess the writers thought no one would remember Derek and Lorena. Hmm, I did.

Now this really bugs me as well. Have you ever noticed that sometimes, they'll retape scenes? Like, for example, that day back when Rafe was a pod and he was with Livvie but he was telling Alison about how he really wanted her. And they were at the apartment and talking about Bermuda and yachts and safari trips and whip cream...well then the next day, it seemed a little different. It was like they had Alison resay that last line of hers. It wasn't that much of a difference but I noticed. They've done that several times too, like at the ending of Superstition and beginning of Torn, I could tell the scenes were a little bit different even though the lines were the same. Does any of that make sense? I mean, WHY, tell me why they do that? The show is what, 22 minutes long not counting commercials. Why waste all of that time reairing the scene and retaping it when they could just not do that and give the show a little extra time?

And ya know, another thing PC could improve with...details. Did you notice when it started snowing on GH that it hadn't yet on PC? That's messed up, it's the SAME TOWN! Sure, I know it's probably hard to keep things like that the same when it's two different shows and PC tapes so much in advance, but come on. Remember the window Livvie broke? Then in the next moment, it was fixed! And wow, don't the days go by fast in Port Charles? In a recent episode, (the one where Alison was mad at Rafe for getting into her dreams) it was morning. At the end of the episode, they were getting ready for bed. Okay, wow, fast day. Stuff like that just bugs me.

I could probably go on and on about this, and I could make a list of all of the inconsistencies of PC, but I think you get the point.

~Melody

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