‘General Hospital’ News: Performer Of The Week – Roger Howarth

In a week full of regressive behaviors and characters reverting to type, only one stood out for me.

Love him or hate him, Roger Howarth as Franco is fun to watch! All the nonsense with the increasingly insipid Nina is testing his patience and his mental health, but can you say, “RED HERRING”?

It seems the writers have chosen to play up Franco’s past in order to have us believe that he might be Jason and Sam’s stalker. Am I falling for it? Not for a moment! It makes for good television though… I guess.

Related: Jason & Sam Confront Franco – Liz Returns – Troublemaking Nurse Amy Debuts – Finn and Carly Team Up

Franco has too much to lose to let himself be sucked backed into the craziness that was Franco 1.0. Franco 2.0 has a job he loves, patients he cares about – especially wee Jake – and his growing friendship/attraction with/to Liz. Perhaps the most compelling reason for maintaining his sanity though, is his “daughter” Kiki. People have come to depend on him and to care about him in return, and with no brain tumour to blame any future stupidity on, he’s not likely to risk everything just to antagonize Jason. However, it’s fun to think he might.

Franco’s face-off with Monica will come back to bite him in the ass now that Obrecht has been demoted to a mere doctor. With his only real support off the throne, will Monica decide that Franco’s art therapy class is no longer necessary? Will it be pleas from her grandson, Jake, that keeps Franco on staff? I say, yes. Jake will save Franco’s job.

Related: 5 Reasons Liz and Franco Belong Together – Do You Agree? VOTE!

It’s been a busy week for Franco. From taunting Jason and goading him into an act of violence, to all those “crazy eyes” moments, the awesome cartwheel, and the super-creepy drawing of Nina, Franco has had a lot of good moments this week. I know we’re supposed to believe that it’s all leading up to a spectacular Franco meltdown but I doubt it. Still, it’ll be fun to watch and to pretend.

A shout-out to Haley Pullos. Her spin this week as her mother’s conscience was compelling and really well acted! Kudos too to Nancy Lee Grahn for her half of that moment. Watching Alexis grapple with her integrity has been a treat, but it got real when confronted by Molly, who put into words everything Alexis can’t. I admit I was shocked when Alexis pulled the dagger and launched into a diatribe about the degrees of evil. It seemed desperate and felt like a poor rationalization for her choice to defend Carlos. Molly didn’t buy it, and neither did we.

What will happen next?

Until next week!

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