The TV Addict 

Let’s get this right… so GENERAL HOSPITAL wants us to believe that Mr. Craig – the guy who held half of Port Charles hostage and shot Robin Scorpio, is, in fact, Jerry Jax? To paraphrase THE SIMPSON’s Comic Book Guy, “Worst. Twist. Ever.”

When suave baddie Mr. Craig – as played by charismatic Sebastian Roche – stole the show during February’s Metro Court hostage crisis, the folks behind the scenes went into overdrive trying to figure out how they could keep both the actor and character on the canvas. Having already gone the “bad-guy-gets-a-good-twin” route with both the Ruiz and Alcazar brothers, the writers decided to give Jax’ brother, Jerry (previously played by Julian Stone) a new face and try to sell us on the notion that rackish Jerry had somehow morphed into sociopathic James Craig.

All together now: “Say what?”

So Jerry shot Robin, whom Jax has always been quite fond of? And didn’t kill his brother’s long-time rival, Sonny, despite having the perfect opportunity? In fact, Jerry instead thrust Sonny and Carly into close quarters which led to them (briefly) rekindling their fiery romance. And when the hostage crisis was going on, wasn’t Jax supposed to be off-canvas helping Jerry deal with some crisis?

This twist has more holes than a GH set after one of their weekly shootouts.

Worse, it is yet another case of GH glorifying violence and working overtime to fill the canvas with criminals. In Monday’s episode alone, Sam shot and killed one bad guy, beat another and we saw flashbacks of her violently blowing away her former husband; then there was Patrick being beaten senseless by Craig/Jerry, Nikolas nearly snapping Craig/Jerry’s neck… and finally, the disgusting reveal that a character we once knew and loved has now morphed into a psychotic madman.

Is the fact that he’s Jax’ brother somehow supposed to excuse his actions? Are we to think, “Oh, sure, he blew up a hotel, shot Robin, indirectly was responsible for Alan’s death… but he’s just so darn likeable!”

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings — combined with the FCC’s soon-to-be-released study on the influence of televised violence on society — it might be time for the folks at GH to stop turning bad guys into heroes and instead return the show to its roots. Perhaps one day, they’ll actually remember that the long-running sudser supposedly revolves around a hospital.

But we won’t hold our breath.