The Best and Worst of 2002: Characters
The Worst New Character: Hands down the winner is GL's Eden August. I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone thought that this character would be helpful to the canvas. Yes, I can understand wanting to get to know more about Gus and his family, but a troublemaking sister who sells out her brother to the Spauldings and makes out with a person related to the man she pushed off a roof really does nothing for this show. Worse than any of that, she has no dimensions of her own. She's clearly there to be used as a contrivance for whatever the writers wanted to do with Gus, Harley, Tony, and Gus and Harley. Besides a couple of conversations at Company, where was her grief for being separated from her brother? Where was the humanity behind her troublemaking spirit and temper? And what was her rationale for constantly trying to undermine her brother's happiness and security? What's really depressing is that if the writers had really put their minds to it, really worked on it, despite a suspect reason for creating the character, she could have been a vital and vibrant addition to Springfield. Giving Gus another person to care about, someone who had lost their way when he abandoned her for his foolish crusade would have done his character a lot of good.
The Best New Character: Believe it or not, my choice is PC's Marissa Leong. It's not like there are not other choices, there are. But for me, this is the best. Why? Well, Marissa is a three-dimensional character and has been since she set foot in Port Charles. To the discovery of a sister she never knew, to her blind ambitions as a reporter, to her struggle to balance her career with her newfound love, Marissa has a purpose and a place in Port Charles. Even if the story surround her character is not always as strong as I would like to be, she is a strong and clear presence and that is what I would wish for every soap character.
The Worst Recast: Alan White wasn't really the one to blame for the horrid mess that was his tenure as Chris Hughes on ATWT. Sure, he wasn't right for the part, from his little boy haircut to his youthful look. Still, his acting chops were really not the problem; it was the embarrassing and insane writing surrounding his return from day one. For starters, the record speed in which he went through college and graduated from medical school (less than a year) left all viewers with whiplash. Add to it that now, nearly thirty, returning the character to a romance with still nineteen year old Abigail, which had flopped the first time they tried it, didn't make any more sense. In fact, considering the two broke up because he had slept with her mother, the reunion made even less sense. The whole idea, storyline concept, fellow actor rapport, and look, was just a whole bunch of preposterous ideas colliding.
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