Garin Wolf*.
You wrote my favorite episode of Night Shift and 2 really wonderful episodes of GH this January. And Wikipedia even gives you credit for some of the best years in GH history - 1997-1998. I know you're a SCAB and probably not long to be seen at GH, so I decided to write you a letter for the whole world to see.
I love you.
When you write the show, there are lovely moments of human realism, like when Jason looked at Claudia, offering herself up like 2-day-old meat on special at the market, and said in response to her veiled offer of cheap nameless or not-so-nameless sex, "Maybe that should tell you something." Under your pen, I watched Carly & Jax have a conversation that could occur in any middle school child's bedroom in America (especially given a week of multiple school shootings). I watched couples try and be families, people learn about loneliness, and stammerers stammer in ever-endearing run-on sentences. The characters don't function in isolation and the characters lost that haze of "what's my motivation here" that has been painful to watch. You understand that Sonny and Jason have reached an ending. You're not afraid to paint Claudia as lonely and desperate (because Sarah Browne can handle that beautifully). You love Johnny's darkness and LuLu's dumbness (she went to a class - hallelujah) and Nadine's silliness (the duck is precious). You let those be qualities that produce plots not qualities created for plots and randomly shoved into whichever character needs screen time.
I'm watching Friday's episode again and lamenting the end of the writer's strike. Almost every moment is so rich in the qualities that make me love soaps. Elizabeth has personality. Sam's victimization seems more human and less shrill. Kate became less vanilla and more insecure. Your medical jargon even made sense. You also seem aware that hospitals are more than a single nurse's station. In your GH, there are physical therapists and a pediatrics unit. Why, if left to your own devices, I bet a dietitian would wander across the screen eventually.
I know it can't last forever. The cloud of Guza's ego is threatening the horizon. Soon, I will be treated to his ongoing hatemail to FOX meant to illustrate why he should be writing 24 instead of some lousy soap. I don't feel like you feel that way, Garin Wolf. When I see your name at the start of an episode, I put away my Tivo remote and listen to each word. Because you write people in all their messy glory and seem to love our characters as much as we do. So, here's my offer: wherever you find yourself, drop me a line. I don't care if you're writing Maxwell House commercials...I'll give it ratings. Because you deserve a fan.
So, thank you. I wish you success. You were a wonderful part of my recent afternoons.
Sincerely -
glo
*Now, irony dictates that one day I'll discover that Garin Wolf is the SCAB pseudonym of Guza. Nevertheless, I will go on with this letter because I hope that whatever alternate universe gave us Garin Wolf will keep spinning in line with ours.
Oh - and a shout-out to Nancy. Welcome. Thanks for commenting. Nice to have someone stop on by...
2 comments:
Garin Wolf is a real person, not a pseudonym for Guza.
Thanks for the welcome. It's fun to see someone who can appreciate GH the way I do (or not as the case may be).
I must be more of a Pollyanna than I ever thought. After watching Friday's episode I said to my husband that I wondered if the writer's were back. That perhaps they had started turning in scripts as soon as the rumor of settlement was in the air. It was such a damn good episode for the reasons you list. I didn't notice Garin Wolf's name but I will now. I'll have to check the Night Shift DVD when I get it to see those episodes also bet I like them too.
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