There’s one thing that needs to be made clear about Carly Spencer on General Hospital. She is not a heroine. She was never meant to be a heroine, and in nearly 30 years, she has not grown into one. A shades-of-grey character like Carly definitely serves a purpose on a soap, if she is written correctly.
General Hospital: Carly Spencer Has Zero Purpose
The problem is, Carly (Laura Wright) is NOT written correctly and barely written at all. At this point, she is just inserted into random stories, and it’s become more obvious by the day that the writers can’t think of anything more for this character to do.
Recently, it has become more clear than ever that GH has run out of actual compelling stories for Carly as she shows up everywhere with people she shouldn’t be with who don’t even like her. Why was Carly walking into Monica Quartermaine’s (Leslie Charleson) living room as if she lives there to suddenly help plan the Nurses Ball? Why was Carly carrying around a photo of Elizabeth’s (Rebecca Herbst) parents in her purse for months? And why, oh why, oh why is Carly of all people now involved with the Ice Princess story that was Anna (Finola Hughes) and Valentin’s (James Patrick Stuart) for nearly a year?
The only story Carly is involved in that could be called her own is this little insider trading nonsense that seems dumber every time we hear about it because the two corporate geniuses she was supposedly helping by buying Aurora stock didn’t even seem to know what insider trading was. It’s not a front-burner story, and who really cares? It’s not like Carly will serve any time for that because Carly is more of a Teflon Don than Sonny (Maurice Benard) is, which brings us to the next problem.
GH: Carly Does Rotten Things, And Carly Never Suffers
There was a time when Carly was the town pariah, manipulating, keeping secrets, and especially keeping children from their rightful parents. She arrived in Port Charles in 1996 for the express purpose of punishing her bio mom for giving her up for adoption by breaking up Bobbie (Jacklyn Zeman) and Tony’s (Brad Maule) marriage. She then went on to keep various children from their own bio parents, and she would suffer the consequences for that, but Carly doesn’t suffer anymore.
The last time we saw Carly suffer at all was when Morgan (Bryan Craig) was killed, but that was seven years ago already, and as a parent, she will always suffer the pain of losing her child. There is no denying that. However, where have Carly’s suffering and consequences gone since then? She had a scare during her change-of-life pregnancy when Donna was diagnosed with spina bifida in utero, but that problem was solved with surgery the moment Donna was born.
Some might say she suffered when she believed that Sonny had died, but where was her real pain? Within days she was kidnapping old ladies, and within months, she was admitting that Jason (Steve Burton) was the actual love of her life, and she even married him. Heck, Carly seemed to miss Sonny’s morning cup of coffee more than she missed the man, which could be the real reason they couldn’t pick up where they left off when he returned. However, Carly just blames Nina (Cynthia Watros) and ignores the fact that Sonny walked in on her and Jason about to have a wedding night in the bed she had shared with her presumed-dead husband.
General Hospital: Everything Comes Up Roses For Carly
Fans waited with breathless anticipation for nine months for Carly’s entire family to read her for the filth she is when she decided it was her job not to tell Nina and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) that they were mother and daughter. She also ignores the fact that she had already done something like this when she neglected to tell Nina that Nelle (Chloe Lanier) was her daughter. If that had never happened, Nina in Nixon Falls would have never happened, but Carly does not have the self-awareness to know that, and neither do her kids, who seem like a clone of their mom.
When everyone learned about Carly’s latest bout of keeping parent and child apart, Drew (Cameron Mathison) and Michael (Chad Duell) stayed mad at her for a day, Willow asked her to be her maid of honor, Josslyn (Eden McCoy) defended Mommy to the hilt, and eventually, Drew rewarded her with sex. Ho hum. Carly does a bad thing. Carly gets what she wants anyway. She was even supposed to be enlightened during her pointless trip to Florida, where she and Drew existed in a vacuum for a month, but she still returned to Port Charles to lie, manipulate, and keep secrets because she had to know deep down her minions would still love her anyway.
Yes, Carly has a strong fanbase, but there is an equally strong contingent of fans who just can’t take it anymore. This is nothing against the vast talents of Laura Wright, who comes to work every day and plays what she is given. Too bad the material she is given is a combination of pointless and ridiculous. She deserves better and so do we.
Can GH Repair This Mess?
Perhaps the fans who have had it with Carly Spencer wouldn’t be so against her if she ever paid for any of the horrible things she does. Maybe Carly would be more tolerable if she wasn’t inserted in stories she doesn’t belong in for no reason whatsoever, making it clear the writers have no idea what to do with the character.
And again, maybe the root of the problem is the fact that GH writers now seem to think Carly is a heroine when she is most certainly not. It makes no sense for her to offer to be people’s confidantes, especially people whose lives she made a living hell for years. Either give Carly a story that means something and that will have fallout, or back burner her for a while. Otherwise, she will continue to get on fans’ last nerves and prompt opinions like this one all over the web.