Soap Bubbles, by JenJen!

“Turn Your Head And Cough, Jason Morgan!”

I am going to examine you.

I used to hate Jason. Back when he was Jason Quartermaine, I would almost dry heave whenever he was in a scene. My fast forward button got quite a workout because he was featured very heavily on the show. He was Mr. Holier-Than-Thou-Jason-Quartermaine with his little country club sweaters tied around his shoulders and his bleached blonde “I spend too much time in the mirror” hair and I HATED HIM!

Oh, and did I mention that I hated him?

Plus, his storylines, to me, were just completely boring. I think he used to date somebody named “Keesha” or something, I don’t know. I didn’t watch. I always skipped through his scenes if I was watching the show on tape.

I have a very vivid memory of a day one summer when I was watching GH as it aired and I was stretched out comfortably on the couch in the wonderful air conditioning, when suddenly, there was Jason Quartermaine in a scene. Panic set in as I couldn’t find the remote and was too lazy to get up and change the channel LIKE OLD PEOPLE USED TO DO, so I writhed on the couch in agony, with my fingers stopping up my ears going, “La-la-la-la-la” at the top of my voice so I wouldn’t have to hear HIS voice. It was hell.

Then there was a tree.

Yes, there was this lovely tree sent down from God Himself and Jason Quartermaine’s brain slammed right into it. Thank you, Jesus.

As Jason Q lay in that hospital bed with his parents, Alan and Monica, crying at his bedside, I hissed, “Die, Jason, Die!” And he did.

Born in his place was this beautiful creature of a man known to us now as “Jason Morgan.” Like “Adonis On A Half Shell,” he arose from the creative ink and perspiration of writers with an actual vision to pump fresh, red, hot blood into what had otherwise been a cardboard cut-out of a character. There he was; sexy, shy, quiet and aching in just the right way as to make every woman watching that show want to take him home and comfort him. And then screw his brains out.

Jason could no longer relate to the Quartermaine family after his drunken brother A.J. drove him into that tree, leaving him with total and permanent amnesia. The doctors told his shocked family that Jason had brain damage, would have to learn everything again and would most likely, be without the ability to have emotions, to feel anything.

His family was crushed. Before the accident, Jason Quartermaine, the family’s “favorite son,” was going to be a doctor. Monica held out hope that she could get her boy back, like he was, but it was not to be. When Jason learned again how to walk and talk and just function in general, he no longer felt connected to his family, so much so that he changed his last name to “Morgan,” from his Grandmother’s side of the family. Out of all of them, he did at least feel some connection and respect for her.

Lost and alone in the world, Jason Morgan was befriended by mobster Sonny Corinthos. In Jason, Sonny found a loyal employee and friend. In Sonny, Jason found a father, brother, teacher and best friend. Most importantly, Jason found a niche in the world he had been lost in, a place he could call home.

It was a story well conceived, written, directed and acted by all involved. How I miss that.

Now, Jason is once again a character I want to fast forward through. He’s still just as good looking as he ever was, in my opinion, and he can act, so what has gone wrong? Some would say that nothing has gone wrong and Jason is just as fascinating as he ever was. Maybe he is to them, but he isn’t to me.

The storylines Jason Morgan had with Robin and Carly were good. Everything was good until Jason came back nearly a year ago after a two-year absence (not counting his “guest” appearances).

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying his character is really horrible. It’s not that at all. It’s more like his character is extremely lacking, well, anything, like he just exists. He is almost a non-character, taking up space, using up air and just being an all-around bore, which is odd since his mere presence is still quite dynamic. He walks in a room and I expect something to happen that’s exciting and lately, I’m not getting it. This might not be so bad if his character was on the backburner, but he’s not, he is front and center on GH.

Right now, I can isolate two main story elements that are causing Jason to be diminished in my eyes: Sonny and Courtney. My reasons for feeling this way are just my own opinion and are very easy to explain.

With Courtney, Jason has no chemistry, no fire, no passion and they never should have been made a couple. Watching the two of them together in a scene is such a snooze I find I don’t have to fast forward because I will fall asleep first. I had some hope when Jason and Brenda sparked so brightly together, but then Brenda left town, dashing my hopes for an end to Jason and Courtney.

With Sonny, Jason is in an abusive relationship. Sonny yells at him, insults him, shows him little respect and in efforts to exert his power over him, throws him away like garbage, cutting him out of his life. At least until he changes his mind and decides to “let” Jason back in, all the while dangling the threat of exile before Jason, constantly reminding him that if anything happens to Courtney, it will be all Jason’s fault.

This dance of Master and Dog might not be so bad if Jason would have some kind of reaction to it, but he doesn’t. He has “non-reactions” instead. This is how the writing has gone wrong with Jason. The writers seem to think these “non-reactions” are in keeping with Jason’s brain-damaged, cyborg persona, but we’ve already established through Jason’s love for Robin, Carly, Michael, Emily and Sonny, that Jason is perfectly capable of feeling the joy of love found and the pain of love lost. We know then that the actions of his best friend, Sonny, must hurt him deeply and have probably hurt him for a long time.

In other words, the whole “no emotion” approach just doesn’t fly anymore. It doesn’t ring true.

Lately, the writers seem to be attempting to show Jason having feelings. This intention is wonderful, yet the writing is dismal and has no “follow-through.” However teary eyed Jason gets when speaking to Sonny, Carly or Courtney, these moments of emotional insight simply amount to a grown man pouting and whining because he never acts on his emotions. This is not true to his character. Jason is a man of action.

It is also because he is a “man of action” that he would not sit around, year after year, watching Sonny periodically deteriorate due to what is obviously some sort of mental illness (Bi-Polar, in this case) without finally doing something about it and taking action. Long before now, Jason should have gone to Sonny and said, “You have a problem. You are ill. You need to seek professional help and as your friend, I will not take no for an answer.”

It is Jason who should be threatening to cut Sonny out of his life if Sonny doesn’t get help. Jason should be the dangler of the proverbial “carrot of friendship,” not Sonny. The “real” Jason would also threaten to take Carly and Michael with him so they aren’t subjected to Sonny’s abusive mood swings, either. This would be quite a threat to Sonny, because if anyone could get Carly to see that she needed to leave Sonny for Sonny’s own good, and hers, it would be Jason.

It is against Jason’s character to be an “enabler.” The writers have lost the whole meaning of his character. Not pairing Jason with Liz, whom he was so HOT with, was bad, coupling him with Courtney (i.e., “not hot with”) was worse, but putting up with Sonny’s crap was the last straw.

Anyone who has watched this show since Sonny befriended Jason in his lost, lonely time of need knows Jason would move heaven and earth to return the favor to Sonny. To have Jason glossing over Sonny’s obvious mental illness as “Sonny just gets that way sometimes” is an insult to us viewers. We know the real Jason would do whatever he could to “save” Sonny.

I don’t know who that man is anymore. That is not Jason Morgan.

Maybe there’s been another tree and I missed it.

Symptoms: Jason is not holding my interest. I actually moan in despair when his character appears with Courtney. The only saving grace is that I still just like to look at him (the “mute” button is a wonderful thing).

Diagnosis: Jason Morgan has lost definition and acts in ways that are not true to the history of the character’s personality. Jason is now feeble, boring and his relationships with Sonny and Courtney only amplify those flaws. This is a classic case of a “Character Lost.”

Treatment: The writers need to either watch some older shows featuring Jason Morgan or they need to just go away so the show can hire some writers who care. Jason needs to take a stand with Sonny regarding Sonny’s mental illness and he needs to be paired with a woman he has genuine chemistry with. Notice I said “woman” and not “girl.”

Jason also needs to have some sort of a “breakthrough” as a character and undergo a new metamorphosis. It shouldn’t be as dramatic as his change from Quartermaine to Morgan, but he needs to grow somehow, some way, quickly and sincerely and finally become his own person.

With no shirt. ;-)

Disclaimer: The recounting of this character’s history is not meant to be detailed, therefore certain aspects of [character’s name]’s past may have been omitted and what was included here may be incorrect in some aspects. If you realize this is the case, please pat yourself on the back for being a much better fan of [character’s name]’s than I am and go on with your life feeling satisfied. Please don’t write me to tell me, because I really don’t need to know and that wasn’t the point anyway. Thank you.