What Happened: Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) and Franco (Roger Howarth) get closer and kiss for the first time on 6/22. Liz chooses to turn in Hayden's illegally-held diamonds. Heather tells Franco that she's been financially blackmailing Hayden's mother, Naomi, with the information that she had an affair with Jeff Webber and produced Hayden. This would make Hayden and Liz half-sisters. Worried that Liz may have seen him with a syringe, hospital serial killer Paul causes a power outage and pushes her down the stairs (8/29). Hayden (Rebecca Budig) finds her and searches for help, but a disoriented Liz thinks she did the deed (8/30), leading to her arrest (9/1). Curtis and Finn exonerate Hayden with a photo showing Paul's feet on Liz's phone (9/9).
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Critics found it unsettling, to say the least, that a character who's committed a sexual violation (and unpunished at that) would be put with a victim of rape. Some assumed that Tom Baker was reintroduced as a means of tackling (any maybe even rectifying, if possible) this, but inappropriate discourse and an imbalanced focus on Franco showed that GH hadn't learned from its ugly history of mishandling the topic of sexual assault and using it as a plot-device. It was so disconcerting that a pivotal story that hadn't been levered in almost 20 years was unearthed, not to serve the legacy figure/actress at the center of it, but to redeem and make a hero out of a newer character that had nothing to do with it. Outside of Liz writing her parole letter and telling Franco she was raped, it was all about Franco: his gallant efforts to protect the women he cares about and demonstrate that he's worthy of Liz, coming to grips with his past, controlling his impulses and whether there's such thing as criminal …show more content…
For those that need a brief recap of what Franco did to her: during Jason and Sam's honeymoon, Franco trapped Jason in a camera room and made the guy watch as he took a drugged Sam from the shower, laid her on the bed and undressed himself. He threw his shirt on the camera. Sam became pregnant and Franco was thought to be the father for a year. This life-changing moment started a long-term domino effect of tragedy that included Sam thinking her son Danny was dead for months while another woman cared for him. A few things needed to be tweaked to blend the part of Franco in when Howarth took it on in 2013, so the camera element was used to say Franco pretended to rape Sam. Additionally, a brain tumor was written as the source of his maladaptive behavior. The tumor was removed, but there was no motion toward resolution with his transgression. Franco continued to taunt and disparage Sam and Jason, and tried to drive a wedge between Jason and Jake (his son with Liz). Any remote attempts at contrition were self-absorbed. Walking in on Sam, Franco and Liz arguing, Jake asks why Sam hates Franco (10/11). Franco says he was sorry for a "really bad lie" he told Sam, but he never apologized, thinking it was "useless" since she wasn't going to forgive him. This statement implies that apologies should only be offered if they grant you forgiveness, and that it's Sam's fault he hadn't stated his regrets. He stopped Sam on an elevator on 11/18 to
Critics found it unsettling, to say the least, that a character who's committed a sexual violation (and unpunished at that) would be put with a victim of rape. Some assumed that Tom Baker was reintroduced as a means of tackling (any maybe even rectifying, if possible) this, but inappropriate discourse and an imbalanced focus on Franco showed that GH hadn't learned from its ugly history of mishandling the topic of sexual assault and using it as a plot-device. It was so disconcerting that a pivotal story that hadn't been levered in almost 20 years was unearthed, not to serve the legacy figure/actress at the center of it, but to redeem and make a hero out of a newer character that had nothing to do with it. Outside of Liz writing her parole letter and telling Franco she was raped, it was all about Franco: his gallant efforts to protect the women he cares about and demonstrate that he's worthy of Liz, coming to grips with his past, controlling his impulses and whether there's such thing as criminal …show more content…
For those that need a brief recap of what Franco did to her: during Jason and Sam's honeymoon, Franco trapped Jason in a camera room and made the guy watch as he took a drugged Sam from the shower, laid her on the bed and undressed himself. He threw his shirt on the camera. Sam became pregnant and Franco was thought to be the father for a year. This life-changing moment started a long-term domino effect of tragedy that included Sam thinking her son Danny was dead for months while another woman cared for him. A few things needed to be tweaked to blend the part of Franco in when Howarth took it on in 2013, so the camera element was used to say Franco pretended to rape Sam. Additionally, a brain tumor was written as the source of his maladaptive behavior. The tumor was removed, but there was no motion toward resolution with his transgression. Franco continued to taunt and disparage Sam and Jason, and tried to drive a wedge between Jason and Jake (his son with Liz). Any remote attempts at contrition were self-absorbed. Walking in on Sam, Franco and Liz arguing, Jake asks why Sam hates Franco (10/11). Franco says he was sorry for a "really bad lie" he told Sam, but he never apologized, thinking it was "useless" since she wasn't going to forgive him. This statement implies that apologies should only be offered if they grant you forgiveness, and that it's Sam's fault he hadn't stated his regrets. He stopped Sam on an elevator on 11/18 to