In a “storyline dictated” move that has become characteristic, if not protocol, for daytime television, Dahlia Salem’s on-screen presence is becoming less and less visible in the city of Port Charles. Salem first joined the cast of General Hospital in 2010 as the steel driven prosecutor Claire Walsh. The character was written into the backbone of the storyline involving the trial of Michael Corinthos. Revealing her signature mix of a focused, yet believable interpretation, Dahlia Salem emerged as one of General Hospital’s most engaging performers. As her character’s storyline continued to develop, her on-screen chemistry with co-star Maurice Benard was saddled in favor of the more established Vanessa Marcil.
Dahlia Salem as Claire Walsh
Prior to Vanessa Marcil’s return, Dahlia Salem’s character was eventually paired with Sonny Corinthos in a classic romantic storyline seeded with a professional conflict of interest. Salem, who is certainly not a stranger to the profession of acting or the genre of daytime, was able to adeptly and convincingly portray her character’s inner conflict; the dilemma of wanting both a high profile career and a fulfilling personal life. The return of former fan favorite Vanessa Marcil presented an opportunity for head writer Robert Guza to continue to provide Dahlia Salem with a solid storyline. Instead of continuing to develop Claire Walsh as a character, General Hospital seems to have taken the adage strategy of sidelining what they consider to be “secondary talent.”
Why General Hospital Missed the Mark
While General Hospital is undoubtedly one of the genre’s exceptional productions, the storyline development to accommodate Marcil’s return missed the mark by resorting to a predictable outcome. The pairing of Sonny and Brenda as a star-crossed couple attempting once again to achieve a life together is a tired, worn-out formula that the show has displayed enough times to alienate a portion of its fan base. Surely Marcil displays enough talent and likability as Brenda Barrett, however to have Sonny almost automatically discard a budding relationship in favor of returning to an old flame fails to capitalize on potential character development and is, in many ways, quite assumptive.
A further indicator of Guza’s simple mirroring of Sonny and Brenda’s history is revealed in the fact that the couple’s current attempt to legalize their union appears to once again be under sabotage –this time from a vindictive enemy of the bride instead of the groom’s sense of obligation to his family. It seems that perhaps further exploration of Sonny’s feelings for Claire and exploration of the characters’ motivations for initiating their relationship would have resulted in a richer storyline development. Marcil’s return as Brenda could have certainly been injected as an inner struggle for Sonny in terms of emotional closure or perhaps as a means for Brenda to obtain vindication for the groom’s previous abandonment at the altar.
In fact, it seems too predictable that General Hospital would choose to showcase the talents of a performer who has greater name recognition with its long-term fan base than that of an equally talented performer who is new to the canvas. The on-screen pairing of Dahlia Salem and Maurice Benard brought an attractive chemistry that is hard to come by in any genre. Discarding playful, relatable rapport and believable character development for a seemingly predictable means to increase short-term ratings robs new performers of their chance to develop an audience following and the show of its credibility.
Helen Akers - Helen E. Akers
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