WORST FAMILY DRAMA I OSCAR’S ILLNESS, GH
Soaps historically have put their teen characters front and center in the summertime to help lure in younger viewers who were out of school. GH moved its teens to the front burner after classes started back up with the early September reveal that Oscar has a malignant brain tumor. But the story’s flaws went beyond timing. While Oscar is technically a legacy character (given that he is a Quartermaine by blood), he didn’t exist in the GH universe until late last year, so viewers aren’t terribly invested in him. The tale kicked off in a curious way, with viewers learning that Kim had known about Oscar’s cancer for two years, but chosen to keep her son in the dark, even though he might only have months to live. Because we had seen no hint that Kim was harboring a secret this devastating, or wrestling with the possibly imminent death of her only child (you’d think his condition might have come up when he was rushed to the hospital with hypothermia back in March!), or grappling with whether to come clean with Oscar or his new pop, Drew, the tumor twist felt very out of the blue. On the positive side, Tamara Braun (Kim) and Billy Miller (Drew) have done strong work as the distraught parents, and Oscar’s cancer has set up an intriguing triangle between Josslyn, Oscar and Cameron.