Is it just me or is The Balkan storyline just not cutting it on GENERAL HOSPITAL? I've been watching every day hoping that it would take off but I just can't get into it. I admit that the reveal of Theo being The Balkan and even Suzanne being his wife, completely caught me off-guard. I certainly did not see any of that coming. But that's about as interesting as it got for me. Theo is a newbie. We weren't familiar with him and we were never able to sympathize with him in the loss of his son. In fact, he came into GH acting like he owned the place, which I can assume only ticked off most Port Charles fans. And Theo's son, Aleksander is, at this point, just a name without a face. How do we connect with someone when we can't even imagine who we are mourning? This is not to say anything against Daniel Benzali, because GH is lucky to have the talented actor on-board. I just think that it could have been approached differently. It seems as though the writers are trying to create a hot storyline to get the audience deeply invested by involving some key players and hoping it takes off.

There is a crucial point missing, though. I can't feel Theo/The Balkan's pain. He becomes outraged and seeks revenge for someone who we didn't even know existed. He's barking orders and treating people like they are the dirt under his shoe - people we have loved for years. He has no ties to Port Charles; no extended family at all (that we know of yet!). I cheered when Alexis had had enough and put him, or at least tried to put him, in his place. These are people we are invested in. The people we have grown to love. How interesting could it have been if the Balkan was actually Jerry? Let's say he had a long-lost son who no one knew about and was killed by Brenda. Could you imagine the fall-out? The entire canvas of characters would be involved. Talk about an umbrella storyline. Now, Jerry blames Sonny because of his link to Brenda and of course, Sonny's son for covering it up. This in turn brings in Jax, Carly, Alexis and so many others. I'm betting somehow Jerry would find a way to gain sympathy. At this point, I'm invested in Suzanne who I still think has something up her sleeve. She seems to have a lot more layers than Theo, who has no other agenda than revenge on his son's killer. I'm hoping I'm wrong; I know GH can pull out some whopping shockers. I'm just waiting for that moment when I can at least connect with Theo and Suzanne because right now I'm just scratching my head wondering, "Why do we care?"