Apologies for the extreme lateness of this post. I had a couple of appointments yesterday plus some quality time with my partner. I’m going to ask this one question that so far has remained unanswered: When does Tamara get her own story and drive it? Seems her primary job is to forever be the cheerleader for Julian (William De Vry). She’s also very much a hypocrite. Her first episode back had Kim chastising Sonny (Maurice Benard), openly, for his being a mobster, yet here she is wanting to get together with Julian even though he’s committed crimes of his own. They are:
– Committed various crimes while working for and running the Jerome organization [1988-1990]
– Kidnapped and murdered his sister Olivia [1990]
– Killed Johnathon Paget during a gunfight [1990]
– Operated an online gambling ring and knowingly lured Morgan Corinthos into gambling debt [revealed Aug 2, 2013]
– Shot Vince, a henchman within his organization, and left him to die in the harbor [Sept 16, 2013]
– Ordered Carlos Rivera to destroy a shipment that belonged to Sonny Corinthos [Sep 18, 2013]
– Ordered his henchmen to ransack the Corinthos coffee warehouse [revealed Oct 23, 2013]
– Ordered Carlos Rivera to kill Morgan Corinthos [Oct 28, 2013]
– Imported and distributed illegal drugs [Apr-May 2014]
– Arrested for drug trafficking [May 21, 2014]
– Shot Mickey Diamond [Jul 29, 2014]
– Arrested on charges of fraud and conspiracy to aid in the wrongful imprisonment of Luke Spencer [Dec 3, 2014]
– Ordered Carlos Rivera to kidnap Ric Lansing and hold him in the trunk of a car [Dec 18, 2014]
– Falsely confessed to the murder of Anthony Zacchara and sentenced to Pentonville [Jan 8, 2015; charges dropped Feb 18, 2015]
– Escaped from prison [Jan 29, 2015]
– Shot Johnny Zacchara in the shoulder [Feb 3, 2015]
While Kim may believe in second chances, I’d say she needs to be a little more even in her condemnation of criminality. But then given we see her so little, my feeling is no one cares. Right now Tamara is averaging about seven episodes per month despite the fact she is a proven talent.
I should have had this up earlier, but alas I didn’t realize what the day was. This is an anniversary of sorts for us Tamara fans. It was on this day eleven years ago we first discovered the talent we know as Tamara Braun. This is the anniversary of her first airdate as our favourite mob moll, Carly Corinthos. I can still remember that episode, “The role of Carly Corinthos will now be played by Tamara Braun.” And that began four years of one of the best characters on GENERAL HOSPITAL and one of the most successful recasts on the show. In the subsequent years we were treated to a myriad of emotions and highs and lows as Tamara took us through Carly’s life both apart and with and apart and with and apart from Sonny (Maurice Benard). Together we experienced Carly’s disappointment at the thought she might not be able to conceive a child with Sonny and her desperation throughout the Panic Room storyline with the psychopathic Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) and the South American run with Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King). We were gripped when she gave birth to Morgan and dealing with the aftermath of Sonny’s shooting his wife in the head. The poignant alternate storyline where we went through the life Carly and Lorenzo had up until his death as the elderly Carly looked on and comforted him. Then the horror of a mother dealing with the death of her beloved Michael (Dylan Cash). All in all Tamara made Carly her own and no actress has really been able to capture that vulnerability and fieriness quite the way Tamara did. Carly’s maturity was never more evident as when Tamara played her, and her humanity was never more present as Tamara gave Carly that growth one has to expect if a long-term soap opera character is to survive. Thank you Mark Teschner for your good eye at realizing what Tamara could and did bring to the show. So Happy Anniversary Tamara. 
