{alltv} General Hospital Head Writer Q&A

Garin Wolf has been writing the twists and turns around Port Charles since 1997, and he's been a fan of General Hospital since long before that. Recently, he was named the new Head Writer of GH, and this week, his tenure makes it to your TV screens. We sat down with Garin to talk about where he sees the show headed -- who's coming back; who's embarking on some big storylines -- and his feelings on your favorite characters and couples. Read on to get an inside look at what's in store for GH coming up!

ABC.COM: First of all, congratulations!

Garin Wolf: Thank you, sir!

You must be excited! Your stint as head writer begins on the air on Tuesday, the 26th.

Yes.

I guess you must be excited to see how your vision for the show is going to received by the fans.

I hope the fans have fun. We've lost a lot of people. I hope they come back. If they do, they will not be disappointed. I've said this in a couple interviews – we've got something for everybody. Things that people would not expect, did not expect. And get on the ride.

Obviously the big story airing now is Jason and Sam's engagement. Can you talk a little bit about where this is going? Specifically, or the longest time, Jason and Sam have never really been the marrying kind. So, where do you feel like you wanted to take it once you went there with them?

Sam and Jason are unconventional, and nothing they do in the next six to eight weeks will be conventional. No matter where you think this is going, that's kind of not where it's going.

Oh really?

They're a strong couple, but they're a unique couple. And proposals, weddings – everything like that – should be, and usually is, unique to the people, and these are very unique people. They can't do it like everybody else, and they won't. That's all I'm going to tell you!

All right, we'll be waiting with bated breath to see where it goes! Beyond Jason and Sam, can you tease a little bit to the big conflicts coming up in the next weeks and months? It seem like things are kind of headed towards Sonny vs. Anthony. Anthony seems to be consolidating his forces, as it were.

Sonny, Anthony, Johnny – it's going to get personal. It's going to be less about the business, less about the bombs, and more about the fire inside them. Anthony is a loose cannon. Sonny's a loose cannon. Stand back. Don't get in the way.

Where do you see Johnny fitting in with that dynamic? Because he sort of seems to be at least still a little bit of a wild card.

Johnny's going to remain a wild card, but he's going to reach his limit – in a big way. He's going to be more like daddy.

Oh yeah. That'll be great.

A lot of people are going to become more like daddy.

All right, now that's interesting.

And that's all I'm saying!

That's all you're saying about that! Great, well, people can put those puzzle pieces together. Are there characters or relationships on the show that maybe aren't quite at the forefront now that you're going to look to bring to the forefront because you feel like there's some potential in there?

This show is a wonderful bunch of actors and characters, and in my head they will all come to the foreground eventually, find new directions, find new people, find new loves, find old loves.

Is there anybody specifically you have in mind when you say something like that?

Everybody! I love everybody on this show, and I want to bring balance to the show. People will ebb and flow – couples will come, couples will go, couples will come together and fall apart, people will change, people will grow as the stories unfold. Most of the stories I have in my head are like six to eight month story arcs. We get to explore what's really in their heart and soul and head, and watch them change. Not change unrecognizably, but grow.

I wanted to talk about Sonny and Carly for a second, because where we are on air now, they're kind of at a crossroads, impasse, where they're sort of realizing that they're relationship is still intertwined with each other.It's been such a central relationship on the show – how do you see it?

It's complicated as hell. They are a little of everything to each other, depending on the moment. They are both going to get very hot under the collar with each other, and something is about to explode. It's going to blow up in both their faces.

So do you see them as a couple down the line at all, or is there potential for that? Or do you find them better as rivals who have to work together?

Isn't that the same thing?

Yeah, well, in many ways.

Yeah, yes. I'll say yes to all of the above.

Great. And sort of another relationship that seems to be turning point, limbo, or whatever you want to call it - is Lucky and Elizabeth. Where do you see what lies in the future for them?

Lucky and Elizabeth both have a huge journey in front of them – fun, different paths that they're going to take that no one will see coming. That's all I'm going to say.

Would it be fair to say that when Luke eventually gets back onto the scene, that he's going to tie into that as well, or at least Lucky?

Luke will tie into all his children. What Luke did when he left shook them all up, coming back will be no different.

Do you have any idea when that is down the line, how soon?

What can I say without giving anything away? Just when you least expect it.

Yeah, that's when Luke shows up.

But it's not what you think, just saying.

So, we've recently reported on casting announcements – Robin Christopher's coming back as Skye and Stuart Damon's going to show up as Alan – so that has gotten our reader's obviously talking about the Quartermaines. There was that great scene a very short while ago between Tracy and Monica. What are your plans for the Quartermaines? How do you see them fitting in in the future of the show?

They're a legacy family. There's always ways to bring people in, bring people back. I love Robin Christopher. When she comes, she's going to be like a pinball – she's going to bounce off people and push people in directions that create story – with Tracy, with Edward, with Carly, with Jason, with Elizabeth. One false word, one false move, and everything changes.

So would it be fair to say that you're looking to bring the Quartermaines back out? They had kind of gone into the background for a little while.

Yes, they're coming back. Everybody that's on this show is going to have something meaningful to do. They will not just be extras. They will have story. They will have purpose. They will make things happen in their own lives and everybody else's lives. They're too much fun to ignore, way too much fun to ignore. And when Luke comes back, Luke's going to find – I'll give you a tease with this – Luke's going to have a run for his money.

Oh really? A run for his money in what way? For Tracy?

Perhaps.

Aha. Well that will be interesting. Those two are so great together. That's got to be fun to write for them.

Oh, they're a ball, just a ball, because underneath all the fun and larceny and mayhem are two very real, wonderfully damaged people.

How do you feel it is to balance that? Because they've obviously got such comedic potential, but they're two of the longest-standing really serious characters. Do you find that's a fun challenge to balance that out between them?

Because they have so much history, and because they're such wonderful actors, when you give them comedy, there's always a place to put something serious and poignant and meaningful underneath. That's what's great about those two. And they're both completely unpredictable people with no boundaries, and what could be more fun to write than that?

Right. I feel like you could say the same about characters like Maxie and Spinelli.

Yes, a different kind of fun. Both of them are headed for something they didn't expect. The Jackal, P.I., is going to take a turn for the serious, and then for the sad, and then for something else.

I wanted to jump back to Sonny for one more second. Is there sort of a writerly concern over the idea of, "well how bad can we allow Sonny to get and still have him as our hero/anti-hero/conflicted hero?" Particularly I'm talking about in terms of what happened with Jax - setting him up on false charges to help Carly win the custody suit.

It's what a person does afterwards. It's nothing new for Sonny – I mean, it's nothing new for Sonny. It's what you can do with him that makes it different on the back end of his episodes.

So he's a character you feel fairly confident that you can sort of push the envelope with?

Yes. Give me a chance and I'll push the envelope with anybody. That's what's fun about this job.

That's got to be one of the things you're looking forward to, finding different ways to push the envelope.

Because we have the luxury of time, and it's not a half hour a week or an hour a week, you can take people and watch them grow, watch them change, watch them get bad, watch them get worse, and then find a way to redeem them – from inside, outside – and watch them take a different path. Because none of us stay the same. None of us stay the same, and these people can't either.

Is it interesting – obviously you've been writing for the show for a very long time – is it interesting to look back and see the evolution of a character? Like Sonny, who's been on the show that entire time.

Yes, Sonny still needs to learn some very valuable lessons. Sonny is still driven by something in his childhood, and he needs to find a way to resolve some of it, or he is going to lose everything.

Okay. So tune in…

So tune in! Which is the whole idea of what we're doing, I mean, we're working up a storm here. But that's only half the job. The other half is for people to watch and to have fun. This is one of the hardest jobs in the entertainment industry, but it can also be fun. That's why I'm trying to bring balance to the canvas – where it is the mob, but it's also the hospital, where it's romance, where it's mystery, where it's secrets, where it's silliness and fun, and just, you know, just watch. I grew up watching this stuff as a kid. There was no Internet, there were no fan magazines. You just sat, and you watched, and you went, "Oh wow, okay, I want to see what happens tomorrow." And we've kind of lost some of that. We rely on the Internet, we can stand in the supermarket line and find out what happens, and it's like knowing what you're going to get for Christmas. You know, just watch. Just watch it. Watch it unfold and play, like we do. That's what we do when we write it.

Fantastic. Well, I can't think of a better note to go out on, so thank you very, very much for answering my questions.

Thank you. I probably didn't answer them as much as you wanted me to, but I have a reputation for not giving anything up!