Viewers were shocked when we tuned in to the September 27 episode of “General Hospital” and heard a voiceover announcing that the role of Molly Lansing-Davis is now being played by Kristen Vaganos. This is the third recast since the character’s originator, Hayley Pullos, was arrested on alleged DUI charges on April 29 and was subsequently sent to rehab. The recasting of Molly became a total mess after the first actress to step into her shoes, Holiday Mia Kriegel, was inexplicably recast after two months by Brooke Anne Smith in July. While fans refused to warm up to Kriegel, Smith caused a furor because she clearly looked far older than the character was supposed to be. But just as we were starting to warm up to her, the show foisted Vaganos upon us. One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter, hilariously quipped that “Happy Now?” should have been at the end of the announcement.
Vaganos graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and started off in short films beginning in 2014. She’s been in several films and TV movies including “Obsessed with the Babysitter” and the 2021 thriller “The Box.” She was also in six episodes of the TV series “Serial Soulmate” and is now enjoying the grind of being a soap actor. In other words, she’s got the chops necessary for the role.
However, the problem here isn’t with whoever’s playing the part of Molly, the issue is the problematic character herself. In other words, Molly needs a serious overhaul.
Molly has traditionally been annoying and boring
Haley Pullos has played Molly Lansing-Davis on “General Hospital” since 2009, and it’s been fun watching her grow up. But as Molly neared her adult years on the show, she became incredibly annoying. It’s fine when the writers want to have a character with differing viewpoints, such as Molly’s veganism and her not wanting to have a traditional marriage, instead entering into a domestic partnership with T. J. Ashford (Tajh Bellow). Still, her whiny approach to life made those things uninteresting, creating many “who cares?” moments. It always takes time for fans to embrace the recast of a character, but here, “GH” seems to be throwing actors at the wall to see who sticks.
Molly adds nothing to any of the storylines, and her current issue with her endometriosis diagnosis quickly turning into hiring a surrogate with T.J. so they can have a child has been yawn-inducing. And when her sister Kristina Davis (yet another recast with Kate Mansi) offered to be her surrogate, Molly went ballistic, calling her selfish and creating a rift between them. A good story solution would be to have the surrogate, Andrea (Lily Anne Harrison), refuse to give up the child after its birth. Or, maybe T.J. could have an affair with her. Come on, “GH,” we need something spicer than the same old stuff. Either figure out how to make Molly interesting, or write her out of the show.
