REVIEW: GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT

GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT premiered its second season last night on SOAPnet and after one show, I was impressed. Yes, sometimes it looks like a low budget ER or GREY's, but what is sometimes missing from the daytime version showed up plenty in the late night spin-off - heart. At the core of the show is the relationship between Robin and Patrick. Their banter and interactions were charming and made me an even bigger fan of the characters and couple. The return of Jagger Cates (Antonio Sabato, Jr.) was an overwhelming success. Patrick found him in Robin's apartment in a towel in a cute exchange which ended with Robin and Jagger sharing the breakfast Patrick had made for her.

A car crashed into the ER in the opening segment and the crash resulted in Dr. Ford's death. This lead to Patrick being appointed as interim Chief of Staff. His first act was to remove Robin from active duty which didn't sit well with this pregnant girlfriend and set the stage for the opening episode's conflict. By the end of the episode they had made peace and moved forward in their relationship.

The newcomers were hit or miss but mostly hit. I enjoyed the relationship between Carrie Southworth's Claire and Adam Grimes' Kyle, who turned out to be Leo's brother AND gay. Azita Ghanizada's Saira is an interesting addition but her potential relationship with Leo is probably headed down a path we've seen a million times before.

We also had the return of Touissant (Billy Dee Williams) and the introduction of a 26 year old stroke victim whose boyfriend leaves her to fend for herself by show's end.

The final scenes featured Jagger introducing Robin to his son, Stone, named after his later brother, and Robin's first love.

A soap that focuses on the goings on at General Hospital - what a a novel idea. And one that works. I wish the ABC Daytime felt the same way.

GRADE: B+