Why Billy Miller Should Be the Real Jason and Why That Will Never Happen
A couple of months ago we were introduced to "Patient 6". All the true General Hospital fans knew who he was before they even revealed his face. It was Steve Burton, General Hospital's golden boy who left suddenly five years ago. As fans, we know what being "killed off" means when a body is never found. We know there's always a chance the actor and/or the character will return. This time, only the character returned, with the face of Billy Miller. Soap characters are frequently recast, but this time was different. This time, they acknowledged that Jason had a different face; that he had had reconstructive surgery.
Let's disregard completely that their "proof" was suspect. Spinelli, boy genius, created a program that by bone structure could show what "Jake Doe" (not a name) looked like before the surgery. Sure enough, it was Jason. That's the first incredibly difficult thing to believe. If you're going to go that route, make sure your new actor at least somewhat resembles the shape of the old actor. Billy and Steve's heads have a completely different shape. They have completely different body types. Steve will alway be skinny and Billy has a larger muscular build. But let's just suspend disbelief on that part because the producers, writers and casting agents certainly have.
But we have a kind of exciting and (sort of) unique story here. Two men, identical twins (with different faces 😜 ), who both have the same exact memories and think they're the same man.
Steve being Jason makes sense. But Billy being Jason makes drama.
So let's compare Steve & Billy
1) The Look.
Steve: Seeing is believing. He looks the part because he was the part. Five years and a few crows feet later, that's Jason Morgan.
Billy: And that's why it would come as a great dramatic shock if it turned out Billy was Jason. "Seeing is believing." Most of these characters take Steve's Jason to be the real one because it's right in front of their eyes. They see the guy from their past which is automatic proof.
2) The Feel.
Steve acts like Jason. He jumps right back into mob buddy mentality. He's a man of few words, he's stoic, he respects Sam's choices and doesn't want to force her to accept who he is. He acts exactly like the Jason everyone knew five years ago.
Billy has moments where he acts like the old Jason - but he's grown up. He's in his forties now and acts like it. Again, everyone wants so badly to believe that their old friend is back that they can't understand that people can change and grow up and make different decisions. It's called character growth.
3) The Legend
Steve: GH has its favorites. You know this. I know this. Sonny, Jason & Carly - the mob storylines - everything in the past 15 years has favored all of these characters and ideas. Sonny always wins. His enemies always falter. They can do no wrong - and Jason was always the golden child of the GH family.
Billy: While Billy has his fans, he's hasn't quite reached the cult status Steve has. I mean, give him time - he hasn't even been on the show half the time Steve has. If it turned out Billy's Jason was the one, this could give Steve room to grow as an actor.
4) The Circumstances
Steve: Helena's final words to Sam was that she's cursed her family. We all know of Dr. Maddox's memory thing-whatsit. It makes sense that they would have sent Drew with the false memories of Jason all while being under the control of Helena.
Billy: Except...nothing really came of that. Of course Helena didn't count on the accident/amnesia/face reconstruction to follow - but the past couple of years, he's settled into a role with Sam, had Sonny's back multiple times & any drama centered around Jason had nothing to do with being a changeling. That said,
Steve: No one wanted SteveJason to escape. No one wanted him in Port Charles. If Steve isn't the real Jason, then what would be the point in keeping him captive for five years, except to keep him away from the changeling Jason.
Billy: Unless they didn't want SteveJason to escape yet because he just wasn't ready yet. The experiment wasn't 100% complete.
Steve: Which brings us to: Franco. He's the only one who knows the truth. Why is he not revealing it? On the surface, it seems good for him if Billy turns out to be Jason. That way, he doesn't have to start over with another babydaddy. Things aren't perfect with BillyJason, but they'd be way worse with Stevejason.
Billy: Or maybe he's encouraging BillyJason to fight because he knows BillyJason is the real Jason.
....except not a lot always makes sense in our little town of Port Charles. Plots are added, things aren't planned, ideas are retconned. I doubt TPTB knew that Steve was going to be back in five years. They didn't actually plan any of this.
Why Revealing Billy as Jason Would Be Great Drama
Sonny, Carly, Michael, Robin, Monica (mostly?) all admit to thinking that SteveJason is the real Jason. Sam admitted to Alexis today (11/21) that she she may have doubts. Sonny and Carly have basically cast BillyJason aside. They've barely spoken two words to him since SteveJason emerged through as skylight (as you do) to run after the man who kidnapped Sam. How amazing would it be if every single one of them were proved wrong.
How would they react?
Would they fight it? Accept it?
Would they have to ashamedly apologize to how they treated him? Would Sonny & Carly lose both Jasons?
Would Sam have even more conflicted feels about seeing her husband next to the man he used to look like?
Would Steve's Drew be accepted as a substitute in Sonny's organization?
How would Billy's Jason react to everyone's betrayal? His wife's (hypothetical eventual)?
This would all bring great drama and what's more, it would be incredibly shocking and unexpected.
....And that's probably why it won't happen. Steve is GH's golden boy. He's Jason to them & that can't change despite how it would help and change the show. No matter how far we've come in the last twenty years, things remain the same.
I could go into a thousand tirades of that last sentence...but that's for another time.
