First impressions of GENERAL HOSPITAL's Franco, as portrayed by movie star James Franco? Cautiously optimistic. Franco the actor did not have a chance to really do much beyond act all shadowy and mysterious. But Franco the character does seem really twisted — like someone out of one of those lurid prime-time procedurals. Okay, so he's an artist, but that doesn't make it right that he likes to play with corpses — and live girls playing dead bodies.

Was I the only one a little creeped out when Kate was instructing Maxie to do whatever is necessary to land the reclusive artist Franco for a Crimson photo shoot? Now, Kate is always very demanding, but the way she noted that Franco had been a recluse in recent years and how Maxie is such a pretty and perky blonde…well, it seemed clear that Kate was urging Maxie to seduce him. Too bad it looks like Franco's idea of foreplay may just be to have Maxie lie in a chalk body outline. (Maxie is an "open-minded" chick, but that might be too much even for her.) Still, once she gets a gander at exactly how "facially challenged" he is, who knows what she would say?