Writers wasting Esme's character

[varnish7]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Esme could be an amazing character, if only the writers would get their heads out of their rear ends? Right now, Esme is mostly being written as a one dimensional villain with no redeeming qualities. However, she is supposed to be the daughter of Ryan Chamberlain. This ties her in with Kevin and Laura, two legacy characters. She's also connected to the Cassadines, thanks to Spencer. I can see so much potential for character driven storylines, if only the writers would give Esme more depth.

During her scenes with Laura, Esme comes across as an unhappy, deeply troubled young woman. Why can't the writers work with that? They could give Esme a borderline personality disorder. They could show her being conflicted between her desire to please her father and her desire to be with Spencer. They could have Laura and Kevin become sort of surrogate parents to Esme. She could see what a mature stable relationship looks like and start to have doubts about Ryan.

The writers could even use Esme to add some much needed layers to Ryan and Kevin. They could make it so that Ryan was actually a good father to Esme, and her adoptive parents were the ones who messed her up. Obviously, Ryan and Esme were separated at some point. The writers could connect that to the long lost memory switch storyline. If the writers had made it so Esme was really pregnant, they could have had Ryan back off on his plans for Nikolas and Ava in order to protect his grandchild. They could show how a crazy part of Kevin understands and even enjoys Ryan and Esme's darkness. Once the truth about Esme comes out, the writers could have Kevin defend his niece, thereby creating conflict with both Laura and his stepfamily.

The writers could do all of these things, but instead they just dumb everybody down so that Esme gets away with everything, for the sake of the plot. It's very frustrating.

[GH Fan 1991]

I disagree ?. Esme is a useless waste of airtime.

[LFBHasGreatHair]

I don't know if they're wasting the character. It was always their intent to write her as a 1 note villain who probably ends up a villain of Ryan Chamberlain (himself a 1 note villain who didn't ever need to be depicted again). And they certainly are never ever going to let a female peer win over Joss unless maybe they bring back Emma. She is literal mini Carly and she can't even disagree with her boyfriend without being an aggrieved party who gets to eventually have her "I told you so" moment.

but 100% they are wasting this actress who is absolutely killing it. And instead they're basically just writing a fast track to killing her off.

It is like they never learn. For each bad thing they have her do they should have her do one good thing. Yet they can't even write it so that her peer group (Spencer, Trina, Cam, Joss) don't immediately know she is guilty of whatever bad happens. And they dumb down people who should know better such as Laura to prolong Esme's stay before they ultimately have her killed off

[LBD12]

I said this in another thread, but I don't get how she's supposed to be a contract character at this rate. When a character goes this off the deep end this quickly, they usually end up dead or in jail within a year

[kat401]

It's already too late. There is just no good reason for Esme to so completely evil. She has done unforgivable acts of cruelty that no amount of back story (which they've not even bothered to do) can make understandable. I swear sometimes I really believe that somebody just wants to see how far they can push the envelope before we all turn off the tv in disgust.

[Anna74]

They are definitely wasting both the actress and the character. She is a one-note cardboard villain and they are boring! I have no interest in story with a character who is evil just because she’s evil. The younger set could use a bad girl who shakes things up but they don’t need a cartoon character.

[Wanda Wolek]

The writers really blew it with this character. They have made her so evil and nasty without giving us more than a teeny bit of her background, so we know what drives her. She had the capability of being a GH version of the young Erica Kane. A troublemaker who has lots of issues that makes one understand why she acts as she does. Instead, the writers push Esme into psychopath territory. I'm sure they'll try to redeem her in a month or two, but it is far too late.

[kat401]

You are so right! What were they thinking?

[wfreshie2130]

but is she REALLY ryans bio daughter?? that scene was creepy..it was like is she enamored with him so she is role playing being his daughter and Ryan is acting like a father and loves training her as his protege'

[tv_junkie_123]

100% agree. This is kind of like Nelle all over again. They are wasting an incredible actress by pushing her into a corner by making her a one not villain. I was hoping for some sort of balance and twist that made her more gray, but GH is just not interested in that.

[DayRose]

Esme is being wasted! All she is is another Nelle. She's already irredeemable to me, there is no excuse for her evil actions.

[Mondo]

I was hoping she would be a gray character, that needed help and eventually frenemies with Joss and Trina but then she did the video thing. Now I think it is going to be very hard to go back.

[Toll]

What did Joss say ? Nelle 2.0 LOL Good one. But I have heard others say that first! lol

[channyfan]

I think the Laura/Esmee bond is quite intriguing tbh i dont know that Esmee is using Laura to get through Spencer even if we are meant to think that. For some reason Esmee seems to actually listen to Laura as some sort of mother figure.

Maybe Ryan manipulated Esmee to believe she was his but Kévin is actually her dad. That would make Laura her stepmom and should anything happen to Kévin, Laura May end up having a much more active involvement in Esmee's life down the line

[truffle89]

Completely agree, I think they're wasting Avery Pohl. The teen set needed a trouble maker and she could definitely fit that bill but they have completely written the character into a psycho corner. I just don't see how (realistically) they could "redeem" her to make a long term viable character. Which is a shame. The better way to do this as alluded by multiple posts above is to give us some insight and background into her struggles and background to humanize her and allow us to understand her motivations. I believe there was 1 scene at the MC with Laura when you could really see the vulnerable, hurt side of Esme - and Avery killed those scenes. Her struggle as an orphan wanting approval/love and thus easily manipulated by Ryan is a workable backstory or why besides the scheming she is so intent on keeping Spencer (I think it's much more than just the $$). There could have been so many more scenes sprinkled in to write her more well rounded, we got the crazy psycho stuff- no need to repeat it over and over. But instead they have written the character so over the psycho cliff. Watch them have her go all crazy with the Ryan schemes and then they have to do a massive amount of "poor Esme" scenes to try to keep the character viable?

[DVX]

I remember when Carly first came on. She did no good things. Some people still haven't forgiven her. heh But she's arguably the lead female on the show now. My point is that it was quite awhile before we saw Carly's good side. As long as Esme doesn't off someone in cold blood, the writers can find a way to balance her out.

[Anna74]

To be honest, nothing is irredeemable on this show. Ava murdered Connie like she was swatting a fly,framed AJ for it and goaded Sonny into killing him. She drugged Griffin and Sasha, undressed them and put them in bed together without their consent, but all seems to be forgiven now.. Franco came on as a sadistic serial killer with a death fetish and died a beloved family man. Sonny is a murderer several times over and Carly has been an accessory to many of them of them and they're pillars of the community.
The problem with Esme, like Nelle and Peter, is they haven't bothered to to make her an actual developed character. She's just a bad person who does bad things, for..reasons.