Kudos to General Hospital for creating a character that is believably psychic. Olivia Falconeri, a likable character who has been on the soap opera since 2008, discovered her psychic abilities after a traumatic incident, which is actually a common way for people to first notice psychic abilities. The character was attacked and stabbed with a LSD syringe by another character, Heather Webber. Shortly after the fact, Olivia began to have what she believed to be hallucinations. Those hallucinations evolved and turned out to be premonitions.
While the LSD aspect may have been a little ‘creative,’ the process Olivia has been going through as her psychic abilities have evolved has been realistic and educational. The fact that she doesn’t know how to turn the abilities on and off like a light switch is something that most people first discovering the power of their intuition can relate to. Her subconscious’s method of using symbols and images to get messages across is also something that those who are working with their intuition can relate to.
Another thing that is good to see is the fact that the other characters are receptive to her abilities. Many of the characters don’t understand them. Olivia, herself, has said that she doesn’t understand them. But the characters are willing to listen and to be open-minded when Olivia describes her hallucinations. In fact, some of the law enforcement characters on the show have show a willingness to work with her, which does happen in the real world in the case of psychic detectives. The fact that Olivia was a well-rounded and likable character before also lends credence to the fact that intuition is a normal thing used by regular people like you and me.
Check out below a clip of Olivia describing one of her visions, only to learn that she ‘saw’ the face of a dead man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHhrz7opC78
