Since others haved posted their Julia Barrett love, I will say I never understood why they never brought her back permantently in the mid 90's. She was literally the only good thing about Brenda's breakdown story in 1997. Aside from her ties to Brenda she had ties to Aj, Ned, TG (as Bill) not to mention Lucy and the Q's. Since Brenda was so prominent on the canvas, I found it strange they never brought back her only living (at the time) relative. Julia would have been perfect as Brenda's disapproving sister and would perhaps stop her from some of the ridiculous things she did while mixing it up with Ned and Lois. She would have been better than Katherine (with more rooting value) in the Ned/Lois/Kathy Bell drama.
I liked V a lot as well. She obviously was meant for Jax, but that was pushed aside when VM re-signed at the eleventh hour and MB didn't. She stayed on the show for a while after with no real purpose, but it was clear she was a charming actress. I think she could have taken the place of Chloe easily in the mixed married story. Although there was nothing terribly objectionable about Chloe, V always seemed to have more depth.