OLTL: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 Episode Discussion Thread

[Vee]

If you actually watched Malone's last run as opposed to glomming onto shiny things at a moment's notice and telling the entire Internet what you think of it, you'd know it was a complete disaster. I don't want him anywhere near the show again.

I think Dani is very much like Marty in her classic form. But I don't see them raping her to complete the parallel. On ABCD that would happen; I have relatively more faith it will not here. I think what they are doing with the character is fantastic, and far more interesting than anything she ever had on network.

[TeamEric]

Ouch, Vee, that's a harsh tone there. But ICAM with the point Malone II was a complete disaster. I understand he claimed too much network interference, but Heart of a Lord and He Said, She Said rape trial was totally his vision.

I hope your faith in TR is well-placed. I'm more uneasy every day as I watch my Danielle morph into Marty the reckless party girl with the smart mouth that will land her in huge trouble.

[EricMontreal22]

Agreed 100% It makes complete sense character wise. I honestly never thought about the rape angle until it was brought up here--and I suspect we're safe from going in that direction, thankfully.

[EricMontreal22]

What was the He Said She said? Was that when Marty briefly came back to testify?

At least Malone's second run was kinda gonzo crazy--I only appreciated it compared to Higley's. But yes, I don't really want him back at OLTL at all (and I loved his initial run--at least till Griffith left after the DID story as you all know.) I don't think he'd be interested anyway--

[alexisfan07]

Maybe you're thinking of Bo, he wasn't comish when the show ended but was mentioned as being one again on GH and now it's like the demotion never happened on the new OLTL.

I hope Nora becomes a radio DJ. Can you imagine Matthew calling in to talk about his sexual frustrations with Dani or Destiny and knowing none the wiser?

[cassadine1991]

well I don't think Malone wanted to HW at OLTL again, but creative consultant, but didn't ABC just rehired him.. but after Higley and Carlivati, I wanted Malone back so much, I'd take his insanity over theirs

[TeamEric]

VicTodd and Blair had rough sex that left Blair's arms covered in bruises, cringing in fear and crying rape. Malone brought Marty back just to testify he wasn't capable of raping Blair b/c he wuvved her too much. Oh lord, I cringe even writing about it. Malone whitewashed the whole controversy by rewriting Blair suffering from a brain tumor. She sported a maxi pad on her head for a few days and then poof was cured of those nasty bad memories of rape. It was insulting, it was cringe-worthy and totally Malone as he defended that story big time in the press.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't JG leave in early 1995? The DID story continued into early 1996.

[Chris B]

Oh god! I had forgotten that VicTodd/Blair story! Kassie DePaiva was wonderful (as always), but it was TERRIBLE! So offensive on so many levels and bringing Marty back just was icing on the cake. I couldn't support Michael Malone every coming back. Even when he was a part of OLTL's golden days I didn't find it that great. He got lucky by being there at the right place at the right time with the right team.

[EricMontreal22]

Oh Lordy, I had completely forgot all the details of the He Said She Said mess. Ugh.

I thought JG left around Aug/Sep 95? At any rate--I did really like the DID story (mostly) which I guess Susie Bedsow H gets some credit for, but after that Malone's solo stuff (with apparently Susie co-HW uncredited, something she admits was a mistake while being an EP) really quickly crumbled apart.

(I will say that, while neither here nor there when it comes to a soap, Michael Malone is a MUCH better novelist--at least when it comes to prose quality and characterization--than Thom Racina... )

[Vee]

Both statements are accurate. I wasn't thinking so much of just the Victor thing or the rape trial, though both were terrible - I was thinking more of the clown car pile-ups that were the summer of Mitch, the Santis, etc. That was the stuff that was utterly amateur hour as opposed to just bad.

Malone only works when he is severely regimented and backed by a stellar staff above and below him, which he had in the '90s. I adored his first run, but his first run had many chefs. I think he has some good or even great ideas and a heart in the right place but I wouldn't want him back as HW again, at least not without two or three other people backing him up as co-HWs. I see him coming a mile away.

I thought Susan Horgan did good work the best she could in a series of difficult situations, and she also had a long history as a dialogue, etc. person at OLTL dating back to the '80s, but especially under Gottlieb. I thought she made a good second or third for Griffith and Malone and probably did more for them than we'll know. I hope she returns someday but everything I've heard sounds like she couldn't bear the daily grind again.

I don't think it has anything to do with one of the two particular writers or another. I just don't see it happening. There haven't been the usual clanging klaxons of explicit comparisons to Marty that we might have gotten on ABCD in the past, and there have been many different types of wild children on soaps - they didn't all end up getting raped, and I think they have even less so on the primetime or British soaps these shows seem to be trying to emulate far more than modern daytime. I just don't see them taking her there. I think it's good she's gotten dirtied up - she's a much more dimensional character now than any teen on OLTL or GH in the last several years, at least. RC toyed with a slight hint of something like this for Langston with her lust for Ford, but it was a terrible story done terribly and extremely shallow. Dani likes to party, likes sex, is troubled and rebellious - fine. I just don't see that leading to her being raped into submission. It is what it is. It's a reality for a lot of young people like her.

I think it says a lot more about us and daytime itself that after years of the daytime soaps going downhill, we're conditioned to assume that the next step after a young woman's sexual awakening or experimenting with hedonism is almost certainly rape. I don't mean that about you specifically, I mean it's an assumption that crops up too much because it's been embedded in the audience consciousness over at least the last 15-20 years.

I'll take my chances.

[OLTL_fan]

That crap with Jamie Franco was ridiculous! Hope we don't see him again.

Why were Dani & Destiny dancing with 40 year old men? I am loving Dani. She's an absolute trainwreck and I love it. KM is doing a great job. She is certainly the standout in the younger cast. Starr who? lmao at Matthew thinking he was gonna get lucky with Destiny.

Rama looked fantastic in that dress.

Bo & Nora scenes were nice.

LOL at them playing "I Got You Babe" at the end.

[Vee]

I think I need Riff Raff to have a recurring presence on the show. He is a trip.

Ryan Cooper, or whoever the guy with the accent is who's the recurring bouncer at the VIP rooms, is hot as hell. Please, more of him too.

The cutting on both AMC and OLTL on Tuesday was a little rough. As much as I loved them using a big song for a montage I thought it was a bit sudden for such a short show, especially with the weird Todd inserts of him just knocking around drinking alone. I think that was something that needed a bit more build, and I thought the song choice was a little random. I loved the understated use of Nervo.

Bo and Nora were great.

Tea's house is gorgeous but a bit too small, as is La Boulaie's drawing room. There's a couple sets on both shows like that - beautiful, but a little too constrained. I accept that as part of the start-up, for now. I'm also not too sure Tea would own one or two of the plush chairs.

Laura Harrier is still good.

[DRW50]

So far behind, but I finally watched this...

The scenes with Bo and Nora were very nice, and felt age-appropriate at the same time. I think the show has a good handle on Nora which I haven't seen since probably the last time SBH had worked on the show. I hope that won't go away now that SBH has left.

In spite of myself I always thought Rama and Vimal were very sweet, and I still do, even though I'm sure others probably see him as nagging and wimpy. I think Rama works better here than she did in the ABC version. I'm glad the con artist stuff has been toned down and she's just trying to experience life and do her job. She reminds me of some of the old AW characters from that show's stronger years.

I wonder at times how I would feel about Rob Gorrie if I'd never seen Eddie Alderson's Matthew. That's a huge block for me and that won't go away anytime soon. I just don't see this as Matthew.

I know that sleazy people are all over clubs like Shelter, but everything with that guy and his entourage I could have done without. I also thought it made Cutter look like a shitty club owner to let Dani go back there with the guy after she'd ODed only a few days before. It's one of those things where I wish Blair had been around to react.

Seeing Dani try to avoid drugs, peer pressure, her conflicts with Tea, who is her daughter's enemy even though she is trying not to be - this all feels much more organic than most of what they had on ABC. I think the show has generally done a surprisingly decent job of making Tea seem more three-dimensional than she was before. This little group is probably the most interesting family on the show for me at the moment.

Todd's situation is one of those where it's difficult to invest because obviously he won't die, but the scene was OK.