DRW50

I have to laugh when some fans keep going on about how "realistic" this story with Dean is and that's why he's still around - so this story can have a "realistic" conclusion. So realistic that they make sure we get all kinds of beefcake shots. The directors know what some people want to see, and they give it. I'm still having a hard time with this Martin. I find something very unsettling about him - to be honest a part of me keeps expecting to learn he's secretly a killer or a psychopath. He has all these slightly offcenter stares at Stacey. He and Lacey Turner also have no chemistry, which makes their inevitable love story (and the obvious kicker that he's good for her and she doesn't realize it) more difficult for me to buy. It's a shame, because I should have enjoyed him talking about his childhood, but instead I just kept thinking what fat arms he had. My eyes went back in my head at Vincent being a chessmaster to show us what a brilliant mind he has. Daran Little is a little too clever a writer for his own good. Anyway, I do think Karl Howman's doing a good job as Buster - I think he could be a good long-term character if they so choose. He doesn't stick out the way many of this type, like Eddie Moon, did. Sonia just gets on my nerves. So sour and such a know-it-all. And Tina doesn't fit into that family at all. She feels like she wandered off the Corrie set. The shot of Cindy under the bed, caught out, was a great cliffhanger...if only she'd been a Carter, of course.

I'm still months behind, watching with my mother, and we just got to the ones with Ed and Anna and the accident. I'd misread something posted here months ago and thought he'd gotten shot, so I was surprised he wasn't, but it wasn't something I wanted to see anyway... I was so impressed with the show for having two episodes devoted wholly to the story, no cutting away to any other sideplots, no segues to Melisande or Nancy/Mike or Penny pouting. I guess that's the beauty of half-hour episodes. Anna's wailing and her shock were especially difficult to watch...the worst was when she kept saying she'd seen him bleeding. Zaida Coles was phenomenal. The Carolee and Nick argument in Anna's room made me realize that's the first time I remember them in any major scene together. I guess it's another example of Carolee slowly moving up and up in terms of importance.

Finally found it for you Monika. Oh Virginia. So beautiful and too young to leave us TV Dawn to Dusk February 1971 They also had an interview with James Pritchett.

I wonder if they were mixing that up with Liz taking the drug that led her to be comatose and Nick proposing to her. I agree about the stories we never would have known of...interviews mentioned things like Althea's amnesia, but still, so vague, and I don't remember hearing much about characters like Ed Stark, or John Rice.

The horror of those high-wasted pants.

I never knew they were married. I posted a Maureen Mooney article a page or two ago if anyone wants to read it.

She's with him now because Ronnie questioned her. She's a brat who is lashing out at her sister. That boring flop Charlie shaming her just exacerbated it. I know some think him raping her or confessing to the rape will be caught on Ronnie's webcam. Personally I'd rather they just have Dean leave town and never have any of the story mentioned again. Yes, "justice" is important, but none of it will be about Linda anyway, it will be Shirley tears and Mick looking constipated. Who gives a [!@#$%^&*]?

I guess it helped that there weren't that many of them around, although I think Marland significantly toning Tony and Nola down was probably a factor as well.

To me it's just dull, as is the Amanda/Mark/Jennifer triangle. A waste of potential in that case. I don't know. Lesley Ann and Reva were on the show together for at least some months, although by that time Lesley Ann was married to Warren and Josh was "good."

I made a lot of comments the first time these videos were up, so probably wouldn't know where to say all that again now, but Jane really is superb in these episodes, playing the "good" Carrie underneath the "bad" Carrie. It's not just an Erika Slezak or Sally Field or what have you knockoff, it's fresh and its own performance. It's unfortunate that some of this material is surrounded by such a slog (Morgan/Kelly/Josh/Lesley Ann/et al.).

Here's May 1. If I ever find the other two I will try to put those up too.

I guess if they're replacing Kim as well as Yolanda, and then the Brandi replacement, one of them could. I think they should just cut their losses...

I'm not much of a fan as I think he's often wooden, but I did think he was very good last night. I think the episode would have been even worse otherwise, because those scenes were so melodramatic. The one with Buster and Dean I thought was particularly well-acted. He wasn't as good on his own or with the always mediocre Rita Symons.

I can say tonight’s episode was well-written, and well-acted (and reminds me again that Matt di Angelo can play the material when it’s there for him), but the basic core of this story just disgusts me and seems to be collapsing further into a pool of its own sick. I had no idea where they were going with Shirley’s past memories with Buster. All the talk of giving herself to drunken men…Buster going on about how perfect she was when he first saw her at 13. Apparently some other fans were as disturbed by this scene as I was (frankly, it sounded like grooming), and other fans replied that Buster and Shirley are around the same age, so that wasn’t how it was intended. It is almost like a parody at this point - more angst and pain for Shirley, more and more, in lieu of character development or direction. Now we seem to have the same for Dean. Pain and woe and angst, and yes, there are hints he will eventually be found out for what he did to Linda, but it’s all months too late. Nor do I believe it was meant to be stretched out this long for some type of “realism” - I think they stretched it out this long because they erroneously believed it was good fodder for the anniversary (the whole “Is Dean dead?”) and created a story that damaged a wide swathe of characters. This seems like their belated attempt to add some depth to the character and material, and to tie him into other isolated, poorly drawn stories. The sad part is he and Roxy actually have a great deal of chemistry (far more than she’s had with Charlie), but who is going to ever want to see him in a relationship? What I dislike most about this story is the repeated statement that Roya has CF because of “punishment” to poor poor Shirley and poor poor Dean. For a soap that is patting itself on the back for realism and being praised by a charity, this is a horrendous, offensive, shallow way to treat a serious condition. The idea that children are magically punished with a debilitating illness so that their parent or grandparent can have an extended pity party is heinous for their many sins (sins that they never really feel that bad about - not when it counts) it’s cheap, and it makes me feel dirty even watching this show.

Speaking of Bet, I mostly remember the Jack and Vera scenes from this (probably because they were shown in clip packages over the years), but hadn't seen the Bet ones that much. The bit where she warns off Steve (near the end) is so camp, but also so perfectly delivered, the way camp should be - just right on the edge of being too much. Her hair at this point is truly horrendous though. (I could swear she was almost flirting with Betty...)

Considering that Chrissie and her family are Rape Apologists'R'Us, I can't judge any of the men she is with as being inferior to her. I can't blame Cain for his reaction. He's in all this mess about Charity's baby, then he hears from the grandmother of a child he never wanted, asking him to pay up, which he does...only for her to show up in the village a day later needing more money, reminding him of a past he doesn't like facing, etc. It's not a pretty reaction but it's believable enough to me, especially since he's barely had any time to deal with it. I'd rather see this than more of Saint Cain. He's a lot more interesting this way. Joanie is Kyle's adoptive grandmother. The parents who adopted him died in 2013. Amy wanted him back and this led to a lot of drama and a kidnapping before Amy left near the end of 2013.

I'm not sure about the last two but I have May 1. Do you want me to upload it?

I think everything with Brandi became a loop - poor me, you're mean to me, I'm trashy and fun but I'm sad and lost too, look at me, look at me, you're a hypocrite and I'm real - and this had increasingly less impact, yet it was still heavily featured in episodes. The decision to make it such a major part of the show was likely another reason the ratings for the last two seasons were poor, even though season 5 was hyped as a comeback and as fresh and exciting. And the buzz of the early seasons with Brandi mostly became toxic incidents like what went on with Joyce, the friendship with Kim, etc. Everything involving her just felt desperate. If not for Andy being fond of her I wonder if she would have left a few years ago. I hope she may take this as a chance at a fresh start. There's no reason it can't be, if she pulls herself together.