DRW50

And then when she found out about Carly being related to Donna you could tell she was not happy. I wish they would avoid making Emma too psycho, as she's so interesting and the actress is great. I also felt so bad for Finn at how the people who "care" about him are treating him. I know some fans feel he should be more unsure about having sex with an HIV-positive man. I do understand that view (I think they rushed that side of the story because so much of it is about other people interfering), but I really like him with Darren and I like seeing him happy. It's a shame it won't work out. I wonder if they are setting Finn up to become close to Paddy and Rhona. Ross is one of the dumbest criminals ever, just stealing a car in broad daylight. But the scenes with Robert and Vic and Aaron and Adam were hilarious.

Nobody important ever cares about soaps or soap history. The most interesting thing about Irna to me is that as conservative as she was, she did genuinely try to tell some groundbreaking, boat-rocking stories, especially in her last years. It's a real loss to ATWT that her plans for Amy Hughes did not pan out.

What a kickass libertarian Rand Paul is! http://www.salon.com/2015/03/27/we_need_a_revival_in_the_country_rand_paul_suggest_marriage_equality_reflects_moral_crisis/ No wonder his daddy's supporters are deserting him in droves.

NBA I hope you can comment on some of the last few ED episodes soon if you've seen them. They've been very Ross-ful (in the best and worst Ross ways). Thursday's were especially entertaining. As for Zoe Lucker, she's good at camp and HO is bad camp now, but I don't know - I just don't think Kirkwood can write for anyone. I still resent Stella for Betty's funeral. Shameful. Shameful.

I hadn't heard about this. You keep thinking this country has hit a level in terms of being disgusting, but they keep proving you wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nObupsG0Lf4

Two great episodes. You're right. Even the Jimmy/Nicola stuff ended on a decent note (please don't have him sleep with Bernice, Kate Oates!) And everything with Robert and Aaron was far better than I had anticipated, between the performances and the decision to include so many characters like Adam and Vic who have barely been involved. The Victoria scenes in this episode were just superb, especially when Robert got her to lie for him and Aaron just said, so cold and angry, "The lies keep coming." When this show is good it's better than any soap out there. It's multilayered and complex and has a full canvas in a way no soap has since the glory years of ATWT. I wish these types of episodes did better in the ratings so ED, and soaps, would be encouraged to have more of the same.

One last goodbye for onetime media hero Aaron Schock, who reminds us that he is just like Abe Lincoln. Well, there was a lot of talk about Abe's sexuality too...and their names both start with A. So many similarities. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/26/aaron-schock-demonstrates-how-not-to-resign-from-congress/?tid=pm_politics_pop

Casting news. He was so hot in the early seasons of The Mentalist (stopped watching after that). http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/cbs_supergirl_casting_spoilers_news-2015-02

When I get a chance I will.

I just hope

Pearl first arrived in 2004. She dated Len Reynolds for a number of years, until his death. She tried to hide her family background - her son was a rapist. He briefly came to the village upon release from prison but left after a lynch mob beat him and left him for dead. Pearl soon lost all her money, and the money of some friends, in a get-rich-quick scene. James banished Emma soon after he caught her nearly killing Ross. She returned briefly about 5 years later and Pete warned her off. I like Carly a lot more than I thought I would. She works well with Ross, and it's nice that she isn't hard-faced all the time. I hope it lasts.

I'd be surprised if they didn't, Tim. NBA, Phil was a different character in his first 10 years or so on the show. I'm not sure where the idea of "hardman Phil" being "iconic" and a "legend" came from. He's never been all that popular in this role. He never will be, as it's a huge embarrassment, like watching your grandfather try to breakdance.

Definitely. I just think in return for that realism, it would have been realistic if they hadn't forgiven Chrissie. So what do you think of Pearl's story, Carly/Ross, etc.?

I agree, but the idea that Chrissie must be forgiven because she was only a mother protecting her son is a bridge too far for me at the moment. The things she said to Alicia were vile, and she said them in the middle of the street, leading the village to suspect that Alicia had seduced Lachlan. Alicia is lucky and fortunate that most of the village refused to believe this about her. No matter how nice a person Alicia is, she shouldn't have to fight Chrissie's battles.

I liked Becky when she was there for Roy and Hayley and she was dating Jason. I think the decision to make her a huge central character did her no favors, and the Tracy stories were just pure [!@#$%^&*]. Collinson was a hack.

I think they made the right decision in having Dean the son of a new character. Jason was pointless and awful and better off forgotten. I'm still annoyed that the whole story became an excuse to have Frankie Mary Sue her way across Bay City. Bleh.

I think Grant ends up burning down the Vic to get the money to pay Cox. It must have been repetitive for viewers to see these random hardmen come in to menace Grant and Phil, but the atmosphere (something EE has lost in the last decade) makes it more believable. This is another one - Jimmy Coogan. The clips for him also have a lot of good stuff elsewhere with Bianca, Nigel, etc. (my favorite is Nigel and Bianca unwittingly watching a porno). This one is the strongest of the set, due to the Arthur scene. It's interesting to see how they handle Kathy in these - strong, involved in the drama, but yet still endangered. And she's involved without the endless screaming, shouting and pouting that women on EE can't live without today.

I think that's where our main disagreement is. I don't think the show is treating their relationship that way. Gale Anne Hurd was even on Talking Dead talking about his "feelings" for her and how torn he is as a result. The only person on the panel who suggested the story was about Rick fixating on her was Yvette Nicole Brown, and Hardwick acted like he'd swallowed a bug after the words left her mouth. I think we're supposed to see it as some type of forbidden love or passion and want Rick to "save" her. And I think the whole thing is just so poorly done that it's gutted the character and has made huge portions of the show unwatchable. I guess we just won't agree, so I'll move on.

I still suck at taking screencaps but I took a few of Natalie Ross on The Doctors (August 1968). Here's one of them.

It's not so much the "open question" of Rick and Michonne as it is centering much of Michonne's story on Rick and his family for a season and a half, and then not writing much for her when Rick suddenly has a new love interest - the new Lori, "the new Mrs. Rick Grimes." If Michonne had always had more of a role of her own, she wouldn't have to be stranded, and everything she does at this point would not have to be judged on whether she is "forgetting her place" with Rick or whether she is "jealous" that Rick has found a hot piece. The scenes they had with Michonne and Sasha and Michonne and Rosita are scenes they should have been having more of with her all season long. I think some relationships are organic. Some start out organic and then become manipulated. I tend to put Daryl's relationships in the middle. I think Daryl and Carol was organic. Daryl and Beth - I feel like the relationship was created to get fan wars going (which it did, to ugly effect) and to manufacture more tears and pain for Daryl. It never felt real to me and is why I use it as an example of the show pandering or focusing too much on what a fan may want to see. They know some fans love to see Daryl crying, Daryl self-harming, etc. and Beth ultimately ended up being killed for this, IMO.

I never said there was a love triangle with Michonne/Rick/Jessie. That's not her role in Rick's story. The problem I have with the writing for her in Rick's life at the moment is about her vanishing from his story as soon as a "suitable" woman arrives, and her returning solely to punch him out. She hasn't spoken to Carl for a half season, she hasn't spent much time with Judith lately, so I can't help wondering exactly what the show sees her as in Rick's life. And that makes me uneasy. I do think the show pandered heavily to the Daryl love games in the writing, whether it was a triangle or not. Which woman will Daryl save. Will Daryl save his women. Carol actually did have a lot of big fan support online in seasons 2 and 3, although I agree that probably wasn't why they chose to spare her. Do I think the show is totally based on fan response? Of course not. But I think it's more focused on fan response than it should be in some cases. Not just in listening to fans, but also in trying to set up stories designed to get a reaction (building up Beth solely to kill her off, but doing so in such an odd way that felt rushed and poorly explained). I know the show is what it is, and I accept and often enjoy most of what it is. I just hate Rick's story and I can't handwave it or rationalize it. And I hope Michonne moves away from it.

I'm sure many would say Tina, but I grew to despise Tina somewhere around the time she was with Jason, so I'm not going to say her. Something that the show does not understand is that just because THEY think a female character is a "legend" does not mean the character should be treated as much within the show's universe. Tina acted like the queen of the cobbles, and everyone around her put up with her abuse and her vileness and even her physically assaulting them, just because she was Tina. The same is true for Michelle, a horrid, horrid woman who would get her teeth knocked out in real life. I think the last viable major female character was Carla, or Becky, although I think Becky's stories from the time she got with Steve were unwatchable.

The problem is I think a lot of the general audience is likely even worse than what we see online. For instance - not that it's the same thing, but I can imagine the reaction to Aaron and Eric kissing. It's difficult for a character like Michonne to build a strong presence on a show this huge. It took a lot of work. I remember how disliked she was for much of season 3. Only when she started to get more backstory and POV on her own, along with the bonds with Rick and his family, did that start to change. And now most of this has been limited and she's just there to try to tell Rick what to do or to punch him out. And if that's her main role, then I think it will take a toll on the character. If this were a show by someone like Shonda Rhimes, who just does what she wants, then it would be one thing, but I do think TWD makes a lot of decisions based on audience response. And I'm wary of a situation being created where Michonne is just there to be some type of "other" to Rick and his brand new Lori and his kids. So that's why I'd rather see her get more material on her own and just move away from Rick's plotline, the way Glenn has generally been removed from his plotline over the years.