I think she was at first, but once she was pregnant with Nora I think she became more vulnerable and softer.
I feel like once Carly returned they quickly put her into the same patterns and same stories so many times, they did very convoluted stories (like the baby money), and they used her more to prop their favorites, like Julia, Craig, or, later on, Katie. The first time around, they seemed to realize she was better than being a Rosanna foil.
Of course it's easy to say this because she left for a while - if she'd come back after giving birth they may have had her stalking Pilar or something.
Watching these 1996 episodes, they still aren't good, but soaps have declined so much since then, they don't anger me as much as they would have at the time. At that time I was still longing for some ATWT which wasn't going to come back.
I liked seeing Susan and Cal having real talks and having strong material, even with the cliched paralysis story. Patrick Tovatt rarely got a chance to act on the show.
I liked seeing Lisa having fun with Zoe and Sarah, although this was quickly ruined by Zoe's shrieking and just crap which went on too long. I think Zoe was, at that time, probably the most unpopular new character ever on ATWT. I did laugh at the line about "be a big movie star like Elle McPherson." When was Elle McPherson a movie star?
I never realized that they had a scene with Mark and Lily which tidied up their past relationship, which had been dropped abruptly.
I heard comments that JoAnna Rhinehart was given little to do as Jessica because she couldn't act. She actually seems fine here, in the only actual story she had during her tenure. The problem is that this behavior is weak and is not in character for Jessica. They sacrificed her character.
I think the "Quinlan and Switzer" crime story was a good change of pace for Tom and Margo, but I don't think it was suited for the actors, especially Scott Holmes. In dramatic situations he just starts shouting.
Nice to see that ATWT still remembered John and Margo were father and daughter. In later years they seemed to go for long periods of time without speaking.