Soaplovers

It looks as though the writers/breakdown writers have worked out the first week kinks and are now writing some good breakdowns/scripts. 3 out of 3 good episodes. Thoughts on todays episode: Good Chelsea/Dani 1:1. People have said that Dani is the modern day Erica Kane or Reva Shayne, but I disagree. When watching these early weeks of Dani in action, she is the modern day version of Teddy Reed from Sisters (NBC primetime series/soap from the 90s). And it was good that Nicole came to check on her at the end. Bill vs Naomi was a good first round and I think it was a draw. Bill was both proud and a bit concerned when interacting with Naomi.. and Naomi really does deep down want her dad's approval. This will be a good storyline in the coming weeks. Hayley spoke facts with her comments to Bill, and there is an old saying that women understand other women and usually end up not liking them LOL Good cliffhanger with the promise of the long awaited scene between Hayley and Naomi... plus, some nice chemistry between Jacob and Hayley as well. I had a feeling that Martin's behind the scenes sabotaging of Smitty's potential new job would come back to haunt him. I actually said out loud 'Oh [!@#$%^&*]' when the cat was out of the bag. Chelsea declaring the end of her working relationship with Dani will now open both Chelsea and Dani up to their next arcs. I wonder if those brief snippets of Chelsea with the couple will come back up in the coming weeks. Good Kat/Tomas scene today as well. I think the Virgin talk is admirable in 2025 since vanilla/virgin shaming has become the norm nowadays even though there are articles coming out that Gen Z (which Kat is part of) are moving more conservative in terms of dating and sex. I'm sure Eva will be there to tide Tomas over while Kat waits. I can't wait for tomorrow

Shirley Anne Field had this Gothic subtle aura around her when playing Pamela where we didn't know if she was going to be a protagonist or an antagonist. Just the way she would get Sophia worked up anytime her Pamela would remind CC of their past as a couple was gold because she had a way of making it seem as though riling Sophia was a bonus and not her goal. And her chemistry with Robin Wright as her interfering mother in law also had potential because how she approached those scenes could be taken as a mother wanting to make up for lost time with her son and/or also a way to get control over Kelly as revenge against CC/Sophia for keeping Mason away from her. As you said, she did play Pamela with a lot of layers and subtext that read more of a tragic Gothic British character that you didn't know what side she would stand on issues. Unpopular opinion: I didn't think MacArthur was a bad Kelly. She just came in during the middle of a storyline Kelly was involved in with her creepy mother in law, marital issues with Jeffery, and a start of something with TJ. She did as well as she could under those circumstances and I agree she would have continued to play a more wounded/tortured Kelly had she stayed on beyond her several month stint. She was a good transition Kelly between Wright and Garland.

I remember Tess used to say 'Rosanna C' whenever she addressed her or introduced her to anyone during the summer of 1992 when Rosanna was a mysterious runaway. I think Parker Posey getting a movie was why her character was quickly written out and then replaced by Debbie as the heavy in the Hutch/Rosanna coupling.

Kate Collins said she liked how Melody played the part, that she infused the part with warmth and a kindness. From what Ms. Collins said in the Locher Room interview she did, she was getting married and he had gotten a job in Chicago so she wanted to support him. Given the backstage issues, she probably was relieved that she had a new chapter in her life for her to go to. That said, the Carter/Nat story was well done and was one of the last of the gothic stories that AMC did until attempts in the late 90s to bring the gothic storytelling back. Melody did give it her best shot, but the show was less interested in writing for Natalie now that Kate wasn't playing the part.. and truthfully.. Natalie was a character that seemed to fit more in the 80s/early 90s era then in the newer era coming into play.

A Ron C episode I actually enjoyed... miracles never cease. Some of the dialogue between Anita and Vernon made me wonder if Martin is truly their son, or if the dialogue was too vague. Anita's mini rant after finding out Martin was running for president was priceless and the final scene of Vernon/Anita taking a drink in silence said a lot. Naomi vs Bill will be so good. You could see in her eyes that she still does love her father, but she also is furious with him. Nice to see a warm Anita/Chelsea scene, and that it showed a diversity in terms of how each grandchild has a different relationship with their grandparent. I am curious to see how Anita/Kat would interact.. to be honest. A nice understated cliffhanger with Bill figuring out Naomi is suing him, Chelsea finally telling Dani that she doesn't want to model, and Smitty confronting Martin. Is it Wednesday already?

This was also the first teaming of Gregori J Martin & Jazmen.. and they were a good team... I wonder if Jazmen can work magic on a breakdown written by Ron C. Since it appears that the break down writer and script writer write one episode per week. I predict today will be Ron C doing breakdown writing and Danielle Paige will be doing the script writing for today's episode.. since it's technically episode 20. So maybe we will get a cliffhanger today as well.

Truthfully, on this these types of shows... I think 4 to 5 seasons is the max you should be on the show. Unless you have an interesting personal and family life that you're willing to share. We've seen everything within Garcelles life, and I'm going to be honest... I would have respected her more if she had opted to leave after the vile way her son was treated. Her coming back showed that she put her career over her child's well being. With that said, she had a good run and she's leaving while still on top. Something maybe Vyle Kyle should have done a few seasons back.

HE reminds me of my ex... so if Tomas is anything like my ex.. Kat and Eva are in for a world of heart ache LOL

The ironic thing was that Rachel had started the path to being redeemed somewhat when Strasser was playing the part with her moving on and marrying Ted Clark.. and wishing Steve/Alice luck. And even at the start of Wyndham playing Rachel, she was still married to Ted and sort of played the marriage aspect in her first few months in the role before he caught her with Steve and broke up with her. I agree that Strasser's Rachel was flirty, charming, and had this anxious need to belong to the Haves. My late mom said Wyndham was scary when she played Rachel and really showed the vicious side of Rachel with no cutesy flirting or batting her eye lashes. Her Rachel was convincing as both an artist and also in a corporate setting.. something I don't think Strasser could have pulled off.

True... they did have to throw the Dani fans a crumb or two LOL What I enjoyed about Monday's episode: Anita was given great focus showing her in her day to day life, wistfully missing her singing days, and being the calming guide for her granddaughter Naomi (I have a feeling that Naomi viewed Anita more as a mother figure then her own mom). Joey and Vanessa have chemistry, and I liked Vanessa being more subdued today. I also liked seeing some of the community threads being sewn together with Joey having ties to the police with Jacob suspecting Joey of some dirty business while his dad and partner are trying to keep him from snooping around too much. Eva is looking at Tomas in a new way, and @TaoboiI think it was all due to Silk Press Sheila forbidding her darling daughter from considering him. Before her speech to Eva, Eva seemed ok with just having a conversation with the guy.. but now she's got her sights set on him. And unpopular opinion.. but I think Tomas is kind of sexy (his voice is like ASMR to me We all know Naomi is going to take the case.. and I look forward to some fiery scenes with both Bill and Hayley. And I also have a feeling Chelsea will finally tell Dani about her new venture and despite Kat being optimistic, Dani will make it all about herself and probably manipulate her daughter in some way or another.

A Dani free day at last We need to have this happen more often so we can focus on other characters with more potential.

No she didn't. She acts as if she's above everyone.. yet is the biggest whore there is. After going after Erica's seconds.. and then stealing Janet's man Pierce (I was rooting for Janet to dispose of her).

I do agree that the story is going lightening fast. In fact, I think it would have worked a bit better if Mona was the one that recognized him instead of Erica.. and she's debating about whether to tell Erica or keep it to herself. It would have resulted in some fiery Erica/Mona scenes that were in character. I also think MDP went lightening fast with Erica's arc during her time. In March of 1989, Erica is still reeling from Travis being with Skye and trying to accept he's moved on while Jack is trying to help her with her business.. and by June/July.. Jackson/Erica are in bed together. That went too fast for me and it underscored my belief that Jackson was just a rebound for Erica and never her true love. (You'll see that a lot during the Agnes, Megan McTavish, and Broderick ers in the 90s). Where to start. She's smug, judgmental, a snob.. and tries to portray herself as better then other women when she's actually worse then those women. My favorite scene I came across was Gloria Marsh giving her the smackdown at the Martin House in December 1991 with Brooke visibly shaken. It was the rare time someone finally called out Brooke for throwing stones at glass houses.

I think the Marissa story could have ended with her dying trying to save David's life.. and that could have been the fuel to make David push away Lanie and Jeremy because of the intense guilt he feels for his mom's death. It would have made that story end a bit differently then the Silver storyline. @Maxim This move by Erica in 1989 is in character because one of the driving forces in Erica's life was her father and his abandonment of her. She always was waiting for him to come back for her, and she blamed Mona for driving her father away and keeping him away. So this news of her father possibly being alive reignites a long buried hope that she could find him and have him finally love her. Mona and Jack know better then to prevent Erica from trying to find him. The whole Adam gaslighting Dixie story is a classic gothic story and it works very well because it is in Adam's character to pull something like that on one of his wives. He uses different tactics based on the personality of his current wife. And I think the story also works as sort of karma for Dixie after being the other woman during his marriage to Brooke. The story works because it's rooted in character. Although I never liked Brooke.. and I always was team Erica anytime Brooke and Erica would spar. Also, I know you loved Karen... but I think the reason she was made the kidnapper was because the actress wanted to leave the show. There's an interview with Ellen Wheeler that stated her reason for wanting to leave the show after playing Karen a short time.

The Cummings were basically boxed in/islanded off from where the show would go in the 2nd year and beyond so it made sense to write them off.

I think Cliff/Angie didn't work for two reasons.... Racism and the fact that they were part of two very popular super couples that had recently ended. Even if Cliff/Angie were of the same race... fans still wouldn't have accepted them as a couple because in their minds, Cliff belongs with Nina and Angie belongs with Jesse. Sometime soap fans can be a tad too crazy and in need of some kind of intervention.. and are part of the reason why soaps began their decline because of their refusal to allow characters to progress/stories to evolve.

Reading some of the other 1991 outlines, it does appears as though what was written actually translated to the screen. I faintly remember the Cal/Lucinda/Lyla situation... and it was a shame that Cal/Lucinda didn't proceed past a physical relationship.. but both were stubborn and too strong willed to have made a relationship last long term. Though Cal/Lyla also didn't seem to have long term legs either and it also didn't last beyond 1992/3 if I recall correctly. It looks as though Lisa and Ellen were in back-up position in these outlines, and while Lisa did move back into lead position in 1992/3.. Ellen never did even though it looked as though killing David off in the summer of 1991 was the first step to getting Ellen back into a more prominent position, which didn't happen. Outside of Emily, I don't think Marland was as motivated to write for the Stewarts as he was for the Hughes, Walsh, and Snyders. In his defense, when he got to the show.. only Betsy, Ellen, and David were on the show... and he wasn't motivated to write for Betsy/Steve nor Ellen/David was previous writers were. Even after Betsy became a free agent in 1986, the writing for Betsy was just not as strong and it appeared that was also the case for Ellen even after she was freed up after David's death. It's the direct opposite of the Dobson's and the other head writers that came before Marland. If you look at the show from 1980 to 1985, the Stewart family had a lot more focus then the Hughes family with Dee, Annie, Ellen, Betsy, and David in various stories. Too much story was probably burned through for them, but Dee could have easily come back during the Marland years.

Tad and Dixie were a couple that if you broke them up, you had to keep them apart and not reunite them unless you were committed to keeping them together forever. Adam and Brooke were soul mates, but keeping them apart until near the end of the run served both characters well... and once they reunited, they stayed together forever. I remember fans at the time celebrating when they finally reunited and left together to live their lives outside Pine Valley.

I think the combination of Clarita Bauer (Bert) passing away in real life in the first half of 1985, plus adding Jeff Ryder as co-headwriter probably caused some sadness/disarray backstage and it translated into the writing of the show. Plus, Long was pregnant and preparing to leave GL in the fall of 1985 so she probably was more apt to listen to input from others on the staff instead of going with her instincts. The 2nd half of 1985 seemed to be more neo-noir then the the fun and spirited GL of the 1983/1984.. and it doesn't really regain that fun community spirit again until 1989 I could have seen her Blake be more of an antagonist in the Beth/Philip/Blake triangle in the 2nd half of 1989 then how SS played Blake during that time. Dennehy's Blake played her final scenes as so lost/tragic after discovering Adam Malik was really her long believed dead father Roger. I often think how she played Blake was more how Blake should have been after the trauma of what happened to her parents played out in her childhood and what we believed was her life growing up after Holly left the show.

Seeing the Ava switch was something I never thought I'd see. Roya's last scene seemed more subdued and less flighty while Lisa's first scene reminded me more of Lila on AW then Ava (or at least she ended up playing Ava long term). Seeing Leslie as Gwyn was interesting since it occurred a short time after she quit GL as Maeve. So I could see some of her Maeve in her take as Gwyn, yet also seeing her sort of take on a bit of Tudor's portrayal of Gwyn. When Tudor had left the role in the late 80s, I could have accepted Leslie as a recast of the part. Seeing the Mike scenes at the Vietnam memorial.. it kind of read as more gothic.. and i don't think it worked in this case.

Seeing the Dobson episodes from 1979 really highlighted how dry and boring Marland's episodes were in comparison. The dialogue alone during the Marland was so unrealistic that it made me want to tune out of the episodes while the Dobson episodes had dialogue that seemed less stagey/cringey. Long's 1983 and 1984 had some stellar work and equal airtime amongst the newbies (Lewis Clan/Reva) and the veteran mainstays (Bauers/Reardons.. Parker siblings). Plus, she managed to make Springfield look like a fun town.. which was a welcome relief from the dour and stodgy Springfield that Marland presented. Her 1985 was an interesting year that was too focused on the Lewis/Shayne clan though I did like Lujack's music video and had a soft spot for Infinity (Only because it was an umbrella story, the constant use of the black background during the climax of the Infinity story was interesting, and there was fall out with Lujack's death). Long/Curlee were a good team that balanced one another out, though I have to admit that Long leaving in December 1990 took away a fun energy that could have been an asset during the more literary Curlee/Demoerest era of 1991 to 1993. Also, I notice that Ed became more dour after Long left the canvas.. no longer did he make wisecracks nor have the couple banter with Maureen that had been there in the 80s up through 1990.

From reading the first pages of the early 1991 plans, it looked as though the Carolyn Crawford murder was always planned to span months (going to at least May 1992 sweeps). His first mistake was the victim he picked was someone that the viewers didn't really know nor care about. I think she was only on the show on and off for several months, but we didn't really get to know/care about her. His second mistake was having Frannie be the other woman/follow up wife. Not because the actress wasn't capable (I prefer her to Julianne Moore), but because Frannie already had the psycho boyfriend story so why subject her to another psycho/killer. His third mistake was deciding to not make Daryl the killer, and I have a feeling his decision to change that caused the story to drag even longer because he had to figure out who could logically be the killer. His fourth mistake was the use of so many small parts/characters that viewers didn't know nor care about.. that ended up killed just as they were going to reveal vital information. The one minor character I think was interesting was Dana. She was kind of a hot mess and was kind of comedic in her performances.. and I do recall she did kind of intersect with other characters during major events for a time.

Ashley was more animated and interesting when interacting with her mom. Of course, we already knew her mom had some personality since she and Silk Press Sheila have friendship chemistry. Speaking of which, Eva and Silk Press Sheila each have pulled a stunt that the other isn't aware of yet. Eva having her mama kicked out while Silk Press Sheila did a bit of bumper cars with the assistants vehicle. I have a feeling this tale/scheme will climax in May.. I feel it in my bones. I know that a wait and see attitude is in order for Ron C and Jamey... but breakdown writers make sure that the head writer and their vision is laid out effectively. MVJ/Guza might have a good idea, but if the person implementing the idea is subpar then it doesn't matter how the good idea was.... and Ron C and Jamey don't exactly have a good track record (from what I hear, some viewers haven't been thrilled with Jamey's contributions at Days although the quality hasn't been good there for awhile).

Ellen was not a good choice. She was too delusional and too into her emotions to be an effective EP. She should have just remained a director and kept away from the EP chair. The idea that Megan wrote in the book to counteract the showgirl idea would have been better and more befitting of Erica. She probably would done either a cabaret show, or been a singer ala Lyla Montgomery of ATWT fame.

Ron and Jamey as breakdown writers are a massive red flag. From what I understand, breakdown writers have the most contact/interaction with the head-writers so I assume that MVJ and Guza were on board with Ron's Friday outline. I am curious if every soap has a new breakdown writer for each episode, or if BTG is the only soap that is doing that. I would think it would be more logical to have the breakdown writer handle breakdown each episode for the week, with the script writers alternating per episode. With that said, I did like that there was a bit of break between Dani vs Bill/Hayley... with Hayley's not being welcomed by the staff of the country club (as Vanessa eluded to in the first episode) and Bill potentially being sued by former employees of his due to his promoting Hayler over others (which I like that the conversation Hayley and Caroline had in the first week was a foreshadowing). However, Naomi has no business taking on the case. It's a conflict of interest and she doesn't seem like she's able to put aside emotion in order to do her job (which seems to be the norm with lawyers nowadays). I have a feeling that Eva is actually Ted and Nicole's child.. and that Silk Press Sheila managed to have that embryo implanted in her. It's not far fetched, or she did a baby switch and perhaps Kat isn't really a Richardson and Eva is? Unpopular opinion, but Tomas is a decent actor and kind of hot. I would be on board with a Tomas/Kat/Eva triangle down the road. Dani is just pathetic and if she passed away from alcohol poisoning, I wouldn't care.