Huntress

So, the mysterious stalker who kidnapped the children of Schillerallee 10 during UU's event week was indeed Rolf Jäger, the show's resident lunatic. Presumed dead after driving his motorcycle into a canyon in 2016, he returned to wreak new havoc. The character was again played by Stefan Franz who was on contract from 2002 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2016. It's still unclear if he'll return fulltime. On GZSZ, contract star Ronja Herberich departs the show this spring. She was introduced as Erik's teenage daughter Merle in January 2020. She was in a relationship with Jonas and became pregnant. Eventually, she had an abortion (which was a very controversial story). Since then, Merle has been on the backburner, so her exit doesn't come as a surprise. Flashback: GZSZ Episode count December 1996 Total episodes: 18 01. Daniel Enzweiler (Jörg Reuter) : 18 02. Angela Neumann (Vera Richter) : 17 *** Raphael Schneider (Andy Lehmann) : 17 04. Kea Könneker (Chrissie Lehmann) : 16 *** Claudia Weiske (Elke Opitz-Graf) : 16 06. Anne Brendler (Vanessa Moreno) : 15 *** Nadine Dehmel (Nataly Jäger) : 15 *** Rhea Harder (Flo Spira) : 15 *** Raphael Vogt (Nico Weimershaus) : 15 10. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 14 *** Hans Christiani (A.R. Daniel) : 14 *** Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 14 *** Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) : 14 14. Ralf Benson (Fabian Moreno) : 11 15. Manfred Callsen (Dr. Rainer Falck) : 10 16. Maren Thurm (Barbara Graf) : 9 17. Claudio Maniscalco (Felix Reinecke) : 8 18. Hans Klima (Kommissar Arndt Oliver) : 6 *** Alexandra Neldel (Katja Wettstein) : 6 20. Julian Scheunemann (Charlie Fierek) : 5 21. Roland Boecker (Volker Wettstein) : 4 *** Regina Lorenz (Sophie von Strehlow) : 4 23. Ana Fonell (Mrs. Siepermann) : 3 24. Yasmina Bohlen Filali (Yasmin Hüttermann, Sophie's friend) : 2 *** Dietmar Irmer (Pastor Schulenburg, priest) : 2 *** Wolfgang Lohse (Erwin Blohm, employee of "Der kleine Graf" ) : 2 *** Werner Schuster (Manni Fürst, reporter at "Morgenecho" ) : 2 *** Marlene Tackenberg (Jazzy, member of pop group "Tic Tac Toe") : 2 *** Ricarda Wältken (Ricky, member of pop group"Tic Tac Toe") : 2 *** Liane Wiegelmann (Lee, member of pop group "Tic Tac Toe" ) : 2 31. April de Luca (Franziska Moretti, madam) : 1 32. Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) : 0

The entry from Belarus will most likely be disqualified because of its political lyrics. United Kingdom:

This is great and will probably give San Marino its best result ever (ok, given their poor track record, this is not that hard to manage ). However, it's still not clear if FloRida will appear on stage with Senhit ...

Estonia is just as bland as their entry last year. Portugal is a snoozefest as well. Quite a lot of songs this year lack a proper hook or a distinctive melody. Denmark rides on the current 80s retro trend – I kind of like it. By the way, this will be the first time since 1997 that we will hear the Danish language in the contest.

Armenia withdraws from the 2021 Contest: https://eurovision.tv/story/armenia-withdraws-from-eurovision-2021

I just don't like his "Oh, I'm so quirky and bubbly" personality and the song is nothing I would give a second listen to. It's too chaotic, hectic and disjointed for my taste. But we'll see ... I didn't like Lena either 😉 Meanwhile ... Ireland:

Germany's entry ... I'm so embarrased for my country.

Episode Counts: February 2021 GZSZ Total episodes: 20 01. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 15 02. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 14 03. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 13 *** Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 13 *** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 13 06. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 12 *** Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 12 *** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 12 *** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 12 *** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 12 11. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 11 *** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 11 *** Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 11 *** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 11 15. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 10 *** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 10 16. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 9 *** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 9 *** Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 9 19. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 8 20. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 7 21. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 6 22. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 5 *** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 5 24. Lars Pape (Michael Bode) : 3 25. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Flemming) : 2 CONTRACT DEPARTURES: – none – CONTRACT ARRIVALS: – none – AWZ Total episodes: 20 01. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 18 02. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 17 *** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 17 04. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos) : 16 *** Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 16 07. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 15 *** Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) : 15 09. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 14 *** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 14 *** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 14 12. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 13 *** Christopher Kohn (Finn Albrecht) : 13 *** Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 13 *** Tijan Nije (Moritz Brunner) : 13 *** Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 13 17. Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 11 18. Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 10 19. Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski) : 8 *** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 8 21. Folke Paulsen (Georg Albrecht) : 6 22. Pingting Zang (Naoko Takano) : 5 23. Julia Augustin (Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp) : 4 *** Felix Gibert (Henry Steinkamp) : 4 CONTRACT DEPARTURES: – none – CONTRACT ARRIVALS: Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk) – 03/15/2021 [upcoming] Barbara Prakopenka (Greta Voss) – 03/??/2021 [upcoming] UU Total episodes: 20 01. Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 16 02. Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 15 *** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 15 *** Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 15 *** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 15 06. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 14 *** Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 14 *** Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 14 *** Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 14 10. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 13 11. Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber) : 12 *** Jakob Graf (Luke Färber) : 12 *** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 12 *** Antonia Michalsky (Saskia Weigel) : 12 15. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 11 *** Andrea Brix (Roswitha Küpper-Pütz) : 11 *** Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 11 18. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 10 19. Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 9 *** Jonathan Elias Weiske (Sebastian Hoffmann) : 9 21. Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 8 22. Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo "Easy" Winter) : 7 *** Kayden (Aaron Weigel) : 7 24. Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger) : 6 *** Matthias Paul (Anton Hoffmann) 6 26. Josephine Becker (Leni Weigel) : 4 *** Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 4 *** Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs) : 4 29. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel) : 3 *** Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer) : 2 31. Roger Schmitz (Ramon Ademes) : 2 CONTRACT DEPARTURES: Josephine Becker (Leni Weigel) – 02/04/2021 Antonia Michalsky (Saskia Weigel) – 03/10/2021 [upcoming] CONTRACT ARRIVALS: Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel) – 03/15/2021 [upcoming] Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel) – 03/15/2021 [upcoming]

I fear this will be another bottom 5 placing for Spain ... the song goes nowhere. So far I only like Norway's entry, although it was better in Norwegian. The English lyrics sound a bit clumsy. Btw, the official youtube channel has started uploading videos highlighting each countries' past entries. So far, 5 countries have been featured:

I guess they originally had different plans for Moritz including a "real" relationship with another guy, but had to change storylines due to Covid-19. When he joined the show, he was supposed to "turn a straight guy's head". So now he's kind of floating around with no strong ties to any of the other younger characters. It was the same on AWZ last year ... they had to abruptly stop the Chiara/Ina relationship because they couldn't film intimate scenes between the two actresses and they wanted to tell the story differently. While Chiara was still used in the figure-skating storylines, Ina was reduced to being a prop in her siblings' storylines. Fans of the couple were furious.

Norway: Finland:

While it's not a soap per se ... I just started binge-watching "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" (We, the Children of Berlin Zoo Station), an Amazon Original. The series is based on the 1978 autobiographical book and 1981 movie of the same name (the English title is "Christiane F.") and follows the lives of teenagers Christiane, Stella, Babsi, Alex, Benno and Michi in West Berlin in the 1970s. They all come from broken homes and descend into a downward spiral with drugs, prostitution, rape, murder etc. The show is quite disturbing, but also very moving and it has some good acting.

I finished season 1 last night. While the show was definitely worth watching and the overall look is stunning, the story was a bit too thin and superficial for my taste. We didn't even get to know half of the main characters and their backstories – which is no surprise because you can't write for 20 main and 10+ supporting characters in a span of 8 episodes. I also find the casting quite off in some instances. With the exception of Anthony and Eloise, the Bridgerton children didn't hook my interest whatsoever because I just find them bland and soulless (yes, also Daphne). They were mostly only reacting to stuff that happened to other people. The Bridgerton mother is also quite expressionless. I know they are all supposed to be sweet, innocent and angel-like, but they could still have distinctive personalities. But maybe this will be fixed in the upcoming seasons. My favorites were the aforementioned Anthony and Eloise, plus Penelope, Lady Featherington and Lady Danbury.

She'll be gone for another 3 months soon because the actress takes part in "Let's Dance" (German version of "Strictly Come Dancing") 😄 I'm not sure yet because these two characters have been gone for so long ... they'll probably be two completely new people. However, a resurgence of the Weigel family is badly needed as they have always been the core family of the show. And yes, Chris returned from the army in the show's opening episode. These were the original portrayers Cecilia Kunz and Oliver Bootz ... they were pretty, flawless 90s people. The new actors look more grounded and middle class. On the right is Chris's younger brother Till who received a recast as well last year. BTW, the actor Constantin Lücke is openly gay and happily married.

However, Laura showed up on Beverly Hills, 90210 one year later, so I doubt that she and Spelling were on bad terms when she left Melrose Place. She was also reportedly one of the highest-paid television actors when she did her guest arc on 90210. I think she was just done with Melrose Place because they had stopped using Sydney efficiently. I remember one particular interview she did when season 4 premiered and she just looked so unhappy and tired.

Yes, the Sunny stuff happened in the spin-off "Sunny – Wer bist du wirklich?". They did a special flashback episode on GZSZ to summarize the events that happened on the spin-off. Apparently, the spin-off was quite successful – I haven't watched it, though. Meanwhile, UU is bringing back two characters from the distant past: Chris Weigel and his wife Corinna Weigel, née Bach. Both characters were part of the original cast back in November 1994. Played by Oliver Bootz and Cecilia Kunz, both Chris and Corinna were huge fan favorites. Chris is the oldest son of Wolfgang and Irene Weigel (both deceased), the older brother of Till and Anna Weigel, the cousin of Paco Weigel, and half-brother to Rolf Jäger and Sina Uhland Hirschberger. At the beginning of the show, Chris was 19 years old and wanted to become a cop. Corinna, a biology student, was one of the first residents in the attic apartment of Schillerallee 10 where she lived with her friends Jennifer Turner, Melanie Hoffmeister and Armin Franke. At the beginning of the show, Chris and Corinna were clearly interested in each other, but both turned to different partners. In the summer of 1997, however, they fell in love, and after some turmoil they left Cologne together to move to the Maledives where Corinna had found a research job. At Christmas 1998, for the 1000th episode, Corinna returned for a brief guest appearance when the residents of Schillerallee 10 where held hostage by mobsters. In this difficult situation, Corinna gave birth to her and Chris's daughter Cäcilia. After that, Chris and Corinna hadn't been seen in over 22 years. Now, the couple returns to Cologne to reunite with Chris's brother Till who's still living at Schillerallee 10. Both characters have received a recast, though: Chris will now be played by Jan Ammann, and Corinna will be played by Nina Weisz. Joining them are their two children Cäcilia (played by Carina Koller) and Matteo (played by Jashan Gupta).

As the World Turns (known as Jung und leidenschaftlich), Search for Tomorrow (known as Henderson) and Texas also ran briefly in Germany in the late 80s/early 90s.

I think CTS, Heather, Laura Leighton and of course Marcia Cross were the best actors on the show and also had the most demanding scenes. Of the male actors, only Thomas Calabro was given enough material where he could shine. All the other male characters, perhaps except early Jake, were written as duds. I'd love to know which scenes resulted in Heather Locklear being nominated for a Golden Globe. I mean, she was nominated 4 times in a row between 94 and 97... Of course she was (and has always been) a talented actress, but I never thought she was great enough to be nominated for any award - especially for working on Melrose Place which wasn't critically acclaimed at all.

I'd say that Alison and Jake were the ones who held the "gang" together. Alison was friends with Jane and Jo; and Jake was friends with Matt, Billy, Alison, Jo, Sydney, Jane (with the women when they weren't dating). Matt and Michael had some sort of love-hate friendship, starting in season 2, but the show didn't really utilize it well enough IMO. The others weren't really that close, for example Jane and Jo. I never understood why Jane and Amanda were suddenly good friends in season 7, when they didn't really share much screentime in the earlier seasons – and when they did, Amanda usually treated Jane like an idiot. It was similar on Beverly Hills, 90210. I never understood why Brenda and Kelly, Brenda and Andrea, Kelly and Andrea, or Steve and Dylan were considered close friends. Kelly and Brenda never were on an equal footing, there was jealously between them from the get-go. The ones who held the gang together were only Brandon and Donna.

In hindsight, I think the show's creative problems began when the producers started to put more and more focus on Amanda and began sidelining the other characters in the process. In season 1, Amanda was merely an obstacle in Alison and Billy's lives. In seasons 2 and 3, Amanda became entangled in many storylines, but the other characters were just as important (well, except Matt of course). By season 4, Amanda had become the show's figurehead and she and Peter were promoted as the show's supercouple. In turn, at that point the producers seemed to have given up on several other main characters. By season 4, Sydney, Jake and Jo had become directionless, and Alison, who used to be the show's heart, was pushed to the backburner in season 5. Kimberly, while still entertaining to watch, had become some sort of cartoon character. The only original character that received a "boost" was Jane in season 4. Michael was still important, but around the middle of season 5, the writers turned him into a goofball – probably because the role of the "evil doctor" was now filled by Peter. In addition, isolating characters in their own storyline bubbles was the show's downfall in season 5. It was like the writers decided to separate every character combination that had made the show so entertaining in the earlier seasons. Characters that suddenly stopped interacting or only had little overlap included... - Jane and Michael - Sydney and Michael - Sydney and Kimberly - Amanda and Alison - Amanda and Kimberly - Alison and Billy - Billy and Jake - Matt and Michael - Matt and Sydney - Matt and Kimberly Of course they couldn't repeat the same storylines and conflicts over and over again, but somehow it felt as if these characters didn't know each other anymore despite living in the same building.

I've tried to translate the dialogue in that scene. Cricket is annoyed by Nina's singing. Nina has been listening to the same song all day long. Nina complains that Cricket hasn't been considerate towards her. Cricket: "It's been over a week since you had that arguement with Rose." Nina: "I'm sorry, but maybe I need another week to get over it!" Cricket: "And then what?" Nina: "I don't know!" Cricket: "I think you probably just make up excuses so you don't have to contemplate." Nina: "Maybe I like how it is." Cricket: "Oh really? Sitting around all day, reading magazines and listening to music?" Nina: "If you had your way, I should be at school, right?" Cricket: "It would be great if you did something productive." Nina: "Please stop patronizing me! It's my life!" Cricket: "I don't want to regulate you in any way, but you're living in my apartment. I study, I have to learn. How am I supposed to concentrate with all of your singing and dancing and jumping?" Nina: "Okay, I will no longer get on your nerves, I promise. You just have to give me some more time to calm down. I'm almost there." Cricket: "Almost where?" Nina: "Well, I've decided what I want to do with my future. Strangely enough, I have to thank Rose for making that decision." Cricket stares at Nina in disbelief. In the second scene, Cricket wants to know what Rose has to do with Nina's future plans. Nina: "Actually, a lot. I could have also learned this from you, Danny or Philip. But for any strange reason, I first had to meet Rose to figure things out." Cricket: "Figure out what?" Nina: "If you want to reach something in life, you have to take a step forward, with everything you have to offer. I mean, it's like that, right?" Cricket: "Yes. Yes, I think so." Nina: "Of course you do. How did you become a model? You wanted it and nobody could have stopped you. Or think about Danny and his music ... or Rose. She's living proof for getting what you want. This woman is so nasty. She should pay a high price for how she has treated people. But does she have a guilty conscience? No! And why should she? She has $ 20.000 of Philip's money. And who knows how much she has taken from other people. She probably lives in a palace somewhere. But not because she deserves it. Because she wants it. Because she doesn't care if she hurts people. And she is rich. If this is the whole trick ..." The phone rings. It's Danny. He invites Cricket and Nina to his rehearsal room. The girls agree to watch him playing with his band. The third scene has Cricket and Nina watching Danny on stage. In the fourth scene, Danny introduces Cricket and Nina to Terri. Terri says: "Oh, you're also a friend of Danny's? Just like Cricket?" Nina: "No, not exactly like Cricket." Cricket: "I haven't seen you in a long time, Terri." Terri tells Cricket that she was in L.A. trying to get Danny a record deal. It took her quite some time. Cricket asks how long she's going to stay. TerrI: "I don't know yet. It depends on how things work out. We will see." Nina doesn't look amused.

Episode Counts: January 2021 GZSZ Total episodes: 20 01. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 17 02. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 16 *** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 16 04. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 15 05. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 13 06. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 12 07. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 11 *** Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 11 *** Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 11 *** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 11 *** Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 11 *** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 11 *** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 11 14. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 10 *** Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 10 *** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 10 17. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 9 18. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 8 *** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 8 *** Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 8 *** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 8 *** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 8 23. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 6 24. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 3 25. Uta Kargel (Lena Bachmann) : 3 AWZ Total episodes: 20 01. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 16 *** Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 16 *** Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht) : 16 04. Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 15 *** Tijan Nije (Moritz Brunner) : 15 06. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos) : 14 07. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 13 *** Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski) : 13 09. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 12 *** Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk): 12 *** Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 12 *** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 12 *** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 12 14. Julia Augustin (Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp) : 11 *** Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 11 *** Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 11 *** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 11 *** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 11 19. Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 10 20. Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 9 21. Folke Paulsen (Georg Albrecht) : 8 22. Felix Gibert (Henry Steinkamp) : 3 23. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz) : 2 UU Total episodes: 20 01. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 17 *** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 17 03. Isabelle Julie Geiss (Nika Färber) : 16 *** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 16 05. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 15 06. Jakob Graf (Luke Färber) : 14 *** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 14 *** Antonia Michalsky (Saskia Weigel) : 14 *** Lars Steinhöfel (Easy Winter) : 14 10. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 13 *** Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 13 *** Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 13 *** Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 13 *** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 13 15. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 12 *** Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 12 17. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 11 18. Josephine Becker (Leni Weigel) : 10 *** Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 10 20. Andrea Brix (Roswitha Küpper-Pütz) : 9 *** Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 9 22. Jonathan Elias Weiske (Sebastian Hoffmann) : 8 23. Clara Olbertz (Amelie Hirschberger) : 7 24. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 6 *** Matthias Paul (Anton Hoffmann) : 6 26. Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 5 27. Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs) : 2 28. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel) : 1 *** Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer) : 1

The lockdown in Germany has been extended to at least February 14th. FFP2 masks (or surgical masks) are now mandatory in stores and on public transport. Community masks and the likes are no longer allowed. Schools and nurseries stay closed nationwide. Stay-at-home orders remain in 3 states (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony) and in other hot spots. The daily numbers of new infections have been decreasing, but the death count has remained high. In Austria, the FFP2 rule will also come into force next week.

I also can't imagine Jennifer Finnigan's Bridget being paired up with Nick, Dante or Owen. In turn, I could have imagined Colleen Dion still playing Felicia during the "cancer/being revealed to be alive" storyline.

Beginning Monday, people in Bavaria have to wear FFP2 masks in stores and on public transport. The other German federal states could adopt this rule soon. On paper, this sounds like a good idea, but how are poorer people supposed to pay for these masks on a regular basis ... a pack of 10 FFP2 masks currently costs at least 15 € (~ 18 $), and prices will only go up once demand increases. https://www.thelocal.de/20210112/bavaria-orders-compulsory-ffp2-masks-on-public-transport-and-in-shops