That recently uploaded episode from '85 was, er, interesting, a bit of a mess really. Maybe I'm being harsh, maybe the picture quality has something to do with it.
There were some noticeable lulls in scenes that were heavy with conversation and some of the accents were extra. I know Spree and Jay were supposed to be working class but listening to them talk, the dialogue dragged and it seemed that the writers were writing more of a caricature of what they thought 'young people' sounded like when they hung out.
As much as I loved Finn Carter and OGs Craig and Sierra were my heart, what was up with that accent Sierra was putting on?! I just tried to look at it as if Sierra was disguising her posh identity by exaggerating an accent, so she wouldn't be identified as Iacobo Esteban's daughter and shot but that accent sounded like a cross between Speedy Gonzalez and some Miami Vice villain. I don't know whether that was an acting or directing choice but I chuckled when I shouldn't have been chuckling.
Like I said, some of the dialogue- (the scenes with Brian, Barbara, Lord Cushing and Diana, for example) were labored but the actors tried. The scenes with Bob and Kim were very dramatic and I did like how the episode jumped from the drama of the snowstorm to the chaos in Montega.
A storm in Oakdale and no one was murdered,that's saying something.
I saw this episode after seeing a January 1988 episode on Friday where there was also a snowstorm and I actually like those episodes where people are sort of forced to stay in and engage in conversation. Although the situation with Holden and Emily getting stuck in the snow and having to stay with Dusty and Lily at the carriage house seemed contrived.
You can truly see the difference in dialogue in this 1988 episode compared to the 1985 episode!