Sadly, then I was not imagining it. Thank you for this. I was gaslighting myself into believing that it's just in my head-thing. October 1988 - Jan 1989 (Harding Lemay and then Donna Swajeski) is SUBLIME. I was hooked on instant... and was crying 2-3 episodes in. Quality dialogue, suspenseful scenes, beautiful production. And my hands are itching to press play and continue where I left off - into February 1989 and beyond.
But... I will persevere with 1987 just for the sake of the experiment, till I can't bare it anymore. Maybe something will surprise me... I'm yet to see Anne Heche's first few months on the show and I'm willing to swallow the melodrama and the boring dialogue... for her.