j swift

Oy vey, more guns is not what I was looking forward to today. Can't they all go back to drugging each other with martinis? As we have all discussed many times before, the idea that an adult would go through an identity crisis because their biological paternity was recently revealed in their mid-30s is a farce. I do not know any real person who suddenly start calling the only dad they've ever known cousin. That's just silly. I would approve if Alex was guilty about getting 50% of the inheritance over the rest of his family. Or, if he worried about how he'll run the company. But, having Sonny begging him to see that they are still brothers, while he got bupkis from Victor is a little rude. And, once again, does nobody recall that Johnny still lives at the mansion? They all have breakfast, or cocktails, and they never invite him to come downstairs.

The criticism that sticks out like a sore thumb on re-watch is how poor the writing was at differentiating the voices of the characters. Sophia, Santana, and Gina's dialogue is all interchangeable. You get no sense of the fact that these women are different ages, different classes, or different ethnicities. Sophia gets in some great zingers toward Mason when insulting him for sleeping with Gina. But, all three women use the same vocabulary, they all have the same attitude, and they all play the scene with the same amount of heightened emotion. Augusta is a unique character, and yet so much of that relies on Louise Sorrel's tremendous charisma, the costuming, and the fact that she had Nicholas Coster as a scene partner. Which is probably why the rest of them were re-castible, but there was only one Augusta and Lionel.

I went back and watched the episode, and you are correct @Ryan Mason, thanks for the information. It was so interesting to recall that Santana knew about Channing. Yet, Mason's incriminating Polaroid was very tame in retrospect (Channing just has his arm around Lindsay). And the way in which they dance around the topic is almost comical. (e.g. CC: but he fathered a child? Mason: He was homosexual, not impotent.) It is a reminder that we live in amazing times when we can immediately watch so much content, any time we please. And, boy, they burned through a lot of stories in those first few years. My bias has always been that SB didn't start in earnest until Jed Allen took over as CC, but in hindsight, it is hard to believe that happened 2 1/2 years into the run of the show.

In real time, Nicole should be giving birth in January, (given that the biscuits were drugged in April). What are the chances that? : (A) She gives birth around Christmas (B) The baby is stolen and adopted by Sloan or (C) Since they are SORASing her daughter, she's not going to carry this baby to term. BTW, given Belle's history of being sold on the black market, she's not a good candidate to work as Eric's adoption attorney (too traumatic while her husband is hitting rock bottom). Although it is nuts that Salem is so small that you could be a prosecutor one day, and an adoption attorney the next. Also, does Sloan have any clients left in Salem? How is she paying her half of the rent?

According to http://jocelynseagrave.com/ she wound up as an author in the Midwest @althea-davis

Whatever happened to Johnny's movie?

Sophia was still in her drag king era, and hadn't emerged when Mason outed Channing. It's an excellent point because I don't even think that an issue was made of Sophia's return, in terms of publicity. She was a society matron, and later we know she was a well regarded actress, but her return from the dead got no publicity as far as I recall. Well, certainly by the time of Brandon's kidnapping, it was public knowledge that he wasn't Gina's biological son. But, I still think his paternity was not common knowledge outside the family. In fact, I'm willing to bet that Ted never knew that Channing was Brandon's father. But, then again, Ted didn't know a lot of things about his family.

Right.... That's why Bonnie knew that Sarah was pregnant because she went to see Mimi, the baby, and Rex in Chicago.

It would have been odd because as I recall the reveal, CC got angry at Mason for outing Channing. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think he yelled at Mason for thinking that he was humiliating Channing, but he affirmed that nothing could destroy the love that he felt for his son. It was one of the few times that I enjoyed that version of CC because his response was so unexpected. I get that all social issues stories on soaps need an antagonist to portray the social implications of the cause. However, it would've been unfair to CC to make him be the face of the bias toward the disease.

Speaking of which... I always forget that Phillip has a kid with Mimi. Has he had any scenes with Bonnie, who saw the kid over the summer, to inquire about his well-being? It's a little creepy if his son still believes that he's dead, that he is prioritizing Victor's funeral and getting ordained for a wedding at the pub over reuniting with his son. Also, I get that Rafe is not bright, but how is he planning to arrest Ava in a foreign country? This feels like the jurisdiction of Andrew and the ISA, rather than bringing half of the Salem PD to the UK, and leaving the policing duties back at home to drunk Shawn D. and that extra with the mustache.

I liked the use of flashbacks to thread together Charlotte's story. But, it is hard not see her as a little girl rather than a big threat. And while I enjoy the misdirection that this whole caper has nothing to do with Pikeman (directly), or Curtis's shooting, I can't help but be distracted by thoughts of whether this was the initial intent of the story, or if it was a punt on behalf of the scab writers. (I might be using the incorrect sports terminology, that's not my forte). I pray to St. Laura of the Discotheque that this whole plot is not a device to unite Anna and Sonny romantically after they inevitably break up with Valentine and Nina.

Hard to believe, but Josh Taylor has been playing Roman on and off since 1998, which if I've done my math correctly, is five times longer than Wayne was in the role. But clearly, first gen Roman had much more appeal than clam chowder Roman.

Except that it is fictional, and they need to maintain tension, why isn't Valentine directly confronting Charlotte about entering Anna's room? I cannot imagine another scenario where a parent who was concerned about their child's behavior would choose to be coy about their suspicions and not provide support for this young girl who is clearly reacting to the trauma of losing her mother. Does Valentine want his daughter to grow up as emotionally stunted as he did? It's believable that he could shield legally, after all, his entire family has done zero prison time for worse crimes (except Spencer). But it is unfathomable that he wouldn't get her some help, And if you were Anna, wouldn't you rather be told that the threat you've scared of is actually a little girl, rather than being frightened by your shadow? Finally, what's Nina motivation for staying silent on this information? She saw Anna today, and there's no reason for her not to say something.

The daytime ratings dip during the summer, which was traditionally a strong period for soaps, does not bode well for anyone hoping for a change in the writing staff at GH who were on strike at the time. As we all know from history, changes in writing staffs are usually driven by ratings, not creativity.

Given that the scabs could never join the WGA, be eligible for WGA awards, and SAG would need to exempt the production from using non-union writers, I think the chances of the GH scabs being hired full-time are pretty bleak. Even if awards didn't matter, it is poor optics for a network that just negotiated a new contract to hire scabs. So, they may be creative, but the scabs disloyalty to the union is unlikely to be rewarded. And, due to the fact that there was no significant increase in ratings while the scabs were writing, there would be no motive for change. However, that obviously doesn't dissuade GH or DAYS from hiring the thousands of other writers who stood with the WGA, so hope springs eternal.

yes Also, wasn't Kin Shriner complaining about not getting airtime over the summer, only to appear on today's episode? Perhaps JJY's health issues made them re-write the scenes for Scotty, but it is getting to be a little bit like the soap vet who cried wolf over there.

I totally agree with your points that both men are popular actors, and it makes sense from a business perspective to promote what the audience favors, even though it can feel heavy-handed. I guess what I am reacting to, and get tired of hearing, are criticism that focus only on the head writer. He is one part of a large machine, and it grates on my nerves when fans assume his motives are lewd. Especially when we now know that there were other forces behind the scenes that were much more egregious. Again, please note that I don't mean to disrespect our little community. It just feels reductive. There's enough on-screen to critique that I don't find it necessary to create false narratives about the headwriter's motives being anything else than wanting to draw the highest ratings possible. And, if you are reading this and thinking that you don't imply about the writer's intentions when you post, then this is obviously not meant toward you. But, you wouldn't have to scroll back very far to find examples of what I am talking about.

Yeah, you're correct. I looked it up, Shane's ex switched the paternity tests, with the aged old soap logic that he would instantly reconcile with her once he found out that Vic had slept with Kim. Of course, later he revealed that he had also slept with Kim's mom, but reformed romantic rouges are a staple of culture in Salem. BTW, I was thinking about the fan-based conspiracy that the headwriter has a thing for RSW and that inspires him to keep writing stories which benefit his characters, and I wondered why don't fans say the same thing about Paul Telfer? Xander has done many awful things, but he is still written as a romantic hero, and I assume the audience is meant to be on his side in the Sarah story, so (rhetorically), why don't people write about RonC having a crush on Paul T? I mean, Ron didn't create either Ben nor Xander, so the whole conspiracy has always rung false for me. I'm not harshing on anyone who does believe it, I'm just suggesting that it strains credulity.

Wasn't there also a thing that when Kim thought that Victor might have fathered her son Andrew, part of the solution was that Victor was impotent (aka soap talk for low sperm count, not ED)? I could be getting the whole thing wrong, but wasn't that also part of the reason that Phillip was conceived by IVF (and then gestated in Vivian)?

I don't know about using SOD as a qualifier for what is or is not a primetime soap. Because I think other tropes define the genre, including, but limited to, cliffhangers, serialized plots, and the use of melodrama. For example, I don't think they did synopses for Savannah, which was definitely a soap. Although I recall, SOW did some features on the actors and the plots.

I agree with the prediction that the actual heir is Xander However, it may p#$* you off when EOB has to play Theresa for the flashback about how she changed paperwork 😉 @AbcNbc247 I don't think it was Drew because he hates the DiMeras not the Kiriakises. Also, I think that the writers would include more obvious foreshadowing, like Drew not knowing Theresa's nickname, or giving bad advice.

Especially because she would've had to change both Victor's will and Angelica's letter. Although I was a master at changing the handwritten grades on my report card at 9 years old before my parents got home, so anything is possible... I still wonder about the coincidence of Shane happening to drop off the briefcase in Greece, rather than giving it to Andrew to bring to Salem, but I think that is supposed to be irrelevant.

This is from when the LA Mayor renamed it LA General Hospital from LA County + USC Medical Center this year, because so many people just reference the building as General Hospital.

Just for the sake of argument. If it sticks, it creates an interesting dynamic between Alex, Xander, and Maggie. Now, Alex and Maggie have to work together and share power. But, Xander is Maggie's favorite, so there's a natural tension there. As well as with Chad, who was Maggie's second in command. So, there is a ton of story to be mined. I'm for any story that gives Maggie something to do. I wonder how much chaos Vivian created after her one day at Titan? I hope she changed all the passwords, replaced the break room with a trap room, and ordered a new office dress code.

I assume when his parents named him Jamie Martin (like the character on AMC), he was destined to act on a soap opera.