j swift

In honor of Christopher Atkins's 61st birthday, can we discuss the clinic where Peter Richards worked in Dallas? After the fire at Southfork, John Ross developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. So, Sue Ellen sought treatment to help him cope with his anxiety. Now here are the details that amuse me, in retrospect. (a) The treatment took place in what looked like a country club, not a mental health clinic. (b) Peter, a college undergrad, was assigned to help John Ross, and in their first meeting he used exposure treatment to get him in the pool by pretending to faint into the water, which doesn't seem appropriate for a child with an anxiety disorder. (c) The interns seems to be the point of contact for the parents, because at no point do we ever meet a mental health professional. (d) All of the other clients look to be 5-7 years older than John Ross, so there was no opportunity for peer relationships. (e) Sue Ellen invites the staff over for a pool party, and not only does the clinic allow it, but the whole staff wear their uniform swimsuits. Then, as soon as the school year begins, Peter abandons his job at the clinic to pursue a modeling side gig with Lucy. Doesn't it seem like the writers were given the task of justifying putting Peter in a speedo for as many scenes as possible rather than putting any effort into exploring the effects of childhood trauma?

Meredith's response to Jen at the Vida party made no sense. Jen was looking for some validation after a difficult (if not, justifiable) period in her life, and Meredith kept talking about how Jen was going backward and speaking about her marriage again, before Jen said anything about Seth that evening. Meanwhile, Mary was looking for any excuse to leave the event. But, the kicker of the episode to me was when Heather joked that she could be related to Whitney's husband because they're both built alike. - loved it.

There's two L's in all, just like LLanview Couldn't resist

In my opinion, Jeremy was not worth all of the fighting and harrowing rescues that Erica had to go through for him. He was neither a great monk nor a great artist, and given that every new ingenue in Pine Valley caught his eye, he was also wasn't great at fidelity. He certainly wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between real Donna Karan and an Ann Taylor knockoff.

@slick jones I had you in mind when I remembered the double L, but I guess I'll never get it correct every posting. Is there a "d" in Llandfair? And what are your Cassie rankings?

There's definitely something odd about a wealthy woman in the early 1990s loosing custody due to adultery. I mean Victoria Lord had affairs, was involved with murderers, had multiple personalities, and was never threatened with loosing her kids. It seems both unlikely and misogynistic that Cassie would loose custody to a minister with no support available to help raise a toddler. I wonder what message OLTL was trying to send?

There's a great story in Don's memoir (which admittedly I bought hoping there would be pictures; there's not) where he had trouble remembering his lines on the set of DAYS and Al Rabin comes down to the production floor and essentially says to him that there's a handsome guy every five feet in LA who could play his part and if he didn't get serious and learn his craft he would be easily replaceable. He was so mortified that it changed the way he studied scripts and he learned to be more professional. He credits his professionalism, more than his talent, for staying employed in daytime for so long. Speaking of Lauralee as Cricket someone posted this scene on Tiktok and it was so amusing to me that Joanna questions Cricket's mood when the actress did nothing to indicate any emotion at all; unless her hair was meant to convey something... cricket.mp4

My first reaction to the SOD pictures is that Renee would never appear in public without eyeliner and a heavily glossed lip. So, whoever this chick thinks she is, she's not Renee.

I would rank order Cassie's as (1) Holly Gagnier, (2) Laura Bonarrigo, (2) Ava Haddad, and (4) Cusi Cram. Holly is my number one because she was spunky in a way that seemed inherited from Dorian. I liked Holly on DAYS and was a fan when she came to Llandview. My only critique would be that her Jersey accent was a little thick for a character who was supposed to have been raised in Europe. Laura was compelling, and I liked her pairing with Kevin, but I always felt like the character was written as the moral authority of the Cramer girls which was unappealing. I don't get why Cassie was always put in the position where she had to judge Dorian, Blair, and Kelly, rather than just be amused by their antics and supportive. Also, her emotional breakdown during her marriage to Andrew was written as if it came out of nowhere. I get why Cassie wanted to have kids, and the pain of her baby's death, but the whole story with River made her seem suddenly off-kilter. Very little groundwork had been laid for her to be desperate to raise a baby, only to loose custody due to an affair So, it is not that I have any negative opinion of the actress, despite saying that she lacked sex appeal, I just had very little appreciation for the material she was given. Ava was sexy, but, saddled with the damsel in distress era for Cassie, and her co-stars were not always as charismatic. Also, she had one of the worst bridal gowns in soap history. Cusi herself has such an interesting family history, but it is unfortunate that her time as Cassie did not allow for much character development. Her Cassie seemed much more concerned about Dorian and Herb's divorce than the fact that her mother had missed most of her childhood. The rumors at the time that Cusi was fired because of her weight (see the news of the 1980s thread) make me reticent to critique her performance because who knows what could have been if she was allowed more time in the role.

While I get the humor in this interaction, however, Gabrielle had an equal reason to mistrust Max. He mislead her about his return from the dead, the fact that he wasn't Asa's son, and her father's involvement in the drug trade. With regard to the Bo/Cassie pairing, it is one of those relationships that looks good on paper, given their history, but I can't help but blame the actress for lacking the sex appeal to carry it off. After his past girlfriends like Delilah, Mimi, and Pat, Cassie seemed less alluring when played by Laura Bonarrigo, and perhaps better suited for a former priest that a former playboy like Bo.

I watched this excellent video last night. At first, it seemed like Natalie didn't know, because this was before DNA testing was available, so they could only do a paternity test once the baby was born, and Adam tampered with the test in order to manipulate Erica. But, then there is some confusion about whether Jeremy was able to "perform" during the event when Timmy was conceived, so Natalie must have known that Alex was the father. Either way, Natalie calling Erica "barren" was so funny to me, because it doesn't seem like the language either woman would use. And from this compilation the pregnancy seemed to last a very long time. Also, I loved Erica's purple art-deco house (I'm sure it had a name that I have forgotten), but the dimensions were difficult to determine. It seemed like the two story living room would have left very little room for large en-suites up that very graceful staircase. Was it the perfect house for a barren/selfish woman like Erica because there was only room for one primary suite? I know there was no visible kitchen, but were there meant to be other bedrooms on the ground floor?

I think it should be renamed Hot Topics to respect the contribution of Wendy, and acknowledge the multiple hosts of this season.

But even within the plot, Susan's relationship with Brandon and her motives for keeping his secrets were never logically explained

Wasn't Alex married to Natalie at the time of his death?

To my memory the Susan Piper story started off strong and ended with an interesting revelation about Brandon Spaulding, but it lacked logic. First, Susan was one of the villains who had an unlimited budget, yet she terrorized a young couple for a memory box in a cabin worth one million dollars. Meanwhile, she's got a lair in the Caribbean with a quicksand pit that must have been worth ten times the amount! I mean if she cared that deeply about her secrets she should have used a vault, not a quaint Victorian cabin. Or just start a Caribbean spa and use the quicksand for guests who don't tip well. Second, while the Brandon twist was a shock, it had very little long term impact. Not only did they die immediately after they were found, but their child suffered from recasting and reconning, so she was never a fundamental consideration in the overall Spaulding plotlines, like Alexandra and Alan. And, creating a biracial character without giving them equity in stories is just tokenism.

Was Gilbert identical? And do we think Natalie knew of Gilbert?

Speaking of Tim Dillon (as we were on the wasted character thread) got me thinking about who would have inherited Alex Hunter's fortune. Here's the family tree as published by Soap Central Alex Hunter (deceased) (Died 1986) m. Unknown c. Jeremy Hunter (deceased) (twin; died 1995 on Loving) a. Marissa Rampal c. David Rampal m. Melanie Cortlandt (married 1991) m. Natalie Marlowe (deceased) (Married 1986; Died 1993) m. Natalie Marlowe (deceased) (Married 1988; Died 1993) m. Ceara Connor (deceased) (married 1991; died 1992 on Loving) c. Gilbert Hunter (twin) m. Natalie Marlowe (died 1993) c. Tim Dillon (born 1986) Later adopted by Trevor Dillon. Given that Alex didn't know that Tim was his son when he died, so he wouldn't have been in the will. And, he didn't seem to acknowledge that Jeremy had a twin (which is an amusing coincidence since Natalie also had an identical twin). And, Jeremy was murdered in Corinth. Do you think boring ol' David Rampal got the cash? Or did Tim get an inheritance through the death of Natalie? Also, since I am in a speculative mood, do y'all think that Andrew Preston got life in prison for the accidental death of Alex Hunter? Because Palmer adopted him and then never spoke to him again after his conviction. I hope Bobby Warner and Pete Cortlandt did not have to share a trust fund with some guy who Palmer only knew for a couple of years. But, given that the estate was managed by Jackson Montgomery, I'm sure some details were overlooked.

It is an odd choice for a couple of reasons. First, Renee kept a diary about her love for her brother? Seems unlikely. And wouldn't someone have found it when investigating her murder? Second, Kristen hasn't really thought that much about Tony since their engagement blew up at Aremid over twenty years ago, so why would she try to "f" up his life now?

That's funny because I had the opposite response, I wondered if Philece's death last July inspired the story as a tribute to her. I guess the reactions are related to whether or not one enjoys Ron's fascination with soap history as a jumping off point for stories. Given the number of times it has flopped I understand your concern. I was just struck by having the alternative take on the same idea, but that's why art (or soaps) are subjective.

I appreciate your thoughtful and well researched response, but looking at that clip, (and the fact that it stands alone as an encapsulation of their plot), doesn't it seem a bit contrived to call it a "cutting room" scene?

I'm calling BS on these DAYS "cutting room floor" videos. I am supposed to believe that cash strapped DAYS films, scores, and edits whole scenes and then cuts them from the show for time? Why wouldn't they just insert the scene into the next day's show? It is an appealing digital extra, but I think that was the intent and they were never actually cut from an episode.

I'm mildly fearful of heights, so the trifecta of leading men dying (or being injured) from falling off of cliffs always gave me the chills. From DAYS Roman's fatal fall during his fight with Stefano while Bo watched from below on the island, to GL Roger's fall from a cliff when Ed rescued a kidnapped Crissy (aka Blake) in South America, and AW's Carl fight with Jake on top of a sand dune in the desert, it freaks me out to see character die like that. I guess there is some solace in the fact that in each of those cases the characters later returned from the dead. But, don't get me started on falls from planes, or broken parachutes, like one that killed Sarah Barnes on Hollyoaks.

I interpreted it as him trying to be ironic about posting thrist-trap photos of himself. The rest of his content is filled with self-effacing humor and he is rarely shady or dismissive of other actors.

If Nina had twins while in a coma after an overdose, not only would it be a miracle, but it would be medical malfeasance. I guess one shouldn't expect ethic care at the Misgavige Center, yet that's a beyond boundaries of likelihood.

Remember the "adult" Tim Dillon on AMC played the hunky, but not charismatic, Dylan Fergus? He was excellent candidate for SORASing, as he had been off the canvas for bit, he was an heir to Alex Hunter's fortune, and he had ties to Trevor, Amanda, and Hayley. But, he flew back into town, took off his shirt, got little to no reaction from the female characters, and then disappeared with a month. (Fingers crossed that I recalled my AMC stories correctly or face the wrath of the passionate historians amongst us.)