j swift

The opposite side of the query is equally valid.  Why would Talia confess to Marlena? 

They're not particularly close.  She knows Dr. Evans is Belle's mother.  And she could have confessed to either Kayla or Sloan if she needed to talk to someone other than her sister.

Also, did I miss something?  Why did Jada return from England before Rafe (who stupidly believes that he has any more jurisdiction than Tripp in a foreign country - the dude works for a small town police department, not Interpol)?

So, I'm not going to know what happened to Ava until next week?

Sports are dumb...

The most shocking part of today's episode is that Shawn is still a cop.  How have they not fired him, given that he's been drunk on the job twice?

Also, Gabi is remarkably calm for a woman who has been threatened by a gun for the second time this year.

I would estimate that I caught myself thinking about what happened to Ava's butler at least five times this weekend.  Did he defend her against Mason?  Was he part of the conspiracy?  I just can't wait to see what happens.

Your post inspired me to read about the infamous chair fight on Geraldo.  For those too young to recall, In November 1998, Geraldo had a member of a racial hate group on stage with Roy Innis who was the leader of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and when the hate monger threatened and insulted Mr. Innis, he threw a chair at him.  This made headlines, Geraldo was on the cover of Newsweek Magazine, and ratings increased.

However, as the NY Times noted, Mr. Innis had similarly gotten into a fight the prior summer on another talk show.  Thus, there is an inference that Geraldo, who was struggling in the ratings, pulled the stunt at the start of his second season, in order to get a boost in audience share.

I thought it was insightful of @Franko to make the connection between the rise of trash talk TV with the demise of Ryan's Hope, which happened in January 1989, because that genre fought for affiliate time with the soaps.  As we recall, neither Geraldo, Jerry Springer, nor Maury Povich started as trash talkers, but their shows evolved according to the ratings.  They might not have been trying to appeal to the same audience as the soaps, but they surpassed the soaps in terms of ratings per dollar because they were so cheap to produce.

35 minutes ago, Neil Johnson said:

A servant to escort and announce the guests would make more sense and be more believable.  

At the very least, one expects that a ranch would have a gate and long driveway, so guests should buzz the gate to announce their impending visit.  Then, Nikki could say, "Oh, Victoria is dropping by..."

It makes sense at the Abbot townhouse that guests can just walk up to the door because it seems more urban, but a ranch implies acres of land (also, a classic issue on Dallas, where people could show up on the Ewing Ranch without first checking in with a guard or at least an intercom).

My wish would've been to not re-cast Donna and just make Nicole the focus of the Reginald story.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the twins weren't on canvas when Reg first re-appeared and Anna Stuart left.  So, it could've been about a child that Nicole lost, and they could've used her history of addiction as part of the plot.  She might have shared a history with John, and there could've been a John/Nicole/Cass triangle. 

I just feel overall that the character of Nicole became redundant with Victoria (both glamorous, but troubled women), and that whole plot with Reg made Donna into an uncharacteristic victim.  So, I blame the writing more than Philece, who had proven that she could play a rich, snooty bi-atch on DAYS.

As a long time viewer that occasionally pops into Y&R and GH, the problem that I have with the changes to the legacy sets is that they are disorienting.

For example, when the GH Quartermaines meet in the kitchen, is it still off of the main foyer? And where is that new white room in relation to the drawing room that we are used to seeing?  And why are they in the kitchen?  That was usually off limits to the family in the 1980s.

I appreciate the lighter tones of the Y&R Newman Ranch, but is this supposed to be the same room, with dining room attached stage right?  Because the fireplace is in the same place, but it seems to be missing that vestibule where people could conveniently overhear conversations.  Over the years, everyone from Diane to Sabrina were supposed to oversee the redecoration, so I'm just pleased to see that the work is finished.

It is like you lose the sense of the rest of the space

Maybe Dick Van Dyke moved into Rachel's room (beggers can't be chosers)?

The Spencer and Trina stuff was fun, but I'm on pins and needles about Ava's disappearance.

Also, Michael has a "friend" at the SEC who can tell him who tipped them off, but that person was of no help in the prosecution of Drew?  It feels a bit convenient for this source to have suddenly popped up, just as Sonny and Nina are planning to elope.

I feel out of touch, but are character fanbases still a thing?

I recall the hoopla of GL's Otalia fans, and rabid forces arguing over GH's Jason love life, but it feels like those were the old days of social media, and that type of community has moved on to be fascinated by a handful of female pop stars.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

clearly she's been living with one too many of houseguests for too long.

Yeah, it's funny that when Eric moved in with Sloan he never mentioned that Dick Van Dyke took over his bedroom, leaving the impression that since Brady and Rachel had their own rooms, that's at least a four bedroom penthouse!  It's a good thing that homes in Salem don't need bathrooms, (other than the occasional shower for sex).

4 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

The ending was shocking. But it also ask the question why?

Maybe I am misunderstanding your question, but it appears the Vivian shot Dimitri because he was going to shoot her son Stefan, which mimics her entry story of when she shot someone for holding a gun on her "dear nephew" Lawrence.

Does this officially seal Johnny and Allie as flops?

Is Sydney the only hope for Sami's legacy to live on in Salem?

BTW, I obviously don't think either actor was a flop, but their characters have failed to live up to their heritage in terms of romance, plot, or personality.

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?

2 hours ago, Ryan Mason said:

If I remember right, that was where both he and the confrontation with Mason ended up, but for him to get there, Sophia had to talk him out of his initially more homophobic reaction. I think he was on the verge of having Channing's belongings burned in disgust and she talked him out of it.

Sophia was still in her drag king era, and hadn't emerged when Mason outed Channing.

1 hour ago, dc11786 said:

I don't think that Sophia's role as murderess was made public was it?

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.

1 hour ago, dc11786 said:

Then again, with Brandon's custody, I imagine that the paternity became public, but maybe I am wrong.   

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.

Just now, carolineg said:

the only kid Mimi is raising currently is her daughter with Rex.  It would be interesting if Tyler/Pocket came back though. 

Right....

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

On 9/20/2023 at 5:42 PM, dc11786 said:

C.C.'s vision of Channing, Jr., was not the reality. In the aftermath, maybe even have Sophia become involved with an AIDS charity with possibly Sophia's involvement infuriating C.C. over Sophia wanting to share her connection to the disease through Lindsay which would make very public Lindsay and Channing, Jr.'s relationship. Maybe have Mason handle the legal end of the charity work with Mason siding with Sophia. 

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.