Vee

I've been on a GL binge of late in addition to my other COVID-era classic binges* and maybe it's me but the Dreaming Death virus is really, really creepy to me. Lesley Anne's death spiral hallucination of her last dance with her con man husband and moving off into the light with the spooky music is really, deeply disturbing. I can see why GL might've been the wrong show for this material but I think the idea of a killer virus which induces these hallucinations is good stuff for GH or something. I also don't understand why they put so much time into hiring and building up Michael Woods as Jim Reardon and then he leaves like a year later. (* apologies to Knots Landing fans, I promise I will get back to it shortly; it's just such a dense show and I want to give it my full attention when I'm not so busy. Also I am kind of hoping it starts going up in HD like Dallas sooner than later.)

A lot of greats passing us by these days.

@AdelaideCate007 I have always, always, always wanted to see the return of the infamous parasites from "Conspiracy," a very disturbing early TNG episode - and a dangling plot thread dropped when the new showrunners post-S1 came up with the Borg as a new threat - and smart Trekkers have pointed out a few key things that make me think the bad guys in S3 could well be them after all: Jack (Speleers) says their pursuers 'have a different face every time'. The Conspiracy parasites attached themselves to hosts' necks and used them as hosts - humans, Vulcans, anyone. Beverly's encrypted message to Picard tells him to trust no one, including Starfleet. "Conspiracy" opened with Picard receiving an encrypted message from his old friend, Walker Keel, who also told him to trust no one including Starfleet. Beverly vaporizes one of her attackers down to a scorch mark in the floor. Riker makes special note of this at the end of the premiere and asks why Crusher would feel the need to burn someone to ash. This is exactly what Riker himself had to do alongside Picard when they fought the giant parasite at the end of "Conspiracy", in probably the most violent and shocking scene in Star Trek history and one I still can't believe they got on the air in the late '80s - the magic of early syndication: While the vibe I get from Amanda Plummer's character in the trailers is not that of a parasite host, it's still worth thinking about.

Yeah, I don't buy Beverly cutting them all off.

I was a Picard/Crusher shipper going way back and was never happy with how the later eps and movies threw him at other women without acknowledging that character thread enough, so I am very happy for anything that cements the relationship. I do think the idea that they only got together and conceived a child around the time of Nemesis is a bit farfetched, but whatever. My guess on the surprise return:

She's a huge horror star and producer again in film and TV these days. I can't see her signing back onto a daytime contract.

So classy of Barbara Crampton to do this, as she is a big gun in horror these days. She's always been happy to talk about her daytime career. I never thought they'd bring Mamie back. And yes, Dru should be on this list but won't be. I'd love to be surprised.

Watching it now. So far so good. I have not bothered with S2 yet, lol. I'll get to it amidst this season. I had wondered if they would make Orla Brady's character Picard's lover - I liked her a lot in Season 1. I remember her from Matt Smith's finale on DW. They are cute together. That said, she's not Beverly and Beverly and Jean-Luc are clearly the thrust here. I've only waited 30+ years for them to be properly dealt with. Michelle Hurd is one of the few remaining castmembers from the original Picard ensemble and is still excellent. I suspect she may get a spinoff with Jeri Ryan, though I found their sudden romance very rushed at the end of S1. They're both so good though that you don't care. Jeri is as good as she was 25 years ago. Some premiere spoilers in addition to heavily likely rumors and some major rumor/spec that also sounds very likely to me:

Wow. What a find.

LMAOOOO. Oh lord.

The double-down:

A lot of key NYT contributors are pushing back on the Times editorial page's persistent trans-critique coverage designed to launder right-wing views.

It's a weird progressive puritanism at times too, a counterpoint both to the Bush-era culture shock post-Super Bowl in the 2000s and to the same right-wing hyper-puritanism over anything LGBT that is currently a major threat today. It seems there's a double standard too IMO: If it's content progressive viewers want to consume of their favorites nude or simulating sex onscreen in products they enjoy then it's all fun and games. If they don't like it then it's violence or too exploitative. Two sides of the same hypocritical coin.

This is it. Eric and Nicole in their original iteration sucked, but the older and wiser version has always had appeal for me. It's the show and the writing that ruins those promising opportunities or runs them into the ground (as Nicole has been once again, not for her first time).

True, but Susan is one of a kind and hit with a cultural impact far different vs. Reinholt or Gerald Gordon (did anything come of GR's deal or did he nuke himself too fast?).

LOL they're brazen to put 'The Ashfords' on that drum set at Curtis and Portia's wedding. Didn't this whole town just attend the last matrimonial debut of 'The Ashfords' a couple years ago too? Same drums?

Shades of what's happened with soaps tbh, in terms of conservative regression re: content and stories (albeit for different reasons). Darn and I were just talking the other day about how CBS (of all networks) in the early 2000s flirted with skirting the edge towards softcore on daytime, pre-Super Bowl. And then there's the Cat Hickland/Ty Treadway scene on OLTL. These kids couldn't handle Adrien Lyne's movies, or Verhoeven.

Is Cyrus still a going concern on this show? Come on, GH.

Thanks for the HQ. The Powerpoint opening is shameful. They should just cut 10 needless people and redo FOTH. But they won't. It has never been matched and tbh you probably don't need to update the theme much. No little Leo is an oversight, he's been so present. Same with Jake who is rarely seen but so good, but oh well. I'd rather see them vs. annoying Charlotte? Violet? or Michael's creepy kid.

It would be nice to find a HQ version. I can't seem to find one at the link.

It almost always is.

Supposedly she had an accident last spring(?), was recovering and eager to go back to work and then we heard nothing. I'm very concerned about Leslie and I doubt I'm the only one. Nice to see Jane Elliot back next to Wally in the official photo as she is apparently back long-term. I'm not going to get into my spiel again but I somehow doubt the most popular young couple on the show being in a corner behind third-tier player (I love Brook Kerr but she is) Portia is deliberate.

I am aware lol, that's why I said recast. Gia the character at least was Afro-Latino and it was heavily implied she could be Sonny's sister BITD. I still miss Lynne Moody as Florence.

I'm glad it's happening, and also glad for a great deal of her work.

I have no idea but neither, definitely not Mosley. I remember some of that, yeah. I know they're still claiming Gia is a lawyer today but I'd bring back the model/fashion angle somehow lol. Did Marisa play the break-up or did Andrea Pearson? I'm pretty sure it was the latter.