Vee

I'm taking a bit of a breather for other shows, films and IRL stuff, but starting '92 slow because I really powered through the end of November into '92 fast as the show picked up again. I'm also revisiting the entirety of the rape trial saga in '93 again, which really holds up very, very well. Letting days or weeks' worth of episode notes and thoughts pile up is hard for me to unpack en masse, so I don't know how I'll break it up in future. We'll see.

That is definitely what I'd do in addition to eventually getting her back with Ric for a stretch as he takes the mayor's office from Laura for a stretch. Though I don't have much use for Paevey in any incarnation, a scheming young Faison as her sleazy boytoy could be fun. We spitball a lot about the Carlys but I think the reality is that LW leaving now after 20+ years would be a seismic shock for a lot of the audience. Sarah and Tamara still have a lot of fans and classic clips of both still do real numbers on social media, but in terms of reaction I wonder if it would be up there with when Y&R admirably tried to bring back David Tom as Billy Abbott after Billy Miller's exit. The difference is that DT, while a great guy, never really had a fair chance at playing the older Billy and it was very awkwardly handled onscreen which made it worse. I would argue that both Carlys are far more popular and iconic than DT was so they'd have a better shot at adjustment, but especially if it was SJB you'd see some fan controversy. She is a very raw presence. I'd still do it with either her or Tamara if I could, but it would be a wild ride online lol. (Whereas with the Two Todds at OLTL, the fanbases had become so stratified and TSJ's Todd had become so irredeemable in story and with him openly trolling the scripts that I don't think there was that much backlash other than from Todd/Téa diehards.)

That twink looked perpetually twelve! It's not the same lol. And yeah I would phase Nina out over time anyway. I love Watros in the part but it's insane the character has been here this long.

I would just alter the character again for Sarah tbh. But I also think she's more versatile than people realize. She had little trouble playing a more upscale and accomplished character in Madison on DAYS IMO. I don't think it's that hard to fuse the Carlys. I think Sarah is more than capable of still having that grit but displaying a Carly who has become a successful businesswoman. I have immense gratitude and respect for Laura's work in the role. She's done very well, she's underrated at times IMO (in that I personally can see the throughline from Sarah to her) and I don't think she is likely to ever be replaced. But would I welcome either Tamara or Sarah back? Absolutely. They both edge Laura out for me in the rankings. If power was no object and I thought you could get away with it, I'd bring Sarah back tomorrow. But uh, probably after an exit arc for LW because the audience would freak out no matter what lol. These current stories are not what I'd have SJB (or Tamara) step into, there would be a dividing period after Carly suffers a loss and leaves town for a month or two. And Eden would probably be gone. (And in fairness to Sarah, I cannot see Tamara with Eden, Chris McKenna or JPS either.)

I agree. The only people who get special dispensation (like Setton, JPS, etc.) are allowed them at Frank's behest. But favorites, like Kristen Alderson, can still lose his ear when they ask for a pay bump.

I think you'd be hardpressed to find anyone who believes Lynette is actually dead.

I can believe LW can be a bit much on certain issues. But if you ask around online there is this whole elaborate lore where Laura Wright made the show hire her boyfriend (Wes Ramsey), threw a fit when Tamara was rehired, made them reunite her with Jason etc etc. And I just don’t buy all that craziness. I do believe the story that they almost replaced her with Tamara in the late ‘10s when they were in negotiations, and got stuck adding TB as Kim Nero instead. But I do not believe LW is some evil queen BTS lol. And yes, she gives 200% everyday.

It's entirely possible that in the intervening years out of the business Havins, like Setton, has gotten prudish and conservative about basic soap stuff. But unlike Setton where she's both confirmed it and it shows glaringly onscreen every month, I just don't see enough evidence yet onscreen to have this attitude people are throwing around where it's 100% a fact that AH is definitely doing this. It's like when people throw around the supposed 'fact' that Laura Wright is terrorizing everyone BTS because folks don't like who she plays on TV. It's just something people say because of how they feel about watching her as Carly, a character who pisses a lot of us off regularly. But in terms of claiming LW is throwing her weight around to get her way, it doesn't have much evidence to back it up. Some folks claim it extends to Lulu's clothes and that's definitely not true. However GH poorly styles Lulu at times, in the afterglow with RP they had Alexa in a tiny little tank top with her boobs out. You won't get that from BLQ over at the Quartermaines! So yeah, I'm real skeptical. And yeah, the situation with Mo is frustrating. It's not a Kirsten Storms problem, but it's ridiculous they couldn't play that story in '24 after he initially was enthusiastic about it in the press. His energy is very low onscreen and I'd hope he has some other outlets to keep him keeled, and obviously I don't know his personal life but I'm not always sure he has them outside of the work.

Oh, not this again lol. The big 'evidence' for this theory is an interview where Havins said she felt awkward about kissing someone other than Justin Bruening during her first kiss scene with RP after being out of daytime, and tried to get it over with quickly. She made light of it and joked that she only wanted to be kissing her husband. The rest of the supposed evidence is the fact that Lulu and Cassius haven't really been intimate since and have yet to have an onscreen love scene, and that their second kiss was filmed weirdly/from a distance (because it was filmed from Felicia's POV catching them together). But unlike Amanda Setton we don't have anything explicit whatsoever that confirms AH refuses to do kissing scenes, love scenes, dress a certain way, etc. Yet you have some corners of fandom insisting it's 100% fact based on this and totally real. Over on PTV it's a whole running debate. If it comes out that it's true or lasts another six months then sure, I'll criticize the hell out of Alexa. I don't find that shít acceptable on daytime unless you're playing a rapist like Roger Howarth did. But I don't see any real proof that she's made these kind of demands. There's a lot of corners cut on onscreen intimacy in general on GH lately with many couples, including Cody and Molly, Jason and Britt, Sonny and Justine, etc. Given how plot-driven this storyline in particular is Lulu's lack of onscreen sex doesn't really stand out to me. There's really been no time taken for it with Lulu and Cassius after their initial get-together.

It doesn't make any sense. It's purely plot, even by this show's low standards. This will spur him to kill Ric? He's let Ric off for so much worse lol

So as I close out 1991, this is apparently from a ’94 magazine interview with Michael Malone, which shows what was still on his mind then to his credit, and points to the future: Gottlieb and Malone did bring the class system and struggle back to OLTL from almost their very first days, beginning with creating Jason Webb in August ’91 (a character Malone clearly did have affinity for, whether he was a Gottlieb edict and a Malone creation before his name was officially on the show or whether the interim writers did his introduction - I am leaning towards Malone). Then they lensed deeply in both their early fall period and December into class commentary with a variety of have-nots. It begins with Jason and Lee Ann, who Gottlieb had David Nichtern create a whole musical theme for, indicating that early investment. Lee Ann, starstruck when she’s invited to the Buchanan Christmas party, gets showered with gifts by rich heir Kevin to fulfill all her dreams of coming up in the world. Meanwhile pauper Jason sells Cord’s camera and his last dime just to afford buying her a pearl necklace (ahem), which Lee Ann then mistakes for a gift from Max. This throughline continues to crop up with the great Blair/Cassie scenes at the Banner late at night that soapfave mentioned, where Quincey (notably a Black reporter) chimes in about the rich vs. the working schlubs of Llanview, and how he and Blair will never be able to afford the tony country club circuit with horse & rider. It had been set aside for awhile but Malone reintroduces the nearly subliminal Jason/Lee Ann romance thread beneath all their dramas with Dorian, Kevin, Max, etc. in December. Jason thinks he can never be enough for Lee Ann while both poor strivers are seduced by wealth and power from suitors from the high steppes (Kevin and Dorian). When Kevin proposes at Wanda's, a sullen Jason drowns his sorrows by planting one on Dorian in the background of the shot before exiting stage left. They knew what they were doing from the jump. Meanwhile, leathered-up Dorian and Jason cruise around on his bike and ponder the class struggle on Llantano Mountain(?), looking down on the whole town and wanting to 'step on' Llanview as they play with these familiar Malone beats. Jason also talks his abusive stepfather and wanting to become a cop, a career path they did not fulfill for him AFAIK but did years later with Antonio (who I preferred becoming a lawyer, as he was off to law school when Kamar de los Reyes left in ’97, but anyway). Then there's more Malone sadomasochism a la Jason and Stephanie, as Dorian pushes him to express his anger sexually (‘break me in two!'). I think she gives good heroine in several ways but as I've said before, I can't really feel for Lee Ann's delusional fixation on Max. She goes a step too far openly suggesting that she could be Al's new mommy, which makes Max bristle hard and inform her in no uncertain terms that no one will ever be replacing Gabrielle. A few days later he's playing the See Other People card on the phone with her just before NYE. I can't really blame him at all, even if Nicholas Walker's Max was singing a totally different (and very creepy) tune with Lee Ann under the prior writers during the summer. Blair and Cassie at the Banner has been mentioned but is worthwhile stuff. Mia Korf is still beautiful today, she's spellbinding on the show and it just makes me wish for other things that could or should've been to honor her time with OLTL. Blair urging Cassie to fight for Bo using sex is a key window into Blair's truly driven mindset. Cassie says love can't be worked for, but Blair fundamentally disagrees. "You have to work for love just like anything else. Why be ambitious only at the office?" Asa and Blair meet again on the 22nd during this Banner pow-wow after only a brief greeting in the past, he's clearly taken with her, and Blair instantly hooks into the old cowboy as a prime opportunity. Again, this creative team has already begun adjusting on Blair very quickly and it's no secret even without hindsight where this angle is going. (Blair also meets Dorian again at Wanda's on the 26th and is still quite flustered - Cassie really rolls with inadvertently meeting the mute Addie on the 22nd, who Blair passes off as a distant relative she's been hiding away in Cassie's condo. Uh, sure!) Blair’s homemade jewelry is such a key component of the character; she gifts the entire Buchanan clan with homemade pieces after dazzling Asa and Renee with her work, then, another striving character born to poverty, makes her own gown for the NYE Buchanan bash. While I really liked Blair as a journalist as well it does me good to know Melador is still going strong for her today from her GH appearance a couple years ago, as it's such a foundational part of the character. (I just assume she also still owns the Sun from Todd.) Blair was always very close to Malone’s heart, though I’d hope he talked up Mia Korf in some press as much as he did KDP, who he gushed about in later years and said it was shameful she hadn't won Emmys for her work (true). I've never found clippings where he's talked about MK and it would be nice to see. Kassie said only Malone really understood Blair and I do think she was probably right. It's the same character in '94 and '95 (and even 2003, alone up against Mitch Laurence), just in a different key. When Blair psyches herself up to go to the party and make her life change, she's not far removed from Jason or Lee Ann and the classic core themes from '68 that Malone and Gottlieb are playing with across the whole show. Going back to the quote at the top: In the end, Malone did deliver on more families and more working class families. In 1995 he creates Angel Square and the Vegas, all of which became central to the show for the remainder of its run. In their way Antonio, Cristian, Carlotta, etc. are the inheritors to white (or in Blair's case, Asian... for a while) working class characters depicted in '91 like Lee Ann, Jason, Wanda, even Max and Luna. Malone's thematic concerns didn't vanish but they did transmute. Sarah’s evil Santa dreams and her fears of being covered in feathers or petals or something (or whatever this cryptic stuff is supposed to represent) are only escalating! Bo and Sarah have some occasionally good bonding scenes but despite some slogging, repetitive material her PTSD Is actually quite well-rendered for the era, frightened of Christmas crowds, noise, etc. The first mention of psychiatrist Michael Jonas by Andrew comes on December 30, which leads to what I know was an unpopular storyline and a character who (if they intended more) never really came together. Max and Luna live it up in Atlantic City after their run-in with Megan and Cain, winning and losing a small fortune over “Serenity” the horse; Luna’s preternatural senses are right but Max doesn’t trust them vs. the house odds. I have actually really enjoyed Max and Luna’s early hijinks, including joining the high-stakes poker game at the Palace with “Humberto”. It’s more loose-limbed and fun than some of the more labored or self-important stuff they often got once they were fully coupled up, though I do still find them far more winning than some fans do later in ’93; I rewatched the 25th anniversary eps recently and that stuff really holds up for me, including their material. Anyway, JDP and Susan Batten are clearly having a blast together here in the early days. I don’t think DePaiva had a problem with Luna so much as he did Max becoming a wholly tamed Mr. Mom near the very end of that romance (Luna gives birth maybe three months before being shot and killed IIRC) and into ’96, once Luna was dead and Max was just toting twins around indefinitely. It’s still very interesting how OLTL now has both Cain and Max onscreen, with Cain appearing to be an obvious successor character for Max, but instead they’ve repeatedly been pitted against each other, first during the Palace poker game and then again in AC with Megan. Kevin once again references Asa’s first love “Rose Smith” right after Christmas, first mentioned in late September or October (admittedly she is likely Asa’s fifth or sixth ‘first love’ in show history) and I’m fairly sure I’m right about the Cain connection here, which at first glance would be a near-total Xerox of Max’s backstory re: Asa with Wingate and Patricia Holden. Megan also hones in on how Cain’s various schemes and identities all go back to investigating Asa. This Max/Cain mirroring culminates right before New Year’s, on what is labeled the 12/30 episode*; after Max and Luna finally discover the land that will become Serenity Springs (much sooner than I thought story-wise), they do a hard match cut in the edit from Max’s cowboy boots in the mud to Cain’s identical boots at the Palace, where he finally gives his real name to the concierge before charming and pickpocketing Asa in Texas cattle drag. Speaking of Serenity Springs, IIRC it lasted on OLTL til just about the end of the run; I could swear I remember hunks still going there to work out in the last 5-10 years (did Max or the Moodys still own it?). More recently, Nina on GH is still vacationing to Serenity Springs for spa trips to this day! (* - I still have a hard time believing they ran new episodes on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but that’s the online labeling for you) Anyway: Cain watches Tina and Viki meet Babs Bartlett, then charms her into getting him an invitation to Asa's New Year’s bash (which Max crashes with Luna). I was wondering when Cain and Tina would reconnect and sure enough she clocks him at the NYE bash with Babs. It initially seems kind of insane Cain that came to this event where Tina, Megan and Viki all spot and confront him (and Megan shares one more surprisingly chill dance with him) but as it turns out he has set it up for a confrontation with Tina, Viki and Asa at the stroke of midnight. NYE 1991 culminates well across the board. I have always found it essential for soaps to make Christmas and New Year's count with a bang at the end of the year, and some shows still do it sometimes. First there's the Cain unmasking, then there's more angsty drama with Andrew and Megan. Before Asa's party Andrew again wants to apologize to Megan for kissing her hand the other day. "I don’t think that was the right thing," he begins before she cuts him off: "Yes it was. Really, it made me feel good." Okay. Andrew seeks counsel from his bishop and confesses his love for Megan. The bishop tells him 'a man in love is a man closer to God’ but says he can't let his emotions overtake him. In crisis, Andrew writes requesting a transfer only to be confronted by Megan just before midnight. When he tells her what he's doing (but not why - she must know) she begs him not to go, and they share a tentative, halting embrace at 12:00. He almost goes in for a kiss then settles for her cheek as they hug. So close!! But then we come to the moment people really remember: Max and Blair's first scenes together (ever) where they are supernaturally drawn to each other - the stage lights even darken around them in the middle of the Palace ballroom - and dance at midnight to Roberta Flack's "Set the Night to Music". It's super OTT and campy but also pretty great and beautifully done tbh. To be clear, by my reckoning there is zero foreshadowing of Max and Blair together or hints towards this pairing whatsoever before this moment, which is pretty unusual for Malone/Gottlieb. They were never in close enough proximity, there's never any parallel editing or thematic rhyme like other characters and stories. It was never even hinted at, and then suddenly they're there together like a solar flare. And yeah, they do really have it at least in that moment. Max and Luna are adorable, but the Max that tango's with Mia Korf's Blair is the one Gabrielle would remember. It's quite an introduction for a hard, sudden shift, but it worked for me and is the setpiece the show closes on to end 1991, out of nowhere. What a way to go. A few final notes: Not for the first time IIRC, Malone hits the note of Princi's Dorian dredging up her decades-long feud over Victor with Viki as she gripes to Herb about being Victor’s widow and the rightful mistress of the house of Lord. I’m not sure they knew anything about their future plans this far back, but who knows. Clint randomly returning from Jaba City bruised and bandaged around his face and eyes (blaming Jaba thugs) makes me think this directly relates to Linda Gottlieb’s oral history story about Clint Ritchie returning from a break having had major face work done around his eyes and her saying ‘WTF?’ I’m willing to bet money that these scenes are the end result. I'm going to take a bit of a break from spewing away about the show and a breather after blitzing through the end of '91 in a matter of days. I hope you find something worthwhile and not too repetitious about my blather, and I'll start in on '92 sometime soon.

Late December '91! As others have noted, Megan's crashout spiral following her kidney diagnosis is great work by Jessica Tuck, if a bit rushed. The intimacy with Andrew only ramps up from here; first she tells him 'I need you now' at the hospital, then she openly teases and tempts him during her illicit tango and drinking binge with Humberto/Cain at the Palace on/around December 17th. A lot of this hedonistic psychodrama plays out just before the Christmas shows, and it's a bit of a jolt given the holiday season but very engaging for me. I don't know how often OLTL went to Atlantic City in story before the '90s - I think Ruby Bright went there with Marco in the Rauch era - but it would become a regular fixture later, particularly in both Malone's runs on the show, first during Max's gambling addiction saga with Kassie's Blair in '94 and then when Victor/"Todd"/Walker, Natalie and John McBain get into ridiculous trouble in 2003 during Malone II. (I think Max and Roxy got married there during Live Week 2002 as well, and Roxy and Natalie both came from AC.) I like that Megan instantly recognizes "Humberto" as Heinrich and has absolutely no time for Cain pretending otherwise. It's taken just about six months and at least two writing teams, but it's Megan who nails him to the wall, playfully needling him about his many identities and varied occupations until he goes mask off, even if she refuses to hear his real name during her East Coast rampage (complete with a lot of Gottlieb handheld camera work as they hit the dive bar and run into Dorian and Jason). Tuck and Cousins clearly enjoy each other's company and are good together; her sharp intellect and tongue are not as fluffy as Karen Witter's screwball energy, which makes Megan a different dynamic partner with Cain. "You're sexy and mysterious," Megan says. "That's all I want from you." She also has a great line for Dorian when she finds her tricked out with Jason: "Quite an outfit. Early dominatrix?" What I like even more is how explicit and daring the show is willing to be with fulfilling the promise of the Megan/Cain tease back in October, as well as playing out what I strongly suspect was a pitched love triangle (if Tuck had re-signed) with Cain/Megan/Andrew during their run-in at the Palace, all presented here in a sort of hyper-truncated form over about a week of shows starting around 12/16-12/17. Megan's all over both her would-be suitors, making out heavily with Cain and crawling over Andrew on the dance floor, and it's not even subtle; Jake does not come up until it's far too late. There's some great pop music usage as Megan melts down in AC (after reuniting with Jake's old buddy Lucky and yes, a cameo from Ivana Trump) to the tune of Londonbeat's classic "I've Been Thinking About You." The following Monday she almost goes to bed with Cain, woozily attempting to seduce the increasingly uneasy con man to Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" - a bit on the nose but the usage is amazing onscreen in the dark hotel suite, as Megan's night of debauchery ends up with her stripping off her garters down to her lingerie, crawling and writhing on the floor and bed before passing out in Cain's arms. As soapfave noted though, this all wraps pretty damn quick lol. Cain and Andrew call for a doctor and get Megan airlifted back to Llanview between commercials, where she swiftly apologizes to Larry and Viki over getting her stomach pumped. It's a very fast recovery and reset for Megan during the Christmas week just in time for the holiday, almost as though the whole meltdown never happened - also IMO, as though Malone and Gottlieb (and now Griffith) wanted to play out a miniature version of possible would-be love triangle with Megan and their two new male leads before it was too late. How might a triangle have worked out had things gone differently BTS, you ask? Well, for one thing if John Loprieno hadn't left they obviously intended Blair for Cord, which would more likely leave KW's Tina otherwise engaged in a triangle there and not definitely with Cain. Joe Lando was not coming back on contract, which would leave Megan (had JT stayed) in play for Cain and Andrew. This too would dictate that Max would most likely be for wallflower Luna, which I now suspect was an endgame much earlier than anyone realized before they pivoted to Max/Blair with Loprieno out. But I could be very wrong! This is where Malone’s story notes & papers from Duke University dating back to his OLTL days (and we know they're in those records, they're listed as such) might come in handy. To cap it all off, Jake returns for more scenes with Ilsa, She Wolf of the S.S. in Jaba on the 22nd! "There is no Christmas in Jaba!" Ilsa crows, and I am pretty sure this is a NuIlsa different from the previous one. She looks awfully familiar to me and is a bit too New York theater lol. I went poking around but had no joy; any idea who it could be? Anyway, Jake cons Ilsa with the promise of sex to make a call to Megan on Christmas Day, and Mrs. Harrison tactfully makes no mention of her Atlantic City jaunt where she almost fúcked a con artist after trying to get under a priest's collar. Smart choice! What fall 1991 and the Andrew/Megan/Cain mini-drama makes clear is that the party girl or fallen woman/holy man archetypes and romance path are a Malone staple he will return to again and again, much like his other favorite types, fantasy interludes, etc. They’re as much a part of him as Agnes Nixon’s own fixations (young love, poor little rich boys, broad humor or carnie folk, gothic mystery) or Doug Marland's (working-class/homespun families, incest/familial abuse, therapy). Malone of course iterates on what he was aiming for with Megan in full with Marty Saybrooke, who shares a very similar and more explicit relationship with Andrew while being tempted by much more dangerous men (Todd Manning) and became one of the show's last legendary heroines. Later Malone was in a rock and a hard place during his second run in 2003, likely due to Fronsian micromanagement re: the youth set, when he poorly tried to remold Jessica Morris' Jen Rappaport in the same Marty mold; Jen ends up playing out the same story as Megan and Marty in a triangle with Joey's curate priest (Andrew) and hedonistic partner in crime Rex (Cain/Todd). Even Malone's take on Natalie (a much more natural fiery successor to Marty and Megan - and Tina and Karen Wolek IMO - than Jen) has elements of this; when John McBain rejects Natalie due to his past trauma in 2004, Natalie lashes out by unwisely getting involved with another iteration on Cain/Rex in Paul Cramer, a con man who relates to her darker side. In the end these are all variations on a theme for Malone. Some work, some really don't lol. It's just fun to dissect. But it's not the only iteration we'll see again. Viki mouthing Jessica’s lines at the Christmas pageant at St. James is a great, very real touch. Andrew's sermon is beautiful but what's even better is kind of the capper to the mini-triangle, where Megan and Andrew have a chaste yet very intimate sleepover at the rectory on Christmas Eve. Megan/Andrew scenes are clearly a labor of love for Malone, and I don't think it ever played quite the same with the younger Susan Haskell and unstable Marty, even if she and Robert Krimmer definitely had serious chemistry. The week of Christmas ends with a seemingly recovered Megan predicting her own death and Andrew kissing her hand intimately (then apologizing, to which she says it warmed her up) as they sit together on a snowy park bench. That's consummation in and of itself, even if I suspect they never actually kiss. This is all already a lot, so I'll save my stuff about the rest of the Christmas period for another post later. I will say though that I loved how Clint’s quiet grief finally breaks open a bit more when he and Viki get a Christmas tree & then don't want to bring it in after revisiting happy memories of Christmases past with Cord. They then run a vintage ’86 flashback with Cord and Clint discussing their discovery that they're father and son and it's a great little grace note. I also loved this bit of dialogue at the tree.

Well, the cat's already outta the bag there with those two. They've already been to bed. So while I definitely want Lulu freed of the evil twin I have no problem milking it for drama and chemistry for awhile. YMMV but that is mine.

I agree Brennan's exit is well overdue despite Chris' strong work. But look at it this way, it could keep him employed through to the triumphant return of OLTL in 2028 where he can resume the role of sexy ex-priest and community activist Joe Buchanan.

I will say I actually did think RP and Alexa going at each other hammer and tongs a few days ago over Rocco had life in it. She was fiery and he was very locked in with her. Frankly given what I've heard in the past about him and how I've seen him behave on social media I think Cassius being a bit of a sarcastic dick is more in line with who Paevey is, lol. He's not a great actor but watching him be a dick is reasonably more interesting than St. Nathan the Cardboard Standee. Not enough to keep him around, but diverting at times. Now if it could translate to (onscreen) angry sex I'd watch that, followed by her finding out the truth. Are Willow and Nina gonna stack Brennan and Drew on top of each other in the closet like cordwood? Please say yes.

Did Paevey slightly raise his voice again and get snarky? Real Emmy shít. I'm teasing, I'd just forgotten how incredibly boring this show can be live or caught up (as I am) when you're not at least 2-3 behind to binge. And it's not like Cody/Molly, Sidwell, baby Phoebe, etc. are pulse pounding excitement no matter how behind you get lol.

Not Jill with the blue streak!

Well, a certain level of qualified 'important' but yes.

This I wanna see lol.

I would be shocked if someone didn't vault the Loving Murders somewhere after last time. All of it was up complete in 2020, which is when I rewatched it for the first time since '95.

Riveting stuff!

I've heard this before and I agree with it. You can see it in how she moves around town as his wife. She understood that world and its tradeoffs and always did. Carly was never stable enough to live with the mob forever and Brenda (to her credit) never wanted it.

Huh, fair enough? I don't remember that at all.

I adored Stefan later on. I always found SN fascinating to watch but I didn't get Stefan at all initially as a romantic lead, and hated the pairing with Laura at the time mostly due to its very cold fish execution as you've discussed, and how LNL were kept apart so long (and never really properly reunited, JFP and Megan mangled it). Later I realized Genie and SN were actually very hot together early on in '96, and it was the distance between and then handling of their actual coupling that was really mishandled. There was a way in for Stefan and Laura but it was never done well enough in the actual event. But I grew to love Stefan for himself, even in the very silly story with Chloe. I had a soft spot for them together. I still miss Stefan and would bring him back if ever possible.

I don't remember him being back for the 50th? Only for Luke's exit in '15, and that was an out of town appearance. I understand the impulse to give Robert and Holly a kid as a valentine to Tristan and their fans for what they clearly suspected was his final exit, and to try and cement Sasha once more before they gave up on her lol. I just wish it had been someone else (like Ethan) and that they had used the late '80s timeline available. Acting like either woman had these new characters in '91-'92 is ridiculous. They absolutely were. Those scenes were there to try to put Britt over to the audience yet again. Didn't work for me, especially not on the heels of her being horrendous to people for days and diming out Joss to the bad guys.