Franko

I thought it was fantastic. I'd never actually seen it in full until now, just the scenes included in the Season 5 recap that I used to watch all the time on YouTube. Seeing the complete episode, at the conclusion of a season I've been watching over the last few weeks, gives me a much better appreciation for that cliffhanger and the stakes involved. You really do believe that Mack's thisclose to going full-on insane in those last seconds. I am slightly confused about why there were two assassins at the Belmar, though. We've got Grace Zabriskie, who's intending to shoot Gary in the lobby. And then, waiting behind that outside planter, is the guy who thought he killed Gary. It looks like he's there to get another crack at Gary, but I'm also wondering if he was originally dispatched to take out Mack. Then again, maybe he wasn't dispatched. Maybe he went rogue. I guess only he and/or Mark St. Claire would know that.

Finished Season 5. The closest I have to a fresh insight on those last few episodes is that Gary's funeral had three widows. Cathy's scene with the cowboys feels to me like she was acting like the widow of Westfork.

Thank you!

The first for DAYS was Carl Sawyer, in the last week of November 1965. Tom was on his way to respond to Mrs. Sawyer's urgent call when he and Mickey discovered Marie had attempted suicide. It took time, but Marie was revived (and lives, 60 years later) while Carl died and Tom went on trial for malpractice. Marie revealing in court why Tom was preoccupied saved the day.

Any thoughts on the Gwen and Hank recasts, @LostinHarmony? I'm torn between whether Liza Huber or Natalie Zea was the better Gwen. And I really wish the show had pulled the trigger on Gwen & Hank. I want to say that there was some chem testing between Zea and Ryan McPartlin. It would have been nice to have a rich-middle class couple that didn't have tons of drama. I can't remember, is that what Sam & Ivy were on their way to becoming, a tentpole couple? Slightly veering from recasts, I think that the show's attempts to replicate the Tabitha & Timmy dynamic after Josh Ryan Evans' untimely passing just didn't work. We really didn't need little Endora. We must be roughly the same age, LIH. I turned 11 shortly after the show premiered. And at some point in middle school, I screamed at the TV the day that Hecuba used her magic to split Luis & Sheridan's "love noodle" (not a euphemism).

I'd never seen this until today. A daytime version of the 1990-91 "America's Watching ABC" promo. I'm wondering if this was taped on or around the Daytime Emmys, hence the GH actors being in roughly the same place as the New York crew.

When was the last time we saw Maria? I vaguely remember her popping up in 1994 during the Maxie's heart storyline.

Marvelous!

Oof, that does sound like a lot, even over the course of a year.

What was Robin's return story? I just remember Dorian luring Clint to Vermont to catch Viki & Sloan's romantic trip.

Yup, there's a definite post-Watergate thriller vibe to it all.

Karen wouldn't just know your birthday, she'd know your kids' birthdays. I rest my case. Team Laura.

The mentions that Wolfbridge's sleazy practices resulting in a building collapse makes me wonder if that was being considered for the Season 5 cliffhanger. In the end, the show made the right decision, but can't you just imagine Gary, Val, Abby, Mack, Karen, Mark St. Claire, and Grace Zabriskie buried in and around the remains of the Belmar Hotel?

Joan van Ark's chemistry with Michele Lee is indeed legendary, but I'm really loving Joan opposite Kevin Dobson.

I've just reached this episode. My theory is that Abby met Cathy when she was checking out the resort where she and Gary would have their honeymoon. Maybe it was even the same day Abby bought her wedding dress. Maybe Abby's resort and shopping visit was on a break from checking out Lotus Point's future neighborhood. Also, Abby has at least 12 phone lines! Talk about your blasts from the past.

Not to the best of my knowledge. That would certainly be a discovery.

Much appreciated, Jason! It's always fun to catch a soap episode "in the wild," as it were.

I'm thinking near Switzerland.

Throwing this out into the universe ... if/when NBC or Columbia decided to open the vault, even just partially, it would be kind of fun to see this episode in full.

Desperate, too. It's like some folks just don't trust that their stars and show could (will?) have a legacy beyond degrading anecdotes. Oh, please don't tell me Valerie Harper & Julie Kavner ended up having beef!

From some time in the '60s, Charmin spoofing soaps. I wonder who played the grandmother. Monica is played by Alice Playten, possibly during her run in Hello, Dolly!

Speaking of Bea vs. Betty, Marc Cherry recently revealed that one of the legendary bits of lore is fiction. Bea didn't actually go to the bathroom on Betty's dressing room floor. The writers made that up as a joke, and somehow it became public. Side note: that type of revenge dates at least as far back as Bob Randall's 1976 novel The Fan, which became the 1981 Lauren Bacall-Michael Biehn flick.

My soap memories begin in 1994, when my grandma retired and I was 5. She was an ABC fan. GH was something she watched daily, and she'd catch AMC and OLTL as often as she could (sometimes she'd end up taking a nap for slightly longer than mine was). Grandma never got into Loving. Anyway, the first things I definitely remember watching: GH -- Brenda taking a bath at the Quartermaine mansion and considering which guy she was gonna end up with (A.J., Jason, Ned, Jagger, or Sonny). AMC -- Kendall wheeling in Richard Fields. I also have a vague memory of Phoebe looking through a photo album and recalling family members ice skating. The memories become much clearer with the summer of 1994, and the return of Janet. OLTL -- Tina and Cain's wedding.

"That's my boy." -- Kim