Franko

Total missed opportunity not to have Donna Mills' first post-KL role be a guest spot on DW as the Helen Van Patterson-Patton.

I'll keep an open mind. So far, I'm mostly liking what I see. I'm getting a kick out of Ruth being an unapologetic Abby and Greg shipper. I know that's going to tie into the Easton papers that Galveston obtained. Maybe I was seeing things, but I swear they just briefly teased the idea of an Abby-Joshua hookup, during Donna and Alec's first scenes. By the time Joshua was working at Pacific World Cable, that idea seemed to be a no-go.

I understand that. The hopscotching got on my nerves so much that I decided just to outright buy seasons so that I wouldn't have to wait for a return. And speaking of Joshua ... I'm at the point where I'm ready for him to fall off the damn roof already (and I've still got at least a dozen episodes to go). All of that makes sense, yes. Thank you for filling in those extra blanks. Earlier in the thread, we talked about how these mid-'80s seasons have a '70s paranoia thriller vibe to them without necessarily homaging a specific movie. I thought of that when we got to the failed whistleblower Galveston Industries secretary, whose plight is slightly reminiscent of Silkwood.

I've been re-reading your posts as I make my way through the seasons. I hope you'll consider bringing them back for late Season 7 and/or the start of Season 8. I can't remember where you left off). Easton's an odd duck. It is bizarre that he really, really wanted to prove his worth to Abby. Maybe I'm imagining it, or over-inflating what was on screen, but some of Easton's scenes with Abby did have a little bit of that subtle flirting vibe that she had with Jim Westmont (and Gary at the way, way start of their story). Yet another unanswered question: Did Easton and Ackerman know one another before the caper? How on earth did their paths cross?

Okay, I think I've worked this out. Let's see if my explanation makes sense. I'll try to keep conjecture to a minimum and stick to facts. Abby confided in Scott Easton about the inconvenience of Val carrying Gary's babies. Easton decided to take the babies out of the picture. We never got Easton's complete motive for doing this, but the way I see it was that he wanted to go above and beyond for Abby and prove himself essential to her operations. I don't believe he intended to blackmail Abby or try forcing her to have sex with him, but it's possible that either could have happened had Easton lived and he found himself out of favor with her. The caper was a two-man affair beween Easton and Dr. Ackerman. Ackerman's motive was making enough money to pay off his gambling debts. I haven't yet finished Season Six, but I assume Ackerman would have been paid by both Easton and Harry Fisher. In "A Piece of the Pie," Val's normal doctor says that she and a colleague were called away to "not much of a conference," allowing Ackerman to be there for the delivery. It's possible that the non-conspirator doctors were lured away to something as simple as a glorified trade show, or whatever the medical equivalent would be. Either way, they were out of commission. Prior to his death, Easton had been intensely involved in negotiations with Galveston Industries. If I remember right, by the end, they got as far as Paul Galveston himself. We know that Easton was killed aboard the GI plane. The unanswered question is whether it was because he knew or found out too much about Empire Valley (like the murdered GI secretaries), because Paul especially disliked underlings who don't know their place (indicated with his feelings about Abby's detective, the one who was trying to force her into having sex with him), or both (as in the case of the one doomed secretary-turned-whistleblower who was trying to protect the people of Westfall). Paul did not know about the babies caper until he found out about it in Easton's papers. There was, indeed, literally a scene where Paul discovered this information. Prior to his death, Paul had located the Fishers. Some of his final scenes indicate that Paul would have eventually notified Gary as to where the babies were. TL, DR: Scott Easton MASSIVELY overstepped. If he had done his homework with Abby, he'd realize that separating a mother from her children wouldn't impress her. If he had done his homework with Paul, he'd learn to walk especially carefully. ETA: Nurse Wilson was an innocent victim, initially intimidated into silence by Dr. Ackerman.

One more thing ... I'm up to "A Piece of the Pie." Fare thee well, establishing shot of the LAX Marriott. You served your purpose well, introducing many Greg and/or Laura scenes for nearly two years. I wonder if I'll feel so verklempt when I stop seeing Lotus Point from a helicopter. And I know I will when they stop running the view of Seaview Circle from that one tree.

Yes, of course. And all those lady news anchors (and the husband or two) killed by Jeff.

We might have to do a poll of the most unfortunate tertiary victims in a widescale Knots story. Choices include: the old lady Chip beat up back when he was Tony Fenice Mr. and Mrs. Marcus, who lost their home for Lotus Point the survivors of those murdered Galveston Industries secretaries (special attention to the childless widower) all those poisoned people in Westphall the guy who lost his liver transplant to Greg at the 11th hour and his soon-to-be grieving widow

I've said it many times: that era of NBC Daytime helped me realize it wasn't a phase.

In terms of DOOL hunks, Victor Webster walked so Matt Cedeño could RUN!

Up to "Lead Me to the Altar," and I was digging Cathy's abridged acoustic version of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow."

Very nice, @DRW50!

What, you didn't want to see Kevin Dobson's behind?

Good question. I think someone at Days and/or NBC had a thing for fetish wear, though, considering we had Eden in 2000 and then less than two years later, Rex and Cassie's introductory "outfits" being aluminum foil.

The Garden of Eden came before the coronation. I remember Michael Logan's year-end worst of column having a cartoon of Austin Peck, who apparently loathed the story, sneering as he played Austin in a pair of briefs made of vines.

Making my way through Season 6 and I've got two things to say about Mary Kathrun. First off, I thought she was played by Michelle Johnson, who popped up on Dallas in the spring of 1985 (nope, it's Whitney Kershaw). Next, it seems like they could have brought Mary back in the episodes leading up to and after Alec Baldwin's departure. I feel like Mary could/should have fit into Leslie Hope's role as Linda.

So, has Hank Northrop debuted yet? I thought it was happening this week.

"Sami, but a dude" was the extent of Brady's characterization until the relationship with Chloe clicked. This resulted in several unintentionally hilarious scenes where Brady came across as glass closeted.

Off the top of my head, JER also revisited possession (evil Charity) and getting buried alive (one of the MANY misfortunes dumped on poor Sheridan).

Seeing William Russ again reminds me of how extremely jarring it was to see him in American History X. I was too young to see or hear much about X in 1998, so my mind was blown when we watched it in a college class about a decade later. I want to know more about that particular bit of casting, like if they always wanted an actor from a family sitcom, if ABC and/or Disney wasn't happy about it, or if Russ was intentionally trying to avoid typecasting (a year after X, he played Danny Bonaduce's abusively dismissive father in the TV movie about the making of The Partridge Family).

Catherine Hicks (RH) -- Death Valley, Child's Play, Honeymoon From Hell

Roseanne used to open for Jack Wagner. Who knew?

Why do I feel like Louise Sorel wasn't completely acting when she said "This is the worst day of my life" while dressed as a box of french fries?

I've said it before: Days in the '80s and '90s was like an auto plant when it came to supercouples and would-be supercouples. That assembly line just kept on turning.

I understand. No rush/not a priority.