alwaysAMC

My sweet Carlotta (the actress) was anti-gay? Ugh, that makes me sad knowing this after all these years.

Whoa that is a lot of interesting stuff coming up... I wonder who dies! Might be Vanessa's husband, if Ashley is involved?

^Agree 100%. The shock and awe moment before spoilers/internet was such a strong feeling that we can't ever get back (except maybe when you allow yourself a rewatch and haven't read anything about the soap/characters, which I'm considering later in life with maybe 90s Y&R or B&B since I really don't know much about them). From my generation/era, I feel like these AMC storylines really were must-see, water cooler talks in the early/mid-90s (huge ratings): -Natalie in the well; Janet impersonating her; Janet kidnapping Hayley; the start of Dimitri and Wildwind. -Tad and Dixie's first coupling; Adam and Brooke's involvement; Tad "dying" while struggling with Billy Clyde Tuggle on the bridge all while Brooke was pregnant with Jamie; Tad's eventual return and having to convince Dixie it's really him. -Noah/Julia's interracial coupling; her abortion after being raped by Louie.

No, hasn't happened yet I've known that will be the outcome, which I'm upset by because I love Rick's bonding with Kevin, but I'm very curious to see how it all comes out. I'm assuming Rick will eventually force his name on the birth certificate legally and then it'll require some DNA test and maybe that's when it'll come out... *don't tell me * - but nope, hasn't happened yet as of early November 1997.

I was on vacation, so couldn't watch GL for 10 days, but I'm happily back in the saddle! 🤠 I’m up to October 31, 1997. Harley and Phillip have a first official date at her apartment and it’s a comedy of errors, with both having internal dialogue that’s pretty funny. This finally got me to enjoy them, so we’ll see how I feel going forward. Buzz proposes to Jenna, but they’re still spooked by the stalker. J stops by the Diner and tells Buzz that he’s worried about his mom, who is now at the Bauer cabin fantasizing about Buzz. J then recognizes Nola’s earring that the police recovered and tells Buzz it’s his mother’s, without really knowing what’s going on. Buzz then realizes his stalker is Nola. He goes to the Bauer cabin to confront Nola, which happens to be during a big thunderstorm. She starts to deny it, but then breaks down and tells him the entire truth, which he is empathetic over. She apologizes and asks that he not tell anyone, which he agrees and they decide to restart their friendship. On his way out, he grabs firewood for Nola since she is going to stay at the cabin, and he falls down the cellar stairs! Nola tries to help, but the roads are flooded, her car is stuck in the mud and the phone is out. Buzz finally wakes up and seems to have amnesia because he doesn’t recognize his own name and doesn’t know Nola LOL. Oh brother. It’s quite funny because he says the name Buzz is dumb and he can’t believe he’s stuck “slinging hash at a Diner”. Nola tells him he’s in love with Jenna, but he keeps refusing it. The storm is over and J is able to call her, but she doesn’t say anything and hangs up. Oh Nola, she is so conflicted and making all the wrong decisions. J then shows up, Nola hides Buzz, and convinces J she’s ok and actually is dating a man that she won’t tell him about. Later, Nola and Buzz continue to console each other over their feelings of loneliness. J ends up telling Phillip and Harley about his concerns and recent visit with Nola at the cabin and Harley puts it all together that Nola was Buzz’s stalker. They race to the cabin and just as Buzz is walking out to start a new life, Harley shows up and he asks who she is. Harley can’t believe it and starts to freak out and Buzz tells her that he only knows Nola and she’s taken care of him and he wants to be with her. Harley is furious with Nola and vows that she will pay big time. They all eventually convince him to call Jenna and tell her he loves her. Jenna is ecstatic to hear from him and Vanessa convinces her to go to the cabin and surprise him. They arrive and Jenna is devastated to hear he has amnesia and tries to remind him of wonderful memories they had together. She vows to help him relearn his life. Meanwhile, Vanessa grills Nola a bit for the truth. They all head back to Springfield and take him to the hospital, while everyone still figures out what to do with him. He clings to Nola and she eventually returns him to Jenna against his wishes. He finally warms up to Jenna and notices pregnancy pills and she admits she’s pregnant. Overall, it is nice that Nola is getting her own storyline, but this was a bit ridiculous. Jenna takes Vanessa to the hospital to terminate her pregnancy (she doesn’t want Matt to go and experience heartbreak). Matt finds a letter that Vanessa wrote their unborn child, explaining why she died and why she’s without a mother. That makes him change his mind and he rushes to the hospital to stop Vanessa from terminating the baby, and as he gets there, Vanessa tells him she couldn’t go through with the procedure either and wants to have the baby, regardless of the risk. They tell Dinah, who pretends to be excited but she’s not because of the risk. At the same time, Jenna finds out she’s pregnant, but is still worried about Buzz because he’s gone missing. She also voices concerns to Vanessa that it may not be Buzz’s child (i.e. Jeffrey). She later takes a test at the hospital and the results show that Jeffrey is the father and she breaks down. Drew’s dad cuts her off and forces her to get a job because of her meddling and forcing Dahlia to quit; he’s spoiled her far too long. Sugar then quits. Jesse gets J to hire Drew as a waitress at Company and she sucks at it. Michelle sees Jesse/Drew together at Company is getting jealous of Drew. Given that Jesse knows he has Maureen’s heart, he tells Michelle they can’t be together anymore, which Michelle further assumes it means he likes Drew instead. Later, Drew sees Jesse’s scar on his chest and Jesse tells her she can never tell anyone about his scar. Ed tells Michelle he isn’t staying long, but wants her to go back to Africa with him. She says no. Ed privately asks Rick to get Michelle to drop her search for Maureen’s heart because it’ll lead her back to Jesse. Ed explains to Rick that Jesse had a congenital heart defect and the only way he’d survive is if he had a heart transplant. Ed says he didn’t cause Jesse’s mom’s death, but he had a lot of pent up guilt about the whole thing. Ed made it possible for Maureen’s heart to be given to Jesse, sort of a debt to be repaid to the family. Diaz was his mother’s maiden name, which was used at the time of the transplant. Later, Ed sees Jesse alone and they acknowledge what they each know and agree never to tell Michelle because it would hurt her and Jesse’s father both. Jesse continues to push Michelle away (even though he still likes her), and Michelle decides to get her life together and go back to Africa with Ed. Before she leaves, she goes back to Jesse’s one last time to tell him. His shirt rips open and exposes his scar. He says it was a knife fight, but she puts all the pieces together and realizes he has Maureen’s heart. He finally confesses that it’s true, but Michelle doesn’t mind and still wants them to be together. He agrees and they go to Ed to tell them she’s staying in Springfield with him, which upsets him. Michelle then starts to have issues with Lillian and her role in Maureen’s death (she had an affair with Ed and Maureen found out and got into car crash and died). Michelle hasn’t been able to forgive Lillian yet. Cassie is pushing dates with Billy because she’s being forced to by Alan through blackmail (Tammy’s safety). Billy kisses Cassie and she’s not interested romantically, but has to play along, even though she likes Billy as a boss and now friend. In the office, Reva/Billy/Cassie find out a dummy corporation out of the Cayman Islands is buying up a lot of Lewis Oil stock, which is fishy. They find out the CEO of the dummy corp is Annie Dutton LOL. Later, Cassie decides to take Tammy at night with the petty cash on hand at Lewis Oil and run away from her situation with Alan, but Hart walks in on Cassie stealing the money and pressures her into the truth. She spills everything by saying two ‘bad people’ are blackmailing her, but never says Alan/Annie’s names. Hart now wants to help her get Tammy back. Annie breaks into Cross Creek and now has a written “Hit List” with Reva “The Liar”, Josh, Harley, Phillip, Alan and Cassie all listed. She wakes up and starts drinking, to help herself “think more clearly”. October 3rd is the episode Watros submitted for the Emmy and won, which shows her alone drunk at Cross Creek, guzzling bottles and destroying/breaking stuff. She finds some prescription pills and takes them with alcohol, all while crying. Strong scenes here. She later realizes she took all the pills, freaks out and yells for help before passing out on the floor. Josh travels to Cross Creek and finds an unconscious Annie and calls 911. He calls Alan too and tells him he’s found Annie. Alan gets to Annie at the hospital and at this point he’s had a change of heart and wants to continue protecting Annie. She agrees to stick with Alan if he gives her full power and ownership of the Lewis Oil stock, and he agrees. One night at the Towers, Reva/Josh/Billy/Cassie are having a double date and Alan/Annie show up. Annie doesn’t think Cassie is putting forth enough effort to seduce Billy, so she follows her into the bathroom and reminds her that she and Alan have Tammy’s life in their hands. Cassie gets pissed and yells at Annie, which Reva starts to overhear. The bathroom scenes in this episode are pretty amazing where Annie/Cassie have to make up a story to Reva about how they just met, while still hating on each other. Later, a case worker tells Cassie that having Hart appear as her soon to be husband will help her chances win back custody of Tammy, so he eventually agrees even though Dinah will flip her lid, but Annie overhears the conversation and gets angry. She decides to tell Dinah about their upcoming night in Chicago together before her early hearing and Dinah freaks and decides to go up to Chicago, but she’s delayed due to a fog storm. Hart/Cassie got there early enough and are forced to share a suite. Dinah finally arrives and walks in on them in pajamas. They try to start explaining but the case workers arrive early and Dinah blows their cover, the case workers leave upset, and Cassie slaps Dinah (loved that, much deserved). Then they tussle and have a great girl fight until Hart breaks them up. Abby and Holly meet again to discuss their experiences and how Abby feels, which is sweet to see Holly mentor her. Rick goes to Holly as well to get advice on how to handle Abby, which Roger overhears. He tells Holly later that the same advice might have helped the two of them. He tries to kiss her hand and she pulls back. Blake arranges a dinner with Holly/Fletcher/Roger/Amanda, but tells Ross everyone was aware and happy to attend, but they weren’t, she surprised them. She pushes them to be a family for the sake of Kevin/Jason and they oblige. Holly even jokes how Amanda will be a step-grandmother before being a mother LOL. Rick starts having issues with not seeing Kevin as often as he wants, so he talks to Blake and wants a schedule where he can see him more often and then be named father legally on his birth certificate. Blake agrees and tells Ross, but Ross gets upset and says no way (which annoys me). Rick and Abby then meet with Griffin at the Towers club to see what his options are and after the meeting, Abby gets attacked again in the parking garage by the same goon as before (Roy), but thankfully Rick shows up and he runs before he can really hurt her. Roy follows them back to the Bauer house where Michelle and Jesse are and he watches the four of them discuss what happened. Rick finally apologizes to Jesse and they re-introduce themselves to each other and shake hands. They see Roy out the window and Jesse catches him and Abby is able to stand up to Roy and give him a piece of her mind before he’s carted away to jail. Later, Roy gets off on bail and on Halloween night, he shows up and threatens Abby while she’s home alone and giving out candy to trick or treaters.

LOL this was good

Yay - Chelsea is still chained up! I was hoping it wouldn't wrap within a single week. I also loved the previews showing that maybe Kat/Jacob/Madison get into a car wreck on their way to rescue! That's more good soap opera. They really built great momentum going into a holiday week. I can't wait for 9/08! Oh and loved the 90210 references!!! LOL at Leslie showing up to Nicole's house at the end.

Appreciate all the responses and thoughts! I can't say I'm surprised by the answers LOL. @P.J. - surprisingly I find the actor playing Jesse to be pretty good for his role. He's so handsome too, I've already forgotten about that sweet Zachary haha. I love learning the history about Nola and her passion for old time movies from her time in the 80s, so thank you! It actually helps me enjoy the storyline better now since that part originally seemed to be odd to me (where she would fantasize about Buzz and her in movie roles). I gotta say, I enjoy watching Dinah stew and getting some much-deserved torture from this storyline with Cassie/Hart.

I'd be annoyed, but I'll be on vacation this coming week so I guess this works out well for me haha.

Anyone else's episode skipping? It's the only channel skipping, so weird. I guess I'll have to watch on Paramount later

Another solid episode IMO. This week has really been must-see for me.

LOL - right? Always!

Ohhh ok good! Because I was always on Stacey's side re: her lying about hiring TJ. I didn't want to have to eat crow on that haha. RIP T'Challa!

LOL at Allison! Chelsea: "You'd better not come within 100 feet of Madison!" Allison: "Ah, easily done, there's lots of ways to get rid of someone from that distance." 😂

We summoned him and he arrived - there is Ted today!

They really do. Wow, a few shockers in that trailer: -Stacey lied at the reunion?? I wonder if it's the TJ of it all or something more benign. -Stacey tried dating Monique's ex-husband?? I didn't realize that is why Monique comes back. And T'Challa!! -Random Mauricio sighting. -Stacey isn't holding back, which I love. I think her first season was her taste for how this game plays and she ran with it this season. -I didn't get too much from the two newbies, but hopefully they are good.

Thank you, @Spoon! I've been wondering what fans thought of these few things when the show was airing back in 1997: 1. How did fans feel about Nola suddenly becoming a sad, desperate stalker? For me, I'm at least thankful Nola got a storyline, which she hasn't really had like this since she came back in 1995. It also sort of makes sense because she's lonely. But the way it happened abruptly and the stalker aspect where she's ripping up photos is a little ridiculous to me. 2. How popular were Dinah/Hart back then? If fans loved them, did they hate Cassie? I was curious how Cassie was generally received in the beginning. 3. Jesse having Maureen's heart - were fans just outraged that 1) a newbie heartthrob had it and 2) it was her daughter's love interest? Did fans think it was cute or disgusting? I'm on the fence of 'that's weird' and 'that's cute', but I didn't know Maureen. If fans hated it, was it at least a consolation that Maureen came back to be involved so often in Michelle's visions?

Ohh that would be good. Would make up for her behavior today LOL.

Same! This has been one of my favorite storylines so far, and favorite weeks to watch since the first month.

There is no way a doctor should be going back to work when their partner is missing/kidnapped. I'm surprised they had Dani push her to work like that.

Oh Leslie, I love you but this ain't the right time girl. LOL at her sympathy plant being a cactus though.

Agreed - but it looks like he's taking it pretty well and won't be upset by it all, just sad they didn't think he could handle and support it. Hopefully that sticks.

I'm lowkey LOL'ing at Bill's reactions to Chelsea being lesbian, then being interested in couples, and then having a girlfriend.

I definitely remember that scene! Ugh, I wish I had taken more detailed notes in 1995 (started to do so in October/November 1995). Based on what I can tell, Roger faked his car crash death in late May and then Roger/Dinah got married in September, so you're right that it was some point in summer of 1995. Probably August. Holly/Fletcher got married on July 7th and she found out she was pregnant in August...

I’m up to September 30, 1997. Holly sees Abby in the hospital and it triggers memories of Roger raping her, just as she bumps into Roger in the hospital. She reminds him that her rape is something she will never forget, even though he keeps telling her they’re both meant to be together. Meanwhile, Abby is released from the hospital and goes home to Goshen for a week to be with her parents and recover. She returns to Springfield and Rick takes care of her, but she starts having nightmares and visions of her attacker. She feels broken and is having a hard time getting close to Rick. Cassie continues to enjoy Josh, Billy and Reva and has turned on Alan/Annie, however Alan continues to blackmail her and use his power over her ability to see Tammy to keep her in line. She finds out Alan had Tammy removed from the foster parents she’s used to and she takes it very hard. She goes to the bar, gets drunk and starts stripping for men on the pool table. After having a bad fight with Dinah due to her insecurities and fears about getting Vanessa’s disease, Hart goes to that same bar and watches Cassie dance. He ends up removing her from the bar and gets her away from the ogling men she’s dancing on and takes her home. Next morning, Dinah comes over to apologize, but sees Cassie in Hart’s shirt having breakfast and she flips out thinking they slept together (they didn’t). Hart explains what happens and Dinah apologizes and they kiss, but the seed is planted. Later, Cassie prepares to move into the boarding house and Dinah sees Cassie with Hart and Peter yet again. There is a fantastic cat fight in the Company bathroom between Dinah and Cassie and I’m really enjoying this rivalry. Dinah continues to take her birth control, keeping that secret from Hart, who wants to make a baby. Dinah is still worried she’ll have Vanessa’s hereditary disease and doesn’t want to have a baby because of that. Wow - Alan/Annie go to Reva/Josh and Annie tearfully tells them that HB passed away last night at Cross Creek. He died of a heart attack, doing what he loved - fly fishing. It’s very moving watching Josh cry and break down over the news. Billy joins Josh and Reva and they continue crying and remembering HB. Billy mentioned he ‘finally got a hold of Hamp and he’s doing a world tour with Kat’ (his daughter). I’m happy we finally have some reference to Hamp after all this time (even though by now, the actor has sadly died). Billy then goes to Vanessa and tells her about HB and they hug. Later, Ross brings HB’s will over and Josh reads it aloud. He gives Reva all his personal shares of Lewis Oil stock, so I guess this is how Reva maintains some sort of independent wealth going forward. HB’s memorial was on September 11, which was really well done and had nice flashbacks. Billy, Bill, Reva, Vanessa, Marah and Josh all spoke. There was a fun flashback during Bill’s speech with Henry, HB and Bill as a child. Mindy surprised everyone by coming, and it’s not the actress I was familiar with in 1995 (Crampton), so must have been another actress from before then. Dylan also shows up and he brought Peter, which was finally nice to watch Vanessa see and hug him again. Bridget couldn’t come because she started classes (boo). Reva tries pairing Rusty up with Cassie (ha). I’m not really sure why Cassie is even there considering she’s brand new and just a secretary, but she and Dinah verbally spar a bit and that’s likely why. Trish arrives just as the memorial starts, who I’ve learned is HB’s daughter and Josh and Billy’s sister. She and Ross hug and they clearly have a past that he quickly jokes about with Blake, I’ll have to look that history up later. It ended with a lady named Barbara singing an interesting version of Amazing Grace, which honestly sounded a little pitchy to me, but it was effective nonetheless. Even Hart and Dylan separately had funny looks on their faces when she was singing haha. Before HB’s memorial, Annie had to go back to the psych ward, and Jenna/Harley work to get inside so they can get more information on Reva’s sister (they’re still working the case for Reva). Jenna surprises Harley by making up a story that Harley is her little sister and needs medical attention and should stay in the ward. Harley is pissed about it, but has to go along with it, and now Harley is stuck in the ward with Annie. This is my first time enjoying Harley because she’s actually pretty funny playing a silly little crazy girl named ‘Caitlin’ who annoys Annie, but continues to get closer to her. She’s had to escape Alan seeing her a couple times, and Alan starts to warn Annie about Harley (whom Annie hasn’t met yet in person), because Reva has hired her to find out more about her sister. Phillip visits a couple times and Annie catches Phillip and Harley making out, so Phillip tries to pretend that crazy ‘Caitlin’ forced him into the kiss but Annie is starting to question it all. She eventually finds a dry cleaning receipt in Harley’s pocket that says Cooper, and then she secretly has Alan identify her and they realize it’s Harley. So, Annie starts to make her life hell all while still pretending not to know her and it’s really funny. Annie is finally scheduled to leave the ward, so that morning she secretly updates ‘Caitlin’s’ doctor’s orders to administer Harley medication, so as Annie walks out, the nurses give Harley a heavy drug. She resists but the meds start taking effect and she goes crazy. Phillip, Buzz and Jenna eventually storm the ward to save Harley. The next morning, Phillip goes to Spaulding Mansion and rages at Annie about it, so I guess that friendship is sadly over. But Alan is secretly mad at Annie for doing something he wasn’t aware of and harming Harley. He rages at her, tells her he’s cutting his loses with her and kicks her out of the mansion. After he leaves, Reva and Blake knock Annie out with a chloroform handkerchief and they take her (wow!). Alan returns and asks the maid to pack up Annie’s stuff, just as Josh storms in and punches him. They later find the handkerchief Reva/Blake accidentally dropped outside the mansion. Blake exits this storyline after helping Reva tie up Annie. Reva drives a tied up Annie to Cross Creek. Then, Reva forces Annie to look at all the places she and Josh had sex, their names carved into the wooden mantel, her wedding album LOL. Reva then surprises Annie by revealing Fran, who tells Annie that Alan paid her to testify against her, which made her lose everything. Annie doesn’t believe it, but Alan and Josh finally show up. Alan confesses, Annie slaps him, vows never to get back with him and she runs off alone. Buzz has gotten a few secret admirer-style notes, flowers and cookies and Nola is involved in helping him figure out who it is. Oh wow, a few days later, there’s a stalker watching Buzz and Jenna. He enters their home through the window and looks at pictures and eventually takes a picture of Buzz and Cooper, but we can’t see who it is. It’s pretty creepy and intriguing… Oh my gosh, it’s revealed to be Nola when she escapes and realizes she’s missing an earring and has a flashback to running from the fire escape. That totally seems out of character, so I’ll be interested in seeing what her motivation was. Now she’s alone and ripping up photos of Buzz and Jenna, what is happening haha. She seems like a very sad, lonely woman who just watches old romance movies and fantasizes about Buzz and her acting out those scenes. She then dreams of Buzz/Jenna getting married and stopping the wedding and running off with Buzz. This is all so random haha. Vanessa gets tests done at the hospital to see if her condition is getting better or worse, and Rick tells her she’s in remission and everything is ok with her disease. However, she is pregnant! Wow, I wasn’t expecting that LOL. Ah, but then Rick and Michael tell them that if she keeps the baby, the risk of her disease coming back is too high. Vanessa pretends like it’s ok and she wants to have the baby, while Matt strongly disagrees because he doesn’t want to lose her all over again. They start to fight about this, but Vanessa finally agrees to terminate the pregnancy. Drew is jealous of Dahlia and Sugar’s attention over her, so she’s starting to find ways to get rid of Dahlia altogether. She takes pictures of Dahlia and Sugar dancing during rehearsal and mails the pictures to Marcus who rages about it. Dahlia meets with Sugar about it, but he ends up kissing her, she slaps him and says she’s done and doesn’t want his contract anymore. Drew’s dad has taken notice of Dinah too and keeps trying to take her out, even though she keeps saying she’s engaged to Hart. Michelle has another vision of Maureen with Ed this time, who is now played by the original actor, Robert Gentry (not Peter Simon, who I’m used to in the mid-90s). Michelle is going to Springfield U now and she’s still in love with Jesse. Jesse gets a job waiting tables at Company, but isn’t good at it. Michelle revisits finding her mother’s heart and mentions it to Jesse that she’s looking for someone from Point Lester near Jesse’s house with the last name of Diaz. He asks when her mother died and he starts to freak out, as if he knows who it may be, but he doesn’t tell her. Meta calls Michelle and asks her to come home because her father, Ed Bauer, has come back home (9/30). We see Michelle and Ed hug, and the actor again is Robert Gentry (not Peter Simon). In the next scene, Jesse is alone in the Company bathroom, looks in the mirror, opens his shirt where you can see a scar on his chest, and says he has Michelle’s mother’s heart and he can never tell her! I called this from day 1. Jesse is so hot btw.