wonderwoman1951

thank you! watching drama requires the suspension if disbelief — even more so for soap fans — but, there are limits. exceed those limits risk insulting their intelligence. fans will walk away! for me, it’s all moving too quickly. these first two weeks have left me exhausted — too much happening too quickly to too many characters we’ve barely met — for more than a few, i still have to check a cheat sheet to figure out their name and who they are i’m hoping that things settle down sooner rather than later. but, after the breakneck pace of this week — a three-way!? already? — i’m not holding my breath.

posted this on another board: ‘what did smitty ever see in martin?’ that is the question! unless smitty is some kind of masochist who needs to be dominated and humiliated (and, who knows — there’s already been a three-way:), i cannot believe that martin has always treated him with such contempt and abuse. so, what i want to know (well, what i would like to see and not be told) is how, and why, their relationship has deteriorated to this point. unfortunately, saddling them with college-aged teenagers, means that the only way viewers will find out with be is a lot of exposition, and maybe some flashbacks (generally not a fan of flashbacks, though the one with dani and bill after naomi’s wedding was well done, and contextualized dani’s behavior). now, had they introduced martin and smitty at an earlier point in the relationship, we could have seen how two educated, intelligent, ambitious gay men navigate the challenges and trade-off starting a family entails — who agreed to do what — and then watch has the inevitable conflicts unfold. and — the age questions go away — a win-win!

that — and a wooden actor — not a good combination!

We should let go of what? Of our own opinions? Something that is personally mine and I'm not demanding anyone else share it...? Why? If someone is annoyed with my observation about the age-thing... then that's their problem. Not mine. Also... it's just an observation. NO BIG freaking DEAL. Nobody is saying this is going to bury the show. Give us a break. IT'S absurd and FUNNY. I am now even wanting Anita to become a great-great-grandmother in the future. Why not. 🤣 i agree! we’re all entitled to express our opinions. i was merely mentioning that there were a few posters suggesting we let the age thing go.

that was my initial thought. but, i realized that far more interesting possibility would have been to to bring in martin and smitty a year or two after they had married, with martin recently elected to congress, and the two of them discussing starting a family. that way, we could see the conflict unfold rather that being told. yeah, the timeline is all over the place. mlk’s ‘i have a dream’ speech’ was delivered at the 1963 march on washington — more than 60 years ago — so, unlikely anita and vernon were there. rather than trying to connect vernon with mlk, who died in 1968, makes more sense to make him a contemporary of john lewis. i’m ok with the dupree sisters having grown children. as for martin and smitty, i know there are people who think some of us are making too much of the age issue and that we should just let it go. but having established martin and smitty as the parents of kids in their late teens, locks them into a chronology that can’t be changed and will always be confusing — and distracting.

leslie/dani keeps talking about how ted choose nicole over her, which makes it sound link more than a one night stand, of course, she may not be the most reliable narrator:)

exactly! and remember, anita and vernon already are great grandparents

look, i get that watching drama requires the suspension of disbelief, and as i mentioned upthread, i don’t object to the inevitable handwaving that comes as characters are sorased. but there are limits — it is possible to insult the intelligence of viewers — to have this happening as a new show opens is really pushing the envelope, at least for this viewer.

but martin is anita and vernon’s GRANDSON! and martin’s parents met when they were at a medical convention — so even if they met while they were still in medical school, no way they would have had martin until they were in their late 20s. supposedly, nicole is 53, so if martin is 35 she would have had had him when she was 18 — MAKES NO SENSE! in tennis, they call this an unforced error — really surprised that no one noticed this lapse in logic — or, maybe they were hoping we would notice.

what i remember most was that she began the ‘abcification’ of ‘as the world turns’ when she immediately replaced allison rice taylor (think she’s going by allison rice now) with susan batten as connor. among the worst recasts in soap opera history.

while i’ve certainly done my share of handwaving when it comes to soap ages that’s not to say that age doesn’t exist — or matter. as someone up thread noted, the show’s barely a week old. if they’re serious, i can’t see them waiting three years. i find the whole idea insulting to my intelligence and hoping that someone (perhaps his grandfather) cautions patience. i also think they missed a real opportunity with martin’s character (actor aside). the conflict between him and smitty would have a lot more depth if martin had just been elected and was feeling overwhelmed by his his new responsibilities, which was taking its toll on his marriage. the way this story is unfolding, martin just seems like a selfish, self-absorbed dick — a 25-year old whose self-absorption would have context.

so, how old is eva supposed to be? leslie/dana keeps saying that ted left her for nicole, which sounds like leslie/dana were together before ted and nicole married and would make eva older than martin, who, has to be at least 25 to be a congressman. and, it doesn’t seem as though he was just elected, which puts him closer to 30. finding it hard to believe that that anita and vernon are that old. as i’m typing, martin just told nicole that he wants to run for president — minimum age 35! — this is the kind of silliness that is so easily avoided.

this was especially true in the final years of ‘world turns. can’t remember where i saw this, but it was a very funny, and sadly true, discussion of “15 years of faux family ties and squandered opportunities.”

i’m well aware of soaps current production model. i was just pointing out the down side of limited flexibility — three months is a long time to wait when there are actors who need replacing or to have their stories fleshed out.

not sure about that yet. looking forward to hearing more about her backstory. also hoping they flesh out her relationship with naomi. this could take a while. the downside of shooting so far ahead — they began with three months of episodes in the can.

i didn’t know too much about passanate’s previous work, but as for her tenure as ‘as the world turns’ final headwriter — even after 15 years, words fail!

this is the kind of thing i’ve been talking about. i would have been so much more engaged in this storyline if i had a better sense of their back story. and yes, why now? why not wait a week or two — or three:) for the reveal? there would have been nothing to lose, and so much to gain.

i might be, as well. i grew up with what’s often dismissed as “your grandmother’s soap.” for me soaps have always been about anticipation of a coming event, then the aftermath. only a week wedding anticipation felt rushed. and the wedding was so far over the top, i was actually thinking i was out. thankfully, it was only one day (don’t miss those week long soap weddings:) it was the initial aftermath between dani and anitia pulled me back in and made me want to see more. as for the rest of the episode, the elevator scenes were trite and predictable. and after only a week, i already know way too much about the leslie/eva/ted storyline, and can’t say that i’m all that interested to see how it unfolds. for me, the reveal should have played out over a couple of weeks — maybe even a month:)

When Anita would say things like how proud she is of them all, I believed her. As for the rest, no comment. (I was told at a young age, if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all.) you’re missing my point: of course, the sentiments are genuine. it’s the constant repetition that i find artificial. families can be proud of each other without saying “you’re so wonderful” every time they see each other.

with the exception of bill and haley, there was a constant repetition of how wonderful every character was that i found artificial — just not how people speak naturally.

agreed. this comment from another board struck me as an illustration. i get that recap is a soap opera necessity, but i found this constancy redundancy annoying. “I really wish they would stop praising how great everybody is, I had a family and we barely admitted we liked each other. Half the show is people blowing smoke up each other's butt. Other that Bill and Hayley, everybody else is up for sainthood. The only times anyone said something that seemed real was describing Dani and it is always about her being slightly unhinged.”

i wasn’t too familiar with his work, so i took a look and came across this on knotslanding.net. have to wonder who made this up. or maybe they had a ouija board… also — mesothelioma is from exposure to asbestos. curious how he was exposed. interview dated 24 jamuary 2025

for me, it was way too much happening. would have been happier if everything had unfolded over a few weeks — the leslie/eva story, for example — could have gotten to know them and how they fit into the landscape before finding out their agenda.

not just the wedding. the whole week felt rushed — so much happening, so many people, i had to keep checking a cheat sheet to keep track of the characters and the relationships among them. and, as i mentioned upthread: i would have been ok if the leslie/eva/ted reveal had happened nexr week — even the week after.

with you there! and, i know i’m going to be in the minority here, but i found the entire week exhausting. so many characters i needed to check with a cheat sheet to keep them — and their relationships — straight. and so much going on i’m not suggesting a return to storylines that dragged on for months before a resolution. but, i do miss being able to anticipate what might be happening. i would have been perfectly happy to find out about leslie/eve/ted next week — or even the week after.