Beach Climber

Mason’s feuding with CC later in the series was fine. Even when they got along, they went back and forth. I wouldn’t say they completely buried the hatchet until the last year of the show. However, Mason was treating everyone like crap once the Dobson’s returned, not just CC. He had definitely graduated past town pariah well past then and I didn’t buy Pamela causing that regression.

I think each actress played a completely different version of Kelly. Your preferences almost depended on which of her you liked the most.

I recall this and it was pretty notable when it happened. In Santa Barbara’s case, I think what caused the abrupt change was that they didn’t realize Terry Lester’s contract expired and he left the show since he wasn’t told about a renewal. They had to scramble to find a new Mason and have him pick up the storyline immediately. The first time Mason was recast (Terry Lester and Gordon Thompson were Mason’s #2 and 3), they did write him off for a few months before bringing on a new actor.

It doesn’t surprise me that this happened since that fanbase was huge and very vocal but was that why she left? Tori was on the show for at least 2 years past being their interloper if not longer. I actually didn’t know she left by choice because it seemed like they were struggling for a place for her towards the end of her run and just mixing her up with other random supporting characters who were on the outskirts of the main SLs. That happened a lot with characters who were initially brought on as a foe of one of the Capwell family members and they almost all slowly faded away once that storyline wrapped up and they moved to the c storylines. I didn’t mind the exit because I think her character was flop. When she was getting focus, she wasn’t very likable and she didn’t have chemistry with anyone.

They seriously struggled with what to do with Augusta when Lionel wasn’t around. I know why she chose to leave after her first run and why she was fired in the 90s but I wonder why they had those other stretches where one was around but the other wasn’t. I’m watching some episodes from 89 and I’m not sure if they explained why she left town. Once Julia and Mason reunited, she was barely seen and then she was gone entirely until she appeared a year later as that mobster’s widow. I think the Lockridges coming and going like they did hurt the show because they had to be the most popular family second to the Capwells and I found Lionel/Augusta’s relationship way more interesting than CC/Sophia’s.

I felt the same way about the Lockridges. Lionel and Augusta were great but I never connected much with Warren or Laken no matter who was playing them. The first Warren looked and sounded like Lionel but I found him dull, the second one was even worse, and Jack Wagner was playing Jack Wagner. Whereas with the Capwells, Mason, Eden, and sometimes Kelly all drew me in at one time or another. Ted was the only odd one out for me. It made it a lot easier to center the show around them

Were they teasing Julia and Gina’s brother, Mac Blake, romantically? I noticed that they shared a lot of bonding scenes together that were a lot of a regular friendship. They seemed like a random duo and Mac was the first one who suspected Mason was cheating on her. Not that it went anywhere, he quickly disappeared from her circle after that and then left a few months later, which was typical for many Capwell adjacent characters.

On the surface level, I got what they were trying to do. Most rape victims are attacked by someone they know and not a stranger. The date rape, he said/she said scenario was a fairly new concept on TV. I didn’t even mind him being acquitted because that’s a likely scenario. He’s a young, attractive guy, Julia and him were close leading up to it and she slept with him once before. A lot of people would also look at him and think why would he rape someone when he could easily find a woman who voluntarily want to date him. Where they got me was that he should have exited after the trial. They were clearly trying to sell that what he did wasn’t as bad as the rapes they showed before and it was. I think they were also trying to sell an insulting message that Julia might have deserved it to an extent for leading him on.

Watching the months leading up to Dash raping Julia and man, they really squandered the chemistry between Timothy Gibbs and Nancy. Was Dash always planned to be a long term character or did they change their mind later on because I can’t fathom why they thought he would work after this SL. The way they portrayed him subsequently kind of confirmed that and I remember being annoyed by anyone who they turned into a Dash defender. I also don’t buy Augusta, before the rape, encouraging Julia to pursue a casual thing with him. She wanted her to move on but Augusta is bright enough to see that Dash was hopelessly in love with Julia and the problems that could lead to when it was obvious that Julia didn’t feel the same way. He wasn’t hiding his feelings very well. Everyone could tell.

LD was the best Mason but I’ve come to appreciate GT’s Mason a lot upon my rewatch. He played a side with Julia that I don’t think LD was ever willing to. It was obvious how much he loved and was devoted to Julia even when they were apart and it made me buy Julia taking him back in a way I had much more trouble swallowing with Lane’s Mason. He played things much more aloof and they definitely relied on the actors’ chemistry. Mason/Julia’s relationship definitely had their toxic elements but there had to be that underlying pull there for me to buy Julia giving him a millionth chance.

While IA that ED’s Kelly was the worst Kelly, I didn’t find CG all that impressive and found myself tuning her out during my rewatch (and she was on nonstop). She also looked younger than her age where RW looked older. I don’t know, I just don’t think her Kelly did much other than annoy me and I never sympathized with her character or was interested in her stories. Her getting a new guy every couple months probably didn’t help matters.

I didn’t think Mason and CC had completely buried the hatchet during the time Terry Lester played him. Mason getting involved with Capwell Industries on the Oasis project did involve some conflict between them and part of Julia’s early reservations at Mason getting involved with the business was due in part to how things always blow up between them and it causes Mason to self destruct. However, when GT took over, they started leaning into Mason lashing out at the entire family and most of the town, not just CC. He got pretty insufferable and regressed. All of the conflict also seemed to vanish as soon as Mason and Julia reunited. All of a sudden, he got along with everyone again and was able to take over the company with no issues and he and CC got along until the show wrapped.

I thought it was hilarious, especially when they had her singing. However, it was definitely campy and Julia going along with Mason’s dumb plan wasn’t in character so I could why some had issues with it. It also had some pretty big effects on them later down the line.

I guess so Robert could save her? I didn’t like that storyline either. Wasn’t he a friend of the family (or CC’s friend anyway) and the wife could clearly tell something was brewing between them? Kelly had so many LOs or potential LOs during that period that it got a bit exhausting.

I was never a big Kelly fan either and probably would have dropped the show if she was the main female lead. She always came off as either a spoiled princess or damsel in distress and those archetypes never appealed to me. SB had a lot of wealthy characters but Kelly in particular seemed like she floated through life, was great at everything, and well liked outside of drama with guys. Well at least until ED’s version where they did a complete 180 and wrote her as super career focused to the detriment of a personal life but she was annoying in a different way.