GL95

Ross had some financial issues after the takeover but then got hired on as the corporate lawyer when the Spauldings got it back. I can't remember what it was, but Ross had too much of being bossed around by Alexandra/felt he was being compromised increasingly and quit Spaulding sometime during the custody hearing time period IIRC. (I remember Ross taking a call that annoyed him from Alex while in court and quitting.). What's funny is it didn't seem like Spaulding even had a lawyer once AM was President-Sid was Alan's lawyer and defended Alan in the Brent corporate sabotage hearing that led to his breakup with Gilly. Though no way would Ross have come to work for AM. It actually would've made sense for Ross to be the attorney at Lewis Oil around that time and would've put Van/Ross into regular contact when Dinah got to town. Van being Ross's boss during that period would've created some friction. They had some point where Ross tells Blake she needs to get a job and she briefly was hired by Ed but I can't remember why that fell through.

Having Holly approach Vanessa on Blake's behalf about Dinah rather than Blake trying to get through to Vanessa could've been interesting. I feel like they had a pretty similar journey with their adult daughters. I could see them forging something of a bond out of that though they did a lot off erasure of Blake's past around that point. Barbara Crampton's Mindy did say there was no way Billy could've been Roger's shooter because no way Billy would've missed haha Barbara Crampton's Mindy is so weird because I actually think Barbara Crampton could do the more feisty/tough version of Mindy well given her other roles but instead seemed like she felt she needed to be a vapid version of Kimberly Simms or something, especially in those early days. I actually think once she wasn't saddled with Nick you could see her playing with that more, especially in the scenes with Rick.

In slight fairness to Nick, he doesn't strip naked. He just enters her apartment after she explicitly says she doesn't want him to come in then opens the shower curtain and surprises her while he's fully clothed. She kissed him and they make out in the shower with him fully clothed while getting soaking wet. Given that Mindy was still feeling anxious about Eve breaking into her home and drugging/assaulting her it seemed like a pretty crazy way to have them officially back together. (Nick is pretty lucky because I have a hard time Billy Lewis's daughter who recently had a home break-in is not a gun owner haha)

I actually think the writing doesn’t really completely fall off the cliff until Curlee leaves. Second half of 1994 is probably my least favorite stretch of what I’ve watched recently though 1996 gives it a run for its money. I can’t think of a single bright spot of second half 1994 off the top of my head-front half at least had the Peter custody battle.

I’ve actually really enjoyed much of 1993 especially once Buzz’s identity was revealed and Eve finally went fully crazy among other things they’d built up that dragged a bit to peak. Having seen basically all of 1994–mid 1997 in a fairly recent viewing, I actually found a lot of of second half 1992 hard to watch. Not because it was bad, but things like Holly’s breakdown over Ross/Blake and the Frank/Eleni/AM triangle were things where I knew where the drama led and it was just a lot of misery all around for a stretch. I'm not sure I've seen anyone build a web of lies like AM did where they didn't have the whole house of cards come down at once a la Nadine with the Buzz reveal/Peter paternity all at once. They really slow bled it out. With Marj I generally thought she was good up through the snake bite mess but that was when the writing was at perhaps its lowest point too. I also think Marj/RR sparring was just generally A LOT. That being said I do feel like when they were writing Alex as being vulnerable because she's feeling cast aside that I sympathized with her a lot more than at any point with RR's Alan, and Marj had some nice moments here and there of projecting actual warmth which softened her a bit. I feel like she did a decent job of projecting the sheer loneliness Alex felt sometimes but they just far too often had her on those monologues where she just sounds like a crazy shrew. The Amanda stuff really did her no favors.

I started watching random episodes on Youtube (I checked out the first Peapack episode and that was.....something), but got back to late June/early July 1993. Due to Lewises not named Billy (who appears to be the only one who thinks Nick believing terrible things about Mindy because of Eve seems like something you don't come back from romantically) pushing them together, Nick and Mindy went on a date. Mindy still isn't fully ready to jump back in and tells Nick so when he shows her to the door, and he is displeased when she calls it a night. Mindy goes to take a shower as montage music plays and is fully nude in the shower when Nick decides to just enter her place uninvited and walk into the shower with her. Instead of getting hit upside the head SINCE EVE HAD JUST BROKEN IN TO HURT HER WEEKS BEFORE, Mindy pulls him into the shower and they make out in the shower then have sex. Ed visits Eve at the psychiatric hospital again and says he's checking her out for dinner. She asks for how long and he says until 9 pm and she complains it's not long enough. He suggests they go to Clayton (without saying it would show she's clearly not sane again if she thinks going out in public in Springfield would be a good idea) but she says seeing new places would just be too upsetting so Ed relents and takes her to the country club. Of course Nick and Mindy are there as a couple and she runs into Mindy in the huge women's room lounge. Eve thanks Mindy for not pressing charges and that she really wants to thank her, and Mindy says it's really not necessary but Eve says no she feels she must in a crazy sounding voice. I find it very hard to believe the Lewis clan just shrugged off Eve's actions not only hurting Mindy but endangering Little Bill (inadvertently but still). AM takes a meeting with Blake/Glen Taggart (I sort of love Glenn Taggart just randomly popping up as a board member through the years played by the same actor) about ad space for Taggart's company in the Journal. (Nick apparently was supposed to go but goes to swim with Mindy instead.) AM is very excited about it because the Journal needs cash, then a little of the Old Blake crops up and she says that for this to happen she also wants them to run paid for pro-Spaulding press releases. AM flat out refuses at first, then Taggart spills that Spaulding is bleeding money and AM's ears perk up. Blake convinces him to take the deal by suggesting he might as well take the money Roger/Jenna are freely spending if he wants Spaulding to be vulnerable and she says he didn't hear it from her. The seed is planted for AM to plot to find a way to get Spaulding back. Blake/AM have some flirty old flame banter that a JVD stand-in Ross eavesdrops on. When Ross does approach them AM pulls him aside and says he thinks there's vulnerabilities at Spaulding and wants to know if Ross is in once AM launches an actual plan-Ross is skeptical AM can do it but doesn't say no. Jenna like every love interest of Roger's is beginning to suspect he's not over Holly. She fires him from Spaulding and Roger does a lot of smooth talking to try wiggle out of it. She tells him she's learned a lot (she's been getting tutored on Spaulding by Henry) and reminds him she is the one actually in charge. He says he's not in love with Holly but just is obsessed with making amends for the past-she sort of buys this and tells him that she thinks it's time for them to get married which will prove to Jenna he really is over Holly. Roger says no, it's not the time. He walks out of a board meeting and his promptly held at gunpoint by John Davis who is demanding his $10 million for taking the fall in the foundation embezzlement plot. Roger of course has nothing now after being ousted by Jenna. Holly takes Michelle to a cabin deep in the mountains with a giant cliff that I did not think would be possible in driving distance of Springfield, but the topography of the Springfield region is forever a mystery. They have a nice dinner after a red herring where Michelle climbs onto the cliff under the house to pick flowers and Holly can't find her at first. Eventually Roger shows up wishing them a happy fourth of July (no Bauer BBQ this year because it's the first July 4th after Maureen died and Ed didn't have it in him) and uses Michelle to persuade Holly into setting off a very elaborate fireworks display. The entire time John Davis is in the area under the deck where Michelle had picked flowers earlier. After Michelle has gone to bed (who weirdly got the bedroom while Holly got the sofa bed but it did fit the plot needs haha) John Davis holds her at gunpoint while Roger is sleeping in the car where Holly told him he had to go. (I loved Holly telling Michelle that decorum does not require inviting someone to spend the night who shows up uninvited-excellent life advice especially on a soap.). Ed calls to check in and Holly manages to tip off that something is wrong without giving it away to John Davis. Dylan announces his engagement to Julie at the country club after Hart tells Bridget he wants to go for a swim (knowing Julie/Dylan are going there for Dylan). Hart is incensed and Bridget is mad at him for using her. (Initially her plan was to stay in with Ed since it was his first post-Maureen 4th and Hart still was trying to talk her into taking him-Ed gave her the go ahead since he was planning to go the mountains). I am truly stunned when Mindy says something about Julie/Dylan dating for a year-it was a pretty monumentally uneventful year outside of her recent makeout session with Hart. Billy buys Vanessa the house where Vanessa remained for the bulk of the rest of the show. She's initially not pleased he did it without her, but then is won over by the house itself and Billy's excitement about it. She admonishes him as only Vanessa can then looks mostly bemused as Billy tries to justify himself but she eventually lets him off the hook and it's cute.

Rather than a PI, they could've had Blake be a crisis manager/fixer. It's interesting to me that making her into a PI even had a lot of natural connection to her being in some sort of business with Ross, which I think actually would have helped them as a couple since Ross is a bit more pliable with the morals when it comes to lawyering. I hated that they made it like a cute little side thing for her to try being a PI when she used to be hyper competent and has a lot more natural PI/business traits than Frank. (There was this run circa 1992 or so where Frank would take a job then someone he is close was the person he found so he had to bow out-I swear he only successfully got paid when AM sent him on distraction missions to get him away from Eleni.)

I initially had started watching when Ross/Blake were firmly together and Dinah was their main point of conflict, and watching the older episodes I think gives it a bit more context. Sherry Stringfield's Blake had a vulnerability and was seeking love (and would do anything for it whether it was her partner's or Roger's love) but also was a chaos agent who similar to her father always had a mixed agenda. Once you see old Blake the Dinah situation is pretty funny because Dinah is really an amateur compared to OG Blake. I haven't watched Ben/Blake in awhile (I didn't love him and more remember Hunt Block as Craig on ATWT who I hated with the fire of a thousand suns) but I feel like two things are pretty constantly happening with Blake once she's with Ross. First, she will forever see Ross as too good for her and lives in terror of the day the other shoe will drop and I think has an inclination to make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. Second, Blake ultimately is too programmed to enjoy drama and chaos. I think to make her work with Ross as a stable couple they should have kept Blake in the corporate orbit where she could've done her scheming at work.

RR’s love interests as Alan served two purposes: 1) reinforcing that Alan is a one-note villain and 2) making Marj’s Alex go crazy with jealousy. Alex always had more passion about Alan’s women than he did.

Maureen must have kept ownership as I remember Ed giving Bridget the deed to Company for her birthday/to show he was proud of her at some point. Maybe Hawk/Sarah just ran it?

It was actually sad when Amanda immediately aligned with Alan in 1995/96 given that it was basically the one time AM chose to trust a new arrival family member though all that was such a cluster.

I felt a few times early 90s they were setting the stage for an AM addiction storyline and I feel like it could’ve been really interesting to explore this assumption that all his issues stem from the Spaulding side of him and he just needs to let his inner Bauer win out. They always hinted at Hope being pretty absent/unengaged with him. It seems he was cursed on both sides really starting with grandparents.

Been watching the Phillip/Blake wedding/Roger return episodes and it’s wild. Roger in the mask squaring off at gun point against Alan who’s faking needing a wheelchair. Phillip and Elizabeth Dennehy’s Blake looking really happy. For some reason Frank is in Phillip’s wedding party-is it because he’s AM’s family at that point? Harley/Sam’s bridesmaid dresses are insane. Alan threatens to blow up everyone at the wedding with a bomb if Roger doesn’t come into the open. Alan is convinced Roger/Blake have been scheming to take over Spaulding. Alan is convinced Phillip would be grateful to him for revealing the truth about Blake and claims to be willing to sacrifice Phillip if he must. Neither Roger or Alan mention Alan has a second son who would be blown up-poor AM is such an afterthought for Alan. Eventually Alan accidentally shoots Phillip intending to shoot Roger as Roger somehow swings from a garland in the mask. I believe this is what sends Alan to jail eventually.

YouTube pushed a 1988 episode-the fashion alone must be checked out. Harley is pure 80s. Frank is wearing high waisted white pants with a tight striped mime type shirt. Alex is wearing a wild red getup. The main plot is Alan seeking an annulment from Reva. Alex is claiming Alan is struggling because this is the first time he’s been in love. Reva is broke and Sarah suddenly starts suggesting Alan really loves Reva and she shouldn’t sign. Sarah tries to make it seem like it’s not about the money until she finally starts hinting at it.

AM isn't at all blameless, but Blake really created a no-win situation for him (and herself). She was consistently aggressively pursuing him both romantically and professionally, and he certainly took advantage of the situation. Almost everything is classic Blake from that period-she gets hurt but a lot is because she set things in motion. AM almost for sure doesn't end up marrying Eleni if she doesn't call immigration, for instance. By the time he marries Eleni, he basically is a jerk if he does anything to threaten their professional relationship but putting up the boundaries he needed to not lead her on were nearly impossible without doing that. But ultimately, as much as she blames AM or Holly, what is the death knell for her was her own deception of calling immigration. (And Eleni figuring out her other more subtle machinations to interfere in the AM/Eleni marriage.) But they have basically everyone in Blake's life not named Holly let Blake off the hook for her own part in things. I feel like having her go straight to Ross as a real couple when basically it was yet another relationship that began from her scheming had Blake learning the wrong lessons. Basically the lesson is the "good" ones don't leave and not that if you lie/manipulate constantly you can't ever be secure in a relationship. You can see it being a pretty consistent problem for the entire Bloss relationship. It also doesn't do Ross any favors because Blake feels she can just act vulnerable and get what she wants from Ross and most of the time she's right.

Blake really never paid much of any consequences for her scheming pre-Ross. Watching it in quick succession, Blake’s relationship with Ross is shown as her redemption arc but it’s pretty unearned. Even after starting to develop feelings for Ross her desire to hurt Holly never went away. While AM was stringing her along so she could help him at work, the only reason he was even speaking to her post fake pregnancy/Gary was sheer force of will on her end. AM in the end was the one who got the most villainized out of their relationship-she never really faced much consequence for what she did to AM (and to a lesser extent Phillip). They drew the lesson for her that she chose the wrong men to set up Ross as her salvation, but she did more than her fair share to destroy her other relationships.

Especially since I didn’t watch by then and likely never will, I’m pretty okay head cannon wise that the AM return is for some other mystery spawn of Alan’s since this one didn’t seem to live AM’s life from the 90s.

Marina never thought AM was her dad at any point in her life-but he was married to her aunt since she was young and would’ve only divorced Lucy maybe a year before. Now AM thought she was his until a couple months before she was born and mourned her not being his first awhile so on his end it’s super creepy. (Lucy and AM were both close to Eleni and living in Europe when Eleni went to Greece so hard to believe AM wouldn’t have known Marina.)

The other thing is a Blake/AM kid would have pulled Holly into the Spaulding orbit. It also would’ve created an interesting dynamic with Ed who in many ways would have been like an additional grandfather given his relationship to both Blake/AM. It actually would’ve been pretty great drama for Blake to have been pregnant with AM’s kid from their cabin tryst, as Blake definitely would’ve tried to hide things awhile so Roger wouldn’t have known when he first helped Jenna take over Spaulding. Inadvertently wiping out his future grandkid’s inheritance would have been an interesting twist.

Looking back, it was probably a long-term mistake to have Frank be Marina’s bio dad. They got their short-term “perfect couple” but they could have had more organic consistent tension if Frank is raising AM’s kid and you’d have a second Spaulding in Lizzie’s age range. (I’m also a bit surprised they never had a hunky Eleni brother move to SF.) That being said I would have preferred keeping Marina as Frank’s but have a little dramatic irony and have Blake/AM’s Bauer cabin tryst lead to a kid. Have Ross raise another bio-Spaulding if you want Bloss together. It feels like a missed opportunity to not have a Thorpe/Spaulding kid on the canvas. Reva’s run through the Lewises led to three kids at least and Blake had no kids after cycling through Spauldings.

I just read synopses but wasn’t Ava also a big part of the terrible AM return?

I can’t remember when it happened, but I have vague memories of them putting Cassie/Danny in business together and they became pretty close as a clear chem test and I was hoping for the pairing since the NSA as Michelle recast was so flat. Alas, it ended up going nowhere as a pairing.

Just watched the episode with Billy/Van's respective bachelor party/bridal shower. The guest list for Van's was super random-Holly/Michelle/Bridget/Kat/Eleni/Wanda and it was hosted by Mindy. Julie was being driven to the party from the airport by Hart and made out with him rather than go into the party where she was promptly caught by Bridget. Hamp must be pumping up his business because the bachelor party is huge. AM sits at the bar by Ross and Frank is on the other side of him which is quite the grouping even without Ross knowing about the Blake/AM ONS. I guess AM being down and out gets him invited to more non-Spaulding stuff. I think Buzz is the only guy in town not there (and Roger). Henry is giving the evil eye to Billy all night because he's not over Van being stood up at the altar by Billy/Billy marrying and staying with Nadine so long. The highlight is Blake/Ross were fighting earlier and Blake wanted to apologize that night, and she can't get into the party so she puts on lingerie and decides to come out of the oversized cake into the middle of the party where they're expecting a stripper. The purpose of AM's invite becomes apparent as he gets everyone to lightly applaud Blake rather than keep gawking at her and help her out of the cake so she can go talk to Ross. I'm normally not a huge Bloss fan, but this is actually one of my favorite conversations about their differences they've had. She was upset because she realized Ross still had Holly's engagement ring and that it reminded her of his hesitance to marry her. She apologized for how she ran away from the conversation but he told her he understood and that he could be insensitive sometimes.

Rick Hearst strikes me as someone who never outgrew being a theater kid-being high energy naturally is probably why he’s a gifted soap actor but would likely be exhausting in real life haha

Yep-he sings and plays guitar. He sang to Lucy at least once. You can see it at around the 50 minute mark of this video: https://youtu.be/HepSGsEW-6Q?si=be86vesS1Lu14de3