P.J.

Point taken. And the Presidency is a step below the Chairman, which is always (mostly) in Spaulding hands.

lol...I complain, but I get it. And the Van/AM rivalry pushes them both to uncomfortable points and stirs up the drama (AM sabotages Van's negotiations and she ends up in a bidding war with Billy and ends up sleeping with a client which is part of her spiraling after getting dumped by Billy, and winds up with Jack Kiley's attempted rape)....and leads to so much intertwined story. And just before Alex leaves, AM has had it and tells her off about her subconsciously pitting people against each other the same way Brandon pitted her and Alan against each other, and he's got a point. It's one of the best scenes with RH and BM.

@alwaysAMC and about a minute into this clip

Well....but I love Alex's introduction. It sets her up perfectly. She's doing her own surveillance (she realizes Alan's connived with Bradley, that Phillip/Beth are in love and Alan doesn't like it, that Ross hates Alan, Alan is scheming to land Vanessa, etc) and learning all sorts of secrets that she'll use against Alan, but you also know she has affection for Alan, Phillip and Henry. As Reva says, "she's a woman to be reckoned with." For every "big" splash and masquerade/mask, there's also AM parachuting into the Bauer barbecue, AM & Dinah crashing into pregnant Harley's car, Alan finding Reva in the middle of a massage in Tulsa, Ross being Roger's lawyer, Josh showing up as Reva wanders Springfield after her non-wedding to Kyle, Billy being the hammer to threaten Will, or Van simply showing up to hand Henry a copy of the London Times. All perfect in their own way.

There is an annoying tendency the show had of making anyone named Spaulding entitled to run Spaulding. Amanda was a music student with about two seconds of business experience before she just pushed her way to the Presidency when Alan went to jail. Phillip had a semester of college (although Alex does spend some time grooming him), and Alan Michael (at this point) had already been Roger's patsy once before Alex sets up a competition between Van and "the runt" (Van's words, not mine) for the Presidency. Vanessa was a businesswoman when A-M was born, FCOL. Now maybe it was just Alex's way of testing A-M's mettle, and maybe she knew Van wouldn't let the youngster win...but it's insulting on levels that Vanessa has to continually prove herself. Meanwhile, all a Spaulding needs is the name. (There's also Nick and later Lizzie, but you get my point.) There's also Van's loyalty to the Lewises at play at times, but still.

Wait till you see Hamp's bachelor party. The entire episode is the guys, it's hilarious. The girl Hamp is with is his daughter Kat, played by Nia Long. I loved Hamp. Vanessa isn't overdressed---although coming from the era you've watched, I can understand your reaction. Vanessa was always dressed to perfection in the before times. Right now she's president of Spaulding. Though this is kind of the start of the "let's turn Van into a JFP clone" era and she starts being swathed in extra fabric. Van didn't usually do turtlenecks. And YES...Vanessa is still a bit jelly when Henry lavishes attention on his substitute daughter figures. She did not take the news of Henry claiming to have fathered Jenna well----at all. I see there's a bit of tension between Fletch and Billy. It's after Van dumped Fletch. :D and fun fact---that gathering? Aside from Hamp, Van's had all of them. The Reva-less Era? PERFECTION. It's not even until Buzz shows up that it ever feels like one character is eating the show.

Kim and Michael actually aren't on the show together for very long. I don't think TPTB purposely kept Reva and Roger out of each other's orbits, but there just wasn't an organic way to throw them into the same story. Reva was hardly ever involved in the business side of anything, she didn't have a daughter old enough to fall into his clutches, and with Billy in jail, the Lewises were mostly off his radar. It's not like Reva didn't interact with established characters around town, but a lot of times, she was anchoring her own story with new characters. Just as an example, she and Ross rarely interacted on a personal level until Dylan was dating Sam (his niece). Reva would always be off fight to wrestle Josh (or any man) away from a woman, or getting family, or off walking into paintings and getting cloned.

Other than the postpartum story in '90, which is a couple of episodes, I don't think so. Definitely not before the postpartum story, as Kim was busy in the Dylan story and then her maternity leave.

While Rick/Mindy (definitely) and Frank/Blake (sort of) come out of nowhere, at least Wheeler had been half-hinting at Van/Billy over the past year or so. Even though Van rarely got POV moments, there were times when Bill was hurt or something where she'd tell Billy she needed him. I don't even really think it was about giving Van a happy ending as much as it was giving Billy a happy ending. I never understood the Reva/Jeff relationship, so I'm going with it was to keep Cole relevant on canvas and his fans happy.

@GL95 I could see Alex having to reluctantly take Jenna into the company, and either Jenna forcing Vanessa out (in retaliation for Henry's lie) or Van ditching Spaulding rather than take orders from a Roger-influenced Jenna. For me, it's nice to see Billy and Van working together. LOL...all Spauldings get corrupted by the power of Spaulding.

I like fun, flirty Nicole. The woman shouldn't have to dispense psychological advice 24/7. While I think the cotillion story is overly melodramatic, (do I really need to hear a teenager worried about her IG followers), it does warm my heart to hear Tamara Tunie doling out life affirming advice ala Kim Hughes or Emma Snyder. It just speaks to the longevity of the form, and what a good matriarch adds to it.

Maybe it's just the difference between being younger/clean shaven and older/stubble. He looks like he's had a jaw transplant. lol I'm not even sure how long Leonard was in the role before his accident. Didn't someone say Moniz's entrance was delayed while they recast the role? Okay--yeah, you've missed all the Billy/Roger drama.

Randy? Rex. Have you watched Roger losing the Towers in '90? I think that would make it clear that Billy is a big threat where Roger's concerned. What kills me about this period is I think there's an episode missing. After Van/AM/Henry lose Spaulding, she goes to Billy and wants him to hire her. It seems like the next episode should pick up with her talking him into it. But I think the next one I found was her showing up at Lewis and trying to nail a deal. I think it probably feels like a weird transition because it had to be reworked when Bev left. I'd love to find out what was originally planned. 'Cause Alex losing Spaulding would've been all kinds of wrong. Actually, I think Leonard Stabb was a good Hart. And that's what Roger's son should have been---one part [!@#$%^&*], one part idealist and his own worst enemy, determined not to be his father, but finding himself sliding into it anyway.

I will ask this in a safe space. I'm watching BTG. Has Jordi V's face always been that huge? I can't explain it, it just looks strangely to me.

Maybe validation is a better descriptor. Josh (for better or not) was the only one who ever seemed to have the ability to convince her she wasn't that poor little housekeeper's daughter who would always be on the outside looking in. I know shows that are ending (if they know they are) want to tie things up in neat little bows. (I was ecstatic when Harvey and Donna ended up together on Suits, and goodness knows I wouldn't have given crap one about who ended up together on GL aside from Billy and Van.) But the last few years of Reva and Bud were so off-putting to me, it just really felt false. *crushed* But I totally understand about say Frank/Blake, Dinah/Mallet, or Shayne/Marina. Wheeler probably would've preferred to marry off Olivia/Natalia. Or maybe saved Bill/Lizzie for the end.

I didn't think Reva's hookups were casual. A lot of times she jumped from man to man for stability. Then she'd convince herself she was in love. If there was ever a moment for a John Conboy-esque FU to TIIC, it should've been Wheeler refusing to let Josh and Reva riding off into the sunset. Just as Josh and Reve were ready to climb into that absurdly old truck, ol Jeff should've popped out from behind some bushes and said "honey, I'm home." What did I care? lol...I got my happy ending. But of course, choosing chaos was never in Wheeler's wheelhouse.

IIRC, the Langes disappeared when Hensley left in '88ish? When Hensley returned, Marland brought them back. If I were honest, I don't think I cared enough about **** to hate him back in the day. I rolled my eyes through that "romance". I was just waiting for Van to shed him like last year's stilettos. I probably should be more gracious, since like you say Billy and Van ended up together, and there were other factors in play. But I'm petty like that. :) That Vanessa deserved better than ****'s loser ass is the hill I'll die on. And honestly, cabana boy is much more Blake's style than Rick.

There was something like a con going on. I'm not sure on the deets, but the guy running the con might have been in prison at the same time as Alan? He dragged his girlfriend into it, getting her to impersonate Beth, having her paint in Beth's style and paint canvases that would definitely trigger Phillip. Phillip even wants to pay a "ransom" for Beth, but Blake pulls the plug on it, even persuading Van and Henry that Phillip is having a breakdown even though she knew Alan had lied and set up the "proof" that Beth had died. Anyhoo, for some reason, Bradley is in the hospital at the same time as Mindy (who Will had nearly killed by forcing her to take an overdose). Beth is for some reason wandering the hospital, and reacts to seeing both Mindy and Bradley. Mindy briefly wakes and sees her, but because she's recovering, no one quite trusts that she saw Beth. I think Alan telling Phillip was more about trying to keep him from marrying Blake, because he distrusted Roger's influence on her. I do think P&G loved James Rebhorn, because, as @DRW50 mentioned, it's kind of close to the reveal on ATWT. But, it was a good use of history, especially as Daniel Pilon, bless him, wasn't a hit as Alan. (Although, I'm fuzzy on when the reveal on ATWT was. This brief return on GL was the fall of '89, and the ATWT stint started in '88, and the reveal might not have been until '91) RIGHT? :) Like Larkin didn't know his character was going to revolve around Reva's various moods and hairstyles? Van and Lillian would randomly interact. Not long after Mo died, Bill was in a car accident with Mindy (thanks to Eve) and of course it's Lillian there at the hospital--mostly because she's the only nurse Springfield had for quite a while. And while I'd expect Van to be polite, there's not one hint of resentment or irony given that Van's in the hospital awaiting news of her son's injuries (it's even a head injury, but it's in no way serious). Even though we think of Springfield as a community, it had serious story bubbles back into the '80's. C'mon...don't you want to come over to the dark side and hate ****? Just a little? I don't know if Rauch was trolling ****ressa fans or throwing a dig at Maeve, if those rumors are true. But yeah, #### clearly wasn't all that immune to Beth. Not only would OGBilly have kicked ****'s ass, but he would've melted Van's panties with a silky "Darlin'.." and that would've been the end of that blasted saccharine pairing.

Well, a) I don't think GL needed to write in Zimmer's pregnancy. It was the easier option, and the show certainly milked it for nearly two years with the paternity switch weaved into the Sonni/Solita saga. But on the other hand, it also moved Reva past the troublemaker phase, which arguably, they could've also leaned into longer. b) the haste with which Malloy jumped to AMC (wiki has his AMC debut in Feb) suggests he might've already been feeling out an exit strategy. Although I do understand he might've been fed up with his stories spinning around babies. Even shortly after his arrival in Springfield, he was helping Reva deal with losing HB's child.

Well, it was the style. :D

Exactly. And the fact that Holly did that allowed Maureen to see her in a different light, and made the closeness of Michelle and Holly after Mo's death more palatable.

What about two Capitol alums...Nicholas Walker or Bradley Lockerman?

Yeah. There's a fine line, and you don't need characters to hold on to every incident in their shared experience, but Van would've never done more than be civilly polite to Lillian. At some point, Van should've been so frustrated by Beth that she took pot shots at Lillian, and dredged that up. But pairing her up with **** really took some of the bite out of her. I wouldn't go as far as Van disliked other women, but she rarely trusted them, and always seemed to gravitate toward male friendships. But it's also a reason it should've been Van involved in talking Holly through her nuts period. They had that personal connection, where Reva had none with Holly. Like zero.

Founder's Day was after the infamous "Slut of Springfield" scene, where Josh and Billy had plotted to humiliate Reva, but Reva's meltdown left Josh feeling guilty. Van had been on edge as Billy's obsession over ridding the Lewises of Reva grew, and her finding out that Billy was still more focused on Reva than her and their marriage was a breaking point for them. Van leaves him, (allowing for Maeve's maternity leave) and Billy really goes over the edge, literally throwing Reva out when he finds her and Josh together. The mystery woman Fletch is "romancing" is Susan Piper. She's a part of the Barbados plot, involving Tony/Annabelle/Jim and the Spauldings.

Just from what I remember, Van and Lillian never interacted that much. An interesting tidbit---when Dinah first popped into town (before she knew Van and Ross were her parents) Dinah and Lillian were close. I believe Lillian had taken her in (Dinah believed herself an orphan, I think, and her guardians were with a carnival) around the time Beth went missing and was believed dead. Lillian's sister Calla was dating Ross, realized that Dinah was Ross and Van's daughter, and tried to keep them from finding out who their daughter was. I'm not sure that was ever brought up when Moniz assumed the role. Van and Lillian were also tangentially connected through Mindy (Van's stepdaughter) and Beth being besties for years. The sticking point is Maureen. When Vanessa came back to town in '89, she and Maureen became close. Their kids (Bill and Michelle) are friends, Van kind of leans on Maureen in trying to deal with Billy's drinking, and they wind up working together at Spaulding. Mo is also there for her when she presses attempted rape charges against a client. Mo even manages to be both a supporter of Van/Fletch, while holding out some kind of truth about the chem still existing with Van and Billy. (There's a hilarious scene between them where they get sloshed and smack talk Nadine like real buds would do. ) When Mo died, Van is one of the few who knew about the Ed/Lillian affair. Lillian skips the church service, but shows up at Ed's afterwards, but is reluctant to go in. Van finds her outside and rips her a new piehole, telling her to get her ass inside and play the devoted friend of Mo's that everyone believed her to be. It's not about Van trying to humiliate Lillian, but about her wanting to keep the day focused on Maureen, not letting gossip start wondering why Lil was MIA. After that, I don't think they really interacted outside of Lillian's duties as nurse. So it just seems weird to me that Van would take Lillian into her confidence on any level.