P.J.

True dat. As Marland left the door open for Andy, I don't think he would've planned to kill him. I assume Marland's point was that Vanessa was twisted up by her obsession over Ross, and to show us Katie would be in over her head with Andy. I wonder if the difficulty in casting Trish also played into it. She and Andy sleep together shortly after Vanessa relates Trish's backstory in the fall of '80. (It's mentioned in the recaps after Lucille's death. It also mentions moments where Van and Holly could've met.) I don't doubt Marland intended Andy to be the next Roger-like presence in town. Why he pushed it so hard is a little curious, given how meticulously he set up story.

From what I gather, she did it because she was mad at Ross. She tells Sara in a session, and describes it as "sadistic". I think it's one if the reasons Andy hated her so much and then turns around and blackmails her. Van really had some dark tendencies when she blew into town. And between Andy, Mark and Carrie, was pissing off dangerous people.

It's a peculiar inconsistency. Billy and HB are mentioned a little under Marland, but when Long brought them to town she ignored the fact they'd been in town (and off camera) for business meetings. Vanessa clearly knew of Billy, as he was Trish and Josh's brother and they occasionally discussed him, but I've never seen anything from prior to '83 that suggests they met face to face. I'm not sure if Vanessa had met Andy prior to her arrival in Springfield. She knew about the circumstances of Trish's marriage and abuse. I always wonder if anyone other than Sara knew Vanessa slept with him.

Oh, lordy...Vanessa would've spit nails!

Well, before the internet, it was harder to fill in those gaps. I've only heard Mindy's mother's name referenced once. Ironically, it's "Deena/Dina". He mentions it to Amanda when he first comes to town. Vanessa's mother's name was Louise. I don't recall ever hearing it referenced before they retconned Vanessa's past with Ross and gave her a child. IIRC, Vanessa never talked about her mother. (That's why it's so weird to me that when I caught Maeve on Another World, she's calling Emma Snyder "mom".) Re: a Hope recast, the age difference between an actress and Carl or Rick would've been immaterial. I watched Anne Sward parent actors who weren't even a decade younger than her for years. Viewers suspended their belief (I know it's got some name, but I can't think of it.) and accepted "mature" actresses having babies all the time. What matters more is their acting. And I vote for Kim Johnston Ulrich. Loved her as Diana on ATWT.

Well, that's Buzz for you. Horrifying "charming". And then he sends Jenna's kids off to her relatives to raise.

There were times it was implied that Mike and Hope were very close. The last time I remember Hope being mentioned was when Maureen died. Ed called them ( they were on a trip together) and he told them not to rush back for the funeral.

I actually thought Lucy's mother had died. But maybe she just walked out on her and Buzz, which, knowing him, would've been the only real reason he "raised" Lucy.

I don't know if there was ever anything brought up about Brandon/the will, but it wouldn't surprise me. I can see Brandon being fixated on a males (after all, Alexandra, even though we don't know about her yet, was deemed inferior for being a girl, Amanda is given to an old lover) and that for Alan, having a male heir legitimized his right to take Spaulding from his father. There's also always a fixation on men having a son (Henry even seems to fall into that trap when he searches for Quinton, and Billy is later giddy at having a boy.) There was some talk a while back that Alan may have only married Elizabeth because she came from a rich family, and that played into his business aspirations. He rarely gives in to the concept of loving someone.

Thanks @DRW50 I'm not exactly sure who these people are, but it's encouraging that it still exists.

I wish more of the Dobson era was up. Because no matter how many times I read it, I'm amazed that viewers didn't find Jackie a complete psychopath user bitch. It's a Gordian Knot of a story. It would've been interesting to see how the Dobson's played it out.

Maybe then it's the entire situation around Phillip that's convoluted. The fact that Jackie lied to Justin, and claimed to have an abortion. That a rich (or at least well-off) daughter of a prominent surgeon gave up her child rather than raise him. That she not only befriended the couple that adopted her son, but after they divorce, marries Alan and gets pregnant by him herself. That Justin and Elizabeth also marry. That both of those marriages crash and burn within months. Yadda yadda (a thousand little details I'm probably overlooking.) I'll defend Marland to this extent---it took him three years to orchestrate the Adam reveal on ATWT. And the Aaron reveal was probably at least two. Marland's barely there two years. I don't think Alan was ever in love with Jennifer (or Jane Marie). He was dating her older sister, and ending up having sex with the younger one. (and how exactly, I don't know.) It was the older sister's drowning that (somewhat) haunted him.

I'm not sure about Amanda/Dinah. As they both hated Blake, it's a definite possibility.

Amanda should've been a lot closer to Vanessa's age. Vanessa and Amanda were scrappin' at Spaulding before Alan Michael and Bill were born.

I'm pretty sure he was originally supposed to be two years older than Harley. Harley's 16/17 when she's pregnant with Daisy in '87. Dinah graduated high school in '87 (so she's at least 17.) Dylan's 19 when he shows up in '89. Even if they're all the same age, it means Nadine, Vanessa, Reva and Hope all gave birth the same year. (which is a head scratcher, when you throw in that Jackie gave birth to Samantha onscreen the same month as Hope, but Sam is at least a year younger than Alan-Michael. Alan-Michael got married shortly after Samantha arrived in '89, to access his trust. Yet in '90, Samantha can't marry in the state without a guardian's permission.) They did acknowledge that Julie was younger than Dylan. She was about 18, while Dylan should've been 23.) Like I said--soap math is migraine inducing.

Never try and do soap opera math. It's worse than calculus. I realized that when I realized that for Dinah and Harley to be the same age, and Dylan older, Reva had to be pregnant before Vanessa. Yet both were supposed to be seventeen when they got pregnant. Well, Dinah's first pair of adoptive parents died. But yeah, soap adoptees don't generally have a lot of luck in that department.

Other than Harley, none of the stories behind the retcon children given up for adoption (Van, Reva, Sarah just off the top of my head and even Jackie with Phillip) make a lick of sense really.

LOL...Frank even flirts with Holly, and Vanessa flirts with him (but only on a bet with Billy...). But yeah, they threw that side of beef any which way to see if anything worked. Jackie---amnesia after the crash. I'm jus' sayin'....but yeah, personally, Buzz is just too unconventional for me to think any woman would be attracted to him. *shrugs*

Well, her body was never found. Soo...in the 'not exactly dead-dead' category.

Why they didn't make Hawk Cassie's father is a head-scratcher. It sure would've been more believable than the pious Sarah having some random affair. There's Lainie Marler, Ross and Justin's younger sister. She wasn't on the canvas long, so I doubt her history was that explored. But I doubt they would've ever brought her back onscreen.

Uhm...while I just found out Sonia is older than Laura Wright, I think they really would've needed to bend the time/space continuum to explain Lucy being Reva's sister. Lucy was Buzz's biological daughter, right? Maybe Reva's neice, via a dead sister who hooked up with Buzz after he deserted. Maybe Lucy could've been Tangie's daughter?

If Rick had stayed, I could've definitely seen them reuniting at some point. Blake and Ross kept stumbling into cheating plots, which grew stale quickly.

And the angels SING. LOL. Join the dark side....

Harley always had a job--waitress, resale shop, nanny, cop (did she want to be a fashion designer, or just be in business with Mindy?) and probably a few I'm forgetting. Even if, like most characters, she spent more time away from the job than at the job. Reva only "wanted" a job between men. And no, I don't think they ever brought up her photography again. I've seen a number of actresses I thought would be big, but then weren't. And then opposite is true too--I certainly never saw Melina Kanakardes being so successful. Or Julianne Moore, or Marisa Tomei.

Hell...even Vanessa's coming back from the dead and not giving two F's about what people say about having a boytoy. And little Michelle is getting all kinds of angst and hooking up with powerful guys and getting a MIL from hell.