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Parker O'Hara appears in the Bad Seed clips. She first appeared in late June, 1986, after Susan Walters contract was up. I'm pretty sure the Dolly story is wrapped up by mid-July so this should narrow it. This would be very early in O'Hara's run. I don't have much use for 1986, but I'm surprised by how many short scenes are in that clip. Carl was the father of Dolly's baby and her former pimp, if I remember correctly. I believe the legacy of Hunter Belden (Jeff Trachta) is that his family is the namesake for Belden Pond which was around until at least 1994. I don't think we have ever gotten a full episode of August, 1991. I believe this might be the same account that had some of the other snippets from that month that we've seen (the early Dinahlee / Jack seduction, the camping trip, Lauren Gilbert as Reverend Ford). August is when Millee Taggart departs and Mary Ryan Munisteri takes over. Fran Sears arrives in July. I think the Carly / Paul / Ava stuff is strong, as always, and the tension about Paul's paralysis and Carly's son makes the material much more engaging for me than the 1986 material. It's a shame that Addie Walsh dumps the characters, but I know the show needed space to explore the college kids.

1990 is a tough sell. I enjoyed it when I was watching it, but I have no desire to revisit it. I understand why there are people who are fans of edits. The Alan / Monica / Lucy stuff and the Scotty / Tracy stuff is fun, but often so much else is either underplayed (Bobbie / Tony / Lucas until late in the year and Tommy Hardy's paternity) or is such C-grade leftovers from the action and adventure era that has some interesting scenes. I did like elements of the Ned / Decker / Dawn romance (mostly the Wendy Masters material and Monica's angst over the secret she had slept with Ned) and some of the Greco stuff is interesting only because it is class conflict stuff that enhanced the Lucy / Alan story. Lucy has a complicated relationship with her family in 1990. She has little to no use for Decker because he is always involved with something. When Lila hires Decker as the mechanic, Lucy is mortified. She doesn't like Colton romancing the maid. It's different than a lot of the other parts of the show, but Lucy could take or leave her family. I think she was close to Charlene in 1990, but so much of 1990 can be kinda weird with Charlene. There was a pseudo romance with Drago and Decker slut shaming her a lot. Colton probably rakes up a good amount of episodes in 1990. I felt like the Carla / Colton threat was reaching a natural conclusion, though I think there may have been some beats they were considering with Carla's mother in town. I think the Greco father was an academic or intellectual who was missing or presumed dead, but then they got the proof. I thought Frankie was interesting and having the Frankie-Colton dynamic could have produced some more drama in the Edge Jackson plot as Frankie went to work as a videographer and planned to film Frisco's music video. Katherine's exit was under Hardy. She last appears around Thanksgiving and Gloria Monty's first day in the studio was early December, though her name doesn't appear in the credits until late January/early February. It's possible that Monty did some uncredited consulting before that, but she was also in contention to takeover Santa Barbara in the same period. I think Hardy / Palumbo wanted to do Robert / Anna for most of the year. I felt the climax of the Wellington collection plot involving Sean Donnelly in the hospital confessing he had arranged for the Faison / Anna affair in the 1980s in order to split up Anna / Robert for the good of the agency was to push Robert and Anna back together. The Anna / Faison / Robert story ending with Robert / Anna seemed like the natural conclusion. There is a lot of effort made to make Katherine work by giving her the club and trying some screwball romance scenes with Robert / Katherine before the dominatrix scene. I think the best shot at grounding her in the canvas was bringing her into the Quartermaine circle. There is a rather elaborate, from what I recall, costume party sequence that I believe was mostly focused on Decker and Sharon Case's Dawn. You are right that Colton was never at the heart of any of the main nexuses but always on the periphery of all of them. He flew the medical chopper for GH. His connection to the Grecos and Lucy put him in the range of the Quartermaine. His military background and his knowledge of the hospital was used by the PCPD during the siege story. I think Colton was a good utility player, but also easy to replace. I don't even think fakeDuke is on two months. And those stories are literally back to back. Duke dies on Monday and Casey crash lands on Friday in the same week. There is a very homoerotic Duke / Julian Jerome scene set in a steam room where Duke is hiding in the heating vent and is watching a towel clad Julian who is styled in a Jesus like way performing a last supper monologue for a group of mobsters. I'm missing a bit of FEbruary, 1990, so I'm not sure how much more homoerotic tension there is between Julian and Duke, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The tail end of Wes Kenney's General Hospital from what I saw definitely emphasized the comedy aspects. I think Janis Paige is also on around this period (late 1989) as a kooky relative of Katherine Delafield, who's character may have been the original owner of Wyndmere and Spook Island. I think there's a pseudo ghost story, but maybe I'm completely off. And then you had Elizabeth Savage as Jynx Henshaw, who was some wealthy sexpot from what I vaguely recall. I think Port Charles pre-arcs is often undervalued for its commitment to the General Hospital lore surrounding the crossover characters. I know Charlene pops up first under Scott Hammer, who's run gives me such Bill Levinson vibes when ignoring the psychic spy crap (which is hard to do). I don't think she continues passed Barbara Bloom and Karen Harris' run. I though a lot of the comedy stuff was passable, but lacked the real dramatic oomph that really doesn't return with any consistentcy until Riche. In Colton's final year, he has two major pairings and one chemistry test. I think he is briefly a televangelist or some sort of motivational guru at Tiffany's TV station who falls in love with criminal Olivia Jerome. In the brief bits I saw, Colton and Olivia were strong together, but I'm not necessarily sure that they had fan support. Colton's story mostly becomes about being Decker's big brother and opening the gym, which is located next to Duke's nightclub. When Katherine turns Duke's into Delafield's, there is an extended Katherine / Colton chemistry test while Robert is off on some story (I want to say something Faison related). I got the impression, this may be very misguided, that Palumbo wanted to do some sort of Robert / Anna / Faison triangle and may have even intended to play with Robin's paternity (they made sure repeatedly to say Robin's age and how Anna / Faison had been together a year prior to her birth). My main point is I don't think Katherine Delafield / Robert had the long-term story. After the Katherine stuff, Colton is immediately thrown at Carla Greco, who is reconned into being Monica's favorite maid and who is clashing with the new lady of the manor, Lucy, Colton's cousin. Additionally, Carla's brother Frankie has been accused of being the man who stabbed Ned Ashton during a period where Decker has started to have blackouts. Colton plays white savior and takes the kid under his wing with the tension being that Colton wants to find out who actually stabbed Ned, and we are led to believe it was Ned. It turns out the knifer was Drago, which was tied into some insane Midvale story that ends with a sequence at a carnival that makes Casey the Alien look like high art. Carla / Colton remain a couple for the remainder of their run dealing with Carla's ex boyfriend or pseudo love interest Rico raping her and then Colton becoming involved in the rescue squad of hostage crisis at General Hospital. Colton saves Carla's mother from the war torn country they come from and they become engaged. By the end of 1990, Colton and Carla have actually been written out, being sent off to Carla's fictional country to prepare a life together, only to be brought back briefly in 1991 to usher out Charlene and Frankie. Colton is a solid (not always exciting) lead, but I would say he's basically replaced by Mac Scorpio. Monty pretty much gets rid of every single new character introduced since she left. The only ones I think she retains are Tom Hardy and Meg Lawson. Simone is written out and brought back later in the year after the Eckerts flop. Lynn Herring goes on maternity leave in the late January, 1991, episodes after losing Scotty's baby that she has been passing off as Alan's. She isn't even around for any of the departures of her family in February, 1991, nor do I think she is around when Decker departs without fanfare in March, 1991. if I remember correctly. Lynn leaves permanently during early Riche, in late March, 1992. I believe Riche and/or Herring basically said that Herring's contract was up for renewal and no one seemed to do much about it so she jumped ship. I think Riche had been trying to convince Rogers / Hughes to stay at that point and there was no headwriter. Lynn returns mid November, 1992, in the "Summer in Provence" story initially before being incorporated into Scotty / Dominique. I believe Lynn's return involved some disguise at some art auction with audience seeing Lucy for the first time since she left, which was suppose to echo, I suppose, the big mousy librarian to sexpot reveal from the 1980s.

Thanks. I have an odd fascination with that 1990-1993 period because there is such ongoing level of chaos because of the constant change in headwriters, producers, cast, and stories. I think there is a bit of irony that it is ultimately the return of Luke and Laura that grounds the show in a reality that was often abandoned by their initial rise to prominence. I think Bobbie and Tony's wedding is a surprise to Bobbie if I remember correctly. I could be wrong. Bobbie thinks she is just going on a vacation to Puerto Rico (I think?) and she ends up getting married to Tony. I think Jackie was pregnant at some point in 1989-1990, but I don't remember what part of the year. I don't think that would have played a role in anything, but maybe it did. Given Bobbie's often mentioned past as a sex worker, having her marry Tony, who loved her for just being the amazing woman she was, seems like such a richer emotional story than it probably was intended to be. The woman who had started off weaponizing sex to get what she wanted settling down with a man seems to borderline conservative wet dream and a truly happily ever after. Palumbo is writing most of the romance as I recall. Tony and Bobbie are fairly on the outskirts of the story until late in the year 1990 when Cheryl returns and Bobbie starts working with the adoption agency after a substory in the summer where Bobbie had helped the pregnant bodega worker. Despite the lack of focus in 1990, when Tony and Bobbie get material, Zeman and Maule always hit it out of the park. When Simone is first diagnosing Lucas with diabetes, there are some nice scenes where Bobbie is worried about not having the medical history of Lucas because he was adopted and thinking that this was somehow her fault because of her call girl past. Tony is so supportive as Bobbie is crashing out. It was a rare moment of depth for them at a time where I don't remember them having much of their own story. I would have preferred to see Laura without Luke and letting Geary play Bill, but I accept that was never going to be a possibility. I think Tony Geary was too big a name (with too big a paycheck) to be playing a supporting role in a much broader canvas like I would have liked. I don't think Bill could have played a leading man opposite a strong mature female lead unless the woman was morally corrupt. Maybe Bill and Katherine or Bill, Katherine, and Damian in a story, but I don't think that this would have been front burner material. Similarly, there was some discussion about Tiffany and Sean earlier in the thread. I do think there was a place for them in the late 1990s with the Cassadines as Sean had a roguish start and there were always questions about whether or not he'd go turncoat again. Similarly, wasn't Tiffany basically one of the Cassadine women when she was first introduced (Tony's girlfriend?). I think having one or both of them playing double agent in the Cassadine circle might have been intriguing, but maybe nothing that could be played long term. I also think Tiffany being dragged into the Bobbie / Tony / Carly stuff as an anchor in the storm for Lucas would have been an interesting layer. I just don't know if you could justify contract money for those sort of positions. Riche always seems to be about the long game. Even though Sly was raised in Luke and Laura's home, and Bill was a terrible father (sorry Geary, he was), Bill still died saving Sly and Lucky because the hitmen thought Bill was Luke. Sly lost his father because of the Spencers. The setup for a bitter young man would have been too similar to Nikolas, who hated the Spencers because of their connection to his family. It could have been interesting to bring back Sly, have Nikolas try to turn him to the dark side, only for Sly to remain a positive force. The last episode Sly is mentioned in the curlyq summaries is January 23, 1996,though sometimes minor characters don't always make the summaries. I will be curious to hear about this after having done bits of Monty's return run recently. These transition periods always seem to be rich in roads not taken. I don't think Hardy / Palumbo's GH was amazing, but it wasn't the creative wasteland that needed to be hacked away in the manner Monty did. There were stories that should have continued to their natural, non-rushed conclusion (Cheryl / Bobbie / Lucas and Dawn / Decker). Some characters leaving was probably for the best (Colton and the Grecos, even though I enjoyed them), but the wholesale dump of everything in the course of 2 months was too extreme for daytime. I enjoy what I've seen of 1992, but it's definitely rocky. For me, it seems to settle a bit by the time Levinson is left to be the solo headwriter (c. October 1992) until Labine's arrival in the next year. Tonally, Levinson's material can lean into the "women in peril" more than I feel Labine did, but it would also be a bit of a turn. Felicia may have been tortured by Ryan Chamberlain, but she had a lot of agency in his comeuppance. I don't feel like we would have seen that under Monty.

Thanks @Vee The standout comment to me seems to be Bill was just an unconventional dad, not a bad father. I believe that Bill would believe that, and, as a result, Tony Geary should have. The truth is though Bill was a sh*t father who dumped Sly with his grandparents, then Finian, and then whoever else would watch him (Jenny, typically). I think an argument could be made that when he was with Fred and Angela Eckert that Bill was off at sea and providing for his kid. In the initial backstory, this was a sort of noble act where Bill's work on the ship was less about the life of adventure and more about the big pay day that came with that type of work. To examine Bill as a father would mean to look into Bill's own father, Fred. As presented in early in the run, Fred was a loud, boisterous family man who was also maintained a family feud that was tinged with ethnic bigotry. He was also a successful small business owner. Fred is the first of the Eckerts that are dumped. I think later Fred was described as more complicated and possibly abusive. I don't think that is present in those February-May, 1991 episodes, but I think it's possible Fred could have mellowed over the years. Making Fred a recovering alcoholic may have given Fred's history a little more nuance explaining how Fred could be a wonderful grandfather and still create the man that Bill became down the line. I think by the time you introduce Nancy Eckert it can almost be seen as a way to justify Bill as a parent because Nancy was so much worse. I haven't seen much of Nancy-Bill interaction but they seem incredibly toxic. It's hard to imagine what the thought was that drove Bill to Nancy. I imagine we are suppose to see Fred's strict disciplinarian ways as the impetus for Bill's departure from the Eckert home not necessarily In a super negative way, but just a catalyst for Bill's independence. The Eckert parents characterization changes several times (I'm more aware of Angela's), and Angela's evolution into a status conscious domineering matriarch who helped conceal Jenny's miscarriage from a fling with a much older man sheds a different layer on the Eckert family. It is Bill's own actions for me though that make him a crap father. He chooses the women in his life over his son (Julia, Holly, and Victoria) as well as going off on those adventures and leaving Sly at home when he has already lost one parent, a grandparent, and never been in a stable environment for long. There could have been fun tension of Bill trying to be a good dad and just failing miserably, but Bill's parenting style seems very ahead of its time. He wants to be more of Sly's friend than anything else. By 1993, they have Sly pretty consistently calling him out on it and pair Sly and Scotty in an inspired friendship that adds such depth later when Dominique is dying and she wants to give Scotty a child. Michael Logan is right though that so many writers had their fingers in 1991-1993 that it's hard for any character to find a solid, consistent footing in that period (though I enjoyed many of them). I suspect one of the greatest influences on end stage Bill Eckert may have been, ironically, Anne Howard Bailey who was a consultant in the spring of 1992 during the headwriterless period. I suspect she may have been the one to create the San Sebastian tale which has a very mid 1980s vibe to it from what I've seen. Out of that story, with Bill away, I think they started to lean into Bill as the deadbeat dad. I also don't think Bill as bad father was anything new to the show. Monica and Alan are pretty consistently skewered in those years for the way A.J. turned out and people insisted that their bad parenting was to blame. So Bill wasn't alone. I do feel it became part of that unique perspective that made him interesting. I also think that Bill dying protecting Sly and Lucky shows that the show didn't think Bill was without worth or redemption. Good or bad aside, the truth is that Bill wasn't the father Sly needed and that was his fatal flaw that made him fascinating and yet a hard sell as a romantic lead. I am nearly positive that Bill's origins are in Gloria Monty's 1990 proposed soap opera project that was set in Portland and also to be filmed there. I think we would have gotten Bill Eckert without Geary, but Geary was brought back to for impact on the ratings. If Bill was played by someone else, I wouldn't be surprised if Monty had axed Bill before 1991 was over. In his initial form, Bill is just boring because the connections to the canvas aren't there. The romance with Bobbie is quickly aborted as is the blooming romance with Carol Pulaski (who's entire family was introduced and quickly faded into the woodwork). At the end of the day, I do suspect Geary may have sabotaged the more effective version of Bill who took over the cannery with Paul, was business rivals with Jenny's husband Ned, and was still in love with Julia even though he killed her father. I doubt Geary fought against Holly and the San Sebastian story and I'm not sure how he felt about the Victoia Parker gothic mystery but I don't think either suited Bill well. For me, Bill at his best is grounded in Port Charles possibly feeling restless, but deeply involved in the fabric of the town. I think Bill is a fascinating creature and I do wonder what Labine might have done long-term with Bill, but I doubt this was ever truly a consideration.

I'm not sure about Bobbie / Scotty, but I know a little about the follow up romance for Bobbie. Bobbie was paired with Gregory Howard, who was the father of one of the teen characters. Gregory was played by Alan Feinstein, who I believe took the job because of the Writers' Strike. Gregory was a married man. When the strike ended, Ann Marcus was hired as headwriter and didn't want to continue the story. Monty 2.0 ends with Monty's return to the past. Delfina is around working on either the wedding or engagement party. It think she is in a couple episodes. Slick Jones is back around the same time, but he is around through at least April, 1992. I am not sure if Riche also kept Delfina round as well.

Jason is very aimless under Riche in what I've seen. There is the desire to be the doctor and the very complicated relationship with Karen which becomes so nasty and vicious by the end, but that's more than likely Levinson's misogynistic slant to the material. He is tethered too long to Karen as the loser, which was sort of the fate of Kurt McKinney's Ned Ashton for a bit. I think the Karen / Quartermaine connection is very interesting, but they probably should have leaned into the possibility of Brenda / Jason sooner even if it was as a scheme for both of them to get the other person, though Jason would have been a more manipulative character. Because he's the good brother, he is always forced to play mediator. It might have been nice to have gone with a Brenda / Jason story where Jason was trying to break free of always being the good guy and wanting to be more carefree and slightly dangerous. Break his moral compass long enough for Karen to save him and allow Karen and Jagger fight when Karen (wrongly) assumes that Brenda is the source of all Jason's woes, but only for Brenda to bluntly inform Karen that it's Jason inability to get over his obsession with St. Karen that his driven him down this road. Of course, if I'm allowing for a briefer moment of a darker Jason, I would also have Jason and Karen reconnect when Karen worked as a stripper with Karen confessing the truth about Ray to Jason before Jagger, causing more Karen / Jagger tension, and later causing A.J. / Jason tension when A.J. continues to slut shame Karen. And in this situation, you could play out the possibility of people thinking Jason killed Ray which could add more tension to many dynamics (Jagger / Karen, Alan / Monica, Alan / Rhoda, Jason / Brenda, Jagger / Jason). I'm going to stop before I go too far down roads not travelled.

@NothinButAttitude I really enjoy how that "Another World" story idea turned out based on what @DRW50 had suggested. As someone who isn't a huge "Another World" fan but has a working knowledge, this all seems like something Lemay would have written with the possible exception of the vague Iris / Michael stuff which may have been referring back to the earlier suggestion that someone try and marry Michael off to a Cory cousin. I do think stuff like this is fun especially once, as you suggested, explore it out a little bit more. In 1975, when Michael returns, Iris would be involved with Robert Delaney, or on the verge of becoming involved with Delaney. Given the suggestion that Julian Vane (I'd change the last name to something else) was a promising architecture student, I would make him Robert's protege working together at whatever the firm was in Bay City. I see the more likely connection not to be Michael and Iris, but rather Julian and Iris through not only Julian being connected to Robert, but I would have played on Julian being somehow tied to the jetset group that Iris would drag to Bay City. I would really be interested in at least suggesting that Julian was a bit of a social climber and if we were to go the Cory cousin route, let's call her Betsy Cory, I think Iris meddling in Betsy's romantic life trying to put her and Julian together, could lead to some of the tension that would later lead to the Iris / Michael confrontation. I like how the story suggested on playing on John's insecurities, which I don't think was necessarily something embedded into his character but I think Lemay could slowly simmer to the surface in other ways. I would have Julian charm Pat and not only have John threatened by Michael's presence in Pat's life, but Julian's as well. Making Julian a bit like Terence Stamps' Visitor character in Teorema who has an influence on the entire family. With this situation, I think John's aging and his relationship with a much younger wife, Pat, as well as a blooming romantic entanglement with an even younger woman, Barbara, could bring a level of neurotic desire to ensure Michael's (heterosexual) virility in order to placate his own fears that his own is fading. If the show still told the Marianne abortion plot, I would have have had Marianne confide in Julian and have Aunt Liz cluck about Marianne's closeness with the more sophisticated Julian causing some neurotic paranoia for Michael especially as Julian and Marianne deny this. Later, when Michael learns that Julian has paid for Marianne's abortion, he again jumps to conclusions fueled by Aunt Liz's gossip and insinuations. I'd also have the Barbara Weaver thread play slightly differently. With John deducing that Michael and Julian's living arrangement is more than financial, John pushes Barbara towards Michael as a way to "get the boy on the right path" with Barbara agreeing to intercede mostly because she admires John. John's language would suggest that he thinks Michael is just a shy and needs to come out of his shell. It would be Barbara, who would quickly deduce Michael isn't straight that becomes his confidante. Barbara who claims she and Michael are going out for intimate evenings as cover for time spent with Julian. I would go a step further and even play the potential angle of Pat being threatened by the Barbara / Michael romance feeling that Barbara, an older woman, is out to replace her in her son's life. A Barbara / Michael / Pat triangle over Michael's affections as well as Barbara replacing Pat as the one he shares his secrets with causing tension. In addition, if the Chris / Marianne stuff is playing out with Pat's own fears about Marianne replaying her past, Pat might feel the need to turn more to Michael, which would infuriate John as it would thwart his plans to keep Michael from being so attached to Pat. This, of course, would spill over later into the Barbara / John affair which would now hurt both Pat and Michael much more given Michael's affection for Barbara and Pat's already established animosity. There would also be fun little moments to savor throughout. At one point, John would accuse Pat of liking the idea of Julian / Michael because it would mean that Pat would always be the most important woman in Michael's life. John's painful realization that Michael had confessed to Barbara months ago about his sexuality, and that Barbara had hid this from John and continued the charade. In the romantic entanglement, I would have Betsy Cory, Mac's niece, become smitten with Michael after meeting him through Marianne; Marianne and Betsy could be in college classes together. Maybe lothario Chris makes the moves on Betsy which would fuel Marianne's desire to sleep with Chris and to encourage the romance between Betsy and Michael, which never gets off the ground for obvious reasons. Chris could continue to also pursue Betsy with Michael coming to her rescue leading to Betsy, at times, to purposely flirt with danger because of Michael's protective nature. Later, when Betsy learns of Michael and Barbara, she would end up crying on Julian's shoulders, who she had befriended in her failed pursuit of Michael. At this point, I would have Iris trying to play matchmaker between Julian and Betsy as she wants Julian, who she has learned about some of his "complicated" backstory (spending a holiday with a wealthy couple known for having an open marriage) from a mutual acquaintance on a trip to San Tropez. Because Julian is cultured, seems more settled, and is Robert's protégé, Iris sees it as her duty to arrange the romance between Julian and her cousin. I would have Julian play along for the career aspirations while Michael becoming more concerned how easily Julian is willing to use Betsy for his won social gains. I don't know how accurate this would be for John and Pat as it definitely muddies them up more than they probably were at the time, but I think it could be compelling.

The Jason / Robin seed is in March, 1992, when there is no headwriter and Wendy Riche is overseeing pretty much every aspect of the show. Riche had Robin and her pal (who I think stuck around through early Levinson/Thoma as I think its the same girl who is with Robin during the storm when I think they are babysitting the Jones kids) talk about Robin wanting Jason, while Jason was pining after Karen in her first few appearances. I think you and spoke about this before, and I think you suggested that the show may have been waiting until Kimberly McCullough either came of age or at least appeared older, which makes sense. There was definitely indication that the show wanted Robin / Jason as endgame as you said especially since it seemed Karen / Jagger were the intention from the start. Riche wanting Jason / Robin from the start would explain why this thread plays out pretty much until Riche leaves.

I think anti-Christian sentiment plays a role in the view of the show, but I think it is also a bit more complicatedthan that. That first year is incredibly rough. Roy Winsor's work is dramatically flat. Dallas and Joann Barnes' material lacks a true understanding of the structure of soap opera with most stories ending with some deux ex machina conclusions which may be effective on a weekly dramatic nighttime show, but fail to grab the audience's attention in a daily serial. In addition, by the time that Jason Vinley's work did start to appear, a good number of the local channels that syndicated it no longer carried it. Though, I guess you are right a large number of people, even if they heard about the dramatic improvement, more than likely weren't going to hunt it down on the Christian Broadcasting Network. By the point I am currently at (February, 1983), though show is easily as strong as or stronger than its network competitors especially in the half-hour form. And, it seems like there may even be some lifting from one show to another. The conclusion of the Blue Nobles story set in the abandoned factory is very similar to the conclusion (later in 1983) of Jo's kidnapping by Vargas in the factory down to the blue hue color scheme. I feel a bit of connection between AL/SFT of the same time period. Like Ringo / Warren of SFT, Blue and Lance have a bit of a "Midnight Cowboy" inspired friendship that seems to have hints of homoerotic subtext. Throughout the final pursuit of Blue, Lance seemed genuinely worried about Blue and now we get a scene of Lance singing Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Without Blue, Lance has now shown an increased sexual interest in Miriam. I suspect that the show has simply decided to beef up Lance's role, but the timing provides for a bit of queerness to the mob storyline. Given the jealousy (which Ron calls out) between Lance and Russ, I could easily see a story where Lance gets into bed (figuratively or literally) with Tony Cardello. The show's current view of queerness continues to be quite negative. Peter alludes to the fact that Vicki Lang might think he is gay without stating it, while Babs goes off on Nancy because Nancy calls her a thespian, and Harold has to explain to Babs that it's not what she thinks it means. It's still being addressed which is more than most of daytime would be doing. I still would be curious to see how Vinley would have approached Tony Cardello. I can'tremember if Hill Harben is one of the interviews done by the AL fan on YouTube. @YTG would probably know better. I wish there had been any real coverage of Another Life because I am deeply curious about what the reaction was of the audience to Blue's death. While I imagine many were happy that such a violent man reached his end, he is very clearly saved and welcomed into the arms of the Lord. It is such a happy ending for such a complicated character. It hasn't been made clear yet completed to Miriam that Blue is dead; she has been told he is no longer part of the organization. I am curious if we will get any further exploration of Blue's death after Miriam is released. I would love to see a scene with Miriam and the Martins where Lori and Ben are forced to process that Miriam, held captive by Blue, has been able to forgive him and how they still have intense feelings regarding the man. There is a really great scene where Russ goes to visit Lori after he has killed Blue to talk about the situation in very coded terms. It's very powerful. It is almost like Lori might know what's going on, but is adamant that she won't accept this. This would be very similar to how she has reacted to her own near rape for the past few months. Lori and Russ is one of my favorite relationships on the show. I don't want them together romantically, but there is something about their shared past and the road not taken that I just adore. Russ clearly will always love Lori and Lori will always try to save Russ. I am curious how late 1990s General Hospital fans would think of this mob heavy sequence (Blue's demise). There is another delightful scene in which Ron Washington lets Vince Cardello know that ti was Russ that killed Blue. Nick Benedict is coming into his own as sleazy menacing Ron Washington. This is a more polished performance of his later Curtis Reed on Days of our Lives. Ron has used Russ' role to his advantage. He seems to be keeping Russ closer because he knows it is inciting jealousy from Lance (this is stated on air) and to keep Lance in line. He also seems to genuinely admire Russ realizing this isn't just some nepo hire that Russ is the man he claims he is; a scraper from the streets of Chicago who survived on his own wits and hands. He also seems to be forcing Vince's hand by showing him the terrible consequences of forcing Russ on to Ron. I'm not sure how Ron plans to keep the side businesses quiet, but I think Ron has a plan. All the plotting and scheming here is much more appealing than I ever expected. The ripples in this story continue. Marianne has broken it off with Russ moments after the murder and she admits she cannot support Russ in whatever he is doing. It is a nice way to strip away whatever human connections Russ has left. I cannot tell exactly where this is all going. I cannot tell if we are taking Russ to the bottom in order to redeem him or if he will enjoy living in the gutter. There have been comments to suggest that this can go each way. Ron explains about how they are all living by the sword and they should pretty much expect to end the same way. Meanwhile, Terry mentions Russ' visit to the house and says she thinks this is the start of a new Russ, insinuating he might actually find God. This after Terry, Lori, and Marianne discuss that maybe God wants Marianne to hold out hope for Russ. I am realizing more and more that Marianne seems very limited. Renee Crawford is a talented enough actress, but Marianne doesn't have a lot of potential. I do think I would have sent her into Amber's modeling agency for a bit. Marianne has always been controlled by a man, her father, her brother, and Russ. I think putting her in Amber's orbit, who is a strong female who also likes to control other females, would be interesting. Also, in that orbit, I think Marianne could explore her commercial art interest. I also think that the Russ - Lori connection is too strong in the long run for Marianne to work. With Becky, Becky was more complicated a character that made it all work. There was some good stuff with the Phillips family that I save for another post. Happy holidays everyone.

Kate Phillips is on the scene. She is an interesting character from the start. They immediately don't hold back and reveal to her that Dave is back in town. Kate is the middle ground; she doesn't know how she feels about Dave's return. Stinette gives the character an elegance in these early appearances I wasn't expecting given that I mostly know of her from Loving where she was working class Rose Donovan. I guess she gave a different aura in her roles as Kate and Nadine on The Edge of Night. There is some simple sloppy writing in the Babs Farley story that borderlines on well intentioned camp. In a typical soap opera fashion, Ione Redlon and Dr. Dave Phillips are talking about an on the run Babs' whereabouts in a public space while an U/5 mob goon listens in a chair nearby. This alone isn't insane, but add in the conversation that follows about them needing to pray for Babs' safety with Dave insisting they shouldn't waste their prayers borders on hilarious. I get we are probably building tension for when Babs is in danger, but overall I just can't. The end of the reign of Blue Nobles is powerful. Blue was a rapist. A kidnapper. A stalker. A general menace. Yet, I still feel for him, which I think was the point of it all. Blue has terrorized Paula for money and informs her where he is staying so that she can bring him more, only for Paula to inform Russ, who is hunting Blue down. In the meantime, Lance accurately deduces where someone like Blue would hide out. Lance is still playing the jealous boyfriend (of which boyfriend it is unclear: Blue? Ronnie?), but it's interesting that in the conversation with Ron that he is wearing a blue shirt. This actually makes me like Lance for the first time. As Blue's hours tick down, we get a scene of Miriam praying for Blue hoping that Jesus will help him to find the path to Him. It's all pretty intense stuff, which, out of context of the larger story, would seem hokey, but given all the beats played leading up to it, there is such weight to the material. Russ tracks Blue down to the warehouse and a fight ensues. The verbal back and forth between Russ and Blue is delightful with Russ admitting he can lose people like Lance and Vince, but it is the Loris and Mariannes of the world that make it worth wild. And then, the bomb is dropped; Russ' true motivation for his intense hatred towards Blue. As Blue insists he has never had Lori, he never raped her; he delightfully adds that neither has Russ. This is a such a delicious low below from the writers that Blue has no way of knowing, but sheds light on Russ' character. Russ is pissed because he thinks Blue got to do something he didn't, have sex with Lori. It's a crazy surprise for an already great sequence. At this point, Russ loses control of the gun and now when Russ does finally shoot Blue, it is self defense. And now Russ joins the likes of the truly criminal. Blue's final moments,in the next episode, do find him finding God moments before dying saying Jesus' name in the last seconds of his life. This is pretty profound stuff. In the year prior, we would get so many of these find Jesus moments after literally a single interaction between a believer and a non-believer. This works better for me. Kudos to Vinley for taking the deus ex machina ending of the last writers and making it not only palatable, but powerful. This features Miriam's prayer for Blue and Blue's demise. I feel like Russ' role in all of this should be more controversial than I am taking it. The show has inconsistently shown that Russ still cares for Lori, but I've always found it such a critical part of his character. The show's writers have several lines in episode 440 where they imply Blue and Russ are two peas in a pod. When Russ talks about the Loris and Mariannes of the world, he asks what would be left with them gone and Blue says "You and I." It's really shockingly psychological stuff for a location sequence. It's also wild to have Russ witness Blue's moment of belief when Lori spent months and Marianne spent months trying to convert Russ. Where does Russ go from here? Does his guilt lead him to religion himself or does it lead him deeper into the mob? I think I know the answer, but it provokes such intense questions. Chandler Hill Harben will be missed on this show.

The Miriam-Blue dynamic is intriguing. Miriam is unaware that Blue is the man who attacked Lori and there is a suggestion that Blue is attracted to her in the same way he was Lori. At one point, he asks Miriam about her sex life when she was married, which seemed very disturbing when he said it at the time. In a grander context, I have to wonder if Vinley wasn't trying to keep the haunting spectre of Paul and Lori's "affair" present as a way of keeping Lori very present in the Blue / Miriam situation. For a character who doesn't do much, Lori has many connections of the canvas so a one-time attack can resonate far and wide. Miriam does recite some Bible verses to Blue, but mostly talks about how much Blue loves the story of Samson. It wasn't until yesterday that I considered how much they've really crafted this into a George & Lenny from "Of Mice and Men" situation with Blue, like Lenny, being such a mix of brute strength and childlike naivete. What could easily be a cringe character (and in some ways Blue is) there is so much more depth and humanity instilled into the character than I ever expected. Blue's role in these two critical stories (Lori's attack and Miriam's kidnapping) is such an important cog in the show's success at the moment. I have to wonder if there was ever serious consideration to keeping Blue around with redemption, finding God, and living in Ione Redlon's house while doing some odd jobs. They haven't really mentioned his Cinderella Rapist past much (though Lance and Ron seem to finally accept that Blue is a rapist). Not that I necessarily feel this would be ideal, but I could see the drama of it. Lori and Ben struggling with their faith saying to learn to forgive while not able to accept the realities of living in the same community as the man who hurt Lori. Dave and Terry's arguments when Dave, the recovering alcoholic who killed his own son, supports Blue. Gene's moral dillema when McGovern wants a Gene to do a salacious follow up piece on Blue. The community's gasp when Blue does meet a young woman for the first time who is unaware of his past. @DRW50 I'm slowly warming to Debbie McLeod (or rather cooling my disinterest) as the character's story involving her mental health is treated so differently than I am use to on the soaps. Lori is often talking about overcoming the stigma and correcting people's impressions about those who are deemed mentally ill. Recently, Babs Farley has been hiding out in Fairmount, where Mercy Hospital is located, and runs into Ben and Lori Martin. When Babs makes some tactless comments, Lori corrects her. Babs is definitely uneducated, but she is someone we root for. It's just nice to see that the show addresses how casually people will dismiss what mental health can look like.

I'm somewhere in the 430s. There is really powerful stuff in here that I just wasn't expecting. I always heard that people enjoyed Miriam's kidnapping, but I didn't understand the complexities and richness to the story. Blue isn't treated as a cardboard villain, which would be easy to do given the show's nature on Christian television. Miriam believes he can be saved and has spent time preaching to him about how he needs to serve God and not Ron and Lance. This is borderline absurdist (I'm expecting a few quips from you @Khan ), but the pathos given to the character of Blue gives the moments such weight. Blue has been abandoned by society in so many ways, but not by God. Miriam's attempts to get herself released aren't pure but aren't purely selfish. More of Blue's backstory is given involving his first "girlfriend," a college student who seems to be studying him as some sort of sociology project when he was 16. It's really gut wrenching stuff. There are a couple noteable moments in this end of the story. Miriam states that her captivity is worse than Blue being in foster care. Now, I thought Miriam was told the story about Blue being Blue because that was the color of his stuff at one of the foster homes. I think the oppression Olympics here show that Miriam is still a very privileged woman, though I suspect that might be the intention. In a more shocking moment, to me, Blue has very negative reactions to Miriam mentioning Jesus' name later revealing that was the name that Lori repeated when Blue attacked her. It was a stellar connection to keep the audience aware of both plots. Meanwhile, as Vinley continues to develop the criminal syndicate, I'm more and more interested. Nick Benedict's Ron Washington is a slick member of the upper management who doesn't like to get his hands dirty anymore, but still shows that he has the menace that got him to the top. His penthouse style apartment is very nice. He discussed how he came up through work in Los Angeles, I believe, or maybe that was someone else. Anyway, I thought they were going to pair Nancy and Ron for a minute, but instead, they have kept him loyal to his paramour Ramona, one of the "girls" in the stable. His skimming from the top and side projects (like Miriam's kidnapping) are threatened by Russ' arrival. I didn't like Russ in this story. It felt like an attempt to revisit the original plans from 1981 when Russ went to work for Vince after borrowing the money. I didn't see the point. I get that Russ' presence is a threat to all Ron's side ventures, but there is also a bit of a respect growing between Russ and Nick because of Russ' ambition and his desires. At the lowest levels you have Lance and Blue, Another Life's answer to Lenny and George. They are the enforcers doing the heavy lifting. it is Blue who elicits the most sympathy from me, though Russ did as well in a moment that just came up that I will expand upon in a moment. Beneath the ribbing and the tormenting, Lance does care about Blue. He says more than once that Blue is his best friend. I do think he means that. There relationship does have an unhealthy dynamic to it, but it is also Lance's central emotional connection on the screen. No female love interest as of yet. There was several episodes spent on something that I felt was wildly insignificant, a loyalty test for Russ where he was asked to handle Paula, the sixteen year old runaway that Lance has been pimping out. We met her during November I think. Russ goes to her room as she has been skipping appointments with John's. He's mortified to realize how young she is; he tosses the room, shouts at her, and leaves. It's a chance for Nick and Lance to snicker at Russ, but it plays a deeper role in the coming episodes. In the most critical moment of late, as stories collide, Blue goes to the Chesterfield Clinic to have his bandages removed by Dr. Phillips at the same time Lori, tired of being stuck at home, also goes to the clinic to volunteer leading to a very early in the episode confrontation (maybe shortly after the opening credits) between Lori and Blue with both individuals freaking out. Blue's identity is now revealed to the public. He is a wanted man. This moment has been a waterfall moment. Everything iscoming back to Lori. Blue has had to tell Lance that he has been caught, and Lance is forced to realize what the girlfriend story really means. Nick feels the whole organization is threatened by Blue's stunt as it threatens the stability of the kidnapping plot as well as Blue's involvement in the drug and prostitution. Nick orders Lance to kill Blue, and it's clear that Lance is mortified. It's a satsifying moment for the typically smug Lance who just episodes earlier spoke about Russ' inability to do the job being placed in a similar situation. Lance reports back that Blue is gone, but I don't think we saw what happened once Lance leaves to go to Blue's apartment leaving the edge of mystery about what Lance did or didn't do. In the moment that shocked me the most, though it shouldn't have, Russ arrives and reads the paper with Nick and becomes infuriated because of his connection to Lori. They have always played Russ' love for Lori in a way that it is still very special to him. He knows he cannot have it back, but he will never let anyone else hurt her. He offers to kill Blue, in front of Lance. Kelly Gwinne is impressing me in these sequences as you realize Lance's horror at realizing what the end result of this will be. Nick initially refuses the offer because he doesn't want them using the job to handle personal grudges, but Nick is later impressed by Russ' gumption. It's all powerful stuff. Sprinkled in there has been some other kidnapping stuff. Charles is still working with Harold to gather the ransom without arousing suspicion in the business community. Harold has created some sort of dummy corporation that I suspect will come back to bite them. Gene writes an article, against Charles' wishes, about Miriam's disappearance for the paper, which leads to drama. Gene and McGovern (the editor) are suspicious about Charles' claims and the editor tells Gene to keep investigating. Meanwhile, Marianne has convinced herself that Russ' job is a government position which is why he has to keep it secret. This is probably the most insane thing to me. Marianne and Russ don't work. They look good together. Renee Crawford is a good actress, but there is a certain level of gullible and stupid you need Marianne to be in order for this story to work. And she isn't so it doesn't. Lori's story continues to be very strong for me. The strain this has put on her marriage to Ben is very real and Ben has expressed his frustrations. There are also some very veiled comments that make it clear that Lori and Ben haven't had sex. Before running into Blue, Lori was slowly starting to remember things and was equally desperate to uncover the truth and to keep it hidden. Once Lori learns the truth, Ben assures her that she wasn't raped, but I could see how she wouldn't believe them. No one has told her the truth. There are also hints that she is pregnant, which means she got pregnant back when Jeanette Larson was in the role which was months ago. The timeline might be a bit of a hard sell for me. Meanwhile, Kari Page is starting to look significantly pregnant, but maybe her clothes just aren't flattering. The Phillips family drama is also brewing and it is quiet engaging as we get more and more pieces of the family story. To me, this is the version of the Jeff Cummingsfactory done right. This haunting tragedy, the death of Kevin Phillips in a car crash because Dave was under the influence, is contuining to impact the members today. I didn't realize everyone was in the car when it happened. How brutal. Amber finally confirms that Kate is her mother so we know that Dave is her father, a man she refuse to talk about with Gil. I like Gil and Amber's dynamic. She is very aloof but flirty in a way that Deena Greely wasn't. The way she tries to manage her sister Stacey is also notable. In their first scene, Amber instantly cancels Stacey's order (a Reuben or a pastrami sandwich) and substitutes it for a salad with Stacey complying. It is very telling. I do think there is a suggestion that Amber might feel compelled (at one point anyway) to have looked out for Stacey because clearly their father couldn't and their mother may have been too involved. It's gone beyond that now. Amber is a control freak, but I love the dynamic. Stacey's work at the Kingsley Chronicle puts her in contact with Gene, which in turn given her a direct line to her father. Gene tells Stacey he is doing an article on her father's clinic. While Amber is adamant about disowning Dave, Stacey shows signs of forgiveness. You can see the drama brewing and I am here for it. Dorothy Stinette is in the credits so Kate should be onscreen soon and that should keep things even more interesting. There is a nice beat where Stacey tells Amber about the clinic and Amber immediately assumes that Dave is getting Medicaid kickbacks or from some other government program. It places Dave and Ben's insistence in private donors in another light or at least a shot of hope for Amber down the line at forgiving her father. I already adore Karen Chapman as Stacey. As much as I like the dynamic in the Phillips clan so far, I think she would have been a remarkable Lori. There are lots of little moments in this story that just break your heart. Dave talks about digging in the garden a year after Kevin's death and finding toy soldiers that had more than likely been buried there for more than a decade since Kevin lost them. Dave runs into Amber at a restaurant and she publicly claims no knowledge of who he is and when he tries to broker peace, she threatens to cause a scene. There is a beautiful shot of Amber telling Gil that that terrible excuse for a man was her father as we see Dave staring from across the room. Stacey's slowly emerging happiness at hearing Dave has gotten his life together is also a tender moment. I hadn't been aware that at this late in the game, we would still be hearing about Dave wanting to reunite with Kate, but I guess that makes sense. I just assumed they were going to play Dave and Terry sooner. Nancy's story seems to be mostly in limbo. She still is trying to figure out how to maintain the house. There is a suggestion she is seeking illegal loan for this which I suspect might put her in Ron Washington's orbit again. Nancy and the mob would be fun. I'm surprised how much mileage the show has gotten out Nora's house. The house has gotten more story than Nora ever did. I apologize for the length. I've been watching this week with the flu and haven't had the energy until today to form a proper response.

I did a little work on finding these last winter, but didn't get very far as it was hard to track down any paper that seemed to have the complete run (February 1, 1981 - November 25, 1984). The strip was carried by many papers in its first year, but it pretty quickly faded in circulation numbers. One of the first stories was about Bobby and Pam adopting a child that J.R. claimed was Pam's illegitimate son. Early on, there seemed to be more of a rotating of characters in the central story, but by the end, it was mostly a story about J.R. and Sue Ellen's toxic marriage. The final storyline, if I remember correctly, involved Sue Ellen being kidnapped. The official last print is said to be Sunday, November 25, 1984, but I've never seen that the final strip. All the papers I have found ended on November 24. The November 24th strip was slightly resolved (Sue Ellen was recovered) but there was a lingering questions about J.R.'s retribution.

I saw the Robin Kennemer promo as well. I thought it was more stylized than I expected for the 1970s. Most of the promos I've seen have just been clips of episodes. This was more shots of various characters. In addition, there was a slightly longer version of the Jennifer through the glass promo starting off with Kathy talking to someone about loving Scott even though Jennifer was pregnant with his child. Like maybe 8-10 more seconds