dc11786

I've been following the thread for the past few weeks, but I didn't respond so I'll just post my random responses. Gus' messy paternity was never a favorite story of mine even when it was being written by Taggart and Culliton. The original Gus / Selina / Miguel story was under Labine , I believe, or at least I think Labine set the story in motion. I thought it was Lucky Gold who killed that story with the insistence that Gus couldn't have been adopted and was the Augusts biological child. Then, Taggart and Gold revisited it when they were building a Gus / Harley vs. Phillip thread that, as I recall, started with Harley wanting custody of Zach. I seem to recall Phillip having Harley arrested for trying to take Zach from the Spaulding mansion. The Journal was mentioned as late as 2005. In May, there was a thread building around a Spaulding takeover launched by Josh Lewis and Roger Thorpe's children, Sebastian Hulce and Blake Marler. I don't remember what the impetus for the story was, but I felt like Sebastian was trying to avenge Roger or continue his legacy. At the same time, Alan and Holly had spent some time together as Alan was interested in purchasing the Journal. Holly ends up selling him part of the Journal or all of it in exchange for shares in Spaulding Enterprises. Blake has a conniption fit because it was somehow going to disrupt their plans. This was all scrapped with the budget crunch and Sebastian was shipped off and Maureen Garrett stopped appearing. I felt like the show was going to try a Holly / Alan pairing. In terms of gothic storytelling in 2000s, I do think the dreaded Maryanne Carrouthers storyline from 2003-2004 would also fall into the catefory. The atmosphere in that was very well done. Very moody and haunting. I thought the climax was decent at the house of mirrors, but there wasn't a whole lot happening between the reveals. I don't hate Conboy and Weston as much as others do. I thought Ben becoming an escort made sense with who the character had been with Bomer in the part. He had made that sex bet regarding Marah and was pretty worried about money all the time. I could see Ben turning to sex work. I didn't love how Ben's sexual abuse was treated like a post script, but I wasn't as mortified as others. I felt a lot of the online reaction was a bit insane like saying there was no one Ben could have been molested because Fletcher would have known which was more degrading, in my opinion, than Ben actually being abused. I don't think Regina / Sister Lucia was used appropriately. She wasn't just Gus' mother, but she had also been Phillip's (retcon) nanny. If you are looking to do a longer Phillip vs. Gus narrative, this was something that should have been considered. Though, I didn't really have much use for Gus in general, to be quite honest. Gus and Harley were fine as a B-couple, but didn't work in the A-couple role for me. Looking back at the Dobsons, there were references to a woman in black at the end of the tenure. I think people have speculated this would have been Amanda's mother. I wonder if they recycled any of this for Santa Barbara with Sophia Capwell. Who was the writer that proposed the initial Janice Stafford storyline? Was it Doug Marland? I would be curious if Janice (or some iteration) wasn't the original intended mother of Amanda. The Dobsons had Sophia "die" in a boating accident. It could be coincidence, or just another reference reference to A Place in the Sun. It's interesting hearing that they didn't want a strong headwriter after Marland and that was, in part, what led to money issues with Pat Falken Smith and her quick departure. If available, I imagine Smith would have been better suited to continue after the Dobsons rather than Marland. Stylistically, the Dobsons and Falken Smith seem more psycho-sexual in their writing than Dobson while having their own flourishes.

@slick jones I believe Michael Ryan's role on Another Life is from September 1981 - March 1983 when the character is killed off. I feel pretty confident that its Ann Marie Geyser as Trudy in that early episode of The Guiding Light. I don't have much more about any of the FOX English language telenovelas from the 1990s. There was also Empire, which seems to be produced as a part of the same block of series but may have only appeared abroad.

In the bible, I believe Isabelle is described as a Eleanor Roosevelt type, very diplomatic and pragmatic. Meg Mundy, who was well known for her controlling society matron role on The Doctors, was initially cast against type to play Isabelle. Mundy, though, had recently played a more gentle grandmother role in the film Ordinary People. I think Mundy would have been bored with role eventually, though I wonder if Doug Marland, who had written for Mundy in her previous role, would have given Isabelle more of an edge, especially in light of the arrival of Shana. Ultimately, it wasn't creative issues that led to Mundy's decision to not continue with the daily series after the telefilm, it was money. She wanted more than ABC was willing to pay. Augusta Dabney really embodied that initial description of the character. She seems very sweet, but I haven't really seen any of her work that seems super memorable. That isn't something I would fault Dabney. There are some scenes when she and Cabot return in 1994 where Clay confronts Dabney's Isabelle about his paternity and it just seems quite unfair to see Dabney's Isabelle suffer for the sins of the previous Isabelles. Dabney does her best trying to bridge the characters, but it would a hard sell for anyone. The evolution of Isabelle in the 1990s was the result of constant changeover. The face cream story was Tom King /Millee Taggert with Jacquie Babbin as EP. Babbin wanted to shake up the show. In interviews, I believe Babbin alluded that the Aldens represented too much of the Reagan / Dynasty era and that she wanted something different. It is Babbin who's behind Isabelle's departure in March, 1991, after Cabot's death. When Celeste Holms' Isabelle returns in late November, 1991, it is now Fran Sears (of Handmaid's Tale fame) who is EP with Mary Ryan Munisteri headwriting. Munisteri's version of Isabelle, played by Celeste Holms, is a delightful character who is a little bit wicked and is paired with Matt Ford's mother, Bethel Ford as her social secretary. Holm's Isabelle shows a unique approach to business that works in the brief weeks that Munisteri pens the character. She utilizes her social connections to determine where businessmen are located. One of my favorite Isabelle scenes is when she is interviewing Bethel and Bethel is instructed to call Shana so that Shana will badmouth Isabelle while Isabelle listens in. The shift to Addie Walsh is very harsh. Celeste Holms was promised the chance to work with her husband Wesley Addy, and those scenes are very whimsical at first before they end with an abrupt about face from Cabot's ghost telling Isabelle "she knows what she has done." Walsh recycled her work from the French soap Riviera penning a story that undid the paternity of one of the central characters under similar circumstances, I believe. This version of Isabelle became increasingly menacing and controlling. Holmes didn't like the character and I believe clashed with new EP Haidee Granger when she arrived. Granger doesn't seem well liked from one of the Loving interviews several years back. Pat Barry's Isabelle is a snob. As @Sapounopera pointed out, she becomes a carbon copy Phoebe Wallingford complete with a visit from Ruth Warrick's Phoebe as Isabelle's friend. I know its sacrilegious, but I enjoy Celeste Holmes the most.

Also, my thoughts on the evolution of Bert Bauer: I have very mixed feelings about the reformation of Bert Bauer. I was completely unaware that Bert’s cancer crisis was used as a bridge to heal some of the wounds between Mike and his mother. The relationship between Mike and Bert is very complex, and I think this has been lost to time. As a result, it has been overshadowed by the Ed / Bill dynamic of the later 1960s. Here, in the late 1950s/early 1960s, not only is the Bert - Mike dynamic a powder keg for domestic drama, it is the primary fuel source for the animosity between dueling matriarchs Bert Bauer and Meta Bauer Banning. Early in the year, Bert’s realization that she is becoming like her own controlling mother was a critical insight into Bert’s psychology, which is something we get with all the characters this year. The tension between Meta and Bert remains very strong throughout the first half of the year with Meta and Bert both feel vital to the canvas and fully realized characters. I wish more shows did this sort of matriarchal rivalry with one more sympathetic and one more controlling mother figure. I think the mellowing of Bert could potentially set in motion a long term shift that leads to Meta’s eventual departure several years down the line. With that said, every time in the summaries I expected a more sympathetic Bert, there was a shift back to the more devious, cunning, and manipulative nature that fuels so much of the familial conflict on the series. In 1961, the great love of Bert’s life isn’t Bill Bauer, but her son, Mike. With Mike back from Venezuela in late 1961, maybe Bert will finally let Mike move on, but I am not convinced we won’t see the eventual pendulum swing back in the direction of Bert the family agitator. With a more toothless, at times at least, Bert, a new enemy has emerged for the Bauer family, Alex Bowden. Alex is a captivity complex character who seems to shift into a bit of a neurotic mess towards the end of the year, but that may have been a misreading on my part. When Alex first arrives, he is presented as a sort of modern day aging playboy in the mold of Charles Cunningham and Ted White before him. In particular, when he recalls his complicated childhood revealing that his parents divorced and he was neglected, I was reminded of David White’s recalling his son Ted’s childhood during Meta’s murder trial. The Guiding Light loves to have echoes of the past, and I don’t hate that. Alex’s childhood also provided an interesting insight into his marriage to Doris. You could see why Alex might not be so quick to dispose of Doris having seen the impact it had on his own parents and sense that there may have been, at one point, a true desire to make it work. Ultimately though, it would appear that Alex ended up repeating the mistakes of his own parents and sets in motion yet another round of misery and emotional destruction through his involvement with Robin. The set up of Bert and Alex as potential partners in crime only for Alex to reveal that he is onto Bert is delightful. Very early on, Alex shows that he has no use for strong, independent women in control of their own lives. He equally has conflicts, to a much lesser degree, with Marie Wallace Grant and Meta Bauer Banning. He doesn’t like women who don’t crumble under his control. It would have been equally captivating, if Alex had managed to get Bill Bauer, a weak man, under his control. For a moment, when Alex had his lawyer George Hayes investigate Bill, I thought this might be where it was heading. And what a delight it would have been for Alex to shower Bill with money and for Bert to have to convince BIll not to chase the golden road leading to wealth. I would be curious to see if Alex ends up interacting more with the fairly secondary Bill Bauer at this point in the story. The build of Alex and Bert’s dynamic is intriguing as they are such different characters united beautifully by circumstance. Bert is such a low level domestic schemer compared to Alex, who is pathologically manipulative and psychologically cruel. The dynamic each individual has with Robin Lang is complicated, but neither is positive. By maintaining Robin’s ties to the Bauer clan not only through Mike, but through Meta as well, Robin becomes central as the crux of the conflict in the war between Alex and the Bauers. It’s fascinating as I believe this dynamic continues with Alex and the Bauers when Alex becomes involved with Mike’s second wife, Julie, as well. Bert being frightened by Alex was also a nice change of pace as Bert seems to lose power and position with this man around. This is why I would be curious to possibly see Bill in Alex’s employ especially if this were to occur during the reformation of Bert Bauer. Dragging out a new reverend character in August to play a part in the absolution of Bert Bauer was a nice nod to the show’s origins in both 1937 and 1947. Alex seems to make enemies with everyone in the Bauer clan to the point I wonder if Nixon was considering a murder mystery. He fights with Bert over Robin and Mike’s relationship, would have fought with Mike if he was in Los Angeles, sparred with Meta, caused Papa to state that no one would keep him from loving his granddaughter, and Bruce seems to be set in motion as a potential foe when Bruce succeeds Dick as Alex’s physician during his gastrointestinal crisis late in the year. One could only imagine Ed is off in the attic somewhere play fighting with a make believe Alex Bowden.

I have a lot of thoughts about 1961. I took a lot of notes while reading so it may take several days to organize everything, but I'll start with Dick / Marie. I’ve never been a fan of Dick and Marie, but this is the first time I have really started to enjoy them. Marie’s desire to have a child seems less neurotic now that the need is filled with Phillip, bu it is quite brutal to give young Phillip a heart condition and nearly destroy Marie’s chance to be a mother. I do think it was smart to use Phillip’s ailment to reunite Marie and Dick. I like the work that Nixon does with both Marie and Dick during the Phillip story. Dick realizing that a child doesn’t mean losing his wife and Marie realizing that a doctor belongs to his patients and his wife are important emotional shifts for both characters. I do think I would have grounded some of Dick’s issues more in Robin’s paternity and the early days of his marriage to Kathy. The ghost of the Kathy / Bob / Dick history would be very relevant to the Robin / Michael / Karl story as well as causing issues in the more current Alex / Robin / Michael story. Robin has so many nice father figures, I do wish a bit more was spent on the Robin / Dick dynamic (do they ever really interact like this was the child he once thought was his?) The emotional angst with Dick and Marie, both separately and together, hoping and praying that little Phillip will recover would have been pulling at the viewers’ hearts. In a way, it almost seems like Phillip was just a vehicle for uniting Marie and Dick, but also a tool for Joe to try to get Marie to be with him. I am not a Joe fan, but he was too quick to not only leave Phillip, but to invoke his name to try to get Marie to stay with him. Using the divorce laws to prevent Joe and Marie from quickly marrying was a nice twist, but I wish that Joe had gone a step further and suggested that Marie was willing to return to Joe because of his softening stance on children. With a newly child friendly husband, Marie was more likely to achieve her dream with Dick in a shorter amount of time than she would with Joe. I have no real use for Joe so his exit was much appreciated. Marie emerged as a much more interesting character to me in this period. There was something about Marie that always came off as weak and emotionally exhausting. In these summaries, there is a vibrancy to Marie, especially noted when she stands up to Alex Bowden. Alex is a menacing figure, maybe not physically dangerous, but very much so emotionally. For Marie to manage to hold her own against such a powerful figure was a pleasant change of pace. One of the elements I really enjoyed in the crossing of stories was Marie and Bert’s friendship. Marie always seemed to be willing to give Bert tough love and call her out over things, as well as vice versa. I do wonder what will happen to Bert without that sort of moral core coming from a female figure. Papa represents a similar role, but the Bauer family dynamic does lean towards outsiders and insiders with Bert seemingly assuming both roles at different time and, on occasion, both roles at the same time. Marie seemed to be a level head. I do wonder how much of this was replicated on All My Children, a question I ask a lot while reading through this year’s synopsis. Is Philip Collins an early iteration of Phil Brent with Joe Martin and Ruth Brent as the spiritual successors to Dick and Marie Grant? Collins and Brent were both adopted. Ruth and Marie were both involved with doctor characters. I think Ruth and Joe’s bonding had a bit to do with the connection between their children so that is a bit of a variation. There was a Dick thread that seems to go a bit unresolved with Amy Sinclair. The suggestion was that she may have had more sinister intentions with Dick, were those ever resolved? Thinking through the lens of All My Children, I wonder if Amy would have been revealed to be Phillip Collins’ mother. I believe they both appeared in about the same month. By the time Marie and Dick are having the same arguments about Doris that Paul and Anne are, I feel that there time is up and they have reached a natural conclusion to their story. I don’t think there was much story left wihtout going in wildly different situations. I like Marie’s role as Bert’s friend, though. I think a lot of Dick’s role and position on the canvas is consumed by others. It does feel that once Dick and Marie got back together, there wasn’t much to do. They could have explored the situation with Phillip further, but I just don’t see that being brushed upon. I think a Phillip / Ed friendship could have caused some Marie / Bert tension had Ed been a wild child who was getting the two in trouble. For the sake of a 15 minute soap, Dick and Marie leaving makes sense. As someone who thinks a Dick and Kathy reunion at some point would have been more compelling, I will say that I think Nixon did a good job reforming both Dick and Marie while providing them a happily ever after.

Sorry to hear of his passing. I see the resemblance a bit, but the treeline reminds me of the Burton home on Savannah. I know I've read in one of the early iterations of the show (there was a 1980 pilot and a 1982 set of pilot episodes) there was suggestions that the Catlins were based on Ted Turner, but the suggestion was that idea was nixed. At one point, the Catlins were said to own a club of some sort during this period.

I always assumed the Jeff / Trisha 1993 exit was intended to build natural conflict when Trisha would return to Corinth. Of course, that day never came and it felt odd. The dramatic value of Trisha having amnesia, falling in love with a "reformed" Jeff, and then having to deal not only with the life she left behind, but the lies Jeff told her was probably the reason they went that route. I don't really love this era, but some episodes from 1989 popped up: Janey was great and, I suspect, an unfortunate victim of the crossover from Agnes Nixon to Laurie McCarhty and Addie Walsh. For years, I have heard that the original (or one of the original) plans for Ava was to make her biracial. Janey seemed to be Agnes Nixon's attempt to make that version of the Erica/Ava mold happen. I thought that Janey was a well integrated character in a time when a lot of characters were islanded in stories. She seemed to just flow through stories. I love when she claimed she was Clay's daughter for a hot minute. Babbin was pretty blunt in her Loving interviews. She took the job as a favor to Agnes Nixon and was only staying one year, which is what she did. On air, Fran Sears takes over in July, 1991. In her interviews, Babbin was pretty clear about her dislike of the show she inherited. Said it was nothing more than a Dynasty clone and that it needed its own identity. Under Babbin, a large number of the cast were cut. Wesley Addy's Cabot dies. Augusta Dabney's Isabelle leaves Corinth for Palm Springs. Stan Albers' Curtis is sent to Iraq. Perry Stephens is dumped and replaced by Christopher Cass. She also wrote out Egypt and Alex Masters. She brought on a lot of character actors in bit parts. I remember there was a district attorney who was fairly well known. Harvey Fierstein played a hypnotist. Ilene Kristen was on as Norma. Class distinctions started to be present again. Shana was broughtback. Carly Rescott was introduced. Patrick and Rose Donovan were back occassionally for the first time in years. Storywise, you had Trisha lose Trucker's baby and the adoption of little Tommy, which led to the blackmail scheme of Monty and his subsequent murder mystery. Carly was hiding that she had Paul's baby in high school. Dane was manipulating an amnesiac Shana after Jim and Jimmy died. Cabot died and there was in fighting over the family fortune. Kate and Louie married. Rio and Rocky (nearly?) married to prevent Rio's deporation. Alex and Egypt's daughter Alexis had a medical crisis. There are probably other stories, but I don't recall.

That's a great question. I don't think it was ever rerun and given hw cheaply the show was producd, I almost wonder if the masters were even saved. I imagine that P&G would have, but I am not convinced they would have saved them in the first year. Chris "C.T." McIntyre passed several years ago, I believe. I think the best hope for recovery with the show in terms of longer sequences of whole episodes (or even partials) would be if any actors or production staff saved it. Babe is a rather fun character. She is featured in several sequences I have seen. Her final story (or a fairly late run story) had her paired with Dirk Stack. Criminal Dirk involved with cop Babe while the shadow remained of his relationship lawyer Maggie Catlin (who seemed poised for a return based on how often she is mentioned from Novembe 1984-March 1985) remained. Bolling managed to keep Babe rugged without teetering into the territory of off putting. I wish we had more of the show's first year as I suspect it really started to take shape under Steve Lehrman, who came in mid-to-late July, 1983. I know that early August episode online is a bit of a chore, but so much of the show was dropped or revamped shortly after. Babe seems part of Lehrman's soft reset with Joe Ranier's Dirk Stack, Charlie Hill's Woody Thorpe, and McLinn Crowell's Cullen Quinn. I wonder if Iris Little Roberts' Andrea Smith was also a Lehrman addition. All of these characters seem slightly more developed in the later episodes I have seen rather than others. As was common with shows, there was so many recasts. I really appreciate both versions of Annabelle Catlin. Pamela Burrell has such a quiet strength and managed to hold her own against more established Michael Forest and seemed to be fine with David Haskell's Robert Boone. Muriel Moore's embodied Southern aristocracy from my very Northern perspective. I would be curious how Forest and Moore appeared as a couple because there was at least a two month period where they were in the roles together. I almost wish they could have kept Moore around in another role. I adore Jane Berman's Lucille Crowe in the iittle bit I've seen her when she basically is Medger Quinn's mistress and operating his TV station, which irritates Stacey Manning. I'm not sure I would have liked her oriignal story, something about a shady modeling agency that roped Jennifer Catlin in, but the 1985 episode I saw her in was pretty fun.

@watson71 The P&G logo appears at the end of the episodes starting in late March or early April, 1984. I believe P&G assumes production responsibilities around the first year's anniversary. In the meantime, P&G was the primary (and possibly only) advertister. The financial logistics for the show got a bit of press because not only was P&G and Ted Turner's WTBS involved, but there were also private investors. It seems like there was quite a bit of financial mismanagement with some suggesting that it was intentional on the part of the producer, but I am not sure if anything went to court. @slick jones I found an article stating that the full name of Charles Hill's character was Elwood T. "Woody" Thorpe. In watching episodes of Another Life, I have gotten very nostalgic about The Catlins, which was always the soap that had so little presence on line given how long it ran and that it aired during the VCR era. The little we see doesn't seem anywhere near as strong as Another Life, but we also don't really have anywhere near close to a stretch of consecutive episodes to see how the day to day build was. in looking through this thread, I was reminded of how disappointed I was in that August, 1983, episode which was probably under a month into Steve Lehrman's run as headwriter. I do wish more of that period was available when Sam Smiley and Lehrman each were in charge of the show. Smiley said he had kept material, but I don't know what his family did with it when he passed. Unfortunately, I think a lot of it was saved on his computer which I imagine wasn't saved. The closest we have to a continuous run is about 6 or so episodes from late November - December, 1984. By that point, the show is mostly LA and NY with a few Atlanta stalwarts mixed in. It's a decent show, but I know the numbers were not great. In December, 1983, it was reported the ratings were around 240,000 households. I don't hold out hope we will get much more than a few episodes here and there, but I need to get better at saving what does come up. I could kick myself for letting the Tony Wright episodes come and go without saving them. Also, I have spent the last day trying to find a post saynotoursoap/jon made about the show, before realizing he made it on danfling's old soap opera board. I remember he referrred to the show as a "Southern fried soap opera" and complimented elements of it while acknowledging its faults. I did stumble on some new information (or maybe its stuff I forgot), but there were two sets of pilot episodes. The first pilot was filmed in early 1981 and shown to P&G in April, 1981. The next set of pilot episodes were filmed in June, 1982. I believe the June episodes were actually used, but I am not sure. Sam Smiley came on in the fall of 1982 as the consultant during the development phase and then was in charge of story. Sam Smiley wrote (at least) 48 scripts which would put him into June, 1983. Sam's script writing team included Claudia Johnson, Craig Brown, and his wife Anne Smiley. Producer Chris McIntrye stated in an article that he wrote the story for Steve Lehrman (at least initially) and that Lehrman developed the outlines. I wonder if that's why Lehrman didn't stay. I know in later shows (in 1985) McIntrye gives himself onscreen credit for the shipping storyline so I don't think this process continued until the end. Though, Smiley also commented in an article how television is a director and producer genre from his experience with The Catlins. For Marilyn Martin's son, if he ever pops in again, his mom might appreciate this. I suspect it's from the opening episodes even though it was attached to a December, 1983, article Also, a shot of David Frizzell (as himself) who appeared as himself and sang at the local honky-tonk bar, The Lucky Seven. And since I mentioned Sam Smiley and his computer

If Josh's secret child was a male, he would have slept with Reva. Be careful what you wish for.

Susan Scanell had a busy 1982. She marries Chris Roland on April 23, 1982. She first appeared on air as Kristen Carter on Search for Tomorrow the last week of May, 1982. Then about a month later she exits as Becky on Another Life. I dislike most of Becky's story after her miscarriage. I did like the final implication that Dave had lied to Becky and that he wasn't really a famous producer with Becky being his first star. Don't even get me started on the "not married" revelation. Wasting mother from hell Carrie Weaver on that tripe was disrespectful on multiple levels. I felt like you could always revisit Becky. Jaded by her career, Becky returns to Kinsley and doesn't receive the warm greeting she was hoping for with everyone moving on with their life. I would have had her and Carla fighting for a position at a nightclub as a lounge act with the club owner having mob ties and drawing Becky into that life which would provoke some sort of response from the people who have loved her. I also would have revisited the idea of who Becky's biological parents were and maybe reveal she was the daughter of a minister or someone in the political circle. Russ and Becky would be a toxic end game because Russ would always want Lori so I would probably move Becky onto someone like Gil if they weren't going to keep Amber around. Amber does seem increasingly hostile without any real moments of sincerity. This is one of my only complaints in the Phillips family story. There was a nice moment of jealousy where Gil gushes over Miriam when she and Charles are dining at the Greenbriar with Amber being furious about the lack of attention, but Miriam is so possessive. Everything is an object to her; everyone is just pawns in her game. Part of the issue is Amber's world is so narrow. I'll be curious to see how she interacts later on with Blair Simpson. I think I would have twisted the knife with Amber by letting her land a local public access talk show so that she could be a faux journalist and torment Stacey some more. I think Elain Graham left Another Life for a travel production of Home, which she did for most of the fall and winter of 1982. She appeared with Samuel L. Jackson and S. Epatha Merkensen for the Negro Ensemble Company. I also feel like Elain Graham is known for speaking her mind. I did notice that they recently had Carla wearing a bit of a turban to cover up the new haircut Graham got. Kari Page was just very unmemorbale in the role. She also wasn't given much to do. Streisand is definitely someone on the mind of the writers. In a bit in the last set of episodes I watched, Nancy calls a second hand store to speak about selling her mother's furniture. She gets the store owner's wife Rose and starts cracking up, and I believe mentions Streisand by name. Babs is interesting. There is quite a gap, from what I recall, from when she starts until when she appears regularly. I remember her initial appearance in jail with Nancy (just like Dave with Jeff Cummings), but I don't remember her popping up again until what felt like several weeks later. The original appearance is definitely under the Barnes, but I cannot recall right now if Babs is featured much again until she is thrown out of the car. I feel like she is already looking into another life out of the prostitution ring before Vinley arrives, but maybe I'm wrong. I thought Babs' monologue about running into a former classmate who was now a wife and mother leading to Babs to want to start over was well done. Jesus was Jewish. I have seen sitcoms do more of the blending of Christmas and Hannukah than I have soaps, but I do know there is occasionally an attempt at unity. The suggestion that Babs and Harold might have been presented as Jewish characters is intriguing and something I will think about more.

I hadn't heard about the profit sharing being an issue either, however, in Alan Locher's Generations interview, Sally Sussman Morina spoke about NBC's interest inreveal the success of Santa Barbara overseas. She had stated that NBC had greenlit Generations in part in order to outright own a soap opera that they could sell overseas and increase their own revenue. Eileen Davidson's point about it being a weird time because there were all these big names with nothing to do was an interesting critique, but, to be fair to Pam Long (who I am not a fan of), Davidson's Kelly under the Dobsons didn't have much either. I'm curious how Davidson's Kelly would have fared had Marcy Walker not left because it does seem like they try to make Kelly Eden in some ways.

Thanks for sharing! I'm wondering if any consideration was giving to bring back Becky. I don't see Susan Scannell returning because she was fairly busy in the New York soap scene, but I would be curious if any discussions were had about bringing the character back to Kingsley to disrupt Russ, Lori, and Ben's lives. Given Scannell's send off, this probably was off the table. Watching some of those clips, I am curious how Becky would have been with Tony Cardello (I know I'm bordering on obsessing) given the clip with Susan's character speaking about her daughter in coma and her fight for gay marriage equality. I see an equally vicacious Becky singing in a nightclub that Tony ran with Russ brooding in the corner with his latest flavor of the week at how chummy his former pseudo wife and his half-brother are. I've come to enjoy Marianne and Russ for what it is, but I cannot help but think how much more impactful all this current material would have been if it was still Susan Scannell as Becky in the role (and Jeannette Larson as Lori). Becky's connection to Vince was so special and Becky would have been devastated by the loss. Did Vince even get a funeral? I've lost track of where I stopped last and I think I missed a few episodes. Anyway, Russ killing Blue in Lori's name would have also given Susan Scannell some juicy material to react to. Becky loved Lori, but she was always in the shadow of the intensity of Russ' feelings for Lori. My heart just breaks for Becky thinking of how that would play out having the one, two punch of Vince dying and learning that Russ killed for Lori. Vinley hasn't really done much with Carla's singing, which is such a shame. Kari Page's Carla was such wall paper and Elain Graham brings life to the character that doesn't always seem to be written on the page, which I appreciate about her. I do wish a little more was done with Carla, and I wish there was a slightly more complicated relationship between Carla and Ione.

Early Vicki seemed to be a supporting player so that there was someone in the political set in the office with Gene. The Vicki - Peter thread seemed more like background noise with Peter interested in the older, engaged woman. I suspect that Susan Scanell's departure in mid 1982 resulted in a some story shake up. Originally, when Gil Prescott was introduced, it looked like Gil and Lori were going to have a much deeper connection than what played out. The Gil and Russ rivalry initially involved Sheila, but I suspect would have led to Lori and maybe Marianne down the line. I think the Deena - Gil - Vicki stuff was the Barnes scrambling after the departure of Becky to create something big for the younger set. As you well know, most of this is all dropped (including Jill-Peter) fairly early in Vinley's run. Honestly, I would have killed off Vicki by the point I am at now (April, 1983) if not before. Kathryn King may not have invoked much sympathy from me, but I'm sure Peter's reaction would and possibly allow Nancy to have a moment of humanity realizing she has lost her only friend. Of course, I would also let this lead to Nancy trying to rekindle her friendship with Miriam with Miriam letting Nancy in. I think having Vicki dead when the revelation about the Cantebury Complex came out would have led to more problems for Marianne and Peter as having Vicki unable to defend herself, Peter might see the need to defend her honor against Nancy's accusations. The new actress is more natural in the role, but she has such a nasty edge to her that we seem to still heading in the wrong direction with her. Though, I feel like they are also chemistry testing Peter with Stacey Phillips as Peter says he's now considering journalism as a major. Going back to @YTG 's earlier comments about Paul Gleason, he does look younger when I focus on him. I am imagining him more as he looked in The Breakfast Club where I think his hair was more gray. I wonder what the original story was for Kate - Lee. In a recent episode, Sebastian Knight mentions Kennedy and Chappaquiddick. I wonder if that was the original plan with Lee's lover dying and seeing how that played out. Or maybe Lee himself was going to be murdered. I do think there were ways to do a lot ofthat is to come with slight variations in the story. Also, this early on, I wonder if they were considering Amber and Lee at all because I could see some chemistry between Woody and Gleason. Even a quiet CBS morning soap in the 1970s like Love of Life or Where the Heart Is might have tried that angle. Amber aborting Lee's baby would have also been incredibly messy. I'm not to surprised that you thought Blue might be Tony Cardello, or another child of Vince's. There is so much talk of Tony and Blue's backstory was given such a large amount of story space for someone who ends up dead in a few months. There is also aslot of homoerotic subtext to the Lance / Blue relationship that would suggest that Blue might have been gay Tony. Like Babs, Dave is introduced as someone (in this case Jeff's) cellmate). Jeff's charges were related to pornography being sold in the books store. I think it might have been bootleg VHS tapes, but it also may have been selling to minors. I remember it was college students who were looking to purchase the material. I appreciate hearing your point of view on the Kate Philips' trial. Everyone I have heard from loved it, so it's interesting to hear about some of the flaws. I wonder why they were so quick to drop Amber when it seemed like she had such a significant position on the canvas. I'm not looking forward to the recast of Gil, which I imagine I am fastly approaching. I was aware that Lee Tatum died during filming. I was very shocked, and saddened, to read that Kim Strong took his own life a year and a half after the show ended.

I forgot where I left off in my viewing so I picked up with 485. It was a good place to start as so many interesting things are going on. The biggest shock for me is how deep the writers are exploring the issues in the Lori / Blue story. As I had hoped, they really seem to be leaning into the idea that Lori might have an abortion, or is at least not taking care of herself because she believes Blue is the father of the child. This is such a complicated angle to take in an abortion story on a Christian soap opera. Lori is presented as not completely mentally well, but she also isn't villainized. There is an undercurrent that society's view of the mentally unwell makes the situation worse for people than it has to be. McLeod's plays the subtext fine without leaning into it to heavily, which avoids the moralizing. While Lori isn't the villain, and we know Lori won't go through with it, it's interesting that they are going there with Lori's thoughts on abortion. She wasn't raped, but she believes she is. The child isn't Blue's, but Lori believes it is. Ben is clearly fraught about it, but he is still giving Lori her bodily autonomy. This conflict, Lori's decision, drives the tension in Ben and Lori's marriage and it feels very natural that we would be heading to a breaking point for the two characters. Terry's role as mediator also keeps Mary Jean Feton busy. There was a nice scene between Dave and Ben where Dave starts sharing information with Ben that Dave had heard from Terry, assuming Terry had already spoken with Ben. When Dave's own history working in an abortion comes into play, Ben immediately rejects Terry and Dave's concern that Lori might be considering teriminating the pregnancy. Quickly, Ben starts to realize that Lori isn't the same woman he married after the attack. The characters' backstories are used to naturally drive the conflict in the story even if the over arching story may be a bit over the top. The best moment though has been the reunion between Lori and Miriam Carpenter now that Miriam has been returned after months of being held hostage by Lance, Blue, and Ron. Also, like I had hoped, Miriam brings up Blue to Lori and it is a wildly satsifying scene. Miriam's newfound understanding of Blue, Lori's closemindedness regarding Blue's past actions as they relate to her, and Lori and Miriam's own complicated history mesh together to deliver a powerful conversation between two people. Lori remains strong in her stance that Blue is a monster, while Miriam tries to get Lori to see that Blue suffered terribly in life through his childhood in foster care. In a pivotal moment, Miriam struggles to understand how Lori can forgive her (Miriam) so easily after all the terrible things that Miriam did to her, but not Blue. This leads to Lori's confession that she is carrying Blue's baby. It's really intense and well done. Miriam's return to continues to spider out in nice ways. Still believing the Redlons are responsible for her kidnapping, Charles insists his daughter stay away from them. Miriam makes it clear that the Redlons are her friends, and that she will not be kept from them. I appreciate this because those scenes of Mama Ione and her "daughters" Miriam and Babs were such warm scenes that may not have moved the plot, but enriched the storytelling by building such emotional ties between the characters. Another story is picking up the mantle in this direction, but in a slightly different way. The Phillips story is more and more making sense to me. On a show like Another Life, there always needs to be a family that has such a disrupted moral core that redemption and the hopes of reconciliation will drive the story. We saw it very early on with the Cummings, semi-completed with the Slaymakers, in an unfinished way with the Carpenters and the Prescotts, and now more so with the Phillips brood. The interactions at the penthouse with Kate and her polar opposite daughters Stacey and Amber Phillips make compelling viewing. Flowers are delivered to the residence and there is a big to do about who they are from. Kate suspects they are from Gil for Amber, Amber thinking that they are from Lee for Kate, and Stacey hoping they are for Kate, but from Dave. This immediately plays into the Lee-Kate-Dave triangle, but also emphasizing the ongoing tension between Amber and Stacey. Amber makes a brutal cut when she says that the flowers could easily have been for anyone in the apartment, except Stacey. In the meantime, Kate seems very torn. She seems to still have deep feelings for Dave, but she seems to think that the past is the past. There is a nice bit of gossiping between Kate and Stacey earlier about how Gil seems very interested in a cool, calm Amber. Of course, all of this coincides into the bigger moment, Dave's arrival at the penthouse to see Kate for the first time in years, unaware that Lee is there. Kate and Dave's reunion is tender and bittersweet with Kate later recalling the scene with her daughters saying that she felt more pity, than love, for Dave. Lee's presence also sets Dave off. They apparently were a part of the country club set together and have at least a passing knowledge of the other. Later, Dave recalls how in this moment he felt like he was in high school all over again. There's just such emotional richness in this story that it's hard not to stop what you are doing and watch. The fallout of this incident sets out to be heartbreaking; Dave decides he's going to wallow in his misery at the Castaway Bar. In a case of strange bedfellows, it is Nancy who cozies up to Dave hoping that they can connect on another level. It is broke, desperate Nancy who ends up stealing Dave's drink, not out of kindness but out of her own selfish desire. It's a nice resolution complete with some fun sniping at Nancy from Ernie the bartender who won't serve Nancy because she has a tendency to not pay her tabs. I don't hate the characterization for Nancy, but she is such a bigger character to be just floating around the canvas. Though, I think they mentioned a stockbroker Ben/Dan Myers so maybe her story is about to change. There is also some nice movement in the Monk story, finally. Carla and Gene have it out over Gene's desire to house Monk when Ione has offered to do the same. Gene makes it clear that he feels Monk needs a male role model, and that is something he wouldn't have on a daily basis at Ione's. It's an interesting point to make as Gene makes it clear he grew up without his father. The more surprising moment was the suggestion that Carla's concerns regarding taking in Monk aren't just about the fact that her new child will need stability that Monk is sure to disrupt, but that streetwise Monk doesn't fit into the surburban dream that Carla has been cultivating with her husband and children moving into Nora's old home. The hint of classism is a nice layer for Carla, who, under Kari Page, always seemed paper thin. Monk meets with the judge and is freed. It is nice to see this resolved after what has to be nearly seven months. I am not sure if Joe James was unavailable or the writers felt the other stories needed more space, but it was a shame to just stall this story over and over. There were some nice scenes and revelations in Russ' story. He is currently on the run because the police suspect he had a bigger role in the kidnapping than he did. Russ has hit up Peter for money and made a suggestion that Peter is going after Marianne. I was trying to figure out how this could play out with any real interest (Peter/Marianne) and I settled on Terry acting as the torn in their side knowing that Marianne hasn't given up on Russ. If Peter and Marianne were to be a couple, Terry would fear that Marianne would go back to Russ at some point and break Peter's heart. Also, Vicky's role in the Cantebury Complex report would certainly give Peter and Marianne different sides of the same issue to fight over as the outcome is sure to impact Prescott Development and their reputation. I also think the Peter / Gil friendship would be tested by Peter's interest in Marianne even if initially Gil might have been pleased to see Marianne move past Russ. In episode 490, Russ has found himself back at the warehouse where he killed Blue having invited Marianne to join him. Lance has tracked him down and I think I see where this is all heading and I'm ready for it.

I loved Laura Laigh Taylor as Vicki. I thought the uptight, no non-sense Vicki who worked with Gene and didn't have he time of day for Peter was a nice running gag. I also didn't hate it initially when her Vicki started seeing Gil after breaking things off with her fiance. I thought that was fine. The second actress (Kathryn King, I think) was just too big a departure in the role. In story, I could see how Vicki might have spiraled after going from a relatively reserved young woman to having been bedded by town mattress Gil Prescott, but I don't think King had the experience to embed the kind of emotional depth that one needed to keep Vicki from falling completely off the cliff into a shallow woman scorn. I was surprised to see how far into the year Vicki lasts. In an episode from the time of the murder, Vicki and Peter are engaged, I believe. I imagine her concluding story has something to do with the collapse of the Cantebury complex. @YTG Feel free to say whatever you want and not worry about the spoilers. I have been reading about Another Life since 1998 so there are lots of things I have and haven't read about the show. When I first stumbled upon soap opera message boards in that time period, I never expected to see as many shows as I have now. I know Sebastian's fate, which is why I mentioned in one of my last marathon posts that I was very surprised to see the writers have Lee state that one day Sebastian will go too far in his pursuit of political power. There are times I feel that Jason Vinley just redoes a lot of earlier stories, but with stronger emphasis on character and emotional fallout. For example, I have to wonder if the Russ joins the mob story was originally a part of Vinley's late 1970s Another Life bible. We get that very briefly in 1981 after Vince gets the doctor for Lori and Russ goes to work at the trucking company. As much as I love Russ' story in 1983 with the mob, Blue, and Lori, I really thought they could have drawn out Russ' work at the hospital longer, but I do see how critical Russ' role is in the overall tale. A lot of the Amber / Gil / Stacey stuff feels like much stronger version of the Deena / Gil / Vicki story that the Barnes were stringing together towards the end. Peter returning to the construction company seems like a reset, but I also wonder at what point Jason Vinley was asked to start watching episodes again because I want to say Dave #1's departure from the show is around the same time as Babs first appearance. You asked earlier about Dave's family when John Cardoza was in the role Dave's original (offscreen) exit was to go reconcile with his ex-wife/wife and I feel like Dave mentioned losing his family to his drinking, but I could be wrong about that. There were never any specifics given. I think the most substantial backstory relationship John Cardoza's Dave had was he had been friendly and worked with Dr. Alex Greely. I also think the abortionist angle was mentioned in 1981, but I'd have to review my posts for accuracy.

I’m very early in the Lee Carrouthers episodes. I have very little sense of the character overall. He has political ambitions, but Sebastian Knight’s ambition seems much grander. Gleason is charming as Lee, and, on a network series, I imagine the story would have been a Kate / Lee / Amber triangle in the traditional sense. Lee seems found of Kate, but ultimately, he is not a one-woman man. And that they have made very clear. I have seen a few episodes much later in the run, and they rarely seem to have the same energy I find in the current lot, even when I have caught stuff from the lead up to the murder of Kate. I will be curious how I feel about the show by January, 1984. I also question some things in the long run. I like Kelly Gwinn as Lance, the enforcer, but I don’t think that is a character that needed to live on after the end of the storyline involving the mob. I know there was some chemistry testing late in the kidnapping story, but Burnett was a strong enough actress that she could have carried a story with anyone. Given her history with Nancy, I think pairing them with the same man would have made sense. I know the fate of Paul Mason, but I do think they should have tried to reunite Paul and Miriam as I think there was mileage to play there even without Paul being endgame for Miriam. I feel like Vicki Lang may have outstayed her welcome. The third actress has come on and I really just don’t care about her story. I think the second actress was miscast, but having her allow the falsified soil report go through was the beginning of the end for the character. With Gil firmly enmeshed in the Amber story, I just don’t see the need for Vicki’s story to continue especially as they seem to be attempting to move Peter towards Marianne. The Dar Saalam bible story was Vinley’s favorite, but I don’t think that it is anything I’ll enjoy. It seems very plot heavy. The DOMI story is something I am looking forward to in the final year, but I can see how the supernatural twist could be viewed as an about face on a fairly serious show. For years, I thought the idea of Russ going to hell seemed hokey, but seeing the build up now, I am understanding the deeper emotional and spiritual ramifications of that act. I still am deeply moved by Blue’s final moments. I will be curious to see how I feel about the other Carpenter clan. I do really enjoy Miriam and Charles, while also thinking it would be nice if Helen popped in more often. I imagine Randy Kraft and Ginger Burnett were considering leaving which is why that branch was added, but they were introduced many months before either actor left. I have to wonder how much steam that part of the show lost with Peter Davidson departing a couple months before the cancellation. Nancy’s best days do seem behind her, but I saw a few scenes of her explaining why she was suing Ben Martin and it seemed logical. I do think at some point Terry was going to have to distance herself from Nancy after all the terrible things she did. I am also curious to see her relationship with Doug Hughes, who I really liked in his brief appearances in 1981 during the Hollister Square storyline. If only Mitch Dunbar could have returned as well.

It's been years since i've watched Paper Dolls, but I remember liking it for the most part. There was a ton of characters, but most seemed fairly well connected. There were too many layers. It probably should have just focused around Racine's agency. I think the pilot film had just Wesley in it, but not the rest of the Harper family. I would have dropped the Sara character (the lawyer who was sleeping with Rosco Borne's Mark Bailey and was Blair's pal) and I don't think Laurie's parents would have lasted into a second season. I think the show made a smart decision writing off Marjorie in the finale while building a Wesley / Colette / Grant triangle, though I don't remember having much interest in the story as it played out. I liked Laurie and the young man who had a salatacious past (he had done adult films I think). I thought Taryn and John Waite was fun. I saw a handful of episodes of Berrengers. I liked the Julian Morell/ Julio Morales story. I thought Robin Strang's character seemed interesting, but didn't do much from what I recall. The French model (Laurel Hayes?) didn't work as well I think they hoped it would. It would seem both the other primetime soaps we have talked about lately (Executive Suite and Beacon Hill) also struggled with that.

@YTG Welcome back! I was unaware Bob Turnbull had appeared in those lost episodes. I was able to solve the mystery, though. He played Lorring Chase, Mandy's married lover.

@Paul Raven I don't think Rebecca Hollen is a bad choice. I was trying to think about an actress who could embody Laine's ability to operate in a man's world, while also embracing their feminity in a way that bordered on manipulative. The best option I could come up with was Brynn Thayer, but I don't see her jumping ship from One Life to Live to go to the much lower rated Search for Tomorrow. I figured someone like Lisby Larson was more likely to be cast, but Hollen seems better. I don't dislike Stephen Burleigh the way others do. I haven't seen much of Dr. Mike Powers, but he seemed fine opposite Hilary Bailey Smith in the few episodes I saw. I enjoyed him enough in some of his sleazier roles, Ian Cox, the arrogant philandering lawyer husband of Andrea Hall's alcoholic Virginia Cox and father of two teen girls on Tribes, and as Rhonda's sexual predator boyfriend who had abused Karen on General Hospital. If Burleigh wasn't available, I would probably lean towards Richard Bekins as Gary.

MyNetworkTV was learning from the mistakes and the 3rd set of shows were stronger. It was a relatively new format for English language production companies. It took a while to find the groove. By the third set, they had eliminated most of the flashback sand a good amount of the recap episodes. I think they realized the importance of story. I also think the last set were written by headwriters who had written for the other novelas on the network and had a better understanding of where they wanted to go. I think the source material for "Fashion House" may have been just no exciting enough. Initial, the writing on the shows was non-union because the network and production company were designating the writers "translators." This went on I think through the production of "Fashion House" because Tony Tripoli, who played on of the designers, had a blog and said he was asked to write a script or two and hated the process. So it was a good way to do something which others might have avoided. Later, all the writers were unionized as I recall. I wouldn't be surprised if they were short on material. It also remember them saying they initially did the flashbacks because they knew most wouldn't watch every night and they wanted them to stay up to date. "Fashion House" didn't have enough story, whereas "Desire" had too many characters and plots from what I vaguely remember. I also think part of the issue in the beginning was the choice of stories. Some of the shows were rather obscure while others were also being adapted either right before or during/after the show. I think "Amar Sin Limites" was telling the same story as "Watch Over Me" at the same time. "La Heredera" may have aired a few years before "American Heiress." Novelas tend to kill off a lot of characters from my limited experience. As I vaguely recall, the "action" novelas fell under the "Secret Obsessions" banner and tend to have a high body count.

I think the original plan was to syndicate the show(s) under the umbrella Desire. I think originally Table for Three as the first show and Fashion House was to be the second. Fox TV was going to be the production company. I'm not sure when Stu Segall Productions became involved, but I know they were the ones that were producing the final product and had a history of producing shows under budget but looking halfway decent. When the CW emerged when UPN and WB folded, there were all these stations that were up for grabs. I believe the plan for MyNetworkTv was very hastily thrown together to try to grab those stations. One of the problems was they mostly landed the lower rated UPN affiliates who's ratings bottomed out from what I recall. In addition, the novelas were a bust and in some metered markets were registering a 0.0 with no viewers. There were a small handful of markets, Miami among them, where the novelas did well based on having a large population of people familiar with the format as well as additional promotion done locally. Even in the "successful" markets, they weren't competing with any of the other networks. I don't think Secret Obsessions emerged until the arrival of MyNetworkTV. The Secret Obsessions banner was what Fashion House, Wicked, Wicked Games, and I think Saints & Sinners aired under. The ident can be seen in their logo, but I might be wrong on what show was under what label. I lived in New Hampshire at the time as I was in college and for a while, there was no Boston affiliate for MyNetworkTV lined up and a Fox affiliate out of Boston made it clear they were interested in airing the shows from 1-3 in the afternoon. So there were Fox markets that wanted a daytime component.

@Paul Raven I just don't think they were going to cast an actress in her 40s to play Patti. When you are casting 30 something Domini Blythe as the romantic rival of Jo's ex husband the show is going younger. Now, do I think they could have cast a 30 something person who could have played older? Yes. Scultz wasn't only too young, she appeared young. A slightly more mature actress in the same age range would have been more effective. Do you have anyone you would have cast in the role? The infrastructure simply wasn't there in late 1985 when Patti was reintroduced for the hospital focus, but that's not to say they couldn't have rebuilt it. I would have started with the Riverfront Clinic where Angela Bassett's Selina McCulla worked and then slowly shifted things back to the hospital. Even By late 1985, the clinic wasn't present but had been earlier in the year. By late 1986, I think there were more emphasis towards the hospital reemerging with Jack Bett's David Glenn and the younger set considering medical careers (Evie and Jerry, I believe). I like the Kendalls overall more than the McClearys, but I do think of them in terms of getting Peter Haskell back as Lloyd and some solidplaying Martin to make them viable. Which, given the youth emphasis, was highly unlikely. For me, the McClearys are more of a problem in the Addie Walsh / Pam Long era when you have Evie with Cagney and Quinn with Kat because they are so disconnected from the core. Even at the Kendalls worst (Chase / Adair / Alec triangle), the original story was tied to the bigger canvas (Adair having baby Elan by one of the brothers and abandoning it to be raised by Liza) before the connective tissue (Elan's parentage) was changed. In a sense, the Kendalls replaced the Adamsons and another well off family could have come in and been integrated without much harm. Maybe have Estelle remarry. I know I've read Gary Tomlin had planned to bring back Gary in 1986 and pair him with Sunny, which is why we ended up with Craig Walton for the summer. I wonder if the plan wasn't to bring on Laine in 1986 to as part of the revitalization of Henderson after the flood as I believe Adamson had a construction division or were a construction company. I think there were a multitude of angles that could have been revisited and weren't. @VelekaCarruthers Funny, I don't think Louan Gideon's accent bothered me because I always heard a hint of it in Sherry Mathis.

I thought the Nazi stuff made sense towards the end, but I wasn't really watching much of it throughout. It played in the background. The vampire stuff was awful. Wasn't E Street doing some more sensational storylines around the same time like the Mr. Bad serial killer plot? I think Chances clearly goes much farther, but I could see how in the cultural climate that some of Chances might have seemed like it was attention grabbing.

I watched another 9 episodes this weekend. It takes a bit for me to get back into this, but when I do, I enjoy it. A good bulk of the story surrounds the continuation of the fallout of Javier Fernandez's death. While I hate the dead gay character trope, this all is decently done. The show is several weeks out from Javier's death and it still guides so much. Rosario's grief has landed her in therapy where she has fallen in love with her therapist. It's not my favorite story, but Rosario spiraling is and this seems like something she would do. I do wish there was more internal conflict within Rosario / Roberto's marriage over the emotional affair, but I know how this all ends so I imagine it may have been subtext. The therapist thread ends very quickly and Rosario (conveniently) recovers from the moment as if she had just had to deal with a bad hair day. While this is annoying, I did find the follow up in the story rather well played. Bunny, who still owns part of Giorgio's, has sent word through the Costa del Sol grapevine that he has no intentions of returning and wants to sell his part of the restaurant. Because Freddie has been so helpful, Roberto is hoping that he will buy out Bunny. While Freddie enjoys the idea, Freddie is not financially in a place to do so. This question of ownership lingers and is nice day to day fodder to build into the bigger conflict. On a visit to a sick patient, Roberto seems visibly uncomfortable as the sick man is being cared for by his male lover. As Roberto attempts to slip out quickly, he stumbled upon a photo of the couple and Roberto's son, Javier. A shocked Roberto asks how they know him and they say that they were friends with Javier. And if Roberto knows Javier, he must know the Englishman... Freddie. This leads to the big confrontation, which happens when Roberto drives Fredide off into the country to confront him in a tower (which I believe was previously featured during Pilar's kidnapping by the SIngh brothers). The confrontation itself is weak. The dialogue skirts around calling Javier, which I assume is in part a sign of the times and in part due to Roberto's unease at the conversation. Roberto even brings up Paco, which was the codename that everyone used for Freddie's mysterious Saturday night dinner partner. Roland Curram has done particularly well in all leading up to this (there was a nice near miss at Javier's grace and one where Rosario found Freddie there). I find Franco Rey less convincing because I feel like Roberto isn't this type of character for the big confrontation. I'm not sure which of the Fernandezes I would have wanted to discover this. I would have written it as a more of a betrayal because of Roberto and Freddie's growing closeness in the wake of Javier's death. I don't know. I'll be curious to see how everyone else reacts. In another good story, Rosemary and Stanley Webb are about to get remarried, but Stanley is driving all over to get the paperwork in order only to slide off the road and be missing for nearly a day. Everyone assumes that Stanley has done a runner, and Rosemary even goes through Stanley's address book and discovers a bunch of names that she's never heard of. It is a nice little story because we know the outcome, but Rosemary's suspicions aren't unwaranted. Together with Drew, she finds Stanley on the side of the road and manages to get the medical services to treat him. In the wake of the accident, Stephen Law (Rosemary's son) returns to the Costa del Sol in order to seek solace and refuge as his marriage continues to disintegrate back home. Stephen is a nice comfort for Rosemary and a delightful diversion for the ever bored Isabelle De Luc. I'm less interested in the show's gangster characters Alex Morris and Marcus Tandy, though I do appreciate that the shift in their stories is more romantic. Alex is reconnecting with Trish, the lounger singer, and we get a bit of backstory how she was a rising star and he was just a young punk. It's not a bad background, but I am not sure if this is what I would want for Trish. Meanwhile, Pilar and Marcus' relationship is deteriorating, which I am kinda happy for. Marcus and Pilar reminded me of when I watched EastEnders on PBS in the late 1990s or early 2000s and you had Phil and Tiffany. Just a toxic relationship that is not super fun to watch play out. Pilar has gone home and has reconnected with a man, Sergio, while keeping Marcus in the dark. I don't hate it. In addition, Alex spilled the beans that he and Marcus were so close Alex was best man at Marcus' wedding. A lot of characters are travelling. As previously stated, Pilar is off to her local to be with her family. Olive King has gone off to Jerusalem, but not before a showdown with both Gwen Lockhead and Marcus Tandy over Tandy's influence over Gwen's son Blair. Blair had been frequenting Marcus' health spa which was a cover for a brothel. When the show started, Olive was an ornery individual, but she has softened quite a bit. I think this sorta a situation is perfect for her because she is clearly overstepping, but she does seem to care about Blair. In addition, when Marcus shows her everything is on the up and up (its not, but he managed to convince her it was), Olive was repetent. Gwen gets snappy at Olive, and I am not sure who to root for. A broke Blair keeps thinking about stealing tourists goods while also trying to land a night with an older prostitute. Gerry has left Los Barcos for Morocco with Wilkie, as her paid companion. Wilkie is always a character who is praised and she is neat. She clearly is living in the past thinking she is still the person she was before she lost it all. There is a rather downtrodden moment where Wilkie goes to the hotel bar where she always stays, greets the waiter Fayed and asks for her regular, and he has no clue what that is. It seems that she is living in denial and its all quite tragic. I was hoping to continue my journey, but I have noticed I misplaced the last disc with the final three or four episodes and I'm a bit at a loss. I'm sure it'll turn up because I remember watching a bit to see how things were going at the end, but I have no clue presently where I placed it.