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Julia Barrett as a construct is interesting. Groomed to be her father's successor, she has an Electra complex that manifests itself into a relationship with men who are very much like her father (Bill, Ned), who having a level of business accumen who respect her own business sense enough to partner with her in the boardroom, and the bedroom, but rarely let her be in control of the situation. Bill killing Harlan adds a near Oedipal twist on it with Bill as the pseudo son killing the tyrannical father that complicates the relationship with the daughter he loves. Throw in the complicated dyanmic with Julia and Sly, the loss of Nancy seems to cause him to attach himself to his father's girlfriends even once Bill has passed them over. I'll be curious to see her relationship with A.J., which is set up quite nicely in May, 1993, between A.J. resolving the Nikki scenario so taht he can move on and Dominique's death propelling Julia to recognize her own desire to have a grand love like Dominique and Scotty. If Labine didn't join the show, I am curious if Julia had more mileage in her. With Riche's interest in exploring more modern issues, I could easily see Julia becoming artificially inseminated to raise the child on her own only to have to rectify her position in the business world and how society views women executives raising children. Here's where Julia mentions having a sister. I think Harlan may have mentioned having daughters early on to Tracy during a conversation about his family. A Monty-less GH between her two stints falls into the trap that "Days of our Lives" fell into between the two Reilly stints. There is a desperate attempt to maintain that energy that Monty 1.0 brought to the table without all the flourishes. Hardy and Palumbo's GH doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table in a positive way. Casey the Alien was a flop. Dawn and Decker fail to ignite becasue you rotate through 3 Dawns and Michael Watson's film career. The domestic stuff with the long term characters was great. Scotty / Tracy. Lucy / Alan. Tony / Bobbie / Lucas. Harrison / Simone / Tom. Ned / Wendy. Rita Lloyd Jones. The big stories though just never really worked. There was definitely a shake up needed, but I think the other issue is Monty wasn't willing to give up the 1980s like she claimed she did. The Cartel is very Monty circa 1983. Connor the singer as the new Frisco Jones. Even Dominique #1 and Mac were more super couple of the 1980s. Shows rarely can make those revamps work without continuing some of the stories that were in place to a lesser extent. Throwing every story out the window was a mistake. I would have continued the Lucas story at least several more months with a mini-custody trial. By then, Lynn Herring would have been back from maternity and you could revamp up the revenge plot involving Lucy going after Alan for his involvement in her baby's death and playing into Alan's own plot to hurt Rick and Monica, which had already been alluded to in January, 1991. Also, Monty was shopping a Portland based soap opera within a year of her return to GH. Grafting elements on from failed soap bibles doesn't always pan out. I think recasting most of the Eckerts would have helped a little, but the characters were paper thin. Grover's version and Levinson's version, both very different, of Angela Eckert were much more appealing than the original. Offing Fred was a smart move. I don't know when they figured out the direction for Jenny, but it started to gel with the Paul / Jenny / Ned / Tracy story.

I missed Diane Delano's death. I really thought her work on "Popular" was stellar. Didn't she also appear on "Days of our Lives" in 2008-2009 when Rafe and Sami were the in the safe house as a FBI agent who was partnered with Rafe or just assigned to the case?

I felt it worked for a certain vision of the character. A man who made his money going after other people's stuff lost at sea. Someone who was a bit of new money who still was at heart just a rough around the edges working class guy. At least, that's where I imagined they were going with him in the limited stuff I've seen. In some ways, Cole reminded me of an earlier character. He was played by Alan Feinstein. He was involved with Bobbie briefly and was the father of one of the younger characters who appeared occassionally. Someone who might have been a bigger player based on the romantic ties and the actor involved, but someone who just didn't work out for one reason or another. I could have sworn the Brenda references to her being away skiing were from late 1991. I really enjoy 1992, but I haven't seen much of early Brenda. I did go back and watch the episode that curlyqgrl has listed as mentioning Brenda (December 23, 1991). Julia is talking to a Brenda on the phone, but it isn't clear exactly how Brenda is connected to Julia. I might do a little more research when things slow down because I think it might have been after Christmas and before New Years when Julia explains Brenda is away. I would have enjoyed a pairing with Julia and Joseph C. Phillip's Justus Ward as power players who are working together against Ned and the Quartermaines to gain control of the company just as Jenny Hornsby becomes vengeful after the death of her husband, Paul, at the hands of some business deal that the Qs were involved in. Cody is such an odd character. Given how much of the end of Dominique's life impacted Lucy, the fact there is no Lucy / Cody connection is annoying. I really would enjoy a Julia / Cody relationship especially if it threatened Lucy. The final couple of months of Monty 2.0 through Riche's era before Labine has been a real joy to discover. Monty definitely seemed to be recognizing that she needed to readjust and finally found a vision that I think would have been interesting longterm with the addition of Linda Grover. Given Monty's propensity for turnover in 1991, I am not sure how long it would have lasted. Early Riche is just really fun even if its mostly just characters going about their business with only loose story threads keeping it all together. The cast was strong enough to carry that sort of day to day writing even without the big story that would come later under writers like Bill Levinson. Early 1990s "General Hospital" is like an elevated "Loving" of the same period with so many shifts in the control seat with each iteration being so wildly different at times and yet mostly enjoyable. In watching pre-Labine, it is just very clear that Riche was a true visionary still managing to get the kind of show she wanted even before Labine. Levinson had guided, I believe, "Loving" for a period after Marland's departure through a very seedy storyline involving a former prostitute being led to believe her long lost daughter was in the care of child pornographers. The fact that Levinson's work doesn't completely teeter over the edge (though it gets pretty close) speaks volumes of Wendy Riche.

Brenda is definitely mentioned in December, 1991. The curlyqgrl summaries state Julia mentioned her sister Brenda around Christmas. I thought she was mentioned slightly earlier at the time of Harlan's funeral, but given the reference I remember (Brenda was off skiing) it's possible the reference was to Brenda skipping out on Christmas, and not her father's funeral. I imagine Kelly (Brenda) Barrett of summer of 1991 would have been involved in some sorta quad with A.J. and maybe Joey Moscini and Ava Eckert (if she also being introduced, but I don't know if she was for sure). If I recall correctly, Bill Levinson and Maralyn Thoma very early in their run lay the groundwork for Julia and Ned which sorta solidified Julia's direction once it was decided that Holly and Bill would be the long story. I think Brenda and Jason would have been the easier route to go with Julia's connection to the Q world. I also suspect that given more time Levinson more than likely would have tried Brenda with A.J. and / or Ned. The Barretts introduction in 1991 is interesting. Monty insists on the large working class Eckert clan and then also introduces a more "realistic" Quartmaine clan by having the Qs facing financial ruin again. I know @j swift article state how suave Harlan was suppose to be but I felt he was more rough around the edges due to his career field. I think Tracy and Harlan might have been the plan at some point before it was decided that Harlan was going to be in the Cartel, which I would hope wasn't the original plan.

I am sorry to hear that Michael Cole passed. Harlan was a part of the Monty II revamp that I haven't given much attention to or spent much time on because he has appeared so little in my sporadic viewing of 1991. Given the rocky nature of Monty's second run, Cole probably didn't have much of a chance. He's definitely a more rugged businessman than daytime was traditionally putting forward in terms of being more salt of the earth man of the sea who happened to make lots and lots so of money from salvaging. I think there was somewhere to explore with that, but I am not sure they properly did. I can't imagine that the Cartel angle was part of the original Monty II outline so I am not surewhat hope he had once things feel apart rating wise so early into Monty's return. I wonder what would have happened if Monty hadn't gotten rid of him before she left. If Harlan had managed to survive a few more months and been around at the start of Riche's run. Would Riche also have dumped him or could Harlan have usurped some of the role that Romero and Halifax did in the Bill / Holly story?

I'm pretty sure there is a list early in this thread of all the episode descriptions. Those descriptions aren't on the actual episodes. The scripts are just numbered "N.D.E. #133" for episode 33 from season 1. The picture gives a little more detail about the Biff spies on Pam and Biff plot point. At the time, Miranda Stevens was having an affair with her nephew's friend, Clint Masterson. Additionally, Clint's father Melvyn Masterson had been an old flame of Miranda's. By this point in the story, Miranda has begun to suspect that Clint is cheating on her and asks her nephew / surrogate son, Biff Lewis, to spy on Clint. Biff finds Pam Evans and Clint having an affair. Around the same time, Pam had been seeing Greg, Biff's brother and Clint's best friend. Miranda gets her revenge by seducing Pam in the Lewis swimming pool in the much talked about lesbian scene in the show. Betty's tragic news hasn't ever completely come to light for me, but I suspect it might have to do with her husband, Joe Parker, who I believe was presumed dead but wasn't.

I've binged a bunch of May 1993. I'm now up to Felicia chasing Ryan around in her ghoul makeup throughout General Hospital. Sweeps were such fun back in the day. So many of the smaller moments/climaxes are enjoyable. Julia staring at Dominique's picture as it is taken down at the spa and getting emotional about it was an unexpected surprise. The revelation that pill popping Tiff cannot have any more pills because she is pregnant was a nice twist that has upended the Jessica / Sean affair. I didn't realize that Jessica was such an emotional trainwreck. There's a lovely Jessica / Felicia showndown where a bitter Jessica wants to end the haunting of Ryan caper as vengeance for Sean impregnanting his own wife and Felicia ties Jessica to a chair! Though, this isn't as good as Lucy deciding to put the same baby supplies up in the attic only to stumble upon Felicia and faint. Such a great moment. I've just ended Nikki's return arc at her Malibu beach house. We hear Nikki's husband on the answering machine calling her, but we don't get a name. She's only known the guy a month. There is no mention of her being pregnant so I don't know if that was a real thing or is revealed down the line. I cannot imagine why. Nikki's return is a decent and necessary beat to get AJ back on track and off the wagon. The only thing I didn't like was a line of dialogue suggesting that Nikki had been poor as if for a long time when the Langtons had a decent amount of money to put her in a boarding school as David was a fundraiser for a non-profit I believe. Dom's funeral was a nice, quiet event. I forgot that they claimed Regina Bell's song was based on Dominique's poem. The reading of Dom's will left several nice bequeathments to General Hospital as well as season tickets to Sly Eckert, which I thought was a cute little moment. The Audrey/Ryan arc is shaping up nicely. They have had Audrey involved in the gaslighting for weeks and now that they've entered the route of having Felicia impersonate Ryan's mother, it all becomes very complicated. During one of Ryan's meltdowns, Audrey tells Ryan how disappointed she is in his behavior and Ryan cowers. And as Sean explains more and more of the dynamic between Ryan and his mother, it's becoming clear that we are mimicking the dynamic a bit with Audrey Hardy. There's some movement in the Victoria / Bill stuff with Victoria seeing Tony about surgery to restore her sight, but I don't enjoy this stuff except for some of the music cues. Karen and Jagger have also lost some steam. I thought that Jagger attacking Frank, Karen's mom's boyfriend, was going to have more of an impact on the story than it did. Oh well. I think the Jagger-Paul dynamic is nice. Riche / Levinson do a nice job fleshing out the community with a lot of these relationships. Paul is now Scott's law partner, which is an interesting move. Now that Tracy has set up Paul, I see why Labine dumps Paul and Jenny. All there story is tied up in Tracy. I enjoy Jenny more as time goes on, but given her roots I can definitely see why some were ok with seeing her go. Paul Satterfield is serviceable as the good guy even though I mostly know him from his darker roles. The end of sweeps story has started with a confrontation between Tracy and Jenny in the parking garage at the Port Charles Hotel. It ends with an erratic Tracy accidentally running over Jenny. The set up isn't terrible, but I am curious whether it was suppose to be intentional or not. Eliot plays it like Tracy was just driving crazy and happened to hit Jenny, but I cannot help but wonder if Levinson intended it to be more intentional. The energy in all of this stands out. Rarely a dull moment as there still are tons of quiet moments in the scripts. I think the show was in a good place structurally by the time Labine takes over if not in terms of specific story.

I am not sure if the Julia murder thread was ever picked up, but here it is: In the flashback, Julia is seen murdering Chris with a letter opener and then Harlan tells the cops that he found Chris trying to stab Julia so he wrestled with him and Chris ends up falling on the knife. I imagine the flashback is two fold: (a) to show how far Harlan would go for Julia to emphasize the loss she's feeling and (b) gives Julia the reason that should would be willing to forgive Bill for killing her father. This is only a few episodes after Linda Grover was added to the writing team so this might have never been picked up because there was not enough time to repair Julia and Bill in Grover's brief tenure. I have had no use for Brenda for most of what I've seen of her in 1993. Now that she's working as Lila's secretary, she's much more tolerable and occassionally enjoyable. I think the big issues for the first months of her run was that her story space was so limited and it just meant so much of her actions were about hurting Karen or trying to win over Jagger. There have been some nice Brenda scenes with AJ, Jason, and Ned as of late in my viewing. Harlan came on as the salvager of the S.S. Tracy because the Maritime Commission was charging the Quartermaines daily for not raising the wreck. Harlan negotiated a better deal than they wanted. In the first few weeks, it was all a lot of business dealings without much personal stuff. Harlan was definitely more rugged and laidback than I would expect, but this was definitely a man of means. Something I gleaned from watching the Men of Loving Interview was that Randolph Mantooth enjoyed the laid back and frat boy atmosphere of his Joseph Stuart/Joseph Hardy days at "Loving." I cannot imagine that Wendy Riche ran that kind of ship so I could see how he wouldn't enjoy the backstage environment. Also, his character was a stock type in the early Riche era. He basically was a replacement for Frank Runyeon's Simon Romero. His story was definitely limited.

In the limited, scattered Harlan material I've seen so far, he's not been a character who interested me. I found him more interesting dead, than alive, though there was an odd little story brewing in early 1992, after he died, being told in flashbacks about how Julia was nearly raped as a teenager and the man died with Harlan either taking the rap for Julia or something along those lines. It was during the brief Linda Grover/Norma Monty period. I'm not even sure if it was fully resolved. I don't know where it was going, but it intrigued me. Truthfully, it's hard to overlook Harlan as a member of the consortium. For Bill and Julia, I liked them as sorta friendly rivals with each knowing they sorta loved each other but never enough to make it work. Julia's relationship with Sly was also nice, but it became the standard for every Bill relationship that Sly would like the last woman that Bill had dated. Bless Marcil because Levinson's Brenda is way too often paper thin and rarely given any depth. Maybe Harlan would have generated more empathy for the character, but Brenda is such a hostile character in that first year without much softness or heart. The Cates family situation is how I remember it with mom abandoning them with Jagger before running off with her new boyfriend. It was told with one of those sepia flashbacks I think. I don't remember any references to the father, but I'll be curious to see what is said when Ray Conaway arrives and is given more story space than some of the other adult males in the younger set stories. I agree. The Nikki / child story would have been a retread after the Carly / Michael story. In a more nuanced version of Levinson's "General Hospital," Nikki could have continued to play A.J. and Eric Simpson against one another while continuing to build a relationship between Eric, Monica, and Alan where A.J.'s animosity towards Jason's success could have been transferred to the preferred pseudo-son Eric. Then, when Nikki returns with a kid, she could claim it was A.J. even though it was Eric's, and A.J. would know because he is so obsessed with her that he just lets it slide only to have to have his own personal reckoning when it happens to him later with Carly and Michael. Jenny was establihsed as a virgin in January, 1992. It was in a scene where Ned tries to initiate sex on the couch in the apartment Jenny shared with Amy, Sheila, Meg, and Eric. I know Jenny isn't one of your favorites, but here is the scene: The Kensington stuff doesn't start until September/October, 1992 so that nearly 9 months, an EP, and 3-4 writing teams later. My guess is that when Levinson and/or Thoma pitched the story, someone remembered Jenny claimed she was a virgin and then they addressed the potential continuity error. When Ned confronts Jenny, Jenny tells her mother Angela, popping in on one of her recurring visits from this era, that Ned was more mad about the lying saying she was from a family of liars, basically referring to Bill though Levinson's Angela is a manipulative matriarch with social ambitions behind her own modest background. That scene can be seen her if, again, you have morbid curiousity to see your favorite Jenny: I think I first heard about this in Riche's interview with WeLoveSoaps. I'll include the excerpt less for you (who have probably read it), but for others who might not: I wanted to do a story about AIDS when I first got to GH. AIDS was on the rise, a non-discriminating disease that didn't care who it attacked. I felt it was an issue of great importance and wanted to find a way to interface many of the characters of Port Charles with the hospital. At first, I thought it could be a story for A.J. Quartermaine. I thought, what would happen if A.J. had another drunken night in college, one of many, and explore what would happen when a friend, a male friend, from college shows up at the Quartermaine mansion wanting A.J.'s help since his family threw him out because he had AIDS. And A.J. doesn’t remember who had sex with who, and what he did during so many drunken orgies. They could have both had sex with a woman who was a drug addict. The intention was not to make them gay, but the implication might have stirred up a lot. We could have asked, “Why does everyone care so much if he was gay? Why does he care? How would Edward Quatermaine react and what would Lila do to bring the family back together?” We could have looked at it all. But it wasn’t about being gay, I didn’t want to be, “Oh those gay people, of course they screw around so much...” of some B.S. like that. AIDS is a non-discriminating disease, it doesn't care who you are are or what your sexuality is. If you do stupid things, have unprotected sex, you risk getting it. If we had done it with a gay character we would not have gotten the message of urgency across. So the intention was to have a smart person who was not gay but made stupid choices get AIDS. I didn’t have Claire at the time, and I don’t know if Claire would have even wanted to do it that way, but the network did not want to do that story. They didn’t want A.J. to be in question of having AIDS, or maybe not being 100% heterosexual, they just didn’t want to go there because he was a Quartermaine, which of course, is exactly why I wanted to go there. I believe Tom is written out in May, 1997. I remember looking it up when I was pondering whether or not they could have used Tom and Simone to launch "Port Charles" as it would have given more viability to having Rachel Ames appear over there.

It was more than a one night stand. Scott and Tracy were involved for most of 1990. It wasn't a serious romantic relationship, but they were essentially lovers and partners in crime while he was working as chief counsel at ELQ after blackmailing Alan with evidence that he helped Lucy get rid of Victor Jerome's body. If I recall, Tracy was trying to find out what evidence Scott had, but the sorta fell into a defacto couple. I also believe that Scott was Tracy's date to Ned and Dawn's wedding as Lee and Gail learn that Scott and Tracy are involved. Scott and Tracy had a pleasant rapport and it was a nice dynamic. They had a nice banter. There was a very loose quad between Tracy / Scotty / Lucy / Alan which ended in the uncredited Gloria Monty period of 1991 when Tracy learned Scott was the father of the baby. I don't even remember if Scott and Tracy "break up," or just stop spending time together.

Cwikly and Brash made her a cop/ISA agent. Given how much Rinna complained about having to wear that uniform from her early 2000s run, Cwikly would be a much bigger person than me to welcome her back. Though, with how Thaoo Penghlis keeps coming back after all he says about the show, anything is possible.

Thanks! It's very interesting watching pre-Labine Riche era "General Hospital." Hardy's year wasn't spectacular, but there were things I enjoyed, couples that were interesting, and the cast was fairly stable in terms of who was front and center. Monty II starts with a bang but there is just no energy to keep me going in 1991. I suspect things will get better in the summer when the first Eckert reset occurs, but even then there are only some story characters I am interested in seeing (early AJ and Nancy Eckert), but not really any story until Harlan dies. The Bill-Julia dynamic is interesting once Harlan is dead. I'll get back there eventually once I can get all of 1992. I think Mary Mae's presence was a big part of what I enjoyed when I watched the first part of 1995. The dynamic between the Wards and the Quartermaines was very intricate and I wish more was done with the Charles Street storyline. Kevin's presence in the episode felt important. I believe Kevin had just helped Stone to accept his dyslexia diagnosis right before he learned he was HIV+. I thought that was an interesting relationship. I struggled a bit with Sonny being the one to question where Stone's parents were given that Sonny did truly care for Stone, but Sonny did not really help Stone avoid the path he was on. With that said, I can only imagine that Stone's mother would have made Rhonda Wexler look like a saint. The Nikki-AJ story is just such a by product of all the turnover between 1991-1992 with writers and producers coming and going. A.J.'s arrival isn't great from what I have seen. He mostly seems to be annoying about Monica and Alan being divorced and using their divorce as the reason he was a jerk. I suspect the Montys were going to do a triangle between A.J., Nurse Sheila, and Joey Moscini, but they dropped Joey when the Eckerts flopped and the ratings collapsed. So A.J. ends up in fling with cougar Nancy Eckert and then sorta falls into a triangle wiht Sheila and Eric Simpson. The last triangle is how I imagine a lot of late run Monty I teen stories played out with a lot of younger characters with no ties to the canvas. Nikki and David Langton seem to be something Linda Grover cooked up in her very brief time on the show. I think revisiting Dawn was a smart move and this was a way of not only not bringing her back from the dead, but providing the show with a young schemer. Though, I am unclear what the original plan for Nikki was as that period of Norma Monty is very scattered. Riche seems to kill off David immediately without even playing the real that Dawn was David's father. It's a very unique decision that I sorta love, but also sorta hate at the same time. Nikki moving into he Quartemarine home and pursuing the law suit against Monica and GH is fun from what I've seen. Nikki departs in Ocotber just as Marlayn Thoma exits. The next few months are choppy (but still compelling)and everything seems to reset around January/February. I don't get what they are doing with AJ in early 1993 unless this was when Riche was trying to get them to do the HIV storyline. I don't think I've seen any of the Jenny was a virgin stuff, but that sounds up Levinson's alley. I wonder if that wasn't a way of backtracking as I imagine that might have been brought up earlier before the Kensington plot. I amnot really sure what the point of the dead baby was, but I suspect part of the story was to justify Julia and Ned sleeping together. Ned and Julia are fun, but they aren't an endgame couple. Nikki was suppose to be a dead ringer for Dawn so I think there was certainly an angle to explore there if they continued to build up the A.J. / Ned rivalry. And Tracy wasn't a Nikki fan so that element could have been addressed down the line. I think they could have revealed the baby Nikki was carrying in 1993 was A.J's and that would have provided drama for some time. However, I should be happy someone like Guza didn't bring her back and reveal the baby was Alan's because that seems to be the level of filth that the Qs were enduring post-Riche. Thanks. I didn't really come into GH until the last few years and started with random scattering of 1993 episodes. It's very neat watching an era where a majority of the big couples are gone and the show is required to be a truer ensemblele than in other years. I can pop inot any 1992-1993 episode and be pretty engaged.

I did end up watching the final days of Dominique (April 28-May 4, 1993). Wendy Riche produced some of the best deaths in daytime. Dom's death takes a very different structural approach than Stone's. First off, the story opens the Sweeps period rather than ending it and takes place at the end of an episode on a Tuesday. The episodes leading up to Dom are more emotional (IMO) than the last episode of her life, which is a very interesting strategic decision. The final days of Dominique feature so many just beautiful character beats that make the impending demise of this bright, vibrant young woman even more heartbreaking. The decision to pair Dom's dying with Lucy's decision to carry Scott and Dominique's child is such a smart decision. In story, Dominique wants Scott to have something to look forward to after she's gone, but it also keeps the audience from deep diving into all the possible misery that presents itself. There are some really nice moments in those final days Dominique makes a video with Lucy for their unborn baby. In the hospital, Dominique informs Gail and Lee that she has decided that the baby (no matter the gender) will have Lee as a middle name as long as they are ok with that. Julia's final visit to Dominique highlights not only Dom's spirit but Dom's hope in Julia's resilience as she continues to face her man problems. There is also Lucy's final gift to Dominique: convincing Tony to do an ultrasound of the baby even though the likelihood that they will detect the child is minimal all so that Dominique can see the baby before she passes. The Lucy / Dominique relationship is one of my favorites. Through Dom/Lucy, I understand why Lynn Herring has been such a beloved figure. Herring delivers some powerful non-verbal performances especially in the moments after Dominique dies when she enters General Hospital as Scott carries Dom's lifeless body to the nurses station. In that moment, all of Lucy's pain and isolation reads on Herring's face and the impact that Dom, the one person who might comfort Lucy in this sort of situation, is gone resonates. Later, Lucy pleads with God in another moment that Herring manages to blend the humor and the heartbreak seemlessly. The episode after Dominique dies is beautiful. The transition shots from Dominique's death to the flowers to Meg looking down at them from Dominique's room at General Hospital while Amy cleans up in the background is stunning. The shots of the staff reacting to Dominique's demise (which isn't confirmed yet, but it's obvious they know) going from so many of the show's tentpole figures (Alan/Monica, Steve/Audrey, Gail/Lee) to even Julia quietly losing it in the background just resonates the loss of a character who a year ago wouldn't haven't even mustered an ounce of sympathy from the cast or viewers. There's also a rather painful moment where Tony and Bobbie meet up in the hallway after Bobbie has cleaned out Dom's room and Tony has signed the death certificate that is haunting given that a year from then they would be torn apart by B.J.'s death. What also stands out in comparison is that no stories are stopping for Dominique's death which highlights some very curious story decisions. At this point, Bill Eckert and Holly are hot on the trial of Richard Halifax having tracked him down to a French convent where he has been keeping the presumed dead Victoria Parker. The Halifax art/gaslighting story is not my favorite by any stretch. Probably one of the weakest links in a strong show. The climax to this story is stronger than usual (but also has moments of complete insanity). Set in this darkened French convent, we hear Richard talking to Victoria and her calling him John before Richard slips away. Bill literally emerges from the darkness to appear to Victoria only for Bill to learn that Victoria is blind. Halifax returns and then we get all the exposition about Victoria faking her own death to protect Bill but blinding herself in the process and the revelation that Victoria knew that it was Richard masquerading as John for years. It borders on farce at times, but the gothic tone enhanced by the well designed sets and the dark lightening seems to be a pre-cursor to what I imagine the Cassadine storyline may have evoked. In the better (at least in construct, if not content) stories, Felicia's "funeral" is staged as part of the plot to drive Ryan Chamberlain over the edge into confessing his role in all the murders. It's an odd choice of timing to tell this story as Dominique is dying for real and Victoria is also coming back from the dead. The Felicia/Ryan plot is a winner though. It's a classic GH caper set in the hospital with the hospital staff focused instead of the typical WSB crew. I love it. The only thing that stands out as problematic is the fact that Ryan is allowed to continue treating patients while he slowly unravels. Steve isn't worried about the liability of General Hospital if Ryan messes up? The Felicia/Mac flirtation continues to be tons of fun and Mac delivering Felicia's eulogy while Felicia listens in the coffin is fun. There is some ELQ drama brewing with Tracy setting up Paul for a warehouse theft, which also makes Ned look bad. Tracy has recently joined ELQ in a minor role that Edward has created to keep her quiet, but its clear that Tracy wants more power. I can only imagine the heights Tracy would have reached had Jane Eliot not left when she did. The highlight of this is the Tracy / AJ dynamic as they have become partners in crime which could have been a very interesting relationship to continue to play. Paul and Jenny are aware that Tracy is up to something, but they aren't sure what. Paul's legal practice has let him intersect with Jagger in Jagger's pursuit of finding his siblings. The community connections really work. At the same time, the show also is laying the groundwork for Karen's sexual abuse. In a minor plot, Rhonda has started dating ex-cop Frank Dobson who beats her badly landing her at GH in the care of Alan. This situation allows Karen to reflect on all her mother's relationships with bad men and has an ominous, but obscure, memory from her past. Ray Conway doesn't show up for another 2 months but its clear that this is part of that path. Rhonda's hospital stay also allows her to be treated nicely by Alan, who has become smitten with her. Alan's general concern for Rhonda, trying to convince her to report Frank, is a nice layer to the dynamic. Alan trying to avoid Monica because of the tension with AJ due to the Nikki situation leads to a beautifully heartbreaking moment where Monica reminds Alan of a dinner invitation for later that evening which Alan blows off. Moments later, Jason arrives and gives Monica a present for tonight's dinner as it is her birthday. Alan's realization of the blunder is a strong, quiet moment that seems very common at this point in the show. In another quiet, understated moment, during Felicia's funeral, Bobbie speaks to Sean on behalf of Tiffany, who has been kept out of the gaslighting situation. Bobbie thinks Sean should let Tiff in on the plot, but Sean says he cannot trust her. Tiffany's grief is real. Almost everyone else present knows that Felicia is alive. When Tiff stops by Bobbie's after the funeral, she discovers a crowd has gathered and she realizes she has been left out. Tiffany's unraveling is hard to watch, but is so compelling. I know @carolineg isn't a fan and I can start to see more of how hard it must be to watch someone who was beloved unravel especially given the misogynistic slant of some of Levinson's writing, but my heart breaks for Tiffany while also seeing that she is often the source of her own misery. I'll probably stay in May because I want to see Dom's memorial, Nikki's brief return, and more of the Jagger/Karen story.

Some more notes on 1958. The Paley Center has in its holding the first 30-minute episode from April 14, 1958. Hess In examining the switch to a half-hour, not only did Bartlett and McBride leave within the year, so did the show's creator/headwriter John Hess also left in July, 1958. So Harry Junkin, with Roy Winsor's input most likely, developed the Rosehill story that started in early 1959. The return of Meg in Max Wylies "Wriitng for Television" is outlined as the third act of the "Extended Visit" story set to run co-currently with the John / Tess / Bill storyline. The outline I believe is from Winsor as the set up of Lucy Beale, the woman who becomes the object of desire for Bruce, has some elements of the Ann Wicker bio we have seen in "The Secret Storm" material. In "Extended Visit," Sarah Dale has a stroke and is invited to stay for the holidays with Bruce and Van only to sell her home in Barrowsville and give the money to Bruce and Van. Meg returns late in the story to get the money for herself, but Van demands that Meg take Sarah as well as Sarah's presence has driven Bruce into the arms of Lucy Beale, a woman he nearly runs over with his car.

Ellen Cobb Hill was born in 1923 according to a genealogical record for her father, Lamar. In a sad coincidence, both her parents died less than a month apart from each other in June, 1937. The story of the Ames children might have been very familiar to Cobb Hill. I'm a bit curious about how an audience felt about the story where it was revealed Ellen Ames had had an illegitimate child prior to her relationship with Peter. I don't think Pauline was around for that story, but her reaction is something I think would have been important especially since Peter was already dead and the Ames children had started to scatter.

There were at least two attempts to bring back Meg in the 1960s that have been documented in books. In "From Mary Noble to Mary Hartman," there is a story outline for "Love of Life" from the early-to-mid 1960s from the time Phillip Holden as accused of harassing young women and/or when Kay was impersonating her dead sister Maggie Porter. There is a brief note in the monthly outlines that talks about Meg returning and openinga real estate office. I feel like this may have been in late 1964. It was probably from Don Ettlinger if that is the case and he ended up leaving right around that time so maybe there was a postponment due to the writing change. Instead, I believe Vanessa went into real estate. Later, under Robert Shaw or maybe under the brief period Winsor wrote, Meg was set to return in the late 1960s once Sarah Dale arrived in Rosehill after selling her house and moving in with Van and Bruce. Sarah was going to get sick and be on her death bed and Meg was going to return. Meg's return was scrapped though I believe Sarah returned and most of the story played out the late sixties which included Bruce's emotional affair with a proposed character that eventually became Marsha Mason's Judith Cole. Some of this story seems to be used later when Meg actually does return. I think there are some other possible thoughts on why Meg didn't return. The set up of the "new" Vanessa in 1959 in Rosehill gave her two different female antagonists that provided Vanessa with persons functioning in a similar role to Meg. Vanessa's stepdaughter Barbara Sterling Latimer was a spoiled young woman much in the vein of Meg making impulsive moves and was not the best of mothers, or so I would assume, to her young son Hank Latimer. While a Meg / Barbara dynamic would have been appealing, I imagine they were deemed to similar in the way I imagine "The Secret Storm" never brought back Janet Hill once Belle Clemmons appeared on the scene even though her mother Valerie remained until the shows conclusion. Additionally, Vanessa's pseudo mother-in-law, Vivian Carlson, the mother of Bruce's first wife, Gaye, provided a similar type. Vivian was snobby society matron who wasn't always pleased with Vanessa's involvement with her grandchildren. That said, a Meg / Vivian dynamic where Meg became a surrogate daughter for Vivian based on the one she lost would have given a possible Meg / Bruce / Vanessa triangle a very different edge had Vivian been trying to mold Meg into the woman her late daughter Gaye had been and unintentionally, or intentionally, creating romantic interest in Meg on Bruce's part. When Meg does return, Barbara has been off the canvas for several years and Vivian was brought back under Labine and Mayer but in a more limited capacity. It may also worth noting that Ben and Cal are added to the cast once Tess and Bill have left and there is a bit of a hole in the canvas. My other thought is that Roy Winsor may have rejected the earlier return because of his attempt to freshen up his shows in the mid-1960s. In one of the documents to the Averys when they were writing "Secret Storm," Winsor spoke of the success of moving "Love of Life" away from a small group of characters and focusing on the broader community of Rosehill almost in the way that some radio soap operas had central tent pole characters that reacted to the stories of those being weaved in and out of the story.

I don't think I've seen this episode in its entirety before. My 1995 viewing a couple years back stopped at Ned and Lois' wedding just as the AIDS story started ramping up. I was wondering when this episode was filmed. Rosalind Cash passed on October 31st so I am curious if this was filmed after that. That may add an additional level of somber to the performances of some of the performers. This episode definitely felt like Labine was trying to embody the spirit of Delia from her creation "Ryan's Hope" into Lucy. Lynn Herring is a real gem who manages to make every incarnation of Lucy enjoyable. I thought the Doc and Lucy scenes were an interesting contrast about the possible end of a love affair while Robin and Stone are sharing their final moments together. It made Lucy look a little silly, but I hope this was reflected upon in a later episode. I don't know if I have ever heard Stone and Robin's last "date." I thought that was very poignant. I went back a little bit further in Wendy Riche's run and watched some November-December, 1992, that's available online. I think the Levinson era is very intriguing to the point I have to wonder how heavy a hand Riche exerted in the writing until Labine came on board. I know she was the defacto head for the first months of her tenure after bouncing Norma Monty, but even during A.J. and Nikki's wedding that wasn't, there is just a very strong sense of community. Gail and Lee have been dragged back to Port Charles because someone remembered Gail was Monica's foster mother. Audrey and Steve and Sean and Tiffany are sitting in the crowd commenting on the events. It's a nice feel. Nikki is such a fascinating creature. Mostly a hot mess, but there are moments where I think this character could have worked as a long term (or at least longer) antagonist. There was a nice sequence before the wedding where Nikki confides in Monica that she never thought something like this could happen to her only for her to smirk behind Monica's back when they hugged. I'm not convinced that Riche was completely ready to let go of Nikki when she had her pregnant during her brief 1993 return. I saw a little more of the early stages of the custody battle with Tiffany and Bobbie. I didn't remember them mentioning in 1993 that Tiffany believed she couldn't get pregnant (maybe she did when she actually got pregnant). That seemed to be a bigger motive in the battle than I had expected. The Jack Kensington scandal is such a Levinson style story that degrades the female heroine by degrading her sexually in a way that is unnecessary. I didn't realize they played a beat of Jack Kensington still wanting Jenny. I think that kinda went away in 1993 as Jenny and Paul were already together. I enjoy Cheryl Richardson more later in her run, but Jenny is such a hard character because she often has so little agency. I really have a soft spot for so many of the Monty II remnants that Riche managed to find a some life in. Cheryl, Julia, Nikki, Bill, and Paul all seem to be more manageable in these forms. The art caper stuff never seems to do anything for me in any form. I like that Lucy is back and they are mixing her up with Marco. A Marco / Lucy / Tracey triangle would have been messy in a fun way. Lucy's new perfume line that she's trying to launch "Domination," clearly a play on Dominique, is also a beat that I thing that is dropped fairly quickly. It's so odd to see the animosity between Lucy and Dominique given how quickly that changes in January once Dominique starts showing signs of illness. I'm considering jumping back to April, 1993, to finish off Dominique's death and to watch the tailend of Ryan's reign of terror (I want to see him attack Steve and Audrey) and Tiffany's pregnancy. I am also curious to see how the Ray / Karen / Rhonda / Alan story plays out. I think one of the nicest things about early/pre-Labine Riche is the revitalization of the Quartermaines after whatever Monty did to them. I don't think Monty's financially failing Quartermaines were my favorite form though a lot of the groundwork for what I like in 1992/1993 is laid out in the later half of Monty II.

I can see what you are saying about important moments. I think this sounds almost unavoidable in this case. Bartlett sounds like she was prioriizing having a child over her career. By March, 1959, "Love of Life" would have been a half-hour for about a year, which is why I imagine her contract was up. I think the expansion to a half-hour also may have pushed out Jean McBride, who also left in 1958. I believe Paul Raven was written out in 1958 as well after the switch to a half hour. I'm wondering if the show expanded too soon. Labine and Mayer's work in 1973-1975 sounds pretty remarkable. I don't think much after them sounds overly appealing accept for maybe some elements of Gabrielle Upton's final months until the arrival of Ann Marcus. I am not sure if I would have felt that way in Marcus' second year with Tudi Wiggins' departure, but I thought the setup for Bruce and Vanessa in that last year with Amy Russell claiming she was Bruce's love child and ex-con Steve Harbach lusting after Vanessa seems to be there best stories in years. I like the Meg - Tom - Lianne mateiral. The Eliot-Betsy-Ben-Mia stuff is definitely overheated definitely not boring. Ray Slater is Sonny Corinthos of the 1970s and one could only hope he would be written out freeing Arlene to do anything else. The story abou Tony's son from his time in Vietnam was a story that Marcus had been trying to tell since "Love is A Many Splendored Thing."

@vetsoapfan I don't think the Vanessa - Bruce courtship was very long so the audience might have felt differently compared to the long awaited Alice-Steve union. If I recall correctly, Tomme only joined the show in January, 1959, with the wedding taking place in early April of the same year. Though, the show later did wait to recast Cal Aleata until after her wedding to Rick Latimer. I believe Deborah Courteny played the bride and went off on the honeymoon and Roxanne Gregory assumed the role. I want to say this was in 1977. I've only read the weekly summaries of Jean Holloway's run, but they read horribly. The non-Bambi material isn't much better. Timothy MacCauley was chaperoning dates for Ben and Betsy while Betsy was in the process of divorcing Eliot. Liane Wilson arrived as the first female intern at Rosehill Hospital. Ray Slater's large family was introduced in mass with a father, mother, sister, and brother. Meg was in a relationship with Scott Carmichael, a business man who wanted no-strings attached sex. Under a more contemporary writer, some of this might have worked, but most of it just sounds to be on the border of parody. Ann Marcus dumps the Bambi story and offers Van a job at the college in the same week I think. Shepherd Strudwick's papers are at the New York City Public Library and there are 34 items from "Love of Life" 1979-1980. I imagine there might be a script or two from Jean Holloway's time in there. I've read some of the stuff that Hess did for "The Young Marrieds." He was a very literate and provocative writer. I am not surprised that the early years that he wrote for "Love of Life" are strong.

@DRW50 Thanks for those! They are really well produced. It's a shame that the show itself never seemed to capture that energy. I will always have a sweet spot for "Rituals" until the day (hopefully) it all becomes available and I realize how bad it actually is.

Typically, I would agree with you about the displacement of politcian characters from their home space. I thought Frank Ryan's stories were limited because of the D.C. angle and thought ti was a mistake making Roger Forbes looking towards the White House. The smaller physical distance between the Maryland gated community and D.C. makes me think there is a more workable landscape here, but I may end up being very wrong. No need to apologize. I've read many, many posts by you over the years and know that you aren't the type of person looking to start a fight. I did want to address it because it seemed to becoming a bigger conversation and I thought I might have upset people. I think the justice angle is pretty embedded into the show with a cop son-in-law, politicians in the family, and multiple lawyer characters. The might jettison stories relating to life in the Capitol per se, but a pretty significant fiber of this series seems to be the connection to how law and order operates. If the NAACP remains involved, I don't see it disappearing. If they are bought out, I think that's a larger possibility. I think the main reason I don't see the political angle stunting BTG is because I many people are going to think that having a show featuring a predominantly African American cast is an example of CBS "trying to be woke." This isn't a show I thought that white midwestern housefraus were going to be gearing up to watch before the election, and certainly not now. I think trying to water it down is unnecessary because people who will be offended by the potential politics will be outraged that the show features at its core multiple African American women over the age of 40. It seems to be set in the Maryland/D.C. area for a reason. It could be set anywhere, but this is the location. Then again, it might be worth noting that the Vanessa McBride character was originally an African American woman in the casting call articles online. So maybe there is already a bit of backtracking. At 70, Dansby is not much younger than Val Jean. Neither is Judy Tate (69). Of the names I recognize, I suspect Danielle Paige is the youngest script writer with longterm daytime experience (she joined GL as part of their college writing program right?). One of the Hamilton daughters, Naomi, the lawyer, is married to a cop, Jacob. He seems to come from a blue collar family. His friend, Derrrick, is a firefighter, and there is the nurse. I don't think it was stated implicitly, but the Thomas family may also be outside the gated community types. The mother Dana/Leslie is a waitress and the daughter is working as an assistant to Nicole Richardson.

As the person who mentioned they wanted the references to the modern political landscape had the election outcome been different , I will say I thought waiting to launch until they could make minor reference to the outcome would have added weight to material. Specifically, I was thinking about how Martin Richardson would talk about his desire to be president one day and how that dream might be impacted by the win. Or in this case, the loss. Nothing groundbreaking. No "Special Guest Star" appearance. No grand storylines. Just characters communicating to each other about what would have been a significant historical event. That's something I would have found meaningful. I am not everyone and I respect the fact that you wouldn't want that. Today has been a tough day for many so I will also just say that I am sorry if my point of view offended anyone. I could go on about this conversation, but I don't think most people want to hear it. Not today. If you do, feel free to PM me if you want further explanation. I hope to continue to have engaging conversations about the show.

I remember those books coming out, but having no interest in reading them. If I remember correctly, this was Corday's response to the supercouple crowd who he was still trying to cash in on even though hewanted a more cost effective product onscreen. I vaguely recall the general plot ended up revealing that John and Marlena had another daughter together, which was thankfully not adapted as cannon. I felt the setup for the John embezzlement plot was going to be the actual takedown of the Dimeras with forensic account Austin helping them figure it out. I got where it was going, but I literally couldn't care less. I knew these people but all the stories were starting at the beginning and there was just NO energy. I'm genuinely curious what you mean by solid. Was it the characters you liked were front and center? Was it the attempt to try more modern ideas? Because I am really unsure what you mean. I don't think they really got anyone though outside a small bubble of characters (John and Marlena and their family). Even they weren't safe from bad story ideas. Wasn't it revealed John and Hope had married when she was Princess Gina? The more I think about that era the more I cringe. I didn't hate Rafe in 2011/2012 the way some did, but I thought Rafe and Carrie was just a bad idea. It didn't make sense to me. I thought the AMC reboot was reflective of Marlene McPhearson's work on "Days of our Lives." It was trying to be edgy with the human trafficking plot, but I couldn't watch Cassandra dancing for her captor and being raped. It was something uneasy to watch and it wasn't the idea but the execution. Most people really liked it so I must be wrong. I also thought some of the set up felt very piecemeal (but less so than OLTL). It felt like they were featuring whoever they could convince to come back rather than telling a cohesive story. I remember thinking Colby / Petey / Jordan might have had a little more energy with Colby's arrival, but before that the Jordan character was blah but that may have been more acting than writing. I hated that the hospital was gone. I remember in the first week of Tomsell they had brought back Tad, Fr. Matt, and Maxine. The supporting cast enhanced the canvas giving it depth when it had been pretty sparse. The business stuff rarely was solid no matter who was writing so I cannot complain too much about MarDar there, but I do remember the constant switching of who was at which company also spilled over into the writing of the couples. In the course of a two week period, Sami could be lusting after E.J., Lucas, or Rafe depending on the day of the week. I think trying to flesh out Austin and Carrie with more dynamic careers than generic business person wasn't terrible. I came to be okay with Carrie as an attorney because of the potential of her representing people that her cop family members had arrested, but I don't think that ever really happened. Austin's forensic accounting role had no legs though. The idea of him being a professor had slightly more wiggle room, but even the idea that all the kids would take an accounting course was silly. For the 50th, the cast was huge. I don't remember all the other stories being that disjointed, but I don't doubt it. The anniversary at the Martin House also was sort of a situation rather than a story where characters were getting ready for something. There was that odd younger set with Joey, Theo, Ciara, Chase, and Claire where Joey was related to all the girls so he ended with Ava right before they introduced Jade. I thought J.J. and Gabi were a great idea with the revelation that Paige and Gabi were half-sisters and Gabi continuing to work her way through the Horton men. Also, weren't Theresa and Nicole working to launch a fashion line with Kate? I feel like I liked the start of Higley and Quan with the prison break storyline, Laura returning to sorta usher back nuAbby even if Marci Miller bored me, Chloe's pregnancy, and the Jade / Joey / Kayla triangle where Kayla was a bit of a helicopter mom and Jade was taking advantage of the hospitality. It could be wildly uneven but I could even enjoy things live the jungle madness redux because I enjoyed Sonny and Paul. I wanted to like the Greece kidnapping because I liked Tefler but it never worked. Eric and Jen worked better than I expected. I liked Tripp. I loved Eli. Valerie and Abe worked well for me. Deimos wasn't amazing, but I thought Irizarry was very good.

It felt very much like fan fiction. Bringing on a slew of characters with no real story or no idea how to tell the story was bonkers. John and Marlena come back to town and John is accused of stealing pensions. That went nowhere. Austin and Carrie come back for Abby to stalk professor Austin. There was a rich history between all the players involved there with Austin being Abby's donor, Abby's possible daddy issues, Kate's relationships with both Austin and Chad, Kate's history with the Hortons, the history of the Spencer women having mental health issues, and Carrie's ties to Mike. None of that was interlaced into what was a basic story, at best. I feel like MarDar got a lot of credit for a story that seemed pretty much in development when Higley and Whitsell were still present: Will is gay. The way MarDar told the story was through a bunch of dialogue with sexual innuendo between Will and E.J. that most saw as provocative I as tepid queer baiting. If MarDar wanted to push the envelope, Will would have convinced Mommy Sami that he had gotten E.J. into bed. I thought Will / Sonny / Gabi was more provocative because even though it was a traditional tale it was told in a way that had long-term ramifications. And because Sonny and Will hit the sheets like any straight characters would have. I mostly remember characters getting new jobs which may or may not have led to story and people returning and wandering around the square talking about nothing that would matter in a few weeks. I think there was some weird Faberge egg story that held the secret that E.J. wasn't Stefano's son and Stefano being murdered which meant everyone needed to be locked in a safehouse. And Carrie and Rafe dressed up to celebrate someones birthday because every birthday and holiday was celebrated but storylines rarely went anywhere. Lexi's death was probably the best their run had to offer. Renee Jones typically killed it anytime she was given meaty story. The follow up to that was the Abe/Kayla pairing which felt like somthing a show did when it was creatively dead and approaching cancellation. I wish Bravo had started their DAYS reruns in August 2013. I feel like they might have gotten a little farther, but I admit my bias.

I don't remember the canvas being that remarkable different, but later on he mentions a lot of the older cast was being used as U/5s basically. I don't feel that was entirely accurate and, when it was, it was a gross oversimplification. It wasn't being written as if the show needed to be an homage to 80s or the 90s, but rather trying to build for a future. Jen and Hope drove story throughout much of the run. Kate was a major player. Victor snarked as much as usual. It was mostly John and Marlena who were sidelined, but I thought Marlena was too cold to be the Matriarch the way most did. Hogestyn definitely felt like a goofy dad, but Hall presented Marlena as very clinical, which worked for the character. The only John and Marlena story I felt hadn't been told at that point was to have Caroline continue to decline due to her Alzheimer's diagnosis and begin to think of John as "Roman" and feel closer to him than the actual Roman. This scenario could have resulted in a lot of ugly feelings being unearthed and could have played the John / Marlena / Roman triangle in a way that would have allowed Josh Taylor to play the scorned son rather than the scorned lover which felt better suited for him. I don't remember hating all of the first half of 2015. There were defintitely problems. The elephant story was bad, but the dynamics between the characters was workable and had they shifted the story to something more domestic (Serena was a medical journalist and Nicole was back in television production if I recall). I think they also were testing Serena and Daniel as Serena was also friends with Melanie. I didn't dislike Serena, but in the absence of Sami, Arianne Zucker was more than capable of carrying the show had they told the right story. Which would have been Eric / Nicole / Brady / Theresa. I didn't like Paige, but the set up with Paige, Eve, and Theresa worked for me. I would have played the Donovan girls as an extension of the Brady family more than they did, but it worked for me. Theresa was great. Kassie DePaiva was trying to find a groove as Eve. I didn't hate Eve and J.J. hooking up as much as other people did. It worked for me, but it was never going to be long-term. J.J.'s little crew wasn't as strong as the supporting crew a generation back though I do think Kevin Riggins was good as Rory. Ben and Abigail were fine. I can't remember when, but I think at one point the show tried to play a Clyde / Maggie friendship which was appealing given Maggie's farm girl past and the animosity between Victor/Clyde along with the Maggie/Kate dynamic. Incorporating Kate into the Horton set was always something I enjoyed, but the embers were never stoked into a complete fire. The Serena / Xander / Eric story ended quickly. Paul Tefler was a find. Paul Narita was great. Making Paul John's son was probably the biggest story John and Marlena got under Tomsell that was sorta centered around them. I also thought they should have gone with Theresa agreeing to be Paul's beard and nearly marrying him before he was outed. The one that was made public was Galen Gerring,who felt that Rafe was being written into a corner. Rafe had run his course. Tomsell could have dumped him and no one would have noticed. The scenario with Kate / Rafe / Jordan / Clyde was so disjointed mostly because I believe that Clyde was filling the Stefano role that Stefano couldn't handle because of Mascolo's advancing Alzheimer's. James Scott and Allison Sweeney both departed. Drake Hogestyn was dropped from contract and then went back on contract at different points. Hogestyn was open in his dislike of John attempting to sleep with Kristen to prevent Kristen from marrying Brady. Deidre Hall was supporting in the Will story, but she was no longer the only relationship that Will had of depth like when MarDar were present. Peter Reckell had left very early in Tomsell after being vocal about his guarantees in 2009-2011 after winning the Emmy. Alfonso may not have been thrilled from 2013-2014. After Reckell departs, they don't know what to do with Hope. There was some chemistry testing with Hope and Vargas, Nick's former cellmate who was involved in Eric Brady's rehabilitation program. Vargas was a promising character that was quickly dropped in August, 2013, when Theresa and he partied a little too hard and Vargas got arrested again. Daniel Cosgrove was hired in 2014 which started off with a Ciara / Chase bullying storyline that quickly became the enemies become lovers story. I thought the mystery invovling the late Meredith Jennings was interesting and the conclusion was probably one of the last well done big climaxes that Tomsell did. Reckell coming back to resolve the Bo and Hope story once and for all made logistical sense. I don't necessarily love what they did to Hope / Aiden in the process, but it was what it was. To blow up Hope / Aiden only for Bo to die weeks later was stupid. I felt they missed the opportunity to do something that 2009-2011 "Days" did really well which was turning the trope on its head. Instead of Bo saving Hope to escape from another wedding, why not have Bo save Hope and bring her to the wedding and give his blessing to let her move on. I know the Bope fans would have lost their collective minds, but the conversations on the boards would have noteworthy. There was still story to tell with Aiden regarding the fact that he had never told Chase that he (Chase) had murdered his own mother. As I recall, Sami came back for Will's funeral, along with Sonny who had left town a few months earlier. Did she stay on much longer? Steve's return probably had the most meat because they were trying to rebuild the Johnson family unit as Joey also came back. I think it was in 2017 that they remarried right during the Prague storyline? Justin and Adrienne were involved in the triangle with Lucas. That storyline made a lot of sense under Tomsell, but I do think Higley managed to make it more standalone with the breast cancer angle. Prior to this, most of the juice in that story was that Will's father was involved with Sonny's mother, which was more than enough. By the end of fall 2015, both Will and Sonny were gone so a pivot was needed. Andre essentially replaced Clyde, who had essentially replaced Stefano. Andre was too queeny. Clyde was too hillbilly. Clyde was more intriguing when they suggested he wanted Ben to marry into the Hortons for social mobility, which I think Higley recycled a year or so later with Eduardo wanting Dario and Abigail together for social mobility. Shawn and Belle were present, but I don't remember much. Did Shawn and Belle divorce fairly quickly? I remember Shawn and Lani became a thing for a minute under Griffith's solo run if I recall correctly. From what I recall, the older characters in 2012-2015 weren't guiding story in the way they had in previous decades and it was refreshing. Nick, Will, Sonny, Abby, Gabi, Chad, and Cameron (the weakest link) were solid. The pregnancy lie leading into the implosion of Will and Sonny and Gabi and Nick's wedding was great. The reveal of Nick's rape felt well planned (if not a little too on the nose) leading to a pregnant Gabi being kidnapped by the rapist when he escaped. Nick and Gabi's toxic relationship leading to Nick's "death" and the introduction of Percy Ruggles the bird watcher and Gabi, Sami, and Kate working together was great. Abby, Chad, and Cameron's triangle led to the great stripper storyline for Cameron (great might be a stretch but it was a level of fun that DAYS use to do well). Then, Chad and Cameron were both dumped and they went with the Abby / E.J. affair which was great. Doug and Julie were involved in the Martin House and the party, but I don't remember what else. Julie had more to do under Whitsell in the Nick dramas. Abe and Roman were definitely talk tos at best. Abe didn't improve much until 2016 under Higley/Quan when Valerie returned, which was awesome. I don't remember Roman having much, but maybe I'm forgetting. There was a very brief, and well done, triangle with Caroline / Victor / Maggie when Bo returned where Caroline's dementia got the better of her and Maggie and Victor moved her into their house, or so I recall. Maggie / Victor were married off to quickly. They had been better integrated in 2008-2011 because of the relationships onscreen that were developed. John and Marlena were supporting players to their children, and I felt that was incredibly generous. I didn't need to see another John and Marlena story; sorry, not sorry. What we got with John's backstory with Yo-Ling, or whatever it was, was really bad. I don't remember much romance in late 2015, just misery. The serial killer story set the tone for the start of the Higley/Griffith year. It was, at times, dramatically interesting, but I don't remember any big couples coming out it. Abby and Chad had been built up in late stage Tomsell to be the new big supercouple and they worked well with Mansi and Flynn in the roles (Mansi and Deidrick were great too but Flynn was given more dramatic material than Deidrick). Abby and Chad reunited with baby Thomas. I think there was some early Gabi / J.J. stuff I thought was appealing. The younger set had some potential, but it never went anywhere. Jonathan McClendon was the strongest of the crew and he ended making some off colored remark about the rape storyline and the backlash was pretty bad (as it should have been). I still think Chase was a character worth revisiting later in 2016 especially with Daniel Cosgrove's return. None of the couples really worked except for Jade and Joey, but only later under Higley / Quan when Jade became a bitch and was still being played by Paige Searcy. I wouldn't say they were romantic though. Because 2011 had set the standard, 2015's shift didn't feel so big. 2011 literally dropped every single thing that was happening onscreen with the exception of Daniel and Jennifer's relationship, but that was only to lead into Jack's return. The original reset was too drastic to really work, which is a shame because they did get some eyes on those first episodes after AMC faded to black. I remember 2015 felt more natural. I hated 2011-2012 when MarDar was there. Never been so happy to see someone leave the writer's chair in my time watching "Days," though had I stuck around with Ron they might have lost the title.