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Not sure about the origins, but it looks like the reveal of Mary's parentage is February / March 1982. In January 1982, Melinda Cramer has written a letter detailing the baby switch which Dorian dismisses and Peter Jansen seems concerned about. Marcello gets a hold of the letter and realizes the baby switch must be true. In February, during sweeps, Marcello tells Katrina what has been said in the letter leading to Katrina confronting Karen over what has occured. In early March, Katrina knows Mary is her daughter and has gotten Herb to be her lawyer. In the same week, Katrina receives marriage proposals from Marcello (offering to help increase her chances of custody) and from Brad (to keep her quiet about the switch and to live as Mary's stepmother). By the first week of June 1982, Katrina and Mary are shipped off to Virginia Beach by Brad. Shortly after, Katrina mails a letter to Jenny revealing the whole baby switch. Katrina and Mary return at some point. Sam Hall oversaw most of the story from beginning to end, it would appear, but Gordon Russell would have been out before the story was resolved.

Wow. Finished season 2. I've heard people over the years speak about the voodoo/occult stuff in season 2, but I don't think I ever realized how far they were leaning into it in those last few episodes. I believe in 1982 "Dark Shadows" had just been re-syndicated and was airing in the late afternoon on many NBC affiliates. I wonder if NBC's interest in a daytime version of "Flamingo Road" had anything to do with that piece of the puzzle. The final episodes are insane. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. There are things I adore (Michael tormenting Titus, who've I hated from day 1) is fun. While I understand the conceit of having David Selby play Michael's father, Tom Edwards, everyone looks dumb as hell for not being able to recognize Michael as Tom's son when he is literally a doppleganger. Had they not done so much with the Sande angle, I almost wonder if they would have revealed that Michael was in fact his own father who had just continued to live on and on. I really liked the situation with Field, Lane, and Sam. It was a very interesting place to end this grouping with a disgraced Field resigning from the senate and basically siding with Sam over Tyrone and over Titus. Lane carrying Sam's child gave that couple a happy ending that I feel they really deserved after having such a tough time finding story for the first part of the season. I wonder what they would have done with this grouping had it continued into season 3. I also wish they had played the reveal more of Field learning Lute Mae was Constance's mother and having a hint of a reconcilliation between Constance and Field as Julio emerges as the new heavy. Julio's fate was intriguing as it set the character up for the next season, though I do have to wonder how he would have fared given the direction of the show. I did like that after all of Constance's attempts to push Julio off, it was finally his turn to emerge with the sort of bravado she was looking for. I definitely could see a season 3 storyline having Sam dead or offscreen for a bit with Lane and Julio (with Constance's pressure) fighting to control the construction company. The defeat of the gambling bill by the people of Truro was interesting. The whole apocolyptical feel of the entire show at this point was kind of fun with all the sins of the father and good vs. evil stuff that the voodoo stuff sort of fits, but also sort of feels excessive. Constance learning her mother was Lute Mae was great. Her rejection of Claude was probably one of my favorite moments for Claude though I was a bit perturbed when they mentioned that Lute Mae had Constance at 16 and Claude was already married to Eudora. I don't know what the age gap was suppose to be, but it was just a surprising little detail. Constance visiting Lute Mae at the asylum was good. The secret that had been set up in the pilot film was finally revealed. Initially, I felt there was no way they were going to actually go with Skipper as potentially Elmo's son as season one Eudora was so pure and innocent. By the end of season 2, I definitely think they would have undone the paternity of Skipper had the show continued. I liked Barbara Rush going against David Selby. I also love that Eudora assumed Claude must be the killer and dumped him in the final moments of season two. I will live in a world where Eudora and Elmo reunited. I think something season 2 did much better than season 1 was establishing Flamingo Road as a place much better. I liked that when Michael ends up dead that the Weldons saunter over and that Lane and Sam are close enough by to be drawn into the drama. This is certainly no "Knot's Landing," but I liked where the show ended up in that sense. With that said, I felt it was sad that we lost Lute Mae's. I don't even know when they last showed the brothel. It was also nice to finally go into the swamp with the Titus / Julia Porter sequence. Michael in the monastery was just such a crazy ending. Season 3 would have been interesting to see. I'm also curious how a daytime version would have played out. Who do people see playing some of the roles that most likely would have been recast (Field, Lane, Constance, etc.) in a daytime version?

Regarding how SB was able to afford big names, they had a relatively small contract cast. I've seen half-hour shows with more people on contract than "Santa Barbara" often had. I think this helped as they were able to offer more money. Also, the quick-burn of characters often meant a lot of these performers weren't receiving pay raises. I'm sure New World was also happy with the international sales and was probably happy to spend a little more on casting to help sell the show abroad.

Penny's death happens in January, 1981, prior to Althea's return. I suspect that it was suppose to put Althea in a certain state of mind when she came back to Madison. Around the same time, the show wrote out Mike Powers, for the one hundredth time. I wonder if the show wasn't trying to use their children's absences to create a bond between Matt Powers and Althea. James Baffico had become producer in the fall of 1980 and I believe Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt were headwriting when the show wrote off Penny. They had no problem using parts of the past. Alec Baldwin had been brought back by Hunt and Ellis for the inheritance plot that brought back the character of Theodora Van Alen, Greta's aunt played by Augusta Dabney. Jerry's return is March for Nola and Jason's remarriage. The writer's strike starts in the spring so by late May the show is no longer with unionized writers. The summer is such a mess. The Kevin/Catherine Shaw stuff is just crass and ends with Jason being callously killed off. The episode featuring Jason's murder was available at one time at the Paley Center in New York. Matt and Maggie deal with Matt's impotence followed by Maggie's pregnancy. Steve is writing some book on sex. It all reads poorly. In terms of Penny, there seemed to be a hint that Jenny Wright's character Robin was suppose to be Penny, or at least a Penny surrogate, but that may just be conjecture on my part. I wish very much that Retro would release the 1980s episodes. It would be curious to see how this all played out.

I'm rounding into the final stretch, and I do think season 2 comes together quite nicely by the time we get to "The Dedication." It took over half the season, but the show finally seems to have pulled itself together and found an identity for itself. The initial concept presented in the telefilm about the tension between those on Flamingo Road and those not on Flamingo Road with the have nots looking to move up has been replaced with a pursuit of remaining on Flamingo Road and becoming top dog. There is a lot more establishing shots lately of the eponymous address and the named sprinkled more into the dialogue. In some ways, the show's shift reminds me of the Aussie soap "Chances" that started out very low key before becoming a complete plot driven camp masterpiece. "Flamingo Road," at its best, is the power struggles between all those who have some semblance of power and are looking to maintain it or increase it. What's fascinating to me is how the Weldons, the central family, are slowly descending into this thick Southern gothicness, but never quite embracing the dyanmic. Queeny Claude has the facade of power with the family name and no real tangible control of anything in his life. His children are defiant and make their own choices and his son-in-law has seized control of his family's business. All his hopes are tied up in Michael Tyrone's plans to turn Truro into some sort of Southern gambling mecca, which would pretty much destroy the town his family has built up. Eudora's knows this is a fools errand, but no one seems to be listening. Claude scheming with Titus, who works much better now as a poor man's Lord Varys, is now fun in a bizarre Greek chorus way. Neither has any real power, not with Michael Tyrone in town. Michael really has taken control of the narrative, in a good way. Constance has shifted her Electra complex towards Michael Tyrone, her biological mother's love interest. Also, and this hasn't been completely revealed in story yet, but I believe Michael's father and Lute Mae were involved which gives the Michael-Lute Mae-Constance story even more layers. This is a story that I would have wanted to see play out well into season 3. The gambling bill arc has really pulled together the lose threads and now has created a much more cohesive canvas. The cast seems much more integrated now that Sam has been brought back into the Michael Tyrone plot. The decision to pair up Sam and Field as allies is probably one of my favorite moves of the season, among so many strong decisions. The constant shifting dynamics is fun to watch in binges, but I wonder how easy it was to follow week after week, which is something I think @All My Shadows stated years ago. Sam realizing the connection between Sande and Tyrone was great and her faux suicide attempt was a wonderful plot to prevent Field from pulling the bill. Sam and Field, together, against Tyrone is more interesting than when they each had their separate issues with Tyrone. The building tension between Lane and Field, which may be imagined on my part, is delicious. I wish they had left Sam for dead in the crash so that Lane could have briefly played the vengeful widow and had to control Sam's business interests at least briefly. Also, I would have brought Vanessa, Sam's first wife, and had her team up with Lane to enact some sort of revenge. When Sam did return, I would have had Lane and Field close and probably given Sam amnesia. After having no real use for the Sam / Lane / Field triangle, I am again intrigued by the possibilities. It might have been great for the season 2 final to have been Field believing Michael had faked his death and dragged down to the Nassau estate to find not Michael, but Sam alive and well. I was sorry to see Julio and Constance split, but, in terms of the big story, it makes sense. Constance has racked up three different love affairs this season Steve (her therapist), Julio, and Michael. I'm not even 100% sure where we are suppose to think she stands on Field anymore. Season one Constance definitely wanted power, but loved Field. I think season 2 Constance is too hard to love Field, and just wants the potential power that comes from being with him. There are times I think she cares for Julio, but other times I think Julio is pursuing emotional disaster by waiting for Constance. I do wish they had played the Sande / Julio relationship beat rather than just using the potential as a problem. Even if the relationship was just friendly, I think there was at least an episode or two of story to play with those two. Michael's double of Sande after the suicide attempt was a real shocker. Sande on the island in Nassau was also a nice surprise even if we didn't see her. The Nassau sequence kicks off the voodoo storyline that I believe is pretty prevalent in the final episodes. Esther Rolle's Julia Porter, Michael's nanny / voodoo priestess, is definitely a shift. If there was a season 3, I would have loved to see her moved to Michael's property on Flamingo Road and watch how people reacted to her presence. I'd wish they'd use Elmo more. I see him as the keeper of the town's truth among so many people who are lying and scheming. I think they could have flirted with a romantic relationship with Lupe Sanchez by the end of the season. Something to revive the Elmo / Eudora story and to solidify the Sanchez family as a prominent presence on the show. I think it would have also helped to revive the Elmo/Skipper relationship which seems very underplayed this season. As I enter the final stretch, I can see why people prefer season one. The writing was more character driven and the original premise of the haves and the havenots of Truro was intriguing, if never fully met. I do think the relationships were deeper, the characterization was richer, but the plot was weak and, at times, non-existent. After watching the entire show, I'll be curious to see what I think of season one on a rewatch, but for now, I am really enjoying the power plays of season two.

Constance and Field's marriage works better this second season than it did in the first. Constance is more active in the story, and Field is no longer being given a sympathetic light. Their "War of Roses" style relationship is a real highlight. It does come at the cost of Sam and Lane. They feel very disjointed in terms of the rest of the story. When they have stories cross in Tallahassee, I almost forget how strong the Lane and Field story was at the start of season 1 and that they even planned on getting married. Was it mentioned in the pilot or season 1 that Field was a lawyer? Or was that a sudden revelation. It works, but it just seems very sudden. The Julio railroading story was good and that worked well especially with Field asking him about the affair. I enjoy Julio much more than I expected. He truly cares for Constance, and I think (secretly) Constance loves him too. Right now, Julio has delivered the goods to Constance: Sande and Field are having an affair. The one upmanship in Field and Constance's marriage makes me want them together even though I really like Julio and Constance. The bombing gave Skipper more story. I feel like he is back in the thick of things. A blinded Skipper gives season 1 Skipper vibes, which I liked. Alicia is a sweet girl and I wish they had done a better job building Alicia and Skipper as a couple because there are interesting angles to explore. I am really mad that the bombing at the Clarion hasn't led to the unveiling of Claude and Titus being behind the paper mill fire. Eudora's coddling of Skipper annoyed me until Eudora explained her rationale, which I was willing to play along with. I don't like the direction Eudora has taken in these post- sanitarium episodes. I was hoping for a stronger Eudora working with Sam on the barrio project, but that's mostly been an abandoned plot point. Elmo is also rejuvenated a bit by the Clarion bombing as he seems more central to the story again. The Eudora and Elmo scenes were a little thin for me as I would have liked a little more subtext. I guess I'll have to take what I can get. Michael Tyrone's backstory seems to be finally underway. I wonder at what point it was decided he was going to have history in Truro because that feels like a last minute change. The show is very plot heavy so it's not too surprising. I'm liking Lute Mae and Michael a lot more than I expected. I also loved Claude using his history with Lute Mae to get to Tyrone, which just shows how sh%tty a person Claude is. Lute Mae being wined and dined is great as we have seen how Michael (like Titus) manipulates others for his purpose. I do like the revived Michael / Sam animosity as it brings Sam and Lane back into the story. I really liked Sam and Lane's wedding. Their engagement was quick. The fact that Julio was best man after Julio's entrance story shows how out of touch Sam and Lane were with the rest of the canvas. I appreciate they brought Carl Turner back for the bachelor party. I thought the film was going to turn out to be something Lute Mae had starred in. Cynthia Sikes is very attractive in the role of Sande Swanson. I like how they haven't completely revealed the entire connection yet. I'm curious to see where the Michael / Sande stuff goes based on the broad outline I've read of the story. I feel like mid-season 2, the show is coming together well in a very plot driven sense, but it lacks the season one dynamics and characterization that made that memorable. As of now, though, I'd still say I prefer season 2.

I'm towards the middle of season 2. I thought the addition of the Sanchez family was smarter even though the execution is not amazing, but this seems to be a universal issue on the show. I think we are suppose to see Julio Sanchez as a hot head for blaming Sam Curtis for Ernesto's death, but Sam was wrong. Sam chose to worry about the bottom line rather than his employees and I don't think Julio was wrong for that. Lupe's initial conversations with Eudora and Constance about the dress shop were very interesting. I doubt they go anywhere, but I feel like that would have been an interesting place to explore. The idea of introducing the Cuban element into "Flamingo Road" was intriguing even though the writers went with the most stereotypical route with so much of the storytelling elements there. I like that the ownership of the barrio was a big deal and the fact that the Weldons were slumlords was presented as problematic. I just wish more time was spent on the positive elements of the barrio given how toxic the relationships were in the Weldon realm. Alicia and Skipper are sweet, but underdeveloped. A C-story at best with very little movement, which is a shame because I think there were places to explore with Skipper. I would have liked more of a reaction on his end to Field, Skipper's father's "preferred" son, taking over the mill. Also, given Skipper's rowdy backstory with his time at Lute Mae's, I imagine the more reserved Alicia might not pleased about Skipper's former playboy ways. I like Julio. Fernando Allende is very attractive. Maybe not the strongest actor in the group, but more competent than I been informed. I like that Julio, not Constance, is the one who has reservations about having an affair. I thought that was a very nice flip on the stand point and also worked a bit to go around the Latin Lover trope. Eudora suggesting Julio to be Field's aide is wonderful. Speaking of Constance's lovers, I thought Steve was fine, but I feel like the scope of Steve's arc ended up playing out several episodes later with Tony and Lute Mae. If they were going to do that, it would have been nice to at least intersect the stories. Constance has come into her own this season. Morgan Fairchild benefitted the most from the second season from what I've seen so far. Everyone else seems to be struggling in the new world of not as interesting. I can see why season one is preferred by some as the characters were better drawn in season one, but there was no story. Now, we have story, but the characters are pretty paper thin unless we need a good mid episode plot twist. Lane and Sam are coming back into focus. Separating them from Field was good in a sense (I don't feel the triangle had much mileage left in it), but I don't think TPTB know what to do with Lane and Sam. Lane's father was a brief beat, and her music career had some promise (but that was also dropped). Sam and Tyrone are initial the main enemies before Tyrone settles in on the Weldons. Michael Tyrone has been a major mover and shaker. I don't know where season 2 would have went without him. I like his plans for the resort and how they would impact the community of Truro from those on Flamingo Road to those living in the barrio. I do wonder at what point his backstory in Truro was developed because I don't get that sense at all that he is a man returning specifically to town. I like how he has his hands in everything, which really does help. With Michael around, I feel Titus has even less purpose and I am much happier with him in a reduced role. Similarly, I do enjoy that Michael shows how inept Claude Weldon is in so many ways. I like how Claude's forgery led to Michael stealing the mill from the Weldons only to turn it over to Field, which was such a fun move. Elmo's run for sheriff was a fun surprise and the story about his wife was very sad. I wish Elmo and Eudora appeared more often together. I did appreciate the Claude / Lute Mae scene during Claude's downfall leading to both the Lute Mae / Constance / Eudora scene and the Claude nearly spilling the beans to Constance scene. Constance's paternity is such a labyrinth plot that could even be more far reaching if they would allow characters to react to the news. Tony's final stand was disappointing in terms of the character's arc. I guess the Tony that left town reminded me of the Tony that showed up with Christie in season one, but it was rather disappointing. I think Tyrone should have brought Christie back to town to mess with Field. Field and Sande's affair is a non-factor to me because of how it developed in comparison to Julio / Constance. Sande seems to be the new Lane, which is fine with me. I'm curious to see how the season ends.

I'm sure there is someone better to respond, but I'll give this a shot. Barbara Lang played Marilyn Langley. The production company was told fairly late I feel (early November) with a conclusion in December. I know that Hilary Bailey Smith talked about the Alden Curse storyline was intended as a contract negotiation tool. I feel like Phillip attends the wedding. Isn't he arrested at the wedding? I also think the Felicia/Adrienne switch happens very, very late. Like right before the wedding because there is a very bizarre exchange between Jeff and Adrienne about Adrienne not remembering things. The final year of "The Doctors" fascinates me. Actually most of the 1980s of "The Doctors" fascinates me. I just hope they release some of that period in the near future. Nola returned pregnant by A.C. Weary's character, I think.

Rebecca Staab as Cece. This is a little less memorable than the others for me. The break up of Steve and Trisha doesn't do much for me. I do like some of the places they are trying to go, but its too much high drama. I like the conceit that Steve is choosing his father over Trisha as I cannot think of another time a father-son dynamic has played out like that. Usually, it's the meddling mother with her Oedipus-esque relationship with her son. I don't think I knew that Cabot and Jack had worked at the Alden Foundation together. I like that idea. Ava manipulating both Tony (unsuccessfully) and Cabot (more successfully) was probably the highlight. I liked Tony talking about the orphanage. I wonder if he and Rita Mae broke up onscreen or if it was something that happened after Pamela Blair's contract was up. The groundwork for the Zona story is being laid with Linc remaining mysterious about the women in his past and being raised around three brothers. I find Linc and the Beechams provided a nice conflict for the Aldens.

@danflingThe aesthetic is definitely old fashioned even though its set in the 1980s. Truro is a relic from the past with very old rules determining how people operate. In the pilot film, this is contrasted a bit with Sam Curtis, who's morals were more modern and who spent time in cities like Miami. The old fashioned names that @Paul Ravenmentioned are also part of the aesthetic. I think it could have worked, but there need to be more contrast with outsiders who didn't accept the old fashioned ways. @MichaelGLI've only seen bits and pieces of Rita Lakin's work on "The Doctors." There are some ideas that seem very Lakin, but aren't always executed as well as Lakin did in daytime. Some people really love the first season. I don't think it was terrible. I'm two episodes into season 2. The opener is pretty strong. It was nice to see the cast interacting as much as they did with Constance in the hospital. I do find that story, Constance's paralysis, compelling because it impacts not just Field's career but Constance's life. I sort of wish this effort had been put into the car accident story the prior season with Christie Kovacs. The chapel scene between Lute Mae and Claude with Eudora listening in the wings was delightful. I also enjoyed the relationship between Eudora and Lute Mae in the aftermath with Eudora being grateful that Lute Mae offered her the opportunity to have raise Constance. I felt that was a great approach. Lute Mae dropping the bomb of Constance's maternity on Lane and Sam was great, but I wish more was done with that. I liked the dynamic between Titus and Constance. Morgan Fairchild definitely is given a stronger point of view this season so far. She seems to have more agency. I like her having control of her marriage and for her to be a poltiical mover and shaker in her own way. Mark Harmon has sorta settled into the role of Field as an entitled man who's whole life has been dictated by others. I also noticed there was no follow through on the Slade/Harrison Brandt story for which I was thankful. Such an bad story. I have been disappointed we haven't had much Eudora/Elmo, but that one night was suppose to be just one night. Episode 2 of season 2 provides a story that seems to fit into season one a bit more. The show introduces the wealthy Hunter family of Flamingo Road with Robert Rockwell (I think he was one of Jo's beaus on SFT) as the father and Sharon Acker (Judith on TEX and on Lakin's previous project "Executive Suite") as the mother. Peter Horton gives a pretty memorable performance as their son who rapes Lute Mae and gets away with it (at least initally). There are some nice sequences with Stella Stevens and Joel Bailey. I'm surprised that I'm enjoying Tony as much as I am with Lute Mae. Not sure how long that lasts. Looking forward to the arrival of the Sanchez family and Michael Tyrone.

I was finally able to make it through season one. The pilot telefilm is fine. I like the distinctions in class that are drawn with the idea of Flamingo Road being the affluent party of the community with the Weldons home, while the Eagle Cafe was part of the working class section near River Street where Annabelle Troy lived. Lute Mae's bordello seems to be a meeting of the classes, which I really liked. Lane Ballou declaring that she, one day, will make it to Flamingo Road on her own merits was a nice setup, but I'm not sure how much the first season lives up to that promise. The tragic affair between Annabelle and Skipper was wonderful. I think Annabelle needed to die in order to propel Skipper, who still struggles to find his place both in the story literally and metaphorically. I wish they had spent a little more time on Skipper and Christie Kovacs, who I felt had the potential to be wonderful. I wish they had played on the fact that Christie looked a little bit like Annabelle with Christie using that to her advantage or her dying her darker hair blond to play on the resemblance. I like the Sam Curtis of the telefilm more than I do the Sam Curtis of the first season. In the pilot movie, Sam is more laid back and carefree. While the Weldon clan represents that old money, Sam is definitely the representation of the nouveaux riche. Sam setting up shop in the brothel was about as much business as it was pleasure in the pilot, whereas it seemed more like business in the first because it was a place where you could have cladenstine political meetings. While I understand some of the changes, Lane's love is suppose to tame him, I wasn't so thrilled with the way Sam never returned to that version for a stretch when Lane and Field reunited at the end of season 1. On the other hand, I liked how Constance Weldon Carlyle evolves from simple spoiled little rich girl in the pilot to a more active manipulator throughout the first season. I don't like the opener of the first season. It's one of the reasons I struggle to watch the show, but I like how they laid the grown work with Constance offering herself to Nick in order to save herself and Field. Constance loves Field. It would have been interesting to have seen more of what Constance and Field were like before Lane arrived in town. I haven't seen much ever mentioned about Constance's political power. She makes some shrewd (and some miscalculated) moves. I thought Constance outing Field's opponent as a Klansman was wild (while I loved Elmo's speech about how the press had known for years but kept queit because Constance was misrepresenting facts). In the current political climate, that moment really resonated. Also, Constance winning over some bigwigs when Field was on his downward slide was interesting. Let's not forget Constance's attempt to Clean Up Truro by having Lute Mae's brothel closed. The Lute Mae / Constance / Eudora dynamic is very interesting. Constance is clearly a Daddy's girl and alligned with Claude. I wish that Claude had made it clear to the audience that he resented Skipper (his namesake) because he assumed Skipper was Elmo Tyson's son. It would have just been enough to push Eudora more over the edge when she learned that adopted daughter Constance was Claude's. Constance makes it clear that she and Eudora are too different at the wedding when Constance lets Eudora know that she wants it all. With that said, it is Eudora who constantly brings up Constance's adoption which makes me think that Constance might have solid reasons to not like Eudora. Constance looking down on Lute Mae because of her status, while Lute Mae is willing to destroy a relationship with replacement daughter Lane is just great. I love Eudora and Elmo. I wish they would explore Elmo a little more. There were hints that he and Mary Troy were close at one point, but that Elmo was married already. I would love to know more about that marriage. The slow burn between Elmo and Eudora all season that leads to the hurricane is wonderful. They are definitely the duo I most want together. On the otherhand, I don't really care one way or another for Lute Mae and Claude. I like Lute Mae, but Claude is just such an unlikeable character. His soft spot for Constance only fuels her malicious behavior. If there were more attempts to soften Claude at least a little bit, I could enjoy him. Field is much more interesting to me this go around than he has in the past. I don't really care for him with either of his female leads at the start. Constance loves him and needs to be loved whether that is because of her daddy complex or some adoption issues, there is enough reasons that Constance's need for Field works for me. Lane's initial position, I've been hurt and I don't want to get hurt again, is nice, but I don't think it works in terms of her having the longer relationship with Sam. I actually found the Christie Kovacs affair refreshing because there was no attempt to pretend it was anything other than what it was. Field's alcoholism seems to build all season and I feel like this is something that gets dumped in season 2, no? Christie Kovacs was probably the most fascinating piece of season one. For a season that is very slow burning, Christie comes on like lighter fluid accelerating several of the plots. It was such a tonal switch. I thought Christie and Field's liasion was a fun jolt and the Chappaquiddick-esque automobile accident that scarred Christie solidified Field as a morally ambigious JFK type with Titus acting as the Joe Kennedy of the situation. I liked that Christie representing the working class that was underrepresented, but laid out as a signifcant part of the show's fabric in the pilot. I wouldn't say Christie was terribly well defined, but there was a lot of untapped potential. Similarly, Alice Kovacs was in the same boat. Did we even get a real Alice and Claude scene despite her unrequited feelings for him. Of the more stand alone episodes, "A Mother's Revenge" with Mary Troy was probably the best. The Mary / Titus relationship was great. Lane being able to emotionally manipulate Mary into staying quiet was probably one of my favorite uncomforable moments. The twist with Titus having raped Mary and fathered Annabelle was tragic. Howard Duff's Titus is very bizarre. I don't know if I think he is one of the best villains or one of the lamest. I found the sequences with the Turner family intriguing. Carl Turner is hired to run the construction project with Titus forcing him to use Cuban labor. I really wasn't sure what the point was, but I imagine there was some sort of kick back for Titus. Titus trying to railroad George Turner was terrible. I was actually surprised to see that they kept Carl on throughout the first season and had him getting sick with the poisoning from the mill. I really liked when the mill came into play midseason when Skipper planned to leave Truro for the job with the New Orleans paper. Claude's accident requiring Skipper to take the lead at the mill was nice as it kicked off the Christie Kovacs stuff. I wish they had played Skipper at the mill longer or at least had Constance butting into the office politics on the behalf of Claude, who wouldn't trust Skipper to handle things. I like Joel Bailey as Channing, Jr.'s bisexual lover Lindsay on "Santa Barbara," but I found Tony very unmemorable and was sorta shocked that they brought him back towards the end to be a potential love interest for Lute Mae. That sequence made me like Tony a bit more, but I didn't really know what propelled them to do that. I liked the idea that Tony would need work because the mill was closed, but Tony's natural conclusion seemed to be when the Kovacs faded from the scene. While the Christie story's pacing bothered me, I at least enjoyed that story. The Slade murder plot didn't really fit into the canvas and stuck out like a sore thumb. I still don't know why Harrison Brandt wanted Lane back or why she had to leave or why he had to kill all those people. It just seemed very plot heavy and reminded me of the Lorca / the Walkers stuff at the start of the season which I didn't like. The final episodes of the season were great. I loved Sam and Constance ending up together at the seedy motel and leaving us up in the air as whether they did or didn't (it seemed like they did though). I really liked when Field and Lane reunited after the car accident and Field and Titus went head to head over Field taking control of his own life. I liked the conflict with the mill poisoning the water and how Lane again defended Field even if I don't think either side was right in this. Eudora and Elmo ending up together for one night during the hurricane after Eudora drank several sips of brandy was also wonderful. I found Peter Donat surprisingly attractive this go around. Everyone trapped at Lute Mae's with that great exchange between Lute Mae and Constance where Lute Mae suggested that in another life Constance and Lute Mae would have been business partners. Constance threatening a long and drawn out divorce action. I'm curious to see how the second season progresses with the introduction of Michael Tyrone and the Sanchez family.

The early episodes are not memorable. I watched the show last winter and can barely tell you what happened in the first three months. The plots are mostly light or lightly dramatic. With thin characterization, everything lacks the sort of gravitas needed to make anything worth engaging with long term. Bunny and Fizz seemed like they were suppose to be a more complicated relationship that neither the acting nor the writing lived up to. Fizz was a grifter whose motives we are suppose to question because she is clearly using Bunny, but she may truly have developed feelings for. Similarly, Bunny seems to have married Fizz on the brink of an emotional break of his own with his sister's death making him vulnerable, but Bunny wasn't really looking for a sexless marriage either so Bunny's own motives weren't pure. The nicest moment in the story was the start of the friendship between Fizz and Joy when they leave Los Barcos to go out on a shopping trip. Kathy Pitkin's Fizz is dumped by Julia Smith in Smith's final episodes. When Corinne Hollingsworth arrives in episode 42, it is an immediate turnaround. Characters start gaining more depth. Story threads start to develop over multiple episodes. Characters start interacting outside their narrow circles. Once Olive King hosts her safari night party, the show is enjoyable. Upon Hollingsworth arrival, the show starts to tell stories about characters being forced to face the past they are trying to escape. Marcus and Pilar's romance is given a bit more weight when Pilar has to deal with both a letter from Tracey talking about Marcus' baby and then later being kidnapped by the Singh brothers who are looking to avenge their father's suicide. Rosemary Webb's life in England arrives in a very real form of her son by her first husband, Stephen Law, who is determined to prove that Stanley Webb is a liar. The arrival of Natalie Jackson in Los Barcos and the impact she has on Freddie Martin's life is wonderful. Joy Slater's ex Terry Raymond coming to Los Barcos to rekindle their relationship leads to a role reversal in the relationship between Joy and Trish, which is very well done. The character who benefits the most from Hollingsworth arrival is Faith Kent's Olive King who goes from a one-note busybody to a more complex lonely spinister who acts as the defacto matriarch of Las Terrazas. Similarly, the mixed marrieds story with the Svendsens and the Leducs goes from paper thin to much more interesting with the development of Phillipe and Lene as individuals and the decision that Phillipe and Lene were going to get back at their spouses. I stopped around episode 100 and the show was still pretty strong. Alex Morris had just been introduced who seemed set to give not just Marcus and Pilar story but Trish Valentine some as well. Rosario Fernandez, who was exploring the newfound freedom that women are experiencing in Spain, has started to take college courses and found a life outside of being a wife and mother when she discovers that she is pregnant. Her pregnancy threatens her future happiness, which requires her to reflect on her own reaction to Ingrid Olson's pregnancy earlier in the year when Ingrid considered an abortion. If I were to restart the show, I'd probably suggest around episode 35 or so to see the final episodes of Fizz and see the dramatic change in those early Corinne Hollingsworth episodes. The Freddie/Natalie story is worth the viewing alone.

Thanks. I had forgotten how long that story had played out. I've toyed with "Loving" fanfiction over the years. Typically, I'd include Johnny because I felt that, like you, he was the natural pot stirrer, a male Ava who would strive for the better life. In one version, I had considered Johnny locating an amnesiac Jack Forbes and emotionally blackmailing Ava into playing in his scheme to convince Jack that Johnny was his son. Other versions just typically had him scheming as Ava's natural successor clashing with Ava's own son, Sandy. I usually liked to have his sister Ava, who I'd always call Emily so that there weren't two Avas on the canvas, as his moral compass. My version of Johnny typically would try to seduce some daughter of Zack and Lorna's. I like your thoughts @Kaneon keeping the Buck / J.J. relationship. I enjoyed Buck and J.J. and Buck and Stacey, but I really wanted them to give a real go to Stacey and Curtis. To end Buck and Stacey, I had considered having Buck work on renovating the Rodeo Bar, which would have led to a cash strapped Buck hiring a shady contractor who was cutting corners. The shoddy contractor would have caused some sort of accident at the Rodeo Bar that would have led to J.J. being blinded. J.J. wouldn't regain his sight, but rather would learn to live life as someone who could no longer see going through the cycle of emotions. Buck's guilt and Stacey's inability to move past it would have broken them up. At the same time, Stacey's involvement in J.J.'s life would have left Heather feeling alienated as Stacey was spending a significant amount of time helping J.J. adjust. This would have led to Heather spending more and more time with grandma Gwyn and Heather wanting to move in with her grandmother. There wouldn't be a custody battle, but there would be conflict as Gwyn loves Heather and wants her a part of her life, but knows that this would be killing Stacey on the inside. Curtis and Stacey would have grown closer as Curtis paid to have Stacey's house equipped to make it easier for J.J. to navigate in his home environment. Of course, Curtis would lash out at Gwyn, who wasn't malicious in the situation regarding Heather, but it would lead to Curtis and Gwyn to come to terms with their own complicated dynamic as a mother and son. Of course, after Stacey and Curtis had married, Jack would return and a whole new set of complications would arise.

Thanks for alerting us to this. I'm glad more and more of this period is coming out. I think the baby lie stuff is really enjoyable. Jack going on and on about where the child would be in the future. I wish the show had survived long enough to bring back Johnny. I am still surprised that Johnny was kept around even after Jack and Ava divorced. I don't actually don't remember at what point Johnny goes back to Tug and Sheri, but I imagine it's late 1985 or early 1986. I only caught the first few minutes, but I'll comment later on the rest.

Regarding Gallison, there was a lot of press for the launch of the show because of the connection to the nighttime version. Gallison was announced fairly early. Do we know what role his character played on "Where the Heart Is"? He seems to be a doctor so its entirely possible it was a bit recurring role.

I don't think the Terrace existed very long. Until the recent fall 1981 video appeared, I had never heard of it before. I think it was introduced by Don Chastain when he was aiming for a younger, hipper "Search for Tomorrow" in line with the work that was being pumped out at "General Hospital" and "Days of our Lives" around the same time. I think it was dropped when Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt came on in early 1982. I think it was replaced by the Riverboat. I wonder if the Terrace was a replacement for the Boilermaker.

The original casting call for the Will recast had him in a scene flirting with Melanie. Given the structure at the time, it was clear that the initial conflict between Will and Melanie would have been Melanie's influence over Nick Fallon and the role the Hortons felt Melanie played in Nick's downfall. This was addressed by Nathan when he first came to town have some animosity towards Melanie because of that. I'm glad to know that Nathan was mentioned. My MarDar viewing was sporadic and more often than not it was more reading about the period because watching it was painful. In terms of Mia being Nicole's daughter, I did feel like this period had a tendency to have a moving target in regards to storylines. Like the structure might have stayed the same, but the characters would change or the characters were the same, but the structure would alter. I definitely felt like "Nicole having a child" was something that was going to happen, and I felt like who that child may have altered. Regarding Phillip, I didn't mind JPL as Phillip, but I felt that there is always an assumption that because someone is playing an established character there is no need to go into the character work to help the audience identify with someone who has been offscreen for a bit. I felt he was serviceable with Nadia Bjorlin in the paternity story, but his Phillip didn't feel like he could carry a story.

James Proctor integrated himself into the Harvey family. I'm not even sure if they ever revealled positively he was their son. There may have been a blood test, but I think there seemed to just be an overwhelming sense that Steve Harvey didn't care if James was or wasn't his son, he wanted it to be true. The scene I watched was from (I believe) June 1993 with Louise Plowright's Lynda Harvey blaming herself for her son being gay. Gary made sure that she knew that wasn't the case and then he went off to have a drink with James. Leicester was introduced as Jane Richards in late April/early May 1991 when the show had decided that they were going to shift away a bit from the upper crust Thompson crew by having John Thompson stab his brother Mike to death in the office before later torching himself to death (something that would be revisited on Russell T. Davies' soap "Revelations"). John Bowe's Larry Richards was intended to be a Den Watts type. When the show was originally conceived, it was envisioned as a bit of a mix of American, English, Austrailian, and Latin American soaps. Creator Kay Mellor implied that stories would have beginnings, middles, and ends. The Richards and the Williams were just the next chapter in the story. Louise Richards, the central of the latest paternity drama, was introduced until October 1991. It's a shame Margot Leicester's recent role was so thin. The humanity she bestows to Jane makes the character remarkable and is such an interesting contrast to Briony Behets neurotic, alcoholic Diane Vaughn. I admire actors who give a character a quiet strength like Leicester has with Jane. I hope more shows up as well. The first months are a bit meandering from what I've heard. Mike leaves for Australia in April and doesn't return to England until September for his daughter Amanda Thompson's aborted wedding to Neil Brooks. They do eventually marry even though Amanda has a compelling attraction to Andrew Stevens, who has arrived in Westbury and takes a job alongside his grandfather, George Davidson, at the Thompson auto garage. Andrew has flirtations with both Corinne Todd (who gets pregnant in a who's the daddy story with Andrew's brother, Christian) and Lisa Shepherd (the secretary at the garage). The big secret about Andrew being Mike's son doesn't really come to light until March 1991 and Mike's offed less than two months later. I'd still be curious to see how the show evolved to a point where Isabelle Bannerman kneels at Fiona Bannerman's bedside while she dies of an overdose. This really is one of Davies and crew's favorite story moments as I believe the "Families" crew worked several shows together. On "Springhill," Eva stands by Debbie Nixon Freeman's side when she takes her life. On "Revelations," Judy Loe's deliciously wicked Jessica Rattigan goes one step further and injects her posh, but bland, daughter-in-law Rachel with a hypodermic filled with air.

Mark Hapka played Nathan Horton.

Nathan Horton was the son that Melissa was pregnant with when she returned to town in the 1990s. It was referenced onscreen. I believe it was in July 2009 in the sequence where Maggie Horton bestowed Nathan with Tom Horton's medical bag. In the same conversation, we got the only reference that I recall to Nathan's paternity. Maggie said his father wasn't a good person and that was it. Nathan didn't seem to have any desire to explore the topic any further. Around the same time, Ken Corday was quoted in Soap Opera Digest stating that Nathan was Melissa and Pete's son, but this was never confirmed in anything that aired onscreen. Nathan's creation seemed to be an offshoot of the original plans for Will Horton. Before Dylan Patton was cast, the original casting call had Will Horton returning to Salem in early 2009 a bit older (he was a baseball player at Salem University). College age Will was suppose to end up in a flirtation with Melanie Layton. I suspect the original plan was to reveal Nicole was Melanie's mother and that the post-baby switch reveal would have had Sami learning this secret and keeping it in order to enact revenge on Nicole for taking Sydney. This was all clearly tossed when they decided to bring back Carly. As someone who was a fan of that era, I was incredibly disappointed in the decision to ditch Mark Hapka early in 2011. While Hapka's compliants weren't wrong, the show was pretty much structured around the female leads. I thought the sequence that they gave him in late 2010 (the virus that a pre-Dario Francisco San Martin gave Melanie and Nathan) was incredibly strong. Hapka and Burnett knew how to play the angst as well as Shelley Hennig knew how to just bare it all as Stephanie a few weeks later when Nathan called off the wedding. I felt like Melanie and Nathan would have been the plan for much of 2011 with Melanie's pregnancy being what kept Nathan and Melanie at odds with each other. I was very sorry when Nathan left town to work at John Hopkins. Has Nathan even been mentioned since he left Salem?

@DRW50Thank you for the tag! This has been one of those shows that has been incredibly hard to track down any material for. I didn't really think there was an interest here. This show is quietly insane. This episode is from the transition period where they have basically just written out a majority of the remaining original cast with the Stevens family fading into obscurity (barring Diane Stevens Vaughn who has relocated to Westbury with her husband to run the wine bar). The cast intergration and story crossover is nice with Diane's past catching up to her in the present being the catalyst that propels Margot Leicester's Jane Richards to confess the truth to her "daughter" Louise. Leicester was a real stand out in this and marvelous at taking some of this truly over the top material and grounding it in real emotions and avoiding playing up the melodrama. A few weeks earlier, Jane had had a miscarriage, kidnapped a baby from the hospital, and then tried to convince her sister Jackie to let her and Larry raise baby Sam (Jackie's son by an affair with Australian businessman Don McLeod) just as Jackie had let Jane and Larry raise Louise. To further complicate this plot, Louise (in the tailend of the Australian story) was determined to stay in Australia. To do so, she had first tried to marry Andrew (who chose his sister Amanda instead) before Louise was able to convince Don to marry her instead. Russell T. Davies plays a bit with this story (the revelation that Louise is not Jane's daughter) in his later soap "Springhill," but on a much grander scale when Nick, Sue, and Trish Freeman learn that their mother isn't frumpy religious zealot Liz Freeman but the recently returned Eva Morrigan. Drippy Sue Freeman has a similar reaction to Louise, while Liz, who has had moments of mania since Eva's return, is a much more calming force. Nick has also a rather deliciously "Families" embraced story as he has decided to dump his girlfriend Debbie so that he can pursue older woman Eva, who had befriended the young man before revealing her true identity. The other story, the destruction of the marriage between Anton and Diane, is equally fun. Diane desperately trying to convince herself that Amanda couldn't possibly have left town pregnant with her half-brother Andrew's baby borders deliciously on soap parody. I would drink too if I were Diane. Juliette Bannerman's flirtation with Anton is both intriguing, slightly disturbing, and thematically in character for the show as I struggled to tell the differnce between Anton and Simon Bannerman, Juliette's brother. Juliette ends up taking over the wine bar once Anton leaves Diane and a drunken Diane has a nasty confrontation with Sue Thompson, who returns just long enough to drop off Amanda's child (who we are told is Neil Brooks' son) off and to get one final dig to Diane by implying she knows where Diane's son Andrew is, before Diane gets killed when her car gets stuck on the railway tracks and she gets hit by an oncoming train. The Sue return sequence is still online in very poor quality. The final story, which is only starting to begin, is posh Simon Bannerman sporting an incurable crush on his sister Juliette's pal Fiona Lewis, who has been living life in Manchester in a flat paid for by her wealthy older married lover. While both Simon and Juliette are aware at this point that she has a sugar daddy, they (nor the audience) know that said man is their father Charles Bannerman (the lawyer who is said to be representing Larry Richards in the July 1992 episode). When the show ends the following August, Simon and Fiona have married, separated, and are on the verge of reuniting when Fiona decides to overdose, but calls the Bannerman home for help only for Helen Bourne's Isabelle Bannerman (Charles' wife) to answer and drive over to Simon and Fiona's to tell Fiona she made the right choice as she lets Fiona slip into an unconscious state. Wicked stuff. Within the last year, there was another (partial) episode from the final weeks in 1993 that included some of the story with the Harvey family, the working class family who took over the bar after the Richards and Williams crew was mostly shipped off. The episode was after the son Gary had already come out to his parents and I believe James Proctor had also informed the Harveys that he was their actual son (he and Gary I believe had been switched at birth). The show definitely led the audience to think that it was possibly there might be a romantic attraction on the part of Gary towards James, while James certainly was determined to take over Gary's position in the Harvey family. I didn't post it because the thread was closed and I imagined there wouldn't be much interest. Now I wish I had.

@KaneI think I've seen Rebecca Staab in a single episode as Cecilia. She was dressed in something very offbeat as if she were going off to a B-52s concert. I do think each actress played a very different version of the character from what I've seen. I do like Colleen Dion the most as I think her version of Cece was a predecessor for what was later done with Dinahlee. Collins, like Tudor Newman, just seemed to be able to evolve the character with such ease despite the rockiness of the transition between the revolving door of writers, producers, and recasts in their characters orbits. I wish they had done more with them when Curtis and Dinahlee were married and Chris Marcantel had returned to the part. I recall at one point (March 1994) Dinahlee, Curtis, Gwyn, and Clay were all living together. I liked how Gwyn and Dinahlee were able to push their differences aside for Curtis, but I wish that had been tested more. I vaguely recall Gwyn overhearing the conversation you were speaking of. The show managed to effectively use music throughout it's run. I seem to recall Dinahlee having a very sorrowful, heartfelt conversation with Louie Slavinski in November 1992 about how Louie was like the father she never had while Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" played in the background.

I felt MarDar's story scope was very narrow. The relationships they developed were strongly developed and had lots of character details, however, I didn't always find the story was their strong suit. Marlena and Will's relationship was definitely well developed under that regime, but Will's relationship with Kate was definitely downplayed and with Maggie was basically non-existent. There was also no real meat to the story. No one was against Will's sexuality. Will wasn't really interested in any guys (except maybe his former stepfather). The characterization was rich, but the plot didn't really include any action. It often was a lot of people hinting to Will that they knew he was gay (Marlena, the most often, and once, Sonny) but never really doing anything with it. The EJ/Will dynamic was also a little more complex than I'm giving it credit for as Will tried blackmailing EJ over the affair with EJ turning around and revealing Will was the one who shot him years ago, not Lucas. There was talk, I think, of EJ sort of mentoring Will, but nothing really ever happened. It was just a lot of talk. Chandler Massey definitely performed well with the adult crew. He has always been rather charismatic, but not always the strongest when it comes to delivering dramatic material. I cannot remember if he was a lot better when he was playing the material during MarDar, but I remember him being very ineffective against Blake Berris when they were writing Nick and Will as this generation's David Banning and Mike Horton. By keeping Will sequestered with the adults, there was no real attempt to build a younger core that would be needed to really tell stories based on the economics of the show. The veterans were too expensive and the show too cash strapped to really tell those kind of stories without some new, inexpensive faces to carry some of that dramatic weight.

There was a change in writers. Marlene MacPhearson and Darrell Ray penned EJ and Will's relationship with heavy homoerotic subtext because they had no real story for Will after coming out. Even if they wanted to go there, and I'm not convinced it wasn't anything more than gaybaiting, production wasn't super supportive at the time. Greg Meng stated when MarDar were leaving and outlining the future for "Days" that the gay story wasn't what was bringing in the 18-49 female demographic or something of that nature. Though Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitsell within their first five to ten episodes turned around and had Sonny track down Will post explosion to declare his love for him and for Tad to turn around and beat the crap out of Sonny because he was gay with a less than subtle suggestion on Sonny's part that Tad's feelings regarding Sonny's sexuality was more about Tad's insecurities. I'm pretty sure Will and Sonny was the plan from the end of Higley and Whitsell's run. I know Whitsell was technically out of the credits by the time Sonny was introduced in June 2011, but the story setup for Gabi's pregnancy seemed to be in the works. Gabi had a brief bout of pneumonia that landed her in the hospital in the summer of 2011 which I figured would have been used to explain later why Gabi would be able to hide her pregnancy. MarDar definitely spent time and energy developing Will's coming out, but I never got the sense they knew what they would do with Will after he came out. As I recall, he was kept pretty isolated from the rest of the younger set in 2012 until Tomlin and Whitsell returned and then Will seemed to be more central to the youth set while his story still impacting his family. NBC is more likely more conservative than CBS, and the reaction wasn't stellar, but "Young and the Restless" did something similar with Adam Newman and the attorney Rafe Torres. Granted, that was something that has been pretty much scrubbed from history, but it was a thing for a moment. Even if they didn't "go there," they could still have easily had Sami convinced that EJ and Will were sleeping together with Will later making a play at EJ that he rejected that could have led to some interesting drama. Though very little actually happened between 2011-2012 between Tomlin runs. I'd argue that a lot of the "interference" MarDar faced was their own inability to work within the budget constraints of the shows tight budget, which is something that had led to a sudden dismissal of Paula Cwikly and Peter Brash as headwriters a decade earlier. For one, MarDar didn't understand how contract guarantees worked. You can't have Matt Ashford starring in a story with a once-a-week contract guarantee or Lisa Rinna for that matter. For MarDar to have been successful, they would have needed to be paired with someone who could have made their day to day storytelling compelling, which is odd because I believe most of the people who had worked under the previous regime stated. That group was use to taking Higley's underdeveloped plans and turning them into something compelling. What I mostly remember MarDar for is that Marlena and Sami's family got a lot of good character developing material while everyone else seemed to flounder until their wedding anniversary or birthday came up and that was remembered. Or the inability to choose whether the audience was rooting for Sami with Rafe, EJ, or Lucas.

Another May 1985 episode: Some nice use of music that shows why "Loving" would have been hard to rerun. The music sting at the start of the episode is fairly compelling when Ava is knocking on Stacey's door while Stacey has a panic attack on the other side since she and Jack have just finished up in her bed. I know "Loving" had a tendency to use more popular musical scores from film and other television series. Does anyone recognize this one? Dane and Gwyn romping around in the hotel room to "Smooth Operator" is pure 80s gold only to be topped by the lost episode of "Paper Dolls" that seems to play out at the end of the episode with Lorna hopping to Madonna's "Material Girl" while men and women clad in dayglo outfits prance about. In terms of actual dramatic material, Jack lying to Stacey about Ava's reaction should come back to bite him. Ava and Ann's conversation about a husband's infidelity would have been much richer if they leaned a bit more into the history. Dane and Gwyn's affair is the obvious subtext to Ann's remarks to Ava, but I would hope that at some point it is acknowledged (or has been) that this was Ann's issue in her marriage to Roger as well.