beebs

51 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

As much as he drove a lot of drama later on, I REALLY wish this one would've stuck.

24 minutes ago, ironlion said:

I agree that soaps shouldn't be five days a week, and should be kept to a 1/2 hour.  22 minutes though, not 18 watered down with commercials.

 

For example, if it were CBS, (keeping soaps at 60 mins), I'd do:

Mon-Wed         Thu-Fri

Y&R 1-2pm      GL 1-2pm

B&B 2-3pm      ATWT 2-3pm

 

(OR) Ideal Scenario (30 min soaps)

Mon-Wed             Thu-Fri

Y&R 1-1:30pm       GL 1-1:30p

B&B 1:30-2pm      ATWT 1:30-2p

 

Less extra characters, less fluff and more matter. Fewer episodes, somore reason to tune in for every episode, every week. I'd opt for a Mon-Wed; Thu-Fri split. I think a Mon/Wed/Fri; Tue/Thu split might be too confusing to the layman audience. Y&R and B&B would get 3 days as they've had the higher ratings. 

 

As for the most realistic soaps, I'd say B&B and Y&R. Riche era GH in the 90s (minus the Cassedines) was a good realist period. I like a balance, Some realist soaps and some over the top soaps. Just not DAYS and PASSIONS over the top. 

Not totally against this, though I'd argue you could do M-W (say Y&R/B&B), then T-T (GL/ATWT, for example) with the watered down 18 minutes (purely for ad revenue reasons), then do a Friday (or Saturday?) Omnibus edition like they do in the UK for anyone that's behind. I honestly think the omnibus could be the key to making it work, as that gives folks an easy way to catch up, and it wouldn't be especially overwhelming, since it only amounts to a one-hour show a week. If it's successful, you can always expand from there, but I just think that leaving folks wanting more and giving the writers the time to breathe a bit might stop things from getting too bloated or messy.

Just now, ironlion said:

Yikes! I've been waiting for years to see Phillip Chancellor's death on Y&R as well as Victor Lord's death on OLTL. One day they might surface, if such video exists anymore.

You might get lucky with Y&R, and DAYS. Both shows apparently have all episodes in tact. Just...not circulating, obviously.

1 minute ago, ironlion said:

Exactly what are the blank years for old soaps, the late 60s to the late 70s? At least those are the years I find toughest to locate online. 

 

And why is that? I suppose it has something to do with tape erasure?

From the sounds of it. From what I've been able to tell, they stopped doing many kinescopes after the mid-60s (with the odd exception of that glut of 1975 GHs that have popped up online), but didn't stop taping over old episodes until the late 70s for most shows, so basically, unless local stations and the like haven't held onto their timeshifted copies (or, how some of the soaps had copies shipped to Australian channels for rebroadcast, which, for whatever reason, have been kept), we're basically out of luck

33 minutes ago, Gray Bunny said:

 

I have questions, lol. Can someone translate? 

 

This (hilarious) video cleared up a lot of it for me:

 

I accidentally linked to the entire playlist, but they're worth watching for a laugh, tbh.

1 hour ago, ReddFoxx said:

B&B does tend to have dramatic direction. When Brooke saw that was alive the camera zoom ins were extra dramatic.

 

 

In her defense, if anyone walked up to my door with that god-awful plastic surgery, I'd scream like that, too.

 

Those zoom-ins were pretty shocking, but not the way I'm sure they intended. YIKES.

Not that the performance was particularly OTT, but the direction, and the FEKKING SPOTLIGHT???
 

 

4 hours ago, BoldKara said:

LEGEND!!! 

 

OK it seems the RTL Lounge is an actual TV channel and based on one of the endings of the episodes on the Vault, it's clear that channel doesn't air the end credits, and goes directly to a The Bold and the Beautiful banner, and ends. I personally don't mind as the quality is just so beautiful...a million thanks to Bartosz...keep em coming I say! 

Yep, as someone who's lived in the NL, RTL Lounge is a station on my parents' cable package. Most Dutch TV stations don't air credits, really, now that I think of it.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

 

Now I REALLY have no interest in keeping up with this show.

Yeaaaah that's...that's a big ol' NOPE for me too.

Just now, slick jones said:

You're probably right about Dena, it's been so long since I've watched.

LOL, yeah, I haven't watched consistently in about three years at this point. The more I read and the longer I go without, the more I realize I'm not missing much.

1 minute ago, slick jones said:

I quit when Ron C. took over, and I don't regret it one iota.

Laura makes three still viable Horton family members sacrificed by  I-ron-y Carlivati.  The biggest mistake was David,  but killing Laura after proving she's still viable  (from what I've read here) is just ASS. plain and simple.  
 

I could've sworn David was Dena's fault. But I agree either way, it's just stupid. What's the point of bringing her back after YEARS just long enough to make fans see what she could bring to the show again, just to off her a couple of weeks in? It's incredibly lazy, and creatively bankrupt. There are some sacred cows you just don't shoot.

On 03/02/2021 at 6:44 PM, victoria foxton said:

 

  

Lolol found my Twitter account, I see @victoria foxton? 

8 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Quick question,

 

If I find a really good Youtube channel with DAYS clips, I shouldn't share the link because it increases the chances of the channel being taken down?

Basically, though if you can PM it to me, I'd be eternally grateful

1 hour ago, Franko said:

I fear that @beebs has found DAYS' autumn of 1980 to be just too boring for words ...

(Just teasing, luv.)

LOL, I've just been having a lot of work-related stuff to deal with. But, I'll be honest, suffering through Nina Laemmle and a host of characters I don't really care about in stories that don't particularly interest me was rough. I can only hope Gary Tomlin/Michelle Poteet-Lisanti are a little better than what they started off writing under. It also doesn't help that SOD puts out two summaries per month at this point and sifting through what does and doesn't ultimately matter to the stories, plus filling in the gaps with Tune In Tomorrow is kind of a challenge. I'll see what I can do.

26 minutes ago, YRBB said:

 

That person is vile and seems to be doing this on purpose. That wonderful DAYS uploader has had to go private AGAIN because someone ELSE gave this Erik Stone poster the links to the playlists. Now nobody has access to the episodes. Why is it so difficult to follow the rules?!

I suspect it might be a good idea to start a DAYS vault, under the circumstances. I MIGHT look into it.

I love the german and french episodes being uploaded, though I've always loathed watching dubbed TV. Something about it always just irritated me, so it's hard to watch. But it's still delightful to see the footage, regardless.

2 hours ago, Dr Neil Curtis said:

 

I loved Eileen’s return as Kristen, just didn’t like that whole “oh ok, she’s alive.” thing. No shock value from John nor Marlena, only EJ who thought it was his mother in disguise. 

I mean, after the number of DiMeras that had faked their deaths by that point, I probably wouldn't be too shocked either tbf.

41 minutes ago, Franko said:

I can't remember if Dee said in the 30th Anniversary Scrapbook that she didn't like all of the Kellam story, or just the ending. I think the only stuff from 1980 she liked, and even that was by extension, was when they referenced D.J.'s death when Marlena counseled Stella Lombard (and I get the impression it's largely that she liked working with Elaine Bromka).

I can see why. DJs death could have been a fascinating story, but was instead basically used as a wedge for Don and Marlena, and it seems they hardly delved into Don's feelings about it. Especially since he had lost another child years before. They instead just made him a nasty,defensive pig, and made Marlena come off as a shut in who only talks to Kellam and literally no one else. It's very bizarre.

 

I know SOD doesn't do the best job of filling in character motivations (can you tell I still miss Daytime Serial Newsletter?), but you don't even get a glimmer of what the hell these people are thinking from SOD, and it makes the stories seem 10x worse for it.

3 minutes ago, carolineg said:

 

I feel like this 1979-80 stuff with Don and Marlena is mostly weird and dumb.  Stuff happens (DJ dying, Don blaming Marlena, Don's affair) and then for months it seems like Don/Marlena don't do a whole a lot except hang out with Kellam and argue here and there.  And Liz and Don seem to come out of nowhere.  And it does seem odd Marlena has no friends to confide in even though we know her friends exist on the canvas.  I know it's hard to tell from recaps, but this whole Kellam stuff seems awful.  Not looking forward to the rape, especially since the show really doesn't use that history much anymore.  I can understand why she hated it.  For a character so popular, Marlena is not doing much of anything even though major things are happening to her.  Again, it's hard to tell from recaps, but Don just cheated on her why does she want him at her birthday party so badly lol?

It's kind of true, though early in Laemmle's run, Liz is initially attracted to Don, and Kellam to Marlena, so it isn't entirely out of left field. It's just the fact they had Liz end up with Neil and had Kellam chase after Julie for awhile that sort of...confused the issue. I wonder if they were still saying Julie was Sunny's doppelganger by this point, or did they get another actress to play Sunny in flashbacks?

 

 

On 1/6/2021 at 1:21 PM, AbcNbc247 said:

The Laemmle era strikes me as something along the lines of, if you watched it every day you might as well have been glued to the TV, but when you thought about it in retrospect, you'd think, "Oh wow this was terrible"

 

Maybe Laemmle actually did just pitch a show to the networks and failed every time, only to use all the ideas for that show when she got to DAYS. And it also seems like she used primetime show story pacing on a daytime show, which almost always fails. 

That's what's interesting to me. She seems to have gone back to the Ann Marcus lightning pace that very clearly did not work for Marcus. Granted, I know the times had changed, and rather rapidly, but even GH had plenty of room for character development, whereas we still don't really understand what Chandler's end goal really is, or why they're so hellbent on controlling every aspect of everyone in Salem's lives. I would've been interested in hearing more about Sunny Chandler, her sons, and her fate. Probably one of the only truly intriguing bits of the Chandler family mess, and that, of course, is the one thread that's dropped. It's so odd to me that both Joshua and Tod linger on the show on and off for the next few years, and yet it sounds like they never find out they're brothers? Bizarre. (ETA: They may yet, looks like October addresses the lingering mystery)

I think you're onto something @Franko re: Laemmle trying to craft DAYS as Dallas. Kind of silly since so many other shows are going the same road at this point, most notably OLTL with the Buchanans, and to much greater success. Once again, daytime doesn't understand that the key to success is to be different, not to ape what's working elsewhere.

Shall we see the transition from Laemmle to Tomlin/Poteet-Lisanti? I should point out that I'm one of few who liked much of Tomlin's last run (until his heavy-hitters all left and he replaced them with the Ozark Buffoon Crew and elephant statues, of course), so I'm kind of biased to like what he writes, but...we'll see.

OCTOBER 1980!

 

 

Mickey is starting to feel neglected by Maggie, while she spends so much time tending to Kyle, but Maggie insists he needs a friend. Mickey, feeling jealous, talks to Neil about his insecurity. Neil affirms what Maggie's been saying: while yes, Maggie has spent a lot of time with the paralysed football player, Kyle needs Maggie's support. Mickey is pacified by Neil's confirmation.

God knows why, but Julie feels guilty for Lee's stroke EVEN THOUGH THE BITCH WAS TRYING TO WHACK HER WHEN IT HAPPENED! Doug reassures her that Lee is to blame for her own stroke, because she didn't take her meds right. Does Julie even realize she was about 0.4 seconds away from being back in the emergency ward? Cos like...

While Doug is tending to his nasty wife, Julie goes to the club, and spends time with Neil (who is exactly the LAST person who should be at a casino). They discuss their respective problems (Liz cutting Neil off for dubious reasons, Lee's brain not working on one side), and Neil suggests they go back to his place. Julie refuses, even after Neil promises not to get fresh. Julie leaves him, and re-enters later to find him at the blackjack table. Julie has the most powerful glare in all of humanity because the instant they lock eyes, Neil backs away from the table almost reflexively.

But Neil can't be kept away from the blackjack tables, and when Doug and Julie spy Neil back at them later on, they have Joshua keep an eye on him, hoping to stop him before he bets. Julie scolds Neil about his turning to gamlbing. Neil admits to Julie that his breakup with Liz has driven him back to the tables.

 

Lee wants Doug to move back into the penthouse to help care for her. Doug refuses, but Neil suggests Doug do so to help with Lee's recovery. Doug relents. When Doug tells Julie the news, she's livid, but after the initial flare of anger, becomes more understanding, and goes along with Doug's supposed obligation to Lee. Doug has also settled on a decision, however, and will not move back into the penthouse. Lee pretends to understand, but secretly reaffirms her commitment to staying an invalid so that Doug will be forever tied to her.

 

Julie, suspecting Lee is doing exactly what Lee is doing, accuses Lee of doing exactly what Lee is doing. Lee is indignant that Julie should accuse her of doing exactly what she is doing, and begins to do exactly that: pretends she's a helpless wounded victim, and that she can't breathe. After Lee gasps at Julie to get out, Julie runs out into the hallway to call for help. As Julie does this, Lee leans back in her bed, and breathes deeply. Once Neil arrives in Lee's room, he "talks her down", telling Lee she's just hyperventilating. Lee asks Neil not to let her see Julie again. When Doug arrives at the hospital, he has a go at Julie for seeing Lee. Because of course, he does, the dumbass.

 

Kyle gets his legs out of casts, and they do a chem test with Lee, who, during therapy, sees Lee having a hissy fit. She's displeased when Kyle nicknames her Contessa, but her mood quickly changes when Doug shows up. Kyle admits to Doug that he's been keeping an eye on Lee and sees how she's been struggling. Doug asks Kyle to keep an eye on Lee's progress for him. Lee gives Kyle a shy smile. I guess the flirtation begins.

 

Neil, being refused to be dealt in at Doug's Club, is approached by a shady figure who tells Neil about a nearby poker game at the Salem Inn. Neil asks to be cut in. Doug, meanwhile, begs Neil to try again to contact Liz, hoping to keep Neil away from the casino. Neil feels it's hopeless, something Liz confirms to Doug while they're out on the campaign trail together.

 

Mickey and Maggie invite Kyle to their place for dinner. He is reluctant at first, before Mickey insists. During his therapy, however, Kyle falls. Maggie is there to lend a hand of support as Kyle talks about his fear of an operation, but Mickey walks in at that moment, and is instantly insecure, disappearing before anyone else sees him there.

 

Lee is on thin ice. Doug tells her that if she doesn't start making some effort, he's not going to visit her any longer. Lee miraculously moves her hand suddenly!

 

 

 

Liz and Don go out campaigning for the $#!tbag, and get cozy at an intimate dinner at Don's hotel room. They drink and drink and drink and then Liz cries on Don's shoulder about what she thinks Neil did to her, and Don claims Marlena's giving him a hassle (which is entirely of Don's own creation, of course), and Liz has a meltdown because she's feeling insecure over being rejected AGAIN and Don comforts her and butters her up with compliments and then kisses her and then they screw. Yayyyyy....

 

Don and Liz wake up the next day and regret their actions. Liz promises to keep it secret, knowing it was only comfort, and nothing serious.

Marlena, meanwhile, tells Kellam that she and Don are having problems (Marlena is obviously lacking close girlfriends if Kellam is who she turns to). According to SOD she tells him he is "very" understanding. I'm sure. So understand that Kellam's hired a PI. She contacts Kellam and tells him she saw Don with another woman, but can't identify who the woman is. Kellam asks her back to Salem ASAP, where he instructs her to become friendly with Marlena and casually mention Don's affair to her in conversation, but makes it clear he doesn't want to be linked to the information. Kim, the PI, encounters Marlena at campaign HQ, and somehow manages to bring up her ex-husband's infidelity without it being incredibly forward for a first conversation, yet can't bring herself to tell Marlena about Don and Liz. I guess some topics are too awkward for even Kim to slip into polite conversation with strangers.

Hours later, Kim and Marlena have another random heart-to-heart, before Kellam calls Kim at headquarters, presumably to scold her on her lack of progress. As they discuss Don's indiscretion, Marlena walks in and overhears the whole thing. OOPS! Of course, Marlena doesn't know who Kim's talking to. Ironically, Kellam's actually on the phone telling Kim to hold off on telling Marlena about Don and Liz's tryst when this happens. Sketchy.

 

Don returns from the campaign trail, and Marlena is an ice queen with him. When he presses, she breaks down in tears and asks him point blank if he's been having an affair. Don weasels his way out of it, saying it wasn't an AFFAIR per se, just a one night thing and he was gonna tell her about it, honest. Marlena screams at Don not to touch her. He tries to tell Marlena that the night meant nothing to him, and tells Marlena "don't ruin everything, baby. We can put our marriage back together!" To which Marlena tells him that things will never be the same between them, and admits that part of her wants Don to leave, but part of her would be hurt he Don left. Kellam asks Marlena about the situation with Don, and Marlena once again lavishes compliments on Kellam about how sensitive he is. 

 

Kellam and Marlena continue to work closely together, while Don is sent back on the campaign trail. Both Don and Marlena resent this, as both privately want Don home for Marlena's upcoming birthday. Don calls, and is unhappy to find Kellam is there. He promises he'll make it back for Marlena's birthday. Don then gets a call from the DA, saying he's been promoted to judge, and asks Don if he wants to take on the role of DA. Don is ready to leap at the chance, but needs to confirm it with Marlena and Kellam first.

 

Don calls again to say that, actually, he won't be there for Marlena's birthday. Oh well! Kellam finds out, and asks if he can spend her birthday with Marlena and Johnny. Marlena asks him to come for cake in the evening. Don laments not being able to be home for his wife's birthday, and is stunned that she found out about his affair with Liz. Liz doesn't believe her father had anything to do with Marlena's discovery, as if he had, she would've been scolded about it by now. She encourages Don to go home for Marlena's birthday, even cancelling a press conference so that Don can head back to Salem, and surprise Marlena.

 

At the apartment, Kellam lavishes Marlena with an expensive bracelet, and Johnny with a toy truck. Once Johnny's off to bed, he tells Marlena all about his depressing, loveless childhood, with a disinterested father and a mother who died when he was young. Marlena responds to Kellam's candid story by telling Kellam about her worries that Don's lack of communication will cause them to lose custody of Johnny. Marlena tears up, Kellam comforts her, they kiss, and Don walks in! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARLENA! Don closes the door again before he's spotted, confused as to what to do.  Kellam then apologizes for kissing Marlena. Moments later, Don walks in again, and announces his presence. Marlena is pleased to see him, but notices the door was slightly ajar when Don came in. Kellam leaves shortly thereafter, and Marlena asks Don if he saw Kellam kiss her. He admits he did, and then scolds his wife, accusing her of "trying to get back at him".

 

Marlena is livid when she finds out Don has unilaterally decided to take the DA position without consulting her. Why? Because she thinks it's unfair to Kellam. How is Marlena this blind??? Don enrages Kellam with the news, particularly when Don admits he would've quit regardless of whether or not the DA position was firm.

 

 

 

Trish gets good news! Her agent has set up a photoshoot for her at the club. That's all.

 

 

 

Josh's Aunt Emily dies, and he inherits a farm and some letters from his parents. Josh's real name is apparently John Talbot Jr. If ever there was a posher name, It's likely hyphenated. Apparently John Talbot Sr. was a great attorney, and his mother was, indeed, the infamous Sunny Chandler. Mrs. Chisholm sends Josh her condolences, and Josh tells her that he knows she is close to another relative of his. 

Tod finds a portrait of Sunny in...some room of the house (presumably the attic but I don't know why he'd be up there), and asks Kellam to hang it in the living room. Kellam is inordinately angry about this, prompting Todd to hang it in his room in defiance. Max warns Kellam that they need to watch out for Flora because she might spill the beans about how Sunny died. JUST TELL US ALREADY JEEEZ.

 

The letter explains that Sunny regrets leaving John Sr. and Josh to marry Kellam the Greasebag, but that she had to stay with Kellam because she was pregnant with Tod. Josh finishes the letter and, after showing Mrs. Chisholm, asks her how Sunny died. Flora won't answer and spontaneously announces she feels ill. Julie becomes a busybody after Josh spots Sunny's portrait in her studio, where Josh is having the portrait framed, and seemed to recognize the woman. Julie asks Flora if Josh knew Sunny.  Flora has another meltdown, and Julie changes the subject before she has to change Flora's Depends. Julie then decides to take the direct approach, asking Josh about how well Flora knew Josh's mother. Josh gets defensive, and Julie just tells him she realized she knew nothing about him. Josh wants Julie to mind her business and "accept him as he is". Whatever that means. Julie then randomly brings up Carol's interest in Josh, to which Josh flatly rejects the idea of being serious withCarol, but that doesn't stop him from seeing her.

 

Kellam and Max apparently has someone spying on Josh too. The Chandlers are singlehandedly keeping every PI in Salem employed. What good fortune for them!

 

Josh once again asks Carol to go swimming (these folks spend a lot of time swimming considering the time of year...It's getting weird), and just as they're leaving, Carol realizes she forgot the towels. Once inside Josh's room, she runs over to Josh's pants and starts rummaging through his wallet (wanna bet she's Max's spy?), only to be caught by Josh, who re-enters the room after Carol takes too long. Carol claims she just wanted to know his birth date, so she was looking for his drivers' license. Suuuuure. Josh agrees not to fire her, but tells her things will never be the same between them.

 

OH I WAS RIGHT. Max meets with his spy for an update, only to have Carol emerge to tell him that Josh is onto her, and that the name on his license is Joshua Fallon. Max pays her off to leave town. Once Max tells Kellam about Carol, he's concerned carol might sell them out, if the price is right. Don't worry, Kellam. I'm sure that's the last we'll hear about Carol.

 

More letters from Sunny! This one begging Aunt Emily to help her escape Kellam! Apparently, according to Mrs. Chisholm, Sunny asked Kellam for a divorce, and custody of Tod, but Kellam refused, citing, GUESS WHAT, his political ambitions! Sunny then ended up in the sanitarium for depression. Josh then presents Flora with Sunny's last letter to Josh's aunt Emily (unusually close to the ex-'s family, aren't we?), where Sunny reveals she was threatened by Kellam because Sunny threatened to reveal Kellam's affair with Liz's college friend. Ick. Apparently Sunny had been heavily medicated from that point, and was becoming very weak. Tod was in boarding school, Josh's father John was an alcoholic, and Aunt Emily was ill. Josh is convinced this last letter proves Kellam is responsible for Sunny's death. Flora won't say anything, scared for the harm that might come to Josh if Kellam finds out what Josh knows.

 

Josh heads to Mickey's office with Sunny's letters. After reading them, Mickey is convinced Kellam had something to do with Sunny's death, and, if the truth came out, it would end Kellam's political career. But there's a problem: without corroboration, it's just the words of a dead woman who was mentally ill vs. a living political figure. If Josh can come up with someone to back up Sunny's story, only THEN should Josh go to the police. 

 

Once home, Josh discovers someone (Kellam & Co.) have ransacked his apartment. Julie arrives, and is stunned to find the scene, and begs Josh to tell her what's going on, but Josh won't. Tod, being a close friend of Josh's, wonders why Josh holds such animosity toward Kellam. Josh won't say, but Todd insists that, if Kellam did anything to harm Josh, Tod would never forgive Kellam.

 

Josh goes to Flora, asking her to tell him about Sunny's death, but Flora still won't. However, she does tell Josh that Sunny's maid delivered a note to her before Sunny died. In the letter, Sunny begged Flora to see her. But when Flora visited the Chandler house, she was turned away. Josh presses enough that Flora admits she knows how Sunny died, but is scared of the consequences if she tells Josh the truth. Josh insists he is already in harm's way, as someone broke into his apartment. Flora still won't talk, even when Josh tells her he's going to track Sunny's maid down. Flora is sure the maid won't tell the truth, as she had lied to the grand jury when Sunny died. Josh tries anyway, asking Mickey to track the maid, Mrs. Parker, down.

 

Mickey does, and Josh insists on seeing her. Mickey warns him of the danger that may put him in, but Josh is undeterred. He visits Mrs. Parker's home, and is told by her parents that Mrs. Parker now lives in a rest home (yikes!), and give Josh the address. At the rest home, Mrs. Parker is revealed to be extremely ill, and is initially afraid to say anything to Josh. But once Josh explains the importance of the matter, Mrs. Parker decides it best to tell the truth and get the guilt she's been carrying for _X_ years off her shoulders. She tells Josh that the night Sunny died, Sunny called Mrs. Parker for help. Leaving her room, Mrs. Parker headed downstairs to Sunny's room, where a nurse, a bodyguard, and Max were holding her down, as the nurse gave Sunny an injection. Mrs. Parker ran to Flora and told Flora the story, but when they called and asked to speak to Sunny, they were told she was dead. Scared stiff, Mrs. Parker lied at the inquest to save her own skin. She finally agrees to tell the truth to Mickey. OH I GUESS NOT! When Josh returns with Mickey, Mrs. Parker's parents mysteriously showed up and whisked her away. Figures.

 

At Josh's, Julie comes in and startles Flora, as Julie reads news clippings about Sunny's death. Julie asks about Sunny's eldest son, but Flora immediately gets ill again and tells Julie she's worried about Josh. At the club, she finds that Tod was looking for Josh, and puts all the pieces together when Trish comments to her that Todd sees Josh as a brother. It all fits.

 

Josh, now without anyone to corroborate Sunny's letters, pleads with Mrs. Chisholm to tell Mickey the truth. The old bat stubbornly refuses, claiming she doesn't want to put Josh in danger. No matter how much Josh begs her to, she won't. Josh, fed up with her nonsense, shouts that he's going to punish the Chandlers for killing his mother, and Flora becomes a hysterical wreck, begging Josh not to leave. Josh does, because like, why stay there with the woman if she's gonna stonewall him and scream at him endlessly. Come on!

 

 

 

Chris and Mickey visit Kellam and tell him about the breach of contract suit they're planning to file against him. Kellam is vocal in his objection, citing the damage it could do to him in the polls. Chris and Mickey confirm that that's entirely the point. Kellam's big mad, until Max suggests they copy Chris' solar generator to the letter, make some small changes, and, once they've given Chris back his design, sell their own. Kellam is dubious, knowing that Mickey will file suit once again, but Max points out that the filing and litigation will take months to take shape, long after the election. Kellam agrees, and tells Don he's going to forefit all rights to Chris' generator. Leslie and Chris realize, upon hearing the news, that although they get their design back, the worth nothing because no one will be using it now.

 

Apparently the show forgot Leslie met Chris' parents before, as they're talking as though this is the first time Leslie met Mrs. Kositchek, and they get on famously (of course). Leslie and Chris finally set a wedding date, but Leslie wants to keep the date a secret, just to ward off any potential bad luck.

 

Mary goes looking through Alex's things, and discovers a list of Alex's holdings, including SIDO! Mary immediately calls Chris. Just before Chris arrives, Alex pays her a visit. When Mary confronts him about it, Alex warns her that if she tells Chris the truth about who owns SIDO, Chris and Leslie will give up the marina, and leave town, screwing Mary out of her investment. Mary realizes that Alex is right, and keeps quiet, making Mary look suspect af.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally the dayplayer's baby is home, and it's HARD. And EXPENSIVE. This comes as a big surprise to me and everyone who isn't Jessica Blake. She tells Jessica as much, but Jessica, desperate to be right, tells her to BE HOPEFUL. Sally can't find a job, comes home to the baby crying, and Jessica, who'd cut a class to tend to the infant in cradling her. Once Sally is back, she runs off to school, leaving Sally alone with a screaming infant who she resents. Sally nearly smothers the baby with a pillow, but thinks better of it at the last moment. She takes the baby in her arms and apologizes. This is going so well.

 

Sally almost immediately thereafter calls Marie and tells her she changed her mind, and signs off on the baby's adoption, then plans to leave town. Jessica finds out and is mad as Hell, even after finding out what Sally nearly did to the poor child. Jessica blames Marie for Sally's decision, because, I guess, according to Jessica, a dead baby is preferable to an adopted one.

 

 

Tod visits Chris' new business...whatever it is, and asks him to repair his motorboat. It sounds as though he spots Cassie there, and again makes a play for her, taking her out swimming. He cuts class to do this, and once at Cassie's apartment, they head for the bed. Jessica shows up in the middle of the fun to ask Cassie to set her up with a pre-med student she met at her birthday party. Cassie agrees to try her best, and Todd is unhappy about the news. Whooooo cares?

 

At the disco (what a boring life these kids lead, they literally only go to the disco and the beach), Cassie and Jessica meet with Toddd and Mark the pre-med student Jessica felt so strongly about she had to interrupt Tod and Cassie's sexy time to set a date up with. They apparently are getting along well, for all that trouble, but Todd has to comment about Jessica's good looks, which makes Cassie jealous. GIVE IT UP, CASSIE. The next day, Cassie begs Jessica not to take Tod from her. Jessica has absolutely no intention of doing so.

The NEXT day, Jessica cuts class again to go on a picnic (what a change) with Todd, Cassie, and Mark. Jessica laments skipping class, which Cassie pokes fun at her for. When Tod comes to her defense, Cassie's once again jealous af. When Marie finds out about Jessica cutting classes, she gives Jessica a stern lecture about how she'll lose her scholarship if her grades aren't good enough. Jessica lashes out at Marie yet again, telling Marie that she's going to have FUN and she isn't going to be a goody-two-shoes ANYMORE.

 

She holds up to that promise for all of five minutes, before Alex tells her exactly the same thing Marie did. Except when Alex tells her, Jessica listens to him and promises to never ever do it again. Yeah, I'm starting to loathe Jessica. In the same conversation, Jessica tells Alex how lonely she is, and vows to find her real parents, because she doesn't have any family to speak of. Be careful what you wish for, brat. Marie once again questions Alex about his closeness to Jessica. He once again assures Marie that his interest in her is merely fatherly. He also scolds Marie for her attitude toward Jessica, telling Marie that she is the cause of Jessica's unhappiness, and that Marie should be FRIENDLIER to Jessica(*eyeroll*). So what does Marie do? She goes to Alice and tells her not to get too close to Jessica, because she might accidentally reveal that Jessica is Marie's daughter.

 

Alex, feeling Jessica needs a pick-me-up, suggests to Marie that they should help Jessica find her birth parents. Marie is...less than thrilled by the prospect, telling Alex to never do this, and that it would be dangerous for them to do. Alex is...baffled, and agrees not to pursue the matter, but warns Marie that Jessica may very likely conduct her own search.

 

Tod is disappointed when Kellam makes him spend his 21st birthday at the Chandler house, therefore Cassie is not welcome. Jessica refuses Liz's invitation to the party, but agrees to go as Pre-Med Mark's date. When Josh hears that Jessica is going to the party, Josh warns her not to, but won't tell her why, only to "Stay away from the Chandlers", which baffles Jessica.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first weeks of Tomlin/Poteet-Lisanti seem to just be a continuation of Laemmle's nonsense (I guess, since they were her co-writers, that's logical). I appreciate that they're bringing her stories to some sort of closure, though I really don't know why they're glossing over Brent shooting Julie. I guess they knew that that truth would push Lee one step too far, though you never know.

Flora Chisholm is annoying me now. Constant screaming like a banshee over nothing. Just tell the fekking truth already, and Kellam can't hurt anyone anymore. God.

For Marlena to still be 100% supportive of Kellam at this point requires her to have been completely out of the loop with every other person she knows in the community, and I don't buy it. What a weird storyline, and it makes Marlena look unusually dumb.

Okay, it's time to find out about the Great Caning That Wasn't of 1980, and all other associated nonsense! Apologies for not doing more of these lately, I've had one hell of a holiday season.

A note about August:

I read over some of the Tune In Tomorrow recaps, and discovered that David left town in a hurry because Mary told him if he didn't, she WOULD press charges, thus his sudden desperation to leave for greener pastures, so his motivation to take off is a little less...unsympathetic. He's still a whiny bitch tho.

 

ONWARD to Nina Laemmle's last month!

 

 

 

 

Mickey tells Don his employers are a bunch of sleazy conmen, and Don plugs his ears and goes la la la...then goes to ask them about Mickey's (factual) allegations that Max and Kellam had conspired with Alex, and they develop the brightest haloes you've ever seen in your life with a quickness. Don stays duped and agrees to stay on their team, but warns them that if he learns better, he's out. Kellam waits until Don leaves and then twirls his mustache, telling Max "I think success has gone to Don's head. We are going to have to keep an eye on him". Why not just surveil the entire fekking city at this point? God!

 

Now that Chandler own the plant, they've no more use for Alex, and he has to clean out his desk "until things cool down", but Kellam promises he'll make Alex an offer to stay "in time". Alex promises to hold him to that. Max is increasingly concerned about David coming back to bite them in the arse. Alex demands they don't harm David or Scotty, and the mustache twirlers immediately decide once Alex leaves the room that Alex and David must be "disposed of". If I didn't know any better, I'd expect them to talk like 1930s gangsters at this point. They're either spying on, or plotting to kill EVERY MAN IN TOWN at this point!

 

Liz sneaks off the campaign trail to see Neil. She's despondent after seeing the suffering of the public: Starving babies and slums and such. She credits Neil with helping her to see beyond the confines of her sheltered existence, and they go to bed. The next morning, Neil warns Liz that Kellam will be pretty pissed off with her. I'm sure he'll put a tail on her and a hit on Neil now.

 

SHOCKER! Kellam knows Liz snuck off the campaign trail to screw Neil, and is livid! Guess he's already got a tail on her! He once again demands she give up Neil, after calling her a tramp, because that's always a good way to influence your family members. Liz storms out of Kellam's office in tears. Kellam perks up when he finds out Todd passed his exams, and shows his love for Tod by throwing money at him: a cheque in celebration of Todd's success! They randomly drop in here somewhere that Tod asks again about his mother, and Kellam deflects once again. Looks like that's a dropped storyline.

 

Shortly thereafter, Kellam holds a cocktail party, to self-congratulate over his donation to the new Children's wing at the hospital. Liz overhears when Kellam pulls Marlena aside to a private room and slathers the compliments on thick about what a great hostess she is. Liz makes a snide remark to Marlena after being spotted spying in the corner, jealous that Marlena, not Liz, was chosen to be her father's hostess (really, Liz? This is some baby $#!t]). Kellam tells Liz she's being a big baby as well, and that he loves her...then follows that up by claiming Neil's only after Liz's money, prompting Liz to leave Kellam's office in tears. Filled with doubt thanks to her father's endless needling, Liz asks Julie if Neil married Phyllis for her money. Julie deflects Liz's question, instructing her not to dwell on the past, as it could ruin something great that's going on right now between her and Neil. Liz goes along with Julie, and chooses to trust her gut about Neil's affections for her. When relaying the story to Neil later on, Liz senses Kellam has an interest in Marlena beyond having her host cocktail parties.

 

Kellam sticks his nose further in where it doesn't belong, visiting Neil. Neil's already feeling guilty about the wedge he's put between Liz and her a$$hole father, and this worsens after Kellam tells Neil that if he doesn't break it off with Liz, she'll be disinherited. Kellam knows of Neil's past of wooing rich women for their money, and says something about Liz wanting men who will leave her so she'll be hurt (a haphazard way of explaining what happens next, I think). So therefore, Kellam wants the romance with Liz to end because - all together now - it makes Kellam look bad with the election coming. November cannot come soon enough, I swear. He gives Neil several hours to tell Liz. So he does...and he tells her why. This should be fun. Back at the Chandler house, Kellam suddenly believes Neil DOES love Liz (help, my eyes are stuck rolled back in my head), but rationalizes that eventually he'd try to get after her money anyway. Max suggests they try to insinuate to Liz that they'd paid Neil off in exchange for dumping Liz. The trick works, Liz buys Max's story.

 

Liz goes on the campaign trail for her father, almost to spite Neil. Julie tries to convince Liz that Neil didn't accept any bribe, but Liz, for some bizarre reason, believes her father's keeper's story. Julie even goes to the trouble of telling Neil the bull$#!t Max and Kellam told Liz, but Liz won't listen when Neil pleads with her on the phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessica is jealous of Carol's closeness with Joshua, so she...ignores Joshua...well, that's a choice.

 

Jessica earns a scholarship, and Todd...passes his exams. Jessica tells him she'll be roommates with some random pregnant girl named Sally who works at the clinic. Tod tells Josh he's throwing a bash to celebrate Jessica's scholarship at the disco. He tells Josh to be sure to bring Carol (so that Todd can have Jessica to himself, obviously). Tod visits Jessica's new apartment with Knocked-Up Sally, and invites Jessica, Mike, and Sally to the disco for a party. Only when Jessica arrives does she discover the party is for her! She's thrilled because Joshua gifts her a book his mother gave him! And then Carol shows up! And she goes back to INGORING him again!

 

Jessica gets gifts in celebration of her scholarship! Tom gives her a microscope! Marie and Alice give her a silver chain for her medallion! When Marie sees the medallion, she's shocked! She recognizes it! The date on the medallion is SPECIAL to her! It's the date of birth of her baby she gave up! Marie knows Jessica is her daughter! And now Marie can't face Jessica. And Jessica  notices, and asks why Marie is pulling away from her. Marie tells her that there needs to be distance between them, because, as a nun, she should never have let Jessica get so close to her (???!!!)

 

Jessica leaves in tears, and asks Alice why Marie is so angry at her. Alice has absolutely no idea what the Hell just happened. Suddenly I'm starting to understand why Jessica was such a beeotch during that Christmas episode we saw earlier. Marie goes to the chapel, feeling guilty for pushing her daughter away, and needing guidance (how about DON'T DO THAT, MARIE). When she sees Alex and Jessica have gotten close, she feels even worse. She tells Alex to not let Jessica get too close to him, but won't tell him why. She fears she's beginning to become infatuated with the old coot. Alex is baffled, as Marie had previously encouraged Alex to take Jessica out on the town to celebrate her scholarship, and now she wants him to back off. Make it make sense! For the record, Alex this time has the good sense NOT to be a letch with Jessica like he did with Cathy (thank God, for all her faults, Laemmle doesn't have a weird fascination with grossly inappropriate incestuous relationships like Harrower had).

 

Alex takes Jessica to Doug's club, and Josh is working, and is surprised to see them together. Jessica explains that Alex is simply her benefactor, I guess allaying any potential concern he has for her. Later, Jessica asks Alex to sign a loan application for her. Alex would rather just give her the money, but Jessica refuses, stubbornly wishing to "make it on her own" (fool, student loans will end your life!) Alex signs the application, proud of his daughter-he-doesn't-realize-is-his-daughter.

 

Josh takes Carol out for a swim. Once they're back at Josh's apartment, they warm up by the fireplace and get LIT (like...by drinking, not...like, being lit on fire). Josh kisses her and they screw. Josh tells Carol afterward that he isn't interested in anything serious, however. What a gentleman.

 

Meanwhile Kellam meets with Jessica and tells her he expects her to get cozy with Toddd. Jessica tells him that's not happening, that she knows he disapproves of Todd and Cassie, tears a strip off Kellam for trying to force her to try to break Tod and Cassie up, and hands Kellam back his cheque, quitting as Todd's tutor. Kellam tells Tod that Jessica was 'rude' (because trying to dictate your adult children's romantic lives is the height of good manners, naturally). Todd asks Jessica why she quit as his tutor, and realizes when she explains Kellam's manipulation that Jessica doesn't want him, and that he'd better give it up.

 

Alice confronts Marie about why she's pushing Jessica away. Alice presses a resistant Marie, telling her Jessica has had enough rejection in her life, including her own mother. Marie blurts out "I had no choice!" OOPS! - Marie explains that she fell in with the wrong scene, and that she got involved with "a man", and when she had the nerve (ie. when she grew terrified of him after seeing him shove his brother off a highrise balcony), she left him to join the convent. It was at the convent that she realized she was pregnant. She's certain the father doesn't know, but won't say who the father is. Alice agrees with Marie that the truth should be kept secret from Jessica.

 

Alice visits a weepy Jessica, who cries that she thought Marie loved her a little bit, and that she can't live without Marie's friendship. Alice tells Jessica that Marie does love her, and that it's hurting Marie to keep distance from her. Alice asks if she can be the friend Jessica needs, and Jessica is grateful, hugging her grandmother-she-doesn't-know-is-her-grandmother.

 

Jessica lashes out at Marie upon finding out Marie advised Sally to give her baby up for adoption. Personalizing it, she yells at Marie that she feels the baby will feel unwanted, as she did by being given away. Jessica feels her mother must've hated her to have given her away. Marie insists it wasn't true, and that there's a special bond between mother and daughter, and if Jessica's mother had given her up, it was because she thought it was the best thing etc. Jessica isn't moved in the way Marie hopes, sobbing "there's nothing like a mother's love, I know because I went my whole life without it!", before running away. Once Jessica leaves, Marie breaks down in tears.

 

Sally begins to change her mind about giving the baby up, when...BAM! LABOUR TIME! Jessica rushes her to the hospital, and has a baby girl. Sally decides to keep it, delighting Jessica and, of course, disappointing Marie. Sally names the baby LINDA (heh heh heh heh).

 

 

 

 

 

Mary, forced into a financial corner, sells the plant to Chandler with extreme reluctance and a heavy heart. The settlement she gets from the shysters', she tells Chris she's going to invest to build a fortune until she can afford to buy the plant back. Chris quits in disgust at the prospect of working for Chandler, and requests only severance and the rights to his solar generator. Don thinks he's being a fool for not requesting his royalties from the generator, but Chris wants to go into business with Mike and he needs liquid assets fast to do it, so a cash settlement is ideal. Leslie joins Chris in quitting the plant upon finding out Chandler has taken it over. Leslie accuses Chris of shutting her out of his life, though Chris still wants to marry her, he's just preoccupied and distracted, largely because of losing the plant.

 

Mary doesn't ask Alex for alimony, but DOES request a percentage of his future earnings. Alex, meanwhile, tries to butter up Victoria, who's handling Mary's divorce.

 

Mike decides to sell his house to free up money to invest in Chris' new company. He gets an apartment in the same building as Jessica and Sally. Chris scopes out a site on the North Shore for a new marina, which thanks to rezoning, should become extremely valuable. They want to take it. But Alex, who is at the bank to try to grease the wheels on Jessica's loan application, also hears about the North Shore land, and wants to buy it himself as an investment property. When Chris applies for a loan to buy the North Shore land, the banker calls Alex as Chris' reference (why, I'll never know...like...was Chris dumb enough to actually put Alex's name on the document?? For real??). Alex tells his friend at the bank that Chris is suspected of burning down the Anderson plant. Bye bye Marina. Chris can't figure out why da hell his loan was denied, so he goes to Max and Kellam and demands his cash settlement for the generators. They refuse to pay him a dime until they turn a profit on them (knowing full well they intend to force the generator project to fail). They suggest to Chris that, if he wants his money, he should work for them. HAH! Chris tells them where to shove it, but Max seems confident Chris will change his mind (okay, Max, what are you gonna blow up now?). Chris asks Mickey and Victoria to force Kellam's hand. 

Chris scores another ally in Josh, who meets Chris at the club. They bond over their disdain for Chandler, and over a love of boats and repair work (a solid foundation for any stereotypically masculine friendship). Josh expresses interest in Chris' new endeavor.

 

Kellam "asks" Alex to stop his divorce proceedings from Mary because it's making Kellam look bad on the campaign trail (honey, that's the LEAST of your troubles). Alex agrees as long as Kellam agrees to keep David and Scotty safe. Alex then asks Mary to postpone the divorce, and she agrees, under the same condition (that no harm come to David or Scotty), but Alex insists he has no control over whether David or Scotty will be kept out of harm's way. Kellam, to his credit, orders Max to pay David off to keep quiet, and insists no harm come to David or Scotty. I'm glad that thanks to everyone's insistence that no harm come to David or Scotty, we now have some assurance that no harm will come to David or to Scotty. 

 

Mary finds out that a mysterious company called the Salem Independent Development Organization bought the North Shore land. Mary tells Chris she suspects she knows who runs this SIDO. Leslie, without having spoken to Chris, figures out SIDO is a cover for Alex Marshall, and that Alex and the loan officer who denied Chris the loan to buy the North Shore land know each other. Leslie puts her charms to work, trying to persuade Alex to lease the land to Chris to run the marina, in exchange for her silence regarding who owns the land. Alex initially refuses, but when Leslie tells him that this will force Chris to leave town, and, by consequence, Leslie as well...Alex relents. Alex likes Leslie enough that he doesn't want to see her leave Salem. Touching. Chris agrees to the lease, and Leslie deftly hides who SIDO is when Chris asks, claiming they're "Independent investors". Because...you know, that isn't implicit in the name or anything.

 

Mickey asks Don to have Chandler release Chris' settlement money, but when Don does this, Kellam tells him he won't until the generators turn a profit (ie. never). Don lashes out at Kellam for breaking his agreement with Chris. Kellam relents, and promises to honour his agreement with Chris...by paying Chris is piddly-a$$ monthly installments. Chris is furious and asks Don how he can work for the Slimebucket Twins. Don is beginning to wonder himself. Chris then asks Mickey to arrange to strip Chandler of their rights to the solar generator. Mickey advises to instead sue Chandler for breach of contract, since they did agree to pay Chris in one lump sum. If they sue, Chandler is more likely to give in, not wanting the publicity of a lawsuit during his election campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David didn't even say goodbye to Julie before f*cking off, and Julie, apparently done screaming bloody murder in the emergency room, blames herself for not being close to her adult-shaped brat. David calls her, won't tell her where he is, and says it's better that he's out of the way. He's not wrong. Trish is so depressed she won't sing, but pulls herself together when the agent comes a-knockin'. Hearing her sing at the club, Ol' Tin Ear is super impressed!

 

Julie tells Trish about David's phone call, and tells her he claims it'll help Trish pursue her career. Julie thinks he's full of s#!t and tells Trish to call the cops, worried about David's and Scotty's safety because she could tell David's drinking again, but Trish won't. Instead, she calls a PI to track them down through Mickey's new law partner, a woman named Victoria Wallace - or Wallis, depending on the source (apparently played by Patch Mackenzie). Mickey is apparently out of town (according to Tune In Tomorrow, to help track David and Scotty down), so Victoria is watching the office.

 

Mary visits Trish, and warns her that Alex may try to prevent David from ever returning to Salem, knowing that David could testify against Alex. Mary then warns Alex to never lay a finger on David or Scotty. Trish's agent tells her that if her new single is a hit, she'll have to tour extensively, which alarms Trish. She didn't think she would have to leave Salem, because apparently she's never considered what one has to do to sell records before. David sends her a letter. What does it say? Who knows? Probably whining about her singing career to make her feel more at home while he's away. Oh nevermind, the next write up actually tells us what's in the letter: he's taking good care of Scotty, Scotty's his only reason for living (I'm sure your wife LOVES to hear that), now Trish can have her fancy career (I was right, he does guilt her about her music), he loves her but has to stay away. Blah blah blah.

 

Trish is PISSED, and goes to Julie, showing her the letter. She knows David is at risk because of Alex's machinations, and Scotty by proxy. In order to get Scotty back, she needs to find out the extent of David's involvement with Alex. So she presses charges against David, hoping the police will track him down and keep him out of harm's way. Victoria tells Trish that the cops won't search for David until they have proof of his involvement with the sabotage at the plant. Trish figures she has a way to get the needed proof and pays Chris a visit. Instead of Chris, she finds Leslie there. Trish explains her dilemma, and Leslie believes Trish's plan isn't a bad one, but warns Trish to be careful going up against the Slimebucket Twins.

 

When Doug offers to help track down David, whom they now realize is in LA, Trish refuses, citing that she has her own plan. Doug is worried for Trish's safety. Trish's plan backfires when Chris admits there's no evidence that David was involved in the sabotage, and tells Trish he thinks it better if David stayed out of Salem. But Chris, we discover, is dubious of Trish's plan, and asks Mary not to help Trish find the evidence, believing the cops will simply think Trish is a wife scorned and seeking vengeance against the husband who abandoned her. Trish then decides to accept the concert tour so she can afford to pay for PIs to 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julie is discharged from UH and stays with Tom and Alice while she recovers, and is feeling pretty good. Then Lee visits! Apparently she doesn't whack Julie this time, they just argue about Doug. Lee sounds pathetic, claiming Doug's money is the only thingman she's ever loved, and that Julie can make it on her own, but she can't LIVE without Doug (cue Dolly Parton's "Jolene").

 

In desperation, Lee throws her pills out, and lies when Neil calls her on it, noting her elevated blood pressure. She claims she's taking her pills, but secretly hopes if she ends up sick, Doug will feel guilty and come back to her. She pretends to be gracious and asks Victoria to rewrite the divorce settlement to have Doug give her a smaller settlement. Considering the entire reason we've had to endure this twit for the past year is because she wouldn't accept a measly $100k/year settlement in the first place, this seems like a dumb move, and a transparent one at that: Doug and Julie both immediately realize it's all a stalling technique.

 

Doug finds out about Lee's visit to Julie, and is livid to hear that Lee is pretending to be suicidal. Lee might actually be, as she discovers Brent has been tracked down to Texas, and will likely be arrested within 24hrs. Lee loads up on tranquilizers, I guess hoping that if her blood pressure doesn't get her, she'll be so wobbly her body won't know WHAT to do. Her doctor is unsure whether or not he should refill Lee's prescription, but ultimately decides to do so (she's now on her third).

 

A man is arrested in Dallas, but, and SOD doesn't make this particularly clear, Josh doesn't identify the right mugshot as being Julie's attacker. The cop tells Josh that the man in the mugshot has a bunch of aliases, and was arrested for pimping, not murder (well, yeah, considering Julie didn't die...) Josh insists that BRENT is the shooter.

 

Lee has confused her body so profoundly that she's about to be readmitted to University Hospital, but before she goes, she pays Julie another visit. She plays the wounded wife record again to Julie, screaming at her that Julie 'owes her that much'. Julie ain't buyin' it, and demands that Lee leave. When Lee won't go, and carries on ranting about her great love for Doug's money, Julie heads for the door to demonstrate exactly HOW one leaves a house when asked. Lee picks up a cane that's leaning against the coatrack in the Horton foyer and goes to crack Julie over the head with it (FREEZE FRAME! - no, literally, for anyone who remembers when the clip was online, the day's cliffhanger literally had Lee in mid-swing, as seen in the pic above). OOPS! Lee has a stroke and misses. Oh well!

 

Yep, Lee was mixing blood thinners with tranquilizers (and also not taking her blood thinners regularly, either), so off to emergency she goes! Doug is, of course, concerned, and heads to UH to see how she's doing. Neil suspects Lee wasn't taking the meds he prescribed (perceptive). Doug finds out Lee's left side is paralyzed, and will need extensive therapy to regain use of her limbs. Doug, ever the fool, blames himself. Neil tells him not to, telling him Lee was the author of her own misery. Julie, meanwhile, is so guilt-ridden she couldn't THINK of marrying Doug now (eugh). She feels sorry for Lee, even though she feels bitterly towards her. The feeling's mutual, as we learn from the voice inside Lee's head when Doug goes to visit her at UH the next day. Doug vows to help Lee through her recovery. Neil encourages Doug to stay with Lee through her recovery because he is the only one she appears to respond to. Doug agrees through gritted teeth. Neil tells them that Lee will need daily therapy to recover. So Lee, of course, decides, she will NEVER recover, and will therefore keep Doug by her side FOREVER! Muahahah!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Mickey is out of town, Maggie goes to Doug's club alone, and meets a football star named Kyle McCullough (played by Richard/Rick Hill). He asks Maggie to spin the roulette wheel for him, and he wins. He kisses her and calls her his Lady Luck. Maggie goes back the next night, and sits at her table, and turns on the charm, clearly attracted to Maggie. He asks her to go on a moonlight joyride with him, but Maggie refuses. Kyle's ego bruises extremely easily and he gets trashed, then goes for his moonlight joyride alone (I guess he figures if he's that trashed he won't notice Maggie isn't with him). He immediately crashes his car and probably won't walk again. That's what you get for drunk driving, Kyle. Maggie is supportive of Kyle, and waits by his bedside when she hears of his accident.

 

Kyle wakes up, and learns about his injuries. He pleads with Maggie to stay by his side, as Neil discusses his need for extensive therapy if he wishes to recover. Maggie agrees to stay with him throughout the ordeal, relating to his injury because of her own history with disability. When Mickey comes home from his trip, he questions Maggie about her somber attitude. After telling him about Kyle's struggle, Mickey remarks how "compassionate" Maggie is. This view shifts almost immediately when Maggie turns down Mickey's offer to go to dinner so that she can stay with Kyle. And...watch him...not move his limbs. They literally don't tell me that anything significant is happening that would cause Maggie to not want to leave his side, so...I guess Maggie lives there now? (ETA: Apparently SOD went on a coffee break when they mentioned that KYLE WAS GOING INTO SURGERY, like...kind of an important beat, guys). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don and Marlena hear that Johnny is to be placed at a state orphanage, and, though they aren't ready to adopt him, they agree to take him into their home. Johnny is thrilled, but is less-than-thrilled by Don's near-constant absence. When Josh invites Johnny and Marlena over for dinner, the boy whines that he wishes Josh were his father, as Don is never home.

 

Marlena sense Don is overworked, and is annoyed that he's prioritizing his career over his family. She suggests he step off the campaign trail, and allow her to take over. Don lashes out, acting paranoid and claiming that Marlena is plotting with Kellam to replace him (WTF?) He disallows Marlena to go on the campaign trail. This blows up into a huge argument, as Marlena resents Don's breaking promises to Johnny. 













This is such a bloody mixed bag. There's some good bits, but a lot of cockamamie plotting, mustache twirling for no apparent reason, and nonsensical characterization for the advancement of the plot (hello, Liz?) that just bogs everything down. Why are there SO MANY new characters every time we turn around? Why are they all so boring? Why are they all these characters that disappear almost immediately once Laemmle leaves?? WHY does it feel like Brent will never be tracked down? 

I honestly just cannot figure out what Laemmle was thinking for a lot of this. And yet....it's still far better than most of what we have onscreen now. That's...I don't know if that's a compliment or a damning indictment of Ron.

I find Monica so very much softer in the June '78 episode. It's interesting to see how quickly she hardened as she assimilated into the Qs. Despite being the schemer prior to this, she was still a nervous wreck as she dealt with an upper crust family like the Quartermaines. It was neat to see, especially to see an episode from what's probably Jane Elliot's first week on the show.

 

@Franko I can't imagine there'd be this much talk of the details of the event without it airing, tbh. I found the fact they didn't actually show the Grand Jury testimony interesting. Was this budget, or Monty's early attempts to speed things up before she chopped the hell out of scenes?

I desperately want to see more of this now. I hope this is a sign of things to come in 2021 (though I doubt it).

So I'm gonna try to do this as painlessly as possible. TBH, I can't wait for Laemmle to leave at this point. Having said this, the 8-12-80 episode that is posted on the Internet Archive plays a whole lot better than I anticipated, given the storylines thus far.

 

Let's get to it!

 

August 1980:

 

Mrs. Chisholm asks Josh what he thinks about Jessica. Josh says she's too young for him. Flora counters that she might need a older man since she's "such a free spirit", and says that her own husband was significantly older than her. If Josh doesn't do something soon, Flora insists, Jessica is liable to do something rash. Stop encouraging this sh!t, Flora!

Jessica relays her evening with Josh to Marie. Jessica can't understand why Josh pulled away from her. Marie suggests it was because Josh respects her and doesn't want to hurt her, ominously telling her that other men could LEAVE HER WITH SCARS SHE WILL KEEP FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. Conveniently, Alex walks in at this exact moment.

 

Josh daydreams about Jessica, when a woman walks into the casino, and impresses Josh with her spiel about the advantages of hiring a woman dealer. Josh likes her spunk and hires her.

 

Alex visits Marie, and immediately uses her as a sounding board for his marriage problems again. He whines that Mary is suspicious of him. Marie tells him that Mary already told her, which infuriates Alex. Alex figures Mary is telling everyone their business. Marie relays that she advised Mary to talk with him about it, but Alex won't listen, kvetching that he thought Marie was someone he could talk to but "I guess you're not!" much to Marie's relief.

 

Marie is surprised, but not disappointed, when Jessica decides to shift her focus from nursing to research. Worrying that Alex will cut her off, Marie fills Alex in on Jessica's decision, and Alex, after talking with Jessica, is so impressed by her that he agrees to continue sponsoring her studies, much to Jessica's delight.

 

At Cassie's birthday party, Josh shows up just in time to see Tawd plant a kiss on Jessica's cheek. Josh leaves before anyone sees him. Cassie also observes this, and is jealous af. Cassie shouts out for everyone to get nekkid to go skinny dipping, knowing Jessica is too uptight for all that. Tod and Jessica remain clothed, so that doesn't work. Then the popo show up, and Todd orders everyone back on the ferry (I guess the party was on Smith Island?), but tells Jessica to wait for him on the beach after he corrals everyone to "spare her embarrassment" (this isn't a trap AT ALL).

 

Liz, who's busy getting some at Neil's cabin, spies the raid from the window of the cabin, and makes her way over to convince the officer not to arrest the kids. Toddd thanks Liz for stepping in on his behalf, before taking off to meet Jessica at the beach, leaving Cassie shivering on the ferry back to Salem. Jessica later tells Taud that she wants to go into pathology. He's impressed, and tells Kellam he wants to go to Salem U because he's met a girl who wants to tutor him. Kellam agrees to hire Jessica as Todd's tutor, after a pleasant meeting with her. Josh is not happy about Jessica's new job, offering her money if she refuses the job. Jessica refuses.

 

At the first tutoring session in the park, Jess and Hot Toddie are interrupted by Cassie. Toddd takes off in a hurry, and Cassie theorizes he's still mad at her, before accusing Jessica of trying to take her man. Tooodd gushes to Josh about Jessica, claiming Jessica is too good him. Josh agrees, and warns Tod that if he harms a hair on Jess' head, he's gonna catch Josh's hands.

 

Todd asks Jessica to dance to the disco. BUT. SHE. SAYS. NO! (I don't expect any of you to get that)

 

He asks Cassie instead at Jess' insistence, but spends the entire night daydreaming of Jessica while dancing with Cassie, who is apparently fantasizing of marrying Toddd. Josh just happens to show up at the club with Carol. Tod tells Cassie that Carol is the kind of woman Josh apparently likes, not Jessica. Way to diffuse Cassie's insecurities, bozo. Carol throws herself at Josh, but he won't give in, because he has to "take care of" some things. Tawd tries to feed Jessica ideas that Carol and Joshua are an item, and describes Carol as a "beautiful" blonde.

 

 

 

 

Lee goes to Neil's office for a checkup on her hypertension, and tells him she impulsively decided to go to the club opening, and admits she made a mistake. She then proceeds to tell him that the only thing that'll make her feel better is to have Doug come back to her. Pathetic.

 

Julie won't stay with Doug at the club, as he's still married to Lee, and Lee's stunt at the opening was humiliating to her. Doug counters that Lee's stunt proves Lee is dong just fine and he can go ahead with the divorce. Mickey, upon hearing the news, is pleased, but warns Doug that Lee could easily take him for all he's worth. Doug doesn't care, and would happily hand over his money if it means he's free to be with Julie. Mickey also tells Doug that if Lee agrees to the divorce, it could be entirely sorted within 6 months. He tells Doug not to go to Mexico, as the legality of the divorce could be disputed (well, if we're being technical, why not Julie's divorce from Doug then, in that case?).

 

Doug officially asks Lee for a divorce. Lee asks if Julie has anything to do with his decision. Doug tells Lee that he loves Julie very much. Lee states simply that all she wants is his happiness. Doug is shocked at how easily Lee appears to be backing down (it's never that simple, Doug). Lee immediately calls Brent and asks him to come back to Salem, it's time to do something about Julie. Lee goes to Mickey and demands some of Doug's money so she can pay for a trip to New York. She asks for cash. After ponying up the money, Lee buys a ticket to New York, but doesn't take the trip, instead renting a motel room on the edge of town, with the rest of the money going to Brent.

 

Julie, I'm guessing, changes her mind about staying with Doug, because of what transpires next:

 

Brent, now back in town, calls Doug under the guise of being a business proposition. Josh and Julie warn him about the shady dealers he'll have to endure with the casino, and suggest he hire more security. Doug doesn't think it necessary. Brent then calls, disguising his voice as a doctor at Hope's summer camp. He tells Doug that Hope has been injured. Doug races out to retrieve her, while Julie stays late at the shop, waiting on an appointment...who just happens to ALSO be Brent. Josh leaves a note for Julie about Doug's emergency at the casino, before heading off to Cassie's birthday party.

 

Arriving at the camp, Doug realizes Hope is fine, and that the call was probably a set up. Panicked, he hurries back to Salem, worried why someone would want him out of the club. Doug calls Flora to tell Josh to check on Julie when she arrives. Outside the club, Brent knocks out the security guard, sneaks inside, and hides in Doug's office, where he assembles his rifle while waiting for Julie to arrive. When she does, she searches for Doug, confused as to why he isn't there.  In the dark, Brent aims his rifle at her, and fires! Josh arrives JUST in time to hear Brent fire at Julie. Josh races to her side, Julie's been shot in the chest. Brent fires again, and Josh chases after Brent. They get in a violent scuffle, breaking glasses and stuff. Brent overpowers Josh, decking him before escaping.

 

Back at the hotel, Lee awaits Brent's return. But Brent's not happy when he arrives. The guard and Josh will recognize him. He's not wrong, when the police sketch artist consults with Josh, the sketch is strikingly accurate. Brent leaves town, and Lee's pleased...until she turns on the radio and hears that Brent's hit job was a lousy one: Julie's still alive.

 

Doug returns to the club too late. He blames himself when he hears the news of Julie's shooting, as does Don (who should mind his own fekking business), who smugly claims to Marlena that this is proof that Doug should never have opened the casino in the first place. Neil is called back to Salem to operate on Julie. Julie remains in critical condition after the surgery, and, as we see in the 8/12 episode, screams like she's possessed in her bed gasping for air as she develops an irregular heartbeat. David races over to the hospital, and randomly decides this is the moment to air his grievances about Julie giving him up as a baby to Tom and Alice, before wising up, and taking comfort in his great-grandmother's arms.

 

Lee calls Mickey from "New York", and is "surprised" when he tells her of Julie's shooting. She tells him that she'll be home immediately. After great exertion, Lee makes it to the hospital to comfort Doug, who would rather swallow tacks than see Lee right now, and wonder why she came back. Lee later sees Brent's sketch in the paper, and freaks out at how good it is. She gets more nervous when Mickey tells her that police have tracked down an abandoned car they believe is the getaway vehicle of Julie's shooter. They figured out the car was a rental, and the man who rented it fits the description of the sketch. While there, Mickey pressures Lee to visit the insurance adjustor about her "missing" wedding ring. Lee finally relents, and lies that she lost the ring at the restaurant in the mall. Lee claims she went back to look for it, but the investigator asks the restaurant about Lee's claim, and they tell him that she never went back there. The investigator suggests to Mickey that Lee pawned her own ring. Mickey puts the question to Lee, who claims she was too sick to have gone to pawn the ring (oh, but not too sick to put on a spectacle at Doug's casino, suuuuure).

 

After seeing the sketch, this woman named Carol (I assume this is the woman Josh hired??) remembers seeing Brent lurking about the casino the night of the shooting, and is certain she's seen him before, but can't place him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARGO FINALLY DIES. Mike calls Mickey while in consult with Doug, and tells Mickey that Margo was lying EXTREMELY STILL when he went to bring her her breakfast in the morning. Mickey is somehow shocked by the news. Julie visits Maggie, and finds out from Maggie's face that Margo had passed. Maggie tells her "she accepted death so beautifully", as they hug, and Maggie cries.

 

Mickey and Maggie decide to go out to the farm to comfort Mike, only to find Hank there alone. Hank tells them Mike went off to be alone for awhile, but Mike returns just as they're about to go look for him. Mike admits he is struggling to go on without Margo, but wouldn't do anything drastic, as he claims Margo would never have forgiven him. Alice arrives at the farm and tries to convince Mike to come back to Salem and stay with them awhile while he gets himself together. Mike refuses, stubbornly clinging to the farm, where he and Margo were happy. Mickey is concerned that Mike is bottling up his grief.

 

After blowing up at his family, Mike sits outside on the porch at the farm, and thinks about Margo. After some soulsearching, he walks back into the farmhouse, and tells everyone assembled that they're right, it's time he went home.

 

 

 

Trish reads a rave review of her singing in the paper, and David responds like a two-year-old, as per usual. He tells Trish he wants to leave Salem, and shouts, "You think you're so special. I can make it on my own! I don't need your help!" Maybe this is Nina Laemmle's attempt to de-SORAS David by having him BEHAVE like a child? A top agent contacts Trish, wanting to represent her. Trish is thrilled!

 

 

 

Chris promises to Leslie's parents that he will take good care of her, and on the last night of her parents' visit, proceeds to get Leslie's father pissed drunk. SOD tells us that Leslie's father likes Chris because he is "Not only...strong enough to control Leslie, but he is Polish!", (insert raised eyebrows here) which apparently, they are as well. I presume James is not the name his grandfather used, then. Leslie's mother, takes a more...subtle approach, telling her daughter she thinks it's time Leslie considered marriage.

Chris carries Leslie to her sofa, and tells her he will stay the night to protect her, as he's certain they were being followed from the hospital. Chris spies the same car parked across the street from Leslie's apartment, and calls the police. Hamlin tells Max that he thinks it's best that he leave town. Max agrees, as it would be unwise for him to be around when the insurance investigator arrives in town. Max asks if anyone other than Alex knows about his involvement in causing the fire. Hamlin tells him that David does. So Max sticks his goons on David.
 

Mary probes Leslie for information about the "accident", and discovers that David made up her schedule for that day. While this is happening, Alex coaches David on what to tell the insurance adjustors: that Chris conspired with Hamlin to start the fire. They point to the fact that Chris fired Hamlin immediately after the fire, hinting that it was in a move to keep Hamlin quiet.

 

Mary tells Chris about Margo's death. He feels guilty for not going to see her before her passing. Swept up in the emotion of the moment, Chris tells Leslie he loves her. According to SOD, Leslie responds by telling Chris about the anonymous caller from the previous recap that threatened Chris' life. I can't imagine that's actually how the interaction went, but...Chris proposes. Leslie says yes.

 

When Mike returns to work, Chris offers him a promotion to production supervisor. Chris needs someone he can trust, asking him to keep an eye on David. 

 

The insurance investigator believes Alex and David's bullsh!t story about Chris being involved in the fire, and won't pay out until they locate Hamlin. While Chris and Mickey discuss their situation, Chris gets a call from Washington, saying they need to deliver on the generators ASAP or the contract is cancelled. Chris relays that they can't meet the deadline, but the government official won't budge. Cancellation would ruin Anderson, so Kellam and Max lick their chops and call Don off the campaign trail, and over to the Chandler mansion to broker a deal with Chris to take Anderson over, hoping his influence will smooth things over with the brass at the plant, as well as with the public. Don tentatively goes along with the plan, but is incredulous that Anderson has collapsed so quickly after Bob's death, and wants to investigate a bit on his own before he negotiates. He also suggests to Kellam that they fund a children's wing for the David Martin clinic to help build a bit more goodwill with the public during the takeover, which Kellam and Max are on board with. Kellam informs Marlena of his plans (conveniently leaving out the detail that it was Don's idea), and Marlena is all giggles about it.

 

I guess the contract is cancelled, as Mary realizes the plant needs to be sold. Mary is certain Alex is behind the failure of the company. Kellam and Max agree that Alex needs to be "taken care of", but Alex, when he manages to corner Kellam alone, warns him that he's allowing Max to have too much power, and he will live to regret it.

 

Chris refuses to let the ship go down without a fight. Depressed, he tells Leslie he can't marry her until the plant is saved. Guess the wedding's off then, as the government officially cancels the contract. Chris considers future career options. Mary refuses to give up, despite the writing being very much on the wall. She refuses to give up her stock in the plant, despite Alex's not-so-subtle attempts to convince his wife to take Chandler's offer. Mary snaps at him, calling out his hypocrisy in claiming to care about the plant, yet giving in so easily to the Chandlers. Alex, of course, denies this. Mary marches Alex over to his closet, and shows him it's empty. She's taken the liberty of packing his things for him. He's out! "When you tell your friends, the Chandlers, that I'm selling the plant, why don't you add that I'm divorcing you". COLD AS ICE. I love it.

 

Mary's next target is David, who she invites over, and rakes him over the coals for his disloyalty to Bob. David counters that he and the workers weren't disloyal, they just didn't trust Chris. Mary doesn't buy it, and pointedly asks David if Alex gave him bonuses for turning the workers against Chris. David can't deny it, and Mary explodes, warning David that Alex's actions are tantamount to sabotage, and he, David, and everyone else involved in the plant's collapse could be prosecuted. David promises to make it up to Mary, but Mary orders him out, and to never set foot near Anderson again.

 

David goes home to tell Trish he's "quit" his job (guffaw), saying he couldn't stand it anymore, and so he can stay home with Scotty now. He won't tell her anything more about it. Alex hears about David "quitting" and says he should've known better than to trust a "punk kid". Mary heads to Mickey's office, and tells him that she knows Alex conspired with Chandler to bring down Anderson. Mickey realizes that, if this is true, then Chandler's offer to purchase the company is illegal. Mary tells Mickey that she allowed David to resign in exchange for not pressing charges. Mickey suggests she not let sentiment get in the way. Chris' name needs to be cleared, and even though Mary doesn't want to tarnish the Horton name, but she needs to do what's right, and have David charged.

 

Once Mickey tells David that he knows about his involvement with the Chandler sabotage of the Anderson plant, he asks David to testify against Alex and Chandler, hoping for leniency for David. David is a big baby again and decides the appropriate course of action is to run away instead. Trish tells him she's not going anywhere, as she's starting make headway in her career, so David decides to take Scotty and piss off and leave a goodbye letter for Trish to find. Trish is understandably hysterical after finding the sh!tbag's letter, saying he'll be a good father to Scotty (because babies raising babies always goes well). He punctuates the letter by saying that now Trish can focus on her career. A$$hole. David and Scotty get on a bus and leave town.

 

 

 

Kellam is big mad about Don, Marlena, and Liz going to Doug's casino opening. He throws a fit to Don and Marlena for "insulting him" by going. Marlena tells him that if he loyalty is questioned, she's quitting the campaign. Kellam backs down immediately, and apologizes.

 

Marlena continues to work with the kids at the clinic. Johnny appears jealous of Marlena's interaction with children who are not him. Josh tries to comfort him, but Johnny wishes Josh would take him home with him. Abandonment issues, y'all. Josh pulls Marlena aside and hints that she and Don should adopt Johnny. Don, when approached by Marlena about the possibility, is his usual grumpus self about it, but agrees to go with Marlena to see the boy. At the clinic, Johnny has a meltdown, which seems to confirm his position, but Marlena has Don and Johnny talk, and manages to convince Don to take the boy on a picnic with them. When Johnny learns this isn't going to happen now, he has another meltdown, as Marie tries to calm him down. Don is pretty certain this is a baaaad idea now. Marlena cries.

 

Don backs down again, and takes Johnny on the picnic. They have a good time, and Marlena is impressed by how well behaved he is (Johnny, not Don). Despite the good time, Johnny is certain he'll never see Don or Marlena again. Nina Laemmle hitting us over the head with this abandonment complex BIG time, isn't she?

 

 

 

Liz tells Neil she's so taken with him that she wants to move in. Neil thinks it's a rotten idea considering Kellam's campaign. Liz is aware, but suggests they marry once Kellam's campaign ends. Neil seems to like the idea. Kellam finally manages to get Neil to the Chandler mansion so he can tell Neil to not see his daughter. Kellam does as expected, and Neil flatly tells Kellam that they'll be married after the campaign ends. Kellam offers to buy Neil off, but Neil tells him where to shove his money. His love for Liz has no price on it. D'aww. GROWTH!

 

 

 

 

God, I hate how Nina Laemmle writes David. What an absolute garbage human.

Anyway, this month was a lot better than the previous ones, but I still am not loving a lot of the direction this show has taken. I dunno. What about y'all?

1 minute ago, asafi said:

Days should have brought back Marie Horton in the 90's, especially after Tom died. 

 

 

In all honesty, it would've fit Reilly's fetish for Catholicism to have Sister Marie in Salem, but I shudder to think of exactly what exact kinds of blasphemy would occur if she were in town at that time.

9 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

Christmas 1981  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=681857225810957  

I really can't wait to get to this part in the story because right now Jessica looks so immature and unsympathetic and I have virtually no context as to why, and it's intriguing me (not enough to write out August 1980, mind you, but...)

5 hours ago, fivethej said:

Does anyone have access to these or know the person who runs the channel? Person puts a tweet out saying not to make it public but that's exactly what they did. Why make a post and share the videos when they're private and no way for people to watch them.

 

 

Might not have been private two years ago when they made that tweet.

@Franko I feel like Liz was fairly public about exposing Lee's affair with her ex-husband, but I also think Lee was more focused on being dumped by Doug, so that's probably the source of the humiliation.

 

I think the first business trip Chris took coincided with Stephanie dying, Bob having his last heart attack, and Mary deciding she was marrying Alex and was gonna install him as de facto head of the company in Bob's absence. So like... He comes back after 3 weeks and the company, in that time, is completely different than when he left. Every time he goes away, wild sh! t goes down, I swear! 

 

@jam6242 thanks so much for posting that video. Really helps clarify some things.

 

(sorry Frank, can't seem to remove the double tag) @Franko@victoria foxtonyou're right. The casino set is kind of underwhelming. Especially after all the effort they went to to renovate after closing Doug's Place. Hmmm... 

  Sorry, y'all. I got caught up in writing the DAYS '79 fanfic, I neglected updating everyone on 1980. I think I'm subconsciously dreading what's coming, tbh.

 

Let's get to this nonsense:

 

 

 

Neil and Liz are seeing each other more and more. Neil's quenching that thirst, getting a room at a cheap motel for him and Liz to hook up, where he *gasp* insinuates that Liz could convince him to be monogamous! I'll believe it when I see it.

 

After checking up on Lee, Liz and Neil have lunch, where Liz fills Neil in on Lee's shady dealings in the past. She tells Neil about her tendency to latch onto other women's men. Well, you'll LOVE Neil then...

 

Max continues to be the weird overlord of the Chandler family (which I still cannot figure out the reason for), and tells Kellam that Liz and Neil are seeing each other, that they should not see each other, and that Kellam should find a husband for Liz. Kellam asks if Max also has a suitor in mind for Liz, but Max says nothing. These two are fekking weird.

 

Neil arranges another quaint rendez-vous with Liz, this time at a cabin in the woods. After returning, Kellam tries to grill Liz about the nature of her relationship with Neil, but Liz responds by simply leaving the room. Kellam then attempts to have Liz go on the campaign trail with Don to try to keep Liz away from Neil, which Liz flatly refuses to do, knowing what her father is up to. Out of spite, she accepts Neil invitation to accompany him at Doug's casino opening.

 

 

 

 

 

Doug and Julie are off antique shopping again, where Julie worries Doug is overspending. Doug promises he will watching his pocketbook a little closer once the casino is open. Julie says she'll be keeping her eye on him. The flirtation is beginning anew!

 

Brent is surprised when Lee tells him that Byron didn't trust Lee with his inheritance, noting that Lee used be able to turn anything into money. Brent is restless to get out of Salem, but sticks around at the promise a big payday from Lee. Lee gives him a deposit on that payday, but not in cash. Instead, she gifts Brent her wedding ring, then cries to Doug that she lost it. Doug say, no worries! The police and insurance company will look into, causing Lee to spill her tea. Doug asks her to go see Neil, since she's apparently so nervous. LOL.

 

Doug goes to the mall to see Julie, and insists she stop seeing Kellam, as he doesn't trust him. Doug says he'd do anything. Julie point-blank asks him "would you divorce your wife?", but Doug won't, apparently seeing her agitation as anything other than signs that she's a scheming you-know-what. Brent is lurking out in the hallway listening in while this conversation goes on. Doug still wants to go to antique auctions with Julie, despite his concerns about Lee, even overcoming Julie's objections on the matter.

 

Lee tells Brent she wants her ring back, as she doesn't want the insurance company to be lurking about. Brent counters that, if he gives her the ring back, his days of stalking Doug and Julie for Lee are over. Lee immediately changes her mind. When Neil pays a house call to check on Lee, he finds she has high blood pressure (yeah spending a year manipulating a man into giving you your dead husband's inheritance would do that), and hypertension. Neil recommends Lee have a stay in the hospital. Lee refuses, claiming that her anxiety is simply down to her marriage falling apart. 

 

Doug apparently is fixated on a mirror he saw at an old inn, and ends up buying it. But when Doug and Julie go to leave with their new purchase, it's stormy outside, and the innkeeper insists they stay the night, assuming they're married. He gives them the bridal suite. Doug and Julie take advantage of their forced evening together, and light candles and get some wine going. After a toast to his 'fair lady', they kiss, then head to bed together. Downstairs, Brent appears, and investigates. After sneaking a peak at the hotel register, he snaps photos of Doug's signature.

 

Doug and Julie discuss their future, and Doug promises to divorce Lee, on the condition that Julie agree to be his 'fair lady' again. Julie asks if Doug is proposing, but apparently doesn't give him an answer?

 

Josh gets a call in the morning from Doug, telling him what happened the previous night. Josh agrees to cover for Doug with Lee, and claims Doug came back late and slept at the club, not wanting to disturb Lee, which placates her temporarily. Then she visits Brent, who tells her the truth. It's about to get real! Brent gives Lee 24 hours to make a decision about how to handle Doug's infidelity with Julie. Doug, meanwhile, has decided to divorce Lee (I guess Julie said 'yes'), but, of course, as he says this, Neil calls and tells Doug about Lee's hypertension. He insists Doug not talk about divorcing her now. Doug won't commit to staying married to Lee, but agrees to be gentle with her.

At the shop, Kellam pays Julie a visit, asking her to dinner. Julie decides to pack it in, and tells him that it would be unwise to continue to see him, or to work for him, knowing that Kellam wants more of a relationship between them than Julie does, and hands back the brooch Kellam gave her. Kellam is outraged, asking if she knows what she's giving up. As if to answer the question by way of unintentional visual example, Doug walks in at that exact moment. Kellam realizes Julie's made her choice, and heads out with ego thoroughly bruised. Doug disappoints Julie, however, by telling her of Neil's diagnosis of Lee. He tells Julie, however, that he will separate from Lee, regardless, and will move out of their penthouse, which serves to reassure Julie.

 

This lasts a whole five seconds. Doug tells Lee anyway that their marriage was a mistake and that it's all over. Lee freaks out, as expected, taking a bunch of sleeping pills after Doug leaves. She's fine, she just nearly sleeps through Brent's deadline is all. Lee sucks at figuring out proper dosage, I guess.

 

She races to Brent's hotel room, horrified to see his bags already packed. He demands an answer from Lee, which she is so shellshocked from the past few hours, she can't. Brent suggests she give him something to retain him for another day or so, but Lee insists she has nothing more to give. Brent gets sleazy when he has an idea of something she can give him. Lee tries to fight him off, but Brent throws her on the bed and gets on top of her. JEEZ, Nina Laemmle really liked to dip into that rape well, didn't she?

 

Lee glosses over the previous incident with Brent and decides to go to the hospital, as Neil instructed her to, so that she'll appear more sympathetic to Doug. Neil, concerned, asks Lee about the bruise under her eyes, and she claims she "fell". Lee is a basket case, refusing to talk to the insurance company about her missing ring, which mystifies Neil. Lee insists it's lost forever, and sobs that there's nothing she can do about it now. She is despondent, crying to Doug that he cannot leave her. I...honestly can't tell if this is Lee's trauma response or an Oscar-worthy performance to try to keep her hooks in Doug's bank account.

 

Liz finds out about Doug and Julie's reunion and is THRILLED! Not only does it mean Kellam loses (not bitter in the slightest, Liz!), but it also means Lee has lost! Sounds like Lee is the one who broke up Liz's last marriage or something, though why would she not recognize her immediately as the other woman? I don't understand. Liz vows eternal friendship to Julie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlena has continued to work with the children's clinic at the hospital, and tells Don she'd like to continue to. Don thinks Marlena just wants to be around kids to find one to adopt to take the sting off of losing DJ. Marlena denies this, and tells him she fears these children will be scarred forever without her help. Don stays angry, and when Kellam offers to send him out of town on the campaign trail, Don jumps at the chance. Marlena would rather not. Kellam is okay with whichever direction Marlena decides, simply happy to have her as part of his campaign.

 

 

 

 

Marie tells Alex that Tom is very fond of him, and the work he's done for the hospital. Alex admits he did it all for her. When probed by Marie, Alex admits he doesn't love Mary, never did, thinks she's a spoiled brat, and probably should never have married her. Marie tells Alex that he knew this going in, and surmises Alex only married Mary because she was Bob's daughter, therefore $$$. Alex admits it's true. But Marie is put off when Alex suggests he would divorce Mary, claiming it's "morally reprehensible", and suggests Alex thinks that doing one nice thing for the kids at the hospital would grant him absolution, when it won't. Let the nun come out!

 

 

 

 

 

MORE GENERATOR DELAYS! Chris is fed up and wants to go fly with Leslie to the trouble spot to see what the hold up is, but Alex, knowing what's really going on, tells him it's a better idea for HIM to go with Leslie instead, reasoning that if something goes wrong at the plant, Chis is better-equipped to handle it. Chris agrees, albeit reluctantly. Chris then changes his mind, not wanting Leslie to be the one to take Alex on his trip. He worries about Leslie's change in attitude toward Alex since he came back from his last business trip (the lesson here, Chris, is stop taking business trips). Chris notes that both Phyllis and Mary have been sucked in by Alex's charm, and now he worries the same is true of Leslie. Leslie balks at Chris' assertion.

 

David gets mad at Trish AGAIN. This time because David bought Trish a gold bracelet and she has the audacity to show it off to Chris and tell her about David's bonus. Of course, David got the bonus because he was spying on Chris for Alex. When Chris figures it out, he calls Leslie to rush back to Salem immediately. Once back, Chris tells Leslie the news: David has been on Alex's payroll, explaining his icy attitude towards them. Leslie doesn't really care, and tells Chris as much, saying she'll stay friendly to Alex. Chris asks her just how friendly she's been, which offends Leslie. Chis says he refuses to share Leslie with any man (she's a woman, not your marble collection, Chris). Leslie soon hands in her resignation, claiming she won't let Chris walk all over her. Chris tells her he got angry because he cares, and Leslie relents, telling Chris that she is, indeed, in his corner.

 

This precipitates a sudden chill in the air between Leslie and Alex. Alex asks Leslie out for dinner, but Leslie refuses, saying that, outside of business, she doesn't make it a habit of going out with married men. Better get on that divorce then, Alex!

 

Chris has to go to Washington on business again, a sure sign everything's about to go to hell. He tells Leslie that he'll have something important to ask her when he gets back. Three guesses what it might be. Chris is worried about leaving Leslie alone at the plant with Alex and Hamlin lurking about. And with good reason, Alex tells Hamlin (SOD really doesn't like using any of the new characters' first names, and I don't care enough about this dope to remember it right now, so you'll just have to bear with me) that he (Alex) set Chris' latest trip up so that Hamlin would have free reign at the plant. Hamlin warns Alex that he may have to hurt Leslie to pull off his plans.

 

Things start off with David being instructed to keep Leslie busy. But when David presents his schedule to Leslie, she balks at how poorly structured it is, and makes her own. She then finds the factory workers slacking off, and when she confronts Hamlin about it, he shrugs off the responsibility for it, while being typically condescending to her. David is apparently increasingly displeased with Alex's plans, and argues with him over it before having lunch with Trish. Trish arrives at the plant in the middle of the argument, and when it's over, David is snappy as usual, and Trish leaves.

 

Hamlin then really goes to the extreme, and cuts some wires in the plant machinery, causing a fire. After the fire is put out, Leslie checks the circuit box to see what might have caused the fire, only to hear footsteps behind her. When she calls for a guard, a cascade of steel barrels roll towards her, and knock her unconscious. One wonders what so many steel barrels are doing so poorly stored, but I digress. The guard finds Leslie on the floor of the generator room, and rushes her to the hospital. Neil calls Chris, who races back to Salem.

 

David questions Alex about whether he was to blame for Leslie's "accident", but he defensively denies any involvement, and, in a great, genuine show of innocence, tells him that anything he heard between Alex and Hamlin is to be kept confidential from everyone, Trish included. Hamlin calls Max, demanding Max protect him. Max tells Hamlin he's on his own. After the call, Alex grabs Hamlin by the collar, and gets him to admit to setting up the "accident", and that Max asked him to do it.

 

Returning to Salem, Chris sits at Leslie's bedside, and tells her of his regret in letting her stay behind. Leslie wakes up, and wonders what happened. Thankfully, it's not amnesia, she remembers all once Chris jogs her memory. Chris leaves, and Leslie immediately gets a threatening phone call from some random man telling her not to squeal about the barrels or the fire, or else someone very close to her will get it. Chris and Alex head for the generator room, and Chris very quickly finds the cause of the fire. Chris thinks the fire started far too quickly, and finds it extremely convenient that he got called out of town just before the accident. Alex gets defensive again, asking Chris if he's accusing him. Chris isn't sure, but threatens to turn whoever did do it inside out.

 

Alex visits Leslie, but Leslie is convinced Alex is to blame for her accident. Alex begs her to believe he was not involved. Mary, finally involved in the story again, also suspects Alex is behind the fire. She asks where he was when the fire started. She then goes to Marie for guidance. Marie tells Mary to have a very honest talk with Alex. But when Mary does, Alex is evasive. Never one to shy away from a confrontation, Mary asks him point blank if he's out to destroy Anderson. Alex finally snaps, telling her he didn't, but he knows that's what she wants to believe because their marriage is a farce. He says that if Mary wants out, he'll be happy to let her out.

 

 

David, freaked out that his allegiances have put him on the wrong side of things at work, panics about being accused of causing the so-called accidents, and goes on a drinking binge, worrying both Trish and Julie.

 

Chris sends for Leslie's parents. They arrive and are quite taken with Chris, hinting not-so-subtly that he'd make a great husband. At the plant, Chris fires Hamlin (I guess he figured out he was responsible, but they don't make it clear how he's deduced this information), and tells Hamlin to never come back to Salem or something something broken bones etc. Who cares? Bye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josh gets Jessica's call about the weird man trying to break down Flora's door, and runs into the mansion. They fight, and Josh is able to throw him down the stairs. Josh asks where the man's from, he only says "welfare" before attacking Josh again, with Josh hitting his head as the man runs from the mansion. After the chaos subsides, Neil checks Mrs. Chisholm out, and lets them know that Flora has a weak heart, but will be fine for the time being. No one can figure out what the intruder wanted. Josh suspects the intent was to frighten Flora to death, and Doug agrees. He hires a security guard for the property, but senses Josh is holding back from him. Josh won't divulge, worrying that to tell Doug is to make Doug a target, much like what's happened to Flora.

 

Kellam is livid. Max has bunged up all of their plans, not only to find out more about Josh, but also to scare Flora to death so that everyone keeps their mouths shut about how Sunny really died. Kellam is worried Flora will not do this, and they are unsure how Josh is connected to her. So the plan is to get their hired goon to find out what he can, and spook the old man enough to cause a heart attack. What delightful characters.

 

Jessica is distraught because Josh won't go out with her. Cassie tells her not to give up, but instead, to make him jealous, offering to set Jessica up with her friend Danny. Jessica refuses, because that would be dishonest. Cassie tells Mary-Sue that she might as well give up on Josh, then. WELP!

 

Jessica immediately (awkwardly) tries Cassie's suggested approach with Josh. Josh asks Jessica to visit Flora, but Jess says she can't because she's busy. Then quickly adds that she has a date with one of Cassie's friends. Smooth. For said date, Cassie slathers the makeup onto Jessica with a trowel, and gives her a vampy dress to go with it. On a pretext they don't explain, Jessica goes to see Josh, and shows off her new makeover, which Josh finds unimpressive and, frankly, kind of disappointing. Not getting the reaction she wants, Jessica whispers that she's going to the disco and she's going to have a "VERY VERY GOOD TIME". Danny the Blind Date thinks Jess is a knockout, but is disappointed when Jessica won't dance with him. Tod, I guess on a double date with Cassie and them, tries to reassure Jessica, but it doesn't do much to help. Josh decides to come to the disco to monitor Jess from afar in a completely non-parental, non-creepy way. He's distressed to see Jessica drinking (he likes them socially awkward and uptight as f*ck, apparently).

Spotting Josh, Jessica tells him she's tired of him playing big brother, and dances with Danny out of spite, even kissing him (she's a quick study, isn't she?). At this point, Josh cuts in and instructs Jess to "quit acting". Shortly thereafter, Jessica learns Cassie and Toddd have left, so she asks Danny to take her home, which goes just GREAT. Danny tries to put the moves on Jessica, but is rebuffed. Danny gets fresh, and Jess slaps him, before running out of the car. Danny chases after her, but Big Brother Josh scares him off.

Josh asks Flora to the casino opening, but she suggests someone younger, like Jessica. She's awfully old to hit him over the head with that sledgehammer, isn't she? Jessica shows up at the mansion, and apologizes for tarting up at the disco. Josh teases her, claiming he's asked someone else out to the casino opening, before revealing it's just Mrs. Chisholm. He then hands Jessica an envelope, saying he'd be delighted to take both Flora AND Jessica to the gala. Jessica immediately accepts.

 

 

THE GALA!

 

Everyone dresses in 1890s style, and Josh instructs the other dealers to watch for underhanded trickery from gamblers, and to be honest themselves. Julie is dolled up in a glittery red dress with a matcher red feather boa, as both she and Doug greet the incoming guests. Mickey and Maggie arrive first, then Don and Marlena. Don makes a point to tell Doug how much he disapproves of the casino, politically, while in the same breath wishing him all the success in the world. (SHUT UP, DON, you campaigned against your friend's success, you can save every word of it!)

 

Jessica and Josh walk Flora home, before taking a moonlight stroll in the garden outside the casino. They begin to dance, before they kiss...and kiss....and then Josh stops himself and takes Jessica home. the definition of a buzzkill.

 

Doug steps out of the era temporarily to sing "The Look Of Love" to Julie, as Lee walks in, wearing the silver glittering gown Maggie designed for her. She makes a point of standing right next to Julie's table, and loudly applauding Doug when he finishes the song. Embarrassing Julie, Lee's spectacle forces Julie to run from the room, before Neil sends Doug after her. Doug takes a moment to tear a strip off Lee for her little performance, and demands she leave immediately. He then leaves to track Julie down. Lee lays into Neil for sending Doug away, before pushing past Liz to get out. But Liz pulls her back in to give Lee some unsolicited advice: "You shouldn't make unexpected entrances", before telling Lee about an entrance she made at a party in Paris, where she opened the wrong door while looking for a powder room. Instead, Liz opened the door to a bedroom, and found Lee there with her (now-ex-) husband. OOPS! Lee, humiliated, runs home, and tears the ribbons off her gown (not having seen this gown, I have no idea what this entails).







Well...at least Lee's finally exposed. Liz really is the most engaging of the new characters, and I will say, they really amped up the action this month. But...my God how I don't really care about 90% of this stuff. Sure there's more action, sure there's more movement than there was during most of Harrower's run, but...meh? I dunno, what do y'all think?