@DRW50 Yes, I am pretty sure that is Edye Byrde.
When thinking about the Phillips family drama that's developing in February, 1983, I am amazed at how Jason Vinley slowly develops strands and intertwines them to create the bigger story. He did this brilliantly with the mob story that brought Lori's attack, Babs' knowledge of Ronnie's side hustles, Miriam's kidnapping, and Russ' entrance into the organization all under one banner by the climax of the story.
In the Phillips' story, we are first (re)introduced to Dave Phillips around Thanksgiving, 1982. He has been away searching for his wife Kate, who he would like to reconcile with. From listening to the fan recollections, I knew of the Terry and Dave's romance, but I was genuinely surprised by how much dramatic energy and story space is given to Dave's desire to reconcile with his estranged wife. Vinley plays on the elements that were already established for Dave from his December, 1981 - May, 1982 run and enhanced them. Grounding Dave's alcoholism in his professional unhappiness due to his clinic's abortion practices really gives more dramatic weight to the current desire Dave and Ben have for the new clinic to be independently run and not controlled by government oversight. I don't agree with Dave's stance on abortion, but I admire his conviction is not about what he wants others to do but rather what he doesn't want to do.
The death of Kevin Phillips' is an element that Vinley introduces within an episode or two of Dave's return making the impact of Dave's addiction devastating to the family. The car accident not only echoes the New Years' Eve tragedy earlier in the year that took the lives of Nora and Scott, but it is finally a version of the alcoholic father that the show has been trying to tell since its beginning (Jeff Cummings, Dennis Fraser (to an extent), Dom Cavalares) with the most powerful effect. Dave is a smart, successful doctor burden by guilt that he numbed with booze. The death of his son is not only the ultimate sacrifice, but a painful reminder of the fact that he believes he has taken other people's children away through the act of abortion.
Dave is the most integrated and his relationships with the cast are great. I actually really enjoyed John Cardoza as Dave, but he doesn't seem to have the hint of melancholy and saness that seems to absorb Dave. In Cardoza's defense, his Dave was more a man rebuilding his life. Ulrich also is a mature adult lead in the traditional sense, while Cardoza's more laid back Dave was more of a utility player in a large canvas.
After we meet Dave, we meet Amber Phillips, the model and I believe older daughter, in early December. It's interesting that Vinley makes no attempt to obscure her identity as she is someone who could realistically being using a professional name when she walks into Gil Prescott's office. Amber in some ways is just a female counterpart to Gil. Sexual, aloof, and driven by her own desires, Amber makes it clear to Gil that she isn't looking to settle down or be tied down by any man. Part of the aloofness seems to be an act to incite desire in Gil, but I get the genuine sense that she has no real emotional needs. There is an icy coolness to Amber that seems to represent a jaded modern woman who is capable, independent, and free from the ties of the family and home. Amber is clearly intended as a catalyst for drama, but Peggy Woody (Smithhart) does seem to make you care a bit for Amber. It's hard to tell if she is a successor to Nancy Lawson in that she was deeply hurt by her family life or if she was always this way.
Amber's dynamics with others are also intriguing. Her hatred for her father's weakness is thick and I am not sure she will ever forgive him for Kevin's death, which I cannot determine is an actual wound for Amber or just a convenient tool in her arsenal to use on Dave. In a grand sense, I think a woman being mad at her alcoholic father for his carelessness resulting in her brother's death is understandable. The problem is Amber takes it to an extreme, and every relationship Amber has is about control. This is demonstrated in her ordering her sister Courtney's lunch in one of their early scenes and then later by her cold reaction to her mother Kate's wavering about how she is going to react to Dave now that he is back in Kingsley. I suspect there is an undercurrent that Amber is afraid of being hurt by him or him hurting others she cares about, but I am not sure if Amber cares truly about anyone.
A late in the game revelation regarding Kevin's death is that the entire family was in the car. This sounds almost as if it may have been cribbed a bit from Ordinary People where the death of one son haunts the brother who was present in the accident and slowly puts crack sin the marriage of the dead boy's parents. The actor who played Buck in that film ends up playing a role on A New Day in Eden in this same period. There isn't a sense that the family has first hand felt the pain of watching their brother and son die. This isn't Terry being in the hospital and the bodies being wheeled in. This is being in the wreckage of a car alongside a dead or dying family member. If they leaned into this, even a little, I would think Amber is more human.
The scene where Amber initially encounters Dave for the first time in years is powerful. Amber's disdain, Dave's desperation, and Gil's utter confusion on what is going on between the two. I seem to recall feeling a bit of Amber's pain in Woody's delivery as Amber reveals to Gil that the degenerate who just bothered them was her father. It's really great work from the actors involved and beautifully shot scene ending with a shot of Amber in the forefront with Gil while Dave stares at them from the back of the restaurant.
From there we meet Courtney Phillips, the mousier younger daughter who has secured a role at the newspaper alongside Gene Redlon tying the Redlons and the Phillips together further as Gene's mother Ione Redlon has now taken a position as a receptionist at the clinic where Dave works. Courtney's inquisitive reporter instincts leave her less jaded than Amber and more open to receiving the new version of her father. Courtney is the perfect foil for Amber as she is all the things Amber is not: insecure, intellectual, and painfully shy. I think an argument could be made about Amber experiencing more of her father's alcoholism and the pain resonating more because it was more clear and defining in her childhood, but I don't remember how long ago the accident was though I'm thinking it was less than a decade. In addition, Courtney and Amber seem to be set to mirror the Deena Greely / Vicky Lang dynamic with Gil involved with a stunning woman and then a more mousier one.
As a stand alone character, Courtney isn't quite there yet. The ambitions at work are noteworthy (she's handling fluff and she wants to handle harder hitting news) as is her connection to her coworker Gene Redlon. Karen Chapman did quite well in the reunion scene with her character's father. I thought it was a touching contrast to Amber's brittle, hostile interaction with Dave episodes earlier. Also, setting the scene in Dave's new clinic, the source of his new life resonates the message of the title. I also enjoy the slowly building opposition that is growing among the Phillips' women over what side of the fence they are on in regards to Dave's recovery and new start.
The last of the Phillips' clan introduced is Kate Phillips, the ex-wife of Dave and the mother of the two girls. Dorothy Stinette gives the character a crisp cold exterior with a hint of warmth and humor underneath. Kate could easily work a room, which is how Dave described her. She was a socialite with political leanings that led her to back causes (like access to abortion). While never specifically stated, Kate is a liberal with a freedom and ease that appears softer than her daughter Amber's calculated hardness. When Amber tries to guilt her mother into avoiding Dave, Kate doesn't completely let Amber control her the way Amber has Courtney. In Amber and Courteney's early episdoes, Kate is dealing with the death of her own mother, which should have been an opportunity to further revisit Kevin's death and maybe it will down the line.
The only character we haven't met is the late Kevin, who is mentioned often but we are given a little sense of who he is beyond the son that was lost. There is a sweet scene between Dave and someone (maybe Alex) where Dave recounts gardening after Kevin's death and discovering toy soldiers buried in the garden that belonged to his son and sobbing. I wish we knew more because maybe it would make Amber's point of view seem more legitimate emotionally and in terms of story.
So far this story has been a bunch of chess moves about feelings, allegiance, and the belief in whether or not you can be reborn. It's the perfect story for this show. There have only been a handful of truly meaningful scenes and they are all about confrontations (between characters, between a character and the past). It really grounds the story even if it's not generating a lot of story heat yet. The threads are still very new and being weaved together, but doing so as the Blue Nobles story climaxes was smart. The show feels vibrant.
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dc11786 ·
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