I've only caught a few episodes since my last post so I'll just play catch up on the Phillips family story. In this last set of episodes both Lee Carrouthers and Sebastian Knight have been introduced, which means now each member of the Phillips family has their own separate story as well as the ongoing dramatic tension based on the turmoil over the death of the only son, Kevin Phillips.
I feel like Dave is such a solid person which really is a nice way to address the salvation / redemption angle that CBN would want the show to address. Dave's work at the clinic is noble and the introduction of Lucille Figgins, the new nurse, adds a level of comic relief and I hope a sort of low key foil for Ione Redlon. I think Dave's reconciliation with Stacey has been very sweet and tender. It's a nice contrast to the hostile encounter between Dave and Amber weeks earlier. Karen Chapman is a warm presence and a nice addition to the show.
Stacey's ambitions at the newspaper are still a simmering story with Stacey complaining about covering very basic stories and then offering to help with the coverage of Lee Carrouthers potential political campaign, but the curmudgeon boss McGovern only wants Gene on the job. I like the camaraderie between Gene and Stacey and Gene definitely gives off a mentor vibe, which works given the larger context of Gene's story with Monk. The ties between the Redlon and Phillips family work well for me. I sorta wish we got something between Amber and Carla because that would be an interesting mash up.
Stacey's more calculated side emerges when she starts to put a bug in her mother Kate's ear about he possibility of reconciling with Dave. I don't get the Sami Brady vibes of Stacey wanting her family back together, but more righting the injustice of Kate and Dave's divorce. I believe the divorce rate is high among couples who lost a child. Dorothy Stinettte's Kate is more softer than I expected, but I imagine there could be more brittle bitterness later in the story as I had imagined. Those qualities seem reserved for Amber.
Amber is pushing her own agenda wanting Kate with Lee Carrouthers, mostly to keep her mother and father apart. Amber's motive seems to be vengeance for her brother's death, but Kevin is such a shadow rather than an actual figure. His death is the defining moment of his life that overshadows almost anythign else. There is no sense of who he is outside of the dead son and brother, which I think is a missed opportunity. Fleshing out Kevin and his relationship with the other family members would help to not only make the pain over losing Kevin more palpable, but it would enhance the characters through their relationships with him. Amber and Kate would benefit the most from this.
Amber emerges as Nancy's successor as one of the cruelest, most heartless people in Kingsley. As the Stacey / Kate / Amber triangle over who Kate shouldend up with builds, Amber undermines her father in a brutal move by mentioning that she was driving to the country club and could only think about how this was the route that Dave took the night he killed Kevin. Amber is such a complicated figure for me. I appreciate that the show seems to give her a more liberated female viewpoint, but it's clearly meant to make her the villainess. She fight with Gil when she pays for breakfast for them. Amber is rarely presented in any other light than as a smooth operator who's obsession over her brother's death doesn't make her as sympathetic as it may be intended. I wish Amber was presented more as Becky was in late 1981 as conflicted young woman with baggage, but also desperately hoping that she could find her happiness. I don't need Amber turned into a simp, but a moment of gentleness outside her sexual relationship with Gil would be nice. A friendship would do her wonders, and that's where I would probably pair Carla and Amber. Also, given the trajectory of Amber's future story, having Amber's thoughts on pregnancy during Carla's story would be fun.
Amber's story makes me wonder what would have happened had the Barnes introduced Tony Cardello before they had left. I imagine Vinley would have dumped Vince's gay son pretty quickly, but I also think that Amber, in some ways, might hint at what was to come. Tony would be seen as a threat to the social and moral core of the community and while his point of view might be presented with surprising candor, it would most likely lack depth and complexity. Honestly, Tony as Amber's gay best friend might also have worked especially if they explored a Russ / Amber pairing.
Falling further down the hole of speculative soap opera, I think a Amber / Tony friendship would have been an interesting threat for Gil / Amber as I could see Tony as confusing Gil in a number of ways. As Russ' half-brother, there would be built in animosity based on Gil and Russ' history. In addition, if Tony helped Amber with her later situation, I could see Gil being heated over Tony's role in the situation. Also, I don't think Gil would like Amber having a male best friend, even if he was gay. I also think the sexual power dynamics between Amber, Gil and Tony could have been intriguing with Amber always wondering if Tony just hasn't found the right woman, Tony potentially being sexually attracted to Gil, and Gil both despising and loving the attention Tony could provide to him Even if none of this actually developed, I could see the accusations of any of this be lingering in the air as a threat to the dynamics in play.
Ultimately though, I would have biggest fight be when a rejected Tony finds God through a friendship with Dave Phillips. Without Vince in his life, I could see Tony looking for a father figure in Dave espceically if Tony had an alcohol problem. Dave would help Tony find religion like Jeff helped Dave. This would make Amber furious. And if a muckracker wanted to distort the relationship between Tony and Dave in order to ruin Lee's political career through the association of Dave's ex-wife, Kate, by showing what type of people she associates with. Though we would probably just get a horrifying AIDS story instead.
The political angle is developing as we meet Lee. I don't complete buy the timeline of Lee and Kate's previous romance "last fall" during Lee's campaign, but I do think it would have worked in fall 1981. Kate was away from Kingsley for most of 1982 even if she was never on camera. Lee's campaign will take up a bunch of story space and revisits the political arena that Vinley quickly abandoned the previous year. I do have to wonder if there wasn't a plan, or at least consideration, of writing this story for Jason Prescott instead of Lee. With Jason in the role, you would have had more connections with Terry, Peter, Gil, Gene, Marianne, and a variety of others through his children. I think a past public relationship between Jason and Kate would have had to been addressed earlier, but I think there are ways that this would have enhanced the story.
The Jason / Amber / Gil dynamic would fascinate me as I could see Amber seing Jason as a father figure more than Dave. Jason turning over the reigns of Prescott Development in a grander sense with Jason deeper into the political landscape to Gil but still meddling with Amber and Marianne forced to mediate. Terry and Jason having romantic tension while also arguing about Terry's involvement in Marianne and Russ' relationship. Dave and Alex's friendship fueling Dave /Jason tension. I would have loved for Jason to be reimagined as a character who was only publicly devoted to his faith, but continued to do things behind peple's back much like they hinted at but never addressed completely under the Barnes.
I think Paul Gleason is solid in the role. I did find it wild that in the first scene between Lee and Sebastian Knight, Lee comments that one day Sebastian will go too far in pursuit of power. I wonder if his role in Kate's fate had already been decided.
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dc11786 ·
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