KNOTS LANDING

[DRW50]

This is one of my favorite (maybe my favorite) periods for Laura, for the reasons you describe so well. It's also why to me Laura was always one of the most honest and believable characterizations on the show - contrast this to later years where characters in the workplace who want and need tend to either be babied a bit by the writing or are treated as bitches. 

I had forgotten Chip was still there as some of these other stories were starting. He and Sumner are two very different forks in the road. 

[Vee]

Season 5, Episode 11 (I'll Tell You No Lies):

Abby: There's nothing quite like getting what you want, except maybe getting more of what you want.

Here we are. I'm sure most of you know what time this episode is, and I do too but it was no less satisfying.

As Kate Bush once said, 'it's in the trees! it's coming!' Yes, Chip/Tony (who I now choose to occasionally refer to as 'Chony' as he's just about worn out his nefarious welcome) is now hiding in the frickin' trees at Westfork while Diana whines on and on to any overworked police offer within minimum aural range. She also gets a well-deserved jolt when she finally meets Cathy Geary, and her discomfort mixed with what seems like spellbound fascination is really spooky. Diana is also rude as fùck to poor Cathy - she seems to get off on telling her Chip killed Ciji somehow, which is just gross. Talk about a sociopathic teenager. I don't know if that's what Claudia Lonow intended to play or the writing called for, but it's what she's often playing.

This episode, I believe, gives us the proper mention of the Wolfbridge Group as Mack interrogates the lawyer he sprung from prison for deets on his next targets, the men of power he alluded to with Ben and Karen last time. He doesn't get much out of him though while Karen drifts in and out on her growing pill haze, and there's a nice rhythm to the sequence as Mack's ranting grows more frustrated and ineffectual, realizing he can't penetrate his stool pigeon's fear or his wife's rising mental fog. Is that some new flashy art deco painting on the dining room wall? I don't remember seeing it before and it seems more Mack's upwardly mobile East Coast taste than the homey quasi-hippie furnishings Karen and Sid had for years. Nice touch. I will never get over seeing what appears to be Century City as Mack and Greg's headquarters. Greg is clearly lying to Mack about why he's receiving his commission reports.

When she's mostly coherent, Karen is sliding herself into the mother role for Mary Frances Sumner far too easily. It is nice to see her back to doing middle-class domestic tasks in the driveway, painting a chair only for her medicated distraction to cause her to sit on the wet paint without thinking while talking to Mary Frances. In the moment it comes off as a light comedy bit, it isn't played for amped-up drama or angst, but it's smartly and subtly done so that we know it's another sign of Karen losing her grip. There's even more of my favorite longtime use of the cul-de-sac/Seaview Circle (still not used to this name, which I think has only been mentioned once or twice onscreen so far) as a shared suburban arena/roundtable in this sequence as across the street, Ben and Val return home still debating Sumner's motives with Lilimae and the visiting Mary Frances chiming in on Val's front lawn. But who exactly are the random mother and child wandering the cul-de-sac in the background, lol? Did someone move into the Ward house? It's so weird to have nobody extras on the scene at this juncture in the series.

But there's even more classic KL suburban social drama this week, as the MacKenzies throw a barbecue like the old times and I am just delighted with all of it. The more intellectual Ben manfully tries to keep up with Mack and Eric's inscrutable Lakers discussion, though for his part Eric mostly seems just happy to be there; the Fairgate boys have always taken so easily and eagerly to Mack for the most part, and you get it at their age and in those times. I thought Eric had a beer at first tbh. Like Lilimae I can't remember the last time most of the neighborhood got together, but it feels great and still true and not inorganic to the show as it is now (it would be weirder if Gary and Abby showed up at this point, and I'm not surprised Laura opted out). But of course Lilimae throws a shoe in things by mentioning Diana, which immediately sends Karen fleeing from the room.

Speaking of Abby and Laura, back at the office they're still growing partners in crime, bonded by mutual cause and mutual distaste. Laura is clearly taunting her by refusing to leave; I can't remember if she knows about Sumner for sure, but it seems clear to me she knows (even if she only catches them in the act at the end of the episode). But Abby's striking out again this week, because California's own Greg Sumner is at the MacKenzie barbecue back in humble Seaview Circle! Lilimae and Sumner shining each other on at the front door is great; they're both charmers and cons of a certain kind, and I loved how Greg dismisses Abby to Mary Frances as 'nobody important.' Abby is simply not in his league yet, and that I think is part of both her recurring arousal and her rage.

Tension starts to build as Greg meets Ben, who's been suspicious of the new Greg Sumner for some time, and with Mack who won't be snowed by some of Greg's excuses about work. Ben picks up on Mack starting to rethink things about his old friend, and it's nice to see them finding connectivity via mutual skepticism and street smarts. The larger arc of the season continues to very slowly and methodically pick up steam, whereas later primetime soaps barrel through story like hamsters on meth.

A nice counterpoint to the men: Val and Karen cleaning up after the barbecue and discussing her romance with Ben. These suburban-arena character roots, behaviors, arenas and motifs were all built out of the first three seasons, which makes them so sturdy and believable now even as the show grows steadily more upwardly mobile.

Speaking of the other half, the dejected Abby returns home to Westfork to her loving husband and initially seems totally over him, snapping at him about Diana. Is it really just all the chase for Abby, is that why she's seemingly increasingly over Gary? She does soften a bit when Gary forces the issue about his angst over Ciji and Cathy, and does show some caring for him. That's good to see, but I still don't fully understand where Abby is at. I don't think that's a failing of the plotting or characterization this season, I think it's simply being slowly drawn out as the show explores the depth of Abby's fascination with Greg Sumner and growing into her new self and position in life and business. There's a beautiful musical montage with some melancholy, brooding music I love as the show flows from Karen needing her pills and denying herself back to Abby and Gary in bed, with Donna Mills showing Abby is miles away behind her eyes. She wants more, but gives herself instead to her husband, tenderly and openly. She doesn't seem to be settling or resigned with him in bed, but she is making a choice to console while she remains unfulfilled. It's all the same soft musical cue and swooning physical intimacy as they go right back to Karen and her aching pain, driving her back to the pills again the middle of the night. You can see Karen's eyes and face as she realizes she's becoming reactive and dependent - there's no big beat, no fuss, just Michele Lee giving us a very quiet, internal moment that becomes brisk and softly determined as she walks away without a pill. No grand theater, just simple moves and great musical score.

Ben and Val are cuddly back at hers after the barbecue, but Lilimae has no time for poor Ben and I'm not sure why. Is she making Val pay for locking her away? Or is she equating Ben, who initially hid his occupation from Val, with Chip?

No comment on Abby's stereotypical Mexican housekeeper and server at Westfork! Cathy wants to talk to her but Abby shuts her down, and now seems increasingly pissed about Cathy and Gary's bond. Meanwhile, "Chony" is happily sunning himself on the property as the cops prowl the land. Chip going all Defiant Ones just cracks me up, but his vaguely messianic attitude re: the increasingly frazzled Diana is disturbing. "Nobody's gonna catch me," he assures her with that sanguine Michael Sabatino vibe. "They can't. It's my karma." I did lose it when Diana muttered that 'things are beginning to get complicated'(!!). There is a really lovely, shocking moment a bit later when we see the MacKenzies + Mary Frances playing Monopoly together as a family and the rotating camera catches Diana watching them from the bushes, weeping in the night. It's surprisingly touching, even now.

Lord, now Lilimae is cleaning the whole fridge. Okay. This seems like domestic toil as penance for her sins, and the scene with Val that unfolds quickly makes it clear that Lilimae is in no way over her trauma with Chip after all. There's a wonderful grace moment as Lilimae unspools her guilt over Chip with a simple grocery anecdote, how he stole from her and she let it go. "I'm telling you a story," she tells a baffled Val sorrowfully, still grappling with her torn emotions and clearly still ill. This is fascinating stuff, and something most shows would've let go by now.

Across the street, Karen in the garage with Mary Frances illuminates another character-driven storyline wrought by emotional fallout at this juncture of the show. The fact is that Karen is grooming Greg's daughter to replace her own lost child, which we sympathize with while realizing it's deeply unhealthy. Once again there are very few massive musical stings or huge physical gestures that have accompanied this build over multiple episodes, just a lot of increasingly noticeable behavior, choices and cracks in the facade. It's Mary Frances' mention of Diana that breaks Karen and drives her to succumb to the pills (where they finally bring the music up more). Again, you just would not get this or Lilimae's lasting PTSD and obsessive behavior presented in such a nuanced or subtle fashion in most primetime soaps either in the '80s or '90s. As Khan and others have said in the past, it's this kind of nuance that elevates the show to TV drama first, soap second.

It is not lost on me again that this sweeping spiral staircase in Abby's office palace is most likely the same one from her old house in the cul-de-sac, because it is most likely the same set redone. This is understandable budget-wise which is surely the main reason, but also fascinating thematically just as a viewer; single mom divorcee Abby Cunningham's slowly metamorphosing cozy suburban house has transmogrified into Abby Ewing's hyper-modern dead-tech Reaganite fortress. Abby wants to move on Lotus Point now over Laura's objections and snubs Sumner's phone call. Abby doesn't like being second choice, isn't used to it, but is charmed when Greg shows up and finally gifts her her beloved variance. She believes in herself and Greg as a team - she used to talk that way about Gary. Is she already thinking of her next union?

Baines' long-suffering cop partner finally catches Diana in the act as the walls close in on Chip at Westfork in the stables, where yes, he comes face to face with Cathy. Down he goes on the pitchfork Friday the 13th-style - Ciji's revenge. I knew this was coming but it's so satisfying to see. Adieu, scumbag. More soon.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Vee

[victoria foxton]

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Edited August 22, 2022 by victoria foxton

[DemetriKane]

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Edited August 23, 2022 by DemetriKane

[Vee]

Episode 12 (Denials):

Chip is dead and I'm glad! They do a great job in this ep of dealing with the ensemble reactions and letting those beats play out. Starting with the response at the MacKenzie house vs. Westfork is a great touch, and Karen's very quiet, very numb drugged-up dismissal is really fascinating. The beauty of this performance, which I'll return to later, is that Michele Lee doesn't play it as though Karen is too doped up to have emotions or care. She very clearly is hit hard by the news about Chip and subsequent discussion of Diana - you can see it in her eyes and on her face - but she is drowning in a narcotic fugue which is the only way she can bear to process any of the things happening to her. So instead she just asks her son "would you set the table?" in response to the news, and it's heartwrenching.

The ripple effect through the cast continues as Gary tells Abby he wants Diana out of Westfork (and rightly so), while Lilimae begins to process. Apparently her hearing over the hit and run was offscreen (whatever!) but she is still not at well, struggling to piece herself together, but we'll get to that too. Back at the ranch, Diana seems almost catatonic at first until she starts lashing out at everyone, telling Abby she wants to 'cherish the pain' of losing Chip - because of course she does, teenage drama is how she lives her entire life - and then having an absolutely repugnant conversation with Cathy, talking about how evil Ciji was and blaming the dead woman for everything. She seems perversely proud of how no one (and her mother most of all who she name-drops, because everything always goes back to Karen and family drama for Diana) could break her and her murderous man up. Please get her professional help and evict her from this ranch. I have just discovered Diana is apparently hanging around into early Season 6 and I am so ready to tap out on her.

More All the President’s Men meetings in parking lots and construction sites for Mack and his mole in Wolfbridge.  They've been made and the stool pigeon wants to bolt! Mack and Sumner clash over his targeting the bad guys and having a tail put on him - again, Sumner still seems to be getting played as an antagonist and troublemaker, albeit a nuanced, layered and charming one. I will have to dig into the KL interviews out there to see if I can find when they knew for certain he would stay beyond the season. I know it was supposedly an open-ended commitment but they thought he might only be there for the arc at first, until William Devane settled into how Knots did things.

Karen responds to the current drama with continued lethargy, shellshock and dependency on her pills- the image of her staring at afternoon TV in her bathrobe was a lot. Chip/Tony's visiting sister Angie shows up and is all dollars and cents while Karen writhes at her very presence and the mention of Chip's name, with Angie wanting to know who'll pay for the funeral of her admittedly-worthless brother, and that seems to just about fit. There's a sliver of insight into the Fenice family's past, and how "Tony" was bad news even as a little boy, a creepy window into a shadowy before. "Tony always wanted the American dream," Angie says ruefully. That's not an entirely inaccurate take when you look at the worst of the American dream, especially in the '80s.

When Cathy flees Westfork after Diana's screed, she heads to some dive with her old school buddies where improbably, the girl who 'can't sing' is in fact another incredible singer, courtesy of Lisa Hartman seizing the Stranger Things 4 spirit of summer 2022 and belting out Journey's 'Separate Ways" with inimitable power, infatuating a following Gary all over again. Are they really going to claim she just dabbled in singing before this? Come on.

Laura and Ben have some surprising interaction in this episode in the cul-de-sac, first at Val's and then at Laura's, a house we haven't seen in ages, where we get a surprise glimpse of baby Jason who's gotten awfully big. Laura dummies up about Lotus Point when questioned; Ben is somehow already onto the property, apparently because Sumner has stuck his hand in re: Abby's variance. This is where we see the tentacles of an umbrella story unfurling into every aspect of the canvas in ways I hadn't expected. Not long after, we get our first meeting between Greg and Laura in his limo, where they joust about the variance and Lotus Point; Greg keeps her at bay, but he's already all smiles and charm, already flirting. Laura is clearly amused by him but doesn't want to be. Which begs another question: When did TPTB know they were going to try Greg and Laura? After this episode? Their chemistry is very intriguing here though not yet as incandescent as Mills and Devane (or McCashin and Shackelford, for that matter).

Val finally admits that Lilimae is equating Ben with Chip, which I was waiting for. Julie Harris puts on a real clinic in this episode, with her amazing monologue at Chip's coffin where she talks about how even now she's searching for some human core of him, some 'private moment' where he could connect to the same kind of emotions - shame, guilt, love - that others feel about him. Later, her breakdown at a simple dinner at home is just brutal as the shame and horror of what she did to Chip (who deserved it!) finally overcomes her and she collapses in Val's arms. There's an ugly but real moment where Lilimae rejects Ben and orders him away when he tries to be of assistance. This is imperfect, flawed human behavior but it's completely real; you feel for Lilimae as Harris does some of her best work and also understand why she can't accept it from poor Ben, even when he's done nothing wrong. You understand both of them.

The funeral and eulogy for Chip is from some poor long-suffering man of the cloth drafted for this mess, straining to find something positive to say. But his remarks are oddly apropos, saying Chip wanted to be 'something special and apart, yet part of the whole' and how he 'rewarded' people he cared for him with 'love, which made them feel better about themselves than they ever had before.' That is certainly one spin on his grifting for the sake of a public service! But it makes a sort of perverse sense. Sister Angie calls it a load of bull though, which it is, challenging Diana at the gravesite and calling her just another one of her awful brother's marks who he used. This is absolutely glorious to watch as Diana throws yet another gasping tantrum but for once no one can or will do anything about it to soothe her or bail her out. Diana can't handle someone with no ties or perceived responsibilities to her telling the truth without coddling her. Thank you, Angie, for your service to the state of California and the city of Los Angeles.

After the service, Val is already seeing through Karen's alternately placid and icy narcotized facade. Mack sees it too but feels helpless - a man's man impotent in the face of an inner problem, at least for the moment. Eric and Mary Frances commiserate about their moms, and Eric is obviously wise to something being really wrong with his mother. We also get some confirmation Eric is still a high school senior as these two flirt and make out. They really are cute together.

Abby and Laura have a great scene trading barbs about Sumner after he alerts Abby to Laura's suspicions re: the variance and Lotus Point, all of which apparently go against Gary's environmental interests. The women both threaten each other, but their threats amount to a scorched earth policy; if one goes down, the other does too. Abby, for her part, gives a shocking admission: She has gambled that even if Laura exposes her, Gary will simply forgive her again - "and if worse comes to worse, I have community property." My jaw dropped when I heard that line in the teaser, and it again makes me wonder if ultimately Gary Ewing was always about the chase for Abby. I really don't know at this point.

But back in Garyland, there is a wonderful, insightful interlude where he tells Cathy a dark story about his Dallas childhood, and how he broke his back rodeo-riding on a dare from friends as a teenaged drunk. "Gary, people die from that!" Cathy exclaims. "Yeah, people do," he allows. "I didn't." That's Gary in a nutshell. The glimpses of his Dallas past still ring true and resonate deep at this point in KL history, always adding more layering to an already very shaded character - the moment where he admits Jock seemed 'almost proud' of him for nearly destroying himself seems all too Ewing. "We still don't," Gary admits when asked if they get along better these days. "He's dead." At which point Cathy takes him into her arms and kisses him. I think I'd kind of like to see these two have a real affair - Cathy is more worldly than Ciji.

Mack's mole is ready to skip town over the omnipresent Wolfbridge, but Mack gets pulled away from it into a family klatch with Val and Eric over Karen and her pills. The genius of the show's long-standing suburban setup is that both family and friends are close enough, physically/proximity-wise and personally, that anyone can walk in, start these conversations and draw others into it; both Eric and Val worry over Karen, who of course wanders in and explodes opposite Mack when challenged. Seeing Michele Lee so fragile and pathetic in this storyline is consistently disturbing, but her worst moment for herself is clearly the final shot - startled to get a glimpse of herself in the mirror, knowing what she is.

As for next time: Did they really have to spoil two big twists in the teaser? Come on, Knots!

Edited August 24, 2022 by Vee

[Vee]

Episode 13 (Witness):

Again: Spoiling two big reveals (Val's pregnancy, Cathy in league with Abby) in the teaser on this episode was unconscionable. I don't know why they'd do that. I legit did not see the reveal that Cathy was working for Abby coming, until the teaser screwed me. Abby tells Cathy she can't make Diana leave Westfork because "I need her as a witness," which is also the title of the episode - what the hell does that mean? Abby spends much of this ep riding herd on a bunch of "Gary Ewing Enterprises" investors and assets at a gigantic meeting at her offices with Laura and Westmont. These assets and investors are puzzled as to the notable lack of Gary Ewing at Gary Ewing Enterprises, unaware that (AFAIK) they are actually at a meeting for Apolune and Abby Ewing. Gary of course arrives too late to get in on the gag, just as Abby planned it, and just in time for her to shrug him off to go fūck Greg Sumner.

While newly actualized as a businessman and power broker over the last year in his own mold and towards his own interests (environmentalism, conservation, clean energy, etc.), Gary is clearly still naive about the kind of corporate machinations that Abby lives for. As long as he's got his ranch, his horses, is putting his money towards good projects and has a cute blonde by his side on horseback, his wife reasons that he can be handled. Per this episode and some discussion in the next one (where Abby makes it clear Cathy can do anything she has to to keep Gary occupied short of sleeping with him) I assume that is the reason Abby hired Cathy, to keep him off her back in the boardroom. Which means she did so before the whirlwind wedding. How long has she been planning this? I know there's some fog of war BTS as to when they decided Cathy was not a wholly villainous character who would gaslight Gary as was allegedly the original plan, and I believe there's some talk of how they didn't know Abby would be behind Cathy initially when they started the story. I am very curious as to how this is going to unfold. 

Ben and Val are now officially 'falling in love' per the script, which of course means she is knocked up by Garrehhh. Again, would've probably been more shocking for the audience without the damn teaser. Val and Mack commiserate about Karen late in this episode, and there's a sweet scene where Val confides in him about her pregnancy instead. Mack is fulsome and overjoyed, even after she explains the situation; non-judgmental despite his inherent machismo, he's a good friend, understanding her mixed emotions but helping her hold onto the happiness first and foremost. That's a unique take in Who's the Daddy (or rather, The Wrong Daddy) stories like these on most soaps, where often people simply burst into tears of shame first and find the positive side later. Doesn't happen here.

Lilimae is now meditating and doing yoga in the living room, because of course she is. There's still clear tension with Val over Ben, and the recurring co-dependency and passive aggression that lines the edges of their mother-daughter bond even after all these years is still very real. But so is their love and devotion, however codependent - Val’s new book Nashville Junction being dedicated to Lilimae and her life was genuinely touching. You melt with Julie Harris just from the look on her face. She starts to soften up to Ben after this and invites him over, but stiffens up when she realizes Ben read the new book before she did. Here, Lilimae remains fragile; her trauma and recurring emotional vulnerability did not die with Chip (who I think is still the primary source, and who she continues to identify Ben with), it's lasting.

Karen is still drifting through space as the family struggles to cope with the elephant in the room, her drug habit. Karen goes through the motions of domestic minutiae, cooking and doing chores but she's lost in a fog of depression and confusion as her mind glazes and ices over. She forgets all about going to work at KL Motors, says and does things that are increasingly non sequiturs. Seeing Michele Lee like this is really frightening, because it's so far from who she's ever been on this show. Val tries to be the rock for Karen here, invoking her experience with Gary's alcoholism and JVA is amazing with this stuff, never the cornpone naïf again, using the same strength she showed with Gary in jail at the end of last season. "I love you," she tells Karen. "I love you as much as I've ever loved anyone." But Karen isn't ready. Here too is where Lee's performance is so brilliant -  as I said last time, Karen's not simply vague and glassy and without emotion; the emotion is still there, but the sobbing and anguish is all locked behind those incredibly lost eyes. Her body quakes and shudders with pain as Val leaves, but nothing emerges and the melancholy dream she's lost in doesn't fade. It's exquisite physical modulation work.

Mack's crooked assistant, the oldest living Confederate widow, is clearly in with Wolfbridge - she's fired! "Not even an argument," Mack grumbles as she walks out without a word. He's everywhere this week, poking into Wolfbridge-aligned construction sites (all built to sub-standard, all insured by Wolfbridge when they inevitably collapse and kill people - something again still relevant today after a rash of high-profile building collapses in the last few years). The mysterious limo meetings for Sumner and his Wolfbridge contacts continue, and I believe this is and has always been the great Joseph Chapman as Mark St. Claire (who becomes more prominent in the next episode) with Sumner in these meetings though I may be wrong on when he debuted. That same blandly anodyne line that he's been using for many episodes - "the feeling is very strong about this, Greg" - is straight out of something like The Parallax View, uniquely threatening and ominous when delivered by St. Claire c/o his shadowy overlords. Sumner now has to choose between his secret empire and Mack, and if you've already watched more (as I have) you know where that's going and boy is it a doozy.

Sumner's absent wife Jane has finally arrived, played by Millie Perkins of The Diary of Anne Frank (yes, she was Anne Frank; yes, the one you saw in school) and Monte Hellman's The Shooting fame! Blast from the past. Breezing into Sumner campaign headquarters, Jane instantly sees through Abby Ewing even as Greg manfully feigns ignorance of who she is (prompting a hilarious death stare from Donna Mills - Abby can't handle being thrown over in public even for another man's wife, going so far as to pout to a strangely apologetic Mary Frances about it). It's clear there's few secrets between Greg and Jane, and the vague sadness over their broken marriage is not a going concern for either of them though Mary Frances remains an issue. But Jane clearly has his number: "Politics is not just a job to him," she tells their daughter. "It's the way he's able to give and receive love." There's a concept that takes some unpacking.

Laura enjoys watching Abby squirm over Greg at work too; he's under her skin, perhaps permanently. Again, like Karen, this is a mode this season which we've never seen Abby in before. It's fitting and hilarious that Sumner then quotes Henry Kissinger to seduce the spurned woman - 'power is the ultimate aphrodisiac' - I mean, who else for her or for the kind of politician Sumner has become?

Jane Sumner and Karen have an interesting moment at the MacKenzies' as Karen is crumbling inside, going blank into the fog for a moment while they talk mothers and daughters. Is it because of the narcotized haze or because the pain of the unspoken invocation of Diana is too much and she's curling inward to try to escape the parallel? Karen and Mack have some catharsis together as he tries to cut into her, invoking his parents' loveless marriage vs. their loving one and how he's committed to her even in the hard times - it's a great speech, but she's still not there.

Sumner re-charms Abby with a rose in his teeth and 'bonsoir, baby.' I've heard suggestions that this was one of Devane's many improvisations, but I have no idea. Is Sumner the most exciting man Abby's ever known? It certainly seems like it. More on that later.

At the close of this episode Val and Gary have their first run-in that I can recall since he stood her up, which isn't really mentioned. Instead there's some bittersweet small talk, even though everything's still there for them. The difference is Gary now knows when to pull away.

Episode 14 (Secrets Cry Aloud):

Well, the whole MacKenzie family is working on Sumner's campaign including a drugged-up Karen who can barely get through cold-calling voters. I was almost as terrified as she is when she realizes she has a speech to give at this upcoming event and praying for her not to bomb, but it goes even worse than I expected.

There's a lovely scene after Lilimae discovers Val is pregnant (by snooping, naturally) where Lilimae finally reflects openly on abandoning her daughter in her time of need with baby Lucy. Val having kids (we all know it's plural) again seems surreal still to me, even if I know how integral the upcoming storyline is; so much of her character thus far is defined by the life, youth and family she lost long ago. Anyway, Lilimae owns her guilt over Val here and it's very strong stuff. That being said I give her keeping her mouth shut about the baby/babies about 45 minutes.

I guess Abby really is using Cathy simply to distract Gary from Apolune. It is insane to realize how long she must have been planning this. The umbrella story is now flowing out to every end of the canvas in even more deft ways that seemed almost imperceptible initially; not only is the whole MacKenzie family working the campaign but Ben's beachside neighbors are all being pressured to sell to Lotus Point. And once he's home we have Mack eager to leak his side of the story to the press, while his office, car and later home are ransacked.

It's strange to see Laura and Abby openly conspiring to buy out homeowners for shopping malls and office complexes - remember the cul-de-sac banding together in the name of community preservation in the first two seasons? But that was the last embers of the '70s, this is now. Laura, for her part, remembers on some level and feels the weight and guilt of it. Abby less so: "This is the way the game is played. If you don't have the stomach for it you can always get out." Meanwhile, she sends her husband off for more prize horses.

I’m just putting this out there: Ben's beachhouse is insanely gorgeous and a considerable piece of beach property, almost as impressive as Gary and Abby's old place, and he'd be crazy to move into Val's house in the cul-de-sac which IMO is smaller than this. He must be independently wealthy or a very renowned journalist indeed. Lilimae thinks he's the daddy of course, and comes around with baked goods; Ben wisely plays along as Lilimae spills the beans in under 20 minutes, not 45 after all. Val tells him the truth straight out because that's who she is, and he walks out.

The butcher Cathy with the blunt pixie cut seems a more interesting and equal match for Gary than Ciji as they cuddle up at the old horsewoman's place out of town (played by old Hollywood star Ann Doran, I believe). A candid conversation ensues as Cathy asks if he ever slept with Ciji. I wondered how Gary would answer this time and I'm glad they kept it as ambiguous as in the past: "I don’t think so."

Cathy: Are you sorry that you were never lovers?

Gary: Yeah.

The two of them leave it there in the night, but almost succumb in the morning - and it's Gary who pulls back in another character re-defining moment. "All my life I've drifted into things. I've let things happen to me without thinking about the consequences ahead of time." Now that he's sober he tells Cathy he refuses to live a double life; he has to take his life in his own hands and 'make choices,' including committing to Abby. "I can’t choose this," he declares. "I have to choose my marriage." It's too bad he hasn't had his eyes fully opened about his business yet.

Laura gets even guiltier talking with Ben's old neighbor couple, the Marcuses. I'm surprised and impressed they're playing this beat with her. I've heard people say Laura becomes more of a supporting player until she is written out, but I don't think her role is wholly supporting this season; I think it's still just integral enough so far, so deeply intertwined with (surprisingly) Abby, Gary and soon perhaps Greg.

At this neighborhood event (I guess for Seaview Circle, as the first speaker claims her as 'one of their own'), Karen is out of happy pills and not doing so hot! Frazzled by withdrawal, she dissolves into incoherence and one of the most gruesome cringe sequences I can recall. Again, seeing Karen falter in an arena and a setting she usually excels in is just painful; I couldn't look directly at the screen. When she's carted out stuttering the words 'not only' over and over like a broken toy, utterly confused and frightened, there's no reaction the audience can have other than being simply aghast. This story was and continues to be going forward incredibly courageous and unselfish work from Michele Lee, including when she finally collapses in the shower at the end after her last desperate refill.

Val tries to nurse Karen at her place, only for Karen to ransack her bathroom for more pills. The lighting, shadow and angles are amazing as Mack comes home to find the house torn apart. It's pretty telling that at first I didn't know if this was Wolfbridge or Karen looking for more pills.

Sumner is unnerved by Laura having his number with Abby - "I've known women like that." A portent of things to come?

Sumner: You're an expensive woman, you could be costing me too much.

Abby: I'll get you more than I could ever cost you, you can count on that.

Amazingly, Abby is already swearing fealty to Greg and support in 'not just this election but all the others' - she wants to be his First Lady, undercover or otherwise. WTF? I can only conclude that Abby is this down bad for Sumner this fast because Henry Kissinger was right: power is the ultimate aphrodisiac, and politico phenom Greg trumps late-in-life businessman Gary any time. He has her in the palm of his hand so far.

Mack is heated with Greg about the pressure campaign against him, while Greg remains muted, politic and less than supportive. This only leads Mack to go directly to a gaggle of press. But here's where the show throws another curve: Greg's longtime contact, Mark St. Claire from Wolfbridge, hooks directly into Lotus Point. Abby and Lotus Point quickly become more pawns of the Wolfbridge Group as St. Claire high-pressures her; he knows everything about Apolune, wants in immediately despite his promises of full-service investment, and she instantly balks where I thought she might go for it. (She can obviously tell Wolfbridge is bad news and organized crime just from his pressure tactics; is obvious criminality Abby's limit after what happened to Sid?) "We remove obstacles," St. Claire explains mildly. "Consider the Marcuses neutralized." Oh no!

This entire umbrella story has been put together meticulously from the first vague mentions of a property Karen's uncle owned on the beach, a poster for Greg Sumner, a handsome reporter who romanced Val and a job Mack was cajoled into taking. Now everyone's in it. Absolutely brilliant work building all this up separately and waiting this long - I have rarely seen anything like it, on daytime or certainly on primetime.

Next up: Bill Duke Hours!

Edited August 27, 2022 by Vee

[FrenchBug82]

I am so happy you are well enough and hard-working enough to resume those and share them with us. They make me so happy so thank you,Vee.

 

[Vee]

Thanks. I think I may take a bit of a breather when Season 6 rolls around, but we'll see. Struggling to secure continued viewing has been an experience to say the least. It's a tragedy and a travesty this show is not currently on an official streaming service like Dallas.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Vee

[yrfan1983]

Thanks for the nice memories, Vee.

Isn't this around the time that Diana takes an exit (off-screen, someone else just mentions it) to visit Uncle Joe in New York? I don't want to spoil anything, but I find Claudia Lonow's final eps as Diana to be quite curious. I'll comment once you've reached early season 6.

[Vee]

She has been offscreen with Uncle Joe but returns in the ep I am about to watch. I know some have suggested it might be due to Claudia Lonow's publicly admitted drug habit in these years. I know she doesn't exit til S6, which surprised me as I thought/prayed she might be gone sooner. Lonow for her part seems to be a very funny, candid and talented woman behind the camera.

[Vee]

Episode 15 (Forsaking All Others):

it’s Bill Duke Hours, and you know what that means! Watch Prey on Hulu, it's good!

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With Duke back in the director's chair, you know you're in for some particularly impressive work behind the camera on a Lorimar soap. Here the show opens pre-title/credits on a startling extreme close up of Karen's eyes, slowly pulling out as she rambles incoherently about her 'sore muscles' and pain, in denial about her addiction. The title and credits don't come up til they cut to Mack in the hallway of her rehab center, Duke keeps you immersed in Karen's mania. Michele Lee has no makeup throughout much of the next couple episodes and Karen ping-pongs between emotions, often reduced to a petulant child in the detox process - nothing like the Karen we've ever encountered. Not for the first time I found myself wondering during this episode 'Jesus, did Michele Lee win for this?' but it seems, inexplicably, she did not nor was she even nominated, which is outrageous and I suppose another indicator of bias against the primetime soaps.

It is nice to see Val holding down the fort with the boys at the MacKenzie house early in the show. Even Michael (who is notably busting out of his t-shirts at this point) is in on the Sumner campaign now with Karen out of play, and Jane Sumner herself is making calls. There is an incredible Bill Duke flourish again as we see Greg taking a call from Mark St. Claire, who calls from his darkened Wolfbridge office; the camera circles around him, the only lit figure in the room surrounded by shadowy men of power as he informs the protesting Greg they're 'taking care' of Mack. Greg responds by cheerily signing papers for Eric, Mack's stepson, while listening to St. Claire tell him how they're going to snuff out Mack's career. When Mack does show up excited about more dirt on Wolfbridge Sumner manages to conceal his emotions, all genial encouragement - he's a practiced operator, even if you can begin to see the stirrings of struggle behind his eyes. He does tell his receptionist to send Karen flowers.

Gary is starting to get wise this week. Initially it's Cathy ices him out, presumably because of her guilt over her deal with Abby, but soon he's been made aware of the Lotus Point development by one of the many recently-mentioned preservation groups in the area, which causes Laura to quietly freak as he asks her to look into it and buy out the development to save the land. By the close of the hour, when Gary demands an audit of Gary Ewing Enterprises, he's the one who is suited up and all business - Cathy can no longer tide him over and divert him. For her part, Abby is desperate to hide the Lotus Point shenanigans from her husband while ineffectually protesting as St. Claire and Wolfbridge take more and more control of LP and Apolune. The walls are closing in.

David Jacobs has claimed (perhaps self-servingly) to have woven in as many Black actors into supporting/guest cast roles as he could while Lorimar or CBS supposedly vetoed Black contract characters through the years, and while this may or may not be true it's also easy for a white guy to say that decades later. That being said, there's also often a notable focus on Black guest players whenever Bill Duke directs an episode, and the same holds true here - first with the presence of the corrupt, taciturn D.A. in the pocket of Wolfbridge who warns Mack he's being targeted, well played by ex-OLTL star and recurring TV presence Arthur Burghardt (hated by virtually everyone he worked with on OLTL), then more notably with Karen's rehab roommate, whose performer's name I sadly could not lay my hands on despite a bit of research. There's not much mistaking the subtext when the haggard, pallid Karen tells the young Black woman "I'm not like those people. [...] It's different for you."

But it's this young woman who begins to pierce Karen's denial and class/racial armor, calmly explaining that Karen's drugs are simply legal while hers aren't, and begins to lay out a parallel which is still startlingly resonant in the wake of the opioid epidemic. "I can get arrested for mine," the young woman says. "You deduct yours from your taxes. But we use for the same reason: life's tough, and we want out."

Diana is blessedly with Uncle Joe in NYC these last few episodes (some fans have suggested it's possibly because of Claudia Lonow's own drug habit, but we've no idea), and good riddance. Gary and Val have a nice scene at Westfork talking over both the Fairgate-MacKenzie women, and it's a little wild to see Val on the vast ranch. Gary wisely offers to go see Karen, which sounds like a good idea to me. It's a sweet, quiet moment to see the exes bonding over Westfork, his dream realized. I did laugh at Val's seemingly guileless exit line: "Say hi to Abby for me."

The smear job and cover-up on Mack begins as Sumner very publicly hangs Mack out to dry on national television, with Val and the MacKenzie kids watching in horror as Sumner pins misconduct charges on Mack by using Karen's name and unwitting connection to the Lotus Point development to tie him to both the project and Abby's shady variance. These are absolutely brilliant, intricate linkages I would not have seen coming, nor did I see Greg cutting Mack's throat this way coming at all - I thought they'd be friends for years to come, and maybe they get back there, but I truly have no clue what happens to them now (and again, when was Devane definitely set to stay?). Mack of course has no idea what's going on, what a variance is or what Lotus Point is, and it's exhilarating watching the other half of the canvas begin to be made aware.

The umbrella unfolds even further as even Karen sees Sumner's press conference in the TV room at her rehab and goes berserk, delirious as she tries to reach Mack. Duke milks this with handheld camerawork and more stark use of light and shadow. When Mack and Val turn up to try to question her about Lotus Point, she can't do anything but babble incoherently about going home. This whole arc is the performance of a lifetime from Michele Lee and it's a scandal she didn't even get a nomination. Also, Val looks amazing in a suit. (She has a great moment with Ben in the hospital elevator after, as they've both shown up in the MacKenzies' corner with Ben and Mack getting closer - alone, they do it all with their eyes.)

Abby and Laura make truly amazing love/hate conspirators in white-collar crime - if this show came out today there'd be lots of lesbian slashfic. You can see the shame and fear, finally, in Abby's eyes when she discovers that Ben's kindly old neighbors, the Marcuses, had their home burnt to the ground by Wolfbridge to clear the way for Lotus Point: "Apparently there was a fire. There is no home." She's in deep and she's genuinely scared. It is of course about this time that Gary finally confronts the women about Lotus Point, now major news, and Abby gamely tapdances and blames Karen and the MacKenzies because of course she does. At which point Gary demands AN AUDIT! Just pretend you heard the musical sting from this famous episode of Roseanne here, because that is about Abby and Laura's reaction.

It's goodbye for Danielle Brisebois as Mary Frances when the Sumner women rather awkwardly visit the MacKenzies at rehab - Lee does a great job conveying Karen's barely concealed shame and heartbreak with a happy face as they say goodbye, but crumbles with Mack as they leave given how important a surrogate daughter has become to her: "We never took her camping." I do wish we'd gotten to see more of Eric and Mary Frances in years later; she was a pistol and those two had promise. There's also a nice Bill Duke extended handheld shot with Mack fending off reporters at the hospital as a guilty, estranged Laura arrives with flowers, then flees.

On Primary Day, Greg is chafing at St. Claire and Wolfbridge's heavy hand and increasingly discontent - but only so far. His own sunny face is notably blown up extra-large on a campaign poster, looming over his growing hangdog malaise as he does the bidding of his masters. The press swarm the MacKenzie house as Sumner visits to try to clean things up with Mack, but it doesn't go anywhere except the beat where the old friends admit they don't trust each other - "nothing’s a hundred percent," Sumner snaps. "That's the kind of business we’re in." He makes up an excuse neither of them believe in about buying the variance story which he knows is bullshít, and sure enough he wins the California primary at the close of the hour. There's another fantastic Duke shot as the dejected MacKenzie family watches the results and Greg's victory speech from the shadows of the rehab center.

Episode 16 (Reconcilable Differences):

Mack's friendship with Greg Sumner is over; now Ben Gibson is his best friend! Yes, the hottest bromance in Seaview Circle is closing in on Apolune, the mystery company behind Lotus Point, but they're not quite onto to Abby just yet as this episode opens (by the close of the hour Ben is onto Abby). They're tight enough to start comparing their female woes, but Mack wisely doesn't let in to Ben that he knows the truth about Val's pregnancy.

Abby, meanwhile, is terrified by the power of Wolfbridge and fearfully complaining to an outwardly blasé Greg, who warns her she knew the rules of the game. "They're not my rules," Abby insists, again possibly thinking of Sid. "I don't play this way." She tries to threaten him but Greg is a smiling cobra and still out of her league, shrugging it off and genially reminding her: "I never put [my name] on a piece of paper. And I never spoke to anyone on your behalf. I'm clean." Engagement off?

Karen's demons in rehab lead to some stunning night terrors as her mind begins to conflate past and present, Mack and Sid - "the parts were stolen," she babbles to a nurse (and the show wisely doesn't mention Sid by name at all here, trusting the audience), before starting in on her fears for her current husband. But just like Sid, she shrieks that Mack "wouldn't quit!" Gary visits the morning after, a compelling scene and Shackelford and Lee's first two-hander that I can recall in a long time. At the sight of Gary, a shade falls over Karen's eyes and face that seems unmistakable to me. When Gary tries to connect with her re: their addictions she spits venom and calls him nothing but a drunk; Karen can never conceive of herself being as weak as him, as weak as he has been drunk or sober in the past, and perhaps that shade is still there most of all because of Sid. There's an interesting beat at the end when Gary leaves and runs into Lilimae, who once again runs her mouth to rub Gary's face in it about Val's pregnancy. The mental machinery clearly begins working for him here, too.

Abby and Laura are both on high alert about the audit throughout this ep, but Abby and Westmont manage to cover their tracks on Apolune - unfortunately, Abs forgot one thing. After the auditor hilariously shames Gary for not having adequate expense records for the ranch, he notes the larger payroll for Cathy from Abby - checks dated to before Gary met her. Gary wisely dummies up when cannodling with Abby, gauging her reaction when he suggests letting Cathy go and Abby tries to dissuade him. He plays it chummy with Cathy too, right before discovering she's an ex-con.

At Apolune, Laura has another fateful run-in with Greg who tries to put the moves on her, and frankly it verges on a #metoo moment as she looks deeply uncomfortable as he vaguely presses his face to her neck. I was just beginning to wonder 'will we see when the magic begins to happen here?' but apparently the answer is no, because the next time we see these two Constance McCashin and William Devane are in bed together, so I guess that really gross maneuver worked. In fairness they do seem a lot cozier in bed together, and Laura seems much more overtly sexual and liberated with him in our brief glimpse here, as Laura begins working her mouth down Sumner's side. But uh, what an introduction after their brief flirtation a couple eps ago.

After another night of delirium and madness in Mack's arms Karen is clearheaded. Her big group session scene in rehab is solid, but I found myself wondering how long exactly she's been there, as she refers to 'all these sessions' and how she wasn't ready to admit she was an addict before - they seem to be speedrunning this story a bit at this point since she was only admitted last episode, but I guess there has been some time lapse we're not fully privy to per the dialogue. "I feel like I'm talking about a stranger," Karen marvels as she discusses her addiction, and I guess I can buy into the shift after the last two eps of Karen in utter agony and ugliness, but I still might've given this one more week. There's some nice friction as Mack is visibly uncomfortable after the session, taciturn and feeling voiceless. The MacKenzies still fundamentally disagree about how she should've handled Diana, but it goes deeper: "I'm living with someone else's family," Mack says, "I'm a visitor in that house." The core of resentment about not feeling settled in their family unit, about Diana, about his insecurities boils over as Karen also reminds him that he pushed her away before they tied the knot. They talk past each other until Karen pleads with him to talk about what he's feeling and going through, and Mack being the man's man can't do it, yet. He tells Ben his career is falling apart and marriage isn't the TV illusion he thought it would be, disillusioned with his crumbling life.

It takes Karen coming home (again, a bit soon for me) and an offscreen conversation with Mack's obnoxious drunk dad for things to penetrate; she watches him break down and cry after keeping it together for his alpha father. Mack pursues and embodies a certain period masculine ideal because it's part of his professional life, his cultural background and his sense of self, but he's not so cut off from his emotions that he cannot access them or release them when it becomes absolutely necessary. Here, the show allows Karen to finally take back the dominant role as she goes to him and he unburdens himself, weeping in her arms, which is a great example of KL's willingness to center the female characters. I mean: You don't get this on Dallas.

I'm going to try to cut out a lot of synopsizing going forward and keep to just specific story and character beats that particularly interest me episode to episode, as I used to do - I think episodic context is important for what I discuss, but I don't have any interest in doing recaps (I did them weekly once long ago on another soap for pocket change, it sucked). Cheers.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Vee

[DRW50]

Really enjoying these writeups, @Vee whatever the length. I had forgotten Karen's pill story was this season rather than next season. Definitely some of Michelle Lee's best work.

The interweaving of stories here with the combination of personal and psychological traumas and corporate power is a gambit that the show had to take, and one that fortunately continues to pay off for a number of years. 

I do wish we'd gotten more with Millie Perkins, who has a lot of potential and plays a woman a world away from the ladies of Seaview. As I'm sure you know we get a little more several seasons down the line, but, again, not enough. Sumner had so much story packed into the remainder of the show's life, but it was processed in a way that tended to limit breathing.

I think you hit on what dooms Laura in their relationship - Devane and McCashin have wonderful chemistry and there are many wonderful scenes between them, but because so much is always going on with Greg, she just ends up being one part of his life, with her own point of view less and less important. 

This is also where the show, or Donna Mills, draws the line between Abby the bad girl and the genuine antagonists on the show, which probably needed to be drawn more than I realized until your recaps. 

This is pretty much the high point of interesting material between Greg and Mack. 

[Vee]

I know Devane has said in an interview with one of the fansites that he felt it was a mistake to cut Laura where the relationship was Greg maturing, and felt the relationship with Nicollette Sheridan's character was 'more juvenile.' (I have never seen Sheridan in her prime and always felt she was sort of a campy space case whenever I glimpsed a bit of Desperate Housewives, so this will be interesting whenever I get there.) But IIRC both those couples had a lot of fans, which does not happen often on primetime soaps. So I am intrigued to see how it develops. Right now I feel Laura has just enough story and presence, but we'll see where it goes.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Vee

[yrfan1983]

I do wonder if Danielle Brisebois' short Knots stint was related to her CBS contract...

CBS' Archie Bunker's Place, co-starring DB, was canceled at the end of its 4th season in spring '83, with no notice given. Star Carroll O'Connor was bitter he wasn't given a final season to wrap up the stories or at least notice to craft a satisfying finale.

Perhaps ABP's abrupt cancelation left DB with some unused contract guarantees, so CBS said "put her on Knots for a few eps"?

Mary Frances' story starts off strong, but soon poops out. Was she always intended to be a short-term character, or did the writers change course mid-story? I guess we'll never know...

DB went on to live her best life as a musician, as a member of the New Radicals group, and later the writer of Natasha Bedingfield's 2005 #1 smash "Unwritten"

= = 

Re: Karen's drug addiction - Michele Lee comments in this interview https://www.knotslanding.net/interviews/michele.htm: 

"AS: Karen entering drug rehab.

Michele: Mixed feelings. (Long pause)

AS: Can you elaborate?

Michele: I had questions as to whether Karen should take this route. (Pause) But I worked very hard on those nine episodes about drug dependency. I became very involved with playing that part properly."

I really wish she elaborated further! What other route would Karen have taken...?

= =

Among my first eps ever seen of Knots, in spring '84 as a 12-year-old, was Karen's stay in rehab! 

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 What an introduction, huh? Needless to say, I was hooked. 

[titan1978]

She really does do stellar work in this storyline.  Karen is a raw nerve and ML doesn’t hide the ugliness Karen is going through.

Reading @Veethoughts it’s interesting to see where things started vs where they are going.  Abby is a perfect example.  We see her trajectory to where she is now.  She’s had a taste of autonomy and power, and at times this season almost seems desperate to hang onto any power at all.  She walks a tightrope that in later seasons is more nuanced (even with the twins).  Here she is directly at some of her most villainous behavior- Cathy, Apalune, Wolfbridge.  Her fascination with Greg.  She almost loses everything, and is never again so out of control on all fronts of her life that I can remember.

And Gary, seasons 4-6 really are the best for Gary.  We see real growth and maturity and he has great material to work with.

I’ve watched a lot of Dallas, and I know they are different types of shows.   Knots always interests me more because there are actual stories with human emotions and stakes intermingled with the larger than life aspects.  I think Knots balances it better and gives their cast much deeper material to work on.

Lotus Point is one of my favorite soap business storylines of all time.  From the introduction it is so intricately plotted out and developed over years.  Much more than Empire Valley later on.

Edited August 29, 2022 by titan1978