KNOTS LANDING

[Vee]

I can't speak to later at all, but Abby still feels like one to me after the long absence in Season 6 -  I think it's the deep ties to Karen and the boys, Sid, her kids' roots there, etc. that do it. Gary is the same, especially since Karen, Laura and Val have all more recently renewed their association and friendship with Gary after a realistic period of estrangement in Season 4 and for Karen some of S5.

[FrenchBug82]

While I know you don't mind being spoiled, I'll leave the specific plot point I objected to to the day you will regale us with your thoughts on the finale.

A long ways away but still

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[DemetriKane]

@Vee That's a great catch about Olivia's original nightmares. I don't remember too many tbh but I do remember the one during the twin's birth. You're right JVA kicked ass this season, throughout the entire arc. Her finest year for sure I can not wait for feedback on the mirror scenes.

I will be rewatching this season along with you, just got done with the season opener, it has to be Knot's most action-packed season premiere. Great repeat value here!

Edited September 19, 2022 by DemetriKane

[Vee]

I'll get there eventually lol. I know she does move back and is embroiled in the final storyline in some way, but I'm not going to speak out of turn on it. I wouldn't want to opine about that blind but I agree that barring any financial ups and downs for her, Abby moving back to the neighborhood at that point might kind of be like what's been discussed in the Melrose Place thread about the implausibility of Amanda, etc. still living in that complex after becoming the CEO of an advertising agency.

This season hits different for me vs. S5, which I previously thought was a considerable level up from S4 (which I also felt that way about for it vs. 3, lol).  Maybe it's the next level beauty of Lotus Point and the intricacy of that setup and how it draws people like Karen into the workplace too, and how much more functional, candid, mature and fun Gary and Abby's renewed marriage is (so far), and maybe the slow exploration of Sumner's character as well as he begins to lose his armor. Season 5 was excellent, but this may be better for me so far (even if Laura's and to a degree Sumner's role is definitely smaller atm). I know there's a lot of opinions about the latter half of it though I know no details, but we'll get there when we get there. I am about to wrap ep 10, so then I have to compile a lot of thoughts lol.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Vee

[DemetriKane]

@Vee I would have to agree with you. Each season does continue to level up and be better than the last. Like season 4, it's personal, heartbreaking, intriguing, and daring. Everything works including Karen(I'm not her biggest fan) but adored her here. I can already tell this will probably be your favorite season; the latter half is Yeah Must See Tv! If I am not mistaken, Season 6 and/or Vals twin's story was Michelle Lee's favorite storyline of the series.

I am excited to rewatch this season. I don't believe I have watched the full season straight through in years.

Edited September 19, 2022 by DemetriKane

[BetterForgotten]

 

[yrfan1983]

Great interview, thanks! Donna is just so centered, down-to-earth, and pleasant. I want to be her friend! I want to go have drinks with her! 

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 I love how she answered Joan's question about having kids "Maybe I'll adopt one day...

 

[DRW50]

 

[victoria foxton]

 

  

[j swift]

I had forgotten what Karen's haircut looked like until now, which upon reflection, is silly on a couple of different levels.

(A) Why would Phil make her cut her hair if he was going to kill her?

(B) Karen gave herself quite a stylish hairdo for having to use office shears while under duress

(C) Why would a kidnapper give his captive a weapon? (and why didn't she use it?)

Edited September 25, 2022 by j swift

[Vee]

So, a loose collection of rambling thoughts on the very end of Season 5, and the first several episodes of the mega-sized Season 6 (I've seen 10 so far, but I'll spread out the rest over several posts to preserve people's eyes and my fingers):

Season 5

• There's another one of what I think Richard Gollance called Val's "aria moments," silent reveries he deliberately wrote in for Joan Van Ark over the years, in the penultimate episode of S5 when Ben returns, as Val spends a long, dialogue-less stretch over swooning music, framed in the camera amidst his Technicolor flower garden as he walks in on a cane. JVA totally sells it with Doug Sheehan and I'm reminded that according to Gollance this era's team had apparently intended Ben and Val as the endgame, or at least a constant strong counter to the Gary/Val torch they allegedly never intended to fully reunite. I loved Ben's short-term beard, which should've hung around even longer; he looks incredibly hot with it I was glad they had him twig on to Mack and Gary and their sloppy con - noting that none of the Ewing family showed up, that there was no will, no Abby, etc. smart writing. Ben rightly roasted Mack for risking Val's babies and clocked him despite his injuries.
• I liked that Karen wanted to keep her share of Lotus Point and forced her way into the mix because she wanted to preserve the California coastline, just as Gary always wanted (when she still thought he was dead) - it's a smart use of their shared longtime environmental concerns which date back to the second episode of the show and their clash with J.R.
• Once again, the S5 finale teaser shows way too much of the episode, including Grace Zabriskie, Twin Peaks' own unforgettable Sarah Palmer, as the Wolfbridge assassin! It was a real kick to spot her when I first saw some of this cliffhanger a few years. I was a bit stunned though that Mack had done a double con with Gary, fùcking with the LAPD as well as all his friends and loved ones. He should've gotten into a bit more trouble for all these shenanigans. The great paranoia puzzle St. Claire sets out for Karen to try to warn Mack off Wolfbridge, ticking off all those things that will happen for her in the next 24 hours with her loved ones, however harmless, is chilling, and it's even more unnerving when she goes to Mack about it, panicked and he's instead enthused and exultant, saying it's great news because Wolfbridge is desperate. When an exhausted, mildly disgusted Gary tells Mack 'I think you've gone a little crazy' it resonates because he really has at this point, and Karen was within her rights to ask for a divorce not long after learning the truth about the deception.
• Abby has the immortal line here when she learns Gary is alive and embraces him (before attacking him), the dialogue we discussed a few pages back which Donna Mills apparently found to be a keystone for the entire character: "I never meant to lie to you. I didn't think of it that way." I believe her, however vile some of her actions in Season 5; she's that compartmentalized.
• Sumner stays cagey as the Wolfbridge situation continues to compress, but is determined to finally do the right thing (while still doing the right thing for himself, of course). "You'll be proud of me this time, I promise ya," he vows to wife Jane over the phone. "I'm just gonna do what I shoulda done a long time ago." But Jane is a no on coming to LA to be by his side, and you can see the hurt in him. 
• There is an interesting beat as Abby tries to squeeze St. Claire for information about him and Wolfbridge at Mack's behest - he tells her he was once just an asthmatic boy who became a mastermind. That's all we get about him, but I liked that little touch and Joseph Chapman is excellent to the end early in S6.
• The editing between Sumner's big press conference exposing Wolfbridge, with his voice-over opposite the events at the Belmar Hotel is very well cut together for picture and sound. And I've already discussed the way they beautifully make physically explicit the nuances of the larger love triangle dynamic with Gary, Val and Abby onscreen in the famous final sequence, with him risking it all for Val, then moments later leaving her behind on the street to race after the kidnapped Abby who, despite his anger, he still just can't get over or stop loving. I don't think, as other writers have suggested, that this indicates that he would always choose Abby over Val; I think it's less binary than that. I think both women are purely and simply in Gary's blood and brain (and other regions) in certain inextricable ways, and he could no more let one be in danger or torn from him than he could the other, so he simply races breathlessly to the aid of both in turn. He's almost literally torn in two onscreen.
• Karen's blood-red dress as she takes hot lead from Sarah Palmer was a great choice.

Season 6

• I was surprised to see Alec Baldwin in the credits immediately when he doesn't show up for an episode or two; they didn't add William Devane immediately IIRC, but I could be wrong. And I’m not sure they've updated poor Constance McCashin or Sheehan's shots at all. I was pleased to see 'co-starring' credits for Steve Shaw and Pat Petersen. (I think they were occasionally rotating them in and out of the slot with Tonya Crowe who has been relegated to the end credits in this one, or maybe it's just because Claudia Lonow is now a 'Special Guest Star' for her final appearances and they didn't have the real estate for all four in the opening supporting credits.)
• Pleased to see the late, great Jason Bernard as Karen's straight-shooting surgeon. I will always remember Bernard from the classic Wing Commander full motion video games of the '90s and Herman’s Head.
• I'm pretty sure Abby got her amazing new short bob haircut mid-abduction. Who can blame her? I also love her super '80s fuzzy yellow decal'ed sweater. If you're going to get abducted, do it in pastel decals. I laughed at Gary's frustration with the cops, BTW: "It's a limousine, for God's sake! How could they lose it?"
• Mack: "I don't know how everything could've gone so wrong so fast." Really, Mack? For once Diana's histrionics at the hospital are appropriate when the kids arrive on the scene after Karen's shooting, but I also liked Val firmly checking her, something almost no one close to the family has ever really done with the exception of her brothers (who Diana doesn't take that seriously). The kids have been here before in the hospital though, and the history shows in the waiting room as they process their fear and nerves, their deft exchange of close-up glances in silence. It's Michael, the youngest who goes to Mack for comfort while Diana watches, vaguely apoplectic. This sequence is all done without any dialogue between them whatsoever and is very good. Mack tells everyone who comes to him that he's done with Wolfbridge after what happened to Karen, which is a bit too little too late for me but fair enough and at least a start. 
• Why has Mark St. Claire suddenly donned an all-black everything Ernst Blofeld getup on his getaway yacht? Why not?
• Sure, Karen's got the Clint Buchanan Bullet Fragment Tribute Prognosis, and OLTL fans know how that one turned out but I don't mind this "I'm dying (not really)" storyline. Karen gets Sid's 50/50 odds on the operation, which makes me understand some of her choices with Dr. Jason Bernard a.k.a. Captain Eisen from Wing Commander. It's a great scene when Karen pushes Diana to leave for her new NYC job (surely with super-campy Jessica Walter), risking herself to stand and walk to prod a concerned Diana to agree. I also loved when Greg Sumner, still wearing his regret and guilt deeper beneath his skin, turned up to not-so-subtly plead his own case to her over his involvement in things: "I don't wanna see anyone else get hurt." "Is there anyone else left?" Karen replies.
• Again, Karen's exit with Diana is a bit off in tone for me: "You're doing what you believe in, you always have, even when everyone was against you," Karen marvels. Sure, Karen, that's one way to look at the last year. But I don't fault the show for trying to put a bow on Diana's tenure while shoving out the fuckin' door. Looking away for a moment from Eric’s very snug white ensemble in these scenes, I did like the beat over poor Michael being distraught over losing both Diana and Mack in rapid succession.
• Joshua's introduction was compelling, particularly Lilimae's repeated confrontations with her past. Lilimae unloading about 'his mother' in a great self-hating speech was fascinating. I initially assumed Joshua must know and was toying with Lilimae, but it seems that wasn't the case. And his tearful reunion and reconciliation with Lilimae at the bus station was wonderful stuff. 
• It was surprising to see Greg willing to put himself on the line to save Abby. What was far more surprising to see was him taking the gun from Abby on the yacht and plugging the unarmed St. Claire, killing him in cold blood. What a freeze frame! Not sure that would happen today. And what a crux moment for the character and William Devane, which leads to a lot more change for him across the next few episodes - I don't know where it's ending up. 

Gary: Oh, Abby, I love you. You're exciting, unpredictable, the perfect lover. But I gotta tell ya, as a businesswoman you represent everything I loathe.

Abby: Come on, don’t hold back, tell me how you feel.

• Is this playful exchange from episode 3 their best scene as equals? Maybe. Against all odds after some of the developments last season, you totally buy Gary and Abby’s cathartic reunion and passionate embrace after the hostage crisis, from his staying on the scene during the action to sitting up with her during her post-kidnapping nightmares to their very candid conversations and clashes at home. Gary’s new vision of Lotus Point is very him: We'll break even on these solar-powered cabins in 10 years! Abby's reaction is priceless. Gary has once again rededicating himself to his business but in a more defined way than last season, not from on high. Karen's new corporate-ready fashion ensemble is incredible, but they should not have spoiled Karen as Gary and Abby's new partner in the teaser; I did a very loud "ha!" at 7 am on a Sunday that probably woke the neighbors. "You’re taking away everything I care about," Abby says as she throws a tantrum upon Karen's arrival. "I'm taking over my own company," Gary countered. When offered the option of divorce and presumably her beloved community property from last season's crisis management efforts, Abby to her credit still says no, but insists "I can't stay in this marriage without your trust." Gary's response is perfect: "Trust? What are you, nuts? I love you, I don't trust you, why should I? (…) After all that's happened, if I trusted you wouldn't I deserve what I got?" More crucially: "Wouldn't I deserve your contempt?" He's right, Abby knows it, and she loves it because in Gary she now has a true partner as well as sparring partner. "What a love affair. But I do love you," she admits. "God help me," he replies. Giggling and teasing, they embrace. This season showcases their ultimate union IMO, so far anyway; it synthesizes all the best aspects of their shared ambition, wit and understanding of each other with earnest, honest love and desire while being fully transparent with each other about who they are and how they fit together. Gary knows Abby isn't going to stop being Abby, but he loves her anyway and enjoys the gamesmanship. In any two-minute scene with these two together like this you can see why the writers couldn't walk away from the couple anymore than Gary could, why they kept going back to them despite several huge off-ramps set up in Seasons 4 and 5. They're just too good.
• To their credit, the writers do give us one sweet/sad little scene resolving the Gary/Cathy story from last season where Cathy heads back to the ranch to literally find Gary and Abby passionately kissing on the front lawn. Her face says it all. And to think she was thinking about Gary and Val at the end of last season in those very abrupt, forced scenes I mentioned a page or two ago that almost seemed poised to write Lisa Hartman out again - they went from Point A back then with Gary and Cathy very intimate while hiding out together to Point B of her preparing to leave town and him based on almost nothing. This scene is much better. "What was I to you?" Cathy asks Gary, and I'm so glad she did because I'd like to know. Gary isn't wholly sure but he settles on a good friend, and she seems content with that. It's a nice way to end their little affair which I actually liked a lot, but the revitalized Ewings are superior to just about anything else.
• Abby invokes Hood Rules to cover for Greg after the yacht shooting, because of course she would. He initially doesn't want to push Abby into covering for him and is sweetly protective of her, but as the pressure mounts sure enough they meet in a parking lot, with Abby in a stunning red ensemble looking for all the world like Michael Jackson in "Beat It". They're still somewhat flirtatious but their energy together now is different; she's a recommitted Mrs. Ewing but still looking out for herself, while Greg is eager to get out from under. Fed up with his resistance, Abby decides her only recourse is to head to work at new acquisition Pacific News in, yes, all-black with a jeweled choker. It's what I'd do. Then she proceeds to go full Nixon plumbers on Sumner's political opponent Caulfield. Abby and Sumner joust now primarily over power and influence, control, as she steps up her interference in his election in order to get 'her man in Washington' - if she can't fūck Greg Sumner she will still attempt to conquer or control him. Power is sublimating sex in their relationship.
• Millie Perkins returns as Jane in the wake of Abby’s press conference exonerating Greg, which is when we get something of a deeper window into Greg's past as the two estranged spouses hash it out. Sumner retells his backstory, talking about how he was atrophying in his old legislative position in Sacramento and going nowhere as the principled man.

Greg: Who the hell cares about respect? Respect doesn't make anything happen! Power's what makes things happen and power's in Washington, and thats where I gotta be. That’s where I'm going to be!

Jane: And damn the price?

Greg: No, not damn the price, pay the price!

• That last, to me, is the central line with what Greg is now going through - he knows what he's done despite his bravado and justifications to his wife, and has determined he will take the hit to his spirit and soul for his success, because in his mind it's his fee for the wrong he's done to get there. Jane tries to get through to him, but soon enough the Sumner mask is back up - no trouble, everything's fine. There's a great moment though with Greg alone in this episode or the next one, scarred and brooding over his recent actions and the murder of St. Claire, staring in the mirror, then reaching out wordlessly to touch his reflection. It's these silent codas that give the show and its characters so much artistic foundation and subtle depths. For her part, Laura (still close to Greg by his wish, for reasons that become clearer if still explicitly understated a little later) wants to know what they mean to each other, wants him to give her a reason to stay. "I want you to stay," he finally admits, "but if I were you I wouldn't." That's big for him to say, and that attitude along with the silent scene in the mirror are a sign of what is starting to happen with him over the next several episodes.
• Lotus Point is finally unveiled early in S6, and I've already rhapsodized about its glory in other recent posts (right down to my current avatar) so I won't go too hard, but its big sweeping introduction with helicopter shots, synths and strings on the soundtrack is incredible.  The Oregon location footage of the land is stunningly ethereal, misty and fog-choked like an Arthurian forest, the larger space-age-meets-arboreal complex is amazing, Gary’s green/high-tech biosphere office is insane, and I again wonder where Dallas' money keeps going with their chintzy soundstages while every new KL set or location is more amazing than the last. Karen's corner office is equally '80s-modern masterpiece, complete with her red space age outfit: "It's not Knots Landing Motors!" she allows, and she seems as jazzed about fully entering the Me Decade as we are. (Of course Abby is next door.) Seeing Gary and Karen together like this after recently rewatching their first meeting in the pilot is wild, especially as this storyline marks their first full reengagement as friends as well as work colleagues in two seasons.
• Speaking of Karen: I thought she was willing to risk a surgery later down the road which Captain Eisen/Dr. Garner advised against, but at this point it seems like she's just unwilling to play the odds at all given the similarities to Sid's death. I don't know that I buy that, but fair enough. It was very nice to see Karen and Laura properly reconcile their friendship, especially after rewatching a few S1/S2 eps recently. The moment where the frenzied Karen deflates and tells Gary she’s 'dying" is beautifully done by Lee. The show goes to great pains to show you that Karen sees Lotus Point as her final passion project, mirroring what Richard Gollance has described as his take on Akira Kurosawa's famous masterpiece Ikiru, where a dying man strives to give his final days some meaning and significance. Gollance's interviews seem to suggest that his concept for Karen's illness storyline was curtailed though, that he wanted it to run longer and not be resolved quickly; does he mean he wanted Karen's bullet fragments to be inside her indefinitely, a thread running the length of the series and adding tension going forward? I'm not entirely sure.
• Even more hypermodern '80s style in 1984, the year of Miami Vice: Cathy abandons her rancher girl trappings and goes full Ciji this season, singing downtown at New Wave club Isadora, where the rapt Joshua finds her all night every night. It's peculiar seeing a very young Alec Baldwin playing the earnest innocent here, as he hasn't played that kind of character since AFAIK; even his star-making roles like Beetlejuice and The Hunt for Red October featured him as either a sturdy, sexy husband or a too-smart-for-his-own-good, spiky intelligence analyst. And he can play this Joshua, it's not unconvincing. Yet there's still an edge to the character even in his starry-eyed naïveté, foreshadowing what I do know of Joshua's future, and that edge or subversion is what Baldwin's always been good at.
• It's how many recurring players stick around the show, even now. I’m pretty sure the lady secretary from KLM seen in these early eps grousing to Karen about Eric's bookkeeping skills goes a ways back, while amazingly Tom Jezik the paroled Wolfbridge mole is still in the mix with Mack all throughout this year. A lot of textures in both background characters and workplaces.

Sorry for the spam. (Much) more to come.

[kalbir]

@Vee Your recaps are great. Seasons 4-6 were the best.

[victoria foxton]

 

 

  

[Soapsuds]

After finding out from Laura about Lili Mae running down Chip with her car.

Abby:  I've always known beneath that batty little old lady exterior there beat a heart of a killer.

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Edited October 4, 2022 by Soapsuds

[victoria foxton]