KNOTS LANDING

[j swift]

One of the soap tiktoks has been playing clips of Donna Mills, Constance McCashin, and Lisa Hartman on Donahue.  It must have been around this time because the clip they played was Abby finding Laura in Greg's bed.  The audience turns on them and begins asking about how they will teach their kids morality given the parts that they play.  Constance says that kids know right from wrong, and she's sure he'll be OK.  Then, a man repeats the same concern and Donna sits right up and says, (paraphrasing), we're actors and it is not our job to teach morals to your children, Knots contains lots of stories where evil people get their due, and if a person doesn't agree with their storytelling then they should turn the channel; such a good clap back.

I always appreciate when an actor is able to remind an idiot, that they are playing fictional characters, that they don't write, and that morals should be taught by the community, not TV.  Joan Collins was also always good at that in interviews.

Edited January 21, 2023 by j swift

[Vee]

Episode 20 (The Emperor’s Clothes):

Laura: Don't you feel anything?

Greg: I feel great.

• This ep picks up directly with Ben and Val in his car again, I thought it wasn't the same day initially but it may well be Val's same re-modernized hair and wardrobe as the end of Ep 19. In any event, they make a very cute crimebusting couple here as they stumble off-road and find themselves inadvertently exploring Empire Valley. Gary turns up to be a third wheel, gabbing on about his Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced community planning dreams for the project (not unlike his vision for Lotus Point, Ben notes, though that seems to have gone off well so far). This leads to even more dovetailing of the ongoing storylines, as Val's minor injury on the property fence lead her and Ben to Tranquility, a tiny podunk not far from the Valley where it turns out that chemical runoff has poisoned the entire community and wildlife. This in turn ties back to the ever-present Tidal Basin murders, where it turns out one of the many dead women connected to Galveston Industries tried to expose what was being done to the town, supposedly deliberately (presumably to clear the way for the Empire Valley project). It's smart and tidy work, but the real grace note here is when Val delicately handles a local woman's baby in her arms and shows she's not quite all the way back: "I'm terrible with babies," she mumbles, handling the infant off quickly.
• Lord, it's a small world: Greg plans to move with Laura and her kids to Chevy Chase back east. As a former Maryland/D.C. resident born and raised I have no comment on this development. He’s looking at schools for the Avery boys but hilariously notes "I have no idea how old they are." It's a fair question at this point tbqh. Also hilarious: "I'm spending much too much time with my constituents," Greg complains to Laura. "I need to get back to where the action is." He smiles cavalierly as he tells her his father is either dead or dying, which leads to the weighted exchange up top in this post. Greg may be in love with Laura, may even be candid with her, but the emotional mask he uses is still something he controls very carefully.
• Joshua and Cathy are taking time out this ep to Make Out in Nature, all over each other in the park. This feels like a sudden shift from the prudish Joshua of recent days, which Cathy rightly points out as she accuses him of using sex and their relationship to keep her from focusing on her sinful career. Meanwhile, Joshua starts developing a fascination with the total profits of his collection money from his on-air donation drive as Abby bamboozles him re: ratings numbers with a spiel that I'm sure would make Tartikoff or Warren Littlefield proud. This is all backburner stuff this ep but it still percolates well.
• A mystery woman in a gigantic hat and black veil, shot almost entirely from behind, arrives at an airstrip! Flanked by men in black! Gee, who could it be? The primetime soaps didn't do anything halfway with their big guest stars back then.
• Suburban Daddy Mack (pun intended) on a rowing machine at the office grinding it out is a lot to take in, but I am not complaining. I love Ben's little Sherlock Holmes newsboy cap as he cruises around with life partner Mack looking for action, heading down to the little town of Tranquility and concluding that the Tidal Basin murders, the poison runoff, etc. are all for Empire Valley. This of course leads Mack and the ever-beleaguered Tom Jezik to yet another darkened warehouse (something Jezik takes note of, since he last got the crap beaten out of him one of these warehouses early in the season) for yet more clandestine meetings. It's interesting how Mack keeps flipping cons like Jezik and his new man out of prison, this time using one of these guys to kidnap the Galveston Industries men in the wind and put the heat on them. Jamison, the Scott Easton clone, finally comes clean on the murders: Galveston ordered them, presumably because all those poor secretaries knew too much about Empire Valley. Mack is going to need a Bowflex for this.
• It's a side note this ep but I do love more of Abby and Karen continuing to work well together at Lotus Point. Another nice beat comes though when Gary banishes Karen to the void as he needs Abby's private counsel about all the smoke surrounding Galveston's disappearance and the growing scandal: For some things, despite their seeing things differently, he trusts only her. That is the new functionality of their marriage post-Season 5 and it still works. I still wonder if she fucked Sumner again though.
• Speaking of Greg, wow: Galveston's men (including Evil Phantom Zone Mack) turn up in Laura's living room with Cathy and the kids, eager to turn up the heat on the prince of their dynasty. WTF! Just like last time this is pure Wolfbridge flashbacks for Laura which she wisely brings up to Greg, saying she won't go through that again. Greg as always tries to manage the situation and dismiss her concerns while in fact being deeply concerned. "The feeling runs very high," Evil Mack warns Greg re: his refusal to work with them, which is pure Wolfbridge/Mark St. Clair-speak, almost the exact same kind of bloodless yet threatening language they used to script for that character constantly if not the same dialogue. It gives you some insight into how Sumner kept trying to handle and manage the unmanageable with Wolfbridge if he'd been dealing with Galveston's people like this for years. 
• The suburban arena returns in a big way both in this episode and the last one, which is great because it feels like the neighborhood's not been used for major action in awhile. First we get Laura and Karen just walking the street talking, something that haven't just done because in ages, with Laura being very candid about Greg and being torn between her excitement and lust for both him and his power and influence vs. her fear of recommitment and making a bad choice. Commitment vs. fun and profit is usually a man's concern on the '80s primetime soaps, but for someone like Laura it's the central dilemma.
• Suburbia disturbia: Dinner with Karen, Ben and the Ewings/Clements goes great until Val suddenly flashes back to her frightening labor ordeal in the middle of the living room. This gives us a second good ol' KL neighborhood chat in the same hour with Karen and Val out and about, as Val voices what everyone's been waiting for re: remembering her very much alive babies. Nice touch to see Eric and Michael finally back just in time for Karen to get her radar with them, asking a lot of questions about the night of Val went into labor - some viewers might have forgotten they were there (I almost did).
• Ben and Val have a very honest discussion by the fireplace that seems almost meta, talking about her recent struggles. "It'll always be over Gary," Ben admits. "Well, at least you know what to expect," Val says, trying to make light of it. It's an issue they seem eager to table for now, and the show deals with that head-on. "I don't want to be serious," Ben says, opting out of a deeper confrontation about the Gary of it all. "I just wanna be with you."
• The Bride Wore Black! I was not expecting Not Yet Ava Gardner Because This is Not Part of Her Guarantee to literally marry Galveston in an iron lung on his deathbed. Who is this woman? Is she Galveston's mistress? What a great, dark surprise.
• Finally, someone says it onscreen: "What if Val's babies didn't die?" This episode also marks the end of Block 2 and the second third of S6. Good times.

[Spin865]

On some level Greg will always have a bit of a mask on. That's why moments like him crying and kind of falling apart watching Laura's farewell video after she died feels a big more special and personal than most soap grief.    

Edited January 22, 2023 by Spin865

[kalbir]

The next 10 episodes to me were the peak of the series. Looking forward to your recaps.

[yrfan1983]

KnotsLanding.net is a beloved treasure trove of info, but one annoying quirk is that all interviews are always incorrectly marked with a current date.  This Constance interview happened years ago, and it says Jan 2023! I don't know any way to identify the true interview publication date...

Thank you for your meticulous documentation of Joshua's character development! I'm glad to hear it was more thought-out and long-term than I remembered. On the flip side, what's your take on the character of Cathy Geary? Thinking back, and reading your recaps, she just seems like a non-person... a cipher of a character who morphs into whatever plot point is needed. Like you said, why does she crumble and return to Joshua simply b/c he acts goofy on a scooter?

[Vee]

It's just my interpretation of the storyline. I feel it's been carefully paced with Joshua and that the seeds have been there from the start, but others can feel differently.

I still enjoy Cathy, but I miss when she was central to story, in the thick of things with Gary and Abby which feels like a lifetime ago. Lisa Hartman is capable of a lot but they've really just had her as a suffering appendage to the Joshua storyline so far this season when she could be doing a lot more. I don't think they had much of a plan for Cathy beyond S5, and I think that's been borne out in some BTS interviews (though the writers seem to not be as fond of her original storyline vs. her later one with Joshua). I don't think she needed to stay paired with Gary; it was right to turn left, surprise the audience and re-unify him and Abby in the refreshing way they have. And I didn't have a problem with Cathy getting a new love interest, but she's just been cargo for Joshua's story since then. It's too bad because she could've had a stronger run on the show overall post-Ciji.

[yrfan1983]

Things don't really improve for the rest of Cathy's run IIRC... there's a plot point in '86 (post Joshua and right before Lisa Hartman quits) that is rather heinous on Cathy's part, and seems totally plot-driven and reflecting a lack of moral compass for Cathy.

[Vee]

I'm aware of the affair with Ben, if that's what you're referring to. I'm not expecting much from the rest of her run for the character, but I do think the Joshua villain arc itself is quite good so far (and Cathy's TV role in it is even more relevant in the age of the pop-influenced West Coast megachurches like Hillsong today, which I'll discuss soon).

It's killing me that I'll almost certainly be out of the Peter Dunne, et al era not long before this show goes to HD along with Dallas on some platform as the material is so good these last few seasons, but it's wonderful to watch just the same.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Vee

[Soaplovers]

I think the Cathy/Ben affair could have worked had the show kept up the Cathy and Gary connection after season 5.

She could have been conflicted about Gary wanting to see the twins, but also felt loyalty to Ben as well...and maybe she could have resented Val for 'stringing' along both men.

It could of worked and given back some of Cathy's agency had the writers in season 7 did their homework.

And Val/Ben could have spent season 8 making their marriage work after the Cathy affair and after the emotional affair Val had with Gary.  And they could have had Ben leave the show after they realized they couldn't move beyond it...or had Ben be presumed dead when he went on a work assignment (and she holding out hope he's alive like before).

[kalbir]

I wouldn't say stringing along, it was a conflict between two very different types of love. Val's love for Gary was that of a young girl's first love which was supposed to last forever but it didn't. Val's love for Ben was that of a grown woman moving on with her life. I know Val/Gary were the end game, but I liked Val/Ben together.

[Vee]

I am stockpiling a few eps before continuing on with my annoying posts. Once again the great Bill Duke comes through for Knots, near the end of his directorial run on the show sadly.

Digging back into the archives y'all had some wild ideas for this show. Laura and Mack! I'm not sure I could've gotten into that lol. I do think the show missed a trick not using the intriguing Gary and Laura chemistry for a fling at some point, which could've really set both Greg and Abby on edge.

Speaking of future Gary dramas, I know a certain pivotal character will be popping up shortly and I am intrigued to see that. This speaks to something I know some other folks have discussed, maybe here but definitely at other places - I know that at Dallas they supposedly mapped out each season well in advance at the start of the year, long before with minimal deviation, though I may be wrong. At Knots it seemed like Jacobs and co. were much more fluid about what they picked up or discarded over time, like certain actors (Teri Austin, etc.) taking off unexpectedly in small parts. How much of the long-form plotting at the start of a season they did I don't know - they clearly meticulously plotted a lot of the Wolfbridge and Val's twins/Galveston/Empire Valley umbrellas - but the various interviews made other stuff sound a lot more fluid.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Vee

[victoria foxton]

 

  

[yrfan1983]

Fantastic scene!! “ But I’m not holding the check…you are”

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[Faulkner]

 

[yrfan1983]

What an amazing pic, thanks!