KNOTS LANDING

[Soapsuds]

They had just run out of ideas. Wasnt this the cliffhanger episode? I noticed that season 10 opening was featured on your post and I clicked on it...loved that opening and the story with Val and Jill from Season 9. I remember the cliffhanger doing very well in the nielsen ratings.

[DRW50]

This was the long recap of the season 13 premiere (I like that they had those 3-4 minute recaps). The stories were from the season 12 cliffhanger. I was so fond of Knots Landing so the horrific wrapup of the end of season 12 stuck in my craw. The Linda stuff was a mess but the worst was to come (Linda being murdered - the end of Knots for me). Claudia murdering her son, and Karen's vigilante story gone wrong, on the other hand, were huge clunkers, writing disasters that anyone who knew what they were doing should have avoided. Claudia's character was destroyed and Karen was stuck in a terrible "message" story which had been banished during season 2. I can never forget those awful scenes in the premiere of Ma Joad berating Karen about the little people.

[Soaplovers]

I do recall season 13 could be actually be split into two seasons... First half of season 13 was a totally odd show (i.e. Linda being killed, Karen's public service story, Claudia trying to kill herself to guilt her daughter to forgive her, the tidal wave story, and Val teaching a waitress how to read). It was like the new writers were trying to combine early season type of stories in the current soap opera model.. which didnt work.

The other part of season 13 had some interesting stories started up (Val writing Greg Sumner's biography, Claudia sleeping with her hunky male house guest while he was starting to date her daughter Kate, and it looked like they were bringing up Laura's history with her 'real mom' coming back to claim Meg.. which potentially would have revealed Greg as her father...).

[DRW50]

There was a lot of grisliness and excessive earnestness and trashiness all mixed together. I hated all the forced hysteria in the Karen stories (and that hostage crisis), then I hated the show dumping Jason and Julie after spending so much time developing the characters. It just all bothered me. I know some of it wasn't their fault - the Claudia stuff was unsalvageable, and I would have written her out.

[KMan101]

Yes! I agree about Jason and Julie! I remember a LOT of time spent on Jason and then he was just done lol

[YRBB]

Just finished The Long and Winding Road, the Season 6 finale. Melodrama at its finest. There's something so great about Abby being the one who tells Val that her babies are alive and having to support her to the car, only to later find her behavior curious, while all along having to make sure she's alright. That final scene (slow motion and all) is great; I did not expect Harry to show up, only to be warned by Sheila, and speed off, while Val makes that quite perfect turn. How cruel (and soapishly delicious!) to have just one of the babies in reach but not the other! I wonder how they're going to continue this.

On a completely separate note, Laura looked devastatingly handsome in this episode. Like, drop-dead gorgeous. That's always a plus.

[All My Shadows]

I've been going through Season 1 at a snail's pace, but I finally got to part one of "Bottom of the Bottle" today, and I'll hopefully finish it up tomorrow (and then on to Season 2, which I've already watched a good bit of). OK, it's been a while since I've seen the DALLAS episodes that directly lead into the beginning of Knots, and as far as Gary's alcoholism is concerned...was he always presented as a "0 to 60" angry drunk? The way he basically bit Val's head off after the party, even though she was actually being very mature about wanting to go to bed (especially considering Gary had WORK the next morning!), was bizarre, and then the way he kept writing his nighttime odyssey off as "three drinks" was even more ridiculous, and no one thought to shut him down by explaining that he'd ended up in the company of a prostitute (Mary Williams lol) and then got his ass whooped in a bar. I had to side with Val when she went off on Sid, because he really could have done a little more to prevent Gary from spiraling out of control, but I guess in the end, it all falls at Gary's feet.

I did enjoy the dynamics of the two other older couples rallying around Val to make sure she was all right, and I loved how Val stood up and took an active role in finding Gary both times. I've never seen any Knots post-1983 (and only a few episodes from seasons 3-4), so I'm not used to the "poor Val" trope. First season Val is naive sometimes, but she's stronger than others give her credit for.

The Sylvie stuff is hilarious. Kenny is a loser, and poor Ginger, she's trying to stand up for herself, but she's still too weak. I'm hoping/assuming some of the other neighbors get into that story and put Kenny in his place. And Sylvie? Quintessential whore who wants to be a housewife.

On the whole, I really really liked the first season. The pilot's one of my favorite episodes (why Annie was never brought back is beyond me), and I'd say some of the other stronger ones are "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," "Home is for the Healing," "Civil Wives," "Courageous Convictions," and now, "Bottom of the Bottle."

Edited July 14, 2012 by All My Shadows

[DRW50]

Val was much stronger in the early seasons, and she had a certain inner peace which was forgotten later on, when she was written as having brain damage (and finally they literally did give her brain damage).

Ted Shackleford's drunk acting always seemed a little hammy to me.

[Soaplovers]

While some people hate the "Three Sisters" episode, I think this episode totally summed up Val's inner feelings/guilt quite well! Granted the haunted house aspect was a little out there, at the heart of it was Val's need to be a mother that was never fulfilled. Hence why she always helped out those in need during the early years like Annie, Cricket, and Olivia.

What I most liked about that episode was how Laura figured out why the ghosts were targeting Val and none of the other women.. and that Lillimae finally stepped up as a mom and helped her daughter in need... when she had failed miserably back when Lucy was a baby. I cant really recall if Karen, Abby, or Ginger contributed anything to this episode or not... I just recall Laura, Lilimae, and Val being more prominent.

I know that Gary and Val's daughter Lucy visited once... but was she more resentful against Gary or Val? or was she resentful to both of them equally?

Edited July 14, 2012 by Soaplovers

[YRBB]

So happy with The Three Sisters love! It was the perfect physical manifestation of Val's psyche. Such a brilliant, brilliant episode.

I guess it was just too surrealistic for some people's tastes.

[DRW50]

Season 3 dove so deep into the characters. I honestly don't know if I would have been hooked on the show if I'd started watching a few seasons later, because, as well-plotted and rich as the stories were, I wouldn't have felt a connection to the characters.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwfZ-4xaI84

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znahM0rUXhM&feature=channel&list=UL

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltwaCjWKJSI

[Soaplovers]

The first three seasons of Knots were basically a series of self-contained episodes with some continuing aspects mixed in. An advantage of self-contained episodes are that you get resolution but also can present an excellent character study.. if done correctly. A disadvantage is that since the story is wrapped up in one episode with very little carry-over, sometimes the beats arent played out properly.

With that said, were there any self-contained episodes that you wish were carried out in a more soap-opera format (i.e. story carried out over several episodes as opposed to just one episode?) Or do you think that the issues presented in the self-contained format were just fine without any need for future episodes?

[DRW50]

I didn't care for the episode but I thought Laura's rape should have been more than one story.

Many stories that fit one episode - Diana's teacher falling in love with Karen, the ghosts, Abby and the old man, Val's cancer (with Gary's awful overacting), Ginger's abortion, the mother episode, etc.