OLTL: Discussion for the week October 13-17, 2008

[DavidEvanSmith]

Damn. Of course Jared gets locked in there with Natalie. UNbelievable!!! What was that blocking? Natalie was so relieved the door was open and then twisted her knee near the bed, so Jared went to hold her up and they chatted a bit about being relieved and then Tess locked them in? AWKWARD! Get it together. They should have had Natalie chained to the floor in there or something (with enough length to go to that bathroom, but not enough to get out of the sound proof room), so that Jared would have to undo THAT which would let him get locked in.

The rest of the episode was enjoyable. I'll see what I can dig up on Lee Halpern.

[David_Vickers]

Lee Halpern was the ex-wife of Tom Dennison (who was Joe Riley's long-lost twin brother), and they shared a daughter Mari-Lyn Dennison. I bet OLTL is going to bring back Mari-Lynn. Tammy Ammerson (or something similiar) I think was the name of the actress. Back in the day, she was potrayed by a blonde. Maybe Erin Hershey Presley would be available, she'd be good in the role. Lee and Max Holden dated for awhile. Hmmm, maybe they'll bring back Max.

[DavidEvanSmith]

1987

Back at home, Max tried to forget Tina by having a sexy affair with a suave and sexy older businesswoman, Lee Halpern. Lee came to Llanview to open a branch of her shady consulting firm, Dyna-women. Unbeknownst to anyone, Lee was actually Tom Dennison's not-so-late wife, Carol. Mari Lynn had a bitter reconciliation with the mother she had never known. Fortunately, the teenager found solace in the arms of her compassionate boyfriend, Wade Coleman.

Asa was delighted to reunite with Lee's friend, Renee Divine. Renee, who ran a brothel in Nevada, had once had a fling with Asa. Now, years later, they picked up where they left off. Renee was so charmed by her handsome millionaire that she gave up her "madam" business and stayed in Llanview to start a new life with Asa. Meanwhile, Max proposed to Tina.

1988

Melinda Cramer had witnessed the murder of mobster Alex Crown, so his murderer, Donald Lamarr tried to make Melinda think she was insane. Melinda enlisted the help of her neice Cassie and Cassie's boyfriend Jon Russell in infiltrating the Mountainview Clinic to search for evidence that would implicate the evil Dr. Donald Lamarr in the murder Alex Crown. Melinda's plan was to feign insanity, and, once admitted to the Clinic, she'd dig up the information she needed. Cassie at first was afraid to let her Aunt Melinda go through with the dangerous scheme, but eventually she relented.

Melinda was nearly killed in a psychotic experiment conducted by Lamarr, but she escaped and went to tell the cops. Lamarr snapped and attacked Lee Halpern Sanders, when she learned he was the killer. As he leaned over a scantily-clad Lee on the bed of a hotel room, Lee's daughter Mari Lynn stepped into the room. She screamed at Lamarr to get off of her mother and then pulled a gun on him. As she pulled the trigger, Lamarr threw Lee's body in front of his, and she took the bullet. Mari Lynn had killed her own mother, but only because of Lamarr's evil actions.

Mari Lynn went on trial for the crime, pleading that it was Lamarr who was to blame, not her. Melinda and Jon decided to stage an incident in court that would prove Lamarr's guilt. While he was on the stand, a man who bore a striking resemblance to dead mob kingpin Alex Crown stepped into the courtroom. Lamarr panicked and attacked the man, who was actually just a cop in disguise. This was enough to prove Lamarr's guilt and Mari Lynn was freed.

Mari Lynn married the man of her dreams, Wade Coleman. Soon after, Mari Lynn's life took an an amazing turn when she was cast as one of the leads in the TV soap opera, "Fraternity Row." The star of the show was Sarah Gordon's egomanical sister, Megan. When their father, environmentalist Roger Gordon arrived in town, Sarah went overboard trying to please him.

>>

Also during this time was when Tina said Cord's name during her vows to Max Holden. In the recaps the Lee Halpern stuff happened right before the "Faux Bo" story as well.

Sounded like Lee had involvement with Max, Asa, Renee, Tina (as mentioned in today's episode), Melinda Cramer, Cassie, Alex Crown/Rob Coronal, Dr. Donald Lamarr, Tom Dennison, and Mari Lynn Dennison.

Wouldn't Mari Lynn be a cousin to Kevin and Joey, if their fathers Tom and Joe Riley were twin brothers?

[Cheap21]

I was hoping for some Tina/Viki scenes today but of course they didnt give it

[Soapsuds]

Yup, just watched on SoapNet. Carlavati is a great writer...right....LOL. Natalie having a cramp or whatever she had was stupid. And her spilling everything to Jared was dumb. Carlavati the hack...LOL

[Cheap21]

Natalie didnt have a cramp and she didnt get weak. She twisted her ankle last week when she tried to kick open the door. Thats what caused her to fall today as it started to hurt again when she took a wrong step

[Soapsuds]

I still say it was very convenient. I just knew either the door was going to shut behind them or Tess would show up. Natalie babbling instead of just getting the [!@#$%^&*] out of there was just insane.

[Dale]

Back in the day, Lee Halpern was a really exciting character, and for the year that she was on, she was pivotal.

Lee had her fingers in many storyline pies....Max, Tom, Renee, Mari-Lyn, and the Sanders family. Janet Zarish joined the show right before Robin Strasser left for the first time, and it seemed as though Lee was being positioned to take her place. She got THAT much airtime. Lee was suddenly and shockingly killed off in 1988 (shot in the back by Mari-Lyn!) during the writer's strike.

I was impressed that they got so many details about Janet's past right! John was right when he mentioned that Janet was a an old pro at faking her death. As Carol Dennison, she faked her death in a car crash, leaving her husband Tom to raise Mari-Lyn; I am interested to know how she did the same thing as Lee Halpern-Sanders. And I was thrilled that they remembered that Lee ran a shady business called Dyna-Women.

Kudos to OLTL for throwing us old dogs a bone by keeping the past alive. I find this latest development fascinating!

[rhythmchyc]

I just yelled out "I hate this show!!!!" WHY CAN'T THIS TESS SHYT END???????!?!??!?!?!??!?!??!?!??!?!

[rhinohide]

I. Don't. KNOW!!!!!!

ps: I saw somewhere that Fran Myers wrote today's episode and she is no more . . .

I used to like her. Can't imagine what happened.

[AddictedToSoaps]

Loved today's show. My thoughts,

Cain died from eating Tess's dip! :lol: Tina was great too.

Jared and Natalie are idiots.

And best of all, Viki's back!

[detroitpiston]

I don't see how that makes him a hack. He didn't write the scene.

[rhythmchyc]

i miss the days of oltl when surprise after surprise would occur and i couldn't wait until the next episode.

now i dread them.

i think it was marceline on the spoiler board who said that we can't expect ron to give marty her memory back because we all expect marty to and that's where the magic happens. i didn't agree back then, remembering how effective ron was in may sweeps. knowing it was possible in the culmination of these stories this fall.

but with jared stuck with natalie and ron prolonging yet another incredibly weak s/l, my faith in his ability to wrap things up with flair is dwindling.

I did enjoy andrea's tongue in cheek delivery in her scenes, however. I really think that if melissa, jon, and bree were better actors, this would work so much better. But they're all too damn obvious, particularly bree. I suppose Ron knows their limits and is playing on their weaknesses, as Hitchcock did to Tippi Hedren in The Birds (according to some critics). But they're not awful enough, unfortunately, so it doesn't work. Because this s/l would totally work if it weren't portrayed so seriously.

And how the hell is she gonna explain what happened to Jared? He found Natalie and ran away to find her? Will he write a letter? WhoTF writes letters anymore? It's the 21st century. Emails? Text messages? Come on, now! I swear, if Tess comes out with that, I'll need to take a long break from this show. Tess is such a dumb broad lol. It's a shame how she's run amok this long.

Anyways, I can't wait for the Dorian/Clint showdown. That story has a lot of holes but at least the actors at the center are of a higher caliber and the s/l has a higher entertainment value.

[Toups]

Thanks for the history lesson Mulder, DES and Dale. That's pretty awesome that Janet turned out to be this character from the past. Carlivati really dug deep which I can't say I'm surprised. This man knows OLTL!

Hmm.....if Gigi turns out to be Janet/Lee's daugther, maybe Max is Gigi's father?

[Cheap21]

No one would know that Jared is missing or care but Charlie and Im sure Tes really isnt thinking about him right now. They are close now but spent years estranged. He would most likely assume that Jared went off to look for Natalie and wouldnt think much of it