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

[rhythmchyc]

God, don't say that!!! If that's the case, this won't be over until next May.

[DavidEvanSmith]

Well I'm surprised that they did make Janet turn out to be Lee Halpern Sanders, since so many viewers on this board recognized the actress for that role back when she started airing. I love that they used the actress's old headshot in John's police file. And I love that they acknowledged she shared a first name with Lee Ramsey, LOL. I don't think it was the intent, but that they decided to make her Lee recently (when she started talking about being estranged from her family and suddenly knew of Viki and Jessica), but I'm wondering what the larger purpose is. Of the three John mentioned today of knowing Lee, Max is off the show, Tina's involved in other business, and Renee is hardly seen and hardly central to the canvas anymore. So unless Mari Lynn is going to turn out to be someone else already on the canvas, or Janet/Lee went on to have another kid after she left town in the 80s, who will turn out to be Gigi (or Brody?!) then I'm not sure what this twist is supposed to mean. Unless this somehow ties to the Allison Perkins secret that she was holding over Jessica/Natalie, and that's why Janet bristled when she learned Todd knew of Viki and Jessica?

Janet's obviously had a lot of shady dealings in her life, so anything can happen now.

Toups, it sounds from the recaps that Lee was introduced as an older woman involved with Max, but she was on for about a year continuing after Max moved back to Tina and Gabrielle orbit, so I doubt she could have had Max's kid off-screen, unless they do some rewriting, which isn't out of the realm of possibility.

I still want her to be Marcie's mother, who supposedly died giving birth to Marcie. Apparently she has a talent at faking her death, as mentioned today... She could be the catalyst to blow Todd's plot to steal Starr's baby right out of the water.

For those who don't know the Sanders family, which Lee Halpern married into, the main characters were Kate Sanders (played by Marcia Cross, whose wedding to Cord was interrupted by Tina, back from the dead with baby Al Holden in her arms pretending it was Cord's son CJ), Jamie Sanders (who became a Tina/Cord arch-nemesis and teamed up with Jill Larson's Ursula Blackwell to try to kill Tina), and their mother, I think, played by the excellent Louise Sorel (ex-Vivian, DAYS).

[Dale]

Don't forget, soap vet Peter Brown played Charles, and veteran Grande Dame Lois Kibbee played matriarch Elizabeth.

David, were you lucky enough to see the scenes between Lee and Elizabeth after Charles died on the morning after Lee and Charles' wedding? Dynamite! Those two scared me!!

[rhinohide]

LOL! My thoughts exactly. I think Cheap was just momentarily channeling Tess, because that utterance was downright cruel. The best thing that can happen to this story right now is that it end.

I do think they're rushing to some conclusion though. Somebody on another board mentioned that it was odd how Jared told Bo that "Jess was getting too close for comfort". I didn't really think about it much at the time, but it did strike me as "off" somehow. Tess hasn't really been overtly seductive. Some of their conversation today even made it sound like more had gone on between them than we've seen.

Anyway, all of that makes me think perhaps some stuff has been cut and some changes are going on behind the scenes. So perhaps that explains the choppy, plot point driven writing at the moment. Who knows? I hope there's a method to the madness.

[DavidEvanSmith]

So who did Louise Sorel play then? I recall her Sanders character was a lawyer, wasn't she the one that was in scenes when Tina broke down on the witness stand about her baby switching, etc, or Maria's death? I need to go to youtube.

I didn't see those Lee/Elizabeth scenes, unfortunately. If it was in 88, I couldn't have been more than four or five years old.

[Gordon24]

I heard scenes were cut in the Tess, Jared, Natalie storyline due to lack of interest from fans. Monday's lock-up scenes were hysterical and not in a good way.

It was great to get Viki back home and Cain's return was comical. I forgot all about the dip and was thinking, how will Tina get out of this one, then bam Cain faints

Janet's past is coming out slowly but surely. I think she is connected to Mitch somehow.

[EricMontreal22]

So she faked her death when her daughter shot her in the head *on screen*?? riiight... Sounds about as dumb as when McTavish brought Mike Roy back from the dead on AMC--why was that storyline hated and this return seen as cool? Once again we have Carlivati's hard-on for the late 80s era... I predict we'll see the return of Eterna by Feb sweeps !

I enjoyed much of the ep but yeah having Jared get locked in there with Natalie cuz they took forever to get out was staged so slowly and badly it was like JER was writing. HIDEOUS.

[jinx_avery]

Louise Sorel played lawyer Judith Sanders. She was the sister of Dorian/Melinda/Cassie's love interest PI Jon Russel and mother of Kate & Jamie. Charles divorced her soon after arriving in Llanview. She was a prototype of what was later to become the Nora character.

I always remember Lee's best scenes taking place in bed. Charles dying in the sack on their wedding night, leaving her the Sanders fortune. She and Max, in bed after wresting control of the Vernon Inn from Brad, giggling over what to rename the hotel then she lifts the sheets and gazes down at what thrilled so many Llanview ladies and cooed "The Holden Towers". And, of course, the aforementioned death scene.

[Scotty]

Call me crazy but today's episode is just plain stupid.........

the worst part is that they are making Viki look like a complete idiot.

It's sad to see that, even with "Jessica" and Tina acting like baffoons, that Viki really has no idea as to what is really going on.

They are just showing Viki running around Llanfair like a chicken with its head cut off, believing whatever they tell her.

[baller]

I don't know how I fell about the whole Janet/Lee connection. Part of me loves it, because it does go back to history, but the other part just kind of feels they all sat around the writers table, said "we know the fans say we forgot the history of the show so who is one random character we can tie into the Todd storyline to try and redeem it" and this came up.

[Scotty]

I personally like the nods to history........what really makes me wonder is how they going to get Todd out of this jam. While he is not one of my favorite characters, it still makes me wonder nonetheless.

[baller]

and I think that's my issue. How they tie this to Todd, and when you start to think about that, this whole thing is nothing more but a late minute addition to try and make the story ok. Because they'ved 'tied it to the history of the show"

[MichaelGL]

I think you're giving the writers too much credit.

It's apparent Ron loves the history of OLTL, more apparent that he loves the OLTL of the 80s. Janet being Lee IMO was more of a way to pay more homage to that period, and possibly create a story or two in the future. (Which is why I think rumors of RC being upset at a departure of a recently returned actress are true.)

[MichaelGL]

Because it's in Carol/Lee/Janet's character to fake her death? lol

That's like asking the same question about Carlo Hesser.

[MichaelGL]

Where's that picture of Jason Morgan when you need it?