If you refer to the Dar Salaam Bible storyline which I referred to as 'disturbing' (and I was very restrained in my characterization), then I agree things really went south from there. Yes, it was action packed with video shots on different locations, hot pursuits, twists and turns, mistaken identities what have you...it had almost the entire cast involved some way or another, but I think it drained the show's resources and seriously backfired in terms of viewing figures around late 83' and the first quarter of 84'.

It was also a time when we saw early departures of major characters who were there from the beginning and that was clearly an ominous sign. I don't think the idea to introduce the extended Carpenter family was particularly engaging, although the Peter-Courtney-Vaughn triangle was interesting up to a point. I didn't appreciate the fact that Carla and Lori's characters were reduced to being the dutiful wives to the point they were actually functioning as their respective husbands' personal job assistants instead of having a dignified storyline of their own, but since both were just after giving labor, there were no viable options for their character development. The Vanessa storyline was captivating and Vanessa's casting fitted like a glove, but its conclusion unforgivable, just like Jeff's miraculous healing through divine intervention wasn't something I could accept as a dramatic vehicle for a soap. I knew very well I was watching a Christian soap with clear subliminal and not so subliminal messages and indoctrinations. I had no problem with the premise, more with the execution at times.

I can think of many more underlining stories that bored me during the last year: I didn't like Nancy's lawsuit against Ben with Dan Meyers as the new shady lawyer, the marriage scheme, Miriam falling for Jeremy of all people as a parable for something... I know what the purpose was, but it was still unacceptable to me. And then we had Ben getting national recognition and media attention, leaving the clinic for the Bedford institute without knowing he's a pawn in Brian and Vanessa's deadly schemes. The campus fake shooting story was not one I particularly warmed up to. The paternity/pregnancy story seemed like an unecessary complication to get Dan and Gil's characters some 'action' after a long lull. I did like Tina's addition to the show from the moment she walked in, although her connection to John seemed completely random. She was a hoot...up to the point where things got more serious. If I had to watch those episodes again, which I probably won't, I don't think my mind would change about how I feel about those stories. There is more to unpack here, but that's for another occasion.

Edited Tuesday at 02:16 AM1 day by YTG

I’m very early in the Lee Carrouthers episodes. I have very little sense of the character overall. He has political ambitions, but Sebastian Knight’s ambition seems much grander. Gleason is charming as Lee, and, on a network series, I imagine the story would have been a Kate / Lee / Amber triangle in the traditional sense. Lee seems found of Kate, but ultimately, he is not a one-woman man. And that they have made very clear. 

I have seen a few episodes much later in the run, and they rarely seem to have the same energy I find in the current lot, even when I have caught stuff from the lead up to the murder of Kate. I will be curious how I feel about the show by January, 1984. 

I also question some things in the long run. I like Kelly Gwinn as Lance, the enforcer, but I don’t think that is a character that needed to live on after the end of the storyline involving the mob. I know there was some chemistry testing late in the kidnapping story, but Burnett was a strong enough actress that she could have carried a story with anyone. Given her history with Nancy, I think pairing them with the same man would have made sense. I know the fate of Paul Mason, but I do think they should have tried to reunite Paul and Miriam as I think there was mileage to play there even without Paul being endgame for Miriam. 

I feel like Vicki Lang may have outstayed her welcome. The third actress has come on and I really just don’t care about her story. I think the second actress was miscast, but having her allow the falsified soil report go through was the beginning of the end for the character. With Gil firmly enmeshed in the Amber story, I just don’t see the need for Vicki’s story to continue especially as they seem to be attempting to move Peter towards Marianne. 

The Dar Saalam bible story was Vinley’s favorite, but I don’t think that it is anything I’ll enjoy. It seems very plot heavy. 

The DOMI story is something I am looking forward to in the final year, but I can see how the supernatural twist could be viewed as an about face on a fairly serious show. For years, I thought the idea of Russ going to hell seemed hokey, but seeing the build up now, I am understanding the deeper emotional and spiritual ramifications of that act. I still am deeply moved by Blue’s final moments. 

I will be curious to see how I feel about the other Carpenter clan. I do really enjoy Miriam and Charles, while also thinking it would be nice if Helen popped in more often. I imagine Randy Kraft and Ginger Burnett were considering leaving which is why that branch was added, but they were introduced many months before either actor left. I have to wonder how much steam that part of the show lost with Peter Davidson departing a couple months before the cancellation. 

Nancy’s best days do seem behind her, but I saw a few scenes of her explaining why she was suing Ben Martin and it seemed logical. I do think at some point Terry was going to have to distance herself from Nancy after all the terrible things she did. I am also curious to see her relationship with Doug Hughes, who I really liked in his brief appearances in 1981 during the Hollister Square storyline. If only Mitch Dunbar could have returned as well.

Without giving away too much, your instincts about Sebastian are absolutely correct.

Lance does return after he gets incarcerated. I won't disclose the circumstances, but I will say that for a newcomer soap actor, it was like winning the lottery because only few actors get to do what he did. It's not that the storyline had any credence, but rather the fact that it could have given him a career boost. Unfortunately it didn't and he would eventually retire and become a psychiatrist...

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/david-kelly-gwin-licensed-psychotherapist-new-york-ny/72575

There was a suggestion at some point that Peter and Marianne could have hit it on, that he could have been more than a friendly shoulder to cry on. Vicky #2's sudden departure (or what at least seemed like one for either contractual or other reason) created a problem and the story had to be exhausted. It seemed like the casting was rushed because 'Vicky' didn't look anything like Vicky, but she was more credible as an actress. The problem was her exit storyline which saw her get involved with... Lee Corathers' campaign. That's only one aspect that had to do with her eventually leaving, but I don't want to give away the rest. Let's just say the Corathers angle made sense, but her relationship with Peter made Peter look too foolish and altruistic beyond belief. BTW, Peter actually left 6-8 weeks before the show ended while others left a few months earlier.

Russ was certainly a very troubled man after his personal and professional upheavals, so I get that he was haunted by the ghosts of the past and that his near death experience or the fact that he was clinically dead for a few minutes made him have visions of going to Hell as a perpetual boiling pot.

The fact that Nancy sued Ben may have made sense, but it felt so contrived. I understand that Nancy would have eventually reach a point where she would want to take her life, but not in the way it had Ben involved. It was just too much, an unnecessary complication in my view because it dragged on and on and on. I remember having a hard time with it. Doug Hughes' role in all of this is barely memorable to be honest which just goes to show that the whole story arc got on my nerves. Doug approached Ben as a friend but was actually sent to him as a 'spy' to get dirt for Nancy's lawyer. Only later did he switch sides, came clean and helped Ben win the medical neglect claim.

The New Carpenters were indeed introduced a few months before Charles and Miriam left around the same time. They didn't arrive all at once just like the Philipps' clan was gradully introduced, but the first new Carpenter's identity wasn't disclosed. We only knew his or her private name for a while and it was only later that the connection to the Carpenters was established.

Edited Tuesday at 05:56 AM1 day by YTG

I loved Laura Laigh Taylor as Vicki. I thought the uptight, no non-sense Vicki who worked with Gene and didn't have he time of day for Peter was a nice running gag. I also didn't hate it initially when her Vicki started seeing Gil after breaking things off with her fiance. I thought that was fine. The second actress (Kathryn King, I think) was just too big a departure in the role. In story, I could see how Vicki might have spiraled after going from a relatively reserved young woman to having been bedded by town mattress Gil Prescott, but I don't think King had the experience to embed the kind of emotional depth that one needed to keep Vicki from falling completely off the cliff into a shallow woman scorn.

I was surprised to see how far into the year Vicki lasts. In an episode from the time of the murder, Vicki and Peter are engaged, I believe. I imagine her concluding story has something to do with the collapse of the Cantebury complex.

@YTG Feel free to say whatever you want and not worry about the spoilers. I have been reading about Another Life since 1998 so there are lots of things I have and haven't read about the show. When I first stumbled upon soap opera message boards in that time period, I never expected to see as many shows as I have now. I know Sebastian's fate, which is why I mentioned in one of my last marathon posts that I was very surprised to see the writers have Lee state that one day Sebastian will go too far in his pursuit of political power.

There are times I feel that Jason Vinley just redoes a lot of earlier stories, but with stronger emphasis on character and emotional fallout. For example, I have to wonder if the Russ joins the mob story was originally a part of Vinley's late 1970s Another Life bible. We get that very briefly in 1981 after Vince gets the doctor for Lori and Russ goes to work at the trucking company. As much as I love Russ' story in 1983 with the mob, Blue, and Lori, I really thought they could have drawn out Russ' work at the hospital longer, but I do see how critical Russ' role is in the overall tale.

A lot of the Amber / Gil / Stacey stuff feels like much stronger version of the Deena / Gil / Vicki story that the Barnes were stringing together towards the end. Peter returning to the construction company seems like a reset, but I also wonder at what point Jason Vinley was asked to start watching episodes again because I want to say Dave #1's departure from the show is around the same time as Babs first appearance.

You asked earlier about Dave's family when John Cardoza was in the role Dave's original (offscreen) exit was to go reconcile with his ex-wife/wife and I feel like Dave mentioned losing his family to his drinking, but I could be wrong about that. There were never any specifics given. I think the most substantial backstory relationship John Cardoza's Dave had was he had been friendly and worked with Dr. Alex Greely. I also think the abortionist angle was mentioned in 1981, but I'd have to review my posts for accuracy.

I agree that Vicki #1 was the best down-to-Earth Vicki who started off mousy looking and later grew out of her shell, very much like Stacy did, but perhaps she wasn't cast as a contract role at first. Maybe the writers at the time didn't have any concrete plan to use her character again, which is why Jill became Peter's next romantic interest. I

You're right to point out that Vinley probably resuscitated stories that marked the show's 'lost' episodes with emphasis on Kingsley's underworld. He also brought back Eric Mason in person and an off screen Paul Mason since their early let off from the show was perhaps necessary, just like Helen's was, but they all had to return at a later point as Miriam got her life back on track.

I remembered now that when I watched AL when I was 14 years old, I couldn't fully let everything sink in and so for some strange reason I thought Blue Nobles with actually Russ' lost brother 'Tony' because it was my impression Russ would also stutter at times when he got really enraged. I can't come up with concrete examples, but I thought it would be a Greek tragedy if he unknowingly killed the brother he didn't know. How I could have concocted such a convoluted story is still a mystery to me.

What you're telling me about Dave #1 is coming back to me now and it makes sense now. He was Jeff Cummings' cell maye when he was incarcerated after mistakenly accused of harboring drugs at the book shop if I recall.

Speaking of Sebastian, I think I mentioned some time ago or maybe not that the actor playing him passed away before completing the storyline and so the script had to be adjusted. As a result, a few scenes were played by a different actor making it seem as though the original actor playing was still at the helms. They used old shots and other manipulations to disguise he was no longer there. They even used a different voiceover without actually showing him during the reconstruction of the murder scenes, when Amber's neighbor, the eccentric Mrs. Schmidt, heard the shooting from Amber's apartment just after a heated arguement between a Kate and a man with a deep voice. In fact, the actor who played some of the new scripted acenes was non other than Alan Sader (Harold) who had similar body measurements like Sebastian. If you rewatch those scenes or notice when Sebastian mysteriously disappears from the show with off screen phone calls between him and Lee, you'll know that's when the actor was no longer alive at that point. The second bullet theory which later becomes reality at Amber's apartment is ridiculous because how could the forensic unit didn't see a second bullet while thoroughly checking the apartment following the murder and cordening off the scene of the crime. Seems to me like this was part of the rewrites because it came at a very late stage in the story. Maybe I'm wrong. Besides, how could Amber stay at that place again? and how could Miriam rent the place? And how conveniently would Miriam take over Amber's modeling agency without prior experience or background? Some really shabby writing there. That's why I say things mostly went South after Dave's trial was over and the identity of the killer revealed. At that time, Russ was developing a relationship with Blair Simpson, Amber's old friend, but that was cut short because the writers decided to make Blair suddenly fade into thin air without any explanation and drag Russ into the ridiculous final showdown with Lance...

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by YTG