Another World

[BuckyB12]

The stables at the Cory estate were established early in Rachel and Mac's marriage, because there was a stablehand named Rocky who was interested in Louise (competing with Brooks). I believe Rocky was the first to realize that Sven was a bad guy (and not just creepy) and then he mysteriously disappeared. I definitely remember the scene where Jamie and Dennis found dead Rocky wrapped in plastic under the floor of the boathouse.

[Xanthe]

Thank you. Although I remember being aware of Jamie in his young teenage years, I don't have any direct memory of the Rocky storyline.

As @Mona Kane Croft pointed out, the stables were definitely a feature in 1975. Based on the AWHP synopses, stables were part of the description of the Clayton Estate -- and regarding the continuity angle, allegedly it was Victoria Wyndham[!] who ad-libbed the part about how she admired it.

http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/aw1975d.html

No mention of school so in theory she could have been on a city bus -- but the rest of the speech isn't included to confirm.

Another thing I found interesting was that on the day Rocky first appeared (he was mentioned as early as August 27, 1975, but John Braden first appeared on December 9), Rachel was making plans to keep a horse for Sally. I think we have discussed here how close Sally was to the Cory family and this suggests that it didn't come out of thin air with Mary Page Keller.

 

http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/aw1975d2.html

[j swift]

Didn't Steve die before Alice adopted Sally?  So, I wonder what the connection to Mac and Rachel was based upon?

[Xanthe]

Frame, Frame, Frame, Frame, Frame. They were having their cake and eating it too. Steve was not quite dead when Alice got the idea to adopt Sally -- he was in Australia and she discussed it with him -- and she adopted her using the Frame name. And then Sally was included as a Frame, visiting Emma, interacting with Willis and Sharlene, and of course Jamie. And based on the synopses for 1975 it sounds like Rachel might have been going out of her way to be friendly with Sally (and Beatrice) in order to spite Alice.

[Mona Kane Croft]

That's absolutely right, and I'm glad you saw the subtlety in Rachel's transition. Although Harding Lemay mellowed Rachel significantly, he didn't completely reform her. As long as Lemay was writing, Rachel's nasty side occasionally popped up.  Even when Lemay briefly returned in 1988, we saw bits of the "old" Rachel. Most fans forget it was actually later writers who completely reformed Rachel and turned her into almost a complete heroine/saint.  But she always remained feisty and a bit antagonistic under Lemay's pen.   

[j swift]

And the 1988 Frames (Jason and Sharlene) made sure to remind the audience of Rachel's past.

I was recently watching one of Rachel's scenes at the farm when she wanted to buy it for Jamie, and it was fun to see her be able to throw a bit of shade. 

It is probably a reflection of the poor writing in general at a later date, but it's confusing upon Evan's return that he only targets Iris for revenge, and Rachel is just collateral damage.

Edited December 21, 2023 by j swift

[Mona Kane Croft]

Wyndham seemed to enjoy playing occasional scenes in which Rachel showed a bit of her old feistiness (or should I say nastiness?).  It must have been boring playing Rachel as a saint for almost 20 years.  

I'm not a fan of amnesia storylines, but if you're gonna do one, do it right.  When Rachel had amnesia around 1985 (and she even forgot she was married to Mac), I think it would have been fun if she reverted completely back to the old insecure antagonistic Rachel for a couple of months.  That would have been a shock to the other characters, especially since very few of them had been around when Rachel was the show's main villainess.  It would have been especially fun to see her interacting with Alice and Ada with her new/old persona.  I remember there was one scene between Alice and Rachel where the writers seemed to toy with this idea, but it was only one scene.  It could have been so much more, had they taken it further.  What if Rachel thought Steve was still alive?  What if she thought Alice was still a nurse, and refused to respect her as a doctor?  What if she goes after Mac just for his money (one of Mac's biggest fears, back in 1974)??  Of course this could only go on for a very limited time -- a couple of months tops.  There was so much material laying right there for the writers to pick up.  Oh, well . . .

Edited December 22, 2023 by Mona Kane Croft

[Xanthe]

You'll never believe this [/s], but Rachel's amnesia occurred during a period of no head writer from March to July 1985. Gary Tomlin was gone by February and the team of Sam Hall and Gillian Spencer took over in August. (According to the AWHP Gillian Spencer had been part of the Feb-Jul writing team though.)

[Mona Kane Croft]

Interesting.  I had no idea that all occurred with no head writer.   

[Xanthe]

The introductions of Victoria and Brittany were in the same window, as well as Lesoleil and the Chapin/Love/Hutchins history. 

[Xanthe]

Evan's original motivation in working for Iris was to get revenge on Rachel, but I thought that the idea was he fell in love with Amanda and got to know Rachel and realized that he was mistaken. I'm trying to remember but didn't he take Rachel's part against Gwen at the 25th anniversary party? So by the time he left I thought he and Rachel were all good.

I have no recollection of Evan's return in 1994, but the AWHP makes it sound as if his vendetta was against Carl. And Iris was also against Carl, as was Amanda. I have no idea what his motivation was here.

[Mona Kane Croft]

Any idea why there was no head writer for such a lengthy period?  Was there a strike?  

[Xanthe]

There was a 2-week WGA strike in March. Not sure why the head writer role was empty for so much longer.

 

https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/writers-guild-strikes-hollywood-history-wga/hollywood-writers-go-on-strike-in-dispute-over-payments-for-streaming-services-3/

Edited December 22, 2023 by Xanthe
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[Khan]

Perhaps it was one of those situations where people were reluctant to take the HW'ing position?

[Contessa Donatella]

I know that happened once at GL & It could easily have happened at AW, too.