Another World

[Xanthe]

The Resurgence of Mitch, that's what. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Now, take Mitch, he was a really useful character, in & out of many stories, overtime. No, not overtime, over periods of time. Good actor, worked well with many people. Later, Zane reappeared, as Cal.

[Xanthe]

Cal was a character on ATWT, I believe. 

Nobody ever seems to talk about the rehabilitation of Mitch from the guy who conspired with Janice to murder Mac to quiet unthreatening consort for Felicia. 

[j swift]

Initially, there was some conspiracy between Mitch and Reginald which suggested that Mitch was not going to be a benevolent character upon his return, but that all got undone in order to make him into a viable romantic guy.  I would suggest that the purpose he really served was to split up Felicia and Rachel's friendship.  IMO, they were never that close, (Felicia was much more tied into Mac through Cory Publishing), but Mitch created a lot of drama between the two, which really paid off years later during Felicia's alcoholism storyline.

I objected to his first run when Mac was spun out into a maniac in response to Mitch and Rachel's romance.  I guess there was audience support for the coupling of Mitch and Rachel (I mean, I know they were popular, despite my disdain for the pairing).  However, Mac had just come off of months of being sidelined while he was poisoned by Janice, and then his character was made into a cruel and jealous old codger during the custody hearings. 

Janice, Rachel, and Regina (Sven's seductive co-conspirator/victim) proved that Mac was a fool for love whose weakness was any threat to his virility.  I think of 1970s (pre-Sandy/grandpa status) Mac as a guy who men wanted to be, due his business acumen, and ladies desired, due to his charisma .  So, it would seem natural that he was angered by Mitch's sexual prowess once he learned of his sterility (which back in the day was often confused in the synopses with impotency, although there's no evidence that Mac couldn't get it up).    However, it was very unfair to the character (and didn't really fit with the Mac we had come to know) to become so vindictive during the custody trial.

To me, Mac was missing a "talk to" character to help him realize how illogical he was responding, given his own history of infidelities.

Edited June 9, 2022 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, that was the Cal I meant. Patrick T. showed up on ATWT I think as Cal Strickland. At any rate he became popular there with Connor & that's far beyond off-topic enough, I apologize.

So, Mitch, I don't know if I ever knew how he ended up on the right side of the issue or even the law with Janice's almost successful attempt at poisoning Mac. Things were so desperate & so dire & so scary & then they worked out okay in a pool on a tropical island, of all places.

[Xanthe]

You're quite right -- Felicia and Rachel weren't really shown as friends until they needed to be in order to generate drama when Mitch "came between them". However when Rachel had amnesia they did have Rachel seek out Felicia to help her decide what to wear for Catlin and Sally's 1985 wedding.

Part of making Mitch benign seems to have been in order to make him a safe father for Matthew. I'm sure I must have complained about this before, but I think Mitch's characterization was lacking when he returned in 1986. Did Mitch want anything for himself or did he only exist as an object for Rachel, Mac, Matthew, and Sam to react to? Was it the writing that neglected the character or his low-key performance that made him inscrutable to me?

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, William Grey Espy always had that oh-so-low-key manner & very naturalistic demeanor. If they had wanted something different they should have cast for it!

[j swift]

Wait, did Rachel need Felicia because she forgot how to get dressed, or she did suddenly develop a penchant for feather boas while her brain was recovering?

[Xanthe]

She essentially experienced an identity crisis, so she was experimenting and trying out different things because she didn't seem to identify with with the Rachel Mac told her she was.  Mac's Rachel was so stodgy!  Felicia was so fancy!

Here is the outfit, which shocked Mac. No boa, but fur and spangles. 

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[victoria foxton]

Liberace was huge AW fan.

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[AbcNbc247]

I wish Joey and Eileen had lasted longer. 

[victoria foxton]

Kit was so BLAND.

[ScottyBman]

Here is the video of the "makeover/reveal".  Mac was not digging it.

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They are reuploading the summer of 1985 on Youtube.  This episode was setting up the Love Family with Kathleen wanting to do a book on her mom and her life as a staff member at the Love Mansion.  Peter Love was turning dark and brooding.  And suddenly he has money to buy the stables back from Michael.  Just months earlier they could not even throw a dinner party as they were so broke.  The Love fortune was quietly returning.  The softening of Donna.  And then the Queen of Tanquir has returned....  I particularly enjoyed this period, but understand how long time fans were not digging this change.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

On another forum some fans swear they have no memory of Anne Heche as either Vicky or Marley. Do you have any favorite YouTube clips of Heche as either twin? I want to set them up with a package to blow their socks off. 

[Xanthe]

While I find Ada washing her hands of the issue and telling Mac he needs to talk to Rachel himself hilarious and adorable, I feel as though they didn't really set up the problem correctly. I know that things had been tense between Mac and Rachel in this period because amnesiac Rachel was not sharing a bedroom with Mac and was trying to "find herself" in ways that Mac didn't understand. But he is able to succinctly explain his issue with the outfit to Ada ("it's evening wear! for an afternoon wedding!") in a way that it seems like he should be able to say "you look beautiful, but it's evening wear when most people will be dressed for daytime." Or if he really can't bring himself to talk to Rachel directly, would Felicia really be incapable of understanding what is appropriate and helping steer her in a different direction? I don't know why they went with this angle -- I would rather have seen something (shockingly bright colour? daring decolletage?) where Mac found it harder to articulate why it should be inappropriate and it was easier to understand why he couldn't just talk to her.

1985 or 1986 (or both)? 1986 was when Michael was introduced and Cecile kidnapped Cass from his wedding and they brought Mary and Reginald "back" from the dead. I loved Michael and Donna and Cecile/Cass/Kathleen/MJ/Adam, and the storytelling was generally better-paced than 1985 (Lesoleil, Egypt/Arizona, Plains Motel drug ring; the only highlight was Victoria finding her place in the Love family), but [insert rant about cartoon villain Reginald, classification of virgins vs whores, neglect of arts in favour of white collar professionals] 1986 - 1988 was less delightful to me than the years before and after.

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Xanthe