1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

In this case, Fletcher fathered a child AFTER it was established he had had a vasectomy BEFORE Michelle was conceived. IMO, it is not only perfectly plausible to use that for a story, it's an excellent use of the show's history.

It occurs to me this may seem contradictory when I said earlier don't change paternity out of the blue, but I think this is a different situation:

For one thing, no one questioned Ed being Michelle's father because of the assumption it was impossible for Fletcher to have fathered her.

In this particular case, this reveal would have a HUGE impact on the characters because of how this upended the lives of all four people involved at the time. Claire and Fletcher's romance was destroyed. Ed and Maureen's relationship survived, but it caused damage that probably never totally healed. Ed never wanted to have more children after Michelle, which kept him and Maureen from trying to find a way to become parents of their own child.

So in this case, this wouldn't just be a temporary blip, it would be like a bomb going off in these characters' lives, with lots of things having to be sorted out, not the least being Michelle having to face the possibility of not being a Bauer.

In regards to the Morgan/Kelly situation, we all have to remember that Luke and Laura were the craze in 1979/1980/1981 and Marland had wanted to tell the story he had intended to tell with Laura/Scotty with Morgan/Kelly.

Genie Francis was 17 to 19 during the whole Luke/Laura courtship and wedding so I don't think people cared as much that a teen girl was marrying up with an adult male 30 and older at that period.

I think the 1981 wedding situation was in part to use the footage that had been filmed months before and also to compete a little with Luke/Laura since they were the top draw of GH and Marland thought that Morgan/Kelly would be that same draw only for Nola to be the top drawer of the triangle.

I remember Vigard said in the Locher Room that she had a two year deal and was going to leave when that was up so the show decided to recast Morgan right after the wedding and continue to tell the Kelly/Morgan marriage story with a new actress.

Problem was that the audience didn't have an attachment/connection to the new actress so Kelly/Morgan were doomed and eventually the show did break them up and put Morgan eventually in Josh's orbit before briefly having her be a sort of older sister type in a brief friendship arc with Phillip/Rick before she was written off.

Had the show known back in the fall of 1981 that the recast would have been a bust.. they probably would have stuck with Vigard for the rest of her contract till spring 1982 and then written her off and spun Kelly off into another orbit (I heard the rumor that Nola/Kelly were supposed to have ended up together down the line).

Kelly seems to drift aimlessly after the Morgan story ends, and Long manages to pair him with Claire Ramsey in an older woman/younger man story for a bit until he leaves in early 1984. It's a shame because Kelly and Claire did have chemistry.

Edited yesterday at 05:57 AM1 day by Soaplovers

Well, full disclosure, Nola/Kelly/Morgan was the story that hooked me as a preteen. And at the time, I was reading adult romances (rapemances) that wouldn't sell today, not to mention eagerly awaiting the latest from VC Andrews.

As much as these things should've always been questioned, I know it's today's optics that make them squeamish. (I'm sure anything "entertainment" had been doing similar since the dawn of man.) I don't think Marland was doing anything more than reacting to the times.

I think it is pointless judging Kelly and Morgan (or Holden and Lily or whoever else, or even Luke and Laura up to a certain point) outside of the times. The times were different, the performances were strong, the writing was well-done or at least very popular with certain audiences, etc. You take it or leave it while making whatever allowances you choose for the era.

10 hours ago, DeeVee said:

It occurs to me this may seem contradictory when I said earlier don't change paternity out of the blue, but I think this is a different situation:

For one thing, no one questioned Ed being Michelle's father because of the assumption it was impossible for Fletcher to have fathered her.

In this particular case, this reveal would have a HUGE impact on the characters because of how this upended the lives of all four people involved at the time. Claire and Fletcher's romance was destroyed. Ed and Maureen's relationship survived, but it caused damage that probably never totally healed. Ed never wanted to have more children after Michelle, which kept him and Maureen from trying to find a way to become parents of their own child.

So in this case, this wouldn't just be a temporary blip, it would be like a bomb going off in these characters' lives, with lots of things having to be sorted out, not the least being Michelle having to face the possibility of not being a Bauer.

It seems so odd that McTavish did not care about this when she wrote the Meg story,,,(which went to the wrong couple...this should have been a Frank Eleni story) when she was there when they wrote Ed/Claire and Pratt blames Megan for blowing up Fletch and Claire and then turning Claire into an all out psycho. Was it even mentioned that Fletch reversed the process? I am fine with it as it does work from history, but really did not want Fletch to have more story.. I could see it that Meg dies, and Fletch as her really only caregiver is crazed with grief. The bomb goes off, Claire returns (unpsycho but her usual brittle self) and Chele has to deal with all of this. But ultimately I want an adopted kid to say, "No, the guy who raised is my dad, sorry, you can be in my life but I only have one dad.") Chele would be the perfect character to do this as Mo was her Mom....(It woudl have been interesting to see adult Chele insist on adopting kids as she saw the avlue of that.)

On 11/26/2025 at 5:12 AM, DRW50 said:

Thanks again for these recaps @alwaysAMC there are still so many random moments I had forgotten, some hilarious (the show could be bonkers as hell in the late '90s). I loved Uncle Ken beating the hell out of Mick with his cane (offcamera). Roger Newman seemed to be having the time of his life in these appearances, all the more admirable because he'd been writing, not acting, for a long time.

I did remember this as being a very unexpected appearance by Meta, who hadn't been on in a while and would not be on again for a while. Mary Stuart was battling cancer at this time. I'd like to say the obscene amounts of money she printed for P&G led them to stand by her, but shame/backlash over how they treated Michael Zaslow may have been another issue. I remember thinking that Meta was probably wondering why she was involved in this batshit woman rolling all around Springfield amidst her crime coverups, but then Blake was an honorary Bauer (and so was one of her sons, until the show forgot all about that storyline).

I'd forgotten Dahlia was even on after Marcus left Springfield.

I think Laura Wright was pregnant at this time.

B&E tried to give storylines to black characters at all of their soaps. You could see the effort here too, with bringing in Vicky, bringing the Grants back, having a bit for Griffin. Sadly, I was not surprised that P&G or Paul Rauch shut that possibility down. (I also think Terrell Tilford, while likeable, was not the right choice for David - and it was a mistake to never bring Gilly back [by the time Amelia Marshall was written out of AMC in mid-1999 the story for the black characters was already pretty much knocked out anyway]).

You are so welcome!!!

I have to say, I'm loving Ken. He's clearly a red herring to the real Nursery Rhyme Stalker, but I'm very much enjoying this storyline. It's an umbrella story, which I normally always love. It's a break from Reva/Josh because they don't have anything to do with it (although they're slowly being brought in now with the Annie part of it). But I'm just really enjoying it!

Ahh I didn't realize Mary Stuart was battling cancer at the time, that's sad. She was MIA for quite a long time until the 4th of July party, and now with Holly going through her issues with alcohol, the Ben saga and losing Meg, they needed another babysitter and I'm glad they brought in Meta. Although Abby is being sorely underused right now and could have been in that role.

Yep - that's what I read about Laura Wright being pregnant. You can tell too, she hides her stomach with jackets and sits quite a bit.

I do like that B&E are trying to utilize the black characters, but it also seems pretty late. They were used horribly in 1996 and then when B&E came along, they were rarely used at all until now with Vicky and the reintroduction of David. I'm curious to see where it goes, but knowing Dahlia and Marcus both leave pretty soon, I don't have my hopes up.

I'll post more recaps this weekend! 😃

I’m up to September 25, 1998.

A drunk Ben, after clashing with Sean at the bar, starts packing and plans to take a trip with Blake in tow. Beth shows up and tries to stop him.

Blake’s therapist tells her the secret she’s keeping about Ben is paralyzing her, and once she lifts that burden, she can concentrate on walking again. So FINALLY, Blake tells Ross the truth that Ben didn’t rape her. He doesn’t believe it at first, assuming Ben’s threats about parading her former lovers around in court got to her. But, Blake insists what she’s saying is the truth and a very upset Ross walks out on her. Blake panics and calls Ken to ask if he still has the tape. He brings it over and Ross shows back up and reverts back to Ben must be scaring her into saying this. Blake then reveals the tape to Ross. She puts it in the VCR, plays it and wheels outside praying to God to give her one last chance with Ross. Ross sits and watches it. Blake comes back in and Ross breaks down crying, and then gets angry and tells her she’s no longer part of him and no longer a concern to him. He goes to the police station and tells Frank and Holly he’s turning himself in for shooting his wife since there was no rape. The DA shows up and they all say they’re dropping the charges against Ross given he thought he was protecting his wife. But, Holly casually mentions she knew the truth about the non-rape and Ross explodes on her for never telling him. Meanwhile, Ben shows up at Blake’s and she tells him she just confessed the truth to Ross. She still rejects him though and he goes back to the Towers, where he runs into Ross. They fight and Ross pushes him up to the rooftop ledge and threatens to kill him. A waiter overhears and stops them and Ben covers for Ross and he leaves. Ross shows back up to the house, takes some of his belongings and the kids and heads to the Bauer house.

Harley wants to be a decoy to help bring Annie out of hiding. Frank is against this at first, but Teri thinks it’s a good idea and the ladies convince him to go along with it. Eleni conveniently needs to leave for Greece as her grandmother needs surgery, so she’s taking Marina with her and will be gone for a few weeks.

Someone is now watching Cassie at a distance. She’s at Josh/Reva’s house with Hart, planning to finally tell Hart about being pregnant, but a mysterious person leaves a newspaper at their door with the obituaries showing and the name Cassie Rae Layne circled! You know this is related to the Nursery Rhyme Stalker because they have this distinct creepy child music that plays over every scene now. It says Cassie died suddenly, with today’s date and they both panic. There’s a nursery rhyme attached related to a little girl with a blond curl and how Cassie should have been better to her little daughter Tammy. Cassie assumes it’s Dinah, but Hart doesn’t think she could do this. Hart calls Frank and tells him about it, and Teri and Harley go over to investigate the newspaper and letter. They tell Cassie/Hart all about the Nursery Rhyme Stalker, their assumption it may be Annie, and it freaks them out now that Cassie seems to be the third in line victim. They get Tammy home and the ladies, including Jenna now, all stay together that night with police surveillance to protect Cassie through the night. Harley tries to remind Cassie that Dinah wouldn’t be the stalker because she and Dinah used to be good friends (nice call out to the 80s!). They decide to have Tammy go to Frank/Eleni’s house to be safe there with Marina before Eleni goes on her trip to Greece. The ladies are telling Teri their history with Annie, and they then ask Teri about her background - she’s one of 7 siblings and a few are cops, so she was destined to be a tomboy. She took the position in SF to get away from family and not be so sheltered by them; let her explore life on her own. The time reaches midnight and they feel better that Cassie is still alive and they decide to all go back home, leaving Cassie with Hart. The Stalker then continues to watch them, they hear a noise outside and Hart goes to investigate and the Stalker pepper sprays him from behind. He yells out to Cassie, who tries to call the police but the phone lines have been cut!

Vanessa is struggling with keeping Cassie’s pregnancy secret because she knows it will hurt Dinah. Vanessa tells Matt what’s happening over dinner at the Towers. She says she’s seen a change in Dinah and can tell she really wants to enjoy being a mother, but Matt warns her that everything Dinah does are means to an end: getting Hart (and we know he’s not wrong). Vanessa leaves the dinner early to go talk to Dinah, which Matt appears to be miffed by as he declares to himself that he needs Vanessa too. Later, a tipsy Beth shows up and sees Matt and asks why a handsome guy is all alone. One-sided flirtation is beginning and Matt offers her coffee, but Beth said she’s just starting her night and wants to dance. They dance for a bit and then Matt takes a drunk Beth back home to the Spaulding mansion. She comes onto him and kisses him, but he stops her. She apologizes and starts crying. Matt gets her to fall asleep on the couch and he stays there to make sure she’s ok and ends up falling asleep in the chair next to her. The next morning, Alan finds them and questions how Vanessa would feel about Matt spending the night with Beth (typical Alan being a jerk). Beth defends Matt and says he’s a perfect gentleman (which he was here!).

Holly and Dinah get into it at the police station, with Dinah talking crap about Blake, and Holly saying she feels sorry for Dinah’s baby given the mother she’ll have to deal with. Dinah then says she doesn’t blame Fletcher for taking Meg and leaving her, and Frank has to break them up before Holly wrings her neck. Dinah goes home to find Hart with the newspaper and asks if she did it, to which she says no. He eventually leaves and Vanessa shows up. She drops the bomb that Cassie is pregnant and she hasn’t told Hart yet. Dinah doesn’t believe it; she whines and lashes out like normal, but eventually accepts the truth. After Vanessa leaves, Dinah tells her baby she’s determined to be a great mom and the two of them will stick together.

Dinah goes to Cassie/Josh’s with a letter that she planned to put under their door, but Hart, thinking she was the Stalker, knocks her out with the door. Cassie reads Dinah’s letter which says she’s lied a lot but swears she’s no longer going to put herself between them. They realize Dinah is bleeding everywhere and they panic about the baby and call 911. Vanessa rushes to the hospital, and Bill is already there and they all get concerned about the baby. Sadly, Rick announces that the baby didn’t make it, which is heartbreaking. Hart breaks down and feels tremendous guilt thinking he’s the reason the baby died. Dinah breaks down with Vanessa, claiming she has nothing left to live for.

The next morning at the hospital, Vanessa continues to wonder where Matt is and why he hasn’t called her. Matt gets word from Alan that Dinah/Vanessa are at the hospital and he quickly heads there. Vanessa gives him grief, but he tells her the whole true story (thank you!), but she’s still upset he drove Beth home instead of putting her into a cab. I think Vanessa is wrong here, because I wouldn’t put a drunk girlfriend of mine into a random cab with a strange man if I could take her home myself, but I get Vanessa is upset and grieving right now. He apologizes nonetheless and she does too.

Rick tells Ross about the accident and he rushes to the hospital. Blake also gets word and has Holly take her there too. As Dinah’s condition still isn’t well, Blake tries to comfort Ross, but he wants nothing to do with her. He continues to say he’s keeping the kids. Holly learns that Dinah miscarried and freaks out, internalizing it all and saying she’s being punished in life. She’s really unhinged/distressed right now, telling orderlies not to touch her. Not being able to calm her down, Blake begs Ross for help. Ross tries to calm Holly and it works a bit, but Holly still keeps saying it’s not fair that everyone keeps losing babies. She goes with the therapist and Ross promises that he’ll take care of Blake right now if she takes care of herself. Later, he tells Blake he tried to take care of her but that wasn’t enough and now he can’t anymore.

To bring Annie out of hiding, Holly printed Harley’s interview in the newspaper calling Annie out as a failure and psycho, which scares Phillip and Frank.  Meanwhile, Reva is back from her Hawaiian vacation and gets Cassie a nursery rhyme book as a present so they can read them together to her future baby (LOL). Cassie freaks, throws the book and tells her Annie is back. Of course Reva makes it all about her, and says if Annie is back, she would be the #1 person on her hit list and no one else, so she doesn’t think Annie is the Nursery Rhyme Stalker.

Dinah finally wakes up and will survive, which makes everyone happy. Cassie tries to apologize to her privately, but Dinah says Cassie’s hate towards her killed her baby. Dinah reveals that she knows Cassie is pregnant, and says she wins: she has Hart, a baby now and the happy life she was supposed to have. Outside her room, Bill is laying into Hart for treating Dinah horribly the last few months.

Drew offers Jesse a job at her new bar in order to get money to pay off his debts. She gives him a cash advance too, which is all part of her game to get Jesse closer to her. Jesse tells Michelle and she doesn’t understand, since supposedly his art is selling well. He comes clean about the loan shark and how Drew owns the place he’s working at now.

Dahlia meets with David to get an update on Marcus. He confirms that while in LA, he shared a room with another girl and he’s sleeping with her, which upsets Dahlia. David tries to tell her to get over it/move on, but Dahlia bites back about him being too cavalier about her feelings. This is so random, I don’t know why writers feel the need to write a storyline for characters that get featured once a month on average.

As Rick is babysitting the boys, Selena helps and she’s good with them. Rick admits that Abby told him about Selena’s daughter and how she didn’t have a chance to raise her. She says she wishes she knew her daughter, and Rick says there may be a way and suggests using Harley to help her look. Selena meets with Harley and admits she didn’t give her baby up for adoption, but the State took her away at 1 year due to Selena being a prostitute. Harley agrees to help her.