4 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Not sure I agree. It would have been more fun to have Reva pregnant - with the question being was Josh the father - or was it the result of some totally random hookup?

THAT would be a truer Reva story than Josh or Kyle.

On paper, Reva should have been a character who had casual hookups, especially given her lifelong issues about men and how men treated her. I wonder if this would have been the case if she hadn't blown up so quickly and if Long hadn't so strongly felt a connection with her.

3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

On paper, Reva should have been a character who had casual hookups, especially given her lifelong issues about men and how men treated her. I wonder if this would have been the case if she hadn't blown up so quickly and if Long hadn't so strongly felt a connection with her.

Well....I cannot say what I really want to say. But it IS hilarious! (I might get sued for defamation - and no, it doesn't involve yourself or any other poster on this board.) Sadly, discretion sometimes really is the better part or valor. Such a drag.

22 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I THINK Bradley found out while in prison that Alan had lied about Beth being dead. Then Alan told Phillip because he was trying to make up to him for, you know, shooting him at his own wedding. IIRC correctly, it's why everyone was skeptical, because Alan and Bradley were both congenital liars.

Yes, he was trying to convince Lillian and later Beth that he had changed. For a long time Rehborn was one of Hollywood's best character actors, so yeah, it's another case of a soap wanting to keep a really good actor who was playing an irredeemable character.

There was something like a con going on. I'm not sure on the deets, but the guy running the con might have been in prison at the same time as Alan? He dragged his girlfriend into it, getting her to impersonate Beth, having her paint in Beth's style and paint canvases that would definitely trigger Phillip. Phillip even wants to pay a "ransom" for Beth, but Blake pulls the plug on it, even persuading Van and Henry that Phillip is having a breakdown even though she knew Alan had lied and set up the "proof" that Beth had died.

Anyhoo, for some reason, Bradley is in the hospital at the same time as Mindy (who Will had nearly killed by forcing her to take an overdose). Beth is for some reason wandering the hospital, and reacts to seeing both Mindy and Bradley. Mindy briefly wakes and sees her, but because she's recovering, no one quite trusts that she saw Beth.

I think Alan telling Phillip was more about trying to keep him from marrying Blake, because he distrusted Roger's influence on her.

I do think P&G loved James Rebhorn, because, as @DRW50 mentioned, it's kind of close to the reveal on ATWT. But, it was a good use of history, especially as Daniel Pilon, bless him, wasn't a hit as Alan. (Although, I'm fuzzy on when the reveal on ATWT was. This brief return on GL was the fall of '89, and the ATWT stint started in '88, and the reveal might not have been until '91)

53 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Let's face it, there are a lot of baby storylines on soaps.😂

RIGHT? :) Like Larkin didn't know his character was going to revolve around Reva's various moods and hairstyles?

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

@P.J. I think Vanessa and Lillian also interacted during that random scene where they were with Annie bitching about Reva (which led to some GL fans writing letters to SPW trashing Lillian as a hypocrite). I'd forgotten that they interacted at this time. I'd also forgotten about Billy's role here. It is delicious that Billy was the one who helped Vanessa see some sense - I wonder if Rauch was trolling a certain fanbase.

I am going to preface this by saying I don't think Matt is a horrible person, I think he is just very immature, but [!@#$%^&*] hell does it annoy me to read Matt reacting to any slight with Vanessa by shoving his tongue down Beth's throat and Beth repeatedly being the one to stop things from going further. I think you had to write that out about six times! He clearly wanted to cheat, and he likely would have gone all the way if not for the show's wariness about that fan base. I'm not saying I wanted Vanessa to be cheated on, but...is this really any better?

Matt is lucky that Billy was older and more worn out with life by this time as about a decade earlier he probably would have kicked Matt's perky little ass all over Springfield.

Van and Lillian would randomly interact. Not long after Mo died, Bill was in a car accident with Mindy (thanks to Eve) and of course it's Lillian there at the hospital--mostly because she's the only nurse Springfield had for quite a while. And while I'd expect Van to be polite, there's not one hint of resentment or irony given that Van's in the hospital awaiting news of her son's injuries (it's even a head injury, but it's in no way serious).

Even though we think of Springfield as a community, it had serious story bubbles back into the '80's.

C'mon...don't you want to come over to the dark side and hate ****? Just a little? I don't know if Rauch was trolling ****ressa fans or throwing a dig at Maeve, if those rumors are true. But yeah, #### clearly wasn't all that immune to Beth.

Not only would OGBilly have kicked ****'s ass, but he would've melted Van's panties with a silky "Darlin'.." and that would've been the end of that blasted saccharine pairing.

Hey AlwaysAMC -

Have you watched the Locher Room interview with Rebecca Budig? It's great throughout, and the second half is pretty funny. A few other GL cast members also appear. A must-see viewing for you.

PJ said:

"RIGHT? :) Like Larkin didn't know his character was going to revolve around Reva's various moods and hairstyles?'

LMAO! Perhaps Larkin thought that Reva was going to revolve around HIS various moods and hairstyles?!

17 minutes ago, P.J. said:

But, it was a good use of history, especially as Daniel Pilon, bless him, wasn't a hit as Alan. (Although, I'm fuzzy on when the reveal on ATWT was. This brief return on GL was the fall of '89, and the ATWT stint started in '88, and the reveal might not have been until '91)

I think you are right. IIRC, we always knew how controlling and off Henry Lange was, but the story becomes more blatant during 1990.

Regarding Matt - I really couldn't stand him at the time. I try to be more understanding now because Vanessa ultimately got the ending I wanted for her and I think he was at heart just a stud who probably should have never been in the rich life (which the show finally acknowledged years later), but I do enjoy your commentary about him. I think the peak of my dislike was the several times they teased his relationship with Dinah, although reading these recaps is kind of pissing me off years later more than it did at the time (by this point I think I was mentally on autopilot with GL).

41 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think you are right. IIRC, we always knew how controlling and off Henry Lange was, but the story becomes more blatant during 1990.

Regarding Matt - I really couldn't stand him at the time. I try to be more understanding now because Vanessa ultimately got the ending I wanted for her and I think he was at heart just a stud who probably should have never been in the rich life (which the show finally acknowledged years later), but I do enjoy your commentary about him. I think the peak of my dislike was the several times they teased his relationship with Dinah, although reading these recaps is kind of pissing me off years later more than it did at the time (by this point I think I was mentally on autopilot with GL).

It’s been said before but I wish instead of Matt busting up Ross/Amanda that he comforts Blake and they hook up instead of Blake/Rick. Kill Bloss and Mattessa with one stone.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think you are right. IIRC, we always knew how controlling and off Henry Lange was, but the story becomes more blatant during 1990.

Regarding Matt - I really couldn't stand him at the time. I try to be more understanding now because Vanessa ultimately got the ending I wanted for her and I think he was at heart just a stud who probably should have never been in the rich life (which the show finally acknowledged years later), but I do enjoy your commentary about him. I think the peak of my dislike was the several times they teased his relationship with Dinah, although reading these recaps is kind of pissing me off years later more than it did at the time (by this point I think I was mentally on autopilot with GL).

IIRC, the Langes disappeared when Hensley left in '88ish? When Hensley returned, Marland brought them back.

If I were honest, I don't think I cared enough about **** to hate him back in the day. I rolled my eyes through that "romance". I was just waiting for Van to shed him like last year's stilettos. I probably should be more gracious, since like you say Billy and Van ended up together, and there were other factors in play. But I'm petty like that. :) That Vanessa deserved better than ****'s loser ass is the hill I'll die on.

1 hour ago, GL95 said:

It’s been said before but I wish instead of Matt busting up Ross/Amanda that he comforts Blake and they hook up instead of Blake/Rick. Kill Bloss and Mattessa with one stone.

And honestly, cabana boy is much more Blake's style than Rick.

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

On paper, Reva should have been a character who had casual hookups, especially given her lifelong issues about men and how men treated her. I wonder if this would have been the case if she hadn't blown up so quickly and if Long hadn't so strongly felt a connection with her.

Reva had those casual hookups because she was looking for a daddy type to replace her actual dad Hawk, who abandoned the family. Josh leaving to go away from school triggered those feelings of abandonment and caused her to lash out/act out.

Realistically, Reva falling into another long term relationship like with Kyle wasn't realistic because her heart was set on Josh. I viewed Kyle as just a placeholder in her constant addiction to drama and trauma... notice the second Josh comes back into the picture, she falls into his arms and says 'Kyle who?'

Having Reva/Josh be the final scene shown on Guiding Light as being end game really makes me wonder what goes through the minds of writers sometimes.

I didn't think Reva's hookups were casual. A lot of times she jumped from man to man for stability. Then she'd convince herself she was in love.

If there was ever a moment for a John Conboy-esque FU to TIIC, it should've been Wheeler refusing to let Josh and Reva riding off into the sunset. Just as Josh and Reve were ready to climb into that absurdly old truck, ol Jeff should've popped out from behind some bushes and said "honey, I'm home."

What did I care? lol...I got my happy ending. But of course, choosing chaos was never in Wheeler's wheelhouse.

2 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I didn't think Reva's hookups were casual. A lot of times she jumped from man to man for stability. Then she'd convince herself she was in love.

Yes, Reva was always looking for what she could get from a guy. What he could do for her. Vanessa used to chide Alan about it all the time. She had Reva's number.

I don't think it was always about money for her (though it DID help). Stability is a good way of putting it, though in the end she never seemed to find it.

6 minutes ago, P.J. said:

If there was ever a moment for a John Conboy-esque FU to TIIC, it should've been Wheeler refusing to let Josh and Reva riding off into the sunset. Just as Josh and Reve were ready to climb into that absurdly old truck, ol Jeff should've popped out from behind some bushes and said "honey, I'm home."

That's the kind of pandering shows frequently do at the end. Doesn't matter how toxic the relationship, they're convinced (and they're not entirely wrong) that the audience craves a happily ever after.

51 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

Reva had those casual hookups because she was looking for a daddy type to replace her actual dad Hawk, who abandoned the family. Josh leaving to go away from school triggered those feelings of abandonment and caused her to lash out/act out.

Realistically, Reva falling into another long term relationship like with Kyle wasn't realistic because her heart was set on Josh. I viewed Kyle as just a placeholder in her constant addiction to drama and trauma... notice the second Josh comes back into the picture, she falls into his arms and says 'Kyle who?'

Having Reva/Josh be the final scene shown on Guiding Light as being end game really makes me wonder what goes through the minds of writers sometimes.

5 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I didn't think Reva's hookups were casual. A lot of times she jumped from man to man for stability. Then she'd convince herself she was in love.

If there was ever a moment for a John Conboy-esque FU to TIIC, it should've been Wheeler refusing to let Josh and Reva riding off into the sunset. Just as Josh and Reve were ready to climb into that absurdly old truck, ol Jeff should've popped out from behind some bushes and said "honey, I'm home."

What did I care? lol...I got my happy ending. But of course, choosing chaos was never in Wheeler's wheelhouse.

I never thought of them as casual either. I wish she'd had some. I guess the idea was meant to be she was always looking for the love of her life. Philip and Reva having a fling during Bolger's run would have been interesting, as India would have hired a hitman.

Josh and Reva reuniting didn't surprise me as they always got back together, although Jeffrey returning and Reva being torn might have been a "soapier" ending. I might have had a house fall on Jeffrey as he showed up though...

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

Yes, Reva was always looking for what she could get from a guy. What he could do for her. Vanessa used to chide Alan about it all the time. She had Reva's number.

I don't think it was always about money for her (though it DID help). Stability is a good way of putting it, though in the end she never seemed to find it.

That's the kind of pandering shows frequently do at the end. Doesn't matter how toxic the relationship, they're convinced (and they're not entirely wrong) that the audience craves a happily ever after.

Yes, but fortunately, not always. It's a shame that Guiding Light didn't pull a Capitol. The last scene should have been a blindfolded, ex-princess Reva facing a firing squad. That would have been my happy ending.

I feel like doing a prime time drama type family on a soap is a mistake as daytime is created to have this sort of infinite story feeling for better or worse. We complain about these story loops, but really for many that’s life. We fall into patterns and even if we move past them we backslide.

There really should be a life continues on sort of feel to a soap finale rather than a resolution, as some of the joy of watching soaps is watching for years and there being no easy resolution because the story didn’t end after 100 episodes.