2 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL - well Jim is just a dopey golden. Super harmless.

That reminds me that Vanessa and Bill never even had a scene together/acknowledged that he almost got shot up and died at the Santos mansion - boo!

But Beth knew **** wasn't going to screw her. At least that's what he kept saying.

It's always a bad sign when writing teams are bad at family interactions.

47 minutes ago, P.J. said:

But Beth knew **** wasn't going to screw her. At least that's what he kept saying.

It's always a bad sign when writing teams are bad at family interactions.

But that's what was weird to me - she was the aggressor, so to have sex with him didn't seem like it would make her recoil in fear with visions of Carl. But honestly, Beth has been so confusing to me since her arrival (for me). She comes across very pushy and competitive with men, to the point she's very catty with all the women (who all hate her), but then she's also deeply insecure at times. It doesn't come across to me as someone that I can root for... and I want to, given her history with the show, that I've read about... but I can't. I also don't love bratty Susan who hates her right now, so I don't really feel for either of them.

Thanks for your latest recap @alwaysAMC

Sad to say the very silly material with Abby's super-hearing is what her implant story is likely most remembered for (and got some tsk-tsks in the soap press at the time). At least Amy got something to do, I guess.

I find Susan irritating even in your synopses. Her behavior is natural, I suppose, but that doesn't make it worth watching. And it's difficult to care about Beth given her antics.

(was Beth a tennis ace in high school?)

If I had written this story, if it was a mandate to write this story with these three characters, I would have had Beth, going through an extensive mental breakdown which she increasingly struggles to hide, befriend Susan. I would have her, due to what happened with her stepfather abusing her, and how Carl abused both her and Lizzie, become paranoid that Jim had abused his wife (based on some comments she overhears Jim making about his late wife's "troubles") and was abusing Susan. Susan would initially not say much about this because Harley is busy with work and her pregnancy so she just appreciates having a maternal figure, but when she realizes that Beth is planning to kill Jim to protect her, she finally starts being honest with her. Beth is filled with shame and self-loathing, and shouts that she is becoming what she has always feared.

Beth then nearly commits suicide via pills before Jim and Susan find her and take her to the hospital. Beth then goes away for several months, with Jim visiting her regularly, drawn to her in spite of her problems (we could learn that his late wife also had serious mental problems). When Beth finally returns to Springfield, she tries to stay away from Jim, but with Susan's encouragement, they begin a relationship.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by DRW50

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

(was Beth a tennis ace in high school?)

No. We met Beth right before graduation, but she was shy and introverted. She was artistic, not an athlete. Although it's also a little unrealistic she wouldn't have known the fundamentals of tennis. Phillip was more than once described as "near pro level" at tennis, and gave lessons at the club when he was a teen. I believe it's also mentioned that Alan and Phillip won father/son tournaments at the club when Phillip was young. You'd think he would've introduced Beth to the fundamentals at some point during their marriage.

7 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

But that's what was weird to me - she was the aggressor, so to have sex with him didn't seem like it would make her recoil in fear with visions of Carl. But honestly, Beth has been so confusing to me since her arrival (for me). She comes across very pushy and competitive with men, to the point she's very catty with all the women (who all hate her), but then she's also deeply insecure at times. It doesn't come across to me as someone that I can root for... and I want to, given her history with the show, that I've read about... but I can't. I also don't love bratty Susan who hates her right now, so I don't really feel for either of them.

There's probably some psychology to a rape/abuse survivor being sexually aggressive, if she becomes attracted to a man and considers him being taken for granted in another relationship (which is the kindest way I can put her reaction to Vanessa.)

But mostly I think Brown and Esenstein (who I think are the ones who brought her back), simply plugged Beth into plots and reinvented her personality. Subsequent writers continued down this path, and Beth was usually 180 degrees from how she was introduced.