2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

It's funny, I was thinking about this recently. Did they EVER say anything specific about Beth's biological father? I had assumed Lillian was widowed. I always thought it was odd that Beth kept the name "Raines." I wouldn't keep the name of the creep who raped me. Now the implication is Lillian was an unwed mother. Does anyone remember anything about that?

Someone decided they should try to create a storyline similar to the Beth/Phillip/India triangle. They made India once again look totally pathetic because the only way she could get a man was to blackmail him. I'm surprised MKA stayed on the show as long as she did.

I couldn't stand Calla and used to blame Lisby Larson, until I watched some Texas episodes, and thought, dang, she's actually a pretty good actress. The character was poorly written. No way would I believe that Ross preferred Calla over Vanessa.

I do believe at one point Beth said her father had died when she was a baby in the Vietnam War. But I don't recall ever hearing his name. And I agree---it's awful strange that both Lillian and Beth kept using the name Raines.

I can give Lisby Larsen some benefit of the doubt, Calla was just a cold-hearted social climber, afaic. Maybe Long would have shaded her more sympathetically. God knows she worked wonders reversing course with Reva. I can't say the same for Rebecca Staab, who's seemed the same pretty and shallow performer in anything I've ever seen in her. (Much like the infamous Shawn Christian, iykwim) The story isn't good, and you can tell TPTB scuttled it pretty quickly, since they made her the villain in the search for Dinah thing and dumped her after barely a year.

I also can't believe Ross was ever serious about the woman, even though you could argue she's initially a lot like Vanessa when she sashayed into town. (minus the fur coats...and dropping thereof...) Van, of course, is still married at the time, and I can't really even claim Ross had a lot discrimination in women. He liked playing the field. I can't recall him dating anyone between Trish and Calla, so...unless it was that ditzy ex Galahad was between them.

Hey, @P.J. I finally got a chance to watch the scene where Billy named Peter--I love when I revisit something and it's even better than I remember. It was so lovely and poignant. (And infuriating, because, you know, Nadine). Jordan was terrific in that scene, and doing it while holding a baby, that's not easy.

I also loved the scene right after when Harley talks to Bridget about giving up Daisy. Beth and Melissa played it so beautifully, and it was another really well-written scene. In both scenes there was so much going on in the subtext.

Thanks again for pointing to the right place so I could see this again.

@DeeVee you're welcome! I know I tend to gush about Jordan, but he is great with kids. There's something really sweet about seeing such a big, tough guy with a little baby. (and yeah, Nadine just makes you want to strangle her, which is the point, I guess.)

On 4/19/2026 at 9:31 PM, P.J. said:

I do believe at one point Beth said her father had died when she was a baby in the Vietnam War. But I don't recall ever hearing his name. And I agree---it's awful strange that both Lillian and Beth kept using the name Raines.

I can give Lisby Larsen some benefit of the doubt, Calla was just a cold-hearted social climber, afaic. Maybe Long would have shaded her more sympathetically. God knows she worked wonders reversing course with Reva. I can't say the same for Rebecca Staab, who's seemed the same pretty and shallow performer in anything I've ever seen in her. (Much like the infamous Shawn Christian, iykwim) The story isn't good, and you can tell TPTB scuttled it pretty quickly, since they made her the villain in the search for Dinah thing and dumped her after barely a year.

I also can't believe Ross was ever serious about the woman, even though you could argue she's initially a lot like Vanessa when she sashayed into town. (minus the fur coats...and dropping thereof...) Van, of course, is still married at the time, and I can't really even claim Ross had a lot discrimination in women. He liked playing the field. I can't recall him dating anyone between Trish and Calla, so...unless it was that ditzy ex Galahad was between them.

That cute, dizzy ex-Galahad later would co-host movies on TBS-- Dinner and a Movie.

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by Spoon

7 hours ago, Spoon said:

That cute, dizzy ex-Galahad later would co-host movies on TBS-- Dinner and a Movie.

I know we discussed her some time ago. Her character's name was Gina I think, and the actress said somewhere that Pam Long kept writing scenes for her after the Galahads bit the dust.

I’m up to June 23, 1999.

Blake invites Ben over and thanks him for what he did for Holly. She tells him it’s a reminder that he can do good even if people think he’s a pariah. Blake then asks him if he’s sure he wants to continue working with Carmen and he says he’s not sure. They are friendly throughout and never allow each other to be flirty like they used to be before, and they conclude by saying they’ll happily be friends going forward. Meanwhile, Ross and India have lunch and India tells him they can’t move forward because it’s obvious he’s not over Blake, which he denies. She then confides in Ross that she really came back to Springfield because she’s broke (finally they remember India and her original storyline!). She then confesses that she hasn’t been in love in forever and needs a man to live her life with, and at one point thought that could be Ross, but he’s already taken whether he knows it or not. She then says she doesn’t think they should see each other anymore, kisses his cheek and leaves. Ross then calls Blake’s home, but Ben answers while Blake is tending to the boys and Ross doesn’t say anything. The next day, India comes over to visit Blake and tells her she and Ross are no longer dating. They are very catty with each other, but India ultimately says Ross can’t stop thinking of Blake and she has to bow out. India leaves and Ross later stops by, surprising Blake. Ross asks if he can spend more time with the boys going forward because he feels like they’re growing up too fast. She thinks he’s also there to discuss them getting back together, so she tells him she’s not ready yet and wants to focus on the boys and getting her own life back in order. He says that’s what he needs to do too and that’s not what he was coming over to tell her. He then presents her with divorce papers and says he came by so she could sign them, which surprises her. She starts crying and he’s solemn, and they bring out old family/wedding photos to determine how to split them up between them. A teary-eyed Ross says no, they need to put them in a nice photo album so they can remember the good times. They sign the divorce papers together, Blake gives Ross a hug, and he tearfully leaves. As a general Ross/Blake fan, this was such an emotional scene. Later that night, Ross runs into Ben at Millennium and they catch up. Ross’s secretary shows up with his signed divorce papers, which Ben notices. Ben says he and Blake are working on a nice friendship, but Ross tells him to give her space and let her get back on her feet again.

Annie shows up at the Spaulding mansion to see Lizzie, which makes Lizzie excited. Phillip shows up and gets angry at Annie, but Annie says Alan sent her over to check on Lizzie, which Phillip doesn’t believe. She tries to convince him that she’s working hard to be a different woman, and even brought up their old friendship (which I loved). Phillip says he’s happy for her, but she’s still not a person he wants to be a role model for Lizzie.

Reva is back from their vacation and I guess that wasn’t a honeymoon yet. She tells Cassie about her hypnotherapy and the strange door in San Cristobel, and how she doesn’t want to face it anymore, but she can’t get the vision of the door out of her head. Josh comes home and she voices her fears, so he calls the hypnotherapist again and she comes over and puts Reva under. While under, Reva opens the door and tells whoever is behind the door to put what they’re holding down because it’s hers. The doctor and Josh push her on who is there and she says it’s her past that she forgot about. Josh pushes her to take back what’s hers, so she finally does and we see her holding a book that reads “Reva Shayne 1991-1993” (the missing years of her life). Reva laters tells them it was her diary with her own handwriting and if they find it, she’ll know what happened to her.

Buzz has now reopened Company, but changed the name to Petula’s, which was his pet name for Jenna. He has a big portrait of Jenna inside and it’s become a mix of the old Company and the Greek diner. Frank shows up and says he and Harley are worried about him given how he’s turned Company into a Jenna shrine. Meanwhile, Billy is back and walks in and introduces himself to Selena. He mentions that he wants to talk to Buzz because he used to work for him, but she finds that odd since he’s part of the Lewis Oil family and rich. Billy mentions Spaulding still has control, but the Lewis family will take it back over soon (finally, they didn’t forget this storyline). It seems like they’re chem testing these two, which is interesting because Selena then smiles and Billy invites her to dinner and a concert with him. She asks Buzz if she can get off work early to go, and at first he says no, but changes his mind. Billy then thanks Buzz and congratulates him on the new place. Later, Selena goes to Drew and Jesse’s place, nervous about her date, and Drew gives her advice on how to dress better and date men generally. But Selena thinks about Buzz and Drew says maybe this date with Billy will make Buzz jealous and make him realize he likes her. Meanwhile, Reva stops by Petula’s as Buzz is shutting it down and she talks to him about how Jenna would want him to move on. He says it’s too hard to ask Selena on a date when in the back of his mind he’s still thinking about Jenna. Reva kisses him goodbye and he spends the night talking to Jenna’s portrait, but having flashbacks to his kiss with Selena. He then tells Jenna’s portrait that he doesn’t need to change Company’s name to remember her because she’ll always be with him. Billy and Selena’s date is a bit awkward and they talk about Buzz quite a bit. Billy seems to enjoy it, but it’s clear Selena isn’t because she wants Buzz.

Susan continues to be an annoying menace and Jim/Beth try to reason with her to no avail. Susan overhears Jim telling Beth that Josh wants him to go to the Bahamas immediately on a quick work trip and he wants to take Beth. Susan gets upset and happens to overhear Buzz calling in a prescription for sleeping pills and gets an idea. She pretends to like Beth again and apologizes to her over lunch, but we see her spiking Beth’s drink with some of Buzz’s pills in an attempt to stop Beth from going to the Bahamas. Jim shows up at the lunch and Beth tells him that Susan has apologized and is happy they’re going to be together now, which pleases him. Beth finally takes a drink from her soda and Susan gets happy. Jim and Beth leave to pack for the trip, but Susan starts feeling weird and falls asleep at the table, meaning she mixed up the drinks and accidentally drank the spiked one instead of Beth’s. Max, with a new haircut, walks in and wakes her up and Susan realizes what happened and gets angry. She’s still drowsy and loopy from the pills, but takes Max to a lake. She jumps in, but he has to save her and gets angry at her for everything she’s done that night. Susan cries about how her dad has left her, but Max calls her a spoiled brat who can’t see everything else she has in front of her (which he never had). He then says he cares about her, which surprises her and they hug. Meanwhile, a very excited Jim and Beth are at the airport about to board their flight but Harley calls him and says Susan never came home and she’s missing. Jim gets angry and they realize Susan was putting on an act, so Jim sadly has to cancel the trip so he can look for Susan. He magically knows to go to the lake and finds the two of them huddled together and goes off on them. Beth shows up, which Susan of course hates, and Max is mouthy with Jim. Max mentions the sleeping pills but Susan is quick to say she was so sad that she wanted to hurt herself. Max tells her it’s not cool to lie about suicide, so he pushes her to tell the truth which she finally does. Beth and Jim are shocked that Susan would want to hurt Beth. Drew and Jesse then show up (Harley called them), and Jim accuses Max of always getting Susan into trouble because he’s trouble himself. That doesn’t go over well with Drew so she defends Max because Susan took him to the lake and he saved her from drowning. Jim then calls Drew a child - a child raising a child - and that lights Max up and he tells Jim to back off. Jim then says he’s going to call social services in the morning, which upsets Drew and Max, and they all leave. Drew cries to Jesse that she’s concerned because social services will do an investigation and realize Max and Drew aren’t related, which scares her.

Danny surprises Michelle by telling her he wants to send her to San Cristobel, which is a paradise that the family has friends in and loves to visit. They’re really starting to build this place up outside of Reva/Josh! Michelle gets excited and thinks of it like a honeymoon, but he then says she’ll be going with Pilar instead of him and she scoffs. She eventually gets over it, even though she won’t go, and they continue to profess their love to each other.

Abby confides in Meta about how some of the new sounds, like the bomb timer, are scaring her. Meta tries to comfort her. Meanwhile, Rick voices his concerns to Phillip about Michelle and her mob life. He asks Phillip to go watch over Abby while he goes to confront Danny. Rick shows up to Danny/Michelle’s and asks him to give his sister back to the Bauer family. They keep trying to convince Rick that she’ll be ok, but he doesn’t believe it and leaves and confides in Phillip again about how worried and upset he is.

Carmen is trying to figure out which family tried to kill them, but tells Ben she’s happy he’s there to support her and they kiss. She vows to take over all the families again and become the most powerful woman in town, which intrigues Ben and he seems to be aligned with her again. She privately calls Dietz about something, and then we see Danny get a call from someone telling him that another bomb threat was just made on the house. He leaves Michelle at the lighthouse and runs to the house, but Carmen says she doesn’t know what he’s talking about and he wants to know who has his cell phone number. He realizes it was a ruse to get him away from Michelle and we then see two men enter the lighthouse and grab a screaming Michelle. Danny tries to call Michelle’s cell but she doesn’t pick up and he gets worried and assumes Carmen is involved. She denies it and he leaves, but Ben tells Carmen to tell him the truth. She says she called Dietz earlier, but it wasn’t about Michelle, it was about him. She surprises him by naming him president of SanCorp, one of their companies to rival Alan Spaulding, whom he’s always wanted to get back at.

Danny gets to the lighthouse and Michelle is missing but he sees her cell on the floor. We then see Michelle locked in a hospital room, but Rick comes in and tells her he is placing her under a 72-hour psychiatric hold. She’s shocked and angry that Rick was behind this, but he said he had to do this to keep her safe, and Ed is supportive. Rick then admits that it was Phillip that called in the fake bomb threat to get Michelle alone. Danny shows up and fights with Rick, demanding he let her go, but Rick stands firm on his decision. Danny tells Michelle through the door that he will somehow get her out. Danny and Carmen later find out which family organized the bomb and they take care of them. Danny rushes to the hospital and tells Rick they’re safe now, but Rick doesn’t care because he’s so adamant about keeping Michelle away from him. Abby is upset with Rick for what he did and sides with Danny and Michelle, saying that he’s doing to Michelle what Abby’s parents did to her. The doctor says it might be good for Michelle’s mental health to let her talk to Danny for a bit, so Danny is able to get inside her room and they have a little reunion.

Marah surprises Reva and Josh by coming home on a bus from Tulsa, which upsets them at first for not telling Rusty or them, but Marah says she bought Reva a present. She gives her a bracelet, which an old lady she met at a bus stop said she should buy for Reva. Marah says the old lady once knew Reva and wanted Marah to tell her that once she goes on her trip, she’ll find all the answers she’s looking for, which shocks Reva and Josh. She then shows them a drawing that the old lady gave her, which happens to be the San Cristobel royal crest that matches Reva’s ring. Marah is concerned about what it all means, but Reva tells her the crests don’t really match and she shouldn’t worry about anything. After Marah leaves, Reva tells Josh the crests are identical and she’s going to book airline tickets tomorrow because she has to get to the bottom of this.

@alwaysAMC Another fine review. IIRC the show is improving a bit starting in the Spring, your thoughts? I say this as someone who was not a fan of B&E at the time and wished they would leave.

8 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I’m up to June 23, 1999.

e we see her holding a book that reads “Reva Shayne 1991-1993” (the missing years of her life).

. Meanwhile, Billy is back and walks in and introduces himself to Selena.

Just point of order---Reva went off the bridge in 1990, not '91. TIIC couldn't even get that right.

I love Billy, and thought I remembered him knowing Selena. Boo---hiss! A) Billy deserves better than hankerin' after some ex-ho, and B ) what kind of lunkhead would be more interested in Buzz than Billy?

I remember there being some uproar over Rick throwing Michelle into a psych ward. I see the logic in it.

Edited 19 minutes ago19 min by P.J.