Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[j swift]

I'm of two minds on this issue.

I really liked Nadine.  I thought she was unique and had a ton of potential.

But, it is also thrilling when a central, beloved character is the victim of murder.  We hear so many complaints about serial murder stories on soaps, where they only kill off side characters.  So, a story has some real gravitas, and long-lasting consequences when they bump off someone from a core family.  As much as I missed them, and hope the actor gets work elsewhere, it is so shocking when it happens that it is often worth it.

Like, when Drew Barrymore is killed in Scream, it pulls the rug out, and gives you the excitement that anything is possible.  Especially in a genre where plots are often foreshadowed weeks in advance. 

[bboy875]

With Nadine's murder, I'm always stuck on the plot holes. For one, they really believed Nadine left town without telling anyone right after they wrongly received the news that Lucy's hiv test was positive? What happened to her car, clothes and other belongings? And Brent really left his door unlocked which is how she walked in? 

[DRW50]

I think his name was Carroll. IIRC he left town before McTavish arrived, but I'm not sure.

Thanks. There was something, but not good enough.

I did like Nadine predicting her own murder, and the pitiful, "It was me," as the candlestick or whatever it was came crashing down.

They did a good job getting the thriller stakes right with the deaths of Nadine and Cutter. They were genuinely disturbing. One of the few stories on soaps along these lines that I found to be chilling.

[Khan]

The problem I had with that twist goes back to something I learned as a kid: psychics don't usually have premonitions of their own deaths.  (I mean, I could be wrong, but that's what I was told once, lol).  So, when it happened to Nadine, I guess I couldn't suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the irony.

[DRW50]

That's true, although I suppose giving her psychic powers was a cheat anyway, as she only got them for that storyline, unlike, say, Frankie on AW.

[P.J.]

Thanks everyone! I just stumbled on that scene, and got to wondering who in town was even close enough to Nadine to mourn her other than the Coopers.

[Khan]

Just as it seemed Reva had developed psychic abilities solely to find out who killed Eva Galli Annabelle's mom Maryanne Caruthers.  I mean, I don't THINK that was the intent, but that's how it turned out, lol.

Edited December 13, 2024 by Khan

[Mitch64]

Actually, she was psychic before during the JFP era..I think it was when GhostReva was floating around and she felt her. It was just a gimmick to give another Cooper something to do, but with Nadine they could have made her the Aunt Clara of psychics, always getting some detail wrong and everyone rolling their eyes at her latest

 

Everyone knew her..Josh, as she was married to Billy, Ed, Holly (she had a talk show at WSPR) Alex, Bridget (I hated the attic hiding the baby thing, but I loved the Bridget/Nadine relationship where Bridget always insulted her clothes ) Vanessa (though there was history there.) When they brought Buzz on they severed all of that to have Nadine stuck at the diner, chasing after Buzz or listening to that dullard Lucy.

[P.J.]

Yes, I'm sure they would've scraped up people to go to the funeral, but other than Bridget and Frank, was Nadine really close to anyone? I shudder to think of Vanessa having to speak some BS about how "misunderstood" Nadine was in life.  Nadine was "that" person---the one who wears out their welcome quickly and people end up avoiding at all costs.

[DRW50]

I think that nuance could have made the funeral more interesting, especially as this was around the time Vanessa's illness story would have been starting.

[P.J.]

It might have. I just always found Nadine so shallow, I'm not sure anyone could made her seem sympathetic to me. 

[Khan]

TBH, I would've been fine with everyone in Springfield assuming Nadine had left town and only the audience ever knowing the truth.

[P.J.]

Ditto. 

[Mitch64]

 

Wow...and I thought that I really didn't like Nadine!  I think that a small family service would be good, with a couple of other people like Bridget there...Vanessa would go cause she would feel she "had" to as in some strange way Peter got to her through Nadine, Ross would go as he used to schtump her...(who didn't he thought, except Reva (that God) Alex (she laid a kiss on him though) and Maureen.?)  Just having everyone think she left town would be weird, even Nadine would have to get in contact with her kids once in a while.

I thought that Nadine and Nola would be kind of fun, in an Ab Fab kind of way, with Nola being able to talk her into some of her schemes..."Here Nadine, put this wig on, your going disguised as a maid to get into Alan's study...."but other then goofiness there was nothing more for her to do...and I was over her pining over Buzzard!

[Khan]

It's more than my not caring for Nadine, though.  It's like not everyone in Y&R's Genoa City knowing for years that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's biological father.  Sometimes, in life, things happen (like a person "disappearing" because they've been murdered) that not everyone in town is privy to.  And you have to remember: Nadine was an absentee mom for much of Frank and Harley's lives. They'd be disappointed at the thought of their mom turning tail and running again, but they'd also assume that Nadine had just reverted to her old ways.