ATWT: December Discussion

[P.J.]

I don't deny the pace annoys me. But six months of Craig "being torn" between the sisters would have killed me. Specifically in reintroducing Molly, I think TIIC just overstuffed the plot to give Jack a reason he needed to "save" her and Molly a reason to be open to return to Oakdale with a whiff of disgrace surrounding her. I mean, I wish Jack could have been on his "tour" for a minimum of six weeks, which would have set up Janet's disillusionment with him and their marriage better. If this was ten years ago it would have been an entire summer story. But given that Maura was on maternity leave, I can also see where it would have more damaging to Jack's character to "check out" on his kids for that long.

Dusty---I think Molly was talking about the way she went after revenge sex with Jack after finding out about Carly's ONS with Mike after Jack called off their wedding. I forget the precise details, but it ended with Carly punching Molly at the Lakeview. (I think Carly came home from the "honeymoon" she took by herself after Jack found out, and found Molly in Milltown, having failed to seduce Jack into revenge sex, but implying she had. I remember it was funnier than usual because Lesli had just recently had a boob job and she's shoved her inflated "girls" in Mikey's face. I think Jack threw Carly out, and somehow the combination of Mike, Molly and Carly all ran into each other outside the Lakeview, and Carly walloped Molly and told her to stay away from Jack. I know it's February '03, if you wanna check out recaps to get the precise run down. I'll admit, I was stumped about WTF Molly was talking about until I started trying to tell you I didn't know WTF they were talking about...LOL.)

I rewatched the eppy last night---and I swear, Maura's almost crying looking at those bottles.

IA---Janet's a bitch. I don't think her "concern" over Carly's sobriety extends past suddenly realizing that Jack doesn't need another excuse to play Carly's watchdog. And any hint she's struggling with Demon Rum would keep him on the couch in Milltown.

***I did check out youtube hoping to at least see Carly wallop Molly, and in watching an eppy from '03, I was struck at how lavish the sets used to be be. I was watching a party at Metro, and there were fresh flowers, extras up the wazhoo and more than two contract players in the same scene. How the times have changed.

[P.J.]

I see we're back to our normal level of talk about the show....

Anyway--I thought today was a solid show. Kind of overstuffed in a way, having the Mick, Meg, Casey/Ali/Hunter/Maddie quad and the Carly/Jack/Craig/Ro stories all going on in the same day. Which seems to be a weird complaint, given how I've screamed about one/two story episodes.

Craig is a slimey, horndog sniveling CREEP. I almost felt sorry for JL trying to sell that crap---the talk of "closure by begging Carly to sleep with him". Then I remember I hate his Craig and got over it--quick. I still think TIIC have lost their way with this character...ShefferCraig (the Ball-full Man of Oakdale) would never have begged any woman to sleep with him, even as drunk as he apparently was. I don't know if I was supposed to believe he wasn't that drunk because he drove home and it went undetected by Rosanna, or if I'm just supposed to believe getting turned down by Carly sobered him up really quick.

I do love how friendly Carly and Jack suddenly (or not so suddenly) are. The old Jack would have thrown Craig out before Carly said anything, or at least threatened to go bust Craig in the jaw for propositioning Carly after yelling at Carly for even letting him in the door. But he did neither. I do wish Carly had had the balls to bust Craig right away and not backed down over a family-esque moment.

I don't exactly like the Mick story---but I gotta admit, he's got the creepy stare thing down pat.

LOVE Babs and Henry.

[Actor87]

The other day, Ali asked Mick to go see a doctor, but he claimed he didn't have time. Now, a day later in Oakdale time, he says he went to see one and the doctor said his problems are stress-related. I know he's fibbing to Alison, but damn that girl's gullible. He was with her the earlier part of "today", which was actually yesterday; and he's been with Paul and Emily the latter half. How the hell does she NOT know he's takin her for a ride?

It may be the artsy side of me speaking, but I found Alison's dream sequence with Mick pretty freakin' awesome from a technical aspect.

The James Stenbeck fingerprint reveal should've been the closing scene.

I agree, Peej. Jack has warmed up pretty quickly (maybe a tiny tad too quicky); especially considering he was resentful, self-loathing, and snippy just about 2 weeks ago during his "soul-searching" road trip.

Casey tells Hunter to stop while he's ahead and that he has the toys under control. Cut to the next scene where Alison walks in on them smiling and assembling toys together. This is one thing that irks me. The lack of transition between scenes. One minute Casey's telling Hunter to buzz off; the next, they're having a jolly ole time together.

Hunter's last name is Hunter?? I thought he had a last name??? I'm guessing this is supposed to be the prelude to

^^If it is last name-related, then I guess we can count that as yet another backtrack........ *eyeroll*

I don't guess anyone ever reads my posts, LOL, cause this is exactly what I've been screamin' about Metro lately! (And I still uber-miss the old Snyder Pond set!!)

[P.J.]

Well, I think being around Carly has worked wonders for Jack. He no longer has to face scowling Libby and Janet "should you be having those beers after shooting your brother?" Ciccone everyday. At least not together.

I read them---and I knew the changes had been drastic. I used to love those front stairs they had. And it's the rare occasion when we get extras anymore. But to see it so vividly was a stark reminder of how tight things have become.

[P.J.]

I loved the entire episode today. It really had that old family-filled ATWT vibe to it. Even though it was only about the lead in to the wedding, and had very few actual family members (since everyone seems to be boycotting it.).

[soapfan770]

Just watched it and it was a fantastic show today. My favorite part was Rosanna's nightmare at the beginning of the episode. Nominally I don't like recreated flashbacks but I'll let this one pass. Everything was well set up for a train wreck it would seem. Terri and Liberty both need to STFU and die slow and painful deaths ASAP...

[P.J.]

I think my favorite part was Carly laughing hysterically just as Rosanna said something along the lines of living happily ever after, thinking Jack was pulling her leg about being Craig's best man.

I wonder if wardrobe realizes the jacket Carly wore today was the same one she wore at her first jilting of Craig in the Lakeview bar?

[Soapsuds]

I haven't seen today's show.This week's show have been ok but I enjoyed last week's show better. I want my carjack reunion soon! I've read several spoilers concerning them and their children....hehe...The spoilers for the first week of January look good!

[soapfan770]

Goodbye Rosanna it seems as today was McCain's last day I believe. At least she got a decent sendoff unlike her '08 sendoff. I'm happy this whole Carly/Ro/Craig stuff is finally over. Carly and Ro's final scenes were touching as was Rosanna's last scene with Johnny.

The rest of the show I could really care less for. Who cares about Janet and Teri's jealousy? I also hated how Katie rolled her eyes and blamed Carly for Craig's wedding falling apart WITHOUT knowing any circumstances.

[Actor87]

Today was okay.

Maybe I'm just noticing it, but it looks like Cady McClain's last day on set had her excited. The eye fluttering was back in full motion.

The Craig/Rosanna heart to heart was beautifully written, but they should have had this talk waaaay before the writers shoved them into a relationship. And hopefully, if they had done it before, the talk would've lasted longer than 20 minutes of an episode.

I think TPTB want us to think that the Craig/Carly summer romance was something out of a fairytale, but I honestly don't recall one scene with them this past summer where Carly wasn't drunk and Craig wasn't manipulating.

I find it ironic that Carly's wearing the same jacket she wore to her "last minute backout" wedding to Craig (in the Lakeview lobby). But P.J. already covered that.

Jon Lindstrom just can. not. sell. Craig to me.... His apparent efforts at emotion were just....painful to watch. And I honestly can't tell if Craig's unbelievability should be attributed to Lindstrom's deadpanned stares or the writers' shoddy tries at making Craig less of a villain and more of a human than what he's been in the past.

I was surprised Jack didn't slug Henry when he popped off about "talk to your brother". I also thought the grave scenes were really good, especially with Carly lurking in the background. The question Jack asked Brad (why haunt Henry/Katie/Simon when I'm the one who killed you) is the same one I've been wondering for a while. I mean, ghostBrad was a few feet away from Jack at Metro and he was too worried about Simon boinking Katie to even notice his brother and try to talk to him (although Jack would've probably slugged Henry then, for sure). Kinda like the other day when in one scene, ghostBrad's outside Al's and Carly and Simon are inside. Next scene, ghostBrad's still outside Al's talking to GhostWaitress and Jack has walked inside (obviously having to pass through ghostBrad to get in). TPTB are missing an important chance for Jack to make peace with what he did (I'm sure Brad would forgive him/tell him not to blame himself/etc). It's hard for me to believe Jack's struggle when the writers are completely ignoring the Jack situation with the writing for ghostBrad.

I am loving me some Skatie, though!!

And soapfan770--I'm with ya. I could care less about Janet and Teri's rivalry over Dusty. But apparently, CG loves the Ciccone family and is determined to put them on our screens as much as possible.

[P.J.]

^^^I remember thinking during that GhostBrad/DeadWaitress scene that Jack and Simon were supposed to be fighting through that window behind Brad.

The one kind of emotional beat they've missed during this GhostBrad stuff is Jack reacting to Henry. Not specifically Henry "channeling" Brad, but just "does Jack blame Henry for Brad's death?" because Henry is the reason Ralph was in town. I mean, we know that Jack blames both Simon and Craig for stuff Carly did....there's an excellent way to show that either Jack has lost some of his judgmental 'tude or just forgiven Henry for his part in it.

As for Friday's show---in some ways I felt it was a letdown. There were parts that were excellently done. The Craig/Ro talk was long overdue. Even though I'm still not moved by Lindstrom's acting chops. The Carly/Jack moments where he found out about the "sex test" and she admitted she'd only been with Craig out of a need to feel like less of a screwup. And of course that moment where she went..."if you'd been there..." and then painfully backed off to "..but we've been over for a long time"...'cause they're proving they're not over. And the last scene at the grave---oh, Mikey rocked that all right.

I felt like I could see Ro's spine growing little by little. The way she stopped Carly cold with "there's not going to be a wedding today, Carly," and "this isn't about you, it's about me, and it feels good." That's tough and compassionate Ro. I could have eaten up the scene with her advice to Carly "don't settle; go after what you want; that's the Carly I love." *BEG* It's pro-Jack/anti-Craig all in one neat little bundle.

The part that didn't work was the tacked on ending where Ro's going off to Germany---uh, ever since she came back, she's been all about sustainable this and tofu-eating that---any job Stateside would have done. If TIIC hadn't completely dropped the Craig/Ro business side, she could have simply taken an offer from an old friend to run a smallerish company with a nobler vision than zipping along the Autobahn at 160 mph.

I disliked the entire "Jan and Dusty come to the wedding" subplot. Well, at least on the level that Jan The Good Moral Wife is rubbing Jack's nose in her date. But then he ran out on her again--and I can live with that. I actually think Teri being clued in to the "friendship" between Dusty and Jan is funny. I'm for anyone who doesn't worship the ground Jan walks on.

The only thing I'll say about the GhostBrad story is that it's entering "creepy" territory the more angry Brad becomes worrying Katie is "moving on" from him. Hopefully, TIIC will tie in why Brad's so unconcerned about everyone else in his life with Brad's goodbye.

[P.J.]

Not surprising no one commented on Monday's eppy. I felt it hit that "plot device" wall at 100mph and needed to be vaccumed up with a wet vac...UGH, what sane writer makes Katie decide she and her dead husband's ghost can still have a relationship? It's stupid and disturbing on several levels. It seems like what should have been a sweet testament to Brad's "undying love" for Katie has drifted into some macabre tale of obsessive love reaching out from beyond the grave.

It's a sad day when the Meg/Damian/Lily nonsense is actually the better story. I found myself actually liking Paul giving Meg advice on how to beat the system, and then sticking up for her to Holden. Paul, sane? Weird.

[dragonflies]

I agree completely PJ

Ugh the thought of Emiloony raising any child make me shudder. She ignored Daniel for months in favor of having sex with Paul. The last thing these two need is a kid

[ChiTownBoi03]

Haven't been in this thread in awhile...there's a whole lot of otherworldly things going on in Oakdale nowadays.

With Brad's ghost running around, possessing peoples bodies, and "Mick" with this anti-aging drug--I really don't know what to expect when I watch now lol. With that said, Barbara really made those scenes with Mick creepy and intense. I mean, Mick sort of creeps me out anyway. I'm not sure where they're going with this, but so far Barbara *and* Emily have been taking this mystery drug.

Still lovin' some NUTMEG! I don't feel sorry for her one bit though. After all of her hypocrisy with Paul in the past, she goes and starts making the same poor choices. Damian is YUMMAY, but I don't think he's worth losing my monkey mind over. Meg made it way too easy for him to make people think she's nuts.

Casey and Allison ZZzzzz...

[Soapsuds]

I loved the ending with NutMeg sticking it to Damian...lol. The whole hearing though was bizarre with no attorneys representing Meg?? I actually enjoyed today's show. As for yesterday's show ...thank gawd this is the last week for ghost Brad. He should have disappeared long time ago. I was hoping for a Simon/Katie redux but it looks like we wont get it.