OLTL: Discussion for the week January 4

[SlezaksOLTL]

Amen.

Why exactly is there never any follow-up with the Charlie-Viki story? It sure needs it. They had such great dramatic scenes on Monday, incredibly acted and pure character driven, yet they were off air for two days and then today there were so many characters on, it was not fair to the Charlie-Viki end, even Natalie, who again has been great, it just was not fair in the lack of follow-up and being off air for so many days and such short choppy scenes. I sure do not get what OL is thinking pushing the whole Rex tri so much, I just FF whenever I see them now, they are horribly acted and the story is just stupid. But they need more Viki story overall. Dorian is on every day too it is almost overkill and surely not balanced since Viki sure doesn't get that kind of focus on the show.

[DRW50]

If Adrianna's return was because of MF's popularity, then I think they did her a disservice, because the whole return was about her being spiteful to poor Gigi, being given the stink eye by Roxy, and finally getting a fist to the face before she slinked back out of town. I think the main reason she didn't get worse may have been MF's limited run.

If Adrianna had stayed, then she might have had good story, although I wonder if Stacy inherited some of the story plans they may have had for Adrianna. Or if she would have just been shut down entirely once her purpose in a story was served, as happened to Jared, Blair, Marty, among others, over the past year.

Whether Brody or Adrianna were popular with fans, I think that was just a byproduct to the real goal, which was to make people root for Gigi and Rex. The story since then has changed, in that Gigi is now put up as more of a perpetual human sacrifice and the story is more about Rex being mistreated and acting out, but Sky and Stacy fit into the roles Brody and Adrianna had.

Sonny and Carly and Zach and Kendall were, for a time, extremely popular couples. In the long run, those couples imploded and damaged many around them, but they had some moments in the sun. They also had to deal with multiple recasts and multiple headwriting teams, some of whom obviously hated writing for them as a couple.

Rex and Gigi didn't have any of that to worry about. The actors are still there and so is the same writing and production team. I know Frons is a problem but he can't be the entire problem. So when they fall apart so quickly, I have to wonder if the couple themselves may have been flawed from early on. It might have helped if the show hadn't transitioned them into being the fated, starcrossed soulmates, and the man is abusive, the woman self-destructive, in the name of love. I think if they were going to be a truly strong couple then they would have been better off as they were earlier on, before it became all about Gigi waiting ten years to ever let another man touch her, and fate and time and plot devices working against them, and all that stuff. There was so much organic conflict waiting for them which was ignored.

[Vee]

Melissa Fumero certainly doesn't think they did Adriana a disservice. She was singing the praises of Adriana's bitch turn in her Cramer coven interview over at DC. That story worked IMO because both Adriana and Gigi had plenty of reasons to feel as they did about each other, and Adriana was also getting a dose of karma for her and Rex's insufferably smug behavior near the end of Dena Higley's OLTL - I thought she more than deserved that punch, but I also loved watching her. They finally stopped painting Adriana's shitty behavior from 2005-2007 as heroism; Rex, OTOH, wasn't so lucky. At first he took some lumps; Todd tormented him, rightly so, for what he did re: Tommy, and Rex was karmically punished for most of '08 by not knowing he had a nine year old child. But later, it became all about poor Rex.

I think Rex and Gigi were broken as a couple, probably irreparably, by the Stacy story, material that both didn't work and which they were not suited for, as well as an endless frontburner story designed to prop Rex. Rex is and has been one of the least likeable characters on the show since at least the time of Stacy and Gigi's "deal." The audience - or at least, I - am not allowed to trust in the idea that the show will truly advocate for Gigi's point of view, because we've been taught more than once that Rex can't really be to blame, and the story appears to be tipping that way now.

[DeeeDee]

Amen.

The actors are horrible & can't carry the writing.

They need to be recast but they won't for obvious reasons.

[EricMontreal22]

The writing is as much to fault for me--I say a recast would only prolong the agony--cut your losses OLTL

[NorrthCafe]

I feel like I missed a plot point from yesterday's show. Are we supposed to believe Mitch/Dorian/Lowell's cover story would work and that no one would find out it was a lie? John McBain came in as an FBI agent, didn't he? Surely he would still have contacts. Who was Lowell supposed to be working undercover with, if not the FBI, the 'DEA'? What part of the 'federal government' was he supposed to be working with in his undercover sting?

I'm confused now. This storyline can't die fast enough for me. The longer it goes on, the more it falls apart.

[SFK]

Robin Strasser is really good at playing kooky old lady. I'm not saying that's who Dorian was today, the Mel stuff was sweet. But she's really good at straddling the line of Cramer woman on the verge of a breakdown and Dorian Cramer, fiercely determined to keep it together.

Grown folks observation:

[NorrthCafe]

I love the OLTL writers, despite Tea's dialogue, today (She's so happy that TODD forgave her... groan)! What I love about OLTL writers is that they seem to know ahead of time what some fans complaints will be. I'm tired of seeing Dorian act as a doormat and have complained about that for the last week or so. Today the fighting mad Dorian Lord came back together. Love that. They had it planned all along.

SPECULATION: Does anyone think that the writers are setting up a custody battle between Rex and Fish? Now that would be interesting.

[Eric83]

I doubt it, he will go back to Gigi. Gigi will hate Schulyer when she finds out he knew Stacy wasn't carrying Rex's baby. Rex still wants a DNA test (?), so when he learns the truth, I can see him dropping the baby like a hot potato.

[oltl1]

Why are TPTB continuing to make Rex such a douche. If the plan is to make the viewers hate him so they can get rid of him then job well done, pull the trigger. His talk with Gigi was like nails on a chalk board. The more these 2 are together the worst it gets. I remember when Jen died and Rex found her in the car thinking that JPL had really improved as an actor and his time with Adrianna and the beginning of the Gigi story was great. Now I think the kid needs help. I'm almost starting to feel sorry for him, God knows I feel sorry for me every time he shows on my screen.

Great end to today's episode, was not expecting Mitch to walk in at all and how great was Dorian's reaction. RS is gold.

[DRW50]

I think this is someone's idea of being a hero. Ryan on AMC has acted this way for years and it never changes.

[DeeeDee]

Rachel/Sky.

[Cheap21]

yeah I love the idea of them as roommates. They tend to have some of the best scenes on the show and I enjoy their friendship

[DeeeDee]

Too bad TPTB are about to ruin them & backburner Daphne.

[alexisfan07]

Pretty sure they're actually gearing up for a triangle with Rachel and Greg when Gigi dumps Schuyler, which we know will happen. And I LOVE the idea of Rachel and Schuyler as a couple. The interracial aspect is just a bonus. They should try Greg with Blair or Marty.