ATWT: Your thoughts on the Montgomery/Peretti family

[DRW50]

The Dobsons revamp of ATWT brought a new family in through the guise of scandal and shock. Margo, secret daughter of Bob's tormented fiance Lyla, and town rogue John Dixon. Margo's brother Craig, and kid sister Cricket. Cricket left after a few years but Margo and Craig, after starting on the wrong side of the tracks, both increasingly attained status in the show's hierarchy, as funny, tough, sometimes weak, but also very caring. Then of course Lyla found love again with hunky young doctor Casey Peretti and had a child, Katie. And then there were others who were extensions of the family, like John's many children by others (Andy, Duke, MJ, et al.)

The family is now the only one in Oakdale with three adult siblings still remaining in town, but I was wondering how people felt about them. It's probably not any secret that Craig went from being one of my favorite characters in the Bryce years to one I loathed ever since his return in 2000. Even now, when he is no longer written as some kind of smug sociopath, he is directionless, whiny, and his stories are full of sad rewrites (the latest being that he was whoring around while married to Sierra and Lily and Lucinda kept a child from him because they thought he was such a terror).

Margo is another character I once loved, and looking back I'm almost surprised at just how much she moved me during most of her big stories during the Marland years. I miss her humor and her heart and anything which made her more than the jaded, bitter, and frankly, dull woman she has become.

Katie returned as a poorly written mess, and even when she gained popularity (mostly through Henry and Simon), she has still been a confusing character. She is probably best as a comic sparkplug schemer type of figure, yet the show has tried to write her as the heroine over and over, and tried to put her in a variety of grand romances which, with some exceptions (she did some of her best work with Brad), she has never been suited for. There's also a raging sense of entitlement with this character, not just from herself, but from TPTB as well.

I think what I miss the most is the sense of family that this group had, especially when Lyla was around. I don't think they have ever been the same without Lyla. I know Katie would benefited from a figure like Lyla. As it is now I often struggle to remember these people are related, and even when they've had sibling scenes together, I've never really bought it, as I so often did with Bryce and HBS or Dolan.

I guess you can call this family survivors, but unfortunately for them surviving has meant losing just about everything which made them special in the first place.

[soapfan770]

Good God Craig and Lucy have been completely unbelievable as siblings and the connection this past ten years have been only used rarely for some preposterous reasons. You know, like back in '05 when Craig and Katie agreed to team up to break up Mike and Jennifer, or back in December '08 when Lucy and sick Johnny came back town, only for Katie to randomly discover this and blab to Craig which caused Lucy and Johnny to flee again like a week later.

Katie has always been such a bad character. Even though I did warm up to her some there from 2001-2003, by 2005 I had enough of her when it was clear she was destined for self-righteous hypocritical sainthood. She destroyed two marriages(Mike and Jennifer, Jack and Carly; the former was because she was a homewrecker, the latter is because she felt the need to be extremely nosy and help defend her eventual kidnapper and attempted murderer) and then destroyed her own but always managed to pass the blame and come out looking good. It was all downhill til Brad's death or so. I found the worn, down and out Katie a little more tolerable.

[DRW50]

The only time I sort of believed Katie and Craig was when Katie was still a schemer and Hunt Block's Craig would use her for his own ends and sort of sneer at her -- they weren't really believable or very entertaining siblings but I could see where they were not that far off, they were both very empty people. Ever since they tried to make Katie their big heroine it's been increasingly difficult to believe her scenes with her family, and the show seemed to give up long ago. It's funny because it was her relationship with Henry which first made Terri Conn popular with viewers after a very rough time the first year, and at the show's end it will probably still be her relationship with Henry which people will remember.

I don't need soap families to be close but when I see some of the killer scenes that Scott Bryce and HBS had as brother and sister, especially around the time Margo had Adam, it just makes me sad. I can't believe these are the same characters.

[Soapsuds]

Loved the family dynamics of the Montgomerys. Douglas Marland did a hell of a job writing for each and everyone of them. Lyla-the mother who tried to be there for her family and still have her career and singing. Yet, thinking she had the best morale son only to be disappointed by Craig(Scott Bryce). Lyla was the kind of mother who thought her son could do no wrong. When she found out what her son was capable of Lyla was horrified and felt so much shame. My mom hated Lyle for being so high and mighty about Craig. She loved it when Lyla was proven wrong about her son's misdeeds.

The whole Margo and Casey Peretti pulling the plug was great! The confrontation between Lyla and Margo was nicely done. The only thing I didnt like was katie so easily forgiving Margo for taking her father away from her. There could still be so much story for them two. But now it is too late.

I think it was Marland who sent Lyla and Katie packing. Later to return in guest appearances. I guess Marland didnt know what to do with the Lyla character. It is a shame. Her presence was sorely missed.

[DRW50]

Lyla did seem to have a few small stories towards the end, like the relationship with Cal and their breakup over Native American land rights, but I agree they seemed to not know what to do with her. I don't know who it was who wrote her out, I think she left in fall 1993 which might have been when Marland's work was already out, but to not bring her back, aside from a thankless appearance in 2000 when Bryant was arrested, was a horrible idea. The family desperately needed Lyla to be there to talk to them and try to counsel them. She certainly wasn't a perfect mother but she helped fill a void. Margo in particular was damaged by this. I don't think Margo EVER recovered from that period between 96-97 where she went around screaming and being crazy and Tom would scream at her.

That was odd. Didn't she get over it almost immediately and then used the tape Casey had left for her to tape some conversation with Chris or Georgia or someone? How crass. I think ATWT thought they were being clever by having Katie be so crass and having Lyla painted as an awful mother but I think it backfired in a big way.

[Soapsuds]

I just think there should have been so much more with these three ladies. This story could have lasted for years. The fallout that is.

[DRW50]

I agree. Katie never thinks about that or brings it up? It just points out what an empty relationship she and Margo have -- there is no real past there.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

I never really watched ATWT much when bryce was on a few years ago but can say his Craig had the sibling chemistry with all the margos so I am sure he had it with Terri's Katie. I do strobgly feel cricket should have came back after sometime and had a storyline with Craig after Bryant died due to his cousin Billy Ross and Jenn, think I am right. I could have seen Patsy Pease taking on the role of Cricket or Robin Mattson.

[Soaplovers]

What was Cricket like? Was she more like Margo, Craig, or Katie in personality?

[soapfan770]

This sounds familiar, but I don't remember the story. In any case, I believe this is probably the only time a daytime soap used actual Natives like myself? Would be awesome to find clips on Youtube!

[juniorz1]

My thoughts? The smile. The body. My 2 favorite things about this guy.

[DRW50]

A young Native American woman came to stay at Lyla's house as a lodger and Lyla talked with her about her tribe's land. She learned that same land was about to be bought by Cal or used him by for development. They argued over this and I think she broke off the engagement. In the end I think he gave up rights to the land.

I think she was just kind of a young ingenue. There isn't much of her online. This is right before she left Oakdale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGmwmljEOoA

[P.J.]

Cricket was more like Katie than Margo. I don't remember that much about her other than she was young and stupid.

It's weird, but it's hard to really connect the Montgomery/Perettis as a family. Yeah, Hogan gave lip service to a Katie/Craig sibling-ness, but it's never really been a "relationship". Even when Katie and Simon lived with Craig, they rarely seemed to have scenes together. And after Hunt Block was fired, it's been nonexistant. I don't think Katie ever had a scene with Scott Bryce, and other than being the impetus for Lindstrom's via his blackmail setting up Brad for a murder, they've barely been acknowledged.

There's more of a connection between Margo and Katie---but it rarely seems sisterly. It's more like a mother scolding her stupid child. I really think the "family" suffers from not having a strong matriarchial presence.

[DRW50]

That's true about not having a mother figure. Margo isn't the mother and isn't written that way but she and Katie are barely written for together and Margo just comes across as very tired of foolishness, which is understandable, but not overly entertaining to watch.

I can't even remember the last scene Craig had with Katie. I guess he was in that orbit briefly when he went to the party for Katie that she wasn't at because she was being held by Alan Quartermaine.

[Mitch]

I thought the Montgomery family, besides Margo..and Craig when he was being "bad" or as the lonely guy trying to reform (Scott Bryce version only) was pretty useless. The Dobsons really brought them in as a replacement for the Hughes family, and during that time they really began to eat up airtime. Marland pretty much tamed that, but I never bought the Lyla character (nurse, mother and nightclub singer hitting the big time, uh, okay..) Thought I actually liked Maggie who has been forgotten.

I think the trouble is not that Lyla isnt there, Katie could easily have been folded into the Hughes family..with Kim or Nancy taking it upon themselves to straighten her up. Katie WAS fun as a goody schemer...she should never have been made into a home wrecker, or the heroine. TC has a flair for light comedy, they should have kept her as an irepressable schemer, teaming up and bickering with her gay BFF/nemises Henry, and who most of the time ment well, but had it all blow up in her face. Margo of course could have been the mother figure for Katie, but Dolan has no warmth and is not believeable as a mother (IMO.) Which is odd, both Colin and HBS playing younger, more hot headed Margo, seemed far more natural and warm then Dolan's middle aged mother. Which was a problem much bigger then just Katie, Tom and Margo should be right now, the Bob and Kim/Nancy and Chris of the show, but both Dolan and the Tom actor lack any kind of warmth that it would just look weird if people went to them with their problems. Half the time they act like they dont even like each other much!

Cricket wasnt much of a character. The Dobsons brought her on modeded after a young Erica Kane, and the set up was supposed to be Cricket coming in between Betsy and Eric Hollister, but that fizzled, and Cricket just kind of stayed around, doing not much of anything.