As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Duncan was my least favorite character on the show. My mom loathed him....LOL.  Shannon and Jessica were more interesting without him. I don't know what they saw in him. Shannon was so much better when she first arrived in Oakdale. Once she was paired with Duncan ....her character went to hell. 

[P.J.]

 

Don't judge me---he wasn't my favorite guy either---but I've always had a thing for a Scottish brogue. Lol. I could've done without the entire haunted castle aspect thing though. But he was the adventure man--hero of that time. 

[victoria foxton]

Never liked Duncan & Shannon's wacky adventures. I did like Duncan with Jess better. From what i've seen online Shannon does work better without being chained to him. I simply love the scene . Where Shannon pushes Barbara's head in the toilet then flashes. The aforementioned act takes place at  23:54  

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Edited January 2, 2019 by victoria foxton

[DramatistDreamer]

No offense to Michael Swan but Duncan McKechnie was a highly aggravating character and it didn't help that he had the most convoluted storylines of anyone on the show (sadly, in the last 15 years of the show, convoluted stories became a constant on the show.).

 

Over the last month, I watched a slew of episodes from 1988 (which I completed over the weekend) and found myself annoyed by his constant reliance on Jessica to do his bidding with the Lilith mess. 

 

It's funny because I think we were supposed to be exasperated on Roy's impatience and intolerance of Duncan's intercessions in Jessica and Roy's relationship, but looking back on these episodes all these years later has me convinced that Roy was right to be upset with Duncan and with Jessica, to a certain extent.  

Duncan was totally out of pocket to send Jessica all the way to Egypt, with the spectre of James Stenbeck lurking, to do what was essentially personal business.

And Duncan always had another one of these types of crises just around the corner for the dumbest reasons (buried treasure??).  He created a whole entire crisis for Beatrice just because he didn't want her to know that she was his daughter and not his sister.

Then there were the endless McKechnie curses, which he would never listen to reason about how to resolve things.  He trusted all the wrong people even when he was warned it was a bad idea (Hensley Taggart, e.g.) It was aggravating.

Duncan was a crazymaker and a uber-complicated mess!

@victoria foxton Those moments when Shannon went "Philly" on Babs were some of the most interesting parts of her character.

There was a scene, also at the Mona Lisa, where Margo and Barbara get into a confrontation over Craig returning Barbara's investment in his company (due to lack of trust issues--Barbara's staged affair with Tom and Barbara being the other woman during Sierra and Tonio's marriage) and Shannon steps in and basically offers to handle Barbara for Margo.  Just Margaret Reed's menacing posture in the ladies "powder room" was so amusing and entertaining.

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I wish we had gotten more of that Shannon.  Instead of the Shannon who constantly ran around trying to fix Duncan's mess because he couldn't bother to tell the truth.

 

Also, Duncan and Jessica worked briefly basically because they used her family (and Lisa to a certain extent) for angst in that relationship.  Also, the only way that relationship could work is because Jessica abandoned all the principles of being a no-nonsense woman, which is why the relationship couldn't last and had a relatively short run.  It was interesting for the issues it dramatized on the show but not sustainable because Jess was too intelligent to put up with Duncan's crazy-making lifestyle.

Edited January 2, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[Mitch]

God.. I HATED Duncan...you would think he would be a breathe of fresh campy air in Marland's sea of earnest characters but he just didn't work..he has the money to transport a castle, brick by brick to Oakdale...(and why would he bother) and a ghost comes along with it? I love gothic and though the secret passages and monks ("Hello BARBARA!) were fun but just say Duncan bought an old house in Oakdale and leave it at that...

 

But then Marland tried to saddle him with a " relevant" storyline with boring Jess, and the stupid castle became the "Earl Mitchell Home for Easily Bringing some Ethnic Characters to the Show Without Committing to It" and it just didnt work. The bright spot was indeed Lilith, but she would have worked better on GL which knew how to incorporate camp, I just love me a woman lounging on a chaise and cackling about her evil deads...I love that she shipped corpses home in boxes...(Oakdale UPS must have reeked) I just wish they gave her a Tiger for a pet or something.

 

If they had kept Shannon fun and had her and Duncan go on adventures and bring the light romantic comedy to Marland's morose Oakdale it would have worked better.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

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Interestingly enough, I did like how Lilith interacted with characters like Hank Elliott (she seemed like a benevolent menace) and Tonio Reyes (where you weren't sure whether she planned to kill Tonio after their lovemaking and her reasons were really intriguing-- a weird solidarity with Meg as the aggrieved wife of a philandering, faithless husband).  And the scene where Josh Snyder beat the living hell out of Tonio and left him on Lilith's doorstep and Lilith practically stands around waiting for Tonio to die as Duncan barks at her to call 911-- the look in Lilith's eyes was everything.

 

One thing I did appreciate about how Marland dealt with his villains is that he rarely tried to reform them, he knew that the likes of Marsha Talbot, Doug Cummings and Tad Channing were not sustainable as long term characters-- he wrote them as the menace to society that they were and had them meet their rightful demise.  Not like today's soaps that try to keep, reform and make a hero out of a character that killed like, two or three people.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I agree with this.

In fact, in the fan-fiction of a ATWT revival that I had concocted in my mind, lol Shannon and Duncan would, many years later would marry and Shannon would have them sail around the world on their honeymoon but not before inviting Jessica and Bonnie (and possibly Lisa) to join them on their honeymoon.  The honeymoon cruise wouldn't be shown, just the people of Oakdale gossiping about how perfectly bizarre and in character it was for Shannon to invite her husband's ex and her new stepdaughter on her honeymoon.

 

I really liked those moments when they wrote Shannon, the "Bad boss B*tch" oozed out and shaded her otherwise quirky, trippy-light-fantastic demeanor.  It was akin to seeing Rose Nylund go from saccharine to bitchy in two seconds flat.  

[P.J.]

Wow...I had completely forgotten this Lilith stuff.

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But I agree ---I'm so glad Marland rarely tried to reform his evil characters.  Tonio wouldn't have been Tonio if they'd suddenly tried to give him a real conscience. 

Edited January 4, 2019 by P.J.

[victoria foxton]

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[Khan]

The music in the clip must have been a leftover from the Mary-Ellis Bunim regime.

[victoria foxton]

I love the music. But it's so out of place in the Marland era. 

[Soaplovers]

That's the theme music from Friday the 13th part 3

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[Khan]

 

As was Marie Kovac's Cyndi Lauper-inspired outfit.  Another relic from the "best" of the MBE era, lol.

[DramatistDreamer]

And here I thought the Apocalypse Now music they used in a dinner scene was distracting but that horror movie music was next level, LOL.

 

I do wish we had more episodes from 1985 uploaded though.

Edited January 6, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[victoria foxton]

I would love to see the beginning of Marland's run. And Doug's killing spree.