I don't like a lot about this era. The writing, the tone, the casting---not a lot of it feels like Guiding Light to me. (ATWT is also going through a rough patch. There's a malaise at P&G, apparently) As hard as they tried to give me reason to like ****, I never do. He's the equivalent of Chelsea, a Reardon-in-name-only. **** doesn't have any defining characteristics---he's simply written to be the working class schmo, of the Harlequin romance variety, who's going to heal Van's heart. It may not be KMcK's fault that's the way I see him (or that his character was written), but I also don't find anything about his acting that stands out. **** doesn't do anything. It's not his fault the relaunch of the Reardons fell flat, and both Nola and Bridget are gone leaving him with only Van's circle of family and friends to interact with. (and even that is sparse.) But it really makes him totally extraneous. A fact not lost years later on Wheeler, who pretty much consigns Matt to the dustbin and hell of being Dinah's occasional talk-to.
I wouldn't go as far as @DRW50 and say **** ends up defining Vanessa, but all he's really there to do is lecture Vanessa and make her feel insecure. Vanessa F-in Chamberlain knows herself, and doesn't need **** okaying when she goes back to work, or judging how much time she's spending with Maureen (newsflash, dickhead, babies crawl for months) or how she deals with Dinah. (The Vanessa I know would not have put up with Dinah's crap either, not when she'd raised Bill entirely differently, but whatever. I'd argue Dinah does a lot more to weaken and redefine Vanessa, while **** is just the parasite occupying Van's bed, but that's me.)
Vanessa had fought death off twice, **** can take his lifecoaching duties and shove them.
You're right---Jordan is not on a lot during this time. I don't think he's even formally recurring until after Maeve departs, as (I assume) TPTB have reestablished a trust in him, and Billy is there to anchor Bill (GL especially seems to believe any child needs at least one parent in town, if at all possible). At first they used him for the nostalgia factor, and sort of like a trump card when it made story sense. A lot of what went on with the clone didn't make sense, and wouldn't have worked if Billy had constantly been in town and questioning WTF was wrong with Reva.
The only realistic alternative at this time would've been Ross, but for multitudes of reasons, that wasn't possible. I would've cast someone new, a successful business man who would've challenged Van on multiple levels. I'm not sure Justin would've worked, as the OG Justin really wasn't a fan of Vanessa's either. Maybe this would've been the time to cast a suave Dietrich Lindsey to stir Springfield up and challenge Spaulding's media division. I can't really think of an established character from the past that would've worked.
Phillip and Vanessa's relationship is mostly a function of their work, in spite of the fact he was briefly married to her stepdaughter, the mother of his cousin and she was briefly engaged to his father. The only time they interact on a more direct level is when Roger is first worming his way into Spaulding. Vanessa is wary of Roger's influence on Blake, and tries warning Phillip, which he ignores. And when Roger manipulates Vanessa's firing, Phillip really stands up for her with Alexandra, to no avail.
Manny
Rassie
(or way down on the list) ***ressa fans who I don't recall being toxic, just simply vocal (and IMO, misguided) or at least able to convince TIIC they were. How the network's smallest viewership manipulated SID polls to consistently get them and later Manny in the top five was always a bit fishy.
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P.J. ·
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