OLTL: Discussion for the week of January 17

[MontyB]

If it wasn't that day, it was some time around it. He's been on once since he's been in the opening credits.

[alexisfan07]

I do episode counts and he hasn't been, no offense

[MontyB]

Not offended at all.

[alexisfan07]

Trust me, I WISH he'd been on. The last time he was on was 11/17. But to be fair, his contract hasn't started yet, so technically, the show hasn't been screwing him over contractually.

[DRW50]

I'm not sure that you're supposed to be rooting for Joey or for Natalie. The show has never exactly given these characters special treatment. Joey has been humiliated and emasculated for years, and that is no different this time, where he whines, pouts, is seen as a twit by Clint, and then Cookie Cutter comes in and is the hot, edgy guy who is supposed to have all the spark with Aubrey and Kelly. If fans love Cutter and see Joey as a loser, that just means the show gets to do what they enjoy doing, which is to write even more stories about peripheral characters who have no real past and no characterization beyond how they fill out a pair of boxers.

Natalie has lied for many months, with John and Jessica both presented as the innocents. Marty has been crazy, but they built up to this for quite a while, and she's going to get psychiatric help. I think the story was about making Brody, Marty and Natalie look bad, to give story to characters who cannot drive story themselves (John and Jessica). When the truth comes out I will be shocked if either of these ladies has John. I think he will be freed up for Inez or some other cipher.

[Cheap21]

LMAO at Bo arresting Inez. Rot bitch, rot

then they failed bc I dont feel bad for John or Jessica at all. Marty and Natalie have been the stars of this story and Im enjoying them and Brody the most

[DRW50]

I don't really feel bad for them either but with certain characters, they are always going to be the heroes, no matter what.

[alexisfan07]

Is it bad that I liked how they fleshed out the Ford/Aubrey connection today? Nice to see another layer of why Ford treated women the way he does unveiled. Hopefully this also means Aubrey and Ford will never be involved again.

[SFK]

By making her look like the horny desperate dummy who fell for yet another con artist, I think it makes a lot of sense. Welcome!

[SFK]

I liked it too as I said above, but just for the sake of the Aubrey con game backstory. I'm not about giving Ford layers of rationale for his being.

[Cheap21]

Can they just end Joey before they get ahead of themselves? Watching him be so stupid is beyond cringeworthy and I fear it will only get worse from here

[SFK]

Back to points made by Vizion and Carl, I also don't feel as though Joey is being written and acted as rootable. It's hard to root for someone who comes across as an easy mark. He seems weak, but worst of all, kinda stupid, and we shouldn't be screaming, "Joey, you big dummy!" at the screen, that's not Joey. That's Inez. Vizion, I see what you're saying as far as the traditional reversal where Aubrey falls for Joe for real, Kelly and Cutter fall for each other despite their original intentions. I just don't like the idea of Kelly showing weak will and falling for Cutter against her better judgment. I feel like it's just going to be more silly Ally McBeal hijinks. She is just so damn neurotic sometimes it gets on my nerves.

That's just it, of the four he (legacy character be damned) is the one I see them getting rid of first.

[DRW50]

It's very clever though - they know how to play this game. All the soaps do, especially ABC soaps. They bring in a member of a core family and make sure no one cares about them. Then they can say, "See? Fans don't want this person around." And that means more of a chance to bring in wannabe alpha males who have no ties to the canvas yet are shoehorned in at every turn.

[DeeeDee]

Better her than Blair.

[Cheap21]

Dont jinx it, bc they just might go there