Timing is always so interesting to observe and contextualize during this transitional period in OLTL 1991. So on 12/10/91, a day after Tina learns Cord is ‘dead’ in Jaba, there’s Christopher Cousins back again as Cain (out of costume) in the Sweetwater courtroom of all places for Max v. Asa! By my count Cousins has been gone since late October when his seduction/scam of Megan as Heinrich Kaiser derailed, but they clearly had plans for him even then and held him in reserve for now. I was wondering when he’d be back. Cain gets no lines, just watches the proceedings, and I still suspect I know why in terms of what I think may be his uncannily Xeroxed backstory. Later we see him fleeing a dinner theater production with goons on his trail. Sure, okay.
Max serving as his own lawyer in his land feud with Asa leads to some minor comedy gold as he begins ranting about 'the money kings who run this country' before finally being interrupted by a country judge who I would swear is AMC and GL's Gil Rogers, but it's not in his IMDB credits so maybe not. Clearly Max was a prophet for our times. I like to think he and his kids would be soaking Elon Musk for all he's worth today.
Force Ghost Wingate is at it again, telling Max to search for “serenity”. Serenity Springs this soon? Max takes it as a sign to drop his feud with Asa, which as we all know should last about 18 hours tops. Max and Asa would continue their love/hate dance almost to the end of JDP’s run (including tediously repeating Nicholas Walker's 1990-91 "Max Buchanan" storyline a second time for no good reason), and Max did come back a final time for the old man’s funeral; they never really let go of each other, and did have periods of true affection despite their feud. It's funny to see how far back it stretches. Luna naturally uses Joe Hawk’s divining rod to a horse named "Serenity" which in turns leads to a fun high-stakes poker caper I enjoyed, but I'll get to that next time.
I should note that Max takes Carlo’s ‘haunted’ digs where the crime boss recently got shot - whatever. He's also a bit too chipper for having just lost Cord, though he does go to Llanfair to try the offer the absent Tina his condolences. Lee Ann meanwhile is back to the same tedious, whipsawing 180 behavior she was in for much of the transition between Rauch/Craig Carlson/whoever to Malone before Nicholas Walker left, where depending on the moment or general direction of the nearby winds she is either gushing over Max or vowing never to speak to him again based on the littlest slight. Here Lee Ann is very clearly desperate to get wifed up and/or move in with him but continues to fume and throw tantrums when Max doesn't offer either or say "I love you". This is not Yasmine Bleeth's best look but it is consistent with who Lee Ann has (annoyingly) been established as being around Max, and Bleeth is working very hard. The Kevin/Lee Ann stuff is very innocent and sweet even if he will never be what she wants; you can see her weakening to it more and more given his sincere adoration. It makes sense, even if I find Lee Ann demanding a firm commitment from Max on the heels of Gabrielle going off to the big house (like Cassie demanding more from Bo on the heels of his wife's return from the dead and his nephew's apparent demise) unfair and immature.
Chris McKenna's Joey gets a great moment with Viki breaking down over Cord on the Llanfair stairs, inhaler and all, but for much of this early fallout everyone else in the family (other than Tina) seems a bit like they’re just running through the customary emotions as they all gather at Llanfair. The loss is given proper weight but it still feels kind of dashed off vs. more integral pumping storylines (Max/Lee Ann/Kevin, the return of Sarah, Megan's rising illness, etc). Viki quoting Romeo & Juliet to Clint ('cut him out into little stars,' etc) is a bit much during this, Malone.
It is nice though to have Grace Phillips' NuSarah remember her Rauch-era bonds with Cord and Clint and have them put to use during the family mourning period; I'd argue she plays way better as a friend to Clint than opposite some others, including possibly Bob Woods. Cassie is not sold on Bo having 'chosen' her and I don’t blame her! She's still wildly immature, openly sulking after seeing Sarah in her element with the Bukes on the day they've learned Cord has 'died' and acting out with Bo despite his nephew's death. It's again not doing LB many favors. Phillips meanwhile gives a very realistic portrayal of Sarah's trauma and PTSD, if unrelenting and a bit exhausting. Again, she does better as the talk-to and sounding board for Viki, Clint, Megan, etc. because it's not just scene after scene of Sarah in anguish and terror over her ruined life, which has made up many of her scenes so far.
Widowed Tina wants to get out of town with the kids and heads up to Viki's cabin, which is probably a good way to start to jog through more of the grieving process given all the insane upheaval beginning to overtake the show at large. At first I was thinking Clint’s taking the lost of his firstborn a bit too well lol, but then they gave CR another touching scene with Joey Thrower’s manchild Kevin, where he again revisits the topic of fatherhood (as he did early in Malone's run with some beautiful scenes up at the cabin with Kevin, Clint and Asa in September/October) and raising Kevin and Joey as his own, and how his love for Cord is different but not less or more. Kirk Geiger was the right recast for Kevin, but (like Rory Gibson on GH today) he was much more of a man than a boy; Thrower is in between boy and manhood in all his interactions, and while he's wet behind the ears and a bit too golly-gosh earnest at times, he is very affecting in this stuff and much of his ongoing infatuation with Lee Ann. That said did I mind seeing him with his shirt off in Kevin's jungle fantasies about Lee Ann? Nope!
Not really sure Schubert(?) is the right choice for a limited Cord and (recast) Tina farewell montage, but okay, Linda Gottlieb. Maybe spring for a classic power ballad. I'm thinking Phil Collins.
I did like that Viki still calls Larry 'my best friend' when he brings her the news about Megan's funky kidney. OTOH Viki makes the fatal mistake to not tell Megan immediately, and you can see in both her and Clint's eyes when they uneasily agree to wait (against Larry's advice) that it's the wrong choice. I have to assume that absolutely tormented her later, and I wonder if it comes up again after Megan's death given the events that unfold very shortly after this. The angst between Erika and Michael Storm was hard to watch; these characters have both been doing this for so long, care deeply for each other and Larry delivered Megan. Larry really needed a better role in this era, though they did use him more with Marty down the road.
Malone once talked about the show unwisely discarding the Woleks for the Buchanans, but I will dig up that magazine quote for next time. It's something that should've been rectified years ago before the show ended, and it should have begun with Dr. Larry who was always Llanview's quiet, long-suffering unsung hero IMO, however square he could look next to folks like Karen or Marco.
Both quotable lines in this post come from Dorian grasping for Jason's favor; blasting pop music in the penthouse and then, after getting her turn to style him as her ideal suited dandy (with his hair down like Roger Howarth), her getting dressed up in turn as a biker chick to hit the dive bars with him. You haven't lived until you've seen Elaine Princi in Mark Brettschneider's arms to the dulcet tones of both Extreme and Nine Inch Nails! This leads to their unexpected rendezvous with crashout Megan, which I'll discuss in more detail in my next post.
We get some more great Andrew/Megan stuff with their birdwatching before her latest lupus incident. I could've watched them watching birds or hanging in the park for hours tbh, it's a great relationship. The show gets even more explicit about his feelings for her when she teases him about being smitten with her at the hospital. "Me?" Andrew jokes. "Smitten?" But of course he is, and that will lead to events during Megan's spiral which make me all the more convinced they had planned for something with Cain, Megan and Andrew had Jessica Tuck decided to stay. I'll discuss that next time with those episodes.
Wow: Both Carlo and (surprise!) Stephanie are seen again on December 11th as Carlo freaks out over the news that Sarah Buchanan is back in play. Was not expecting to see Robyn Griggs again until certain events in '92. She wants to go back to Llanview too! I dunno if she will, but maybe it was a three strikes program BTS with Griggs lol. Despite previous interesting angles they left on the table in September-November for Stephanie, I can't imagine what place is left for the character with Bleeth and Mia Korf well situated and Susan Haskell weeks away.
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Vee ·
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