8 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

Would you say it hurt Max longterm? Was her death harsh given her archetype?

No, I don't think so. What really hurt Max was the show not knowing how to write him without Luna when she died, or in his classical form after that. Malone's handle on Max softened too much over time, and subsequent teams had little to no idea how to use him well. The one thing that struck gold (Max/Roxy) was killed by Brian Frons.

Luna was always divisive but Max and Luna were pretty popular with the audience in the '90s. There's a reason Malone and others returned to that well too many times with her ghost, Tomlin with the videotapes, etc.

My mother loved Luna so I’m almost shocked to see all the hate, and she loved Luna with Max. But I do enjoy Luna more on her own merit but I haven’t seen the entire run to comment. 

21 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

My mother loved Luna so I’m almost shocked to see all the hate, and she loved Luna with Max. But I do enjoy Luna more on her own merit but I haven’t seen the entire run to comment. 

I agree with the bolded part. I still like some things about Luna, but she was best when she had her radio show and was in her own weird little world... Like a smart commentator, an outsider peeking in. I liked her girl power message even if it was a bit too over the top at times (The inner Goddess stuff). I enjoyed watching her be the hero in the domestic abuse plot, showing off her fighting skills and how brave she could be. I liked her whispering to Tina to be strong and not let men walk all over her. It was a breath of fresh air in a world where all we see is women humiliate themselves for men. That's why turning her into a damsel in distress saved by the guy in a skimpy tank top was... Disappointing. Felt cheap. It's like they lost interest in making her unique and thought, let's just throw her into a love triangle, whatever... and see what happens. And of course, these storylines work because people will always watch them. Familiar patterns (the woman crying for a man, waiting to be saved) are always preferred to different ones (independent, strong... eccentric) by the majority of people. Even her way of talking is different. I still like the actress, and maybe one day I'll get used to this more normal, more basic Luna. In the grand scheme, I don't mind her at all. And hate? Absolutely don't hate her.

Edited November 17Nov 17 by Maxim

13 minutes ago, Maxim said:

I agree with the bolded part. I still like some things about Luna, but she was best when she had her radio show and was in her own weird little world... Like a smart commentator, an outsider peeking in. I liked her girl power message even if it was a bit too over the top at times (The inner Goddess stuff). I enjoyed watching her be the hero in the domestic abuse plot, showing off her fighting skills and how brave she could be. I liked her whispering to Tina to be strong and not let men walk all over her. It was a breath of fresh air in a world where all we see is women humiliate themselves for men. That's why turning her into a damsel in distress saved by the guy in a skimpy tank top was... Disappointing. Felt cheap. It's like they lost interest in making her unique and thought, let's just throw her into a love triangle, whatever... and see what happens. And of course, these storylines work because people will always watch them. Familiar patterns (the woman crying for a man, waiting to be saved) are always preferred to different ones (independent, strong... eccentric) by the majority of people. Even her way of talking is different. I still like the actress, and maybe one day I'll get used to this more normal, more basic Luna. In the grand scheme, I don't mind her at all. And hate? Absolutely don't hate her.

In retrospect, I would say the Lunas, Wanda’s, Roxy’s and even Rex’s (hit or miss there) really made OLTL different and even consistent in those last few years. 
 

What you describe also breaks up the repetitive nature of soaps and allows someone to speak for the viewers. 

8 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

In retrospect, I would say the Lunas, Wanda’s, Roxy’s and even Rex’s (hit or miss there) really made OLTL different and even consistent in those last few years. 
 

What you describe also breaks up the repetitive nature of soaps and allows someone to speak for the viewers. 

Absolutely. And I still hope I see more of that in the future. I'm still quite new to the show... (watched 15 months worth of episodes) so the journey is long ahead of me. I have a sense 1993 is going to be one hell of a ride. Just a gut feeling. 

P.S. Wanda has made me cry more times than I can count. I adore her. We need these types of characters desperately. They ground everything and make it wholesome.

Edited November 17Nov 17 by Maxim

3 hours ago, TEdgeofNight said:

Luna was annoying! I was so glad that she was killed off. The audience demanded it. 

I don't think Luna was disliked by the audience, although she was likely never as popular with them as she was with Michael Malone. Even he stopped writing for her long before Susan Batten left.

10 hours ago, Khan said:

Luna was always a character I could take strictly in very small doses.  Her and Max's relationship never should've progressed beyond, say, a one-sided crush on her part. 

I think Luna would have worked best in a mode similar to Sally Gracie's character. Max wasn't even that special for her to be degraded over, especially as she was a second choice. It would be like if Jackson on AMC had dumped Erica for Opal. 

13 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

In retrospect, I would say the Lunas, Wanda’s, Roxy’s and even Rex’s (hit or miss there) really made OLTL different and even consistent in those last few years. 

I thought Rex epitomized all the failings of men on soaps for the '00s (and the '90s). Nasty, self-righteous, cold, lacking chemistry with anyone. The only difference was his being an aged out twink.

3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Max wasn't even that special for her to be degraded over, especially as she was a second choice. 

That's how I feel. Exactly.

But still I'm going to give it a chance to see if they can build something up from here. I'm a crazy optimist.

2 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I thought Rex epitomized all the failings of men on soaps for the '00s (and the '90s). Nasty, self-righteous, cold, lacking chemistry with anyone. The only difference was his being an aged out twink.

I can’t disagree, but I thought sometimes he worked, but between the writing (especially the circus of fathers, Stacy) and some acting tics it didn’t work out. I really loved Rex and Gigi 1.0 through Brody being sacrificed. Not sure about earlier Rex, I’ve watched some of 2003, and didn’t enjoy his bad boy days. 

7 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I don't think Luna was disliked by the audience, although she was likely never as popular with them as she was with Michael Malone. Even he stopped writing for her long before Susan Batten left.

I think Luna would have worked best in a mode similar to Sally Gracie's character. Max wasn't even that special for her to be degraded over, especially as she was a second choice. It would be like if Jackson on AMC had dumped Erica for Opal. 

I love love love all I have seen of Sally Gracie, I wish they had kept that boarding house, or Malone used it to bring in his new set of characters in what was essentially a reboot. 

I suppose these are characters from my future... Since I'm very far from that point... 1992 is long before 2003. But "Rex and Gigi" sound like something you watch after midnight. 😂

Edited November 17Nov 17 by Maxim

17 minutes ago, Maxim said:

I suppose these are characters from my future... Since I'm very far from that point... 1992 is long before 2003. But "Rex and Gigi" sound like something you watch after midnight. 😂

Luckily you are a long way off from those two. 

8 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Luckily you are a long way off from those two. 

❤️

Honestly, you should prob stop watching at the end of 95. It all goes downhill from there😅

53 minutes ago, mar4331 said:

Honestly, you should prob stop watching at the end of 95. It all goes downhill from there😅

😅 I hope I can watch at least till then. 

P.S. Watching right now... actually... And Alex just gave Mortimer a handjob under the table... in public at the Buchanan Palace restaurant. My jaw is still on the floor. I'll have to clip this for my next comment. 😂😂😂 It's wild. Even though I think in a way this is the rock bottom for Alex's character. A complete trainwreck.

Edited November 17Nov 17 by Maxim