3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks @Maxim

I do remember Cord's return being somewhat of a shrug. I am sometimes surprised they even took John Loprieno back as they clearly had more interest in Tina/Cain (what interest in Tina Malone ever even had). The edginess he returns with does have potential, and is at times explored, but could have had more, especially with Clint's increasing volatility.

Your despair over the state of Luna is more interesting than the material itself, good as Susan Batten was in the role.

I had to shake my head at Viki's attempt to shift blame on her clumsy lie about dinner with Sloan. Another sign of how much she has changed.

Those Sloan/Viki/Clint scenes are a tale of two halves. The confrontation needed to happen, but there's a mix of drive and cheese. I don't think Clint Ritchie is at his best here, and Viki commenting on not wanting to be the woman fought over doesn't hide the degradation of her just trying to stop them as Clint starts in. The scene where Clint nearly hits Viki should have had more of a punch (no pun intended) than it did.

The music in that scene veers between very effective and rushed student film.

Sloan takes a beating well for someone with a heavily weakened immune system.

Great observations @DRW50. I've noticed that Clint Ritchie doesn't seem completely engaged with the material in these last five episodes or so. The Cord scenes, in particular, came across as really stiff and lacking emotion. It almost felt like he was annoyed by the silly things he has to say or hear. Maybe it's just in my head, but I've seen him perform so well many times before, so this definitely felt off.

These scenes where characters come back from the dead can be pretty cringe to watch or even act in. I've noticed similar moments in other soap operas too, where you can even glimpse actors trying to suppress a smile or a laugh because of how ridiculous the situation is that they're portraying.

Honestly, this is their second similar storyline (or third if you include Mortimer) in just a year and a half. I really hope this trend doesn't continue. The last thing I expected was for Malone to be the writer who keeps churning out these return-from-the-dead plots all year long.

I really think they made a mistake by killing off so many characters in the first year, and now they're struggling to fix that. This show seems overproduced at times and now I get some of the criticism I've read about it before.

...

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by Maxim
posted too soon, hit the enter button with my arm.

Up to February 9th, 1993

🦩

"Viki Buchanina on the loose."

🔷

After a brief pause (in order to finish a book I was reading) I'm back in Llanview! And as you know from my previous posts, I'm not the only one back - Cord is here too. 🤭

🔷

So, let's begin with Cordero. In short - he has revealed himself to Idiotina, who of course chose to lie and hide her actions from the past year and pretend she is still his wife and "Who's Cain Rogan?". I couldn't help but roll my eyes during some of these scenes, they felt so disconnected from reality and verge on the absurd, yet there's still a hint of Malone in it that makes it engaging. Watching Cain being sidelined almost evokes some sympathy for him. Cord... wasted no time in getting back to his usual condescending and controlling attitude towards Tina, leading me to believe that Cain isn't entirely out of the picture. Tina won't fall back into that trap of a marriage so far after experiencing freedom with the conman. I just wish we could move past this ridiculous resurrection phase faster. One aspect I appreciated was how the writers maintained Asa's character through all this - his only line to Tina was - I will kill you if you do anything to upset Cord. That was such a quintessential Asa line, and I'm pleased to even use the term "quintessential" after watching this show since autumn 1991. Nevertheless, I value when they truly understand their characters and occasionally revisit their iconic lines.

🔷

Jason and Leanne's staged breakup is becoming tedious... I can't help but feel that the characters are losing their spark. There's a feeling of monotony, and the writing seems uncertain about their direction, which is unfortunate. The introduction of Marty into the storyline was an odd decision. I fail to see the reasoning behind her constant inclusion in everyone's storylines and lives (why do people keep talking to her after they saw what a swine she is is beyond me), seemingly just to provide her with material. Now, we see Marty and Jason fake-kissing in front of Leanne (could turn to real kissing soon I'm sure), supposedly to make her hate him. But Leanne is not that smart, guys. She's a simple and naive soul. So the result of this kiss fiasco was quite the opposite and surprisingly touching. Leanne returned home, rushed to Jason, and embraced him tightly. It brought a tear to my eye, as it captured her foolish, but somewhat innocent nature. It was raw and real. This is precisely how someone behaves when they love someone and refuse to let anything come between them. I've seen it in real life.

🔷

The conflict between Hank and Rachel, as father and daughter, has entered a new stage. We witnessed a rather disturbing... yet important moment where a new staff member at the Buchanan Palace restaurant refused to seat Hank, Sheila, and Rachel. It was heavily implied that he was exhibiting racism, which he indeed was. At that moment, Kevin showed up and with just one sentence... stating that they were with him... the despicable racist instantly changed his stance, further exposing his true motives. Naturally, Hank couldn't contain his frustration and anger, directing it towards Kevin. Sheila, however, managed to diffuse the situation, acting as the ideal woman (I've always believed that women often rescue men from their own character, and to me, this is one of the most important traits a woman, wife, or girlfriend can have - not tits or ass... but knowing when to take her man aside before he kills someone or beats him up) by taking Hank aside... allowing Rachel and Kevin to be together. Yet, the tension persisted in the following scenes. I can't shake the feeling that Rachel might eventually align with her father's views. We'll see. I commend the show for addressing such an important issue. They continue to provoke dialogue and shed light on very difficult social issues.

🔷

When discussing social issues, one thing that isn't particularly challenging is to... CHEAT on your husband. Once you decide to go through with it - you're going to do it. LOL. That's precisely what Viki Buchanina did. She tormented Clint for almost a year... never giving him a chance... she prolonged the inevitable reality of her upcoming infidelity... dragging it out until Clint could no longer endure it. And now... she portrays herself as the victim, can you believe it? I felt like shouting at the TV - You are such a ho, Viki! HOW DARE YOU blame Clint for this. Naturally, she had to play the role of the wounded deer in front of her family, once again subtly placing blame on Clint. But beneath all of this was her undeniable desire - she packed that suitcase in no time! I hope she remembered to take her sexy lingerie, if she has any. And I hope she picked up some condoms, because we all know what that call to Sloan from her hotel room was really about. And even if the granny side of me judges her... the part of me that adores Anna Karenina tells her - GO FOR IT, girl! And that's what makes this such a guilty pleasure storyline. Viki is finally stepping into her Justify My Love phase. Hotel rooms... suitcases, phone calls... do you want to kiss him in Paris, Viki?😁

Overall -  8/10 - Some amazing moments, some mediocre, some very important. GREAT.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Clip of the day

Viki VS Clint! Erika Slezak is fire!

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by Maxim

Thanks @Maxim

Fitting to have so many of these encounters in the dying days of their marriage take place in the office rather than their home. I do think, as you said, Viki is looking for an excuse to move on, but she's right about his behavior and about Cord's return.

It's not out of character for Cord to be controlling or cold toward Tina, but Malone seemed to ramp that up as I don't think he had much use for Cord (or anyone involved in this). As "free" as Cain may be, he is in many ways not that far off from Cord in mostly wanting one side of her and nothing more.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks @Maxim

Fitting to have so many of these encounters in the dying days of their marriage take place in the office rather than their home. I do think, as you said, Viki is looking for an excuse to move on, but she's right about his behavior and about Cord's return.

She is, totally... but also I think they lowered the stakes by breaking them up like this. The story was more impactful at first when Viki actually cared for Clint too. Now... it’s just too simple. They gave her an exit, she took it. I would have done it differently. I would have kept her with Clint, pretending in front of him and torturing herself... while secretly having the affair. But that would have turned her into a Brooke Logan and deviated too much from Viki... so... I guess it’s better they kept some dignity here. Not a lot, but some. Still... the stakes would have been higher if she truly loved both. Now I just see a woman who’s lost love for her husband and is head over heels for another man. Everything is... too easy. Which cuts out half the drama. I also think since Dorian vanished... things have changed... and not for the better. Dorian fit perfectly as the antagonist, making Viki look saintly by comparison, but also reflecting Viki’s true self. Days have gone by without her, and her absence is STRONGLY felt. Princi left a void in the show, which I hope Strasser can fill soon. Because without Dorian's menacing presence around, Viki comes off as a cheap adulteress and nothing more. We need a villain to make her seem less wretched. And Marty is not doing it for me, she just can't replace Dorian, it doesn't hit the same when she says it.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Maxim

17 minutes ago, Maxim said:

She is, totally... but also I think they lowered the stakes by breaking them up like this. The story was more impactful at first when Viki actually cared for Clint too. Now... it’s just too simple. They gave her an exit, she took it. I would have done it differently. I would have kept her with Clint, pretending in front of him and torturing herself... while secretly having the affair. But that would have turned her into a Brooke Logan and deviated too much from Viki... so... I guess it’s better they kept some dignity here. Not a lot, but some. Still... the stakes would have been higher if she truly loved both. Now I just see a woman who’s lost love for her husband and is head over heels for another man. Everything is... too easy. Which cuts out half the drama. I also think since Dorian vanished... things have changed... and not for the better. Dorian fit perfectly as the antagonist, making Viki look saintly by comparison, but also reflecting Viki’s true self. Days have gone by without her, and her absence is STRONGLY felt. Princi left a void in the show, which I hope Strasser can fill soon. Because without Dorian's menacing presence around, Viki comes off as a cheap adulteress and nothing more. We need a villain to make her seem less wretched. And Marty is not doing it for me, she just can't replace Dorian, it doesn't hit the same when she says it.

Dorian will definitely be adding a menacing presence.

I do think it's been too easy splitting up Clint and Viki, as the emphasis is entirely on her falling for Sloan and what a boar and a bore Clint is. Maybe that would have changed. I'm not sure.

Marty is a difficult character to figure out as I think until later in 1993 they just kept her around because they thought highly of Susan Haskell and also just because they thought the canvas needed wildness and an unknown. For me it's more interesting than what she gets later on but some of it is very thrown together.

18 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I do think it's been too easy splitting up Clint and Viki, as the emphasis is entirely on her falling for Sloan and what a boar and a bore Clint is. Maybe that would have changed. I'm not sure.

Marty is a difficult character to figure out as I think until later in 1993 they just kept her around because they thought highly of Susan Haskell and also just because they thought the canvas needed wildness and an unknown. For me it's more interesting than what she gets later on but some of it is very thrown together.

I can clearly see that thrown-together element too. It works in part due to the chaotic nature of Marty. Her histrionic personality, like a ball of lightning that disrupts everything around her, unpredictable in her actions. However, including her in everyone's stories makes the others seem foolish for even acknowledging her. A rational community would have distanced themselves from someone who spreads such harmful rumors, like calling someone a pedophile. It's shocking that she still receives holiday invitations. I would have preferred if she was completely shunned, only to parasite her way in... through an outsider character like Leanne for example. Andrew, Cassie, and Viki should not be inviting her to events. Viki shouldn't be checking in on her, it's ridiculous. Sometimes, it seems like these soap characters are inviting disaster into their lives.

I also wanted to point out something about the Clint/Viki/Sloan triangle... I notice a double standard regarding Sloan and Clint. Viki quickly criticizes Clint for being a homophobe, which she has every right to do, but she never addresses Sloan's own history of homophobia. He was openly homophobic, even more so than Clint. Yet, Viki seems to overlook this since Sloan and Andrew bonded over William. It's as if that erased everything. But Clint has changed too, why doesn't she see that? Clint has accepted Billy and even asked for his forgiveness. I can't understand why one man is forgiven for changing while the other is still judged for his past. It feels like she's nitpicking to make him look bad while portraying herself as a saint. The truth is, even before the real drama with Clint began, she laid her eyes on Sloan and fell in love at first sight. She even confessed that to Dr. Jonas. So everything about Clint provoking this... is a lie.

43 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Dorian will definitely be adding a menacing presence.

Can't wait! 😻

Edited 41 minutes ago41 min by Maxim