AMC: Another big return coming?

[marceline]

It sounds like I've missed something. What new Madison angle?

[Kylie]

LOL, I think Ryan and Madison are all but toast. The kid is dead, she dodged the "forever tied" to Ryan bullet. They'll probably have a few moments here and there, but Rylee...yeah, they forever.

While I know people are excited that Leo can come back alive, this is in no way confirmation that he will, or that it will be more than JD taping in some room somewhere, to show Leo is being held captive. People are presuming an awful lot. JD wants to come back, he pointed out Leo CAN come back alive...but he never said he is, or that it would be for any real length of time. I still totally believe that unless Vanessa is behind Jack, Zach and Dixie, that the only Leo we'll see is him coming to Greenlee in dream or when she's near death. Otherwise, I think Leo has left the building.

I hope Hayley and Mateo come back...maybe for Adam and Brooke who are having a party to celebrate their marriage and return to Pine Valley.

[You're Soaking in it]

As much I like the Vanessa character, and would love to credit Broderick with creating her, Broderick was long gone before David's mother (let alone her name) was even mentioned. Vanessa was introduced when Megan McTavish was being credited as head writer... (Rumor was that she had already relinquished her duties to Agnes Nixon, and began writing OLTL with JFP, but that's a whole other can of words.)

And Kylie, I'm not sure what it is you don't trust about Broderick... I mean, she not only created your David, but last year wrote for him better than anyone had in nearly a decade! Personally, it's her bosses (and the constraints they place upon the creative teams) that I would distrust.

[Kylie]

Oh, right, VI said he went to Angela Shapiro. My bad. Got the two names confused for some reason. I didn't know Megan had AMC that early though. Granted I only remember bits and pieces before late 1999 and there has been all those Agnes/MMT rumors you mentioned. My feelings for her don't change. I didn't like what she did with David last year. I didn't like Pratt either, but VI won the Emmy for that...what do I know.

[Soapsuds]

So is Josh Duhamel coming back?

[marceline]

ITA. I thought she did a very good job of writing David. I didn't enjoy his fixation on the human Pez dispenser that is Greenlee but I enjoyed seeing him back on the tightrope of vulnerability and menace. I really liked the scene between him and Erica when he was handcuffed in her penthouse and did a nice little psych eval on him. Two characters with history sparring in the proverbial black box. One of the things I liked about Broderick's stint was that there was that character's had real conversations. A lot of people consider that boring but I love it.

[DRW50]

Unless Eva la Rue also returns and they make this into one last "wow what AMC did to Julia SUCKED ASS" then I don't care about seeing Mateo again. I had enough of the arm-grabbing meathead the first time around.

[ER Tosh]

Are we going to find out that David has also been hiding Babe, Simone, Gillian, Jenny Gardner, Phil Brent and Joe Martins first wife that died before the show started?

[DRW50]

I would love it if Gillian was alive, and Ryan remembered she was the only one for him, ever, and he moved to Budapest with her, Alex, and Dimitri.

Then Greenlee, after going back and forth between Leo and Ryan forever, reads a "Dear Greenlee" note and sees Leo on the fashion channel, partying with hot supermodels.

Greenlee has...Greenlee

[You're Soaking in it]

Right. I think we all know there are some things a head writer won't be able to get around, like a Frons-mandated coupling - particularly when you're interim, as LB was at the time. The Greenlee fascination, and the Rylee endgame were in play before LB returned. But in spite of all that, I found David fascinating, and watching his & Greenlee's sticking-it to certain people (includings character I liked) was among the most AMC fun I'd had in years! Heck, I even thought Ryan was more tolerable than I imagained possible... and I think it's because, like you said, characters were having actual conversations. (Love your example of Erica / David!) For me, things are way more interesting - and make more sense - when you're allowed to understand where everyone's coming from...

I'm optimistic that whatever does happen with these (rumored and confirmed) returns, that we'll get at least a compelling explanation...

[marceline]

I found Ryan IMMENSELY more tolerable during LB time for a number a reasons: 1.) Because he kicked Greenlee to the curb for her nasty behavior and after she lied in court for David instead of doubling down on trying to save her and that showed GROWTH. Real honest-to-goodness, Ragemonkey-can-learn growth and 2.) I liked how his relationship with Madison touched on both characters' histories with abuse. I heard rumors that even CM and RB were rooting for Dalee and Radison and I think it showed in the performances.

Then Frons escaped from the shipping container where he was obviously being held and S&K came on full time and all the improvement disappeared along with the slow ratings gains the show had made. We lost the character-driven stuff and ended up squarely back in plotville.

[Angela]

I liked David a lot more in 2002, 2003 and early 2004 than I did at any point last year.

Yes, he has them all stored on the island of Enipyellav, or is that the island of Yellavenip? Toups?