11 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I hate soap stories where people rut while in avalanches or in cave-ins or whatever else. I would much rather just see people cheat because they openly admit to wanting to without the justification.

I can't even remember if Ridge found out. Didn't she "die" before he could?

Something else - and I may be wrong as I haven't watched any of this since it first aired - that was dubious to me was the leadup was a story about how James had been abused as a child and this led him to avoid sex.

Afterward, he seemed to enjoy sex just fine (I remember a very fun sex scene he had with Brooke where she was in some costume), which would mean Brad Bell was doing one of those "making him a real man" stories in 1994.

Then he was just cycled through various women until being written out (I can't remember if he was ever paired with Lauren - probably not). The one I would have enjoyed him with, aside from Brooke, was Sally - I think he could have been good for Sally.

It was this scene, written by Patrick Mulcahey, in which Brooke gloats over Taylor's secret coming out about James and her.

"Take Ridge and score one for the whores of the world!" - Patrick could make gold out of straw.

Thanks @I Am A Swede @Maxim I had a vague memory of the truth coming out but wasn't watching by then (I don't even know if James was doing guest shots at that time). If that had come out in the '90s it would have been electric but by 2006 both ladies had been so degraded by Brad Bell.

Is this before or after Taylor ran Darla over?

7 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Is this before or after Taylor ran Darla over?

Before. Taylor ran the poor thing over 7 months later.

This is from January 2006... one of the more interesting episodes concerning this storyline. It has Susan Flannery in it, which makes it even better. Also one great flashback to the early 90s when the show wasn't a trainwreck... The end of Taylor's "SAINT" image. "We are all whores in this town."

And here 7 months later... Taylor's MESS era officially begins. I remember Hunter Tylo talking about how she hated this storyline in her multiple podcast appearances.

Thanks again @Maxim . This is a benefit to them releasing all their episodes (which all the soaps should be doing).

Slaps and catfights can be fun but there's nothing like a good verbal sparring, and the Mulcahey-penned Brooke and Taylor scene you posted is in that category. They both gave as good as they got, even if I'm always likely to side with Brooke. I loved her line about the "death of a deathbed marriage." And saying that Taylor is just like Stephanie and will end the same way as her (if only she'd known Taylor would become Greenlee). Yet Taylor wasn't wrong to point out the revolving door of Forrester men and in-laws, even if Taylor herself was also involved with just about all those men... (I'm not sure if she ever took a ride with Deacon)

It was interesting hearing Taylor do all that therapist-speak. Once upon a time they would just remind us she was a therapist by having her wear big glasses.

If Bradley Bell let Mulcahey flow that way I can see why he stayed as long as he did.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by DRW50

11 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

If Bradley Bell let Mulcahey flow that way I can see why he stayed as long as he did.

Absolutely! IMO Mulcahey wrote the perfect Stephanie... Brooke... and Taylor scenes. Any scene with any of these characters he could do perfectly. At times when he writes for Brooke you could almost sense that extra extra iciness (she was already pretty icy) he gave Iris in Texas. He has this particular style of bitchy, intelligent comebacks that are so memorable, they stay with you forever. Recently I was checking which episodes he wrote dialogue on... and every single one of them had something I remembered, pretty much every one. To this day nobody has written better dialogue for Brooke in the 2005+ era. He KNEW who this woman is. This is the issue the show has in modern days. The dialogue writers have no idea what Brooke is about, they don't know her compulsions, they don't care. She is boring, one note, she hasn't given a smart comeback to anyone in YEARS. And when Mulcahey wrote for Stephanie - she could kill you with words. The verbal assassin. SO BRUTAL. All of this reminds me how important dialogue writers are. How crucial. We've been talking on this topic in the BTG thread for so long.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Maxim

@DRW50 One of my favorite episodes written by Mulcahey - the one where Stephanie urges Brooke to kill herself. Every line is memorable. "Isn't it better to leave this world... still the object of desire..."

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Maxim

Thanks again @Maxim

Sometimes I forget how wild Stephanie was by the end.

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks again @Maxim

Sometimes I forget how wild Stephanie was by the end.

The best moment is when she asks her - What is so valuable about your life anyway? I scream every time. I know it's disturbing and I probably shouldn't be laughing, but there is this undertone of comedy that Mulcahey executes perfectly. Susan Flannery did all her best work in the late years when he was the dialogue writer.