The Decline and Fall of the Monty Empire

Week 12 (March 17-21, 1986) -- Part I

Ginny: "The top story this hour: Laurelton, South Carolina, resident Jennifer Talbot, (who) has been a frequent visitor to Port Charles, has been reported missing. ... Currently, a 13-state search is underway for the woman ..."

Laurelton: Luckily for GH's writers and producers, there were no preemptions this week. Terry awakens Monday to realize Jennifer's gone -- Martha Scott makes no live apparances this week -- and Frisco ends Friday's episode having found Jennifer's corpse. The problem is, once you realize that the body reveal is meant to provide a big moment, it's easy to be annoyed at all the time in between.

Characters in Port Charles and Laurelton gradually deduce what the audience has known almost all along. Jennifer never made it back to Laurelton. Kevin appears to have an alibi, but Patrick, who says he drove Jennifer to the airport, doesn't. As I mentioned before, flying was different in the '80s. It's not that far-fetched to assume that the airport didn't have surveilance cameras to reveal whether or not Jennifer actually came inside.

Speaking of 1986 vs. 2026, Ginny and Derek agreeing that updates on Jennifer should be allowed to interrupt programming. That stands out in light of the fact that NBC broke into the Olympics with news about Nancy Guthrie. I know it's not apples to apples, and Terry's not a national TV personality, but the insight into news values caught my attention. I guess it comes down to Port Charles being as big or as small of a city as GH needs it to be.

Kevin and Terry's sexual problem comes up once this week, in Monday's episode. The couple apparently complete the act, but Terry doesn't get any pleasure, and Kevin knows she faked it. I wonder if and when Terry had a genuine orgasm. Maybe it will be next year with Dusty?

Tuesday's episode includes a belated mention of D.L., plus Terry's mother. Terry says her mom was always too unhappy to really give her any attention. Terry's the only one who mentions D.L., meaning he's only referred to as "Daddy." As she tells Bobbie & Jake, D.L. never felt he fit in with Terry's family, meaning the only one there for her was Jennifer.

Halfway through the week, Ted and Sheriff Broder decide that they've got to work with Anna, who'd been waiting to hear from Jennifer. While it's nice to see Anna and the sheriff finally on the same side -- and let's hear it for Burt, who makes it clear how disgusted he is with how Broder's been treating Anna -- the bumpkin spoils things on Friday by being too overzealous in questioning Patrick. For that matter, I understand Patrick's at his wits end over yet again being unfairly accused, but at this point, it's as tedious to watch as the latest rounds of Terry being near-catatonic with worry or Felicia being jealous of Sam.

Thursday's episode concludes with Anna getting the word that the Brownstone-Laurelton case will be officially reopened only if they find Jennifer's body. You would think this would help the pace of Friday's episode, but I don't think it did. Friday is notable for tension between Bobbie and Patrick ... and yet he kept living in the Brownstone for another two years. I know they've got the hospital and Terry as reasons to rebuild their friendship, and in retrospect, they're both leading the way in the efforts to look out for Terry, but c'mon, Pat, maybe it would have been better to eventually put some space between you and your suspicious landlady.

Side note: While I mostly agree with this 1986 SOD review about how unfortunate it is that Tony and Tania's time was devoted to "(babysitting) the brownstone bunch," there was a nice synchronicity with Tania joining Bobbie for her latest questioning with Anna and Sheriff Broder, then Tony doing the same with Patrick.

Also, seemingly out of the blue, Guy Mack has a nice moment when Patrick is unexpectedly touched by the memory of Jennifer genuinely thanking him for the ride to the airport. Not long after, Frisco finds Jennifer's body.

18 hours ago, Spin865 said:

Going through the show it’s always weird when we have a Ruby/ Bobbie scene considering Ruby was Bobbie’s madam when she was a teenager sex worker. Wasn’t there a line during one of Bobbie’s funeral episodes where Carly or someone else called Ruby a sex trafficker?        

It’s the kind of complex stuff soaps now just don’t focus on. Bobbie and Luke loved Ruby dearly, and yet Ruby allowed both of them to endure horrible things while all of them were trying to survive. Geary alluded to Luke also being victimized later in his second run, as opposed to being the muscle and just a card shark, street kid and hustler.

When Bobbie’s baby Carly flashbacks started, before the story fully took off, she had scenes with Luke where she expressed anger at Ruby and Luke for not having agency over her own body/decisions. It came out in subtle ways later when she told Carly what it was like to give up her baby in the scenes at the penthouse during the snowstorm before Carly admitted she was Caroline and had a breakthrough about her own postpartum towards Michael. Zeman played it really beautifully.

It would have been very interesting had they told a story involving trafficking when Bobbie was still alive in the later years like revisiting Luke/Laura assault. Letting her really vocalize what the audience knows now about that kind of trauma. It’s complex, because the trauma was there, but also a fierce loyalty between Luke/Bobbie/Ruby.