On a side note, MissLlanviewPA, I love that my photo contributions are fueling your image signatures! I really like your current one. Fiona is so beautiful in those pictures.

Why ABC stopped using photgrapher Yolanda Perez for their daytime line-up is beyond me. I know Linda Dano introduced her to the Daytime community. Susan Lucci chose her to take her autobiography's cover shoot. I also remember Barbra Walters being partial to one of Perez's photos of her.

On a side note, MissLlanviewPA, I love that my photo contributions are fueling your image signatures! I really like your current one. Fiona is so beautiful in those pictures.

Thank you! Cheap did a great job with it. I actually found these literally right before you posted them, though . But great minds DO think alike sometimes!

Oh, my Gabrielle. Not all of that episode showed Gabby at her best, but it was still good to see her again one last time.

Yeah it didn't bother me-well maybe too much Ford Bros focus (I always laugh when they pretend that Inez is still on the show...), but ti was nice to have a breather in a way, and I actually for once liked one of RC's shock twists with the Cole isn't dead hing (honest to God I was certain he's sacrifice Cole for Ford which would make no sense even by the RC Heaven rules).

Eric, I concur, I was relieved that Cole was spared. I could have seen RC going either way because of this regime's current hard-on for all things Ford related.

I think Cole's freedom provides so much potential for future storylines had OLTL's relaunch been successful. I do feel a sense of closure knowing that he has been reunited with his parents (though a surprise appearance by both would have been a welcome surprise).

Really doesn't but me--like (some) others I like some ambiguity in my soap endings--then I can feel like the stories and characters are still going on with their lives which I personally find more true to the soap format than everything else tied up.

Except that John said they rounded everyone up but Allison - so by default, that includes Lindsay, no? So that look on her face could've meant she ran from the cops if John hadn't said that. But he did. So now her expression is essentially a moot point and an irritating one at that since I can't tell what Cat meant or where they planned on taking the story and now we'll never know.

I think Cole's freedom provides so much potential for future storylines had OLTL's relaunch been successful.

But how so? Essentially, Cole can never set foot in Llanview again.

It has not sunk in for me that this show is going off the air on Friday. It feels active and vital despite its many faults, like it's just another week. The pain's not really hit. I thought I was through most of it months ago, then again in November, now I don't know. I'm just sort of expectant. I keep thinking of where it could go online.

Agreed

I think Brody was just a placeholder for RC, while they found their new Nash or Todd or whoever. He went nuts twice under RC, and spent a year as a hypocrite, beating up poor Ford, breaking Jessica's heart, blah blah.

I'm sure he did care about Jared though.

Did anyone else laugh when they said Vimal was going to run a paternity test? I hope those weird rumors about Harry O'Neil end up being the result.

Yeah RC seemed to not really know how to write Brody (though eh created him didn't he?) Alcoholic, suddenly cured (though he's drank sionce so I'm not sure that could be the cause of his problems), then the PTSD stuff, then a year of him being a boring "good guy" with nothin to distinguish him (despite Mark L doing his best), then a psychotic liar, etc, etc...

Was jared's exit forced on RC? Confused...

And what rumours abotu Harry O'Neil? LOL

But how so? Essentially, Cole can never set foot in Llanview again.

I think there is a lot of "classic soap" drama there. Where no matter how happy Cole is with his parents, and new life, he is continuously drawn back to his daughter and Starr.

There can be an emotional reunion in a foreign land (e.g., Macy and Thorne in Italy)... maybe this time in Ireland.

Cole's eventual discovery can put Todd right back in trouble with the law, where he is most comfortable; but this time, he carries the guilt of potentially putting Blair (his great love) and hid daughters face-to-face with incarceration.

Nora as the DA has to decide what to do with Cole. She has to weigh the residual feelings she has from loving him as a son and putting Matt back in harm's way.

A grande heroic gesture, maybe this time saving Matt, would turn her opinions and provide the opportunity for leniency and reversal of fortune.

But Starr has moved on, and Cole has changed a lot from his time as convict. With little prospect for employment as a fugitive, no way to contact his parents, Cole may again turn to desperate measures to prove to Starr that he can be a provider for Hope.

I don't think he was a placeholder. Originally Brody was just to be the goat for Rex, go nuts up on Llantano Mountain and either die or get thrown in St. Anne's, then bye bye. When Gary Tomlin introduced Brody he was a surly, lying drunk; a week or two later, when RC returned after the strike they began retooling the character to make him distinctly more sympathetic. They delved into him because they saw the talent in Mark Lawson and made him a leading man. Were this the '80s or even much of the '90s, a true blue, layered hero like Brody would've had a long, long run on the show. He was a complex, intelligent but innately heroic and valiant guy. It's just that the overall ethos of ABC Daytime hasn't gone in for much of that in a long while. Everybody's been chasing the legacy of Bob Guza's dark GH for ages - back when it was good, which was long ago.

Yeah, Brody's character was fed to that same meat grinder, but I do think they were once quite invested in him.

Didn't realize he came on under GT. That makes sense. The problem was (as you seem to imply as well) that when Brody did become a good guy, they had no clue what to do with him... I'm not sure RC really ever does with good characters, at least the men.

Basically, AMC/OLTL/GH averaged around 250 episodes a year not counting repeats and pre-emptions.

Not that I watch, but hasn't The Chew already had several weeks total of reruns?

And chew on this, then lose weight like this..pitiful.

A friend of mine who knows my hatred of The Chew but never watched soaps, has tuned into Chew numerous times as it airs while he gets ready for work, and has pointed out that besides the fact that it always feels like amateur hour with nobody knowing when to talk or what to say (which I guess producer Gordon Eliot told Erika Sleazak was part of the appeal), nearly every recipe, except Dr Oz Jrs, are hugely unhealthy, expensive, rich food recipes. So maybe the goal is to fatter you up and then make you feel guilty for it with Revolution.

Did I miss something...why didn't Todd tell Starr where Cole and his parents would be? That didn't make any sense to me

Because he is a control freak and didn't want Starr going after them, or (nicer) didn't want anyone else to be implicit in their escape. Made complete sense ot me though.

I think Cole's freedom provides so much potential for future storylines had OLTL's relaunch been successful. I do feel a sense of closure knowing that he has been reunited with his parents (though a surprise appearance by both would have been a welcome surprise).

It seemed too cruel by RC/soap opera rules ot have Cole locked away for over a decade due to killing a character who basically deserved it and told him he had killed his family, when half of Llanview runs around for far less, and crazy killer Marty (a plot twist I hated of course) is happy with Cole's father and he can't even see them.

Except that John said they rounded everyone up but Allison - so by default, that includes Lindsay, no? So that look on her face could've meant she ran from the cops if John hadn't said that. But he did. So now her expression is essentially a moot point and an irritating one at that since I can't tell what Cat meant or where they planned on taking the story and now we'll never know.

But how so? Essentially, Cole can never set foot in Llanview again.

Sure he can. He can be pardoned for saving Starr or some other lame Ron Carlivati Llanview reason VERY easily--it would not be a stretch by this show, or even normal soap rules.

I still think Jon said something about Mitch's followers being locked up except Alison but I guess I should re-watch with closed caption on... Either way her expression is not a moot point--even in soap jail laws it would be ridiculous for her to get an instant pardon, and we were already told she'd have to go back to prison by later on (and courts take time--ok not on soaps) Nora dn bo would stand up for having her sentence diminished and her released on parole.

Edited January 11, 201213 yr by EricMontreal22

Yeah, that's what they said about Patrick and Marty in the '90s too, but those dumbasses still moved back to [!@#$%^&*] California and lived in the open.

I always found it so unbelievable when first Malone, then Higley brought the Thornharts back and said 'oh, they're fine, they're living out West.' Are you [!@#$%^&*] with me? These two fled the States from IRA assassins! How are they living public lives in California? I was pleased when RC finally came in and said in 2007 that yes, Patrick had been assassinated and the same people were after Marty and Cole, because that is exactly what would have happened IRL the moment Patrick showed his face in public life again.

I find their life on the run romantic, I always did, but there are ways to bring any one of them back again. The trick is not to sweep it totally under the rug, which is what Malone and Higley did.

I think there is a lot of "classic soap" drama there. Where no matter how happy Cole is with his parents, and new life, he is continuously drawn back to his daughter and Starr.

[deleted your possible examples]

Exactly! To accept what's gone on on soaps, and OLTL recently in particular and say there's NO way Cole could step foot in Llanview again makes me think someone hasn't watched soaps for more than a few weeks (which Alexisfan I know isn't true )

Didn't realize he came on under GT. That makes sense. The problem was (as you seem to imply as well) that when Brody did become a good guy, they had no clue what to do with him... I'm not sure RC really ever does with good characters, at least the men.

I think he knew what he was doing with Brody for quite awhile. It was his choice to extend the character beyond the short-term arc with Rex and Gigi in 2008. He did the whole St. Anne's story with Jessica, Brody, and his memories of Iraq. Then he put him in the stories on the LPD, which were well-received, and he made him quite a bit of a hero in the Mitch storyline in 2009 and 2010. But I also think RC can bore easily, or get distracted, and he made quite a lot in the press of how he could absolutely "redeem" Ford into a viable new male lead. The Ford influx was also, reportedly, a big Frons thing, and I think that dovetailed well with RC's ego move to make his own "Todd redemption" arc with Ford and Jessica. So then Brody hit the skids. I think part of it, too, was RC and Bree Williamson's myopia about Tess - that the only good stories Jessica can have are when she goes 'crazy' with wild, 'fun' men. And that's all bullshit.

Yeah, that's what they said about Patrick and Marty in the '90s too, but those dumbasses still moved back to [!@#$%^&*] California and lived in the open.

I always found it so unbelievable when first Malone, then Higley brought the Thornharts back and said 'oh, they're fine, they're living out West.' Are you [!@#$%^&*] with me? These two fled the States from IRA assassins! How are they living public lives in California? I was pleased when RC finally came in and said in 2007 that yes, Patrick had been assassinated and the same people were after Marty and Cole, because that is exactly what would have happened IRL the moment Patrick showed his face in public life again.

I find their life on the run romantic, I always did, but there are ways to bring any one of them back again. The trick is not to sweep it totally under the rug, which is what Malone and Higley did.

I do agree there completely although... I'm blanking--how were the Thornharts brought back under Malone again? I know Cole came on as a steroid freak under Higley (aww Higley and her brave social issue stories) but didn't remember them being mentioned under Malone's last tenure. (didn't Patrick show up as a ghost to his new found twin Ian on PC? )

I think he knew what he was doing with Brody for quite awhile. It was his choice to extend the character beyond the short-term arc with Rex and Gigi in 2008. He did the whole St. Anne's story with Jessica, Brody, and his memories of Iraq. Then he put him in the stories on the LPD, which were well-received, and he made him quite a bit of a hero in the Mitch storyline in 2009 and 2010. But I also think RC can bore easily, or get distracted, and he made quite a lot in the press of how he could absolutely "redeem" Ford into a viable new male lead. The Ford influx was also, reportedly, a big Frons thing, and I think that dovetailed well with RC's ego move to make his own "Todd redemption" arc with Ford and Jessica. So then Brody hit the skids. I think part of it, too, was RC and Bree Williamson's myopia about Tess - that the only good stories Jessica can have are when she goes 'crazy' with wild, 'fun' men. And that's all bullshit.

Actually, completely agree with all of that. And it did seem to be RC being bored--a friend of mine started watching the show during Brody's most boring "knight in shining armour who never even has anyone to save" period and didn't get why anyone would find the character interesting.

I loved Brody as a knight in shining armor, actually, because he'd earned it. He'd come through a lot and I thought they wrote him so well. But I also think there's been a lot of conditioning on the viewers to not find nice guys interesting. Look how many times Joey's balls have been cut off. It's not that nice guys are boring, it's if you play them like eunuchs. When Andrew was a star on the show, he burned with inner passions, he had issues, he was in love with a married woman, then lusted after a drunken college girl - but he was still a decent, soulful, spiritual man.

Edited January 11, 201213 yr by Vee