Characters you think writers struggled to write for

[DemetriKane]

It’s a yes and no for me. I slightly disagree, because that was always the intent to make Bianca the new lead. The mistake with that, is Erica isn’t just a supporting Matriarch type. I mean, She’s no Ruth Martin. She needs to drive her own storylines as well! The best part of Umbrella stories, is that they branch out into new storylines, and they just didn’t do that enough with the Bianca storylines. They could have though!! The problem I had with Eden, is that she constantly kept leaving. I’m sure that makes it hard to play out good family storylines, with the supposed moral compass not committing to long contracts, but I could be wrong.

 

I would join your train of controversy, and add a unpopular opinion. That I’m probably the only one on this board, who enjoyed Pratt’s year at AMC and largely what he TRIED to do with the Kane’s. I felt he had the right idea, and could have done wonders if he was partnered with a vet who knew the shows history. Around that time,  I had written my own fanfic of Erica on a mission to rebuild that town, after the tornadoes and become the new founder if you will.

Edited April 8, 2021 by DemetriKane

[FrenchBug82]

Actually we are not disagreeing: maybe building up Bianca as the new lead was intentional or it happened organically but we do seem to agree that the end result was that it relegated Erica to a place that wasn't a good fit AND overshadowed her when the dynamic could have boosted her.
As for Bianca, yes. Riegel leaving and back and forth definitely killed the momentum of these extraordinary first five years. I wish soaps had a better track record of holding on to their stars but to be fair, the fact she was open to coming back often for short stints as needed shows that it was more personal reasons that made her reluctant to stay on full time
But by 2005 when she first left the entire show was poorly written so there was no saving Erica from it anyway.

[DemetriKane]

Maybe you’re right, LOL. We do agree.

[Planet Soap]

Katherine Chancellor in the 90s. After the Marge debacle it seemed like Kay didn't have a leading story until Rex's death and then again until the battle over the Chancellor estate. ( I know her breast cancer scare story is in that time frame somewhere) which I never saw. The estate battle really reignited her feud with Jill and gave her consistent stories until she passed. 

 

Did the show ever get into the root of Katherine's dependency on Philip? I still can't understand why she martyred Phillip II especially because Rex was a significantly better husband than him. It would have been cool to have seen some scenes with Mrs.C in the therapist chair or a rehab of some sort.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by ironlion

[titan1978]

She was pretty neglected after Rex died until Alden reinvested in Jill/Kay.

[FrenchBug82]

That is actually a very interesting question. This kind of subtext is what shows SHOULD be doing more of. That's what soaps have an advantage over primetime: they have the time.
So, instead of cheapening one of the most interesting relationships in daytime by ludicrously trying to make them mother and daughter, I wish smart writers had used the begrudging relationship between Jill and Katherine in later years as a springboard to explore earlier stuff. Instead of the usual "He left you for me" insults, imagine if their softening relationship meant that now instead Jill made your very point: Why are you still so fixated on him all these years later considering how he treated you. It would work both in terms of exploring Katherine as you said and her switching from bragging of being the mistress to expressing Katherine's POV would have been a subtle but telling shift in their relationship without forcing a cheap motherly bond.

Alas, that would involve producers having faith the audience would be invested in character layers and exploring the show history and subtle writing and there shall have been no such luck