I think anti-Christian sentiment plays a role in the view of the show, but I think it is also a bit more complicatedthan that. That first year is incredibly rough. Roy Winsor's work is dramatically flat. Dallas and Joann Barnes' material lacks a true understanding of the structure of soap opera with most stories ending with some deux ex machina conclusions which may be effective on a weekly dramatic nighttime show, but fail to grab the audience's attention in a daily serial. In addition, by the time that Jason Vinley's work did start to appear, a good number of the local channels that syndicated it no longer carried it. Though, I guess you are right a large number of people, even if they heard about the dramatic improvement, more than likely weren't going to hunt it down on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
By the point I am currently at (February, 1983), though show is easily as strong as or stronger than its network competitors especially in the half-hour form. And, it seems like there may even be some lifting from one show to another. The conclusion of the Blue Nobles story set in the abandoned factory is very similar to the conclusion (later in 1983) of Jo's kidnapping by Vargas in the factory down to the blue hue color scheme. I feel a bit of connection between AL/SFT of the same time period. Like Ringo / Warren of SFT, Blue and Lance have a bit of a "Midnight Cowboy" inspired friendship that seems to have hints of homoerotic subtext. Throughout the final pursuit of Blue, Lance seemed genuinely worried about Blue and now we get a scene of Lance singing Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Without Blue, Lance has now shown an increased sexual interest in Miriam. I suspect that the show has simply decided to beef up Lance's role, but the timing provides for a bit of queerness to the mob storyline. Given the jealousy (which Ron calls out) between Lance and Russ, I could easily see a story where Lance gets into bed (figuratively or literally) with Tony Cardello.
The show's current view of queerness continues to be quite negative. Peter alludes to the fact that Vicki Lang might think he is gay without stating it, while Babs goes off on Nancy because Nancy calls her a thespian, and Harold has to explain to Babs that it's not what she thinks it means. It's still being addressed which is more than most of daytime would be doing. I still would be curious to see how Vinley would have approached Tony Cardello.
I can'tremember if Hill Harben is one of the interviews done by the AL fan on YouTube. @YTG would probably know better.
I wish there had been any real coverage of Another Life because I am deeply curious about what the reaction was of the audience to Blue's death. While I imagine many were happy that such a violent man reached his end, he is very clearly saved and welcomed into the arms of the Lord. It is such a happy ending for such a complicated character. It hasn't been made clear yet completed to Miriam that Blue is dead; she has been told he is no longer part of the organization. I am curious if we will get any further exploration of Blue's death after Miriam is released. I would love to see a scene with Miriam and the Martins where Lori and Ben are forced to process that Miriam, held captive by Blue, has been able to forgive him and how they still have intense feelings regarding the man.
There is a really great scene where Russ goes to visit Lori after he has killed Blue to talk about the situation in very coded terms. It's very powerful. It is almost like Lori might know what's going on, but is adamant that she won't accept this. This would be very similar to how she has reacted to her own near rape for the past few months. Lori and Russ is one of my favorite relationships on the show. I don't want them together romantically, but there is something about their shared past and the road not taken that I just adore. Russ clearly will always love Lori and Lori will always try to save Russ. I am curious how late 1990s General Hospital fans would think of this mob heavy sequence (Blue's demise).
There is another delightful scene in which Ron Washington lets Vince Cardello know that ti was Russ that killed Blue. Nick Benedict is coming into his own as sleazy menacing Ron Washington. This is a more polished performance of his later Curtis Reed on Days of our Lives. Ron has used Russ' role to his advantage. He seems to be keeping Russ closer because he knows it is inciting jealousy from Lance (this is stated on air) and to keep Lance in line. He also seems to genuinely admire Russ realizing this isn't just some nepo hire that Russ is the man he claims he is; a scraper from the streets of Chicago who survived on his own wits and hands. He also seems to be forcing Vince's hand by showing him the terrible consequences of forcing Russ on to Ron. I'm not sure how Ron plans to keep the side businesses quiet, but I think Ron has a plan. All the plotting and scheming here is much more appealing than I ever expected.
The ripples in this story continue. Marianne has broken it off with Russ moments after the murder and she admits she cannot support Russ in whatever he is doing. It is a nice way to strip away whatever human connections Russ has left. I cannot tell exactly where this is all going. I cannot tell if we are taking Russ to the bottom in order to redeem him or if he will enjoy living in the gutter. There have been comments to suggest that this can go each way. Ron explains about how they are all living by the sword and they should pretty much expect to end the same way. Meanwhile, Terry mentions Russ' visit to the house and says she thinks this is the start of a new Russ, insinuating he might actually find God. This after Terry, Lori, and Marianne discuss that maybe God wants Marianne to hold out hope for Russ.
I am realizing more and more that Marianne seems very limited. Renee Crawford is a talented enough actress, but Marianne doesn't have a lot of potential. I do think I would have sent her into Amber's modeling agency for a bit. Marianne has always been controlled by a man, her father, her brother, and Russ. I think putting her in Amber's orbit, who is a strong female who also likes to control other females, would be interesting. Also, in that orbit, I think Marianne could explore her commercial art interest. I also think that the Russ - Lori connection is too strong in the long run for Marianne to work. With Becky, Becky was more complicated a character that made it all work.
There was some good stuff with the Phillips family that I save for another post.
Happy holidays everyone.
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dc11786 ·
