Yeah. I don't fault Jonathan for asking for Lucky and Liz, which I assume he did since it was an issue in his last contract stint in 2009-2011 and the lack thereof was stated as part of the reasons for his exit. He was told then that they'd get to it and they never did, and as you say the grueling miserable material he got instead turned him off continuing. I believe he'd have re-upped in 2011 if not for that. It was a massive fumble for a show in major BTS flux that year. And frankly I suspect if he'd still been there while Tony was there and FV arrived in '12 the situation would be very different today. Tony Geary was one of very few actors Frank has notably bowed to on story and he was very close to JJ, and they were entering a crucial anniversary period trying to save the show.
Jonathan was vocal again this time about wanting LNL2. He's been pretty consistent about that and I don't blame him. Most of the audience wants it, Becky wants it and he wants it. It's the show that doesn't want it simply because multiple regimes just don't have a vested interest in showcasing Becky vs. other women despite being stuck with her out of audience loyalty, and FV clearly doesn't have much use for Lucky either. IMO, as you also said he knows that if he centers Laura's family and children again it gets away from the people and stories he prefers to showcase. Alexa is getting a lot of airtime and story again atm but still she is the dupe for Cassius Faison, and is being painted by her nonconsensual mutant spawn and Valentin as an unreasonable helicopter mom. Her past romance with Dante is presently defunct, as Dante continues to mourn for his last girlfriend possibly longer than any other contract male in recent daytime history. That also is no coincidence IMO and speaks to FV's disinterest in DZ.
I have heard JJ's scheduling was a mess and I'm sure it's true. But to that I will raise them with skewing story around JPS and Valentin for years, which FV is more than happy to do with a less popular lead. Anyway it's all irrelevant now. He has Ethan and that solves his problem for the moment. It's just really too bad. Who knows if we'll ever see Lucky again or get the character fixed, which was clearly the hope last time round. For once the network had the right ideas about exactly what the show needed.
By
Vee ·
