Well Plotted Soap Stories

[Contessa Donatella]

It's a relatively new thread, there's time yet.

This is one of my Lingering Questions that is unanswered so far.

AMC: OLTL: At AMC/OLTL crossover, who wrote the helicopter crash & baby swap?

This was the storyline that I hated that I was just galvanized watching. I hated it because it was another "exploit the lesbian story." I just hate all the times they make a victim out of a Lesbian character. And, I hated it because it made me watch OLTL & I didn't really have time to. So, my response was just typical.

Of course it was wonderfully, thoughtfully implemented & executed. And, I tolerated that whole Babe & Krystal rigamarole, well. Probably  because I like the actresses so much.

I didn't realize the ratings got an uptick from it. That's fantastic!

The Loving murders. I can't do it because I was just watching to get ready for The City. I was just in the rolling surf, letting the story wash over me. But, it was well played!

Edited May 11, 2022 by Tonksadora
Just a trim around the edge

[I Am A Swede]

The story of BeLief on B&B. It was full of twists and turns and had repercussions that lasted for years.

The most delicious part of it all for me back then, as a Brooke-fan, was how Stephanie became the architect of her own downfall through one bad decision after another. And the confrontation at the office when Brooke finally slapped Stephanie back remains my favourite scene ever from this show. 

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[Melroser]

Who shot Jake on AW?

From Marley's rape, Kathleen's return to visit him in the hospital, to the trial against Marley, then blackmailing Paulina when he remembered it was her. All led to great drama and fantastic performances from Tom Eplin, Anne Heche, Cali Timmins, Anna Stuart. Then, of course, led to Kathleen/Cass/Frankie. 

[j swift]

I agree great murder setup/great trial/great way to redeem Jake through his relationship with Paulina

However, the beats of the story were delayed due to production and Tom Eplin coming to terms on his contract.  As a result, Jake was shot, lingered in a coma, and nobody investigated the murder for weeks at time.  I think that pacing is a key component to plot, (even if the delays were unforeseen). Thus, I would not consider it a complete success because it felt as if it dragged in the middle and then came to a conclusion when Jake emerged from his coma.

[Contessa Donatella]

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I remember someone calculated how long he was comatose but still a part of driving story & he had some sort of record. LOL I was always for Jake & Paulina. They should've ended up together.

Interesting tidbit: Donna Swajeski refused to write that Jake raped Marley. I never believed he would have done so. She didn't either. But, somehow they made her do it. Write it, I mean. I think that's why she quit. It had one other great to it & that was a great magazine cover on SOD, all the dames around him in hot red & him in white. Back when covers were good because there was one show on it & it was done artistically instead of like cut and paste. Excellent choice!

Edited May 11, 2022 by Tonksadora
Add pic.

[Soaplovers]

Loving Murders was well plotted and really delved into some history with Gwyn.

She'd given up a baby for adoption only for him to end up dead, she loves Curtis yet couldn't help him escape his demons, and Trisha/Gwyn had a tense relationship going back to 1984.

So when Trisha 'died' she went into grief refusing to accept it, she also ended up pregnant only to lose the baby...and once she learned Trisha was alive, she had hope only for her to be rejected thus causing her to go over the edge.

The Loving Murders worked because it used backstory and history....but the Nursery rhyme stalker didn't work because it didn't make sense for Holly to do all that.  

[carolineg]

I enjoyed the Loving Murders, but do you (or anyone else who liked it) feel like it's only a story you can do when a soap is ending or at least being spun off with selected characters?  Idk if I can imagine it on a soap that didn't have a clear expiration date.  The victims were major characters and so was the murderer.

[Bright Eyes]

I mean you can do it on GH right now. Close your eyes and point. #Bobbiesnaps

Edited May 12, 2022 by Bright Eyes

[Contessa Donatella]

The DOOL one of the best was Bill Bell conceived & Hwritten tale of Bill Horton, in love with Laura & not able to face her marrying Mickey the next day got drunk & went to the hospital where Laura was staying overnight in the doctor's on call room & raped Laura, crying & hating himself for it the whole time & Laura became pregnant of course because this is a soap. Tom,  Laura & the audience knew that Mickey was sterile & 8 yrs later Mike found out his Uncle Bill was really his biological father.

 

[Kane]

Days - the Salem Slasher. Roman ending up on the run with Anna, Alice helping Bo and it causing friction between her and Tom because she's constantly having to lie to him, Roman's "death," Bo keeping Roman hidden and later Marlena, Eugene, Abe, and Alice finding out that he's alive, Marlena finding out that she's pregnant and Eugene stepping in to explain how that could be so when Roman has been "dead" for months, Anna getting swept off her feet by Tony then discovering the real Tony imprisoned and learning that Andre has taken Tony's place and  then getting locked up with Tony, Bo trying to stay away from Hope and Larry moving in on her. And, of course, Stefano turning out to be alive.

Also, the Maison Blanche-Possession-Aremid cycle and all the side stories that sprung out of them.

All My Children - the introduction of Wildwind with Angelique being revealed as Dimitri's proverbial woman in the attic, Edmund coming onto the scene and trying to be recognized as Hugo's son, Dimitri and Erica's affair, Edmund kidnapping Erica in Budapest and then her deciding to work with him against Dimitri, and Helga falling to her death.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Kane

[DRW50]

ATWT: "The truth about Aaron." Up to the dynamic Christmas 1992 climax, and Heather Rattray's exit as Lily, the story was intricately plotted, allowing you to feel very  complex emotions for everyone involved in the story, and  in spite of going on for two years, it never dragged. 

[soapfan770]

I think the story was well plotted in the beginning too. I think JHB & BE tried to hard to recreate the Loving murders without anyone being off’d besides Jenna indirectly and I think Vivian Grant…? Holly having a breakdown did make sense following losing Meg, Fletcher, and Roger in but terrorizing her own daughter and kidnapping all the children of Springfield was wayyy too far. 

 

[Vee]

Brown and Esensten did an all-time great arc with the Loving Murders which was (IMO, I know others disagree) uniquely rooted in that show's strange, sad family history and gothic sensibility (dating back to its dark pilot episode murder mystery with Lloyd Bridges and a chilling Geraldine Page) and situated as well at a moment where a handful of key young and/or Black characters could take off on ABC. Watching it all again for the first time since childhood during the housebound horrors of 2020 was one of the highlights of my soap viewer experience.

They spent the rest of their career chasing that high, and never really could replicate it. Not on The City (though my ex adored The Masquerade), not at PC where they went hogwild with horror, and definitely not on Paul Rauch's GL. But I do credit them for being key to re-populating AMC with a ton of Black characters, including past LOV/TC leads Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams again, in the late 2000s, even if only a couple lasted beyond their merely so-so writing regime.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Vee

[DramatistDreamer]

I think the Banbury Cross/Frannie and Sabrina storyline was very well done, especially since it played out on two continents. It was intricately plotted and deftly executed and had the benefit of some of As The World Turns’ key talent at that time: Julianne Moore, Don Hastings, Kathryn Hays and Larry Brygmann and it unfolded in such a way that other characters/actors got absorbed into the storyline once the truth got out, which reverberated for months.

Sketchy British accents from some of the actors aside, this storyline was one of the most memorable to me.

It’s easy to forget that the beginnings of the story began to bubble in November of 1986 and the story unfolded through the winter of 1986-early 1987 and the repercussions went through 1987 all the way to 1988 with Frannie and Seth’s broken engagement.

Meanwhile, other stories were not only happening but running hot.

[pdm1974]

For me, it's OLTL and the Billy Douglas/homophobia takes over Llanview story in the summer of 1992. It was so well-plotted out with a distinct arc for all the characters. Marty told the citizens of Llanview that Andrew was sexually involved with Billy (a nod to the movie "The Children's Hour") when he was just providing counsel to Billy who was struggling with revealing his sexuality. Andrew turned down Marty's advances and her revenge against him kickstarted a HUGE umbrella story where homophobia touched almost every character's life on the show. It's particularly amazing when you think this story was done 30 years ago, and I'm still surprised ABC approved it. The scenes where Billy comes out to everyone in Llanview while the AIDS memorial quilt comes to town were so moving. Since I was coming out at the same time, the story really impacted me more than any other TV storyline had before or has since.