3 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I think John’s backstory is finally complete, but the Konstantin storyline rewrites part of it. The Pawn never worked for Victor as an assassin. It would make more sense if the writers had tied it to Stefano somehow, instead of Steve and Victor. 

Yes.  Steve and Victor both had good relationships with John and have for years.  It's really difficult for me to imagine these men watching John struggle with his past and just not telling him anything.  Especially Steve!

I do get a bit confused with the timeline of when Stefano had John and when Victor got him.  Victor was also never the one doing the brainwashing on John, so I don't know where the goofy playing card comes in.

7 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I do get a bit confused with the timeline of when Stefano had John and when Victor got him.  Victor was also never the one doing the brainwashing on John, so I don't know where the goofy playing card comes in.

In the original storyline, once the whole game/competition thing that Victor was a part of collapsed, he stole the Pawn from Petrov and kept him at his house for a little while. Victor then decided to have the Pawn moved to another location, but while they were moving him, he broke out and ran off. And that's when Steve found him and kept him at his apartment. Steve only kept him because he thought that if he was the one who found the Pawn, he'd have a good chance to move up in Victor's organization. I'm not even sure if Victor ever even found out that Steve kept the Pawn from him.

18 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Yes.  Steve and Victor both had good relationships with John and have for years.  It's really difficult for me to imagine these men watching John struggle with his past and just not telling him anything.  Especially Steve!

I do get a bit confused with the timeline of when Stefano had John and when Victor got him.  Victor was also never the one doing the brainwashing on John, so I don't know where the goofy playing card comes in.

Perhaps we will learn that John is actually fringe royalty, like the Duke of Aremid? Nice ring to it. 

12 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

In the original storyline, once the whole game/competition thing that Victor was a part of collapsed, he stole the Pawn from Petrov and kept him at his house for a little while. Victor then decided to have the Pawn moved to another location, but while they were moving him, he broke out and ran off. And that's when Steve found him and kept him at his apartment. Steve only kept him because he thought that if he was the one who found the Pawn, he'd have a good chance to move up in Victor's organization. I'm not even sure if Victor ever even found out that Steve kept the Pawn from him.

Thanks!  You explained that really well.  So John wouldn't really have a timeline where he would have been in Greece with Victor?

2 minutes ago, carolineg said:

So John wouldn't really have a timeline where he would have been in Greece with Victor?

None whatsoever. 

John did work for Victor a little while later, but it was after he had removed the bandages and gotten away from Steve. Victor even had John looking for the Pawn for a while. 

2 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

None whatsoever. 

John did work for Victor a little while later, but it was after he had removed the bandages and gotten away from Steve. Victor even had John looking for the Pawn for a while. 

It's so silly because like @j swiftpointed out John did so many things before he came to Salem and he wasn't really very old when he appeared.  You can only fit so much backstory in.  It reminds me of GH when they told us Sam had been married like 5! times before she came to Port Charles and Sam was about 25 when she showed up.

1 minute ago, carolineg said:

It's so silly because like @j swiftpointed out John did so many things before he came to Salem and he wasn't really very old when he appeared.  You can only fit so much backstory in.  It reminds me of GH when they told us Sam had been married like 5! times before she came to Port Charles and Sam was about 25 when she showed up.

I think they could have made Konstantin and everything with him fit in, without messing up the timeline or rewriting history.

They could have said something like Konstantin also did business with Stefano back then. And that Stefano sent his Pawn to Greece to kill him and accidently killed his daughter. 

It's a bit of stretch but at least it wouldn't contradict anything. 

4 minutes ago, carolineg said:

It's so silly because like @j swiftpointed out John did so many things before he came to Salem and he wasn't really very old when he appeared.  You can only fit so much backstory in.  It reminds me of GH when they told us Sam had been married like 5! times before she came to Port Charles and Sam was about 25 when she showed up.

Fortunately time on soaps is often out of whack. Right now on GH Kristina is 14 weeks pregnant when I think her IVF procedure was last month. Pine Valley had a transporter & Port Charles seems to have a Time Machine. 

Me, whenever I try and untangle the mess that is John Black's history:

24 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I think they could have made Konstantin and everything with him fit in, without messing up the timeline or rewriting history.

They could have said something like Konstantin also did business with Stefano back then. And that Stefano sent his Pawn to Greece to kill him and accidently killed his daughter. 

It's a bit of stretch but at least it wouldn't contradict anything. 

Okay, that makes sense to me.  Wouldn't it have been difficult to fit Steve in though without the Victor connection?

1 minute ago, carolineg said:

Wouldn't it have been difficult to fit Steve in though without the Victor connection?

Ehhh.... I wouldn't have written Steve's part in it 😂😂

10 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Ehhh.... I wouldn't have written Steve's part in it 😂😂

Fair enough.

I still think this is an attempt to give Steve a story more than John to be honest though.  Steve needs more to do than to find Tripp from his 50th kidnapping and talk to Stephanie about her love life.  John really doesn't appear enough to necessitate a big story.

36 minutes ago, Khan said:

Me, whenever I try and untangle the mess that is John Black's history:

That used to be me, too, but I have moved on to

How I Learned to Stop Worrying about John Black's retcon & enjoy the family man. 

I totally agree with @carolineg Steve needs a purpose beyond advice to the lovelorn.  I also think a geriatric detective agency, where they're related to all of their clients, feels like pandering for Steve and John to have something to do.  So, I propose three new roles for Steve and John. (1.) Daycare, let's give Julie a break, somebody needs to raise Chad's kids and John is so good with children. (2) Matchmaking, Salem doesn't seem to have dating apps so welcome to black/patch the city's newest yentas who will provide research to make sure your new boyfriend doesn't have amnesia. And (3) An employment agency for ex-spies, from Harris to Shane, Salem is filled with ex-ISA agents, and they can't all be police commissioners, so let's let John and Steve find them jobs in the tech or fashion industries.

However, given the new AI establishing shots, I would advise black/patch to stair clear of window washing the many new highrise buildings in Salem because with one eye, and an out of warranty brain chip I worry about accidents. 

BTW, I'm giving the new producer a month to coordinate the establishing shots with the sets.  The current views out of the windows make no sense.

Edited March 2, 20241 yr by j swift

21 minutes ago, j swift said:

BTW, I'm giving the new producer a month to coordinate the establishing shots with the sets.  The current views out of the windows make no sense.

The hospital one is the only shot that makes some sense.

Wendy and Tripp look they are being held hostage in a quaint European village and John and Marlena's penthouse looks like a cheap apartment complex in Century City.