22 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

If they wanted a gay triangle so badly, they should have kept Brad on canvas.

I am not sure the show necessarily has much use for Brad alone or even Lucas/Brad. I think the show loves the Britt/Brad friendship. IIRC, Brad left long before KT was re-hired. At this point it seems Marco has become the sacrificial lamb to help prop up Britt's awful return. Britt needs her gay bff back so Lucas/Brad need to also reunite.

Yeah, Van Etten or someone loves Brad and Britt/Brad. That's the only reason any of this is happening. I never need to see Brad again.

20 minutes ago, Vee said:

Yeah, Van Etten or someone loves Brad and Britt/Brad. That's the only reason any of this is happening. I never need to see Brad again.

I don't even think Van Etten or whoever care much about Brad. He's never had anything more than a superficial personality. Sure, they tried with the Wiley story, but Perry Chen is limited. Van's hiring has brought more focus back to Lucas in a way that works-all without Brad.

I don't believe there is any interest in telling a compelling gay love triangle or even telling a proper gay romance. Although the show lacks romance in general so I don't think it's only about sexual orientation.

Brad will come back, Marco will become the bad guy, and Lucas/Brad will be hastily put back together. Meanwhile 75% of Brad's scenes will be with Britt being snarky and talking about Drag Race or something because Britt's so progressive and the show's resident gay icon. 🙄

11 hours ago, carolineg said:

That's what I remember. It was just an odd tack on ending to a completed story. Kim was long gone. But I guess we have that SORASed kid to look forward to in 5 years.

It's an anvil they wanted to have in there, and an anvil I genuinely hope everyone has forgotten about. It gave me Y&R teas when Delia died and Chloe wanted another baby; not as vile as how Y&R did it, but still....

The only logic I can assign to the audience liking Valentin, Franco, Finn and Julian Jerome as much as they do is the clear acknowledgement that people actually do want romance stories on this soaps. All of them have had tortured romances almost their entire runs. I have to count the ABC viewers long term fandom of Roger Howarth and Michael Easton too. But ultimately I think it’s that they were all constantly coupled up.

In the same toxic way fans wanted Luke and Laura together in 1979, they wanted Alexis and Julian to get back together after he tried to kill her.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by titan1978

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

Brad will come back, Marco will become the bad guy, and Lucas/Brad will be hastily put back together. Meanwhile 75% of Brad's scenes will be with Britt being snarky and talking about Drag Race or something because Britt's so progressive and the show's resident gay icon. 🙄

It’s so pathetic and being telegraphed a mile away. I hope it doesn’t come to pass but I have my doubts. We are about to be dominated by recurring characters again and the actual contract players are going to be the B characters in all their stories again.

The only recurring person I want to see a lot of right now is Ric Lansing, and the occasional drop in with Lucy Coe. Rick Hearst is one of those handful of soap actors that just seems to have chemistry with everyone, even if his character is gross.

3 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

The only recurring person I want to see a lot of right now is Ric Lansing, and the occasional drop in with Lucy Coe. Rick Hearst is one of those handful of soap actors that just seems to have chemistry with everyone, even if his character is gross.

Yes, RH has great chemistry with the cast. Plus, he's very easy on the eyes.

3 hours ago, carolineg said:

I am not sure the show necessarily has much use for Brad alone or even Lucas/Brad. I think the show loves the Britt/Brad friendship. IIRC, Brad left long before KT was re-hired. At this point it seems Marco has become the sacrificial lamb to help prop up Britt's awful return. Britt needs her gay bff back so Lucas/Brad need to also reunite.

It was odd as Brad was gone for several years, then suddenly popped up again. I think this was at a time the show was getting heavily criticized by some fans for moving away from diversity, not sure if those are tied together but Terry Randolph was also taken out of the bit player cupboard around the same time. IIRC, Perry said the call was very abrupt. Then he was back for, what, a few months and Lucas came back, then broke up with him once and for all due to being tired of lies...so now that gives an opening for him to reunite with Brad because Brad is, I guess, a "good" liar.

You'd think they would have had him back for at least one episode when Britt returned, but her return was so mishandled all around.

Credits for Wednesday, December 10, 2025:

Created by: Frank & Doris Hursley
Executive producer: Frank Valentini
Head writers: Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten
Writers: Will Gavett; Scott Sickles and Cathy Lepard
Director: Tina Keller

44 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

It was odd as Brad was gone for several years, then suddenly popped up again. I think this was at a time the show was getting heavily criticized by some fans for moving away from diversity, not sure if those are tied together but Terry Randolph was also taken out of the bit player cupboard around the same time. IIRC, Perry said the call was very abrupt. Then he was back for, what, a few months and Lucas came back, then broke up with him once and for all due to being tired of lies...so now that gives an opening for him to reunite with Brad because Brad is, I guess, a "good" liar.

You'd think they would have had him back for at least one episode when Britt returned, but her return was so mishandled all around.

Since Britt returned she has tried to call Brad and he hasn't answered. I was thinking perhaps Brad is in danger or something, but the show didn't really follow up on that. It's possible he just went off the grid and doesn't have time for Britt's nonsense. Unfortunately that seems unlikely lol.

8 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Since Britt returned she has tried to call Brad and he hasn't answered. I was thinking perhaps Brad is in danger or something, but the show didn't really follow up on that. It's possible he just went off the grid and doesn't have time for Britt's nonsense. Unfortunately that seems unlikely lol.

Ah. Shows how much attention I pay. They will probably say Marco has him held prisoner.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

Ah. Shows how much attention I pay. They will probably say Marco has him held prisoner.

In which case, Marco will have my eternal gratitude!

29 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Since Britt returned she has tried to call Brad and he hasn't answered. I was thinking perhaps Brad is in danger or something, but the show didn't really follow up on that. It's possible he just went off the grid and doesn't have time for Britt's nonsense. Unfortunately that seems unlikely lol.

Or Selina had Brad shoot Drew, which is one of the dumbest ideas I can conceive of but which I think is definitely possible lol. Either way, he's coming. They've hyped his return up with constant mentions from both Britt and Lucas recently and we're going to get him.

I don't think the show has any real commitment to LGBT story atm, but I do think there's been people in the writers' room for years who just loooove Britt and Brad together and so that's why we have this angle returning. I can't stand either one.

As we have discussed before, scrap Britt, whatever the recurring rates are for Valentin and Brad, and put that coin in the offer and give us Brenda.

Jason and Sonny immediately have story, and they could finally go there with Guza’s 2002 plan to pair Jason with Brenda. Brenda can also be quippy and bitchy when written correctly. She was always a smartass, especially towards Carly. Let her walk in the door with some kind of secret and also as the buyer in a hostile takeover of Deception, working with Lois. And Brenda’s plot point son can be the HBIC gay man they have always wanted.

Just now, titan1978 said:

Jason and Sonny immediately have story, and they could finally go there with Guza’s 2002 plan to pair Jason with Brenda

I mean, I'm usually against actually pulling the trigger there but right now (especially with Jason back in the Q fold)... maybe. But yes, I would bring back her gay hellraising son and have her work with Lois (and Lucy) re: Deception. She could be the ace in the hole for Lucy as well.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Vee