I think the retcon where Britt was given a drug to create Huntington's symptoms so that she'll agree to die and work on Faison's project. Next.

So Cassius has turned out to not be the evil twin: he saved Rocco, works for Sidwell/Cullom for Britt's meds, is the only one giving Dante/Lulu good advise about getting Rocco out of town and is keeping Joss alive.

I do wonder they scrapped the Cass/Lulu abruptly. Is it really because of they see potential in J-ass?

1 hour ago, edgeofnik said:

I think the retcon where Britt was given a drug to create Huntington's symptoms so that she'll agree to die and work on Faison's project. Next.

So Cassius has turned out to not be the evil twin: he saved Rocco, works for Sidwell/Cullom for Britt's meds, is the only one giving Dante/Lulu good advise about getting Rocco out of town and is keeping Joss alive.

I do wonder they scrapped the Cass/Lulu abruptly. Is it really because of they see potential in J-ass?

I'd say it's because they realized that relationship amounted to Lulu being violated, but I'm not sure they would have cared.

I also wonder if we are seeing any rewrites from Frank fully realizing Storms is unable to return anytime soon.

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by DRW50

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I'd say it's because they realized that relationship amounted to Lulu being violated, but I'm not sure they would have cared.

It's possible. We know #MeToo and a change in management contributed to ABC finally taking notice of Franco and ordering FV to kill him off (and subsequently refusing his request to just bring back Todd Manning, which led to Austin).

Looking back on the 2000s and early '10s, I think the lack of rape and overt sex in the current show is not just a show choice but a network one in recent times. (Not that I think the show needs a lot more rape) I do think there is at times a weird and uncomfortably Oedipal undercurrent to the Rocco/Britt stuff that a past Guza team's darker, sleazier instincts probably would've brought out explicitly had he likely wanted to dispose of her lol. As bad as this story is I'm very glad we're not seeing anything like that.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Vee

10 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I'd say it's because they realized that relationship amounted to Lulu being violated, but I'm not sure they would have cared.

I also wonder if we are seeing any rewrites from Frank fully realizing Storms is unable to return anytime soon.

I am not sure the show cares about Lulu being violated either.

I do wonder what the show really had planned with Maxie/Nathan. You have to assume a lot of things shifted because Maxie should be in the middle of this all. I am curious if the show is even going to acknowledge the fall out with James and if they are going to even mention Maxie. Since all the restraining order chaos actually went down before Storms briefly returned I am confused as to why the show even took her out of that coma. It was kind of silly to bring Maxie back for like 5 episodes lol.

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

I am not sure the show cares about Lulu being violated either.

I do wonder what the show really had planned with Maxie/Nathan. You have to assume a lot of things shifted because Maxie should be in the middle of this all. I am curious if the show is even going to acknowledge the fall out with James and if they are going to even mention Maxie. Since all the restraining order chaos actually went down before Storms briefly returned I am confused as to why the show even took her out of that coma. It was kind of silly to bring Maxie back for like 5 episodes lol.

The whole situation with Storms is very sad. I hope she is getting help. There is no telling what they wanted to do, although you could watch the show and see the story was stalled out waiting for her return. I assumed her return was supposed to last longer, and her current issues truncated it.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by titan1978

40 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I assumed her return was supposed to last longer, and her current issues truncated it.

That was my assumption, too.

Oh, I am sure her current issues cut the return short. I don't think the return was supposed to be anything but permanent. It's odd they brought her back at all, IMO. The few episodes she did telling Nathan she didn't want him anymore and telling Lulu she was a bad friend didn't really conclude the story lol. Leaving her in a coma would at least give a valid reason why Maxie isn't part of this and give Kirsten time.

Although I recall there were rumors Kirsten had to come back or was out, but she's still out anyway. Hopefully, she figures out her issues or the show recasts.

tbqh I think it was stupid at this point for them to angle any major story around Kirsten knowing full well her recurring issues, and given that she had allegedly already started to get erratic again IRL before exiting the show in summer '25. If it had been 2024 maybe she was functioning, but not last year. But I think it was pointless to bring back RP period.

There is no chance she comes back any time soon IMO. This is not like her past exits where they let her spin a story and played along. So for me, for now I'd write Maxie and Spinelli out offscreen in a few lines of dialogue.

46 minutes ago, Vee said:

tbqh I think it was stupid at this point for them to angle any major story around Kirsten knowing full well her recurring issues, and given that she had allegedly already started to get erratic again IRL before exiting the show in summer '25. If it had been 2024 maybe she was functioning, but not last year. But I think it was pointless to bring back RP period.

There is no chance she comes back any time soon IMO. This is not like her past exits where they let her spin a story and played along. So for me, for now I'd write Maxie and Spinelli out offscreen in a few lines of dialogue.

I wonder if Frank really knew she was that erratic or if there was a deal in place for her. If he gave Kirsten time off she would agree to do this and this and this and it didn't happen. Perhaps Frank had confidence she would take care of herself and proceeded with RP's hiring. I agree it's pointless with or without Kirsten. I don't think anyone was truly clamoring for a "Nathan" return.

23 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I wonder if Frank really knew she was that erratic or if there was a deal in place for her. If he gave Kirsten time off she would agree to do this and this and this and it didn't happen. Perhaps Frank had confidence she would take care of herself and proceeded with RP's hiring. I agree it's pointless with or without Kirsten. I don't think anyone was truly clamoring for a "Nathan" return.

I think Frank likely always wanted him back and would have looked for any reason.

It made sense for Maxie to be involved during the part where viewers thought he was Nathan. Now that we know he's not you wonder why she woke up. I guess Frank had no idea how bad things were (as seemingly no one did) but also wasn't sure enough of KS to put her fully into the story the way he'd likely planned. So she returns and immediately reconciles with Spinelli, meaning the loose ends are tied up. She was still meant to play some part, as she was wary about his relationship with Lulu, but that was something which could be (and has been) dropped.

I'm not a Spinelli fan but of anyone in the story I do feel a little bad for Bradford as he could have some juicy material and rarely did.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by DRW50

It's crazy to me they didn't know how bad she could get after all this time. I am sure some of her troubles were kept quieter but they have been dealing with Kirsten's issues for the better part of 20 years (and the stories about her actually do date back to her debut on the show). It's just magical thinking after a certain point.

Neither KS nor Maxie has been needed on the canvas for years. The fact that Maxie is a non-factor in the return of "Nathan" says so much. I get that she's a legacy character and is tied so heavily to BJ's heart story, but the show has bent over backwards for both the actress and Maxie beyond reason.

52 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think Frank likely always wanted him back and would have looked for any reason.

It made sense for Maxie to be involved during the part where viewers thought he was Nathan. Now that we know he's not you wonder why she woke up. I guess Frank had no idea how bad things were (as seemingly no one did) but also wasn't sure enough of KS to put her fully into the story the way he'd likely planned. So she returns and immediately reconciles with Spinelli, meaning the loose ends are tied up. She was still meant to play some part, as she was wary about his relationship with Lulu, but that was something which could be (and has been) dropped.

I'm not a Spinelli fan but of anyone in the story I do feel a little bad for Bradford as he could have some juicy material and rarely did.

But was she really involved? She had about 5 scenes with Nathan total.

I do feel bad for Bradford, but I don't think he is willing to commit to much time on the show so I am not sure he cares.

Frank had to know there were some issues. There's always been issues. If Frank is the godfather of her child there is the idea he is close with both KS and BB. Brandon never gave him any heads up and Frank is now shocked a girl that's had problems since her teens is unreliable?

50 minutes ago, Vee said:

It's crazy to me they didn't know how bad she could get after all this time. I am sure some of her troubles were kept quieter but they have been dealing with Kirsten's issues for the better part of 20 years (and the stories about her actually do date back to her debut on the show). It's just magical thinking after a certain point.

Since Days I believe.

Frank had his head in the sand if he thought she was going to be fine.

1 minute ago, carolineg said:

Frank had to know there were some issues. There's always been issues.

Since the day he arrived and she was gone for a year!

4 minutes ago, Vee said:

Since the day he arrived and she was gone for a year!

Correct.

Bringing Paevey back is a separate issue. He's done nothing wrong and seems like a nice guy. I have no use for him at all but he's handsome and decent enough I suppose. RP is just taking a paycheck for an inane story.

Continuing to enable Storms and hope she was up to this story seems like a fanciful idea. Sure, KS has had moments of clarity and had a really strong comeback in 2024. The minute she decided to follow her ex-husband across the country and away from her job is where Frank should have quietly let her go. The show hasn't made any real statement, but I would assume she's gone for good now, correct? It seem obvious that she is. The show has also given her a million chances though.