Fake Nathan is now being written as dumb, wimpy and indecisive. I guess the writers are just writing to the actor's strong suit.

I don't understand why he can't just be Nathan instead of this twin crap. People can go dark and lose their bearings after 7 years in captivity.

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

Carlo Rota (Sidwell) chewed more scenery today. I have no doubt he'll get an Emmy nomination, once again proving the Daytime Emmys are a disaster.

It’s not as prestigious as it was, but it’s also not like some hammy stuff wasn’t nominated and awarded in the old days. Sometimes when you watch old Emmy nomination categories the best actress rounds are one over the top hysterical scene after another. Not unlike Soapdish.

1 hour ago, Jdee43 said:

Fake Nathan is now being written as dumb, wimpy and indecisive. I guess the writers are just writing to the actor's strong suit.

I don't understand why he can't just be Nathan instead of this twin crap. People can go dark and lose their bearings after 7 years in captivity.

I think it’s backpedaling because they want to keep him. I don’t think this was anywhere near the story Paevey was excited about in November when they interviewed him about his return. I have a feeling it was supposed to be much more cat and mouse and more emotionally complicated, and he was going to be more grey.

7 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

It’s not as prestigious as it was, but it’s also not like some hammy stuff wasn’t nominated and awarded in the old days. Sometimes when you watch old Emmy nomination categories the best actress rounds are one over the top hysterical scene after another. Not unlike Soapdish.

I never took the Emmys very seriously but by the point where people like Natalia Livingston were winning I knew I never could.

10 hours ago, titan1978 said:

The age old problem of trying to produce for a market by going at it from the wrong direction. Sprina had a slow burn romance and survived a recast because the actors were invested in making it work. It was almost classic supercouple formula stuff, right down to Esme the other woman. The actors did a lot of their own publicity as far as engaging fans.

I honestly believe Valentini just doesn’t want to do romances like that anymore. I think a lot of it is the fervor those fans bring to everything. It’s part of why they have major roles like Carly and Michael saddled with recurring characters.

I think it’s 70% playing it safe with conservatives, and 30% they just don’t want to tell epic romance anymore. I think both are about reactions to the worst possible parts of the audience.

That makes sense. I think even Guza/JFP/Frons got sick of how out of control fan wars could get as a lot of that element was being shut down by the end of their run (you went from Liz/Jason/Sam to the show going out of their way to ruin Liz and write her out rather than pair her with Lucky - the "hottest" new couple by then were Lulu and Dante and anything with JMB's Lulu was never going to be that special). I guess it's about a million times more apathetic now.

I wasn't sure where to put this:

55 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I think it’s backpedaling because they want to keep him. I don’t think this was anywhere near the story Paevey was excited about in November when they interviewed him about his return. I have a feeling it was supposed to be much more cat and mouse and more emotionally complicated, and he was going to be more grey.

I think Frank would love to keep him but I do think RP's done. Or at least I hope so. I am sure FV will jump at the chance to get him back ASAP.

Cassius is too grey vs. black as is for me. They softened him up almost immediately because they clearly hoped to keep him around. Frank has been down bad for him since 2014. I always knew bringing him back would be a total waste of time that artificially extended an already boring story.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by Vee

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Frank has been down bad for him since 2014.

Frank is like Patty Williams: once he gets his hooks into a man (Easton, Howarth, Paevey), he just can't let go.

I noticed something on today's show. Danny said to Charlotte "I'll always come back for you."

That line, and the underlying emotion it sought to convey, was disproportionate to who Danny and Charlotte are to one another. Their history isn't that deep, and their connection isn't that impressive.

It also seemed to be a rip-off/copy/appropriation of a similar line that was once delivered on another show. Did anyone here watch "Switched at Birth?" Remember Emmet's classic line to Bay at the end of Season 1, when he helped track her down as she was heading to the Mexican border? "I'll always come find you."

From EBay to Danny & Charlotte. Television has come down a long way.

I immediately took interest and notice of today's director. Gary was strong, but then halfway through the episode I thought maybe he was trying too hard because there were a lot of closeups of every single storyline and almost every scene. Today's episode was clearly directed differently from most of the last many weeks we've seen. It made things exciting and different, but could be overused if not reeled in. Just an observation...

Controversial for the long term fans probably... but I loved Mac and Felicia way way back in the day, but today showed me how limited, or maybe too out of the game, Felicia (KW) is. If she just found out the possibility of her daughter's husband, her grandson's father, is maybe actually dead now and had a twin brother... I expected way more reaction. I noticed she pronounced Cassius like 'Cass-i-us' in the first scene and then corrected herself in the remaining scenes by saying 'Cash-i-us' like Anna did.

I appreciate they put a shirtless Cody at the pool today, but he's like a pale marshmallow right now. Play to his strengths, let him grow his chest hair out instead of waxing it (assuming that's possible)... I'd take him any day over ripped abs, but something about how JK acts shirtless these days makes me feel like he's self-conscious and it takes me out of the scene.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by alwaysAMC

15 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Can someone catch me up on what is happening with Ethan? I have missed a few episodes since his return, and I am doing some heavy skipping with my FF button, so I miss some of his stuff. Is he that baby’s father?

From what I can tell, no. He claimed the baby to Alexis (the Chases' lawyer) but said he had no interest in fatherhood and wanted BLQ and Chase to adopt the baby while he remained anonymous and unknown to them. He then broke into the PCPD evidence locker's cold case files and acquired DNA results there, presumably to hide whoever the baby's real father is and pass himself off as the parent. I assume that parent is the next big bad guy.

@alwaysAMC I noticed KW/Felicia pronounced Cassius's name wrong too in the first scene, but she corrected herself later so I thought maybe I misheard the first time lol. Glad I am not crazy!

Piggybacking off the Ethan conversation, I am so confused as to why they bought Nathan Dean back. It doesn't seem like there is a real story for Ethan? Unless the show was really planning on pairing Ethan/Kristina and Mansi left? I just can't believe the show or Frank would be surprised Mansi was exiting.

I can genuinely say I could careless about Phoebe or Phoebe's mom that we knew for one episode before she died lol. It doesn't really matter who Phoebe's parents are as she seems to be an eventual catalyst to Chase/BLQ breaking up when she is taken away. We certainly don't need her tied to the canvas. I can understand if Ethan is setting up the next big bad, but he's been around for months now and hasn't done anything of interest.

7 hours ago, Vee said:

He then broke into the PCPD evidence locker's cold case files and acquired DNA results there, presumably to hide whoever the baby's real father is and pass himself off as the parent

Thank you. That exact set of scenes is why I got confused. It would be one thing for him to be swapping out his genetic connection so nobody could find out he was the father, but the scene played like you said, as if he was trying to make himself appear to be.

12 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Liz/Jason/Sam to the show going out of their way to ruin Liz and

As it was happening, and for years since, I did not understand this one at all. Yes the fans were out of control. But that triangle continuously being stopped from happening never made sense to me. I couldn’t decide if it was bts between the actors, Frons, Guza, or JFP that was against it. To me it was almost a structural issue, because in the old days a show would have jumped at that kind of engagement and attention. Even now with Jason out in limbo and Liz with nobody they won’t touch it.

12 hours ago, Vee said:

I always knew bringing him back would be a total waste of time that artificially extended an already boring story.

He’s always been a walking block of wood to me. Not to keep harping on this, but we have Michael with a very compelling actor just languishing while we watch this guy’s every move.

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

I can understand if Ethan is setting up the next big bad, but he's been around for months now and hasn't done anything of interest.

Sometimes it seems like either the actor reached out to Frank, or the other way around, and got hired and started work before the writers knew they were coming back.