enchantingmonkey

I'm a little concerned we're going to have to wait until February Sweeps to find out Gwen's motivation. Please, Ron, NO. Who is writing the show these days? I loved the little squabble between Ava and Tripp about the possibility of Ava using Mob money to support her livelihood. And, the possibility of Kate and Ava locking horns over Allie and Tripp. The show still has its faults but there are some small moments of character interaction and potential conflicts that I'm appreciating. Tripp finally meeting his mother makes me think of those fans who have finally met their favorite actor/actress only to find out they're kind of an asshole. SweetCharlie seems too dumb to follow along with spying on Xander for Philip and Philip for Xander but if Ava was calling him at the end, I'll be relieved to find out it's all been just an act. On the other hand, SweetCharlie is one of the few characters who gets to be portrayed as dumb as some of the writing dictates. Okay, what purpose is Joey going to serve in Salem now? Falling in love with Ava again? The actor still has the same wooden quality that I didn't care for during his previous stint.

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It's great that Judi Evans has triumphed all that was thrown her way, and she really does look good....but I'm mostly annoyed by Bonnie's presence here, and I usually enjoy some of her antics. As a reporter, Jennifer should be somewhat suspicious of Gwen but, unfortunately, she's human and has to deal with all of the emotions that come with recently finding out that your husband cheated on you. Jumping to conclusions when you hear Kate on the phone and buying into all of Gwen's nonsense makes sense to me. I'm cutting Jennifer some slack for the time being. I'm enjoying all of the interpersonal complications that are coming out of the Tripp/Ava/Steve/Kayla scenes. Tripp's discomforted facial expression when Ava said all they needed was for Steve to be there was perfect. Crossing my fingers and toes that Kate figures out Gwen's E-VOL plot and gets to do something very Kate-centric with it. At least they're making Kate and Jake smart enough to know that Gwen is up to no good. With all of Gwen's blathering about how much she adores those children, I can see why the rest of them are falling for her shtick. Oh, Joey. That actor wasn't one of my favorites the first time around. Hopefully, he's improved. I didn't care for Lucas Adams during his previous stint but I feel like he's really charming me this time around.

Can you imagine her big monologue scene when she has to explain why she hates Abigail so much, and it's some totally benign, bullshirt reason? "That was MY glass of champagne, and you took it, so I vowed revenge against you!" Tamara Braun got to be the comedy relief today. I loved her line about coming back from the dead being harder in real life than it is on a soap opera, and her snarkiness towards Kayla. And that's coming from a person who understands Kayla's utter frustration that Ava is alive.

For as much as I like having Abe in the mix of things, all of those Abe/Rafe scenes could have been left on the cutting room floor, and we could have just been told that Rafe was the new commissioner. Jake, I think Kate just told you that her relationship with Chad is more important to her than her relationship with you. It's fun watching Chad being caught in the middle of multiple women in his life lying to him, though. Gwen's outrage tantrum and Cady McClain's reaction shot was the funniest thing I've seen in weeks. I'm still chuckling as I type this. If Gwen's story is actually about how a quest for revenge can hit a road block at every turn, I may be a little impressed with the Show. It'd be nice to have a change from the usual Villain-of-the-Month type storyline.

Today must have been that one script writer that I like, because Abe and Roman actually had a conversation about Lani's irrational behavior regarding Kristin. What show is this? I'm also appreciating the complications that are driven by the personalities of each character. Ava salivating over Steve while Tripp stood in the background with a perplexed look on his face was hilarious. Sarah and Xander are way too schmoopy for my taste. I may shift from tolerating them to actively rooting for their relationship's demise. Although Abe had nothing much to offer, I liked that Nicole called him to help her out in a time of trying to make sense of the crazy world she lives in. But, I still miss the Nicole who set her world on fire and had no ducks to give. CHLOE'S LIPS were all I could see during her scenes on Friday's show but I felt like I had adapted to them by the end of today's show. So relieved that Philip spotted Sarah exiting The Salem Inn. I hope he figures her out and uses her to feed faulty information to Xander.

Steve vs. Lucas was fun because Steve maintained his composure throughout while Lucas went on foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. But, I appreciate these scenes where each character is coming from a point of view that makes sense for the circumstances, regardless of how they behave. If I had any complaint about the Tripp and Allie scenes, it would be that Tripp didn't wince enough when Allie told him she was going to shoot him in his baby-maker. You could argue that the show is stuck in a time when abortion or giving up the baby for adoption wasn't a viable option, but it could also be argued that Allie keeping the baby in her orbit was driven by a subconscious motivation to deal with the rape and not have it hinder her psychological well-being for years to come. But this is a soap, so her psychological well-being will likely be hindered until it's canceled. I was relieved that Ava showed up to save Tripp from being scarred for life but the way the scene played out, it was like Ava could see through the door and knew he was in danger.

All good points. It's the main reason I like to imagine ORK playing these scenes, because I thought she was good at making her character feel like a real person in spite of all of the garbage writing. Oh, I'm so happy to see Cady McClain here. I thought Missy Reeves would have made more sense in those heavy emotional scenes of Jennifer finding out about Jack having sex with Kate but I'm curious to see what McClain will do with aftermath of it all. The Steve and Kayla conflict is one of the few things I can appreciate about this rape storyline. THAT was the scene that made me think the one script writer who's aware of viewer comments wrote this episode. The vodka kicked in by the end of the episode, and I couldn't remember which scene made me think that. Xander/Sarah/Philip was fun. I'm really hoping Sarah's "genius" plan leads to her actually developing romantic feelings for Philip, and complicating things from here to kingdom come. Shouldn't Angela VanDeKamp be trying to not look exactly like Ava Vitali? A fun disguise could have even played into the dialogue with Kristin being fond of disguises herself. Was Allie wearing a long coat? At first I couldn't figure out why the hell she went to see Tripp wearing a robe.

Enjoyed Kristen vs. Xander. I agree that Haiduk is more fun to watch when Kristin gets to watch the world burn around her. Does SweetCharlie still believe Claire is a great catch when she's arguing that Ben had every right to assault a police officer? It's not that I think nuClaire is a bad actress. She actually has some qualities that I think I might like but I watch most of her scenes imagining how much better they'd be with ORK playing them. Color me delighted that pill-popping Jennifer is having drinks with Bonnie hot on the heels of her breakup with Jack. Crossing my fingers and toes that this goes all kinds of wrong. We all know Charlie is going to explain his way out of Philip catching him red-handed. Don't the writers do this scene at least once a week now?

At least we got that one script writer who would allow John to point out that his disregard for the consequences of strangling Jan wasn't any different than Sami's disregard of the consequences for helping her to be released from the mental institution. That was refreshing. But then we got more age-bashing of Kate, so I guess it all works out in the end. Gabi can only hope to look as good as Kate when she's her age. It's not like the aging process is like a day at the beach/plastic surgeon's office. *giggle* There must be some Spoiler-i-fic Plot Point coming up with Gabi, because I can't imagine they brought her in just for two episodes. She's not one of Orpheus' offspring. WHY bring Rafe back? He's even more pointless without Hope there. Oh right! Corday's wife thinks he's the ultimate man. Awwwww. Sweet Charlie. *groan*

Casey Moss has always been great, in my book, but I was so impressed by his scenes with Cady McClain. He didn't miss a beat in making me believe that she was his mother, even after all of those years of working with Missy Reeves. I know this show doesn't offer much more than garbage writing for these actors to work with but I'm a bit sad to see him go so quickly.

It's about as close as the Show gets to subtle foreshadowing. Usually, they're hitting the us over the head with anvils. If Gwen isn't Jack's long-lost offspring, it will be more shocking than most of the Show's plot points. Jack's Tour-of-Contrition making a stop on Julie's doorstep was so groan-worthy that I was relieved when she accepted his apology and invited him in. Julie fell off her high horse long ago. Gwen's snark towards Kate reeked of insecurity and ageism. She should be so proud of herself. JJ and Abigail showing up to spend some Holiday Time with their dad charmed even my cold, empty heart.

Gabi was able to move an unconscious Abigail around with ease, many moons ago, so perhaps Salem allows for SuperHuman strength when you have plot points to connect. It seems to only work when dastardly deeds are in order, so don't go trying this at home, folks. With unnecessary interruptions involved, I, too, only saw the first and last 10 minutes. Did they actually show John strangling Janet Spears? I've been waiting for John to kill someone since he woke up having Rage-Spasms®️ after that silly fight with Sami. I'm sure that in the fine city of Salem, Rage-Spasms®️ are a valid defense for any and all crimes committed under their influence. So let it be written, so let it be done. For as much as Carlivati loves his Plot-Point-Crazy-Women, he didn't even let Janet Spears try to get Shawn to love her. She cast a bit of a spell over Claire but she didn't get to do much of anything with her beloved Shawn. Poor Janet. I suspect she was tossed aside by storyline potential with Tamara Braun returning as Ava Vitali. I'm almost amused by how hard the Show is trying to make "Charlie" happen. Almost.

Is he better here than he was on the web-series? I remember you saying he kinda sucked on the web-series.

I don't think they've aged Claire to 30 but more that, for some reason, the show didn't/couldn't cast an actress who looked as youthful as ORK. Being poor really sucks. I like Tamara Braun, too, and I'm not enough of a Steve/Kayla fan to be offended by Ava's return. I couldn't help to wonder what was going to Tamara Braun's head when JKJ was going through all of his Joker faces during their scenes. WTF is he doing??? So Jan Spears was just a Sweeps Month stunt. Why, oh why, did I ever think this Show was capable of doing something thoughtful with mental illness, and how one assimilates back into "normal" society after a serious breakdown? I really wanted to see Jan struggle with her attempts to maintain some kind of normalcy and her destructive impulses. Oh well. The best thing about today's show was that there was enough of Charlie-being-Charlie®️ and Crazy-Woman-With-A-Gun®️ that I was able to watch it in about 20 minutes.

Wait, why are Belle and Shawn getting married all of the sudden? Oh right, it's November Sweeps and Jan Spears has to do something crazy before the Sweeps period ends. If Charlie is a spy for Ava/her secret son, then Xander spilled a lot of tea all over that table. Hopefully, Charlie expecting Claire to behave this way or that way is supposed to be some kind of hint that the cute, bumbling, socially awkward Charlie is just an act. His whole routine is becoming tedious rather quickly.

They're being paid to talk to other women this way and be talked to this way, so....

Jennifer vs. Kate had some small hints of Rosanna vs. Carly on ATWT that I was hoping for but, unfortunately, Jennifer doesn't have the ferocity of ATWT's Rosanna. Kate wiped the floor with Jennifer. I felt bad that Dr Rolf had to sit there and listen to Gwen's petty schemes for making Abigail's life miserable. I just can't believe that Gwen's motivation is more fascinating than a man who has brought people back from the dead. Poor Dr Rolf! Life in prison must be so boring.

Lisa is so awful that I kinda love it. She reminds a little of Season 1 Camille, although I think Camille was more cunning and calculating in her first season. Whitney and Heather are my right-off-the-bat favorites. It's nice to have a couple housewives who genuinely care about each other in the mix. Pleased that we didn't have to endure Mary and Jen fighting about hospital smells throughout the entire episode. Beverly Hills would have milked that for weeks. Maybe even an entire season. It could be fun if Meredith gets caught in the middle Lisa being awful and the rest of the housewives.

There is at least one script writer who seems to be keenly aware of the complaints about individual characters, and tries to communicate that as some kind of self-aware dialogue for the characters. Today we had Abigail commenting that no one holds her responsible for her actions, which seems to be a major complaint about the character. And, Eli tiptoed around how Lani's feelings and actions in regards to Kristen defy explanation, which is probably the closest we'll ever get to the show saying that Lani has deeply repressed romantic feelings for Kristen. Jake vs. Gwen is such fun. I'd love for Kate to figure whatever Gwen is up to and wipe the floor with her. The sound of glass houses breaking would make ears bleed. Casey Moss working with Cady McClain as his mother felt very much like how he worked with Melissa Reeves. I loved it.

The look on Kayla's face when Tripp said he couldn't believe his mother would do that (rape Steve) was the best moment of the episode. Kayla wins! It works, for me, that Lani would see Kristin as a kind of innocent victim in all of this, even though to a rational observer Lani might look ridiculous, The actresses have a certain chemistry with each other, and I think they've done a good job of establishing how their characters would create a narrative for each other that would be in opposition to their character's actual actions. If I were to go out on a limb, most of the episode was about people living through narratives that defy rational explanation. Steve believing Tripp is innocent. Tripp thinking it was a good idea to go to see Allie profess his innocence. Ava thinking she still has a shot with Steve. Kristin thinking the whole world revolves around her every emotion. Oh wait, that's every episode. Honorable mention to the scenes with Allie and Tripp. I thought they were well acted by both. But I like Lindsay Arnold, and she seems like she'd be Sami's child, it's just that she's been given a really crappy storyline to navigate her way through.

He said he was going to take a break from DAYS. Although, you may still find him posting in the Y&R forums. I haven't looked there recently. Agreed. I haven't decided if Jay Kenneth Johnson is trying to have fun with this, or he's pissed he's back on a soap and is trying to make it as ridiculous as possible. Now I know why Tamara Braun was in that cast photo I looked at. I'd forgotten that Joey was in prison for killing her. Did Tripp hold the scalpel to Kayla's neck because she tried to cover it up to protect Joey? It's all so easily forgettable. I watch all of Lani's scenes as if she's more in love with Kristen than Eli, so every little indiscretion that she observes in Eli is like a validation that her love for Kristen is more pure than her love for Eli. It makes her a more compelling character, for me, and I think I've watched more of her scenes in that past couple months than I've watched since she started on the show.

Ron trying so hard to squeeze some blood out of that turnip known as The Time Jump®️. Oy. I actually liked that Kate and Jack developed a friendship over time that turned into a one night stand but it's difficult to get too invested in a story that's told through a handful of flashbacks. As far as Gwen goes, it felt like the writers dropped enough hints/dialogue of Gwen telling us this was going to be a big deal to feel disappointed that it wasn't, and scratching my head as to why she'd give a damn about Kate and Jack having sex. Ok, phase 1 of her E-VOL plan. She's trying so hard to be a dastardly villain. "Do the dirty" Did Jake really say that? Will there ever be a point in time when we don't have to refer to consensual sex as something "dirty" or a guilt-ridden act? Probably not.

Gwen's diabolical plan was for Abigail to find a letter and make a scene at the anniversary party? Okaaay. This supports my theory that Gwen is a character fumbling her way to villainy.

So happy that Cady McClain is here for whatever Gwen's big drama llama moment is all about because I love how she goes into hysterics. All of the viewers who are used to Missy Reeves are probably going to be throwing things at the screen while I bask in the glory of Cady. Jake and Kate are fun because Lauren Koslow keeps herself so well pulled-and-tucked that it's ridiculous that Kate isn't getting some kind of action at all times.