Past Plots Discussion: Whatever Happened To...

[minirth]

Thanks for the backstory and youtube link, guys!

[Black Knight]

That whole storyline just got ... dropped.  There was never any explanation as to why Chad intentionally bankrupted Sonny.

I recall this being addressed briefly, in a phone call from Chad to Stefano. The upshot was that Sonny was now in Chad's debt and Chad could call in a favor at a future date. And simultaneously Sonny got lectured by somebody or other (Victor, maybe) about how unwise it was to be in a DiMera's debt and Sonny said it was okay because he and Chad were best friends.

 

But after that it all got dropped and never mentioned again. Either the writers couldn't think of a favor Chad would actually need from Sonny, or they discarded the idea they'd had in mind. Either way, it was stupid.

[swtrgrl]

I really liked that Will's first kiss with a guy wasn't with Sonny, but just some random.  In fact, I think it might have benefited them altogether if Will had had a whole starter relationship - possibly with sex - before getting with Sonny.

I agree with both points.

It kinda makes Will's cheating more "understandable" (not really) since he's only been with Sonny/been interested in Sonny and you could fanwank his cheating to be that he was flattered by hot man attention in LA/Paul and never really got to experience anything else but Sonny. I don't personally...but I can see it from Will's POV, I guess.

Will is 100% physically and emotionally reliant on Sonny. If he'd had some additional life experiences, maybe he wouldn't be such a whiny weasel. 

 

I still don't think WilSon was rushed after Daysaster. I think that Sonny's concern for Will after it all happened was what pushed his already declared (to Lucas right after Will came out) and hinted at (to Justin ... who already was giving him "you're so into Will" looks for months before Daysaster) to the surface where he just kissed him in relief of seeing he was okay.

 

That was a convoluted sentence grammatically and structurally. I apologize.

[caprice]

To add some general amusement and more "remember when" to the conversation...

 

I'm vacationing in France and just happened to catch the last half of Days this morning. Ah, the cast... the outfits... the hair! Sami's voice actress just isn't the same, but John's voice actor is much better, Lucas never could do much with facial hair and I miss Kate's blue streak. What was happening? It was the moments before Marlena's wedding to Alex North! I almost wish I was going to be here on Monday so that I could see how it all turned out.

 

Ah, good times....

[JBC344]

Oh wow, the Alex North storyline.  What a strange storyline that was.  Starting with Marlena pregnant with Roman's baby.  I think that I blocked that storyline out of my mind, I don't even remember how it was resolved. 

 

The only interesting thing I remember from that time was that I thought the storyline helped explain Marlena's vigilance with helping Kate deal with Curtis when they were younger.  I don't even recall if that subtext was ever addressed in the storyline. 

[LeftPhalange]

Oh wow, the Alex North storyline.  What a strange storyline that was.  Starting with Marlena pregnant with Roman's baby.  I think that I blocked that storyline out of my mind, I don't even remember how it was resolved. 

 

Marlena fell down the stairs in a hilariously melodramatic slow motion sequence. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5EzN3zz5zg

[JBC344]

Lol, oh I know how the pregnancy got resolved.  I actually meant the Alex North storyline.

 

That clip just made me miss one of my favorite pairings John and Kate.  They really did work well together as a couple.  Hell, Kate decided not to kill Belle for John, now that is love.

[Happytobehere]

 

That clip just made me miss one of my favorite pairings John and Kate.  They really did work well together as a couple.  Hell, Kate decided not to kill Belle for John, now that is love.

The problem with this pairing is it took Kate out of fauxman's orbit and the only time the abomination that is JT's portrayal of Roman was palatable was when he was with Kate. As soon as that coupling ended, JT returned to his previous status as one of the worst recasts in history. I still can't fathom how he has inhabited the character of Roman longer than WN or DH, both of who are vastly superior in the role.

[Apprentice79]

He and and Ken Corday are friends and that is why Fauxman is still there...

[Happytobehere]

Looking back at some old stuff on line and was thinking that it would be fabulous if they could get Jane Elliot back as Angelica, even for a few episodes. JE was and is simply fabulous. I always missed her when she left. Her replacement just couldn't hold a candle to the grand Ms. E. I always found it funny that when she returned to GH as Tracy Quartermaine, Wally Kurth a.k.a Justin (former lover and father of her child) was cast as her son Ned. They were great on GH as mother and son, but I always got a little tickle out of their scenes together.

[JBC344]

Looking back at some old stuff on line and was thinking that it would be fabulous if they could get Jane Elliot back as Angelica, even for a few episodes. JE was and is simply fabulous. I always missed her when she left. Her replacement just couldn't hold a candle to the grand Ms. E. I always found it funny that when she returned to GH as Tracy Quartermaine, Wally Kurth a.k.a Justin (former lover and father of her child) was cast as her son Ned. They were great on GH as mother and son, but I always got a little tickle out of their scenes together.

I watch JE on GH and she really is an engaging talented actress.  I think her scenes with Wally would normally be creepy but she is such a great actress that you could buy her and Wally as mother and son on GH and as lovers on Days.

[tribeca]

Can someone fill me in on the Stan/Sami story ?

[QuelleC]

I loved the Stan/Sami story!  An actual man took over for Sami's part when she went on maternity leave. I don't know if that's been done before. She followed Phillip into Afghanistan (?) when he was in the military.  Wasn't she partially responsible for him losing his leg because everything went wrong?  Most of you are better historians than I...

Edited August 29, 2015 by QuelleC

[JBC344]

I adored the Sami/Stan storyline. 

 

Basically Sami's latest scheme had blown up in her face, and everyone in Salem was just getting sick of her scheming.  While Allison was on maternity leave, TPTB came up with this idea that Sami would disguise herself as "Stan" and carry out schemes/missions for Tony Dimera.  She was responsible for endangering Shawn, Brady, Phillip etc and what lead to Phillip losing his leg.  She also taunted Billy and Bo with Georgia's death and sent them on a wild goose chase after a fake Georgia.  She also got John hooked on pain medication after his accident, and supplied him with drugs.  She also did a few other things as Stan.

 

Storyline wise, Stan is never really referenced because of the fact that Sami's time as Stan really should of ruined her.  She actively crossed sides and did some disgusting things to her own family members. 

 

Now the actor who played Stan was Dan Wells (?), who was a revelation.  He even studied Allison's mannerisms to portray "her as Stan".  A lot of us wanted him to be cast as Eric since he was so good as Stan and actually does look a lot like Allison.

[Kitty Redstone]

That's one of the reasons I love soaps.  I'll gladly accept outlandish if it's character-driven and entertaining.

 

I just looked up Dan Wells on IMDB and he certainly does have AS's striking blue eyes!

[QuelleC]

I think I remember a scene where Sami was asked her name and the guy playing Stan did a brilliant job copying Sami lowering her voice, thinking fast, and coming up with Stan. 

 

I asked this a long time ago, but do any of you great historians remember the teen scene I think (or maybe CA since she's a real ice skater) coming upon a body frozen face up in the lake? 

[Apprentice79]

Looking back at some old stuff on line and was thinking that it would be fabulous if they could get Jane Elliot back as Angelica, even for a few episodes. JE was and is simply fabulous. I always missed her when she left. Her replacement just couldn't hold a candle to the grand Ms. E. I always found it funny that when she returned to GH as Tracy Quartermaine, Wally Kurth a.k.a Justin (former lover and father of her child) was cast as her son Ned. They were great on GH as mother and son, but I always got a little tickle out of their scenes together.

That would have been wonderful, especially if Alex Kiriakis had come back as he should have...

[Apprentice79]

I adored the Sami/Stan storyline. 

 

Basically Sami's latest scheme had blown up in her face, and everyone in Salem was just getting sick of her scheming.  While Allison was on maternity leave, TPTB came up with this idea that Sami would disguise herself as "Stan" and carry out schemes/missions for Tony Dimera.  She was responsible for endangering Shawn, Brady, Phillip etc and what lead to Phillip losing his leg.  She also taunted Billy and Bo with Georgia's death and sent them on a wild goose chase after a fake Georgia.  She also got John hooked on pain medication after his accident, and supplied him with drugs.  She also did a few other things as Stan.

 

Storyline wise, Stan is never really referenced because of the fact that Sami's time as Stan really should of ruined her.  She actively crossed sides and did some disgusting things to her own family members. 

 

Now the actor who played Stan was Dan Wells (?), who was a revelation.  He even studied Allison's mannerisms to portray "her as Stan".  A lot of us wanted him to be cast as Eric since he was so good as Stan and actually does look a lot like Allison.

I too loved the Stan storyline and I loved it when Kate unmasked Sami at her wedding to Lucas....It was glorious...Sami was truly a hurricane...

[Black Knight]

I adored the Sami/Stan storyline. 

 

Basically Sami's latest scheme had blown up in her face, and everyone in Salem was just getting sick of her scheming.  While Allison was on maternity leave, TPTB came up with this idea that Sami would disguise herself as "Stan" and carry out schemes/missions for Tony Dimera. 

That actually was the one time Sami was innocent. Kate had drugged her and Brandon so that Lucas would find them in bed together and think Sami cheated on him. The plot worked and Lucas dumped Sami, at which point she became Stan.

 

Once AS returned from maternity leave, Sami was able to prove what Kate did and she got Lucas back. But then Kate interrupted Sami and Lucas's wedding with proof she had been Stan, and Lucas dumped her once again.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Black Knight

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Now the actor who played Stan was Dan Wells (?), who was a revelation.  He even studied Allison's mannerisms to portray "her as Stan".  A lot of us wanted him to be cast as Eric since he was so good as Stan and actually does look a lot like Allison.

 

Chandler Massey said he met Dan Wells at a gym that Wells works at (or owns, not sure which), but it was before Chandler got the part on the show, and after he found out that Wells had played Stan, he started calling him "Mom."

[swtrgrl]

I was just about to post that, Rick Kitchen. LOL. It was hilarious.

[LeftPhalange]

I loved when Sami finally got the proof against Kate and exposed her and Eugenia (sp?) at Lucas' birthday party. 

[Apprentice79]

I think Lucas disowned her for the 100th time...lol

[JBC344]

Lol, Lucas can never really quit Kate.  Part of me actually really loves that he is a "ride or die son". 

[Apprentice79]

Same here..their dynamic is so complex..For so many years, they only had each other and that is  why they cannot quit  each other..

[JBC344]

It makes me miss Rex, and how much it was refreshing that he adored Kate after finding out she was his mother. 

[Apprentice79]

To be fair to Lucas, he usually paid dearly for his mother's schemes for example: like losing custody of Will. Rex would never have the same baggage as Lucas...Kate is a different mother to each of her kids...

[JBC344]

Oh totally.  My comments on Rex weren't a slight against Lucas I was just making the point that even though Kate didn't raise Rex that didn't stop him from adoring her and appreciating her qualities.  I feel the stereotypical way to go would of been for Rex to have a chip on his shoulder about Kate, but it was nice for him to immediately love the fact that she was his mother. 

[Apprentice79]

I agree.  I doubt that we will ever see Rex and Cassie again..I think the show wants us to forget them..Rex and Cassie should have been Orpheus'  children seeking revenge on Marlena and John..It was weird that Lumi shared siblings....We need new blood in Salem, it has gotten ridiculous...

[Happytobehere]

I agree.  I doubt that we will ever see Rex and Cassie again..I think the show wants us to forget them..Rex and Cassie should have been Orpheus'  children seeking revenge on Marlena and John..It was weird that Lumi shared siblings....We need new blood in Salem, it has gotten ridiculous...

At the very least, they should have remained Tony (was he Andre at that point, and if so, would he have been the father or would Stefano have somehow managed to secure Tony's essence?) and Marlena's children because once the Roman/Kate reveal happened, there really was nothing left for them. Once again, the writers went for immediate shock value without thinking of the long-term implications. Kate and Roman, couple who are revealed to have heretofore unknown children = mild surprise with a dose of okay, no story here, let's move on. Tony/Andre and Marlena as parents = everyone having mixed emotions about them because of their parentage, including Marlena and years of potential schemes and Marlena, Sami, Eric, John, et al, being sucked into the Dimera realm and conflict with Chad as they would be in place to take control of the Dimera empire.

[JBC344]

Truth be told I actually liked the fact that Rex and Cassie were Roman and Kate's children.  Or I should say that I liked them being Kate's more than Roman's.  I think the way they could of explored that storyline more would of been for them to focus on the foursome of John/Kate/Roman/Marlena.  In a way Kate being Rex and Cassie's mom put her more on a level playing field to Marlena in Roman's eyes. He now has a set of twins with both women.  The complexities of that particular foursome with the Roman/Marlena/John past.  The fact that Kate and Marlena have been friends since they were young. (An actual interesting plot point that we never get to explore anymore).

 

Also considering that following that storyline we got the Melaswen storyline which resulted in the couples switching partners.  That would of been a nice way to explore that dynamic with Rex and Cassie being used as a catalyst.

[Dandesun]

Okay, so I've been digging into the history of Steve and Kayla and I've got to talk about it because some of this stuff is amazingly insane and I love.

 

Now, One Life to Live was my soap. That's the one my mother watched (she also watched Ryan's Hope) and that's the show I started watching with her back in the late 80s... the days of Max and Tina and Cord and Gabrielle. My couple is Todd and Blair -- two schemers who fell in love and so on and so forth. I have found a playlist on You Tube that seems to cover their first year or so... the first we see of old school either of them is Steve playing the harmonica and singing 'The Ballad of A Boy Named Bo' to Hope while he's in prison -- thus we get the story of Britta and Bo slicing Steve's eye in a knife fight over said Britta.

 

Watching this first video I struck by a few things: 

 

1. Stephen Nicols is full on lightning in a bottle.

2. Todd Manning could never have existed were it not for Steve Johnson (among others)

 

My introduction to SN was actually as Stephan on General Hospital so seeing him play this wild animal in Steve Johnson is a REAL change for me.

 

Watching a bit more... we're at the point where Kayla is starting work at the brand new Emergency Center. I believe even more that there would be no Todd without Steve. Scarred guy who often looks at himself in the mirror and hates what he sees? Gee, where did I see that before? Except that Todd actually came way later. I would make no comparisons between Kayla and Blair because Kayla is the goodest good girl that ever gooded and this is the 80s where the bad boy/good girl trope was in full bloom. I'm sitting here watching, though, and thinking 'this shouldn't work' -- Steve is wearing a god damn PINKY RING for fuck's sake! But it totally works. He's a wild animal and it would appear that between him and Roger Thorpe it created a dynamic that made room for Mr. Manning.

 

I will say this, though, to me... there is nothing more quintessentially 80's Soap Hunk than Bo Brady. Peter Reckall and his hair and his beard is SOOOOO 80's. But the more I'm seeing of Steve the more I'm smitten. He plays the harmonica! He wears a rolled up kerchief around his neck ALL THE TIME. He says 'Baby' all the time! He steals gigantic bouquets from Chinese restaurants. He's so weird! I mean, sure, he starts out stalking her to get her out of wherever the hell she was and back to Salem but, hey, there are worse ways to start a relationship.

 

And further in...

 

This playlist I'm watching is 190 videos and I'm on number 60. Steve and Kayla haven't even kissed yet or even come close to it. Actually, the closest was when Steve had her face framed in his hands but they got interrupted pretty quick. So quick it's hard to tell if it was actually going to go anywhere or not.

 

Steve is basically your soap styled small time hood. He's certainly not high on the pecking order of crime... just doing what he does to get by. He seems to have a serious allergy to sleeves and buttons. At this point, he's eschewed the bandana necklaces for tank tops. He clomps around constantly in boots and since he never stays still the clomping is very noticeable.

 

Kayla is your soap styled do-gooder nurse. Oh, she just doesn't understand the hard life they've come from. How could she? She's a Brady. That gets thrown around a lot.

 

Things of particular note: When MBE's Kayla returns to Salem the Brady's are embroiled in the 'oh, Bo isn't Shaun's son, he's Victor's!' drama. Hope and Bo have moved in with Victor for some reason (I'm not watching their story so, you know, I'm getting bits and pieces of it) and Victor is all about putting Bo in his orbit while also being suspicious of him. I suspect that's pretty much Victor's MO. Roman is currently played by Drake; meanwhile the guy that plays Roman on the show now is playing a character named Chris who was apparently Kayla's first and it's one of the weirdest things ever because I only know this guy playing latter-day Roman and he keeps kind of hinting at Kayla that he may be interested in starting things up between them again... it's just weird. They've also gone through the kidnapping of Shane and Kim's baby... Andrew? With Steve knowing who took the kid but refusing to give up the info while leaning on said chick to give up the real goods so he could go and completely fail at playing hero. Kayla is deeply suspicious of him in all of this while he loudly proclaims he would never, ever steal a little baby which leads up to...

 

So Kayla's working at the Emergency Center on the Riverfront (is there still a Riverfront in Salem? All I know is Horton Square and Murder Park...) and at one point, she's out front with Steve (because Steve is either on the docks or tossing 'baby' and 'sweetness' at Kayla in the EC while hitting on/flirting with her) and she gets her purse stolen. Steve immediately stops the theft by... who is that? It's FRANKIE. Billy Warlock as baby faced Frankie and then, on the docks (again, Steve's other hangout) Frankie shows up with a wallet... stolen? Found? Whatever and while Steve is apprehending him again a little boy comes up and bites Steve on the leg and immediately falls into the river.

 

Who's the kid? Maxwell. Who I have to assume is the same Max I've seen in a fic or two. So the current storyline is Steve crying manly tears over his own abandonment as a child and brings up the brother who was taken from him (Jack, I assume) and vowing to do everything to keep Frankie and Max together while yelling at Kayla for not understanding "the Riverfront" and folk from said Riverfront. Every scene with Steve and Frankie involves Steve holding him in a shoulder lock while they yell at each other or someone else. Kayla called Social Services and, of course, the boys were separated so she became The Enemy for awhile but, to be fair, she didn't intend for the boys to be separated.

 

Kayla has just gotten to Steve's to tell Frankie and Max that her parents will take them in.

 

Oh, and it's the Brady Fish Market at this point in time. That one threw me... I honestly didn't know it was anything but the Brady Pub.

 

This is quite a slow burn, though. Like I said, not a kiss... not even a close call type of non-kiss. I get it, though. Steve and Kayla are different. Todd and Blair, by contrast, were very much the same. They got each other from day one. Steve and Kayla come from two completely different places and the show took its time getting them to a place where they could be legitimately romantic. The thing is, it's downright odd to see this much time spent on even getting a couple to a place of friendship that can legitimately lead to romance. You would never see this much time and care taken today.

[Black Knight]

Everything was slow burn back then on DAYS. You could wait a year for a first kiss or a ILY and years for sex and a wedding.

 

I've always wondered if my preference for slow burns is because I grew up watching slow burns, or did I love the slow burns because that was my natural preference anyway? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

 

Nowadays there's no patience. I remember when Shawn and Mimi were getting together (and even that was a while back) and the show said it would be a slow burn for them - which turned out to mean a couple of months. Yeah, okay.

 

I love slow burns and I love unexpected pairings - by unexpected, I mean that I don't see them coming, not pairings that are unexpected to the characters but you can see them from a mile away.

[Dandesun]

The thing about the slow burn is that once you get there it's really hard to buy a quick break up... or a convoluted one. If you've invested two years into watching a couple grow, develop, build a relationship, learn to trust and believe each other then it's not something that you want to see get thrown away immediately over some dumbass plot point.

 

Todd and Blair first three meetings were spread out a bit from the day he got out of prison through to the beginnings of another storyline that he was involved in as she was wrapping up the storyline she was involve in. They started hanging out and going from that first meeting until they slept together was about eight months which was still plenty of time. Plus, it wasn't a 'oh, they're in love and they are consummating that love' kind of sex scene. It was two people finding solace in each other. He was gone a year later... their romance was a freaking whirlwind compared to Steve and Kayla (and probably others if Days had this slow burn mastered) but it was strong enough and tempered enough that I honestly could not believe either one of them with anyone else.

 

If they had stretched that out over the course of two years that's a whole new level of commitment to the audience. And then people wonder why fans get so attached.

[Happytobehere]

Okay, so I've been digging into the history of Steve and Kayla and I've got to talk about it because some of this stuff is amazingly insane and I love.

 

Now, One Life to Live was my soap. That's the one my mother watched (she also watched Ryan's Hope) and that's the show I started watching with her back in the late 80s... the days of Max and Tina and Cord and Gabrielle. My couple is Todd and Blair -- two schemers who fell in love and so on and so forth. I have found a playlist on You Tube that seems to cover their first year or so... the first we see of old school either of them is Steve playing the harmonica and singing 'The Ballad of A Boy Named Bo' to Hope while he's in prison -- thus we get the story of Britta and Bo slicing Steve's eye in a knife fight over said Britta.

 

Watching this first video I struck by a few things: 

 

1. Stephen Nicols is full on lightning in a bottle.

2. Todd Manning could never have existed were it not for Steve Johnson (among others)

 

My introduction to SN was actually as Stephan on General Hospital so seeing him play this wild animal in Steve Johnson is a REAL change for me.

 

Watching a bit more... we're at the point where Kayla is starting work at the brand new Emergency Center. I believe even more that there would be no Todd without Steve. Scarred guy who often looks at himself in the mirror and hates what he sees? Gee, where did I see that before? Except that Todd actually came way later. I would make no comparisons between Kayla and Blair because Kayla is the goodest good girl that ever gooded and this is the 80s where the bad boy/good girl trope was in full bloom. I'm sitting here watching, though, and thinking 'this shouldn't work' -- Steve is wearing a god damn PINKY RING for fuck's sake! But it totally works. He's a wild animal and it would appear that between him and Roger Thorpe it created a dynamic that made room for Mr. Manning.

 

I will say this, though, to me... there is nothing more quintessentially 80's Soap Hunk than Bo Brady. Peter Reckall and his hair and his beard is SOOOOO 80's. But the more I'm seeing of Steve the more I'm smitten. He plays the harmonica! He wears a rolled up kerchief around his neck ALL THE TIME. He says 'Baby' all the time! He steals gigantic bouquets from Chinese restaurants. He's so weird! I mean, sure, he starts out stalking her to get her out of wherever the hell she was and back to Salem but, hey, there are worse ways to start a relationship.

 

And further in...

 

This playlist I'm watching is 190 videos and I'm on number 60. Steve and Kayla haven't even kissed yet or even come close to it. Actually, the closest was when Steve had her face framed in his hands but they got interrupted pretty quick. So quick it's hard to tell if it was actually going to go anywhere or not.

 

Steve is basically your soap styled small time hood. He's certainly not high on the pecking order of crime... just doing what he does to get by. He seems to have a serious allergy to sleeves and buttons. At this point, he's eschewed the bandana necklaces for tank tops. He clomps around constantly in boots and since he never stays still the clomping is very noticeable.

 

Kayla is your soap styled do-gooder nurse. Oh, she just doesn't understand the hard life they've come from. How could she? She's a Brady. That gets thrown around a lot.

 

Things of particular note: When MBE's Kayla returns to Salem the Brady's are embroiled in the 'oh, Bo isn't Shaun's son, he's Victor's!' drama. Hope and Bo have moved in with Victor for some reason (I'm not watching their story so, you know, I'm getting bits and pieces of it) and Victor is all about putting Bo in his orbit while also being suspicious of him. I suspect that's pretty much Victor's MO. Roman is currently played by Drake; meanwhile the guy that plays Roman on the show now is playing a character named Chris who was apparently Kayla's first and it's one of the weirdest things ever because I only know this guy playing latter-day Roman and he keeps kind of hinting at Kayla that he may be interested in starting things up between them again... it's just weird. They've also gone through the kidnapping of Shane and Kim's baby... Andrew? With Steve knowing who took the kid but refusing to give up the info while leaning on said chick to give up the real goods so he could go and completely fail at playing hero. Kayla is deeply suspicious of him in all of this while he loudly proclaims he would never, ever steal a little baby which leads up to...

 

So Kayla's working at the Emergency Center on the Riverfront (is there still a Riverfront in Salem? All I know is Horton Square and Murder Park...) and at one point, she's out front with Steve (because Steve is either on the docks or tossing 'baby' and 'sweetness' at Kayla in the EC while hitting on/flirting with her) and she gets her purse stolen. Steve immediately stops the theft by... who is that? It's FRANKIE. Billy Warlock as baby faced Frankie and then, on the docks (again, Steve's other hangout) Frankie shows up with a wallet... stolen? Found? Whatever and while Steve is apprehending him again a little boy comes up and bites Steve on the leg and immediately falls into the river.

 

Who's the kid? Maxwell. Who I have to assume is the same Max I've seen in a fic or two. So the current storyline is Steve crying manly tears over his own abandonment as a child and brings up the brother who was taken from him (Jack, I assume) and vowing to do everything to keep Frankie and Max together while yelling at Kayla for not understanding "the Riverfront" and folk from said Riverfront. Every scene with Steve and Frankie involves Steve holding him in a shoulder lock while they yell at each other or someone else. Kayla called Social Services and, of course, the boys were separated so she became The Enemy for awhile but, to be fair, she didn't intend for the boys to be separated.

 

Kayla has just gotten to Steve's to tell Frankie and Max that her parents will take them in.

 

Oh, and it's the Brady Fish Market at this point in time. That one threw me... I honestly didn't know it was anything but the Brady Pub.

 

This is quite a slow burn, though. Like I said, not a kiss... not even a close call type of non-kiss. I get it, though. Steve and Kayla are different. Todd and Blair, by contrast, were very much the same. They got each other from day one. Steve and Kayla come from two completely different places and the show took its time getting them to a place where they could be legitimately romantic. The thing is, it's downright odd to see this much time spent on even getting a couple to a place of friendship that can legitimately lead to romance. You would never see this much time and care taken today.

You wouldn't believe the hours I have spent watching and rewatching Steve and Kayla on youtube when I was divorced from soaps (I am doing a partial rewatching now becuase of the return). They are my all time favorites. Not too surprisingly, my second favorite couple are Todd (RH's portrayal) and Blair and I love doing rewatches of them.

Just wait till you get to scenes of Steve with Alice Horton. She adored "Steven" and found him to be quite galant. Despite her role as show matriarch, she was always incorporated into storylines with the younger generation, so I loved yesterday's acknowledgement of that when Steve saw the memorial to Dr. and Mrs. H. She along with Hope and then Kimberly were the first established characters who understood why Kayla would love him and they supported the pairing. This is part of why Hope's words stung Steve so yesterday. If his first real friend in Salem and a big supporter of he and Kayla wasn't feeling him, he knew he was in trouble with Sweetness.

[buffynut]

Okay, so I've been digging into the history of Steve and Kayla and I've got to talk about it because some of this stuff is amazingly insane and I love.

Loved reading your thoughts and comments about the "Days of Old".   That was when I first started watching and LOVED that era with Bo & Hope, Kayla & Steve, Kim & Shane, Jennifer & Frankie, Melissa & Pete.

[Dandesun]

Okay, I've perused a bit more. Yesterday was month end invoicing so I was slammed at work and was at the office until around 8. Luckily, once everyone left, I put You Tube on so I could print and fold invoices and stuff envelopes while watching Steve and Kayla... Hope you all don't mind my long treatises on this stuff... it's kind of fun to go through it and share the thoughts.

 

Frankie and Max being taken into the Brady household seems to have officially switched the gears of Steve and Kayla's story to one of romance. Instead of Kayla not exactly knowing what this rough, sexually overt dude is about she has very clearly softened towards him... particularly in regards to how he is with Max. She gives him a kiss on the cheek as Frankie and Max are settling in and that kicks stuff off. In a matter of speaking. That being said, even as far back as their first hurt/comfort scene where she was non-plussed after taking Steve's patch off and he was all 'she didn't even flinch' later on... clearly they were building up something.

 

It's still the Time of the Slow Burn.

 

It's also the Time of the Patchless Fantasies. Now we're getting fantasy kisses with lots of soft focus. Some of these look like about a pound of vaseline was rubbed on the lens. So be it. It set the stage. Steve has both eyes in these fantasies, too... well, the ones that he has. Kayla totally fantasizes about him with the patch.

 

(Todd and Blair correlation: Todd often imagined himself without the scar but Blair never did. In fact, in that long Christmas fantasy sequence Todd imagined himself having removed the scar and also imagined Blair saying she missed it. At least he knew she didn't care about it at the very least and probably quite liked it.)

 

Things that happened during this series of vids:

 

Andrew was still missing... clearly they got him back at some point but in one vid Abe comes up and suggests to Kim that they've found a baby that might be Andrew. Wow. I have no idea how much time passed but given the number of videos I'd say a lot.
Kayla attacked by a junkie looking for a fix while Max runs to get Steve.
Drake!Roman actually says 'we've got a problem with a junkie on the loose.' They just don't write dialog like that anymore.
Hope has a miscarriage and Steve finds her on the docks, because that's a very popular place on soaps to have a miscarriage, and carries her to the EC. He does this a lot.
He also jumps into the river a lot. Saving biting children, fishing out dead bodies, fishing out purses... between that and the rain it seems Steve rarely actually has to bother taking a shower.
Steve has upgraded his wardrobe to include t-shirts with actual sleeves. Very short sleeves but that is still a major improvement. His button allergy seems to be getting better, too. He manages to button up shirts 1/3 of the way. And he made an effort for Kayla one day by buttoning up a shirt almost the whole way. All of this clearly symbolizes his slow march to respectability.
The 80s blouses are killing me. Also, the big belts. I had one of those. If any ladies show up wearing a leather tie I might just die... but I may have to go back to 82-84 for that.
Jennifer Horton makes her first appearance in this playlist... wearing a Dalmatian sweater. Not only does it have the spots... it has actual Dalmatians on it. I'm just going to say that I was in high school in 1986 and I was no longer wearing clothes with animals on them. Oh, Steve carried her in because she had almost been hit by a car. He does this a lot, too... carrying women in distress to the EC.
Steve calls Jennifer 'Cupcake' -- oh, Steve. You're so lucky it was the 80s and you have charm oozing out of every pore. The constant nicknames would probably not go over so well in this day and age. Do characters just not do that anymore or do they just not have the panache that Steve did?
I've just discovered that Jennifer has an older brother named Mike! Who is a doctor. But... given that he got Steve to mug another doctor perhaps he's not on the up and up? Or maybe the other one isn't? I don't know.

 

Hope and Kim's hair are entities in and of themselves. Back in the mid-80s on OLTL, Gabrielle and Tina had some serious manes of hair.

 

Bo and Hope's considerable manes of dark glossy locks certainly do their own work to show that they are soulmates. Then you've got Steve and Kayla and their matching blondeness... it could be that hair soulmates works for me. Todd and Blair certainly had that going on as well...

 

Shane and Kim split up at some point. Kayla goes to her sister for some company and Kim wonders why Kayla isn't off canoodling with Chris and his 'big, strong arms' (STILL WEIRD!!) Kayla's all 'Yeeeaaahhh... because he isn't some raging hot hood with unruly hair and a wild desire to show off his chest as often as possible. DUH.'
Hope and Bo are estranged in all of this for reasons I don't exactly follow but I imagine they have a lot to do with Victor. Victor doesn't appear a lot in these videos but his presence is felt nonetheless.

 

Britta. *sigh* This one. I find her to be a rather anemic vixen when it comes down to it. There's nothing going on there that makes me believe that two dudes like Steve and Bo would be fighting over her... much less why Steve would obsess over her the way he did. I just don't see it. At least he recognized that she was constantly up to something and didn't trust her at all. Really, all of the conflict came from him because she didn't offer much in the way of anything. So then she gets killed and then shit really starts going down...

 

Somewhere in the midst of this Marlena goes missing (again, Steve and Kayla vids so it's really stuff that's mentioned rather than seen) and everyone starts talking about Stockholm... not to mention that Gregory shows up floating in the river dead a day before he was expected. Steve refuses to be railroaded and starts hiding out in various dark corners and under stairs but, eventually, some cops find him and Kayla together and handcuff them together (of course) and kidnap them.

 

Woo! An on the run story! You just don't see these anymore. As on the runs go, this one doesn't last very long. Just long enough to amp the sexual tension by faking being newlyweds and getting stuck in rainy barns... only to come back to Salem so the very tenuous trust gets shattered once again by The System.

 

This particular running theme regarding Steve vs The Establishment is handled pretty well. Kayla recognizing that he's got a point because she sees that his whole life has been being let down by the things she's always been able to count on is a nice step for her, too. Oh, and there's Victor leaning on whomever to keep digging into Steve's past because there will inevitably be something they can pin on him while Bo overhears.

 

Ah Victor... so the two goons he had who beat up Steve for the first hurt/comfort scene (way way way back in the very beginning) were totally hired by him and I'm going to assume that the fake cops were as well. Let's talk about Victor's goony day-players.

 

Wow. Are they ever bad. First of all, the 'teach him a lesson' duo... they look less like thugs and more like two guys who hang out at the bowling alley. And not like the bowling alley in Daredevil where the one mob boss got killed by the assassin... hell, not even the bowling alley in 'Grease 2.' They were AWFUL. And they could barely manage to spit out lines like 'Mr. Kariakas gives the orders and you LISTEN!' Given that this was a time when Steve was a lot more inept himself, I suppose I can by that these two dorks could give him a sound beating... but it's really stretching my disbelief to its breaking point.

 

The fake cops? One was just filler and the other was VERY YELLY! ALL HE DID WAS YELL HIS LINES IN A MANNER THAT I ASSUME WAS SUPPOSED TO BE INTIMIDATING BUT REALLY WASN'T. Victor seems to suffer somewhat from Maleficent Syndrome. Great villain; awful underlings.

 

Given that, where I'm at right now, Steve is all suspicious and prickly about Kayla and her Bradyness I'm suspecting a break will be coming soon. That's generally how the roller coaster used to work.

 

*sigh* I miss those days.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

I've just discovered that Jennifer has an older brother named Mike! Who is a doctor. But... given that he got Steve to mug another doctor perhaps he's not on the up and up? Or maybe the other one isn't? I don't know.

 

Mike is the son of Bill and Laura, but Laura was married to Bill's brother Mickey at the time, and Bill had raped her.  Mike always thought of Mickey as his father, even when it was revealed that Bill was his real father.  He's moved to Israel on and off a couple of times, once when he went to live with Robin Jacobs and their son Jeremy, and once when he was married to Carrie, but they broke up, too.

[JBC344]

Not to nitpick, but he and Carrie were never married, but your point remains the same.  Funny to think that TPTB didn't marry off Carrie and Mike when they left the show as a committed couple, and at the time there were no plans to bring the characters back anytime soon.  Just interesting that they didn't go that route with them.

[GodsBeloved]

I watched Days for awhile and loved Bo/Fancy Face, Patch/Sweetness and Jack/Jennifer. A friend on FB liked a post that alerted me that Steve was coming back so I decided to tune back in on Friday.

 

I have been watching old clips on youtube ... Steve/Kayla, Jack/Jennifer and Adrienne/Justin. I loved those siblings and the over all family on Days back in the day. I'll be watching some Bo/Hope today.

 

Where are Stephanie and Shawn Douglas?

Edited September 2, 2015 by GodsBeloved

[Kitty Redstone]

Wait.  So Josh Taylor played Chris Kositchek and dated Kayla, then came back and played Roman, Kayla's brother?

[minirth]

I really liked Mike and April, back in the day...

[Dandesun]

Wait.  So Josh Taylor played Chris Kositchek and dated Kayla, then came back and played Roman, Kayla's brother?

 

YES! It's so unbelievably weird to watch these old scenes! It's so disconcerting to hear that voice, which really hasn't changed much at all, interacting with Kayla talking about their old times and even moderately dating her for maybe a day or whatever... I mean, Kayla's got it for Steve already and Chris is just... there.

 

But it's still so weird.

[buffynut]

I really liked Mike and April, back in the day...

I really liked Michael T. Weiss.    Loved he way he used to tease his little sister, Jennifer, too.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Where are Stephanie and Shawn Douglas?

 

Shawn Douglas, Belle and Claire are off traveling the world on their boat, but they will be coming back on the show for Thanksgiving.

 

I don't really know where Stephanie is (Chicago, maybe?). But she was involved off-screen when Chloe brought Parker back to Daniel, because Stephanie had apparently messed with the DNA results to make it look like Phillip was Parker's father when it was really Daniel who was the father.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[Peanut6711]

Dandesun, you are watching some good stuff. Definitely the good old days.  Some of my favorite storylines. And I loved the slow burn too. Left you hanging on the edge for them to be intimate. Every time you thought it was going to happen it didn’t for one reason or another.

 

So Kayla's working at the Emergency Center on the Riverfront (is there still a Riverfront in Salem? All I know is Horton Square and Murder Park...)

 

They haven’t shown the Riverfront in years. I think they replaced that set with the new square and park. They should have kept it. Made much more sense for drug deals and murders to go down there, a bad section of town rather than the town park, established to be only 10-15 mins from the town shopping center/food court. 

 

Steve calls Jennifer 'Cupcake' -- oh, Steve. You're so lucky it was the 80s and you have charm oozing out of every pore. The constant nicknames would probably not go over so well in this day and age. Do characters just not do that anymore or do they just not have the panache that Steve did?

Nicknames like that, especially from “bad boys” are very popular today in contemporary romance books.

 

Woo! An on the run story! You just don't see these anymore. As on the runs go, this one doesn't last very long. Just long enough to amp the sexual tension by faking being newlyweds and getting stuck in rainy barns... only to come back to Salem so the very tenuous trust gets shattered once again by The System.

Keep watching. They have a big on the run story the following summer.

 

EDITED TO ADD:

I guess NBC never considered airing a "repeat" episode of Days from this time frame either in the hour time slot before or after the current show. I think they'd be surprised how good the ratings would be.   But alas, they can air 4 hours of Today, but 2 hours of Days, their only soap left, would probably be asking too much of them. 

Edited September 3, 2015 by Peanut6711

[Kitty Redstone]

How great would it be if one of the cable channels aired old episodes from all the past soaps?  I'd certainly watch.

[Dandesun]

The latest in the Steve/Kayla viewing:

 

So they get back from their weekend (?) on the run and Drake!Roman is extremely yelly about everything. Marlena being missing has something to do with that, I guess.

 

But it something I've noticed throughout all of this. The guys really like shoving and yelling at each other... possibly with a collar grab for good measure. Interestingly enough, when Roman roughs up Steve (and when Bo does it later) he doesn't really fight back. Is he not much of a fighter when it comes down to it? Or is it more about the fact that Roman is a cop and Bo is... whatever the hell Bo is?

 

Anyway, Kayla is working really really really hard to get prickly Steve to trust in her especially in regards to cleaning up the mess Britta made. Lots of longing looks and brief soft moments before Steve mucks it up by being... Steve, I guess.

 

Roman finally believes Steve didn't kill Britta or the other guys and just needs his help regarding the whole mess when an assistant DA shows up to demand he be arrested. Roman is pissed (this seems to be the usual for him), Kayla is shocked! Steve is resigned... so much so that he looks almost relieved that what he totally expected to happen has happened. But it does give us some Steve and Kayla jail scenes!

 

Hey, jail scenes are hot. This T&B fan knows that all too well. Also, Steve is forced to wear sleeves that aren't attached to a jacket. What? It's crazy!

 

Bo leans on Victor a bit and Steve is released. Yay! But he's still ticked off at Kayla for being all innocent and naive when it comes to The System. Enter Maxwell.

 

Max gets a citizenship award for being the one to go get Steve when Kayla was being threatened by the junkie. Little kids bring estranged not-quite-lovers together.

 

All the stuff with the tattoos starts to go down. Three knives and Roman looking for Marlena and Stockholm. Steve finally dumps Britta's pictures in the river (and doesn't jump in himself for a change) while Kayla's all understanding and kind. He still doesn't know what to make of her. Victor shows up to reveal that Steve's been on his payroll the whole time which gets Kayla well and pissed. Shoe's on the other foot now, eh, Steve? He admits that he was tailing her on Victor's say-so but that he gave Victor bogus info. Since I never really saw Steve rat out anything specific to Victor I'll go ahead and believe this. It always seemed to me that Steve took the job just to have an excuse to get in Kayla's space anyway.

 

But now we're in a major push-pull area of the love story. "I want to be near you but you've been on Victor's payroll!" "You're way too good for me but I can't help myself." "Neither of us can say what we're feeling here because we're not entirely sure and we're also scared to death." ROMANTIC ANGST! And then Steve flies off to Stockholm with Roman and Hope.

 

Bo tells Kayla that Steve is bad news. Kayla tells Bo to stuff it. Bo tries this whole 'Hey, Britta loved him and look what happened to her!' Uh... I don't think Britta got killed because she loved Steve, Bo. Unless you're going to tell me that Gregory and the other guy loved him, too. I think they got killed for reasons that have little to do with feelings for Steve and more to do with shady shenanigans in Sweden. Of course, Hope totally digs Steve and is onto Kayla getting the hot and heavies for him. She approves of this which is nice. Kayla needs some encouragement when it comes to recognizing the softy that her grungy hood actually is.

 

Ooo! Steve got shot! He got shot in the shoulder which is the SEXIEST place to get shot on a soap! The Shoulder Soap Injury results in a lot of blood but no organ damage (we're going to ignore real life shoulder wounds, they're not sexy at all) and very often results in a feverish state for the victim and that means lots of sweating and moaning for The One They Love. (Come on, Todd and Blair in the cabin? Helloooo!) So while Hope is mopping off Steve, he's moaning Kayla's name over and over and telling her not to stop (delirious Steve is hella sexy -- he's got a great whisper-moan) which makes Hope go 'Yes, I will call the nurse so she can tell me what to do! Yay!'

 

Kayla, of course, gets off the phone and flies to Stockholm... like you do.

 

In she comes, Miss Kayla Brady with her halo of golden curls and her fuzzy sweater. How angelic is this creature? Is she too good for this world? Steve is equal parts 'my Sweetness is here to rub all over me and take care of my manly wounds' and 'Baby, it's too dangerous for the likes of you, listen to my streetwise nobility, will ya?'

 

Another reason why soap shoulder wounds are the sexiest? It's shirtless time! With a strategic bandage so you know Shit Went Down.

 

This is all so magical.

 

Steve wakes up and Kayla's not there so he automatically thinks she ditched him. She shows up with a bag of groceries? It's hard to tell because there is neither a baguette or a clump of carrot tops sticking out of the top. It's very confusing. But then she starts taking stuff out of the bag... is that soup? Is that some sort of vinaigrette bottle? What is even happening? Kayla's just unpacking random shit so she has something to look at while Steve manages to tell her he appreciates her flying across the Atlantic to nurse his wounds.

 

And he follows it all up with DANGEROUS! GO HOME! DANGEROUS SOME MORE! and storms off... so of course she follows him to the tattoo parlor where another dead body has been found(this was before which is why Steve got shot and Roman is in Swedish jail.) Hey, is that a light or a hidden camera? Well, Steve is too injured to look so Kayla climbs on up, confirms it's a camera and then falls on Steve.... close quarters time! Steve drops some innuendo as he so often does and then... rut roh! Swedish cops show up and Steve and Kayla hide... one comes into the room they're hiding all 'Stop or I'll Shoot!' What? In Sweden?

 

Is it strange that the most unbelievable part of this whole story is the idea that Swedish cops have guns and are so trigger happy?

 

So where I left off... Steve and Kayla are hiding together in a convenient box large enough to hold the two of them, stuffed with shredded paper and with an easily openable hinged lid. Hey, all in the name of sexual tension and forcing your not-yet-lovebirds to get all wrapped around each other.

 

I tell you, the bad boy who constantly gets beat up or shot and the good girl nurse... these two are hurt/comfort all over the damn place. Well, it's a trope for a reason.

 

More as I watch it...

[Apprentice79]

Dandesun! I love your enthusiasm about the Steve and Kayla story..it is truly infectious..I may watch it again, when I have some free time...

[Dandesun]

Dandesun! I love your enthusiasm about the Steve and Kayla story..it is truly infectious..I may watch it again, when I have some free time...

 

This is all completely new to me so it's fun to recap it even though I'm sure everyone here is more than a little familiar with the story.

 

The 80s were a great time to love soaps. It's when I started watching them... but I was watching OLTL with Argentina and secret rooms and exploding wedding cakes. Shit that was no less enjoyable.

 

As I've said... I know OF Steve/Kayla but I never watched their story. So when Steve appeared last Friday and I saw 25 years of history flash before my eyes in seconds I had to go looking.

 

I'm really glad I did.