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GH History Lessons: Because History is Always Repeating Itself


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This is probably more of a question for any OLTL viewers: do people actually like Kristen Alderson? Like, do you feel that sense of loyalty/fondness that many GH viewers feel for Kimberly McCullough? Because otherwise, I can't understand why, of everyone in that cast, she was one of the people chosen to join GH. Like, I understand RoHo and ME, because they are popular actors and their original OLTL characters were popular too. But none of that applies to KA, in my opinion. I felt completely indifferent to Starr, and I actively hate Kiki, and Kristen Alderson is not a good actress or particularly stunning to behold, so I'm just a little baffled at why GH bothered to bring her over. Any insight?

 

I actually liked KA as Starr.  Even when she came to GH, I didn't see her in a bad light.  I know that a lot of the reason why she was brought along was a sense of loyalty FV had to her.  And, as they were bringing RoHo, it made sense to bring Todd's daughter along with him.  Together on GH, there were still awesome to me until just about the end.  Todd was still Todd around his Shorty.  But after Blair left that summer, Todd and Starr were slowly separated into Just Carly/Johnny for Todd and the Young Set Hell for Starr.  I didn't even mind MiStarr.  I love legacy stuff and the idea of a Quartermaine, without the name and a Lord, also without the name, was a great crossover tool.

 

Now, that it not to say that over the last few years of OL and her tenure on GH, KA's acting skills have, shall we say, diminished.  Her six year old self could act circles around her now in her twenties.  I also think they threw too much her way (pregnancy storyline, an actually interesting twist of Langston and Cole tossed aside for more Cole).  Around RoHo and KdP, I think she was fine.  I think the three of them never lost their chemistry.  But the minute she was out of their sights, she got lazy and bad.  And it's gotten worse since Keeks showed up.  The one probably good scene I saw of her was when she first met Franco.  RH was still giving off the daddy/daughter chem but she played it right with "Who the fuck are you?" attitude.

 

For the most part, she still has a job because she is still beloved by the EP, who she calls "Uncle Frank".  And he still babies her to an extent, when she really needs a swift kick with the realities of being an actress.  

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I think OLTL fans have a lot of residual fondness for Kristen, I know I still do. She was also popular with the general audience for all her Perils of Pauline on OLTL. But while they were beloved as children in the same way, she was never the towering talent that Kim McCullough was. Kristen's adult stories have all been saccharine, drippy stuff courtesy of Brian Frons and Frank Valentini, and it's apparently the stuff she's really comfortable playing - she never wanted Starr to go back to being bad. Kimberly is an icon with an iconic character, whereas Kristen is still just a beloved child who hasn't done so well having to carry lots of story as an adult but keeps getting more.

 

I still like KA despite it all, but she has no place on the show as Kiki and before that, Starr was often a tough sell - the young adult Starr was often near-unwatchable. The character would not grow with her in the role and FV at the helm. I think it might have been able to even with Kristen still around, but no one BTS was interested. No one challenges her.

 

As for why she's here? Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati have worked with her since she was maybe seven years old. They adore her, and Frank and Brian Frons strongly believed that Starr was the key to their youth demos and youth storylines on OLTL - they knew she had such audience goodwill from her childhood, they believed she was the future of the show and they used her very, very heavily as a teen and young adult, often to decent numbers in her endless baby sagas with Cole and Hope, which were dreadful IMO but which got eyes because of people who had also watched little Starr grow up. I believe Frank still thinks she's the teen queen and the key to the future of soap opera - she can sing, she can act, she can do it all! Or something. I disagree, but that's the wisdom.

 

The thing is, from everything I have heard she is a sweetheart, albeit very carefully coached in her public persona (the guy who wrote the wonderful Llanview in the Afternoon oral history of OLTL basically said there would be no point in his interviewing her, because he'd done so before and she never departs from PR speak). And she can be winning onscreen when she is just talking with people, not about plot but banter - I was actually mildly charmed when she was joking around again with RH the other day in the park, not as Kiki and Franco but clearly the two of them with their rapport which is, IMO, even better since she grew up than when she was little (so long as they're having a stolen moment like that, and not playing Kiki and Franco). But they don't give her anything that is not hyper-calculated to present her as the young star of Frank's show.

Edited by jsbt
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Thanks for the responses, guys! This was close to what I'd guessed--I'm glad she was good on OLTL, and also glad that I'm not crazy in thinking she isn't good here. I do wish we weren't saddled with her because of the EPs, but oh well. I'm barely watching anymore, so maybe she'll be gone by the next time I'm a regular viewer again. I know a lot of people don't like Michael, but I really like Chad Duell and I like Morgan again too, so I wish they had better/more love interests in their age group to play off of. Hopefully some of those spoilers will actually turn out to be true, and some younger women will show up to populate PC.

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Can anyone give me a quick rundown of the original Aztec treasure storyline?

 

 

Basically, what Box305 said.  It was before my time, but at some point I ferreted out a bunch of clips online, and that story was ridiculous and glorious and awesome all at the same time.  It introduced so many of the favorite 80s characters.  It also was the context in which Robert and Anna's first marriage and WSB past were explained.  At the very end of the story, Anna also hints at Robin's existence, in a typically soapy way, as in: "Robert, I have to tell you something!  Not now, later ... but it's super-important!  So important I'm gonna drag this thing out, for like another month ... "  And that eventually led into Robin's intro to the show.

 

Speaking of history, would there be any interest in an 80's viewing party topic if I started one??  There is an impressive cache of full 80s episodes on YouTube, it seems.  Basically, we'd start with an episode at the beginning of the 80s, and then go chronologically through, watching one or two episodes a week and snarking on them.  Especially for those of us on the Barge, and anyone who wants to see the old history - before the current crew of writers re-writes it and messes it up - could be fun.     

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That sounds like fun! Actually, I wonder if we could separate them into sections--say early 80's, mid 80's and late 80's, as each era of GH then was pretty different, anyway.

 

I'd be pretty interested in a 90's viewing party thread, too, again with early, mid, and late 90's sections. I would especially be interested in the early 90's, pre-Labine--it's kind of interesting to see the rebuilding period they were in then, and of course Autumn Breeze was still the theme back then.

 

I have a friend on YouTube (AddieCate007) who has a LOT of GH episodes posted from that era, so there's a lot to choose from, too. 

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YouTube is a goldmine with regards to 80s and 90s GH. Some people have storylines posted in full, some have them posted with only specific couples as the focus, and some people have full episodes up. It's really great and makes me realize just how shitty RC's writing and pacing are.

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Late to the party, but still going to give an opinion on KA. She probably, imo, play a great bitch. She seems adorable and sweet in real life, but bratty Starr was awesome. I think she just can't play sweet little heroine. That's not a bad thing. I also like CD and BC.

She did always have chemistry with older actors. I'd rather, if I have to, see Kiki with an older actor. Or anything/anyone she has chemistry with.

Back to the topic, can someone explain to me the Quartermaine family tree? Please? I know AJ is the bio son of Monica/Alan, Jason is Susan Moore/Alan Q offspring, and Tracy/Alan are brother and sister from Edward/Lila. The rest confuse me.

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Ok, 80s viewing party topic is now a thing, should you choose to check it out!

 

Back to the topic, can someone explain to me the Quartermaine family tree? Please? I know AJ is the bio son of Monica/Alan, Jason is Susan Moore/Alan Q offspring, and Tracy/Alan are brother and sister from Edward/Lila. The rest confuse me.

 

 

Tracy has two sons, Ned (I don't know the father) and Dillon (with a boring dude named Paul).  Emily was a daughter Monica adopted (Monica had met Emily's mom when she was in a cancer support group, and then Em's mother died of cancer).  Skye was some boring-ass lady that was thought to be Alan's daughter, and then found out not to be ... or something ...

 

Edward had a son named Justus from prior to his marriage with Lila, I think.  I think at some point there was another son from a not-Lila woman, in the 80s.  Also, various cousins may have drifted in and out of town at some point.

 

Monica had a biological daughter named Dawn at one point.  Like all of Monica's children, she died horribly. 

 

I haven't actually paid attention in a while, so I don't know if there are any new Q's, un-Q'd Q's (like Skye), or re-Q'd un-Q'd Qs.  

 

But the important thing to note is that Monica once slept with Tracy's son Ned.  Which cracks me up to this day.

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I think Dillion's dad was named Paul Hornsby. Wasn't Lord Ashton, Ned's dad?

Jimmy Lee, is the name of Edward's other son.

I thought Justus Ward was a grandson? I'm probably not remembering correctly. Mary Mae Ward was the female that Edward had a relationship & child with.

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I'm alternately amused/bewildered by old GH's quirk that people rarely had biological children and always ended up adopting or raising someone else's child. Neither Lee nor Gail Baldwin had any children of their own; he adopted Scotty and she fostered Monica. Lee's brother Tom was the biological father of Tom Hardy who was adopted by Steve Hardy, but Steve himself had fathered Lars Webber's son Jeff. Lars' other son Rick and Lesley adopted Laura Vining (Lesley's biological child raised by the Vinings) and Mike Barrington, and fostered Blackie Parrish (Rick did also have a son of his own, Rick Jr, but not with Lesley).

 

The trend continued into the next generation with Bobbie adopting BJ and Lucas; Monica adopting Jason and Emily; Lucy adopting Serena and Christina; and Sonny adopting Michael. After that, adoption went south in favor of biological children. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. On the one hand it does ease keeping blood ties straight, but I feel like adoption is being dismissed as a viable option. We did have Rafe Jr briefly being fostered by Sam, but that's it.

Edited by Aymery
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Adoption has fallen by the wayside lately, but at least the adopted kids on the show aren't being treated as second-class citizens. If anything, Michael is loved by Sonny more than Morgan, his biological son. And Kristina was always treated a bit dismissively because she was a girlchild, not because Alexis instead of Carly was her mother. I also like that all of Sonny's kids consider themselves full siblings; they don't usually use "half" unless describing the family tree.

 

Yesterday Maxie said she and Robin were more like sisters than cousins, and I appreciated that especially in light of Levi's ultra-douchy comment to Mac that he wasn't Maxie's bio dad. How I wish Maxie had heard that.

 

So even though there are more bio kids lately, they aren't being presented as a "better" option. Except maybe by Lulu, but she's nuttier than Sabrina these days.

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How much of a hatchet job has Ron done to Duke? Right now he seems to be incredibly boring, bland, and useless.

 

Gah, I know! I used to love Duke but I tend to hate and/or be disgusted by anyone who wedges themselves up Sonny's ass. His obsession with Julian is just odd especially since Julian couldn't give two shits about it.  Or maybe because of that. lol

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Dude, I'm rewatching the 2012 AJ return. Can anyone explain Carly to me? From what I've gathered, she was Bobbie's bio daughter, came back, seduced Tony (whom I miss), slept with Jason and AJ, had a weird history with Sonny, married Jax. Hates Brenda. Why do she and Brenda hate each other?

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Carly is the type who hates other women as a matter of course, unless she can somehow classify them as not being a "threat," like she did with snowglobe-gazing Courtney. Brenda, because of her relationships with Jax, Sonny, and even Jason, is a huge threat in her mind. That Brenda is Robin's best friend probably doesn't help, either

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When did Jason go completely Borg like?  Because I'm watching old tapes and he's been working for Sonny for a year and he's wearing color, has expressions, hugs people, and has this almost Jason Q like innocence to him.  Frankly, its weirding me out.

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I need someone to explain the Jasons to me. Based on some spoiler/rumors I think I need to understand him better. He was the same person but had two different personalities and names? He was Jason Q first then became Jason Morgan.

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I need someone to explain the Jasons to me. Based on some spoiler/rumors I think I need to understand him better. He was the same person but had two different personalities and names? He was Jason Q first then became Jason Morgan.

 

Jason Quartermaine was the illegitimate son of Alan Quartermaine and his mistress, Susan Moore (who died when Jason was a baby).  Eventually, Monica adopted him and raised him alongside AJ as her own.  But, to both parents, he was the golden boy.  He was good-hearted, going to be a doctor, while AJ, though he tried, never seemed to become much.  He was with ELQ, but was always perceived as a failure.  This led to AJ becoming an alcoholic.  One night, around Christmas, I think, AJ got into another blowup with the family and was about to take off in his car.  Jason ran after him to stop him.  Sadly, AJ ran the car into a tree, sending Jason flying out of it and hitting his head on a rock.  They got him to GH and he survived, but had major brain trauma which, in essence, created a whole new personality, which was thought to have been diminished intellectually.  The Q's tried to keep Jason close, but he rebelled, changing his name to Morgan, after his grandmother Lila's maiden name (she and his sister, Emily were the only family members he remained close to).  Eventually, he got a job as a runner Sonny and eventually rose to second in command/hitman for him.

 

Anyone wants to add more, feel free.  

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TY MSquared did SBu always play adult Jason or have there been others? Your description would almost make me feel bad for Jason, except picturing SBu in the part ruins any sympathy I'd have for him.

Now AJ I have even more sympathy for poor guy. Plus I love SK.

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TY MSquared did SBu always play adult Jason or have there been others? Your description would almost make me feel bad for Jason, except picturing SBu in the part ruins any sympathy I'd have for him.

Now AJ I have even more sympathy for poor guy. Plus I love SK.

 

SBu played Jason for over 20 years.  I wasn't watching at the time, but he may have been part of the early high school set back then.

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SBu played Jason for over 20 years. I wasn't watching at the time, but he may have been part of the early high school set back then.

He was. It was AJ, Robin, Jason, Keisha, Brenda & some other making up the teen scene. Robin was the youngest of the set. IIRC, she had a teenage crush on Jason. AJ/Keisha/Jason was the teen triangle back then. [barbra Streisand]memories...the way we were, the way we were[/barbra Streisand]. Snif snif

Edited by BestestAuntEver
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He was. It was AJ, Robin, Jason, Keisha, Brenda & some other making up the teen scene. Robin was the youngest of the set. IIRC, she had a teenage crush on Jason. AJ/Keisha/Jason was the teen triangle back then. [barbara Streisand]memories..[/barbara Streisand]

 

Jagger and Karen were also in that mix too, right?

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Why is Jason the beloved and AJ not? He actually is Monica's kid and is named after Alan.

 

At the time of AJ's conception, Monica was having an affair with Dr. Rick Webber (later the husband of Dr. Leslie Webber). For . . . reasons . . . Monica was trying to keep the true identity of AJ secret (although he had a distinguishing birthmark just like his father, Alan, on his arm). Because Alan was unsure of AJ's paternity, he wasn't necessarily fatherly to him during his formative years. AJ was used sporadically in Alan and Monica's ongoing love/hate relationship as something one could throw in the other's face. (I remember one time, when AJ was well on the way to adulthood, Alan used an AJ as an example to encourage people to donate money at a genetic testing fundraiser the Q's were sponsoring, something that, as I write it, doesn't sound too bad; but at the time, it was a public slap in the face to those who had been involved (Leslie, Rick, Monica) In fact, Leslie called him out on it later that evening. 

So anyway, that was the rather toxic atmosphere in which AJ grew up.

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We were staioned on Okinawa for two years in the 80s, when that meant a one year back date on Epis for GH and GL. We go to Germany later when it was current.

 

That being said, Anna:

 

Anna showed up as a deformed WSB agent who wore her hair hiding half her face due to the terrible scarring on half her face (as you can guess, it was BS to make her man feel bad).

 

Then it literally took her and the WSB crew 3/5 days show time to climb a rope onto the yacht, back when the network would pay for a dock shot.

 

Then she, no shit, had Robin make friends with space alien Casey. What was super secret agent Anna to do, but fuck Casey's earth twin (wish I was joking).

 

To close the circle, Robin fell in love with HIV boy, and gave him her unprotected punny, because, love, while Anna, super agent and super detective,  could warn her but not block the raw love.

 

Anna, dumbest cop ever lately? Sure, she has been all along.

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Then she, no shit, had Robin make friends with space alien Casey.

 

 

Well, to be fair, I don't think she was like "hey, Robin, go talk to that nice man over there - he's actually a space alien!"  I think Robin befriended this weird guy and then they all discovered he was an ET.  Which ... I don't know.  Even at the age of 10 or 11 or so, I had to check out for that story, because it was bizarre and pointless.

 

I literally have no idea what happened there.  Did the writers all get high on crack and nobody stopped them?  Did someone just really hate Finola Hughes and want to embarrass her (and half the cast, actually)?  I guess she got the last laugh on that one, though, because she got an Emmy that year. 

 

I think it's best for everyone's sake if we just pretend that was all a weird dream Robin had, featuring her parents and every one of their friends ... inflicted on the audience for no particular reason ... for an unseemly length of time. 

 

 

Although I was always a big Anna fan, I will admit that the fake scar business sounds completely insane.  I give her points for originality, though! 

Edited by SlovakPrincess
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To close the circle, Robin fell in love with HIV boy, and gave him her unprotected punny, because, love, while Anna, super agent and super detective, could warn her but not block the raw love.

???

Anna & Robert were believed to be dead at that time. Robin wasn't just having copious unprotected sex with Stone. Stories were better written & researched then. Because of Stone's past life on the street & history of unprotected sex, he was tested for HIV. The 1st test came back negative. He didn't realize that you needed to go back 6 months later for a repeat test because of HIV's incubation period. Many people didn't know this then. I can't rememeber, if there was a condom malfunction or unprotected sex that caused Robin's exposure. I do remember that it wasn't portrayed as frivolous sex.

The HIV storyline involving Stone, Robin & his death was a true old fashioned umbrella story. IMO, one of the best the show has done. It involved so many people because of their connection to Robin. It would be easier to name the characters that were not involved.

Edited by BestestAuntEver
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(edited)

I thought Anna actually fucked the hunky alien himself. I'll be disappointed if I have to drop "alien fucking" from her resume.

Edited by jsbt
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I can't rememeber, if there was a condom malfunction or unprotected sex that caused Robin's exposure. I do know that it wasn't frivalous sex.

 

 

If memory serves, Felicia warned Robin that condoms weren't always effective (I guess that's how Flea wound up with Georgie).  Thinking Stone was home-free because he'd had an HIV test, the couple decided Robin would use birth control pills.  Tragically, they turned out to be very, very wrong.

 

I'm amazed I remember all that, since I kinda hated that story for being way too sad ...

 

I will admit that that story scared me out of having sex until I was well into college.  Yes, I am an idiot. 

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According to KMc in SOD's special 50th anniversary edition magazine for GH last year, the Casey story was something they used as a bridge between the time period where she was too old to be picked up by any of the adults anymore, but too young to be shown having a serious relationship with a guy. Although they DID show her having middle-school/early high school type boyfriends like Rowdy and Roger.

 

It was also, according to her, during this time period that she was actually almost let go and Robin potentially aged because they didn't know what to do with her at the time. It was Fin who saved her job by saying that Anna and Robin showing tension as Robin got older and entered her preteen/teenage years was a realistic story, one that SORASing often prevents.

 

That said, it is so obvious that KMc was the only "real" teenager in that group that it's not even funny. There are pictures of PC 90210, as I've heard them referred to as before, where it is painfully obvious that she is a 14 year old among a bunch of 20-somethings (sort of like the real 90210--hell, they even had a Brenda!).

 

Interestingly enough, outside of the AIDS story, KMc has said that the Snowman story with Grant Putnam is her favorite, and she is apparently very fond of the Casey story, too. 

Edited by UYI
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Here's question I have:

 

Whatever happened to Robert's poor dog, Friday? After he and Anna were presumed dead, Robin was shown many times with Friday next to her as she tried to deal with the loss of her parents. Was that time period the last he was ever shown? 

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Interestingly enough, outside of the AIDS story, KMc has said that the Snowman story with Grant Putnam is her favorite, and she is apparently very fond of the Casey story, too.

 

 

Interestingly enough, I didn't enjoy any of those stories ... but I can understand why KMc would, as an actress.

 

 

It was Fin who saved her job by saying that Anna and Robin showing tension as Robin got older and entered her preteen/teenage as a realistic story, one that SORASing often prevents.

 

 

Possibly, she didn't want her own character prematurely aged with an overnight 20-year-old daugher, either.  Not that I would blame her at all!  I think most  SORAS-ing is almost always a terrible idea - it ages characters and messes up generations all to hell.

 

Fun fact: Robin should be older than or the same age as AJ, and older than Jason, as they were both born at the beginning of the 80s when baby Robin was chilling offscreen. 

 

Whatever happened to Robert's poor dog, Friday?

 

 

Holly took him when she skipped town with Bill Eckert's money!  

(Just kidding - I think the poor thing just got forgotten in all the "fun" of Mac and Robin yelling / whining at each about Stone.  Possibly he fled to avoid the histrionics).

Edited by SlovakPrincess
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I know! That's what makes Robin's crush on Jason in high school so strange, because aren't there clips of Robin sitting with an obviously younger Jason next to her at the reading of the Christmas story, for example.

 

Another fun fact: SBu was one of the last actors hired by Gloria Monty during her second, ill-fated run as EP. 

 

Edited because "their" isn't supposed to be "there." I can't believe I actually did that. **facepalm**

Edited by UYI
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I know! That's what makes Robin's crush on Jason in high school so strange, because aren't their clips of Robin sitting with an obviously younger Jason next to her at the reading of the Christmas story, for example.

 

 

And then by high school, Jagger, Brenda, Jason (and Karen, to a lesser extent), all looked 25 ... while Robin still looked and sounded about 13. 

 

Stone looked about 10 years older when they were dating (maybe the actor was)!    If you didn't know the ages of the characters, the whole thing just looked wrong

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I just looked it up, and Michael Sutton (Stone) is almost seven years older than Kim, while SBu is nearly eight years older than her.

 

I remember hearing before that TPTB actually considered putting Jason Q and Robin together early on, but didn't because Kim was so obviously much younger. Yeah...good call, if true. A crush is one thing, a relationship at that point would have just looked too skeevy.

 

That said, even knowing how they got together, the fact that Robin got together with Jason only AFTER he suffered life-threatening brain damage still comes off as a little weird to me. Especially given what happened to poor Keesha (OTOH, she wound up with AJ, so maybe, in her case, she actually got an upgrade). 

 

 

I guess she got the last laugh on that one, though, because she got an Emmy that year.

 

Duke (or Jonathan Paget, whatever) had just been killed shortly before that, and I get the impression that it was Anna's mourning period that got Fin the Emmy (which, sadly, she was unable to accept in person--IIRC, that was actually the same day she officially became an American citizen).

 

But yes, the fact that THAT story came right before the whole alien thing is pretty amusing in and of itself. 

Edited by UYI
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That said, even knowing how they got together, the fact that Robin got together with Jason only AFTER he got life-threatening still comes off as a little weird to me. Especially given what happened to poor Keesha (OTOH, she wound up with AJ, so maybe, in her case, she actually got an upgrade).

 

 

I remember nothing about Keesha, strangely.

 

I know a lot of people loved the "boy with no past, girl with no future" aspect of Jason / Robin - but ... eh.  Two depressed young people whose promising futures had been fucked up all to hell did not make for enjoyable viewing. (Of course, Robin ended up having a future after all ... while I would say Jason wasted his life serving Sonny).

 

It didn't help that Brenda was - at the same time - throwing away her youth and sanity on icky Sonny ... the guy that had turned sexual abuse victim Karen into a drug-addicted stripper.  Times were very, very bad for the youth of PC in the 90s!  No young people got to have fun adventures during that decade - it was all DOOM!  (See also: Lucky and Liz's tragic teenhood). 

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I've heard about the Casey the alien story but I still don't understand how it worked. Did people really think he was an alien? Was he really an alien?

 

They knew.  You can start watching at

 

Edited by Rick Kitchen
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