All Episodes Talk

[Handywood38]

I'm glad it wasn't any of those people. Well, Markko or Dorian might have been interesting, but if it had been anyone else, it would have just sucked. The real travesty is that Bennett Thompson (aka Eli) didn't go all in and kill Ford. Or Rex. Why do things halfway, huh?

Also, I still think Eli should have been the one to greet Ford in hell. Or he could have tortured Cole. It would have been interesting to see Cole be greeted by Luna and then tortured by Eli. Or Eli could have came back from the dead and wreaked havoc on Llanview. That would have been better than most of the stories we got in the last year. 

And Bennett Thompson was such a stupid name. They could have at least named him "David Stenbeck" as an in-joke to "As the World Turns". 

I wished they didn't make Hannah go crazy but I guess they had to oust her since Brandon Buddy had to go.

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by Handywood38

[jsbt]

If OLTL were around today (sorry, here we go again), I'd at the very least get both Tika and Renee to pop up as guests for a special anniversary event or something. You can just toss it off in a line of dialogue and say that Aunt Viv faked Van coding because of her controlling ways re: Cristian. And David Fumero can appear with Tika because of course Cris and Layla got back together.

Despite my many issues with how saintly Evangeline became, REG was always very talented and always very ill-served by the writing. Let her come back for a brief appearance with an edge and mix it up for an episode or two now that she's out of that years-long coma. Normally I'd say why bother but it doesn't feel right in the culture and world we live in now to leave her character dead as the victim of an online white supremacist movement. The One Pure People storyline was very poorly done and seemed OTT at the time, but it was also very sadly prescient of today - it could be explored again so well now.

Bennett Thompson! That was his secret name. God, so stupid.

Edited January 8, 2023 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

Additionally, it was also obvious in mid-2010 that the original plan was for that Reed guy who followed Kelly from London to be the one who killed Melinda, but when that was a flatline...

Edited January 8, 2023 by TeeVee329

[TeeVee329]

15 (!) years ago yesterday, Scott Evans made his first appearance as Oliver Fish: 

 

[peachmangosteen]

Memories!

[Handywood38]

12 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

15 (!) years ago yesterday, Scott Evans made his first appearance as Oliver Fish: 

 

I miss those days. For some reason, I thought his first day was in February 2009 when he slept with Stacy. SO glad I was wrong about that!

OLTL and As the World Turns were always my favorite soaps. I'm grateful for all the memories on Youtube. 

[Melgaypet]

15 years! That's wild. We're all so old now.

Speaking of Fish, did I ever mention the casting job in my head for Sierra Rose? It was Mia Talerico from Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie.  She was so expressive for a little girl! You've probably seen her in this gif:

 

[Pearson80]

I have been missing the show and I watched some clips and I absolutely love Max and Megan together.  I also loved Max with Gabrielle  Blair and even Tina. I could never get with Max and Luna. Not only was she annoying af she brought Max down in my humble opinion..  I always felt her presence on the show was forced and it just turned me off.. 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Pearson80

[Melgaypet]

11 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

I have been missing the show and I watched some clips and I absolutely love Max and Megan together.  I also loved Max with Gabrielle  Blair and even Tina. I could never get with Max and Luna. Not only was she annoying af she brought Max down in my humble opinion..  I always felt her presence on the show was forced and it just turned me off.. 

 

You just became @UYI's best friend!

Max got around. I didn't like he and Luna, either. First, I found Luna to be teeth-grindingly irritating pretty much all the time. And the two of them had a habit of bringing out the smugness in each other. Smug Max was not a likable Max.

I didn't like Blair and Max, either. To be fair, I missed most of their original pairing, with Mia Korf's Blair, so my first real exposure was the Atlantic City/gambling affair and that was in no way designed to make anyone root for the two of them. Then, later, Max always treated Blair like she was utterly beneath him, even when they were married. I swear, even during some of the darkest Blair/Todd times, when Todd was being absolutely awful, some part of me would be thinking, "at least he's not Max."

I've only seen Max/Megan and Max/Gabrielle on YouTube, really, but I've enjoyed what I have seen. Like when Gabrielle was on trial for baby-switching and was constantly on the verge of hysterics (and it's honestly a little exhausting) and Max couldn't/wouldn't stay away and Megan was getting more and more fed up. It was all very soapy.

[UYI]

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

You just became @UYI's best friend!

 

You got that right! :)

James DePaiva was a chemistry magnet--a blessing AND a curse, to be sure. :)

But as always, I'll just say no to the Enchanted Hillbilly. ;) 

[UYI]

5 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

 

I didn't like Blair and Max, either. To be fair, I missed most of their original pairing, with Mia Korf's Blair, so my first real exposure was the Atlantic City/gambling affair and that was in no way designed to make anyone root for the two of them. Then, later, Max always treated Blair like she was utterly beneath him, even when they were married. I swear, even during some of the darkest Blair/Todd times, when Todd was being absolutely awful, some part of me would be thinking, "at least he's not Max."

 

It's so interesting to see the difference between Max & Blair and Max & Gabrielle--because, hypothetically speaking, they should have been very similar--two anti-heroes/gray hats paired together. Except that Max & Gabrielle clearly respected each other/saw each other as equals and Max & Blair...um...didn't have that quality at all. 

Side note: It's always shocked me that Michael Malone originally envisioned Max & Blair as a true love couple, and saw them as getting back together for good after Luna's death (and at the expense of Todd & Blair, of course), because he really did lean on making Max & Luna the GREATEST LOVE OF ALL OMG and often made it seem like Luna could make rainbows shoot out of her ass or something so...I've always been intrigued by that, to put it mildly. 

Edited January 18, 2023 by UYI

[Melgaypet]

1 hour ago, UYI said:

Side note: It's always shocked me that Michael Malone originally envisioned Max & Blair as a true love couple, and saw them as getting back together for good after Luna's death (and at the expense of Todd & Blair, of course), because he really did lean on making Max & Luna the GREATEST LOVE OF ALL OMG and often made it seem like Luna could make rainbows shoot out of her ass or something so...I've always been intrigued by that, to put it mildly.

I do wonder when Malone decided to kill Luna off. Was she always intended to die tragically? That would be quite the long game. Because, as you say, he put a lot of effort into building her as a character and into building her romance with Max. I didn't like them, as I've said (repeatedly 😉), but I can't really say they were poorly written or done in slapdash fashion.

[UYI]

2 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

I do wonder when Malone decided to kill Luna off. Was she always intended to die tragically? That would be quite the long game. Because, as you say, he put a lot of effort into building her as a character and into building her romance with Max. I didn't like them, as I've said (repeatedly 😉), but I can't really say they were poorly written or done in slapdash fashion.

I know that he saw Blair as Scarlett O'Hara and Luna as Melanie Hamilton (yeah, I know--but Gone with the Wind WAS his favorite movie), but when Susan Batten wanted to leave the show, he apparently debated in having Luna leaving town and divorcing Max, with them ultimately deciding they were too different to stay together--my only guess is, after all the time they spent getting back together after he cheated on her with Blair/having the twins, Malone must have decided it made much more sense to just kill her off. 

[NatsumeRika]

On 12/9/2022 at 2:39 PM, NatsumeRika said:

Hello there!  I've been trying to find any record of Jesse Corti's character Julio who would have been seen in the old 1991 episodes.  There doesn't seem to be any information on who is character was, how many episodes he was in, or anything at all, really.  Would anyone happen to know?  Thank you so much!

I suppose that's a "no" on anyone having any information on this?  Anything would be appreciated!

[Melgaypet]

17 hours ago, NatsumeRika said:

I suppose that's a "no" on anyone having any information on this?  Anything would be appreciated!

Sorry, no clue who that character was.

Anyway, today I've actually been youtubing a few eps in the era we've been talking about - specifically I'm in September 95, so Luna is recently dead and Guns in Angel Square is the biggest story going. My biggest takeaway? How dark the show is. Not in terms of tone, but literally. As in, was the lighting budget slashed in half in order to pay for all these random Angel Square characters? I can barely see anyone. Even the hospital scenes (Antonio's just been shot or maybe stabbed) are dim. Maybe it's the quality of the video, but it's noticeable.

Most random detail: Andrew is frequently wearing Yale shirts. Oh, Reverend Carpenter, I didn't think you were the type to constantly advertise your Ivy League education.

[jsbt]

Yeah, they were big on the atmosphere and mist in those days. GH too.

[Melgaypet]

I'm still re-watching old OLTL. I'm up to New Year's Eve 95.

Blair's pregnant with Starr and grieving Todd's "death" in Ireland. She's just declared revenge on Marty, who just got engaged to that dullard Dylan. Patrick is running around Llanview, avoiding a murderous Inspector Bass. I have zero patience for Patrick and Marty and their nonsense, though I remember being pretty into it at the time. I think, like many 13-14 year old girls at the time, I thought everything Irish was automatically romantic. Blair is just radiating pain. KdP is killing it, it's honestly kind of hard to watch, it's so raw.

Dorian and Joey just had a bittersweet final goodbye. Kelly is warning other girls off Joey by claiming he's some kind of lothario. (ETA: the other girl is Amanda Peet!) Oh, Viki's remembered killing her father, so Dorian is vindicated. She got arrested (again) b/c Irene Manning's diary was found in Todd's briefcase, which was brought back to Llanview by Patrick and Irene's forged confession was proven to be a forgery. Hank had just literally wrongly convicted Andy Harrison of being a dirty cop, you'd think he wouldn't be so quick to overreach again. Sheila is mostly there to complain that Hank works too much.

RJ is flirtatiously blackmailing Alex (who is married to Asa and just got elected mayor) for Carlo's old contacts so he can expand his criminal business, while right under his nose, his sleazy flunky Javier is sleeping with and supplying Rachel with cocaine. Rachel is living with RJ and doing the books for his club, so I assume the place must be legit and not a front. RJ's also sleeping with his bartender, whose name I haven't caught, so that's nice for him.

Bo and Nora are involved in various law and order stuff, while also being adorably in love and hot for each other. Max is pissed at Maggie Carpenter about Frankie's deafness. The show really wanted to make Maggie happen, she's constantly talking to Andrew, she's helping out on-the-run-Patrick, she's going on platonic dates with Cord and driving Tina crazy, and she's arguing with Max.

Speaking of Cord and Tina, they're friendly but not together, she's running around trying to be "head of the family" while Viki is unwell (she's in therapy with Suzanne Hanen) AND get her hands on all of Todd's money, including The Sun. I don't have much patience for her antics, either. Also, Krista Tesreau's hair drives me nuts. It looks mullet-y. Cord has a goatee and seems to spend most of his time at Rodi's, although Asa has offered him a job running BE, so I think he's being written out soon.

What else? Andy and Antonio are hot for each other. Antonio has a job at the diner, with vague plans to buy it back for his mother, Carlotta still works for Dorian. He's also hilariously-in-retrospect on teenage Cristian's ass about dating rich, white Jessica. Clint is mostly emotional support for Viki and flirting with Carlotta. Kevin is still in London being recast. Cassie works for The Banner, and Andrew gets a little cranky about her long hours. Laura Bonarrigo is gorgeous, and just like her onscreen cousin KdP, looks about 20 years old in some shots.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Melgaypet

[Melgaypet]

Marty. MARTY. When a woman in premature labor is screaming for you to get out of her hospital room, you GET OUT!

I'm sorry, I know this trip down OLTL memory lane is probably boring/annoying everyone, but damn. Marty is infuriating. Larry (Larry! ❤️) had to all but drag her out, while she whined "I just wanted to help." Bitch, you help by leaving and not distressing the pregnant lady any further!

That said, the confrontation leading up to that was stellar. I think Susan Haskell might have been at her best when Marty was raging at someone.

[TeeVee329]

4 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

I think Susan Haskell might have been at her best when Marty was raging at someone.

I think that's why I enjoyed Marty and Natalie's feud in late 2010/early 2011, even if I hated most of the basis for it (I actually thought it was all about John freakin' McBain, but then remembered Natalie found the evidence that proved Cole, not Marty, killed Eli and got him sent to prison).

[jsbt]

I never liked the Marty/Natalie feud much and never will. They were the same OLTL archetype from different generations, one that goes all the way back to Karen Wolek. And over John of all people.

IIRC Cord hangs in there til '97. They finally dump Krista before him, I think but don't quote me. They should've just written Tina out with Karen Witter and Christopher Cousins's exits; IIRC Cain and Tina marry and leave in a big splashy affair in '94 and then KT shows up literally just a few months later like "Cain conned me!"

I loved a rare sober Crystal Chappell on OLTL as a kid. But I also haven't seen most of that material since it first aired. I watched one ep from pretty late '95 or early '96 recently, not long before Malone was fired, and Maggie and Max were already getting pretty heated for each other. I liked the actors together but looking at it now and remembering that Luna, the great/latest love of Max's life was supposed to have died maybe six months before tops, I was like 'eeesh.'

[Melgaypet]

7 hours ago, jsbt said:

I loved a rare sober Crystal Chappell on OLTL as a kid. But I also haven't seen most of that material since it first aired. I watched one ep from pretty late '95 or early '96 recently, not long before Malone was fired, and Maggie and Max were already getting pretty heated for each other. I liked the actors together but looking at it now and remembering that Luna, the great/latest love of Max's life was supposed to have died maybe six months before tops, I was like 'eeesh.'

I mostly remembered Maggie for the clown school thing, so watching this stuff is kind of interesting. But she's being pushed way too hard. Probably the most organic is her struggle to forgive her father. Chappell plays it well, and yet, this lady just showed up and I'm supposed to be invested in her relationship with her never-seen (at this point, I do think he eventually shows up during the Armitage stuff) Bad Dad? Please, I do not know these people.

And her hair! The nineties hair is delightfully horrifying. Blair's new bob looks great, though. And Nora's hair is good, too.

I remember when some people on TWoP thought Jess/Brody was too quick. They talked a lot about soaps being slower-paced in the past. That's very true in a plot sense - these shows give a lot of time to characters hanging around just talking to one another, which I love, but I'm not sure it's true in a relationship sense. I remember last year I was watching some old Bo/Nora stuff and was quite surprised at how quick they happened. Sarah Gordon died on Thanksgiving and Bo and Nora were kissing on New Year's Eve

[jsbt]

5 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

I remember when some people on TWoP thought Jess/Brody was too quick. They talked a lot about soaps being slower-paced in the past. That's very true in a plot sense - these shows give a lot of time to characters hanging around just talking to one another, which I love, but I'm not sure it's true in a relationship sense. I remember last year I was watching some old Bo/Nora stuff and was quite surprised at how quick they happened. Sarah Gordon died on Thanksgiving and Bo and Nora were kissing on New Year's Eve

They were, but I don't think it was instant romance even then. IIRC Bo was either drunk, out of his head or both. (They did have an absolutely fantastic first meeting scene in September or October of '92, BTW) IIRC it took awhile to fully get going. I don't think Jess and Brody were too quick. I think a lot of the time the pacing complaint is more a matter of perception, when it's about the quality of the material. Bo and Nora moved fast, but felt cautious and was written in-depth.

What's also notable about Bo, Nora and Sarah is that I think (though I may be wrong) that Sarah also spent most of the summer and fall of '92 totally offscreen after debuting and being pushed heavily in the winter and spring of '91/'92, because Linda Gottlieb and the actress (Grace Phillips) fell out and they were preparing to can her. I think Sarah and Grace literally only returned from being 'out of town' for Thanksgiving (with Phillips having already colored her hair red) just to die that very same night. She was onscreen maybe an episode or two tops before being killed.

Edited January 25, 2023 by jsbt

[Melgaypet]

22 hours ago, jsbt said:

I think a lot of the time the pacing complaint is more a matter of perception, when it's about the quality of the material. Bo and Nora moved fast, but felt cautious and was written in-depth.

Oh, I agree. Sarah wasn't forgotten, Bo grieved very deeply. Locking himself in with her casket at the funeral home, and very nearly jumping off the roof (!) of The Banner. Even after the New Year's kiss, he and Nora weren't together together and their big bonding thing was searching for the hit-and-run driver who killed Sarah.

Jess and Brody weren't too fast for me. Natalie and John, post-Jared, was. Of course, I'm biased because I hated John and John and Natalie together, but it felt like she was being pushed back in his arms before Jared was even buried.

Anyway, my journey through 96 OLTL continues! The Poseidon stuff is stuuuupid. I know who Poseidon is, of course, and I'm looking forward to that, but all this lead up is clunky and dumb. And Asa calling himself "Neptune" makes me want to crawl under a table in secondhand embarrassment for him and I can't explain why.

[jsbt]

I vividly remember being hooked on the whole "Poseidon" mystery and when they unveiled him I watched live but had no idea who Carlo was. I had come in right around the time they first wrote Thom Christopher out as Mortimer and I didn't recall him at all. I had seen him in a few other things - Loving and one of his many hilarious appearances on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (where he's continued to recur well into its recent seasons). But he was instantly magnetic as Carlo and I caught on pretty quick.

[TeeVee329]

On 1/25/2023 at 4:52 AM, jsbt said:

I never liked the Marty/Natalie feud much and never will. They were the same OLTL archetype from different generations, one that goes all the way back to Karen Wolek. And over John of all people.

Oh goodness, yes, the over John part is inexcusable. 

But it did result in Natalie threatening Marty with Asa's shotgun while pregnant, in a wedding dress, and wearing cowboy boots so there was some sugar mixed into all the salt.

 

On 1/26/2023 at 3:55 PM, Melgaypet said:

Natalie and John, post-Jared, was. Of course, I'm biased because I hated John and John and Natalie together, but it felt like she was being pushed back in his arms before Jared was even buried.

The fact that Melissa Archer played Natalie's grief over Jared so devestatingly well made it even more ridiculous when, bloop, the switch flipped and she was in wuv with John again.

[Guest]

Didn't they also telegraph the first John/Natalie go-round, when he was brought in to investigate the "death" of Christian, shortly after Natalie had married him, and it wasn't long before sparks were flying? That was early in my watching days so I might have the timing wrong, but there seems to be a pattern here.

[TeeVee329]

They did bring in John before Cris "died" - I believe they were helping him with an FBI assignment or something and that's what got Cris "killed"?

[Melgaypet]

Yes, John came in as a FBI agent working undercover in Walker "Flynn" Laurence's criminal organization. Natalie had just revealed her talents as a pool shark and John showed up in the weeks before Cris and Natalie's wedding and tried to enlist Natalie to throw a big pool tournament that was going to happen on their honeymoon. Yes, there were sparks between them. (It didn't help that David Fumero, on his way out, was barely putting in any effort.) This would help him nail Flynn somehow, the details escape me. Anyway, things went sideways, John's cover was blown, Flynn tried to kidnap Natalie, Cristian traded himself for her and was presumed dead. John was fired from the FBI, so Bo hired him. Natalie blamed John for a while, but was able to forgive/decide it wasn't really his fault.

Full disclosure, I liked John back then. He wasn't written to be an emotionally stunted asshole who stood around bored as women made fools of themselves fighting for his dubious affection. He was reserved and brooding, but it was fresh then. He and Natalie formed a genuine friendship, bonding mostly over their mutual Atlantic City background. Then there was the Music Box Killer case. That story is rightly despised for the manner of Gabrielle's death, but it was actually quite well-written in the beginning. Bo and John were shown actually investigating and putting together clues, John wasn't Supercop who was always right just because.

Things didn't start to go wrong until Caitlyn's sister Whatserface showed up and John started sticking his tongue down her throat while simultaneously pushing Natalie away and interfering with her (admittedly also annoying) relationship with slimy Paul Cramer. Whatserface was a FBI agent and came to town wanting to take down Paul for...trafficking black market organs? Something? Or the Santis? And maybe she was also corrupt? And possibly got killed? I don't remember much about her, except she was played by an actress who could not convincingly portray a human being.

[Guest]

Ok, yes, that does refresh my memory. And now I also recall that I was describing Christian as "Natalie's robot husband" at the time, so I guess I probably wasn't too upset when he died (for awhile) and Natalie ended up with John.

Jared, however. Grr.

[TeeVee329]

55 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

Full disclosure, I liked John back then.

I wasn't really watching when he first came on, but I was kinda over Michael Easton already at that juncture in time because he/Caleb (and Livvie and Rafe and Alison) had eaten "Port Charles" alive.

So where in the timeline is the whole thing with Cris coming back from the dead where we weren't sure if it was really him or a doppleganger?

[jsbt]

John knew it was the real Cristian when he went to Death Row. Cris told him not to tell. John obliged and began fucking his wife.

[Melgaypet]

27 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

I wasn't really watching when he first came on, but I was kinda over Michael Easton already at that juncture in time because he/Caleb (and Livvie and Rafe and Alison) had eaten "Port Charles" alive.

So where in the timeline is the whole thing with Cris coming back from the dead where we weren't sure if it was really him or a doppleganger?

Original John McBain was quite a departure from Caleb, that was part of his appeal.

As for Cristian, hmm. He died in 2003 and came back as the "imposter" during the Santi story, which must have been...late 2004? John was with Evangeline at that point, though the McBain Triangle we all know and loathe was in full effect, so he had Natalie on his string. Cris was "revealed" to be Not!Cris, then was tried, convicted, and sentenced of Tico's murder in one day and right before being shipped off to Statesville for a life sentence he didn't deserve, told John he was really Cris and asked John to let everyone, especially Natalie, continue to believe that he was dead. John, because he was a sociopath who was a disgrace to his badge, agreed. The McBain Triangle continued apace and John broke up Evangeline and got with Natalie, just in time for Cristian to return in that interminable prison riot during November sweeps in 2005.

 Evangeline became Cristian's lawyer in order to get him released. This was in now way motivated by a desire to break up John and Natalie, no, she was motivated purely by JUSTICE!

Edited January 28, 2023 by Melgaypet

[TeeVee329]

And then that was the forever end of Nat and Cris, right?  She couldn't forgive Cris for the deception, they divorced, and they never saw each other naked again.

[Melgaypet]

Yep. I mean, they made a feint at a McBain/Nat/Cris triangle afterwards, but the writing was on the wall. Cris moved on with Evangeline. Cris and Natalie eventually became friends again, though I couldn't pinpoint exactly when that happened.

ETA: I had no idea we'd be talking Crisalie when I changed my avatar today! Am I psychic and don't know it?

Edited January 28, 2023 by Melgaypet

[TeeVee329]

The only interactions I really remember were during the Teen!Jess mess because Teen!Jess would lose her mind whenever they were in the same space.  It's just so weird to me that they never went back there, given what a deal (rightly) Cris and Nat were in their heyday.

So Cris goes to Vange and then Natalie's cousin and then Vange's sister.  Oh Cris, you slut!

[Melgaypet]

11 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Oh Cris, you slut!

Ahem, serial monogamist!

(Also, between Sarah and Layla there was Vanessa, Ray Montez' grifter ex-wife, but that was Tea's fault, really.)

[TeeVee329]

I was referring more to his habit of hopping to his ex's relatives, which I guess goes all the way back to Jessica and Nat lol.

Did Cris and Vanessa actually date?  I know they married thanks to Tea and that they slept together at least once, but were they ever an actual couple?

[Melgaypet]

Eh, I don't know that I'd call them a couple. But Cris was quite into banging her and didn't seem to care much when Sarah noped right on out of town.

Yeah, Cris getting with both Buke twins and their cousin/niece, plus both Williamson sisters, was a only-on-soaps kind of thing. 

But I don't think it quite compares to Kelly going through the Buchanan family like hemophilia, though. I remain convinced she would have seduced Matthew eventually.

[nilyank]

On 1/27/2023 at 9:25 PM, Melgaypet said:

As for Cristian, hmm. He died in 2003 and came back as the "imposter" during the Santi story, which must have been...late 2004? John was with Evangeline at that point, though the McBain Triangle we all know and loathe was in full effect, so he had Natalie on his string. Cris was "revealed" to be Not!Cris, then was tried, convicted, and sentenced of Tico's murder in one day and right before being shipped off to Statesville for a life sentence he didn't deserve, told John he was really Cris and asked John to let everyone, especially Natalie, continue to believe that he was dead. John, because he was a sociopath who was a disgrace to his badge, agreed.

I was mostly indifferent to John when he first showed and I knew that he was be paired with somebody mostly likely with a character I liked. But the second that he stood with that dumb blank look on his face where he knew that Cris alive and suffereing extreme PTSD after being kidnapped/brainwashed/forced to hurt all the people he loved, and did nothing but went on to go after Natalie. And it's not like Natalie would have a super happy, satisifying, loving life with that loser who would end up sleeping with half the town and still treating her as if she was less than him.

John kept his mouth shut because it was convenient for him and unlike Cris, he wasn't suffering from PTSD or kidnapped or brainwashed or forced to hurt all the people he loved.

I remember when Antonio and Carlotta reading Cris for filth because they believed that he was an evil murderous imposter that tried to kill Antonio and given them false hope that their beloved Cristian had returned after his presumed death and that he will be punished and locked up for the rest of his life. And that he totally deserved it.

God, I hate McBain so damned much. If only a chandelier had gotten him as well.

 

 

[TeeVee329]

I can't even remember - were people mad at John when they found out he knew?

[jsbt]

Not mad enough.

[Melgaypet]

1 hour ago, jsbt said:

Not mad enough.

I don't remember Antonio and John having so much as a conversation about it. I mean, set aside the Natalie factor for a moment, how did John work alongside Antonio as his partner and friend for a year, knowing his brother wasn't dead but rotting in prison? How did he ever step inside Carlotta's diner without dying of shame? The man was a sociopath.

I think Bo suspended him for five minutes. With great reluctance and fear of how the LPD could possibly manage without John McBain, like every other time he was forced to suspend him.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Melgaypet

[TeeVee329]

Ugh.  I do remember that Natalie was mad, but while that was the forever end of her and Cris, I'm pretty sure the pairing with John kept going for a while still.

[Melgaypet]

More thoughts on 96 OLTL!

Drew has shown up! He's immediately shady, "accidentally" bumping into Cassie at the Atlanta airport. (Sidebar: did y'all remember that Cassie was not there for Starr's premature birth? I did not! She was "in London." I don't buy that Cassie wouldn't have returned for that, so I can only assume that Laura Bonarrigo was on maternity leave or something. Also, I've said it over and over, but LB is a SO beautiful.)

Anyway! Drew introduces himself and mentions Cassie's marriage to Bo, something I still cannot fully believe actually happened. He lets her "convince" him to come to Llanview. Kelly spies them at the Llanview airport and assumes they're having an affair, because Kelly is an idiot. (An often amusing idiot at this point in time, but still.) Cassie strings her along for a minute, because Cassie can be pretty funny.

Other things of note: I was wrong about the Dorian/Joe final goodbye a while back (in my defense, it felt really final! There was even a relationship montage!.) They're still sleeping together, but clearly not gonna last much longer, as he's thinking about Kelly while on vacation with Dorian. Marty is working on the musical code the Irish terrorists blah blah blah Poseidon blah I can't pay attention to this plot. Patrick got a job as stable hand (horse trainer?) at the country club so Blair can start her seduce-Patrick-for-revenge-on-Marty plan, which, sigh. Bo has a beard that really works for him, I'll miss it when it's gone.

Line of the Day: "That marriage is dead before it happens." - Blair, re Marty/Dylan

[jsbt]

I do remember Malone saying he'd intended to do a Drew/Rachel romance in '96, with Drew's mom Becky Lee Abbott slated to return as a racist to throw a wrench in that. This is a prime example of a well-intentioned social issue story that would've been one of Malone's many huge misses in addition to his huge hits, lol. A great deal of vintage Becky Lee is very available for people to see on YT in '70s/'80s OLTL and she was no bigot, let alone a scheming con woman which appears to be what Malone and later Leah Laiman or whoever tried to reinvent her as during Mary Gordon Murray's brief return appearances later that year. She was a levelheaded and kind woman who Asa should've treated right! Also, sorry but Sandra Grant was no more it as Rachel than Mari Morrow. (I'm also glad they didn't get to pull the trigger on Rachel killing Uncle R.J. in a murder mystery, which was also on the books around then.)

On 2/5/2023 at 12:59 PM, Melgaypet said:

Also, I've said it over and over, but LB is a SO beautiful.

It occurred to me in the shower today (look, it's a slow week) that the timeframe would fit for Dorian to have hidden away any potential child of Kevin and Cassie's. Cassie was institutionalized in early '99 for an indeterminate period of time, whisked away by Dorian who believed (rightly) that Kevin had ruined her life. Cassie had a psychotic break before being written out by JFP over LB's later maternity leave; she could've easily been pregnant and blocked it out. I'm not advocating for any such story, mind you (though I still believe Dorian switched the paternity tests on Zane Buchanan as is), but if the show was around today someone might've thought of it.

[TeeVee329]

22 hours ago, jsbt said:

It occurred to me in the shower today (look, it's a slow week) that the timeframe would fit for Dorian to have hidden away any potential child of Kevin and Cassie's.

I'd be into it, at the very least because it would make Kelly unhappy.

[jsbt]

I def don't think those two need a kid, lol. It would've been mildly amusing to see some dark horse person return to ruin their lives as a young adult with nobody on canvas having a clue who it is though.

[Melgaypet]

The Cramers might beat the Buchanans for children showing up out of the blue. Blair, Cassie, Kelly, Adriana, Paul.

I would be into a Dorian-changed-Zane's-paternity-results story. So many Dorian fans were so preoccupied with whether she's "winning" against Viki or being sufficiently worshipped by her family and love interest, and hated any suggestion of her being the villain, which, more power to them, people like what they like, but I admit that always kind of boggled me. My chief worry with Dorian was more whether she was being made toothless. I'm not saying a villain is all she is or should be, but she can be a villain and I love Dorian when she's dangerous.

[jsbt]

I said at the time that story happened that Dorian changed the results on Zane and I've never wavered! It writes itself.

The last really great story Dorian had was probably taking over Buchanan Enterprises, but it was the show that made her toothless by immediately doing nothing with it on-camera and having the entire family walk out on Dorian when she tried to engage them on it in the wake of her victory. As often happened more and more later in his era, Ron Carlivati had a big moment in mind but little in-between or after.

[Melgaypet]

On 2/9/2023 at 12:17 PM, jsbt said:

The last really great story Dorian had was probably taking over Buchanan Enterprises, but it was the show that made her toothless by immediately doing nothing with it on-camera and having the entire family walk out on Dorian when she tried to engage them on it in the wake of her victory.

Yeah, I agree. I suppose the Cramer Women™ being all rah-rah about the rebranded Cramer Enterprises might have been unseemly in the wake of Nash's death? But, really, it could have been fun. Blair demanding Asa's old office. Langston being Dorian's protege (and she also had personal reason to dislike Clint for his machinations with Uncle Ray). Starr, okay, I can see Starr wanting nothing to do with it, business never being her thing and she was close to Jessica (or had been growing up) and Viki. But Cramers vs. Buchanans on an ongoing basis? That could have been gold, especially if at some point members of both families ended up being forced to work together on the board (while plotting against each other, naturally!) But then I grew up watching ELQ shenanigans over on GH, and I always thought it was fun.