I was watching the show this week not wanting Jennifer to be so sick. This shows that next week is going to be a very emotional one, no matter what happens. There is so much going on with the women in Oakdale like Katie, Maddie and comatose Lily.

Jennifer
Poor Jennifer, her son gets better then she becomes terminally ill - what a terrible thing to happen. This girl cannot have hardly a moment of happiness; I can't forget that this is not real life but its reel life in Oakdale. The other thought throughout watching was - are they actually going to let a main character like Jennifer Munson die? I know the actress playing Jennifer (Jennifer Ferrin) is leaving the show but like everyone else I need to wait and watch how this all unfolds.

This has not happened for a long time in Oakdale but it was great to see family gathered together when there is a crisis. There is always someone missing - not this time, there was Barbara, Kim, Hal, Will, Paul, Bob and Dusty all there for Jen. This is the kind of things that just makes the story seem so much more real as the family talks to each other about their feelings.

As always, Dusty is trying to save the day by finding a specialist or something but it may be too late. This thought crossed my mind: is this going to be like the story on Bold and the Beautiful where Stephanie Forrester whisked her daughter away and everyone though she was dead - who is going to whisk Jennifer away, maybe Paul or Barbara or Dusty? Then when Jennifer is cured a new actress will be playing Jennifer. I am having a hard time believing that they would kill off a major character from a core family like Jennifer Munson when there is so much more story for this character.

Katie/Mike/Simon
Katie can really get herself into some real scrapes. She does have feelings for Simon and it was apparent when she watched him playing his guitar. I like Katie with Mike and I liked Katie with Simon in the beginning and now Simon is more like he was when they first got together so it makes this more interesting. Katie is such an unpredictable lady when it comes to her men because her mouth says one thing but her eyes seem to be saying something totally different.

Now she has fallen overboard and Simon is the one to save her and Mike is locked away with Simon's lady. This story is somewhat interesting because of the characters of Mike, Katie and Simon however this show can drag things out too long when characters are away from Oakdale adventures. I just hope this gets wrapped up and they come back to Oakdale.

Maddie
It is obvious that something bad happened to Maddie like some type of sexual assault but what does Dallas Griffin have to do with it? Was he the young officer that helped her and that's why seeing him has made her remember this? She has not really showed any signs that something bad had happened in her past but again nothing much has ever been said about her past life. It was only a few weeks ago when Casey pulled back from her sexually and none of this came up then. It is going to be interesting to see what this is all about. Casey was so sad when he went to see Gwen - he really does care a lot about Maddie.

Comatose Lily
Memorial Hospital has a lot happening right now with Lily as a patient and Jennifer being so ill. It's amazing how this comatose woman is driving a major story and she is just lying in her hospital bed. I do not like what Damian is doing since he has returned to Oakdale. He is continually lying and manipulating everything. He is using the fact that Lily is unable to tell anyone the truth about his plans for Luke to keep Luke as close as possible.

I am so glad that Holden is not giving up and checking into all of this; he is on the right trail and needs to continue snooping. He has Jack to assist him but he might find more on his own that with Jack's help - the Oakdale PD does not solve a lot of cases. I certainly hope that Luke and Holden get a chance to talk to work out their differences soon.

Some readers had a few thoughts:

Erik says, "Now that Emily has gone through with the stem cells procedure, is this the end of her weekly threats to terminate her pregnancy? Her pregnancy is dragging down Paul and Meg, one of the best couples this show has had in a while. More cow milking, less fretting over Emily."

Norma has an interesting take on the cruise as she says, "How does a cruise ship get from Oakdale to the high seas? Or are Mike and Katie taking a cruise through the Great Lakes?"

Lori said, "I know that most viewers are rooting for Jack and Carly to reconcile--But frankly I'd have a little more respect for the character of Jack if they didn't. After all the Carly character has done, the laws she's broken--the fact that he's supposed to be a super cop, it strains the bounds of credibility that they could patch up that relationship."

Finally, Jade is still trying to make viewers like her and it is not working for me. She has no place in Oakdale. The writers need to let us know her real purpose in Oakdale because right now, she is piece of furniture that can be thrown out.

That's all I have for now.
Reggie Jackson