Emily and Casey
These two are hot together - we must get over the fact that Emily had an affair with his father and is the mother of his half-brother, Stewart women seem to gravitate towards Hughes men and she is much older than he is. The fact of the matter is because of all that I mentioned is what makes this great drama - they are such an unlikely couple and his mother, Margo will blow a gasket makes this the story to watch. The characters of Emily and Casey both needed a recharge: she has been mourning Dusty and no one wanted to see her back with Paul; Casey was involved in that Noah and Ameera marriage sham which did not work out. It was time to move these two off in another direction and I couldn't be happier.

The actors have such great chemistry - we are seeing a more mature Casey, now that we have gotten used to this actor in the role and Kelley Hensley has chemistry with every man she has been involved with. I am looking forward to see if they can stay away from each other after New York. The fireworks in Oakdale when the truth comes out will cause all sorts of fantastic performances - I will watch this story closely as this is the type of story makes daytime dramas worth watching.

Lily and Carly Scheme Again
Lily should have learned her lesson from the times she helped Carly or is this because we have a new Lily - this has been forgotten. Lily had major problems because of her helping Carly with her schemes and keeping secrets from Holden; why come home and do it again? Before she left she told Holden how much she wanted to change and be the wife he wanted then she comes home and sets him up. I certainly hope that because there is a new actress playing Lily that the writers are not writing the character of Lily differently - forgetting about her past mistakes and making her a schemer.

It does seem like a different relationship between Lily and Holden though Holden was quicker to forgive Carly for her part in the scheme. Could Holden be seeing Carly in a different light and their friendship is important to him? I like Holden with Carly - he is less guarded, smiles more and is having fun. The same with Carly -she was torn about helping Lily because her friendship with Holden is moving along nicely. Carly made a comment to Holden about not liking that look of disappointment people get with her. I have to admit that she was really put in the middle this time - how could she say no to Lily after all Lily has done for her? She did not want to scheme behind Holden's back because of their friendship - hey, I felt her pain.

I have made no secret of the fact that Carly is one of my favorite characters in Oakdale and even when she does wrong I am on her side - except when she found out she was not dying and lied about it for weeks; other than that, her character keeps things moving no matter what the story is. I want to see what happens here with Holden and Carly and how Jack and Lily deal with this blossoming friendship.

Juicy Janet
One of the problems with the writers of this show is that they try to force new characters down out throats - Janet and Liberty are too much, too soon. We don't know these characters yet and Janet is a little too overpowering. I like Julie Pinson as an actress but Janet is not winning me over: she is loud, pushy and just too much.

I think it's more about how this story is being told: Brad has accepted being a father in record time, he never really fought this. Liberty started calling him Dad on possibly her second day in Oakdale. Liberty has not won me over either with her cavalier attitude about school and boys - what kind of upbringing did Janet provide her? The major part of this is that we have not been given any real background information about these two before they are given major screen time to make up for all the recent departures.

The viewers need to get to know characters better before they are thrown front and center expecting us to like them - remember Sofie and Cole. Please let me know what you think about Janet and Liberty.

Sofie
What is going on with her? Her character is still so undefined: first she was obsessed with her baby and keeping it and now she is obsessed with Paul who is obsessed with Meg. This story is not a good idea. Where is this going? Paul is obviously still very much in love with Meg and is using Sofie. Sofie appears to be a bit unstable and a loose cannon. I don't know what this young woman may do.

Let's look at how many men she has been involved with since she has been in Oakdale: She came to town with her loser boyfriend, Cole; immediately latched on to Snyder rescuer, Aaron then briefly got involved with the guy who is not sure who he wants, Chris Hughes.

She also all of a sudden gets chummy with Barbara, who is going to help her start her own jewelry business. She had better be careful that she does not cross Barbara by getting more involved with Paul. She has not seen trouble until she locks horns with Barbara Ryan.

Rating the Recent Recasts
Since we have been thrown a number of recasts lately, I wanted to take part of this column to say what I think of them:

Casey - an excellent recast, Billy Magnusson has done a great job making Casey his own while keeping the core of who Casey is. Casey has grown up a bit since his stint in prison; he has a good rapport with all of the characters in his storyline and does not look out of place.

Mike Kasnoff - I was hoping that Mike would come back and be like the previous actors: Shawn Christian and Mark Collier - good recasting this time as well with Jon Prescott. Mike could have stopped Katie's wedding with Brad and it would have been fine to see Katie with Mike again for the short term.

Lily Snyder - so far so good; I like Noelle Beck as an actress and in time, I believe we will see her as Lily. She has chemistry with Jon Hensley and is doing well with Elizabeth Hubbard. The true test is going to be once Lucinda calls Lily - "Pussycat" - at that point we will know this is Lily.

Here are some comments from some readers:

Rae said, "Where's Faith...She did an awesome job with the mature eating disorder/body image and I really thought that Parker/Faith could develop a good storyline around school. Faith is mature and needs to be grouped with the older kids; like Parker/Liberty. She doesn't need to be the oldest teen at "the kiddy table" She is years beyond Sage/Natalie. Please, please let her grow back up, like when Jade was around. I have loved ATWT since 1974."

Tina said, "I am so diggin' Holden and Carly hooking up. Don't get me wrong (I will miss Carly calling Jack "G-Man"). Carly and Jack were it for a long time, but there time has run out. Why not Carly and Holden? I've just about giving up on Paul and Meg. If you ask me Meg plays to many games. Either you want Paul flaws and all or you don't. I'm not to sure how I feel about Casey and Emily."

Sharon said, "Did I miss something - didn't Brad buy Katie a new house? Why are they in a hotel?"

Finally, has it happened again - a third Dallas is gone? Bonnie and Dallas have disappeared since the writers returned to work. I always find it amazing that characters like Sofie, Janet and Liberty can show up in town and take center stage and never a story for Bonnie or Dallas. Why?

That's all I have for now.
Reggie Jackson