How predictable can this show continue to be? It is starting to get harder and harder to watch the writers and producers drive this show into the ground with bad story choices. The best part is that the actors make whatever is put on the page work for them and keeps me watching. How long will it be before there is a change as quite a few people are talking about how bad things are with ATWT?

Who is Riley?
Let go the predictable route here: Riley is really Adam with plastic surgery as Adam actually took over the real Riley's life in order to get everyone at home to like him before revealing the truth. It appears that Riley is hiding something as he does not want to be seen by the members of the military and does not want to be seen on film. So it's obvious that something is not on the up and up.

If there is anything good about Riley coming to town is that we get to see more of Tom and Margo then I will take that. However, Margo is police detectives so where are her instincts right now or are her maternal instincts and grief keeping her from questioning this guy who is too good to be true appearing out of nowhere.

What is also quite interesting in this story is how Casey is experiencing some sibling rivalry for a guy who is not even his brother. This story has good moments as I mentioned earlier, it is the acting that makes the stories worth tuning in for.

Rosanna and the Money
I had a hard time with the implausible explanation about how she lost all of her money. I had forgotten that Craig had stolen a large amount of her money. So was it fair for Paul to take it upon himself and move the money back to her? The people in this town are such criminals and never ever spend a day in jail for anything.

Just as an aside, in my day job I am in banking and if someone had as much money as Craig had, he would not leave that amount of money in one account for someone can get to it and transfer funds to another person without assistance from a banking professional. One more thing, how did he know Craig's password to his online banking accounts? I guess I need to realize this is television and so this was done to move story along; it does gives viewers the impression that this is easy to do in real life and it is not that simple.

So now that Rosanna has returned to Oakdale and has her some of her money, will she now revert to the business woman that she was before she left? She is also spending a lot of time with Paul and Craig is now on her trail because of the stolen money - this will be interesting and hopefully there will be some new developments in their saga.

Emily Wants a Baby
All of a sudden, she has been this woman so embroiled in business then all of a sudden she wants to have a baby. Wait a minute; didn't we just see this with Katie? Where is the new stories for these woman in Oakdale, do they just get bored and all of a sudden want a baby?

I would like to see Emily have a story where she actually finds a man other than the ones she has already been with, falls in love and has a baby with him. It could an interesting story but the man has to have a strong personality in order to handle Emily with sort of a bad boy attitude to keep her interested. I don't want to see another woman in Oakdale go through this process of wanting to become a mother - it's been done to death in this town and it's time to give us something more interesting for these women. It says that the only thing these women can do is procreate and that's the only story the writers can come up with.

Dusty and Bonnie
We never got a chance to watch the relationship with Bonnie and Derek before they throw her with Dusty; once I saw them together looking for Eliza, it was pretty obvious where this was going. Well, Dusty will be with someone different than Meg or Lily or Emily. This has potential but how long will it be before Meg has a crisis and Dusty runs to help her? Bonnie is a bit different than the other woman he has been with as she is not that damsel in distress type he is normally drawn to.

Here are some recent comments from readers:

Monique said, ""Where's Derek?"! These writers don't know how to write for black characters. They put Derek with Bonnie, tentatively at least, make him Jade's father, and now he's disappeared. Not to mention: WHERE'S DALLAS?"

Kathie said, "Yes, why get rid of Lucy now?? Sarah Glendenning was a great addition to the cast and in the growth of Lucy. Why not allow her to continue with her present stories AND add another layer with her family - especially Lucinda. They just started with that - and then let her leave town...I know how you feel about the baby story with Katie/Brad/Henry/Vienna. But all four of them were superb in the aftermath of Vienna's miscarriage. Yes, do we have to kill off another baby? And after it was so fun to watch Henry and Vienna grow and bond over it. But the result of the miscarriage, and Henry's confrontation with Katie . . . nothing better!! He nailed her perfectly and she had nothing to do but to agree with him. Yes, it's always been about Katie for Henry. He's put himself - and now Vienna does it too - in the backseat so that Katie is happy; and now - what has it gotten them?? All of us who have ever done that with friends or family were saying, "Good for you!" when he told off Katie. Wonderfully done! .I see the writers working hard on some stories and just going through the motions in others. And after GL was cancelled - and both being P&G shows - that's shameful!!"

Finally, I know my columns have been more rants than raves lately and I am trying to find the good; however, when I watch shows like OLTL or Y&R to see that the storytelling is captivating and real. It saddens me that no one is working to make Oakdale better. I don't want to see the folks in Oakdale become a memory like the residents of Bay City, Monticello, Santa Barbara or Harmony.

That's all I have for now.
Reggie Jackson