Why waste the time we have left on insignificant stories and characters like Liberty as a victim of everything and the custody battle of Eliza with Emma Snyder acting completely out of character? I see a regression in the quality of the writing as certain characters are not who we known them to be in uninteresting plotlines. I think that David Kreizman has left and gone on to his new job writing for the characters in Pine Valley because the writing has slipped again.

Craig and Gabriel
It looks like the most popular story is the reveal that Gabriel is Craig's son. It was a secret that was kept by Lucinda, Lily, and Sierra for years. First of all, who cares? It was something I figured out early on in the story when Gabriel showed up and his immediate animosity with Craig caused it all to fall into place.

It was another part of this story that was bothersome - Craig Montgomery is not a person who allows someone to blackmail him. It weakened his character. Another point in this story that caused me to scratch my head - if Craig has all of his own money, why steal Parker's? I found this story to be so full of holes that it is almost cartoonish.

The good part is that Lily and Lucinda have been brought into the story, however it still is not being told in a way that makes me want to care about Gabriel. Why have Lucinda and Lily lie about this for years?

Liberty
Why is everything all about her these days? She blames herself for everything that is happening in Oakdale. She thinks that her grandfather's death had something to do with her. She thinks that Gabriel being in the hospital had something to do with her. This is not the Liberty and Janet show. For the record, they are not longstanding residents of Oakdale - they just seem to be characters that the writers like so they are being thrust into the limelight.

Last week, we had to follow them to Melrose Park for the funeral of Janet's father, a well-loved man with five people at his funeral. Why did we have to watch this instead of seeing a story about Lisa who we hardly ever see?

Parker is chasing after Liberty when Faith is right there wanting him to notice her. It's time to change the focus to characters we love as opposed to characters the writers love more.

Carly Does it Again
Carly has always been protective of Parker. Carly can also be her own worst enemy by keeping secrets from Jack. Things work best when the truth is right out there; why not go right to Jack and tell the truth as Parker asked her to do? Now the longer she waits, the worse it is going to be for her and for Parker. I think I saw this story done before.

The Custody Battle
The custody battle for Eliza is pointless: Meg has been in a psychiatric facility to deal with her problems. Paul has no problems letting her see their daughter whenever she wants, so why sue for custody? Well, some woman we thought was Emma Snyder has taken her over (Is this Genoa City?) and became a raging force by interfering and starting a custody battle.

I watched Emma argue with Holden, which she hardly ever does. She speaks out in court against Paul and Emily, which seemed so unlike her. The question remains - is Meg fit enough to be out the hospital? She manipulated Emily out of the hearing by sending her to the hospital to do an investigation.

I have to wonder again what is going on here; this seems like another waste of time when a different story can be told her. Eliza is not being mistreated with Paul and Emily, so where is the problem? Paul was being reasonable with Meg until Emma started to interfere. Is there something wrong with Emma and that is the real point of this story?

Luke and Reid and Noah
This story is building to a point where Luke will have to make a decision. It looks like Noah is now ready to reactivate his relationship with Luke. He wants Luke to be there for him when he has his surgery. Luke, on the other hand, is attracted to Reid who happens to be Noah's doctor.

Reid is not hiding the fact that he likes Luke anymore. How can he operate on the obstacle in their budding relationship? If anything goes wrong with the surgery, it could not look good for him.

Just an observation, why is it happening again - they are treating Reid and Luke differently than they do other romantic couples on the show. Reid almost kissed Luke twice in one episode, however he was interrupted by the doorbell and his pager. Would this happen to Henry and Vienna or Casey and Alison or any other couple on the show? Has anyone noticed that Reid and Luke are only on maybe once, maybe twice a week and we see Liberty, Janet, and Gabriel almost every day?

Now, it's time to open up the mailbag and see what readers have to say: