Sometimes when I am watching All My Children I wish I had a little sound effects panel. I surely would have hit the "cuckoo clock" button when Annie introduced Aidan to her special friend, Tori. I had a sneaking suspicion that Tori didn't exist (It would have been a little harder to figure out if Tori didn't do so many really quick disappearing acts), but I wasn't 100% sure. What I had planned to comment on before the big reveal was the way that Tori ran off when Annie confessed to her that she may have killed someone when she was younger. Tori ran off like Annie said she'd had ebola. Um, it wasn't like Tori didn't know that Annie had killed someone. What was a nice twist was the movie-like transitions between Annie recalling her childhood trauma and Aidan flipping through old newspapers on microfiche in the library. That's usually the type of movie reveal when you find out that someone's new husband is really a murderer or her formerly abusive husband with a new face. Kudos to AMC for playing up the drama. I also liked the reveal when Annie did the introduction and the camera showed an empty chair in front of Annie. Where is that button...? Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
As much as JR has been a pompous, drunk, jackass of late, his battle for custody with David has changed my opinion of him. He may not have always seemed like the good father, but his devotion to Little A now makes me root for him. Have you been playing the drinking game at home? There were many occasions last week to have to drink to a death threat against David. Also, someone must have been reading my columns, because it sure looks like the AMC writing team is trying to make Opal to new "sage, older woman" on the show. Of course, that's probably due to the fact that the show no longer has any women of a certain age in the cast. Mona, Phoebe, Myrtle... there is no one that can take their places. I don't even know if there is a character from the past that could be reintroduced to fill that void? Long time viewers, help me out! The talk between Opal and Krystal about domestic abuse was a nice touch. I never saw David as someone who would physically abuse a woman... that seems to be a twist brought on by the new writing team. Would David screw with a woman mentally? Absolutely. David has always been an A1 mindmesser.
Every once in a while, All My Children comes up with a storyline that really has me sitting on the edge of my seat. That's not to imply that a good storyline online comes around every blue moon or so... What has me intrigued right now is this storyline with Adam. First Adam suffers some sort of "collapse" - I'm not sure what kind because that was really glossed over, intentionally, I'm sure. Then Adam has to check himself into a hospital here in Philadelphia under his brother's name so that the police wouldn't be able to track him down and arrest him for kidnapping Little A. I called around, but no one in town had any records of a Stuart Chandler being admitted. It's a shame - I'd have gone to visit him and had one heck of a chat! Apparently Adam went through the throes of craziness while admitted to the hospital. I had first thought that Adam and Stuart must have been trading places. Adam going from wicked tyrant to mild and meek at the drop of a hat? That doesn't happen. It seemed like a throwback to the days when Stuart was first introduced. If memory serves me correctly, he was locked away in the attic at Chandler Mansion and he tried to kill someone - Erica, I believe. When it was revealed that Adam had been sketching, I knew that it was really Stuart in that bed. When the sketch was shown and it was Erica, not Marian, I had no idea what to think! My sound effect for this storyline be the "bum-bum-bummmmmm" three-note dramatic melody that they play in old mystery movies when there's a shocking plot development.
Has Adam suffered some sort of breakdown? Has his losing all his money thrown him for a loop? I have no idea, but as I am avoiding spoilers for this storyline, I happen to find it riveting. It's also nice that David Canary has finally been given a storyline.
Who doesn't need a storyline right now are Cameron Mathison, Alicia Minshew, and Thorsten Kaye. Or rather, they just need a storyline other than the one they have now. I get that CamAliThor are the "big three" of All My Children at the moment. That does not mean that their storyline orbits have to be one and the same. For every fan that loves "Rendall" there is another fan that likes "Zendall" - and possibly two fans that are tired of seeing either pairing. I wouldn't call myself a "Zendall" fan, but I do like the interactions between Zach and Kendall. They have a lot of good heartache there.
Ryan...he's too angry for me. I mean, I guess he has good reason to be angry. Two of his wives had ended up dead. (Note to readers: marrying Ryan Lavery could be hazardous to your health or harmful to your eardrums.) All Ryan does any more is yell. I want him to have another emotion, another shade of Lavery. The Lavery brothers have not had the happiest of lives. Braden was a rapist. Jonathan was a murderer (with a brain tumor). Ryan is a black widower. Ryan is to marriage what Jake is to fatherhood. Take that one to your favorite SAT proctor.
Speaking of proctors, that does bring me to the sad part of the column. As you are probably already aware, CBS announced last week that the Procter & Gamble-produced Guiding Light was being cancelled. Guiding Light is the longest-running scripted entertainment series ever. The show has been in existence for 72 years - that's predates television. If you don't watch Guiding Light, you may not care that the show will go dark in September. But the news should touch the hearts of every soap opera fan. Earlier this year, AMC fans got a shock of their own when there were rumors abound that ABC had mulled the idea of cancelling All My Children. ABC has denied the reports, but for a moment, AMC fans had a chance to understand what Guiding Light fans are going through now. Days of our Lives and As the World Turns have also been hit with cancellation rumors. Soap fans are all part of a big family, no matter which network's soaps you watch. It is for that reason that we should all hope that Guiding Light is able to find a new home and remain in production. Let's not just Keep the Light Shining - let's keep all of them shining.
dan
