A funny thing happened on the way to me writing this column -- and it's a true story. While at a wedding over the weekend, I unwittingly ate some steak with a sauce containing lobster. Having a shellfish allergy, this could have been a pretty serious situation. I could have made it a truly soapy situation, perhaps crashing into the wedding cake, but I didn't. Things were made even more serious by the fact that Kendall was nowhere to be found with that magical cure-all chicken soup of hers. Amazingly, her potent poultry somehow managed to cure Aidan's allergic reaction to the medicine Jake had given him.
I'm not really thrilled with the wedding of JR and Marissa. First, and I don't know if you feel the same way, I've always thought it was creepy to marry the twin of your dearly departed spouse -- even if they look nothing alike. Second, I am not even convinced that either one of the two people are truly in love with the other. I admire Marissa for wanting to be there for JR. In the real world, we hear so many heartbreaking tales of loved ones turning their backs on people when they fall ill. It almost seems like Marissa feels sorry for JR more than anything else. In the weeks ahead, I guarantee that both JR and Marissa will begin to question whether or not they should've walked down the aisle, er, stood together in Tad's living room.
Natalia's post-shooting interrogation troubled me a little ,too. She was so robotic in her answers, saying that the police academy taught her to "compartmentalize" things and that shooting perps is just part of the job. Natalia knew the person she shot, so you'd think that she'd be a little more shaken up than she appeared. I've never shot anybody, so I am just going with how I think I'd handle the situation.
I'm enjoying the budding relationship between Brot and Natalia. This will be the first romance for Natalia and the second for Brot. The best soap love stories seem to stem from couples that originally didn't get along. There will be some very touching scenes in the next week or two between Brot and Natalia, and I am anxious to see how fans react to them.
To be honest, I rather enjoyed Brot and Taylor's love story... but that abruptly ended and Brot was relegated to playing background filler in most of his scenes. Taylor went on to a more comedic relationship with Tad, and now that will soon come to an end, as well, because, as previously reported, Beth Ehlers will not be making the move to Los Angeles when AMC relocates there next year.
What a waste of a casting coup. AMC tooted its horn loudly when it lured Beth Ehlers from Guiding Light. What did the show do with her character? Nothing, really. Ehlers has spent more than 20 years in daytime, earned five Daytime Emmy nominations, and this was the best they could come up with? There is still Internet speculation that Ehlers' outspokenness might have gotten her in trouble, but it wasn't until recently that I actually started enjoying Taylor's presence on the canvas. Will Taylor even get a farewell, or has the show decided to unceremoniously dump her the way that so many other characters have been dumped before?
I'd be interested in learning what your thoughts are on Beth Ehlers' time on All My Children. Did you enjoy it? Did you think there was more story potential? Are you glad Taylor is going to be written out?
The not-so-good Dr. David Hayward not only got clobbered, but he also ended up on the receiving end of several zingers.
"Damn it," Jake sighed upon examining an unconscious David on the floor of the stable. "He's alive."
"Just tell me: You're the one that went upside his head, right?" Jesse asked during an unofficial interrogation of Amanda. "Way to go. Hit 'em again for me, would ya? Hard!"
There was, however, one death that seemed to take last week . Madison North died suddenly, a result of the injuries she apparently sustained in the car crash with Frankie a couple of weeks back. Frankie, of course, feels guilty. When Madison's father showed up at the Hubbards' door, I bet a lot of viewers figured that he was there to pick up where Madison left off. Not so. James was there to bring the Henry North nightmare to an end.
I appreciate that Angie felt a need to go to church after learning of Madison's death. I believed her and understood her when she explained that she needed to pray for forgiveness for wishing Madison dead. More than that, Angie also wanted to pray for Madison to finally find the peace she sought. The only time we typically hear of prayer is when someone is in the hospital and their loved ones take to the hospital chapel to do the "take me instead" routine.
Wasn't actress Stephanie Gatschet's name on the list of stars moving to Los Angeles? That either means that the show placed the actress' name on the list to blindside us with Madison's death, or ...
The hospital confrontation scenes between Annie and Zach were a joy to watch. Zach looked, as I like to say, "pissitated" when Annie made a crack about him being upset that Kendall ran off with her ex-lover. I honestly thought that Zach was going to beat Annie down in the hospital -- and might even let loose with a few bleepable words. Maybe those scenes were taped after Thorsten Kaye made the decision that he'd not be continuing on with AMC when it relocates. Whatever the reason, it was so much fun to watch.
Lest we forget, Stuart's killer has finally been revealed: Adam! So many of you over the past five months have written in to say that you believed Adam killed his brother while in a drug-induced stupor. Well, it looks like you were right! Who said that no one would see the surprise reveal coming? Oh, that's right... AMC's head writer. One reader did contact me to say that they had heard rumors that this isn't really the end of the murder reveal -- there's another twist coming in the months ahead.
So what is your take on the reveal? What could the show possibly have up its sleeve regarding the rumored plot twist?
That's all for this week. My neighbor's little boy broke his collarbone, so I am going to take over some chicken soup so that he'll be back to normal by tomorrow.
dan
