It is so easy to nitpick the implausibility in things that happen on television; that is what I tried not to do this week as I watched the drama continued in Oakdale: James Stenbeck can do anything and his son can survive anything while Little Ethan was saved with a scratch. No matter what, I find that I can't wait for the next episode to see how it all unfolds.

Ethan Is Found
When I watched the story of Ethan Snyder falling down into the hole, I have one question that plagued me: why did take off one shoe when he was playing with his ball? Did he know he would fall down the hole and that it would be clue to his whereabouts? I'm sorry, that really bothered me. It was down in that hole for a week for us watching and to fall down a hole that deep, he did not sustain one scratch or mark on him at all - is that a bit unrealistic? I know the point of this story was not to hurt Ethan but to bring Holden and Lily closer together as a result of their son's disappearance.

Overall, this story provided some good moments between Holden and Lily as well as Jack and Carly. We know that Holden and Carly was only meant to be short term as they are supposed to end up with their true loves. Carly really came through by being very helpful to the search because as she said if one of her children was missing, she would take help from anyone willing to help.

Janet was there to do what she does best and provide food for everyone to eat as they keep vigil at the site. She needed also to stay close to Jack. After all, she is partly responsible for his current state by asking him to help Brad.

Paul Survives Again
Paul is truly a Stenbeck in that he can survive more attempts on his life than anyone other than his father, James. Ethan was rescued and immediately following the hole caves in, Paul is trapped then there is a major explosion and it looks like Paul is a goner once again. Barbara collapses from the news that her son may be dead and we all know that Paul will survive any attempt on his life without much harm to him; in the next scene we see Paul walking into his living room at Fairwinds as healthy as can be.

James does such a great job at pulling the strings and making sure that everything goes exactly according to his plan. When did he dig the tunnel of have the tunnel made? This guy is a mastermind. What is his connection to Derek and why is Derek being his right hand for his current reign of terror in Oakdale?

So it appears that Derek is not a bad guy after all and just owes James. Derek may hang around and give Bonnie a man of her own. Henry believes that Derek is not bad and that he has done all of this as he wants to pay off some debt of his own.

Jack's Dilemma
Jack Snyder has always as Carly stated been a man who has higher standards than everyone around him. It surprised me that he decided to get involved in this covering evidence thing with Brad, Katie and Janet. Everyone knows he would not handle this well especially Carly when he confessed all to her.

Janet should have known just from her recent spat with him about the Liberty/Parker incident that Jack can be hard on others so to be harder on himself would be a no-brainer. Is the stage being set for Jack to get back with Carly or will he forgive Janet once again?

The question that comes to my mind is: how selfish can Brad be to put his brother in this predicament? Brad was the one who wanted to turn Carly in when she pretended to be dying and now he wants someone to save him after his attempt to kill Leo. He seriously needs to work on his anger issues that have been out of control since his daughter came to town.

Aaron/Alison/Chris/Dani
First of all, I do not like this new Dani much at all. She is so pushy and such a busybody - spying on Chris and Alison and trying to seduce a man that she hardly knows. If she knows Chris still has feelings for Alison, why doesn't she move on to someone else? One of things that these writers do is force a new character down our throats before we get a chance to know them.

A more plausible opportunity for Dani would have been with her work at the police station where she and Dallas could have butt heads that turned in a flirtation; therefore, giving poor Dallas #3 something to do besides show up at crime scenes, say his two or three lines then disappear.

So Alison and Aaron have been married for less than a week and he wants to have a baby. Is this a setup for a 'Who's the Daddy?' story with Alison since she slept with Chris and Aaron within such a short timeframe? I certainly hope not because this story has been so predictable anyway with her sleeping with Chris the night before the wedding when days before she could barely stand to be in the same room with him. We'll just have to see where this boring story leads.

Here are some comments from some readers:

Lee said, "James Stenbeck is an exciting villain with super chemistry with all of Oakdale and will hopefully give Paul some meat to chew up for us. While I like the realism of having mainstream gays living in Oakdale, Luke is as crazy as his mom with his constant dissatisfaction with everything. He yanks Noah around with his emotional aggression. Noah is having enough trouble becoming himself without Luke's constant demand that everyone do as Luke wishes about all things gay. My guess is that Brian is will turn out to be a more mature, mainstreamed gay guy who is genuinely concerned for Luke and his foundation to Lucinda's disappointment. Lucy needs a guy or boy toy or someone."

Beatrice said, "I just have one thing to say ATWT: Send Aaron packing, save Chris!!!"

Sue said, "It is great watching James and Henry spar with witty comments. I don't know if they have new writers or not, but I seem to find myself laughing quite often at the actors' dialogue and it is very refreshing. Sorry to see that they are phasing out the actor portraying Chris Hughes. I thought that he and Allison had a lot of chemistry - more so than the Allison/Aaron relationship."

Kristy said, "It is great watching James and Henry spar with witty comments. I don't know if they have new writers or not, but I seem to find myself laughing quite often at the actors' dialogue and it is very refreshing. Sorry to see that they are phasing out the actor portraying Chris Hughes. I thought that he and Allison had a lot of chemistry - more so than the Allison/Aaron relationship. "

Finally, from the previews, it looks like Dusty will be back next week. Well, this should shake up some things in Oakdale with Lily, Emily and Alison. It will be great having him back in Oakdale.

That's all I have for now.
Reggie Jackson