Mary's choice for Fan Spotlight of the Week comes from Vicki who shares: "As a truly loyal fan of AMC for over 25 years, I am getting closer each month to giving up on "our favorite show". The writers have made the show almost unbearable to watch, as there is rarely any humor, fun, or love anymore. What happened to the good old days when they had Opal running the Glamorama (remember Greenlee and the mud mask?), or the fun times with Cecily and Nico when she was in the Mrs. America contest? Or when Erica and pals ganged up to get rid of bad Dr. Kinder? It's almost painful to watch the show these days because we never get to see anything but pain, deception, and lies. And what about the name "All My Children"? There isn't even one real family in Pine Valley anymore unless you count the merging of the Kane/Montgomery clans? Funny how Jackson never fathered a child, but now has three kids!!!" Yes, Vicki, it is hard to swallow at times but can see they try to be consistent to the history of the show and characters. It must be difficult to write interesting stories to be viewed 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. There is so much that goes into a soap opera and we can only pray they will find a way to get back on track to keep us old time viewers involved. Ride the wave!!!
Eva La Rue is causing a sad mist as she prepares for her exit, as they will have Maria and Maddie go on a pioneer trek to California to be near Mateo and family. I had a feeling they would allow Sam to stay behind as they developed his Martin roots and new friendship with Lily Montgomery. It was nice to see him bonding with his mother and have a scene without anger or sarcasm. Maria handled her daughter's inappropriate behavior very well and it tore my heart out to know that there would never be a Maria/Zach reunion. Meanwhile, Mr. Grayson and his new bride are faced with a very upset mother-in-law. Wham, bang, pow.......Erica slaps her new son-in-law to knock some sense into him. It was almost comical to see this short, petite woman attempt to cause harm to a solidly built man. A week without a slap or fist in the face in Pine Valley is like (fill in the blank)????
Greenlee is now on a mission. She can't have children with Ryan due to his "procedure" so she is planning to invade the fertility clinic and steal his long-time frozen sperm. I am curious how long the shelf life is for these swimmers. Simone is her unwilling accomplice and is even the woman Greens is pretending to be so she can make this life-altering purchase. She has the donor down to three when Erica recognizes her (despite her disguise) and wonders what she is doing there. The newlywed has only been back a day or so and already has gone against her promise not to interfere in their children's lives by seeing Kendall and now Greenlee. Of course Jack couldn't resist either and was over at Ryan's for a one-on-one. Ryan is convinced he and his bride are doing fine, better than fine. When he questions Simone as to his wife's whereabouts, she asks him about HIS secret visit. A woman had shown up at Ryan's condo while Jack was there to give him a key, would this be his sister he is hiding?
Besides dealing with his nanny being in the hospital, JR Chandler has been dealing with the loss of Chandler Enterprises. Kendall informed him she would no longer be able to get his company back due to Zach's change of heart. Thus, he goes to Ethan's office but doesn't get far with the man with the triple comma company. An encounter with Erica (who else?) proves profitable, as she promises to get his company back if he can get Kendall away from Zach Slater. You almost need a cheat sheet to keep up with all the promises (broken and otherwise), deals, and blackmail attempts in this small town.
Babe and Jamie had their first disagreement this past week. She was upset about the prospect of Tad finding Dixie and deserting Krystal. Jamie softly explains that he would like to see Dixie back in all their lives; he was very fond of her too. She was a good mother to both boys over the years. He doesn't feel his father has stopped caring about her mother, but this is bigger than all of them. Babe continues to work at the bar and Jamie gets a SOS call from his "friend" Amanda. I know I advised you I might not be writing about this character, and believe me I wish I could ignore her......BUT she was slithering her way all over the beach in a very seductive bikini and set her sights on AIDAN. I kept mumbling, "Say it isn't so". Aidan definitely fell into the trap and found her amusing and intriguing. Amusing in a sad way, possibly, but hardly intriguing. Gratefully, he returned her photos to Babe and nipped it all in the bud. Next victim: Jamie Martin. The aforementioned call was made and he believed she was hurt or in danger. She is acting weird (under the influence) which I thought was an act at first, but then realized it could have been JR drugging her. God help us if they are going down that road again. JR wanted her to spend the night with Jamie and it looks like this could happen, willingly or not. For whatever reason, he doesn't see through her schemes and believes she is that same gal pal from years gone by. I am sure we have all had experiences where we see old friends from school days or just cross paths later in life with old acquaintances, and can see how much that person has changed for either the good or the bad. It is fact, you can feel or see it, and you choose to either accept them the way they are or just go on. Is Jamie that naïve?
Wow, it was great to see Stuart again this past week. Hopefully he and Marian will be around more as the Dixie story unfolds. Throw in Dixie's Uncle Palmer and Aunt Opal and we have old family ties galore. It will be refreshing to see JR have some tender, softer moments, as he has been annoyingly cocky for way too long. Kendall was able to get Zach's gaming licenses back and he is in business. Ryan seems to enjoy coming to play cards with him and was in for a surprise when Kendall was his sparring partner instead. She tactfully (?) advises him that Greenlee would never give up on her dream for a baby/family. As we have seen, she couldn't be more on target. Simone has a bowling date with Ethan and it is refreshing to see some real dates and activities.
Have a great Father's Day weekend as you love/honor/spoil all the fathers in your life. I have family visiting from Oregon that week, so am excited about the quality time we will have. Back in two weeks........
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