This was a week to say goodbye to two Pine Valley favorites who've fallen under some intense scrutiny due to their recent storylines. Bianca left town after having her heart broken by the woman she loved. Greenlee, meanwhile, lost her life in a tragic motorcycle accident. It's a bit ironic, this heartache, especially since much of the week talked about heart health.
There is a lot of speculation on the message boards about Greenlee's fate. With David Hayward lurking around the Bianca-Reese nuptials, some fans are wondering if David didn't find the near-dead Greenlee and whisk her off somewhere to be nursed back to health. It's not as though he hasn't done it before. He did it with Maria "Maureen Gorman" Santos a bunch of years back, so why not do it with his former sister-in-law, Greenlee? Well, without revealing too much, I can tell you that the answer will definitely be revealed during the March Sweeps period. It is going to be shocker to most viewers -- at least it was to me.
Speaking of Maria, does anyone remember the Crystal Ball that used to be thrown in her honor at Wildwind? Maybe we can get the folks at Swarovski to chip in some ad dollars and we can bring that back later this year.
Don't mourn for Bianca too long. She'll be back in Pine Valley before long. It's already been leaked that Riegel will return this spring to wrap up some loose ends. Apparently, there are a lot of folks who are upset that daytime's first same-sex wedding became a farce.
Ya know, the economy sucks. I don't need the hours of wall-to-wall news coverage to tell me that. I can't help but wonder if we're causing ourselves to go into further panic by talking about it all the time. What did surprise me, though, was Adam and Erica's frantic discussions about how they have no money. At one point, Adam warned JR that writing a six-figure check would bankrupt them. Really? Meanwhile, he is stalking Erica to make sure that he gets back all the money that he invested into Fusion. First of all, you never toss around your money to try to win a girl/guy. It never ends up the way you want it to. It's sort of like loaning money to a relative. Second, how much money did he invest into Fusion? For goodness sakes, a serial killer stalker the female employees, the co-owners danced on a stripper pole, and one of their products was tainted with poison (that Adam played a part in developing).
I do, however, like that Adam has taken to Reese. This is further proof that David Canary has chemistry with everyone. I cannot think of one performer -- past or present -- who wasn't even more magical when paired on-screen with David. Now that Adam has his sights set on the new town outcast, what kinda of trouble can he create?
I have been very impressed with Susan Lucci's work over the past week or so. So much has been made of her long Emmyless streak and some poke fun at Erica's over-the-top histrionics, but Lucci has been extremely layered of late. When she comforted Jack after he'd come back from the memorial service for Greenlee, she wasn't tossing her hair and breathily asking Jack to have a sexual romp with her. She told him that she'd be there for him. Also, watching Erica cry as Bianca readied to leave town was very un-Erica like. It actually appeared like Susan Lucci thought she'd never see Eden Riegel again. This wasn't just a "fictional" goodbye. There was some real emotion involved there. I want to see more of the grown-up Erica and less of the hair-tossing vixen from the 80s. I do still laugh whenever Erica refers to "my daughter, Kendall." If after all this time, we don't know that Kendall is her daughter...
While discussing Kendall, she looked fabulous in her revealing red dress for the charity fundraiser. You'd never know that she's just two months out of a heart transplant. Maybe the same plastic surgeon that has gotten rid of everyone else's surgical history was flown in from (sorry!) Scarsdale, New York.
As much as I dislike cutesy child actors, I was very touched by Emma returning home with that green tissue paper butterfly. It could easily have been a throw away scene, but I thought that having Emma and Ryan toss the butterfly into the wind so that Greenlee could see it from heaven was a really nice touch.
What isn't working for me, though, is the Annie and Aidan attraction. I liked Aidan helping Annie while she was cuckoo, but now their relationship seems forced to me. I feel about Annie the way I feel about Mariah Carey. Bear with me here while I explain that. Mariah Carey was great when she first come out as an artist, but they she got a little too big for her britches. Then, Mariah had her much-publicized meltdown and she went away for a little while. She came back much more humble and focused on her music rather than being a sexpot. Annie was never a sexpot, but there was a period of time when she served no real purpose. Once she started talking to dead people, she was the life of the party. Meanwhile, Aidan hasn't had a relationship that's lasted more than six months, which is ironic since so many viewers think he's one of the most eligible men in Pine Valley.
"Don't you know when you speak a demon's name they always appear?" asked Frankie when someone mentioned David Hayward's name. It reminded me of the horror flick, Candy Man. Say his name three times in the mirror... and look out. David isn't quite as dastardly as a movie monster, but he certainly has made life miserable for a lot of people. If you notice, though, he's no longer the pariah that he was a few weeks ago. So the odds of him being rubbed out or almost-killed have become very slim. Still, Adam is about to find out a huge secret that will definitely give him the upper-hand on David.
What is that secret and will it have anything to do with the huge, mega-colossal, mind-blowing casting news that head writer Charles Pratt, Jr. is promising for later this year? I may have slightly overstated the casting news, but Pratt is definitely worked up about it. Some are already speculating that David has Dixie locked away somewhere where he is nursing her back to health. It's not going to happen. I'd love to see Cady McClain return, but what story can they possibly have for her? I guess they could give her amnesia, but that's already been done before. See "Gorman, Maureen."
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