August 24, 1998
Can it possibly be? Is AMC actually improving? Call me nutty, but I think it is. Sure there are still parts of the show that are lame, but on a whole, I see vast improvement. Let's start with the courtroom stuff. Dragging on forever and a day? YES! The never ending courtroom saga will not be over until the second week of September when the verdict is read. The part I can't stand about it is the addition of Bob Thomasen. First of all, why couldn't they give him a beard or something so that he wasn't the exact image of Jim. They weren't twins so it just seems dumb to me. Then how does he just walk into the room that Brooke's in and start threatening her? And anyway, why is Brooke alone? Janet, her other lawyer, could have at least been with her. I guess it was just another way for us to see Dimitri save her. Bob's testimony painting Jim as a saint was pretty sickening. I think they went way overboard with it too. Not only was Jim's brother disabled, but Jim took care of him, bought him a house and sent him money. And not only is Bob disabled, but he also goes to the animal shelter to feed homeless kittens. Come on!! I was about to barf at all this stuff! Sure, it's nice to know that Jim had some redeeming qualities, but his scum factor overruled any niceness he may have had.
What do I like about it? It's all of a sudden gotten interesting. I've had Dixie about up to my eyeballs though. How many times has she asked Tad if he had a plan to save Brooke? And then when she goes getting all over his case about what he's up to, Tad gives her this weeks LINE OF THE WEEK, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're still carrying a torch for me." That was great Tad! And a sneaky way to divert attention because she got all flustered and had to launch into some big time denial. And it looks as though Tad does indeed have a plan to save Brooke, but he's not telling. It's all a bit too obvious. Tad will not discuss his whereabouts from the previous night. His old friend from high school, the still bowtie wearing Alfred Vanderpool, just shows up at Trevor's door with what he considers to be key evidence, Jim's safety deposit box. And then for two days we see an angry Trevor talking about what is in that box. Well, it was painfully obvious to me, by Trevor's reaction, that there was a picture of Amanda in there. And there was, along with pictures of other kids. Did Tad plant those photos? Probably. At least it sure looks that way. He was conspicuously absent that day in court.
What I don't understand is why they didn't find more victims of Jim's pornography to testify. What about Winona, the bartender. She told Mateo that Jim snapped shots of her. Although not a child, she still was photographed. And what about LaShawna!? The girl that I was sure would end up being Jim's killer. The girl he ran into at Holidays that he spoke with and was obvious then that she was young and he took photos of her? Also missing from court the day the new evidence was revealed was Bob. I realize that Trevor got a court order to open that box, but wouldn't Bob have a say so in this? Wouldn't he get the first chance to look in it since he is Jim's next of kin? When Trevor showed those photos and that courtroom came alive with Trevor giving it to Keith and telling the court about those photos and why he would have them, I had to applaud and yell, YOU GO TREVOR!!! I'm glad they're giving Trevor this opportunity to showcase his talents because I think the big huge storyline for the Dillion's for this fall is going to be a sick dog. Hold on to your seats folks, that's really riveting.
What else do I like lately? Well, Palmer of course! Every week I'm more and more thrilled to see more and more Palmer. Of course I hate how he's treating Opal. But James Mitchell is so wonderful and so much fun as Palmer, I just can't help but smile when he's on the screen. He loves Opal, but does he love his paintings more? Opal gets this weeks PERFORMER OF THE WEEK. Look how wonderful Jill Larson can be when they let her! She's always on the back burner, but when she's on the forefront, watch out! She's amazing! She's gone from the depths of despair after realizing Palmer lied to her, to still standing by him. And she's told off Palmer, she's told off Mike and she's told off Jack! All of them deserved it. In fact, Mike and Jack get this weeks I NEED TO BE SLAPPED AWARD for trying to get Opal to go against her lovebug and have her help them catch him. Opal even helped me out on this one by giving Mike a smack for me! Thanks Opal!! Then Palmer has this most excellent idea of hiding the paintings at Adam's house. I love it! And my hope is that this will jumpstart the big Adam/Palmer rivalry that I love so much. But since when can you roll up a canvas? That really confused me. Masterpieces aren't usually rollable. PC got an earful of Adam and Allie having a discussion while he was hiding in the wall. I had a good laugh when Allie was talking to Adam and calling him on his promise to get her medical license reinstated. Adam wanted her to be quiet, so Allie says.. "Are you afraid the servants might hear you? The servants aren't who you should be afraid of." Oh let me guess, he should be afraid of Allie??? Don't make me laugh!!! What a loser she is! And now, just because of being in the know on a few things that she shouldn't be, she's got two of Pine Valley's biggest players vying for her silence. I don't think Adam has any intentions of even trying to get her license back for her, but maybe Palmer will. He's more desperate.
I don't like that Marian is still holed up in the mausoleum. And while I have enjoyed John Furey as Lee, I'm getting sick of him. I still think he plays a great psycho, but I can't stand how he's delusional one minute and not the next. Make up my mind already! He steals Marian's credit card to buy her a fake ticket to South America, and when asked about the name he gave for the ticket, he corrects himself by saying Marian Joy Colby. Please!! And come now, did Adam and Stuart really just jump on Adam's plane which, like Dimitri's, is always fueled and ready for take off at any moment? Are they really going to Buenos Aires? Couldn't Adam just pay someone off to see the passenger list? His money buys everything else. And all the while a weak and rather delusional Marian has dreams of Stuart coming to save her. And he will too! I just realized something; maybe I liked this week of AMC more than usual because Mateo wasn't on at all! That must be it! Unfortunately he's back this week. Also this week, Lee kidnaps Junior. Does this mean that FINALLY these morons will wake up and realize that John and Lee are the same guy???
Other good things... Erica remembered she has a daughter and decided to go see her. Now don't get me wrong, I love Erica. But I like her better when she's not involved with this storyline with Palmer. I love any scene that has Adrian in it, and love it even more if Belinda is in it too. I thought it was terrific how he helped her go see Noah and Julia and her mother. How he made it look like they were on vacation in Hawaii. How he's always there for her. Then when she hugged him as thanks, she apologized... why??? Heck I don't know how she resists not grabbing that hunka hunka burnin love called Adrian! He's the babest of 'em all!
I like how Gillian finally admitted her true feelings for Ryan, even though she admitted them to Eugenia, not Ryan. This had me hopeful that the games would end, but they won't. Not yet. And on the bad things subject... Liza fainting and feeling nauseous two days after her insemination?! Let's get real!!!