Why are Zoe and Babe being asked about everything but what Dixie
might have ingested? Shouldn't that be the FIRST question they ask?
The Chandler mansion is a crime scene, so how was Bianca able to
just flounce into the room? (And, yes, she DID "flounce")
SPOILER SPACE FOR TUESDAY'S SHOW:
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The family gets the word that Dixie has died. Del gets mad and
shoves a bunch of papers on the floor. It occurred to me then that
he will probably ask them to give him her other kidney before it
starts getting stale.
Although I teared up several times during the show today, I am
mostly unmoved by Dixie's death. Partly that's because I read
spoilers and already knew about it, but it also saddened me to see
the retrospective and compare it with the way the show is now. We
used to complain and make fun of the show, but it was mostly in a
light-hearted way. Now, more and more, many of us are just fed up
with it, and our complaints are more bitter than light-hearted. We
can see the show, in and of itself, dying before our very eyes, and
THAT is something to mourn. It started when they switched from
stories being character-driven to being plot-driven, characters and
history be damned. There ARE no lovable characters anymore.
There's no comic relief anymore. Where are the Stan Ulatowskis, the
Alfred VanderPooles and Gordie the Lab Techs? We don't even see
Officer Sean these days. Whatever happened to Axel? Opal, who was
almost ALWAYS good for a laugh in one way or another, makes
exceptionally rare appearances. The closest we come to comic relief
nowadays is a few seconds of Winnie getting flustered while shopping
(as a murderer slips poisoned peanut butter into her cart) or
inexplicably dressing up like a slut once a year for the Trucker's
Christmas Party. The doofuses nowadays (Del, for instance) aren't
even remotely entertaining. Del, in particular, is just plain
repugnant in every way, never mind that they COMPLETELY changed his
looks, age and personality. NO one on the show is ever happy except
the little girls when they are playing. Little Adam is downright
CREEPY.
NO ONE is in love. Where are the sweet love stories like Jenny and
Greg, Angie and Jessie and the younger Tad and Dixie? The teens of
today are all portrayed as brainless twits, except for Lily, who is
given very little screen time. HER romance with Jonathan is
completely down the crapper. Babe and JAR have ALWAYS had a twisted
relationship as do Babe and Josh. (And don't even get me STARTED on
the reverse-abortion story!) Erica is merely in love with herself
(okay, SOME things NEVER change). Bianca's relationships are
supposed to be deep, but they rarely show much of them -- her casual
over-nighter with an old friend, along with the transgender
storyline, was a clue that that MIGHT change, though. Marian and
Stuart, a LOVELY (and usually happy and/or funny) couple, are almost
NEVER seen. Zach and Kendall make a good couple, but it's not a
"sweet" relationship. It's nice to see Krystal and Adam being
loving toward each other, but it's somewhat disconcerting to see
Adam go overboard with it so often.
When Phoebe died, the last of the snooty society matrons
disappeared. Erica has become a caricature of herself as she
refuses to grow any older than 13. Her never-ending junior-high
mindset, despite being a grandmother twice (that we know of) is
tedious. Joe is rarely seen these days. Ruth hasn't been seen in
YEARS (even CatRuth). Although I like the friendship between Myrtle
and Zach, Myrtle is seldom on and, for the last several years, her
role has mostly been reduced to praying and urging other people to
trust in God. The senior generation of actors, such as Eileen
Herlie and James Mitchell, are getting too old to continue in
demanding roles, which is certainly understandable, but I can't see
generation behind them (although there is hope for Joe) stepping up
to the plate anytime soon.
No, instead we have repugnant characters such as Babe and Ryan being
thrust upon us, with the insistence that they are WONDERFUL people,
despite consistent and RECENT histories of them being amoral JERKS.
They must think the viewers have the attention span of FLEAS! David
Canary as Adam can pull off being an asshole because he has charisma
and charm, which overcomes his often dastardly nature (the same can
be said for James Mitchell as Palmer). I've had periods of time
where I thought Adam was irredeemable, but I always relented because
David Canary is just THAT GOOD in his role. Jacob Young's portrayal
of JAR comes off as being an utter asshole with NO redeeming
qualities -- EVER; he simply CANNOT fill David Canary's shoes as the
resident billionaire Snidely Whiplash because he's just too
CONSISTENTLY unlikable. When he tries to be sweet or even just not
overtly despicable, it's downright jarring (no pun intended) and
suspicious. I'm sure I'll feel sorry for him over the next few
weeks as he mourns Dixie, but I'm just as sure that any softening on
his part will be fleeting.
And now they are murdering characters right and left and destroying
the characters that remain. Feh!
Robin "in mourning for AMC" Coutellier