I thoroughly enjoyed this week in Oakdale as Brad and Katie prepared for and actually got married. There was Kim, Margo and Lisa playing key roles in this wedding. This was one of the funniest weddings in Oakdale since the impromptu wedding of Tom and Margo almost 25years ago. In addition there was other drama with Holden & Lily, Carly & Jack, Noah & Ameera & Luke & Casey, Paul & Meg, and Sofie & Aaron & Chris & Alison - a lot happened this week.
The Glad I Didn't Miss Wedding
If I lived in Oakdale, I would have taken the day off work to watch Brad and Katie get married on live TV. The wedding was so much fun to watch. So much happened that as I watched and took notes for this column - I realized that I could have written an entire column on just this wedding.
This wedding had Brad and Katie written all over it - it was funny and light with all the hijinks that this couple is known for. I loved the way that the writers made fun of Oakdale and soap opera in general. Who has three ex-husbands as part of their wedding party? Katie made fun of herself marrying Brad, Jack's brother earlier in the week as she compared herself this time to Dr. Bob who has been married to two sisters.
There were several laugh out loud moments: Katie marching to her groom by walking past her most recent ex-husbands, Mike and Jack; Katie got the hiccups and the only way to cure them was Margo screaming the word "cellulite" - Katie is so vain; the original minister telling Henry he has a acting background and freezes as the camera start rolling; Henry using ever bit of his previous WOAK experience as he described marriage in television and soap opera terms; after every commercial, Henry had a casting change the "Due to the absence message, the role will now be played by..."; Brad reciting the first words from the original episode as he wanted her to decide - 'Good Morning Dear'.
Personally, I am so sorry that I do not have this episode on TIVO; I had to watch online because I was behind watching and did not have enough room to record. Nevertheless, I will remember for all the fun it was and hope the same for them as a married couple that the fun continues.
Holden and Lily
I watched them this week and realized soon that another woman will soon be playing the role of Lily. I will miss Martha Byrne in this role - she has been great. In thinking through this, this could be a shot in the arm to this couple. The role has been recast before and that actress did an okay job as Lily. The new actress, Noelle Beck, is good as I remember her from Loving as she played a similar character to Lily. I am going to give her a chance - I had a hard time with Roger Howarth when he began as Paul and finally I am starting to like Sofie as she is not going away it seems.
Why is Holden jealous of a dead man? It is true that Dusty was Lily's first though he (Holden) is her true love - there was something magical about them right after he jumped down from the hayloft. The reminiscing for Lily was sad: when she mentioned Big Max, her horse - I thought, wow, I had forgotten about that. Does Holden think that she will never get over Dusty? The only reason she was with him this last time was because Holden rejected her. I liked the way the show has paid homage to Dusty's memory and the role he played in Lily's life.
Carly and Jack
Carly told him that don't make love to her unless he meant it and he didn't. I see how angry this makes Carly - he used her and still is holding back. To show how much this show affects viewers when it is good, I want her find someone else who accepts her for being Carly. Jack is being Jack and he can't help it.
Can you believe that Carly is bonding with Holden of all people, Jack's cousin and best friend? Their conversation about Snyder men and how hard they are to please was good; when he also told her that she would always be a part of the Snyder clan was nice. Holden does understand what she is going through as he has had moments with Lily. From the previews, it looks like this bonding will continue and of course, Jack will probably have a problem with it.
Luke & Noah & Casey & Ameera
Is Ameera what she appears to be - the sweet, sheltered girl from Iraq? I saw something different this week as she turned on Casey by telling him to mind his own business. The look in her eyes showed a side of her which makes me believe something I thought when she first arrived - has she been put up to do this by Noah's father? Casey tried to warn Luke and I hope Luke gets the message by keeping a close eye on this girl.
The other thing is that she had all of a sudden dropped covering her hair to make herself more American. She was so uptight in the beginning so if she is so committed to her culture would she all of a sudden decide to drop her traditions. I do think that this story may start to get more interesting very soon especially if Ameera is not who she appears to be.
Casey obviously learned something from his previous misdeeds and he won't hang around if he knows it is not worth his time. He knows he has no chance with Ameera so he is done playing Luke's boyfriend by telling him that he quit him.
The Veterans are Back
They won't have major stories revolving them and that part is obvious - but to use them to move the stories along is masterful. Lisa was all in it this week with pushing Mike to Katie as she had to decide if she should go through with this wedding. Lisa would know better than anyone else, right.
Kim was front and center when they decided to have the wedding live on WOAK. Margo has been the maternal voice for Katie, as Lyla is on the road, to be sure before she walked down the aisle once again - even catching her as she fainting in the middle of the wedding.
Emma was no where to be found and how many times did Meg say this week that Emma was out of down - so much for recapping.
Paul and Meg and Sofie
What are Sofie's real feelings for Paul? She acted like he was a friend early on and now she seems to be romantically interested in him. I hope I am wrong about that because I believe a Mike/Meg/Paul triangle would be a better story. Sofie should be around those her own age: Chris, Alison and Aaron.
Here are a few comments from some readers and fans of the show:
MD said, "I love it when they add humor and it really lightens up with Luke and Casey. I am also a Carly/ Jack fan and did not like Katie with Jack at all. It seems there is an age difference. Although they make people younger and older all the time I can't keep up, I wish they'd leave them at the same age and let them really be there real age. They did terrible writing with the court/Parker trial, what a joke, but at least Tom got to act a little. They could have made this real good if they had actual made it like a trial. Looks like they are lightening up a little, I like it when it's on the lighter side, love Henry and now I love the Casey/Luke scenes."
Amber said, "Is it just me or is Katie really annoying?? I used to really like her, and now I really can't stand watching her. All she does is change her mind and flip-flop on everything. In my opinion, she needs to grow up. It would be nice to see her start a family, and actually want to be with the guy she's with long term. Hopefully, they 'shape up' her character."
Lucie said, "I loved that the people in the show started acting like families this week. ... ATWT needs more of that... which is funny because despite all the craziness in Oakdale, I've always found ATWT to be one the soaps with the best family cliques and they all mess well together. But lately it's quite the opposite. I'm surprised that Carly and Gwen will even miss each other considering they've spent 10 minutes together in the past 5 months. Katie finally made a decision!!! IT'S ABOUT TIME... I can't stand anymore of this Brad/Jack business. Jack belongs with Carly and that's that. I hope they take things slow... and the writers don't have Carly messing it up yet again. Maybe they should let Carly and Jack actually be together for a while this time around. Give the fans another taste of why we liked them in the first place. I don't like the Ameera/Luke/Noah/Casey storyline so far, I hope it will get better now that they move out of the farm and into the cottage."
Mary said, "I wasn't sure about the new Mike Kasnoff, but I've decided that I like him. He actually reminds me a bit of Mark Collier. I LOVED Carly on today's (Friday) show. When she told Jack off, I wanted to jump up and shout HOORAY! This was the type of scene that reminds us why Maura West is an EMMY winner."
Finally, what is Emily's problem? Isn't it about time that she gave up on Chris and moved on to something else? She is so angry these days; I can't wait to find out what is next for her.
That's all I have for now.
Reggie Jackson
