Today, David Canary was most charming, extremely amusing, and heart-breakingly real in his portrayal of Adam and Stuart. Keep being angry, Mallory -- many of us hate that he was forced into such a horrid storyline. It's unforgiveable. But, it seemed to me that Vincent Irizarry finally got his due. David Hayward's part was hardly sneery -- he was finally allowed to speak a version of truth that we seldom hear: the people of Pine Valley don't really hate him but hate their own weakness. Majorly true! And he was shown playing piano, dressed all in black, his eyes all asparkle with humor and irony. Good stuff!

Except for a few scenes between Tad and Jake (and one with Liza, who woulda guessed) most of AMC can be skipped, erased or burned. Oh. And Zach reads a story to Ian. And (thanks to Danny and his cheery, rose-colored soul for reminding us) -- Babe is still dead.

You go, Danny, with your glass half-full attitude! Dead Babe is indeed the brightest spot on the show -- and we must never EVER forget it. As for the Amanda prattastrophe, at least we all heard one good line out of the whole gloppy mess. Mandy told Angie an excuse that will go down in soap history: "I was ovulating, and I panicked." Now -- returning to mourning the unwarranted death of Zen. Today, Zach contemplating the dead turkey pretty much mirrored my own feelings. ~sigh~

My first reaction was to recoil in horror, too, but when I peeked through my fingers and saw the passionless kisses, it became funny. I imagined the director giving them instructions: "Kiss on the left, Ryan, turn your head Erica, so I can see your profile, now bend back back back. Good. Now try opening your mouth a little, Ryan [and seeing a dribble of saliva] - CLOSE IT CLOSE IT CLOSE IT! "Now, pull at his shirt, both of you, make your fingers into claws and let's see some panting!" [Then next scene, with both of them facing the other direction and with the teeshirt STILL ON] "Bend back back back, don't break anything! Uh-oh, turn this way, a little, let's see that profile . . ." HI-larious!

Another reason for excitement: CLIPS! We love all the clips and montages! Even though it may be a show we don't watch, award-nominated clips give us a chance to see quality stuff, from actors we know and maybe even loved in another incarnation. Thanks to Serial Drama for your hype and snark! I thought I was excited before, but now I'm about to wet myself in anticipation. Bring it on, y'all . . .

I have to agree - the fake labor storyline was foolish and ill-conceived. (Pun. Intended.) But the resulting stooginess from Tad and Jake was a riot to behold! I laughed out loud watching Jake alternately yell and issue orders through clenched teeth, all the while flinging blankets and doing crazy things with his eyes. I enjoyed it enormously! Early on, Tad asked, "Is this the floor show?" Apparently, it was. And it was hilarious!

Yay, Team Mallory! (Oh. Sorry. It just felt right.) I totally enjoyed all the Ryan snarkage. SO many Ryan failings, so little time. Mainly, he fails at FATHERHOOD. He rescued his allegedly kidnapped daughter and within hours, he sent her out to a sleepover. He brought Emma home with bandaged, burned hands and immediately sent her upstairs (with cookies balanced precariously on the bandages)to watch a video, another frustrating challenge to a burn patient. Even on CHRISTMAS MORNING, his darling daughter was at Opal's instead of waking up to her own family gathering. The only family gathering that Ryan had was boinking Greenlee on the floor in the living room. Tsk. Tsk. Ryan also fails at COMMUNICATION. He enunciates, he spit-yells, he emphasizes with finger stabs, he threatens with bulging eyeballs - yet - his words never seem to make it into the earhole. Which is fine, since they're usually stupid, asshatty words. My all time biggest gripe: Ryan fails at BROTHERing. He left home when Erin was five. He spent the next twenty-odd years roaming the planet, running scams and stealing fortunes, and he ultimately inherited Cambias Industries, a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Yet, when he faked his death, all that he left for his little sister was a clown nose. A red, round, squishy clown nose. Failure, thy name is Ryan.

I'll bet your 6th grade story had better cohesion and substance, in spite of that wandering corpse! You should print it somewhere for those of us who are intrigued by your cliched plottage and want to know what dire grievances those servants had against the mislaid husband. (Personally, I like that the killers were plural! And probably NONE of them went to the murder venue without a weapon.) At least tell us the name of the heroine?

Totally agree on all points. Ole *Turbo* is non-talented, anti-chemistry, rigormortis-like and absurd. And hate hate HATE her big-ass moth wing eyelashes.

Thanks for mentioning the good points, Mallory. And you can believe that no one will ever ever imagine that you're complimenting the storyline. A repeatedly sick/damaged/compromised child is never worthy of praise. Never. That being said: Erica DID do good. She rose above the shiny dress (and the shiny, new boobs straining at the shiny blue seams) and gave a GUT-wrenching, heart-breaking plea to Mona. I defy anyone to watch it and not shed a tear or give a small snurrrrfff of snotty emotion. Earlier in the week, Zach also had a small speech, directed at Ian: "You're just a kid -- you should be outside playing, not in here." :::sob::: Then he talks about Ian's heart and how they'll fix it, because it's important -- it's where love grows. :::sobsnurffwuff::: All good stuff. Majorly sucktacious story, but good acting moments. And YAY for Jake and Amanda! They have bonded in spirit and soul since she's been gestating -- they take naps together, they eat junk food, they watch SOAPS, they dance and they utilize Option #1 in times of stress. What's not to like?!! And mine own prayer echoes Leah's above: Please let Ryan be murdered. Or swine-flued. Or catapulted to Peapack.