Episode 121 Morals

In plain English, these are the morals from Episode 121:

Long Overdue

This episode came after a very long gap in my production schedule, hence the title. But because of the delay, it covers issues from about three weeks of episodes.

As soon as I heard of the idea of a Maid from Hell, it lept out at me that Veronica was the right choice for me, since I hadn't killed her in AWO as they had done on the real show. (See Episode 108 if you didn't already.) Not that any of this means I'm displeased with the choice they made of Shirley on the show. She seems like a fun character and I'll look forward to seeing what she does. But, as they say, there is always another way out. So I took it.

Oh, and in case you can't tell, I'm getting kind of tired of people flying back and forth from city to city at the drop of a hat. Especially with the airfare rates going up in real life. Regular people, like Cricket, who have no obvious source of income since they work all day in Legal Aid (presumably for no fee), don't do that kind of thing. And certainly Carl doesn't have the money for it. So when there was that bit about how she had to go to Madison and there was no other choice, I just flipped out. Of course there are other choices: How about the telephone? I started to wonder what it must be like to be around her all day making choices if she thinks the most expensive solution is always the only choice. And that led to this "plot" with her and the plane, the kids, etc.

By the way, I read in a magazine that Lauralee Bell was thinking of leaving the show to do another show. So part of the punchline about the TV show was just my helpful suggestion about what she might do--I imagine "The Christine Williams Show" on a network opposite "Martha Stewart". Both of them being perfect at everything they do, it was hard for me to imagine which one I'd watch if I had to choose.

Speaking of people leaving, I hear they are going to recast Tony. I can't say how bad an idea I think that is. Nick Scotti is a fine actor. Leave room for him to return if he wants to. It won't be the same Tony without him. I've said this over and over until I feel like a broken record: If the new actor is up to the part, that actor deserves a role of his own; if he is not up to the part, the part of Tony doesn't deserve him. Either way, Tony should be gone until Nick Scotti returns. The character of Tony is boring without the actor. He's a wimpy, ambitionless dork. What makes him interesting is Nick's portrayal. There was no reason he couldn't just ride off and let Meg get interested in someone else. Actors should never be replaced.

Indeed, the more I think of it, the more I think Cally should not even have been replaced. I wish she had been gracefully written out of the storyline, and Olivia had been left to deal with the emotional consequences of having been so mean to her and Malcolm to deal with the void of not having followed through with her and of being left with boring old Olivia. It's so rare that a character can go away (fortunately) because usually the actor wants continued work, and this was a chance to do something creative that was a memorial to the actress playing the part. The new actress replacing her is fine, but she could just as well have been another character.

Yes, there was a lot of violence in this episode. I feel as if there's a lot of potential for violence swarming on the show. Katherine and Jill seem ready to kill each other. Olivia seems ready to kill Cally. Phyllis seems ready to kill Michael. Victor and Nick always seem willing to kill anyone who crosses them. And on and on. What a bunch of angry people. One day I just expect them all to go crazy.

Mostly, though, I think the show is going well. With the exception of the recasting of Tony, I really can't say I have too many complaints lately. Though I will start to have complaints if Olivia goes back into heavy whimper mode for months on end, as she did a while back. Give the poor woman a real plot!

That's all for Episode 121's morals. Don't miss Episode 122 and its morals!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.