Episode 18 Morals

In plain English, these are the morals from Episode 18:

Peter, visiting Phyllis, gets right down to business

This was the first of several shots I might take (pardon the pun) at explaining the rumored exit of Michelle Stafford in a way that could be easily reversed if it turned out she wasn't really going to leave or later wanted to come back. I also figured at the same time I'd take a stab (oops) at explaining Sasha's recent illness.

Hope tries again to make Victor's business her own

It's about time that Hope had something to do and I think running a company would be great for her. Also, I want to get Jabot away from Victor, so it seemed worth mixing the two.

As for the thing about Jack being responsible for everything? Uh, well, I didn't make that up--that's straight off the show. And it was just fun to repeat a little.

And then there's the embezzlement--I've been looking for some way for Jack to be a villain. This seemed almost plausible--that he might do something a little shady with good intentions. And then he could either get caught or get himself mired deeper and deeper in an attempt to hide what he's doing. But it offers some interesting possibilities.

Neil faces the responsibility of his monkey business; Olivia takes time out from her busy-ness to stop by the hospital

Is Olivia blind to the reason that she was so angry with Nathan? Is she so stupid or lost that she'd do the same thing to her sister? That plotline is just ridiculous.

Mary, unable to mind her own business, needles Cricket about a baby

We need to explain how people who weren't planning a child would get pregnant. A hole in the diaphragm perhaps? Well, I wanted something more purposeful, and so I wove Mary into the scene. This scene was mostly just for fun; there's no deep point here... well, other than the knitting needles perhaps.

That's all for Episode 18's morals. Don't miss Episode 19 and its morals!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.