Chad, Liz, and the Russells (minor spoilers)
Posted by blueeaglex on 8/21/2001:
 

Since mentioning yesterday that I would write out Simone if I were writing Passions, I've received several emails asking what I would do with Chad, Liz, and the Russells, were I in charge.
For starters, I'd end the Chad/Whitney/Simone triangle. Someone--anyone--would casually mention to Simone that Chad and Whitney are in love. She'd run off and catch Chad & Whitney together. Then, she'd try to kill herself (the ledge of the hospital, perhaps?). She'd be fine, but would get carted off to the hospital's mental ward. Whitney would dump Chad, as "Nothing that can destroy my sister can be good for me." An angel would then attempt to convince Simone to forgive her sister and accept Chad and Whitney. She would, but by that time, Whitney would have started a rebound relationship with some guy (the only single guy not after someone is Hank, so I guess maybe him?). Excited about Simone giving them their blessing, Chad heads off to find Whitney...and witnesses her sharing her first kiss with Rebound Guy. Later, of course, Chad and Whitney would sort out their problems and get together, leaving Rebound Guy to start angst-ing to be with Whitney. Most importantly, though, Simone would head off to college out-of-state.

As for the character of Liz, here is what I would do. (Please note that this is based on the little we know about the character: she's black, played by an actress who's in her early 40s, and she owns a hotel/restaurant.)

A brief character sketch:

Liz and Eve grew up, side by side, in the same household....two beautiful, black teen girls. The key difference: Eve was the favorite daughter of the rich Johnson family; Liz was the daughter of the Johnson’s household help. Though the two were as close as sisters, the distinction between their separate social classes was always evident, at least to Liz.

Every guy wanted to be with Eve, but one in particular (we'll call him Peter) wanted her badly. Eve and Peter had a brief (sexless) relationship, mostly onesided on Peter’s part, before she left her hometown for college. Yet it was Liz who had always truly wanted Peter. After Eve’s exit from town, Liz finally bagged Peter while he was still yearning for Eve. Yet, even after she and Peter became husband and wife, she knew it was Eve that Peter longed to be with.

Peter turned out to be a brutal, abusive husband. At one point in their marriage, he raped his wife. Liz was finally able to get out of her relationship with Peter, though she was unable to get charges filed against him. Unable to cope with the baby produced thanks to the rape, Liz gave up the baby for adoption. She never suspected that the baby was sold on the black market, where Julian bought the child at a hefty price...to replace Eve’s child who died at birth. (The child is now known as Whitney.)

After leaving her hometown, Liz became the owner of a successful hotel/restaurant in Bermuda. Yet when the hurricane destroys her business, Liz wonders if perhaps she should pick up and move elsewhere.

A chance meeting with her childhood friend Eve in Bermuda sends her to Harmony, where she goes into business after buying the Seascape. Liz becomes friends with Eve again, despite some residual hard feelings against Eve, who she envisions as living a charmed life. Secretly, Liz wishes that, for just once in her life, she could beat Eve at something.

Liz meets TC, not knowing that he’s Eve’s husband, or that he’s married at all. She’s drawn to him from the moment they meet, though she doesn’t know his name. Later, Eve wants to introduce her to her husband, whose name she never mentions. Liz keeps meeting with TC and Eve, but never together. Finally, after many "Threes Company" near-miss moments, Liz realizes that TC is not only married, but married to her friend, Eve. A part of Liz knows she must give TC up...while another part of her craves to be with TC, if only so she can trump Eve once and for all.