Subject: Passions Problem #5 - Unresolved Stories/NO Payoffs
 

When you watch a soap, you want to see a story resolved, and then you'll go
onto the next level of stories, that work out of the stories that you've been
watching.

On Passions, you have so many unresolved stories, it's ridiculous.

To name a few:
What is in TC's shed?
Will anyone ever find out about Julian and Eve?
Who are Chad's parents?
If they're not Julian and Eve, where is THEIR son?
What happened to Martin Fitzgerald?
Who was Hank talking to on those phone calls? WHAT is his real background?
And, now, because we know that David was hired by Ivy - what IS Grace's
background. I sadly, bordered on bitterness, realized that David being hired by
Ivy sets the story of Grace's background back to SQUARE ONE - we're back on
that hamster wheel where Grace is concerned.

When David first appeared, I didn't trust him, and thought that something was
wrong with him. But, silly me, I thought that something had to do with the fact
that he was trying to get in  contact with the Standish Family Powers. I was
interested in the story, because it was one of the smarter ways to tap into the
supernatural aspect of the show.

Of course, I shouldn't be surprised. I shouldn't be surprised that this
possible going forward with this angle of the show, tapping into a character
that hadn't had much introspection - Grace, was too much to ask for from JER.

Now, we've taken a possibly interesting story, turned it not only into a
cliche, but a terrible cliche, thus helping to ruin the character of Ivy. I
'get' that Ivy wants Sam. Why not have her go after Sam when David went after
Grace? Why not let it happen, giving the Savy fan base - which DOES exist, a
little bit of happiness, and then reunite Sam and Grace.

For months, I had been calling the Ivy/Sam/Grace story the best-written on
Passions. By using this cheap cliché, it’s totally erasing all the good work,
and emotional background that existed in this story. Ivy is SO much more than
Sam….why break her down to being THIS pathetic?

I know that I can’t hope for the Martin Fitzgerald thing ever coming to the
forefront until Luis and Sheridan get together….which I don’t know will ever
happen, because of this Sheridan Annual Death Hamsterwheel that they’ve got
going on. Martin is part of the GENUINE story that Shuis has going for it, but,
of course, it’s being jettisoned for this Sheridan Dies Every Year Crap, and
now, the introduction of Brian, for another NON-Triangle Garbage. Oooh..I can
see how BOTH of these are much more interesting than the disappearance of a
core family’s patriarch…..NOT!

Then, there are the left-hanging stories with the Russell Family.

The NON-writing for the character of TC is a pet peeve of mine, I fully admit.
I find it offensive that the writers seem to only be able to write TC as ‘the
Angry Black Man’ charicature. TC is another point about how I’d like to know
WHY Hidden Passions was ever written, if JER isn’t going to follow what was
written in the book as background.

TC is a prime example of this. I DESPISE the way that the HACK writers on this
show trivialize the accident that TC was in, thus further turning the character
into a STEREOTYPE CHARICATURE, when  all it would take to flush the TC
character out, would be to reveal what was in the book, Hidden Passions.

WHY do the writers, when showing TC on screen, continue to INSULT the viewers,
by making that the accident that ended his tennis career was little more than
an unfortunate fender bender, when, in fact, Hidden Passions reveals that the
accident was enough to send TC into a COMA FOR OVER A MONTH!

In over TWO YEARS on the show, the crackpot writers have NEVER told the
audience of the depth of the seriousness of TC’s accident. They could have
gotten the point across in a few scenes, here or there, but, I guess they found
it to be more important to perpetuate THE STEREOTYPE CHARICATURE of the ‘angry
Black man’ that they have dumbed down TC too. I find it insulting and demeaning
to watch the ONLY Adult Black male persona to be portrayed in this cheap and
insulting way, with little depth and humanity. How can the SHOW get it so
wrong, when Hidden Passions added the depth to the character?

Another simple question: WHY does TC have a ‘perfection’ complex, where Eve is
concerned? WHAT happened to him that he MUST have a ‘perfect’ wife? Since THIS
is one of the BUFFOON characteristics that they bring up, over and over again
with TC, don’t you think that we, as an audience, should at least be clued into
WHY the man is this way? Was it an event from his childhood? Was there another
woman before Eve? This isn’t a difficult question to ask, and I don’t think I’m
asking too much to ask for THIS personality trait to be EXPLAINED in TC.

Watching the show, one would wonder WHY anyone would want TC and Eve to remain
married? Eve seems like a fool to be married to this man, while Hidden Passions
showed quite well, and in beautiful scenes, one after the other, WHY this
couple is together, and how much their mutual pain bonded them, in addition to
their love. I’ve seen at least a hundred Sam and Ivy flashbacks, but, I can’t
get ANY TC and Eve flashbacks, just explaining the basis of this relationship,
yet, we’re supposed to believe that Eve should stay with TC, and be fighting
for this marriage?

Huh?

Then, there is Julian and Eve’s past. Since Eve and Julian are supposed to have
loved one another, I find it curious, that when they flashback to the
relationship, they continue to show the ONE flashback that never fit in with
the other flashbacks. In all the other flashbacks, Eve was either happy, or you
felt, a willing participant in her relationship with Julian. Yet, the times
that they have been ‘remembering’ the relationship, they use the ONE flashback
where Eve doesn’t look just unhappy, she looks absolutely miserable. What’s up
with that?

And, once again, I will have to say that if you are doing flashbacks of
relationships, why NOT do flashbacks of the Julian/Eve relationship? There are
things in the book that would add depth to the story. Scenes between them that
would explain a great deal. Why is it so hard to believe that Julian and Eve
loved one another. Oh, yes, but,  I’m remembering a Julian that hadn’t been
hatcheted by this absolutely ridiculous ‘ I’ll kill my sister’ storyline. I’m
remembering the Julian that though bad, had a sliver of a soul, and showed it
to Eve, when she dug for it. I guess I’m not relating to the cartoon Julian
that I now have on my screen.

Did Eve run Orville down? It’s ridiculous that the show waited so long about
the Orville story that the poor actor actually died; sad to say, but, it’s
almost a metaphor for how this story is an example of so much else that has
been left unsaid on this show.

Did Eve send Orville the money?

How did Orville know Chad?

WHO are Chad’s parents?

The decimation of the character of Chad Harris is also one of the unforgiveable
things done by this show. Chad Harris had a purpose when he first came on this
show. His story was a good one; now, he’s been turned into an Enabler and a
First Class Liar, via his association with the E/T Black Hole. He had goals for
himself; dreams. Where is the dream of his music? How could the Chad that first
came on the show, treat Simone so shabbily, and turn himself away from the
search for his parents?

I was always accepting that the teens had to have ‘their part’ of this show.
That was ok, I thought, as long as those of us who really wanted decent ‘soap’
could get a few bones thrown our way. That was what the Adult part of the cast
was for. And the one natural story that had eons of potential and could play
out for years, because of all that it would affect, would be Chad as Julian and
Eve’s son, which seems to be dropped too.

We got to SEE Chad and Eve’s relationship grow. We were beginning to see Chad
and TC’s relationship grow. His involvement with his potential ‘sisters’. It
was all there. What would happen if Eve found out he was her son? How could TC
handle loving Julian’s son, or the fact that he exists? What about her
daughters? This is real CHARACTER- based drama that could fuel this segment of
the Passions Canvas FOR YEARS.

People ask me why I watch this show if I’m so critical of it. I will admit it –
I’m waiting for this payoff: Chad as Julian AND Eve’s son. Without it, I admit
– I’m outta there. I didn’t invest over 2 years in this story, only for them to
bring on some random Black woman  like Liz, to shove her in as Chad’s mother.,
and for what? A Chad and Whitney romance? Gimme a break. Not only is it NOT the
better story, but, they aren’t even written as a remote priority of this show.
IF I had been shoved, rammed, crammed, Chadney as hard as I’ve been Charguel
(at least Chadney HAS chemistry), MAYBE I would understand. But, to be cheated
out of the huge ripple effects story of Chad as Julian and Eve’s son, for a
romance that they show NO respect to? That would be it for me.

The unresolved story syndrome hooks up quite  directly with the NO PAYOFF
syndrome of Passions.

I have read over and over that James E. Reilley was a fan of Bill Bell. Well,
the only thing that he has mimicked with regards to Bell is the slow pacing.
The wretchedly slow pacing. He must have skipped over all of what Bell showed
over the years with regards to PAYOFF!

Bell’s pacing was slow…yes….but, he rewarded the viewer’s patience with a
PAYOFF!

Something that JER has totally decided to forget.

Because, there has been NO satisfying PAYOFF anywhere on this show.

Now, a great deal could be connected to the not-so-small fact that there has
been little if ANY advancement in ANY of the major stories.

The only exception would be that Ethan’s paternity was revealed, and even THAT
was botched. The big paternity reveal happened, and then ‘nothing’. NONE of the
emotional fallout that should have happened. NO real struggle between Sam and
Ethan trying to form a bond; we were CHEATED out of the scene where Sam
explained to Jessica, Kay, Charity and Noah, that they had a new member of the
family. We had NONE of the emotional loss from Ethan. One day he was defending
the Cranes, and the next day, poof, he knew that they were ‘evil’, and that he
was better to be rid of them. RIDICULOUS.

And, then, the total collapse of the Julian/Ethan relationship. How false and
how insulting to anyone who had been raised by someone other than a biological
parent to suddenly  say that the relationship doesn’t exist because you find
out the DNA doesn’t match? Phooey. This also doesn’t bode well for any of the
future REAL revelations. A PAYOFF revelation is supposed to take the story to
the NEXT level. IF JER botched THIS payoff to this degree, how will the other
stories fare?

It’s been over TWO YEARS since the beginning of the show. That is enough time
to reveal most, if not ALL of the initial secrets that have been on the show
since the beginning. It is time to REVEAL those secrets, and for the NEXT level
of the show to be there because we are dealing with the AFTERMATH of those
secrets? How can this show be adding NEW characters, when they haven’t even
dealt with the characters that they already have?

The PAYOFF is another silent agreement between viewer and soap opera. When the
viewer begins to suspect that they will NEVER get a payoff for time invested,
or begin to feel like they’re being ‘scammed’, they will begin to turn off
their tv’s, following the old addage, " why throw good money after bad?"

Passions is NOT at the bottom of the barrell ratings-wise because people are
‘missing this happening show’.

They are at the bottom and have lost a million viewers from it’s high point
because people are sick and tired of things ‘ not happening’ and no payoff for
their viewing.

SIP