Monday, May 27, 2013

Boogie Chillen, S01E18, C4P2 (Wed, 5-22-13)

Evelyn waited ALL NIGHT before asking Opal about what happened? That should have been the FIRST place she called/made a beeline for.

Opal refers to Celia and her plaid-clad caboose!  LOVE IT!

I'm having a lot of trouble with the sound levels on the show. I have to turn it way up to hear some voices and way down for others (Angie yelling at BCT about pierced my eardrums! It actually HURT one of my eardrums, which is still throbbing a little even after 30 minutes)! Music on TV, of course is always louder than voices, but just two characters talking to each other as they sit right next to each other can have very different volume levels from one to the other.

Jeeze, AJ fondling the steroids and accompanying paraphernalia reminds me of Kendall (or was it Greenlee?) fondling the pregnancy test at every conceivable (brumpt-TING!) opportunity. He might want to think about getting an actual LOCK on his locker, at the very least.

Robin "a remote control for it would be cool & believable for a rich kid" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E17, C4P1 (Mon, 5-20-13)

So. How long before David and Angie have sex?

JAR has AMAZING muscle tone for having been in a coma for 5 years. I find it hard to believe he can even sit up, let along WALK, even with help.

Oh please! Celia wants to be virginal, yet she wears THAT to bed (with Pete lying on top of the covers and her under the covers)? I'm not saying she should be wearing a granny gown (too much easy access, in any case), but a flimsy gown that barely covers her ass is pushing it.

BCT has relatively white teeth for the kind of life he's lived. Funny -- he never struck me as someone who flosses and brushes on a regular basis. In fact, I'd expect his teeth to be somewhat on the greenish brown side. I think his teeth WERE kind of dingy back in the day (before bleaching became so commonplace, so I guess I can chalk his pearly whites now up to dentures (or Clorox).

TAN/OT: I knew a girl in high school (circa 1972) who had the whitest teeth I had ever seen. I complimented her on them and she rolled her eyes and confided to me that she had used Ajax cleanser (which I think had bleach in it) on her teeth. It had removed most of the enamel, resulting in cavities in every single tooth! She had already been beautiful and popular before she did that (I couldn't believe she was even TALKING to me or that she was so nice), so I was stunned that she felt she needed to do something so drastic. It definitely made her more human in my eyes. It also was a remembered lesson to not ever use cleanser or household bleach on my teeth.

Robin "we've all done stupid things, especially when we were teenagers" Coutellier

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Boogie Chillen, S01E14, C3P4 (Thu, 5-16-13)

Wait, did Brooke mean that Dixie has become a "therapist" when she said it's good that there's a therapist in the family? Yes, I suppose that IS a logical occupation for her. After all, she is widely renowned for her wisdom, sound decision-making processes, and overall level-headedness. Oh please! She's not known as DADD (Dumb As Dirt Dixie) for nothing!

So now they are dissing the CW channel (Celia mentioned it in a derogatory manner having to do with teenage audience stereotypes). What's up with the snide network digs?

What I love even more than JAR calling himself an asshole is the sight and sound of BILLY CLYDE TUGGLE! The sleazy pimp we love to hate because he's just so damn entertaining! I wonder how he'll hold up in today's politically correct atmosphere. OTOH, characters are swearing, showing a LOT of skin, and even jiggling their man-bits for all the internet world to see, so an old school pimp may not be a big deal, current events aside.

Robin "the church lady was a little over-the-top, though" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E13, C3P3 (Wed, 5-15-13)

Opal! What a sneaky bitch for snitching on Celia (for the sole purpose of keeping Pete for herself)!

Is it my imagination, or are they showing more commercials now? OTOH, I'm "binge watching" at the moment so maybe it just seems like it because I have to sit through them all one after the other without the ability to FF.

Jeeze, I nearly jumped in my chair! JAR was holding AJ's hand and trying to let him know how much he loved him, and then Dixie suddenly opened the sliding door to the room. The sound effect for the sliding door made it sound like Darth Vader was about to sweep into the room!

I love, Love, LOVE that JAR echoed my sentiments and referred to himself as an asshole! :-)

I agree with Debbie that, angst over Cassandra's situation aside, Jesse and Angie are waaaay overbearing on questioning the beaten patient about the sex trafficking ring. Of course, PVH has never been particularly strict about HIPAA violations.

Whoa! It's not often on a soap (never, in fact, until NOW) that you see a guy with loose briefs that allow his package to jiggle around right there on camera! I am, of course referring to the muscle-endowed henchman/porn actor who grabbed Cassandra at the end of the show.

TAN: Speaking of muscle-men, My mother and I were out shopping and, as we waited for a light to change, we looked at a nearby strawberry stand. A man had gotten out of his car to go to walk up to the stand. The first thing I noticed was that his biceps were HUGE. He was modestly dressed and a little on the short side, so they might have been overlooked if I hadn't been looking at the strawberry stand at the time. I pointed him out to my mother. I noticed that his thighs were also bulging with an abundance of muscles and said so. Mom said "he's also bow-legged". He was. I told her that that was because his thighs were so huge that he HAD to walk bow-legged.

Robin "some muscle is nice--too much muscle, not so much" Coutellier

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Boogie Chillen, S01E11, C3P1 (Mon, 5-13-13)

Whoa, Zach was getting pretty handsy with Bianca's knee and thigh in his empathy over Miranda's social problems.

How could Jesse have brought the FBI in to help find the kidnapped Cassie without the FBI contacting Angie?

Griff tells Dixie that JAR is suffering from retrograde amnesia and that what causes that kind of amnesia can also cause dramatic personality changes. Soooo, does this mean he might NOT be an asshole?

Poor AJ. He decides to give his father a chance and goes to see him. He looks so hopeful and even bashful seeing his father awake. JAR clearly doesn't know who AJis and treats him like a stranger; AJ looks crushed. AJ is not a little kid anymore, so it's kind of understandable that JAR might not recognize him right away. OR is JAR pretending in order to avoid responsibility for shooting and killing Marissa? Still, it be pretty hard for ANY parent not to at least give a micro-tell upon seeing one's own child.

Robin "when news gets around that JAR is awake, I think he can expect a visit from Bianca" Coutellier

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Correction Of Timeline When David Possibly Farts (twice)

Correction, when I asked if David was farting in the Thursday episode, I inadvertently asked it for the wrong day (I watch 3 episodes back-to-back). It was actually on Wednesday's episode (aka S01E08, C2P3).

The video apparently has a countdown marker on the right, but if you hover over a spot on the timeline, it shows the place within the timeline. Sometimes.

They happen during the second scene of David and Cara talking outside. David and Cara had been sitting on the bench, but then Cara gets up and stands behind the bench to continue the conversation (moving around or facing another direction in the middle of a conversation for no reason whatsoever, other than to indicate deception or agitation is a classic soap maneuver; there's probably an acronym for it in the script), and he does the same.

The first fart happens at approximately 13:51/10:24. Cara says "I was hoping you would appreciate me telling you what I did."

About ten seconds later, Cara says something about hoping he would move on and let her do the same.

The first one sounds a little like a shoe squeak, but he's not moving. When it happens again it's a little more rumbling. They could still both be shoe squeaks, but I like to THINK they were farts, because I'm easily amused :-)

Hey, SOMEONE has to point these things out!

Robin "Vince's note to self: buy some Beano on the way home" Coutellier

Friday, May 10, 2013

Boogie Chillen, S01E9, C2P4 (Thu, 5-9-13)

Annnnd here come the boy bands.

At least Miranda was HAPPY about being surprised with a private concert, as opposed to Bianca who had a sweet sixteen party thrust upon her, despite her insistence that she didn't WANT one.  Erica had arranged for the boy band O-Town to serenade her, along with about 100 guests that she either didn't know or didn't like. I think that was also the night (afterward) that she found out that her father had died. Erica always wanted the limelight, but Bianca NEVER did, AND she wasn't interested in boys, although I don't think we knew that at the time.

I wonder if AJ knows that his own father was in a boy band (on the show and in real life).

Jesse is about to be in DEEP shit with Angie over not telling her about Cassandra.

Cassandra, in the meantime, is about to have to earn her keep. And, yes, the timing of it coinciding with the rescue of the three women in Cleveland is a possible problem. It's certainly coincidental, but hardly the PP's fault. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if they change some things by hurriedly rewriting and reshooting some scenes, and possibly easing away from that storyline altogether. They had to do that back in the 1990s when JaNut From Another Planet had a bombing plan that coincided with the Oklahoma City bombing. They dropped that storyline like a hot potato! AMC may no longer be on a big-name network, but they DO have sponsors that may have some input.

Robin "what to do, what to do ..." Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E08, C2P3 (Wed, 5-8-13)

I guess Winifred got over her hatred for Adam; she's back working for him and even RUNNING for him.

Where is Adam going?

Miranda doesn't realize that her biological father raped Bianca; she thinks she "came from a cup" via a sperm donor. Bianca was telling her about how hard it was to have Erica Kane for a mother and how the tabloids ran stories about her being gay. Miranda seemed surprised. Now she's telling Celia about her origins. I think I see some research about her father in the offing. Kendall was on trial for murdering him, but then Bianca remembered that SHE had shot him. That was ALL over the news and tabloids. It shouldn't be too difficult for Miranda (or Celia) to google Bianca and find all sorts of info about her. I put the video on pause to write that, and the next thing out of Miranda's mouth was that she DOES wish she knew who he was or at least what he was like. Foreshadowing much?

Was David FARTING while he was talking to Cara?

How many female characters are on the show right now whose names begin with "C"? Off the top of my head, we have Cara, Celia and Cassandra (Kathy's name starts with a "K").

Ha! Did they just diss The Bachelor (aka, an ABC show)? LOVE IT!

I thought the name of the nail salon was Fancy Finger Nail Salon. The sign on the outside said New Image Nails. New ownership?

Dixie slams Adam for telling the comatose JAR that he's the biggest disappointment of his life. Yet there she is, dumping her frustration that David is back and now honing in on AJ. JAR may be in a coma, but that doesn't mean he can't hear things. WTF? So far he's heard that his father thinks he's worthless, and his arch-enemy is honing in on his son. He cannot even react to it. Adam did reconsider, and told JAR that he loves him.

Speaking of JAR, his face looks very well toned for an alcoholic with MANY severe injuries (not to mention cancer) in his history, who has been in a coma for 5 years. You'd think he would at least be slightly slack-jawed. His hair is also nicely done WITH some kind of product.

Robin "they must have had to degunk JAR's eyes & mouth several times a day" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E07, C2P2 (Tuesday - 5-7-13)

Yes, I'm VERY late with most of the week. Which is why it was difficult to figure out from the titles where I had left off. I had to do a little math, although I then figured out it will tell me the air-date if I hover my mouse over it. SO, now I'm going to put the season number, episode number, chapter number and part number (abbreviated, of course) in the headers, along with the air-date, so that we can ALL figure out which episode the BC is about.

Ah, at least we hear that Tad IS alive, just off somewhere. He and Tad is "off on assignment" somewhere. Dixie did mention Kathy, so she's in the mix somewhere.

Jesse is STILL keeping Cassie's predicament a secret from Angie!

Celia overhears Pete's friend ribbing him about what a player he is and trying to get info about how he plans to seduce Celia. Pete tells him to knock it off, but doesn't really say much. Celia, who had walked in to meet with him, turns and leaves. THEN Pete tells his friend that Celia is special and it's not like that. Ah, CLASSIC soap!

Wow, Cassandra's makeup is remarkably intact for someone who has been kidnapped, handcuffed to a bed, and beaten.

Robin "what happens when she has to pee or poop?" Coutellier

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Boogie Chillen, Monday - 5-6-13

Now we know that Kendall and Zach are actually DIVORCED, not just separated.

Celia reminds a little bit of a Christina Ricci.

Zach thinks that Cassie has been kidnapped for human trafficking purposes.

David was NOT about to strangle JAR at the end of Thursday's show. He was checking JAR's carotid pulse. Dixie saw him, though, and is convinced he was about to strangle him.

Bianca is an IDIOT to leave Miranda there in JAR's bedroom for the night. An I.D.I.O.T.  Why? Because Miranda now has a more urgent need to PROVE to others and HERSELF that she's not a lesbian like her mother. And there's AJ, all besotted (not to mention hot and bothered) with her, giving whatever comfort he can.

I recall Bianca (before coming out) wanting to prove she wasn't really a lesbian by going out with a boy and trying to force herself to have sex with him. I think maybe Leo interrupted them at the boathouse (AND she had changed her mind, but the guy didn't want to stop).

Robin "some things NEVER change" Coutellier

Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Skinny On The AMC Reboot, 2013

Someone who hadn't seen the new show yet asked about the generous amount of skin that is displayed in the AMC reboot, 2013. Here are a couple of examples.

In the first one, very early after the show start, we see Cara either remembering or fantasizing about sex with David up against the lockers at PVH.


In the second one, we have AJ rockin' out to music in his room after a shower. In his enthusiasm, the towel around his waist falls to the floor. In this screencap, there's an added bonus of the closed-captioning catching his next line when Miranda walks into his room unannounced.


So, you decide. Does the on-line version of AMC show more skin than you would see on ABC?

My opinion: YUP!

Robin "and that's only in the first episode" Coutellier

Friday, May 3, 2013

AMC - Boogie Chillen Lite, Friday - 5-03-13

Well, that was kind of interesting. On Fridays they will be giving recaps, behind-the-scenes stuff, interviews with various actors and crew members, etc. If regular storyline shows are only going to be on M-Th, it's nice to have something in between, especially at first when we need to rebuild our connection to the show. ETA: We can also skip it if we don't feel like watching because it's not part of the storyline

OTOH, I'm a little hesitant about finding out TOO much information about what goes on behind the scenes on a regular basis. We'll see.

The Friday segments are sort of a separate show with their own name (MORE AMC). If you want to make suggestions, give feedback or have questions about the MA segments, you can email them to:

      moreamc@theonlinenetwork.com.

Robin "all in all, I think it's been a GREAT first week back!" Coutellier

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Boogie Chillen, Thursday - 5-2-13

Oh yeah, I believe there are adult-size jeans that Miranda can't fit into. She's such a butterball, after all.

AJ tells Miranda that the trailer park called and they want their trash back. Has anyone ever sat him down and told him about his mama (and Grandma Krystal, for that matter)? Yeah, there's a hospital wing at PVH named after Babe -- there's also a pier in San Diego where quite a few sailors have carved her name in the wood. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the pier had collapsed from the structural damage!

I see/hear that Griff still sounds like he's about to break into tears with every syllable he utters.

So know we know that JAR is the assh--er--mystery patient (they spelled his name wrong, though (AFAIK). Babe always pronounced it JAR and I'm sticking with it. We still don't know what happened to Tad, though.

David always DID have a hate-on for JAR (and vice versa).

All that medical equipment in JAR's hospital room looks sparkling clean and fresh out of the box. Do they ship in new factory equipment every day for the rich guy?

Now we know for SURE that eBabe (aka Marissa) WAS killed 5 years ago. Well, at least we know there's a gravestone for her, and people seem sad that she's gone.

Pete assures Celia via video that he is NOT a cyber-stalker. He assures her of this via an iPad with the words: TOUCH ME on the screen. In her BEDROOM. There are also flowers for her. In her BEDROOM. Pete's waiting outside her window for her with more flowers. Nope. He's not a stalker. Only creeps who don't respect boundaries are stalkers. Pete's romantic.

The show ends with David putting his hand around JAR's throat. David had decided that JAR being in the prison of his own body was better than him dying; but then he saw JAR's fingers twitching and he's not about to let JAR wake up NOW. So. How long before someone comes into the room and punches David in the face? 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

Robin "I appear to be getting some of my AMC snark back; it's like riding a bicycle" Coutellier

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Boogie Chillen, Wednesday - 5-1-13

I'm glad to see that Brooke managed to heal Adam's heart. I've also missed Adam's hissssssses whenever anything he says has an ess sound in it.

The squiggle artwork in Adam's living room reminds me of the squiggle artwork Jack used to have in HIS living room. Or in his house with Erica. Or maybe in his office. Well, Jack had some squiggle artwork SOMEwhere.

OH FGS! There's yet ANOTHER child hidden from David? I think Leora was the ONLY child he ever got to be with from birth and she died at, what, 4 months?

Was McKenzie the little girl (who is now a teenager) that Cara championed the last time around? I remember that Cara had leukemia when she was a child and she was isolated and over-protected and HATED it. So when she saw another little girl being treated the same way, she stood up for her (against the girl's PARENTS). I think Cara got fired and/or banned from the hospital for it.

Questions:
  • Do people in PV still go to the Yacht Club?

  • How long will it be before someone blows something up?

  • How long will it be before a baby or child is kidnapped? We ALREADY have an adult being kidnapped right off the bat, after all.

  • ARE there any babies left in PV? If not, how soon before someone is sporting a baby lump?

  • Where are Kathy and Jenny? Jenny would probably be with Krystal, assuming Krystal survived, but Kathy is Tad and Dixie's daughter.

  • Did Jane buy BJ's and remake it into Jane's Addiction?

  • Is there still quicksand out by Willow Lake?

  • Did Jamie hire caretakers for the Wallingford estate that he inherited, or did he sell it off or rent it out so he could continue to be a doctor in Africa?

  • Is Evelyn the Headmistress really Celia's biological mother or aunt?

  • Does Colby Chandler feel eclipsed by Petey's success with apps, given that she had become a video-blog sensation 5 years ago? I don't get the feeling that she was a casualty of the infamous megadeath/engagement party.

  • Did Caleb finally say "take this job and shove it" to Cortlandt Electronics? I get the feeling that he abandoned it.
Robin "did Adam beef up security after the 'incident'?" Coutellier

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Boogie Chillen, Tuesday - 4-30-13

The new theme song for the show is "The Love We Give" by Imaginary Friends.

All signs so far seem to be pointing to Tad being killed or in a vegetative state. There was some nuance that Bianca needs to get over a loss, too, which makes me wonder if Marissa (aka eBabe) bit the dust at the party, too. I hope JAR bit it. Did I ever mention that I think he's an asshole? And NOW people on the show can CALL him that, if he were ever to show up. Erica hasn't been seen, but I think they are still hoping to bring her back. I was under the impression that Michael Knight WAS going to come back, but I could be wrong about that. In Tad's case, in particular, I don't worry at ALL. He's come back from the dead more than once, I think. Certainly DIXIE has, on several occasions.

AJ comes into the living room and starts peeling off his clothes. His team won something or other. Dixie tries to sound enthusiastic, but she's not convincing. AJ tries to be nice to his Grandma Dixie, but he's clearly uncomfortable talking about the elephant (Tad and/or JAR) in the room; he has things to do and people to see.

The new eating/coffee spot in town is called Jane's Addiction, run by someone named Jane. I suspect Jane gives advice to a lot of people.

Bianca is with Miranda at Jane's Addiction and telling her about tickets to a One Direction concert at Madison Square Garden. Miranda is NOT impressed. Yes, they WERE her favorite group, but that was 10 months ago. It's more Gabby's style (Gabby is 13 now). Besides, Miranda doesn't want to miss a school dance. She seems to relent by the end of their conversation, though. She mentions that Bianca hasn't been to NYC for a long time; she LOVES NYC and she should go up there and enjoy it some time. Bianca looks slightly wistful, but agrees.

Okay, either a writer or Debbi Morgan definitely made a mistake with the script on Monday's show, but at least Angie cleared it up TODAY. Lucy is just starting KINDERGARTEN; Maya, Lucy's mother, is the one who graduated and got a job in Portland at an EcoDesign firm. That certainly makes more sense than to have an infant grow to adulthood and move across the country over the course of 5 years.

Jesse calls Zach and tells him that Cassandra was seen getting into a car registered by his casino. It seems like Jesse and Zach have been out of touch for a while. Zach will get right on it.

Joe visits with Angie. He's up from Florida for a consultation. Ruth didn't feel like coming on the trip. It's hinted that she's depressed after what happened 5 years ago. She's going to spend time visiting with Amanda and Jake instead (well, at least we know now that THEY are alive and well and presumably living in or ear Florida, also). Angie mentions how hard it is to get over a tragedy.

Dixie sits by the mystery patient's side, holding his hand (it's definitely a man; either that or a woman with somewhat hairy arms, although the nails seem nicely manicured). Dixie tearfully says: "I'm here, Baby, just like I promised. " She lovingly holds the hand up to her face. It MUST be either Tad or JAR. Several people (Brooke, Angie, Joe) are clearly worried about Dixie's depression.

At Jane's Addiction, Pete, after schmoozing information from a girl wearing a school uniform like Celia's, hacks into the files of Bramwell Hall and sees that Celia's last name is Fitzgerald (and mutters that the school needs a better firewall to keep hackers out). 

The hot guy from school, Hunter, is also at Jane's Addiction and asks Miranda (after Bianca leaves) if she wants to hang out with him later. She does. AJ comes in and is NOT impressed.

Celia, in the meantime, is upset about how much her "guardian" ignores her, sending her gifts instead of his time. She calls the headmistress Evelyn, even though they've clearly been together for a very long time, taking trips, etc. I don't think Evelyn is her aunt OR her mother. Given that Celia has a guardian and calls someone who is motherly towards her by her first name, I'm guessing that Celia is an orphan or otherwise semi-adrift. She clearly wants to let loose and be like other girls her age, and that is why she is chafing at the constraints set by her guardian. She got off on the tirade about the guardian because Evelyn reminded her that, while she understands Celia's need to do good deeds, the guardian would NOT want her handing out condoms to hookers at the Miranda Center (which is why Evelyn found the condom in her room).

A weepy Dixie leaves the hospital room, promising the patient to be back tomorrow. After she walks out and closes the glass door, the monitor beeps rapidly and the patient's finger twitches. Those hands look too young to be Tad's hands, but they could be using just about anyone to be a body in a bed with a head we can't see yet.

Although the surveillance video seems to show Cassandra willingly going with the man in the video, near the end of the show we see her gagged and handcuffed to a bed. She whimpers and cries and struggles as an evil-looking man stares at her and calmly removes his coat. He's wearing a suit, FWIW.

Robin "will Dixie bring the patient a 'toymama'" Coutellier

Monday, April 29, 2013

Boogie Chillen, Monday - 4-29-13

In case you haven't heard or realized it yet, it's HERE! AMC, as put forth by Prospect Park, is now available via Hulu.com! On a technical note (before you race off to watch it), I've found that navigating it much more likely to be successful using the REWIND ICON (10 seconds) in the browser player window than it is to try to click on a position on the progress bar. Clicking on the bar resulted in odd behavior for me, including losing my audio. I also had problems with Firefox and had to use IE to successfully watch it, but that may be due to some add-ons I have in Firefox. The new show is 30 minutes, rather than 1 hour. I don't know if it will be this way for future shows or just the premiere, but I was able to see it on-line on Hulu by 1-1:30am on (pacific)!

In case you don't recognize me or the "Boogie Chillen" in the header, it's what I called my daily or near-daily comments on the show before it was canceled, and I am now resurrecting it! I have read and posted little in RATSA since the show went off the air, feeling SO betrayed by ABC canceling the show after 41 years! But I'm back NOW. The backstory to Boogie Chillens is that people asked about my comments often and it made it easier to find by giving it a "name". I love John Lee Hooker's music and the Chillen ties in with Children, so that's how I picked the name for it. Please note that BCs are NOT necessarily UPDATES; they are my comments. Certainly this first one for the 2013 resurrection is more of an update, but some days I won't have much to say or will go 2-3 days without commenting and/or lump multiple days together in a single post. I post BCs in rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc on USENET and in this blog.

WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE!!!

AMC starts 5 years from the end of the ABC version, which ended with a cliffhanger. JR was out of control and tried to shoot Bianca and/or Marissa, JR's ex- or soon-to-be ex-wife, who were now a couple. JR was furious that Bianca had "turned" Marissa into a lesbian. Erica got in the way of the bullet as she headed toward the door after Jack. Most of the children are teens now. Oddly Lucy, Maya's baby that Jesse swapped out for he and Angie's baby, who was stillborn, has apparently GRADUATED (high school? college?) and got a job in Portland. Presumably Portland Oregon, not Portland, Maine. And now I keep wanting to spell Portland as "Portlandt". Anyway, Lucy was a BABY the last time we saw her; so far she wins the prize for having the worst case of SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome).

Brooke has a nightmare. In the nightmare, David and someone else are wrestling over a gun. She suddenly wakes up, finding herself on the couch. The classic AMC photo album with the words "ALL MY CHILDREN" on the cover is on her lap. Adam rushes to her to reassure her that he's right there for her.

WHOA! A brief, but HOT love scene with Cara and David! I don't know yet if it was a fantasy or a memory. This is DEFINITELY no longer ABC! Cara and David were doing it up against a WALL and showing a *LOT* of skin! A LOT! Maybe I WILL stick around to see how this goes!

Ah, SO nice to see Jesse and Angie in a HOUSE where they belong!  I LOVE Angie's colorful robe, too! I also love that she and Jesse actually look and mostly act like REAL people and they look fabulous doing so!

Dixie looks at a photo of herself and Tad in happier times. She is wistful and misty-eyed, and looks heavenward with love.

Petie is definitely all growed up now (and completely un-dorkified). He had an in-joke while talking on his iPhone, telling someone that it's all changing; everyone is watching TV on-line now :-) He drives around in a sporty convertible and looks like the trendy, hot-shot, rich young man that he is.

Someone has been in a coma or otherwise incapacitated for 5 years, but we don't know who yet. We know this because Cara and Griff, wearing doctor gear at PV Hospital, discuss someone (who is just off-camera) as they look at charts and over to the person in the bed, etc. They obliquely discuss how David would be very angry about whatever it is they have been doing with the patient.

There's a new theme song. It's COMPLETELY different from any of the variations we've heard over the course of 41 years. My closed-captioning gave the name of the song and the artist(s), but I don't remember right now and don't feel like looking for it; I'm sure someone will provide it soon enough. Something about friends and love. The opening montage shows characters, mostly shown in pairs, and has the characters' first names written underneath each one. It's actually a clever way to introduce people to characters, former and new, that they will be seeing.

Adam and Brooke have still not married (the cliffhanger ending was at an engagement party for them 5 years ago). Adam re-proposes. Apparently it's "complicated". AJ comes into the room, mentions Brooke's recurring nightmare, and tells them that it's been 5 years and they need to get over it and move on. Brooke agrees, but can't seem to let go of whatever happened at the party, because so MUCH has been lost.

AJ comes out of the bathroom playing or pretending to play his guitar to music on the stereo. His towel drops unnoticed from around his waist to the floor. We can see quite a bit! Miranda walks into the room and he gets all modest and says "SHIT!" among other things. Miranda makes it clear that they've grown up together and it's no big deal; she's seen him naked LOTS of times (mostly when they were little, though). They clearly have a very strong sibling-like relationship.

He replaces the towel around his waist, and they sit on the bed and look at a post someone wrote on Miranda's facebook wall. The post asks "Is Miranda Montgomery a VAG-itarian or does she eat meat?" Miranda calls them assholes (no bleeps, no wimpy substitution curse words).

Now we know that Cassandra, Natalia and Frankie are still alive, because Angie talks about how blessed she and Jesse are to have such wonderful children and how well they are doing in their lives.

Angie and Jesse have sex on the couch (we don't see that part, just the afterglow). Angie makes double entendres about the size of Jesse's equipment.

Jesse has a BIG surprise for Angie. She can't get the surprise info out of him, though. She goes to take a shower and makes more comments about he and his BIG surprise joining her in the shower. He does, but that happens off-camera.

Jesse's big surprise is that he has arranged for Cassandra to come to visit. He leaves her a message that a driver will be waiting for her with a sign with her name on it. We see her phone lit up with his call. The call is purposely being ignored.

Cortlandt Electronics is going down the tubes and Petie, who is apparently an apps genius, doesn't really want to deal with keeping it from going under. Opal urges him to do otherwise, for his dear departed father's sake, as CE was Palmer's heart and soul.

Wow, SOME of the lockers at  PVHS actually have LOCKS on them! Not Miranda's, of course. I also noticed that the front door to Jesse and Angie's house apparently does not have a deadbolt, despite it belonging to the Chief of Police (assuming he still IS COP), and despite all the chaos and mayhem that has occurred in their lives since the 1980s. Some things NEVER change. I couldn't quite see if the door had a thumblock.

Cara mentions that David is behind bars for manslaughter (presumably due to someone who died (it sounds like possibly MORE than one person died) at the cliffhanger party 5 years ago); she'll deal with him when the time comes. Oh look, there's David NOW, leaving prison! He's headed for home sweet home ... I predict some more Cara/David skin-on-skin action in the not-too-distant future.

Pete (I'll have to stop calling him Petie) is driving around town and sees a teenage girl wearing a plaid schoolgirl skirt get bumped into on the sidewalk, and her stuff tumbles to the ground. She is wearing a very showy charm bracelet. Pete gets off his wheeler-dealer phone call and helps her pick stuff up. She picks up an apple from the ground and takes a big bite out of it. She has to get going. He asks if she's late for detention. She says she's not a student. She's taking a "gap year". She teaches Art History at her old high school. He says he took an extended gap year from Stanford. She asks about it and he tells her he went to California and started his own company. He asks her name as she rushes off to school. She calls back that her name is Celia. Pete sees something shiny on the ground. He picks up a heart that must have fallen from her charm bracelet. It has a photo in it.

Miranda is all ga-ga because Hunter, the most popular boy in school, said "Hey" to her in the hallway. AJ is not impressed and tells her that the guy is a douche and a player. BTW, AJ is a ginger now. I think. It's hard to tell with the lighting. He's definitely not sporting the childhood blond mop-top hairstyle.

All the regulars are  looking GOOD! I noticed that the outdoor scenes/backdrops are quite realistic (I see plain old houses in the near distance out the back window of the taxi David takes to PV. I don't see any mountains or urbanization of PV, but it also doesn't look like the quaint town from the early days of AMC)

Pete tells Opal that the old CE factory may have more potential than he thought. He looks at the locket in his hand. He's planning to stick around for a few days. Opal gushes over him and wants them to do scrapbooking and tai-chi together while he's home. He smiles patiently at her.

Celia arrives in her room at her "old school", wherever that is, and an older woman, presumably a headmistress (or a mom or someone in some sort of authority over Celia), gets on her case for being late and then wants her to explain THIS ("this" being a condom, mercifully still in its package as opposed to recently having been donned on someone's package). Celia looks annoyed. **Edited to add that I didn't even realize that the headmistress is played by Francesca James, who played Kitty/Kelly on AMC way back in the day and later went on to become a director and producer on several soaps.**

Jesse talks on the phone to the limo driver. The driver has bad news.

David visits a grave. We do not see the name on the headstone. He says he's been in prison 5 years for what happened to "you".  Tears run down his face. But now he's back -- and there's going to be hell to pay!

All in all, I'm impressed with the first new show. I'm hoping that the fact that the show is on-line only and clearly has fewer restraints, may make it a little more realistic in some areas. Don't get me wrong; it's still a SOAP, but they clearly can show more skin and say curse words, so we may never again have to hear an AMC character use the word "crud" unless they are referring to baked-on, hard to clean food-matter in a baking pan that was left in the sink, untouched, for 3 days. It's all SHIT from here on out, and I mean that in the nicest possible way!

The teenagers are quite polished. Of course, when I say "polished", I'm thinking of The Tin Man being buffed by machinery in the Emerald City. The young actors, of course, usually have very nice young, firm skin to begin with, but even that skin has been polished down to an exquisite, doll-like finish. It's like they all just came back from a high-end detailing service. I don't have an opinion, one way or another about their acting skills. I think I like Miranda the best, though.

The adults all look marvelous, and yet more realistic than they ever did on ABC. I LOVE that so many of them are still there! It makes the transition to the revamped soap so much easier.

Robin "here we go again!" Coutellier

ON THE NEXT AMC:

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Bianca tells Miranda that she's the coolest mom EVER. Miranda asks why. Bianca says that her friend, Mallory, just scored 4 tickets for a One Direction concert at Madison Square Garden.

Jesse and someone at airport security are viewing video. The guy at the computer says the guy going through some glass doors with someone looks like a driver, presumably with Cassandra. Jesse protests that the driver HE hired said he never even picked her up or even SAW her.

Jesse tells Zach over the phone that he will never guess how "that car" was registered -- under his casino. Zach turns in his chair toward the camera and says "My casino?"