Serial Drama

Beacon Hill: I've Got Your Own Happy Ending Right Here

So let's dig in to Season Two, Episode Three, shall we? (Watch it first if you don't want to be spoiled, of course!)

First things first: a moment of silence for another week without Tipsy Claire. (Don't pour one out for her, though, she would be very offended by the waste of booze.)

I love all the Boston establishing shots in the opening credits. Boston is a gap for me, pretty much the only major East Coast city where I've hardly spent any time (this is a minor lie, in that I have Floridian gaps as well). I think I went twice as a teenager, once for college visits and a second time for college auditions. One of these days I need to get up there to see it as an adult (Fenway's on the bucket list, though I suppose I'd be treated as the enemy there!).

But I digress.

Andrew's bringing Katherine information and it's something the Walsh Amendment and open roads and taxes and vague political something-or-other, but she's distracted and he's squirrely.

Evelyn finds a brooding Eric and asks him what's wrong, which Melissa Archer does in that Archer-esque way she pronounces "wrong" as ending with a Hard G, and I don't know why but I have tremendous affection for that. She wants to know why he's so distant with her, and it sure as hell sounds like the two of them used to be an item. (Unless I've forgotten something, I don't recall this information being introduced last season, which is a relief for this One Life to Live viewer because that would've meant REX AND NATALIE, boinking.)

Am I your favorite grandson, Nana?

Evelyn is very pissy that Eric married Susan to please his grandfather, and he didn't even tell her. She found out from his grandfather while Eric and Susan were on their honeymoon.

Eric: You were off on your honeymoon after you married him a month later, Grandma.

Touche, Evelyn. 

Her defense is a simple "that was a mistake," which, yeah, you're not exactly hiding it well, woman! She wants to know if he's happy, and he wonders if a Preston could ever be happy. "We were," she insists, but the key word is "were." So they retreat to their presumably loveless corners.

Sara brings some takeout dinner to Kate (remember going to other people's houses? so long ago....).

Sara: I remember when we were AT HARVARD you used to forget to eat all the time.

Damn, these ladies even name-drop their alma mater with each other!

Kate digs for information on why Sara's not with Diane at the moment, but Diane had to go back to New York. Conveniently! And naturally Sara brought Kate food from a place she remembers as her favorite.

Wasn't Lulu's your favorite place for salads while were at Harvard? You know, the TOP IVY we went to?

They chat about the length of Sara and Diane's relationship (NO REASON) and Sara wants to know if Kate's seeing anyone. "Yes and no, it's complicated" is the answer, which: TELL ME ABOUT IT. Poor Laura, y'all. Anyway, we naturally get no additional explanation of that confusing relationship.

Sara again apologizes for bailing on Kate and moving away so abruptly. Basically, she felt like she was being controlled and manipulated by her family and she had to liberate herself, and she wishes she could turn back time and make Kate understand. Kate is not entirely amenable to forgiveness...yet. Insanely cheesy saxophone music pipes in, just in case we forgot what genre we're living in at the moment! Kate invites Sara to stay to re-watch The Way We Were, which Sara mocks her for always weeping at when they break up. Excuse me, Sara, a SPOILER ALERT would've been nice for that 46-year-old movie! Rude.

Beacon Hill, Season 2 Episode 2

Plenty of episode spoilers ahead, so be sure to watch it first!

All right so, first of all, we need to talk about these two again.

Now, I'm all for healthy relationships where you're able to speak openly, but man is Laura forgiving. Katherine just goes on and on about the hold Sara has over her, how she just still gets to her so much and, sure, Laura doesn't love it but it's also kind of rude? Quit talking about how hung up you are on your ex to your current girlfriend, Katherine! And from their first scene in this episode, it sounds like the thing that brought them together was Laura basically nursing Katherine through her heartbreak. This doesn't bode well.

This season it seems like they're being a little less vague about politics and anchoring it in at least something reality-adjacent, talking about how different politics are these days, talking about public policy-tweeting, how the House majority leader has changed, etc., etc., but without naming any names (so far!). Which I like, only because it'll help us anchor these people to a context we have a shorthand for (even though it's a little funny to think about how dramatically the political paradigm has changed since Season One which, in-universe, was... like, yesterday? But hey, some of these people also have a whole new look since then! I'll allow it.).

In other news, these two are doing a bit of canoodling!

They have a little more spark and familiarity in this episode than in the premiere. Oh, also it sounds like Sara's paper is a tabloid-style right-wing paper? Maybe modeled after the New York Post? I can't remember how much information we really got on that in the first season, but it seems like that's not Sara's deal so we'll see how that plays out. Anyway, she's basically got her investigative haunches up about her grandfather's quickness in giving up his seat, but is also resentful that she has to report on both her ex and her own family.

Beacon Hill: Six Years or Six Seconds

As always, SPOILERS GALORE BELOW!

Oh hi there! Long time no see. Anything interesting happen since last we spoke on here? The world's been pretty uneventful, eh? Beacon Hill is miraculously back, a thing we truly thought might never happen despite our certainty in 2014 that it would happen in 2015. But here we are in 2020, an otherwise entirely un-noteworthy year in history.

This was a ride, y'all! I could've done the normal thing and just rewatched the first season in preparation for this, but instead I just read my own recaps and was still pretty lost. To make things crazier, multiple characters have been recast, including the two leads! Is it not enough that everything seems at least mildly surreal in the midst of a pandemic and almost-nationwide lockdown? The answer is no, no, it's not enough. I suspect this all came down to actor availability and not anybody getting the boot, since most of the replaced actors still seem cheerful and excited about the new season. So we'll forgive it! Either way, we should forgive anything in life that puts more Nadia Bjorlin on our TV screens.

In a brilliant but equally disorienting (lest you think this post about it is going to clarify anything for you if you're lost!) move, the "previouslies" that opened the new season included clips from the first season BUT WITH THE REPLACEMENT ACTORS EDITED IN. Has anyone ever done this before? I liked it, even though it made me feel like the brownies I ate this afternoon weren't just innocent brownies. So let's see what we can parse.

Sara Preston, one of the two lead characters (at least that's how priorities broke down in the first season), was played by Known Soap Person Alicia Minshew in Season One. Sara is now being played by Known Soap Person Nadia Bjorlin.

Sara's brother Eric, who was played by Known Soap Person John Paul Lavoisier in the first season, is now being played by Known Soap Person (but not to me yet) Mark Hapka.

With me? Next up: Sara's ex-girlfriend Katherine Wesley (aka Kate) was played by Known Soap Person Sarah Joy Brown in Season One, while here she is being played by Non Soap Person Marem Hassler. (A cursory search tells me she may have done an under-5 stint on The Bold & the Beautiful, but I'm not counting that.)

So far I think that's it for the cast replacements. A few actors new to this season include Hillary B. Smith, Jessica Leccia, and Alexis J. Smith. We're also promised some Jacob Young later in the season. Also returning: Ron Raines, Crystal Chappell, Louise Sorel, Ricky Paull Goldin, Tina Sloan, Melissa Archer, Jessica Morris, Rebecca Mozo, and Scott Bryce, among others. 

We've spent six years waiting to find out who was at the door that made wealthy wino WASP Claire Preston gasp as she did, and it turns out it was Senator Tom Wesley. Do I remember enough to understand why this would be significant? No, I do not. I do know that he is Kate's father and I guess the other Massachusetts Senator (I do recall that Kate might be appointed to Senator William Preston's spot now that he's ill, and he happens to be Sara's grandfather). 

I feel like we changed exteriors? Again, it could be faulty memory, but I thought the whole thing took place in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, which is very urban. Yes, the Prestons were definitely wealthy but I thought they were townhouse-wealthy, not mansion-on-the-outskirts wealthy.

If only there were some way to go back and verify! 

Anyway, Tom tells a perpetually-tipsy Claire that he's running for POTUS (I think? It sounded like he said "running for the leadership" but then she said something about his always wanting to be President.) and wants to make sure she isn't going to cause any problems. We don't know what's been between them, but she assures him she's not going to be his problem.

 

Coming Soon!

Some actual content coming soon just as soon as I get my technology all sorted. Here's an extremely subtle hint...

 

Quick Survey!

Literally one question: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8KSJWMX

It's anonymous and you can pick more than one thing! Feel free to expand on it in the comments here -- if you picked Web Soaps, do you have favorites? If you picked 90210, what are your favorite seasons? Etc!

Edited to add: I want to clarify one thing. I'm probably not going to cover the best new shows on television. Or the best old shows. If I can't have a little fun at the show's expense, for the most part, you can find lots of much more high-profile commentary on just about everything. I'm not here to recap Friday Night Lights or The Wire. I even dropped The Fosters because I like it and other places covered it well (Previously TV, Autostraddle, etc) but I noticed some sites dropped them so, hey, low-coverage shows are more likely to happen here if they're worth it. Maybe I'll pick it back up.

This is kind of stream-of-consciousness, but I just wanted to offer up a sense of what's behind the thinking here! 

 

Daytime Emmys: Live Blog

7:53pm:  Who's ready?

8:00pm:  They're doing a sketch about Ellen DeGeneres and Matt Lauer, which mostly seems about how they definitely will not show up for this thing. I mean it's for charity! That's the nicer thing. "Charity," unspecified. 

8:03pm: Tyra's hosting, it's real! This is the first time she's ever hosted an awards show, and is nervous about her lack-of-weave. In her childhood, they watched GH and Y&R. Tyra is basically overdramatically wonderful. She is rapping. Should she rap? I don't know about that.

8:08pm: Steve Harvey is presenting, and requests that the producers stop filming the losers' faces. 

8:09pm: Outstanding Actress! Finola, Elizabeth, Linsey, Amelia, and Lisa. Even Finola Hughes's clip made made me weepy. But, she did not win. Amelia Heinle won. She's insanely pretty. But she is not Finola Hughes. I feel crazy right now. 

8:13pm: Something about a game show? At least everyone seems awake. Outstanding Entertainment News Program! Entertainment Tonight wins. I outright did not know this was still a thing, but I do not claim to be on the cutting edge.

Who's here? Is anyone actually watching? Are you drinking to get through, or just suffering alone in some more healthy manner?

8:16pm:  Fan favorite award! Favorite talk show... audience? I don't even understand this award. I voted, but I don't remember being asked about an audience. Can we get Serial Drama readers an award now? If this is how things are working now, I'd like that very much.

8:20pm:  The hostesses of The Talk are presenting, and mostly Aisha Tyler is really, really, really, really tall. And they're joking about audiences. Because they're about to give an audience award, and I'm still confused. Did they trick me into voting in this category? Sara Gilbert is staring to look almost exactly like her wife. But, Craig Ferguson wins. I still don't understand the category, but my dog has farted in protest.

THERE IS BETTY WHITE. So no matter what anyone says, this show is the most important thing on television right now. Because Betty White is there.

8:25pm: Kirsten Storms and Ryan Paevy present Outstanding Morning Program. CBS Sunday Morning wins, because it is a thing on the air. Some old white men accept the award and speak awkwardly into the microphone.

8:26pm: They show clips from the Best Bitch Slap nominees. I actually saw none of these when they happened, so this is a bit of a delight. (Brooke looks like she deserved it?) Oh hey! B&B won for Quinn slapping drunk Brooke!

8:30pm:  Tyra is wearing very little, and now my dog is literally just standing in front of me, staring. She must be baffled as to why I'd be watching this. They're doing a video package of some fifth grade teacher. (I see some comments are coming in. soapbaby is with us!) Anyway the teacher is there and is crying and looks so beautiful and I love it!

8:34pm: They've already cut show clips for Outstanding Supporting Actor. That was fast! Chad Duell wins for General HospitalI! Good for him. Who can help but get behind him in Michael's new Sonny-hating mode? Truthfully, he's very good but this past year has given him a more generous showcase than the past sad-sack material. He thanks Ron Carlivati, Frank Valentini, Kristen Alderson, and God. Twice. Oh, Jesus made the cut, too.

8:36pm: Someone is singing "What I Did For Love" and they're doing a montage of actual soap scenes. ACTUAL SCENES. You guys. Among a hundred other things, they did the "Sonny sees Brenda outside the church in the rain alive" scene. And I actually really like this. No snark, y'all. None at all. Though I would still rather see nominees' clips.

8:40pm: Mario Lopez is presenting Outstanding Morning Program: Spanish Language. Una... nope, sorry, I did not understand the title of the winner. But AC Slater presented, so all is well! The dimples are all happening. My dog keeps shoving her face into my keyboard.

Glamorous life of a soap blogger: my dog has just pooped on the floor.

8:45pm: BETTY WHITE IS GETTING AN AWARD, EVERYONE SHOW RESPECT.

Those track suits do not bedazzle themselves, you guys.

Charo and Regis and Fred Willard and Marie Osmond are on hand to introduce her. Y'all. Betty White. Betty White. What is there to snark about? She is human perfection. Shut up. I'm not crying, your face is crying! 

Okay, I'm crying. The tribute was a bit odd, though. Nothing from the past 35 years?? Aww, Fred Willard is acknowledging her time on B&B and her fantastic work in animal rights. And Charo says Betty is the one who "put the coochee in the coochee coochee coochee."

So Betty White, the world's most wonderful human, accepts her Lifetime Achievement Award. She loves the award, but she's not quite as hot for it as she was for the anatomically-correct SAG dude. Well, what's to say? Nobody can make fun of Betty.

Oh, O42 has joined us in the comments, hooray! Who else is playing along?

As a New Yorker, I do have to remind you that the Subway Series is happening right now, so this is totally unfair in every way. Currently: Yankees 3, Mets 2.

8:59pm: Tyra introduces Miss J, and Tyra is wearing a one-shouldered onesie of some sort. B&B recently had its 7000th episode, so they're there to celebrate. Jacob Young, Karla Moseley, and Linsey Godfrey (on no crutches!) are there to be adorable. Godfrey gets a bit choked up. She's so cute.

9:01pm Outstanding Younger Actor goes to Freddie Smith, who plays Sonny on Days. Aww, I like him and all the people crying for him! 

9:04pm Outstanding Younger Actress goes to Hunter King for Y&R. Was she the one who sounded like she had laryngitis? 

Commenter Anne understands that Finola was robbed.

9:08pm: I confess I got distracted and I have no idea what these people are introducing. Oh! Outstanding "Informative" Talk Show goes to Steve Harvey. I wrote a play about a dating expert and I read Think Like A Man, so.... that is my context. I do not recommend his dating advice if you were born after 1900. If you were born before that, you are freaking awesome.

9:12pm: Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host goes to Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, who are not there. I have just poured my first glass of wine. 

9:13pm: Fan Favorite for wedding disasters. Not going to lie, I voted for Franco's "hell no," but I foolishly had not yet seen Ridge fall out of a helicopter.

What do you guys think of this Queens of Drama show?

9:17pm: Okay, so the cast of that show is there. WHY IS CRYSTAL HUNT INVOLVED?? Can I get a "what the....???" from my OLTL people?

Anyway, Outstanding Directing Team goes to The Bold and the Beautiful. I mean, sure! If Ridge is getting pushed out of a helicopter, we care about your mise-en-scène.

I feel like I missed the Matt Lauer joke. Who caught why they're doing this?

9:21pm: Alan Thicke, for some reason, presents the writing award, which goes to The Bold and the Beautiful. Um. Okee doke? I know it's sort of my job to be meanest to the writers, but I'm a writer and sometimes it's....well, you get it. But still. B&B?

9:24pm: Outstanding Game Show goes to upstart Jeopardy! Who'd have guessed? I'm so proud of them. They really are the Little Game Show That Could.

I see commenter C is in the house! (Can we talk about Kyle and Fish now???) (Y'all know I remember your particulars if you're regulars here!)

Okay, seriously. How did I miss the Matt Lauer thing??

Oh, thanks, soapbaby! "Charity!"

9:28pm: Outstanding "Informative" Talk Show Host goes to the hosts of The Chew. Hrmph. Still bitter!

I am now thinking maybe I got out of the late-night dog walk since she pooped on the floor? (Alas, life does not work that way.)

9:32pm: Outstanding Culinary Program goes to Barefoot Contessa. My day job has a legal relationship with her. THAT IS ALL I KNOW.

9:33pm: 50th anniversary of Days! Hell yeah. Oh dear. I might be a little teary-eyed. Thank god they covered demon Marlena!!!

9:40pm: Joan Rivers tribute. I will be quiet now.

Crystal Hunt is still on my screen. Not okay. 

Yes, C, let's talk about Kim! Were you so sad when she got the Mindy Project boot?

Oh, the In Memoriam always makes me sad! Oh gosh, Matthew Cowles. My heart hurts for the spectacular Christine Baranski.

Is it nuts that they showed acting clips on literally only one category? Come on, y'all!

9:50pm: They are giving the fans a vacuum cleaner. What the eff year is this?

Are we feeling like this is not actually ending in 8 minutes?

9:53pm: Outstanding Talk Show "Entertainment" goes to Ellen because Ellen and so obviously she is not there. Did you guys see Amy Schumer on her show? Can we talk? And laugh?

Um, I think we're going to run long, y'all.

9:56pm: Uh-oh, some suit is there to convince us that daytime is in great shape. Outstanding Lead Actor. Anthony? Billy? Jason? Christian? Well, it's Anthony Geary.

I will let you guys comment.

10:02pm: Outstanding Lead Actress. Is it Laura? Peggy? Maura? Alison? Gina? Well, of course it's Maura. Multi-network love. She is so happy and I love it.

Seriously, we're spamming now?

Carvilati? I feel like people keep saying this.

10:09pm:  Pretty sure Tyra just said "Gene" Francis, so here we are.

Whoa! A tie! Days  won. For one.

Y&R won for the second!

10:13pm: That wasn't too far over! And y'all? I still love soaps. So flippin' much. Thanks for still playing with us!

(Daytime Grammys?)

Okay, I walked my dog. Thank you guys for hanging out, whether live or not!

42nd Daytime Emmy Nominations are Here!

Well, they announced the nominations. The ceremony is, indeed, back on actual television this year! But that doesn't exactly fill us with excitement or optimism. It's not like the last ten times that happened were anything less than a shame spiral.

So who's in? Let's take a look:

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

PEGGY MCCAY, as Caroline Brady
Days of Our Lives NBC

ALISON SWEENEY, as Sami Brady DiMera
Days of Our Lives NBC

GINA TOGNONI, as Phyllis Newman
The Young and the Restless CBS

MAURA WEST, as Ava Jerome
General Hospital ABC

LAURA WRIGHT, as Carly Corinthos
General Hospital ABC

 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

ANTHONY GEARY, as Luke Spencer
General Hospital ABC

CHRISTIAN LEBLANC, as Michael Baldwin
The Young and the Restless CBS

BILLY MILLER, as Billy Abbott
The Young and the Restless CBS

JASON THOMPSON, as Dr Patrick Drake
General Hospital ABC

 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

LINSEY GODFREY, as Caroline Spencer Forrester
The Bold and the Beautiful CBS

AMELIA HEINLE, as Victoria Newman
The Young and the Restless CBS

ELIZABETH HENDRICKSON, as Chloe Fisher
The Young and the Restless CBS

FINOLA HUGHES, as Anna Devane
General Hospital ABC

LISA LOCICERO, as Olivia Falconeri
General Hospital ABC

 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

SCOTT CLIFTON, as Liam Spencer
The Bold and the Beautiful CBS

CHAD DUELL, as Michael Corinthos
General Hospital ABC

KRISTOFF ST. JOHN, as Neil Winters
The Young and the Restless CBS

JACOB YOUNG, as Rick Forrester
The Bold and the Beautiful CBS

Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series

KRISTEN ALDERSON, as Kiki Jerome
General Hospital ABC

CAMILA BANUS, as Gabi Hernandez
Days of Our Lives NBC

HUNTER KING, as Summer Newman
The Young and the Restless CBS

HALEY PULLOS, as Molly Lansing Davis
General Hospital ABC

 

Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series

BRYAN CRAIG, as Morgan Corinthos
General Hospital ABC

MAX EHRICH, as Fenmore Baldwin
The Young and the Restless CBS

TEQUAN RICHMOND, as TJ Ashford
General Hospital ABC

FREDDIE SMITH, as Sonny Kiriakis
Days of Our Lives NBC

 

Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series

MEREDITH BAXTER, as Maureen
The Young and the Restless CBS

SALLY KELLERMAN, as Constance
The Young and the Restless CBS

DONNA MILLS, as Madeline Reeves
General Hospital ABC

LINDA ELENA TOVAR, as Rosalie Martinez
General Hospital ABC

FRED WILLARD, as John Forrester
The Bold and the Beautiful CBS

RAY WISE, as Ian Ward
The Young and the Restless CBS

 

Outstanding Performer in a New Approaches Drama Series

SARAH BROWN, as Katherine Wesley
Beacon Hill the Series

MARTHA BYRNE, as Alexis Jordan / Joanne Edwards
Anacostia 

ANDREA EVANS, as Vivian Price
DeVanity

ALICIA MINSHEW, as Sara Preston
Beacon Hill the Series

VANNESSA VASQUEZ, as Camila Barrios
East Los High 

DANIELLE VEGA, as Ceci Camayo
East Los High 

Beacon Hill: Surprise!

Okay, fancytime soap nerds, let's take a look at the Season 1 finale of Beacon Hill, shall we? I think the running time should allow this to be quick and painless. The weather outside in NYC right now suggests I might electrocute myself just for writing this, so don't ever suggest I don't love y'all, okay?

And we're off! Some part of me assumed that as the season finale (and the fact that we'll be waiting a full year for the next season), the episode would be super-sized. You know, like 13 minutes. Or even 10. I saw the progress bar and realized this was not the case. So hang onto your hats because a lot of everything and a lot of nothing will be happening!

I need to talk about the title cards real quick.

Is this a digital image of an eyeball or a vagina? I'm certain it's one or the other, but the graphics confuse me. 

Anyway, we open on Tom Wesley driving and dialing his daughter. He leaves her a grumpy voicemail that she can't keep ignoring his calls. Don't worry, he's using a hands-free device of some sort.

Sara is working on her computer when her step-grandmother comes in to say hello. Oddly, she doesn't open with, "Hi, Nana!!"

Evelyn sits down to chat with Sara and tries to explain how much she and Sara's grandfather love each other. Sara is appropriately squicked by the idea of her grandfather being romantic with anyone, much less this young chesty thing. Sara gets a mysterious phone call and has to bolt, leaving Evelyn looking messy and sad. And busty.

Sara runs down the street in her cute hat taking a "very important call" from her editor. 

It's my favorite kind of soap opera one-sided phone call, with vague references to an angry but out-of-line person on the other line demanding that some sort of unspecified deadline be met immediately. She will GET HIM HIS STORY, DAMMIT!

She knocks on a door. It's Katherine's door!

Sara goes in and Katherine gives her some coffee. It took way too long to play the obvious beat of Katherine remembering how Sara takes her coffee. Then they talk about how awkward this is, because why show when it's way quicker to tell and you only have seven minutes? Anyway, the basic idea is that Katherine wants to explore Sara's suggestion that they try to be friends. "You weren't just my lover, Kate," says Sara, "you were my best friend!" Do people still call each other their "lovers?" Honest question. I can't wait to use that expression soon. 

Beacon Hill: The First Eleven Episodes

Time for a new soap! I know I'm way late to the party, but I was dragging my heels due to the $10 season fee and the fact that it's online only. I hate watching TV on my computer. Sheepish confession: I only just found out I can just plug an HDMI cord into my TV and everything that's on my computer screen is all of a sudden on my TV. This has changed everything. Now I can watch not only web soaps, but all the Australian women's prison shows I want!

What this all amounts to is: welcome to Beacon Hill coverage! I'm sure anyone discussing it online has long since said all they need to say about it, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet so that once the second season starts, I'll be caught up and ready to go in a more timely manner. There are twelve episodes in the first season and I've seen eleven of them, so we'll just dive in to those and then I'll cover the finale in another post. Mind you, when I say "episodes," I really mean "scenes." Because they are short. I believe the longest episode was eleven minutes and the shortest was just six minutes. All told, the entirety of the season was still less than two hours total. Some episodes were just one conversation. The jury's still out for me on whether I can appreciate this format, since my tardiness meant that I could binge-watch as many episodes as I wanted to in a row. Having to wait a week before getting another 7-minute episode might not win me over.

Going into it, I knew the show was a political and personal drama that starred Alicia Minshew and Sarah Joy Brown as ex-lovers. I'm going to duck after typing this, but: that first bit of casting was an impediment to my interest. Alicia Minshew had her moments as Kendall Hart on AMC, but I never loved her the way a lot of people did. She seemed to have two default modes, and once the second one (the "vulnerably blinking back tears while trying to appear strong" mode) had been overused, I lost interest. She's also another one of those soap actresses that really struggles with gesture. (I had zero qualms about Sarah Joy Brown. I don't always love the material given to her, but she's always engaging to me.)

After this show, though? I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't know if it's the role or the format or just that she's grown as an actress, but the things that grated for me before are really not rearing their respective heads here. Is Sarah Joy Brown more convincing in their romantic scenes? Yes. You can tell it's new for Minshew to play lust for a woman and she's stretching a bit, but I think she's so close to being there that it's hardly distracting. A massive highlight was Sara's (Sara is Minshew's character, just to clarify) morning wine chat with her mother (played by Crystal Chappell). Not a lot is said in that scene (although the lack of intercutting scenes lets us linger a lot more with these people than we get to in the lightning-fast cuts of regular televised daytime soaps these days), but Minshew's performance gives us years of history in her complicated and painful but very loving, strained relationship with her mother.

I can't remember the name of the chick in the screencap above, but that's Sara's girlfriend back in New York. It looks like they live together, and she's big-time out-of-sight, out-of-mind for Sara once Sara gets to Boston to see her family and do her story. (Oh yeah, she's a journalist, sent back home to cover her estranged grandfather's stroke -- notable since he's a U.S. congressperson of some sort -- Senate or House? I think Senate.)

Basically dear old Gramps didn't care for his granddaughter lezzing out so somehow he decided to get Kate (Brown's character) away from Sara by offering her some sort of exciting political gig. I got a little lost in some of this, because they very clearly state that Kate is a bleeding-heart liberal and also imply Gramps is uber-conservative, and they only refer to "The Party." So I don't know how they're in the same party, but I can only guess that Gramps is center or left-of-center on issues outside of his granddaughter being gay? I have no idea. That part really confused the crap out of me. At any rate, in the present day Kate is a state rep (Beacon Hill being her district), and rumors are that if Gramps steps down, he'll appoint her to his position.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the confusion regarding party affiliation is deliberate so as not to alienate any viewers? Although let's get real, it's a soap with a lesbian romance as the central driving force, the demographic is not exactly going to a Tea Party meeting after binge-viewing.