Hello fellow AMC fans - I'm back! Thanks to Suellen for taking over during my absences. It turns out I had to cancel the vacation I had planned, due to a death in the family, so the past few weeks have been very rough. But life goes on - so let's move on to the week that was in Pine Valley.
That Old Zach Magic
This was a great week for Zach and Kendall, in my humble opinion. It started with a freaked-out Kendall going to her ex for advice, resulting in some wonderful scenes. If you had any doubt that the Zendall chemistry had faded (I know I didn't), it would be hard to argue that the magic is gone after watching the couple's conversation on Tuesday. When is the last time we saw Zach that happy? I certainly haven't seen him smile like that since before the Mardi Gras Ball.
Despite some snarky opening remarks, Kendall really listened to Zach when he told her to trust herself. Through all of this baby madness, Kendall has been pulled in a million directions, so it was nice to see someone finally say that she should take control and have faith that she will make the right decision. The scenes the two shared at the hospital at the end of the week were just as sweet. One of the many things that made me fall in love with this couple was the slow burn they had, and Friday's scenes reminded me of all those wonderful Zendall moments, complete with an "I love you" from Zach. These two are far from over.
These were some of Kendall's calmer moments this week. She had a mildly creepy encounter with an overly eager Uncle Jonathan, confronted Babe when the new Mrs. Chandler showed up at Fusion, and stood up to Ryan and Dr. Madden, who were both pressuring her to make a decision about her baby. Speaking of Ryan, I have to give the guy credit where credit is due. When Kendall told him she wasn't leaving Dr. Madden and asked him to back off, he agreed - and he really did seem sincere.
I Spoke Too Soon
Unfortunately, after getting a pep talk from Erin and realizing that he was pushing for Kendall to be a co-parent because of his own father issues, Ryan decided to tell Kendall he wanted to be their child's father, no matter what - even though he told her hours earlier that he would accept whatever decision she made! Kendall said exactly what I was thinking: "What happened to no pressure?" This guy always seems to know how to make me angry!
Meanwhile, Erica was drugging Kendall's doctor, Greg Madden, - again! The not-so-good doctor received his second dose of poisoned tea from La Kane, who had a dream about killing Madden on an episode of New Beginnings. I don't know about any of you, but I laughed my butt off during that dream sequence. Something about Ian Buchanan acting so comically evil was very amusing to me. Plus, it was certainly more fun to watch than Erica's interview with Martha Stewart. But I digress...
Greg's poison-induced heart problems landed him in the hospital, but that didn't keep him from staying busy. He assured Kendall that he would not push any more prospective adoptive parents on her, he had a chilly exchange with Julia (his infertility diagnosis was way off, leading Ms. Santos and Ryan to believe that Madden lied on purpose), and he offered Amanda a job to make up for what Josh did to her. Is it just me, or was that conversation between Amanda and Greg more than a little creepy?
The Doctor and The Lurker
Most importantly, Greg was confronted by Dixie, who was at the hospital to see David. Before I get into the whole Madden/Dixie exchange, I want to address the David/Dixie scenes. I admit that I was amused by David's attempts to blackmail Dixie - I just like Evil David and Dixie is getting on my nerves with all that lurking. What I don't like is watching David beg to be with Dixie. I honestly don't hate Dixie, but she's still suffering from a lily-white image that's based largely on who she used to be. Yes, David's a sinner - but Dixie's no saint.
I had to laugh when Dixie seemed shocked that David would threaten to spill the beans to Junior in order to force her to stay. Doesn't she remember him at all?! What I hate about the "Please be with me!" attitude David is sporting is that it casts him as being unworthy of Dixie's love, and I just don't think that's the case. Do I think they belong together? No. But the days of poor, innocent Dixie being corrupted by Big Bad Dr. Hayward have come and gone. I'm not sure they ever existed to begin with.
Back to Dixie and Dr. Madden. After the two had a very cryptic conversation filled with threats and evil stares, Zach demanded that an upset Dixie reveal her connection to the doctor, citing his fears that Kendall might suffer at Madden's hand. Dixie revealed that Greg was the reason Dixie lost her daughter, Kate. I'm sure we'll get some more details on the story this week, but I think a lot of us saw this Kate connection coming a long time ago. The only time I remember Dixie mentioning her daughter, she didn't say "Kate died" or "Kate didn't survive" - she said "Kate isn't with me". Could the doctor have pulled another baby switcheroo? Is he planning to do the same to Kendall? Time will tell.
Babe + Amanda = BFF?
As I mentioned above, Babe kept herself busy this week - following the love-fest that was her honeymoon with JR - by trying to make nice with the Fusion girls. While Kendall was understandably angry and gave Babe a ton of attitude, Simone and Danielle (yes, a Dani sighting! Hallelujah!) were a little more diplomatic. That went out the window when Babe introduced her new assistant: Amanda. Simone didn't take too kindly to that hiring and attacked poor Mandy, who she still blames for Ethan's death.
After the Fusion idea failed, Amanda tried to convince JR to hire Amanda at Chandler Enterprises! It seems Babe empathizes with Mandy, because, as she says, they both did horrible things in the name of love. JR was quick to point out that nobody ended up dead as a result of Babe's actions. True - Babe just pretended Miranda and Little Adam were dead. I'm sorry, but I have a lot more sympathy for Amanda. Her actions seem a heck of lot more selfless - she was trying to protect her mom, not keep her son for herself - and she ended up losing both her parents.
Speaking of which, some of this week's best scenes were the ones Janet and JR shared on Friday. Janet begged forgiveness for her sins against JR and his family. Kate Collins and Jacob Young really were awesome. Take away the silly costumes and over-the-top plots - the subdued Janet reminded me why I should care about this character. It's too bad that Janet's best efforts to convince JR that his mother really is alive will likely fall on deaf ears.
All that being said, the weeks leading up to May sweeps should be pretty interesting - according to Dr. Joe, we'll even see the return of Jeff Martin, who comes to town to meet with his sudden son, Josh. Talk about a blast from the past! Add that to all the Madden-related drama, and we should get some great stuff.
Thanks for reading - see you back here in two weeks.
-- Kristine
