Ever since Without a Trace started airing on TNT at 1 p.m. EST, I have fallen behind on All My Children. I'll watch it on SoapNet at 8 p.m. if nothing else is on, but otherwise, up until a few days ago, I couldn't tell you for sure what was going on with Erica Kane and company. My apathy with the show isn't entirely Without a Trace's fault. I've also kind of grown disgruntled with the current story lines. For instance, I really hate what they've done to Ryan Lavery, just to appease the Greenlee-Ryan fans. Sorry, I don't know the name of the ship, and I'm too lazy to Google it to find out. Yes, I'm happy that Rebecca Budig finally came back to the show, but did Ryan's relationship with Annie really have to be sacrificed for her return to happen? Pre-Rebecca, the Ryan we all knew and loved would have never left his wife and daughter, yet the new Ryan did so, pretty much without even blinking. Then there's the way Kendall turned on Annie. Pre-Rebecca, she considered Annie part of her family. Post-Rebecca, Annie is now Kendall's mortal enemy, Emma's relationship to Spike be darned.Nevertheless, I turned the channel from Jack and Sam to Kendall and Ryan on Friday afternoon, albeit 20 minutes into the episode. I missed some of the tornado stuff, but not all of it. I didn't get back from the bank in time to see all of today's episode, but I saw enough to know, at least from the previews anyway, that more tornadoes are coming. So here is my question: when did Pine Valley become the Tornado Alley of soapdom? The town is getting hit with more tornadoes that Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton in Twister. Before it's over, I half expect the duo to show up with their pickup truck and the Dorothy machine in tow. Hey, maybe that's what Binx's partner Reese--better known as Carly Corinthos #2--does for a living. Maybe she's a storm chaser, and that's why Bianca thought it was a good time to visit big sis and tell her she's having her husband's baby. Then again, Bianca only knows how to give birth in the middle of a storm so her appearance in Pine Valley kind of makes sense.
Here are some more questions. Why haven't the tornadoes hit Llanview? Isn't Llanview right across the Llantana River from Pine Valley? It was when I used to watch it, back in the good old days before TPTB decided to break up Andy and Antonio. I miss those days. And why is all of this tornado activity happening in the middle of October? Shouldn't TPTB be saving all the death and drama for November sweeps? Or do they just figure that the elections will cut into sweeps so they'd rather get the hoopla over with now?
You know, I really shouldn't be thinking this much about a soap opera. I really shouldn't.
