Most Pointless Story

[Monzo]

Knots Landing knew how to tell good, captivating stories. Sometimes there were stories that weren't really good, but you still understood the writers' intention. But were there also stories that seemed irrelevant and meaningless? What was the most pointless story on Knots Landing?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Interesting point. I think that what made KNOTS so unique was the execution of their stories. Even a potentially pointless story tended to, more or less, work -- not always because of what they were doing but because of how they were doing it.

If DALLAS wasn't always on-point with the plotting, it tended to fall apart pretty fast. But KNOTS could and would go from one very focused and intense narrative to a very leisurely one. And they usually pulled it off, almost seamlessly.

That said, the last two or three seasons might be ripe for possible criticism for certain plots that began to feel pointless. But I haven't seen them in forever and three days.

 

[Toni]

I´s say that the worst story was Abby-is-bad-because-Charles-Scott-made-her-bad. Everything in it was awful, even Donna looked a little lost in those episodes.

Of course, there is Diana and her far-fetched, loudly performed plots, and the whole Kenny & Ginger débàcle.

 

[Julia's Gun]

There are 2 that stick out for me - both around season 7 - that annoyed me at the time and in re-watches.
The whole story with Peter's mother Sylvia, was really tedious and didn't really go anywhere. First she was his mother, then she wasn't, then they were trying to get money out of Greg, then was Peter trying to poison her? I never cared about her or the storyline but Ruth Roman had loads of screen time that year, but then it all fizzled out. And nothing ever really came of Peter and Jill being siblings getting revenge on Sumner for swindling their family. They never did get revenge and that plotline got forgotten after a while too.

The other one is Empire Valley and that John Coblenz character, which is kind of linked as well. That story was retconned so many times it was difficult to keep up. One week it was a massive real estate development, then it was a secret government intelligence complex, then a toxic waste dump,. Gary going undercover for Coblenz was a real nadir. I found Coblenz extremely unconvincing, he looked liked Bryan Ferry's wicked twin. And didn't Galveston leave Empire Valley to Gary because they bonded and he saw him as the son that Sumner would never be. Why would he have left it to Gary if it was all polluted?
I think the writing teams had changed midway through season 6, and this story line just got as toxic as the Lotus Point reservoir. Of course everyone remembers the masterpiece storyline of this period - Val's babies which was mostly excellent throughout, it's easy to forget there were also some really crappy sub plots thru seasons 6-7 too.

No I won't mention Jean Hackney and season 8....

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

There are 2 that stick out for me - both around season 7 - that annoyed me at the time and in re-watches.
The whole story with Peter's mother Sylvia, was really tedious and didn't really go anywhere. First she was his mother, then she wasn't, then they were trying to get money out of Greg, then was Peter trying to poison her? I never cared about her or the storyline but Ruth Roman had loads of screen time that year, but then it all fizzled out. And nothing ever really came of Peter and Jill being siblings getting revenge on Sumner for swindling their family. They never did get revenge and that plotline got forgotten after a while too.

The other one is Empire Valley and that John Coblenz character, which is kind of linked as well. That story was retconned so many times it was difficult to keep up. One week it was a massive real estate development, then it was a secret government intelligence complex, then a toxic waste dump,. Gary going undercover for Coblenz was a real nadir. I found Coblenz extremely unconvincing, he looked liked Bryan Ferry's wicked twin. And didn't Galveston leave Empire Valley to Gary because they bonded and he saw him as the son that Sumner would never be. Why would he have left it to Gary if it was all polluted?
I think the writing teams had changed midway through season 6, and this story line just got as toxic as the Lotus Point reservoir. Of course everyone remembers the masterpiece storyline of this period - Val's babies which was mostly excellent throughout, it's easy to forget there were also some really crappy sub plots thru seasons 6-7 too.

No I won't mention Jean Hackney and season 8....

As good as Paulsen usually was -- and I'm normally a big defender of his work -- the tonal shifts of Season 7 are a bit problematic. How much of that was the result of the political problems behind the scenes is an open question.

And Paulsen liked his hookers.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I can't imagine that they would intentionally write a pointless story. Sometimes the result is underwhelming or downright bizarre (like, only Ben could kill Greg at that exact moment). But then I think of Ben's final scene and it sorta becomes great again.

Post-Pat Frank Williams isn't very interesting to watch but I'm not sure if that equals "pointless".

 

[Soaplover]

I think the Peter/Jill revenge against Sumner story got lost with the changeover from Paulson to Latham. It didn't help that Jill was entering and exiting the canvas throughout season 7 so I'm wondering if maybe having Jill be Peter's sister was a last minute decision when she was bought back in the 2nd half of season 7 and moved out of the Karen/Mack orbit.

The Jean Hackney story went too long and should have ended earlier in order to deal with the fall out involving Ben, Ben/Val, Laura/Val, etc.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Anne's sojourn as a homeless person with her "comic" sidekick Benny Appleman was pointless in the sense that the whole experience did little to change Anne. Typically you send a character through such trials and tribulations in an effort to do a soft-reset of the character, and typically to send them in a different direction. The whole subplot was a waste of onscreen time and when Benny was sent on his way, it was like Anne had learned nothing or experienced any sort of growth.

 

[Laura Avery-Sumner]

The only point I ever saw to Johnny Rourke or his story was that someone figured they could pull some Days Of Our Lives fans and he would look good with Nicolette Sheridan. And shirtless scenes.

 

[Seaviewer]

Gary going undercover for Coblenz was a real nadir.

But Gary asking if he needed to get a pair of sunglasses was a great line.

 

[shaqattaq32]

Eric acting weird for a few episodes because he wants his mom to sell the car dealership; she doesn’t, yet it is never seen or mentioned again.

Eric acting weird for a few episodes because he has a black girlfriend, only for nobody to care and for her to never be seen or mentioned again.

Valene teaching Lynnette to read.

Valene making a film version of her book.

Anne/Benny

 

[Seaviewer]

it is never seen or mentioned again.

It is briefly when Harold is working there.

Eric acting weird for a few episodes because he has a black girlfriend, only for nobody to care and for her to never be seen or mentioned again.

That was a shame. Troy Beyer would have made a great addition to the cast - as Dynasty knew when they snapped her up.

Valene teaching Lynnette to read.

Another missed opportunity. Val mentoring someone like her younger self could have been played out with more depth.

 

[Chase Gioberti]

Frank Williams working for Mack. They killed off the wrong Williams.

Danny/Val/Gary/Amanda. Nothing good to say about anything here.

 

[Soaplover]

Frank Williams working for Mack. They killed off the wrong Williams.

Danny/Val/Gary/Amanda. Nothing good to say about anything here.

Frank and Mack as a working duo paled in comparions to Mack and Jill. I do wonder how Mack and the season 14 recurring character Toni would have fared as co workers.

Any story that featured Eric from season 4 to season 8. The only time he had a semblance of a decent story was when he married Linda.. and that was only because of Michael stealing her and Linda embracing the dark side.

The only story that would have worked with Eric that wasn't going to be done back then was him being either gay or Bi.

 

[Toni]

Frank and Mack as a working duo paled in comparions to Mack and Jill. I do wonder how Mack and the season 14 recurring character Toni would have fared as co workers.

Any story that featured Eric from season 4 to season 8. The only time he had a semblance of a decent story was when he married Linda.. and that was only because of Michael stealing her and Linda embracing the dark side.

The only story that would have worked with Eric that wasn't going to be done back then was him being either gay or Bi.

The most decent scene Eric had was when he slapped the hell out of Diana...

 

[Daniel Avery]

The most decent scene Eric had was when he slapped the hell out of Diana...

But that wasn't as much a "storyline" as it was a "public service".

 

[xab]

The season 12 Valene turning into a gothic loony storyline...
Well it was a little more believable than Dynasty's Rita...
But... What the hell... ?

 

[shaqattaq32]

The season 12 Valene turning into a gothic loony storyline...
Well it was a little more believable than Dynasty's Rita...
But... What the hell... ?

Both of those storylines dragged on and on and on.

Season 12 really felt to me like they only planned half a season and then had to stretch everything out for 15 more episodes after they'd run out of storylines.

 

[ChrisSumner]

I´s say that the worst story was Abby-is-bad-because-Charles-Scott-made-her-bad. Everything in it was awful, even Donna looked a little lost in those episodes.

I've reached this part of my re-watch and I really am struggling with the Charles story. If they wanted to cast a love interest to make Abby the way he was, I expected someone more like JR or Greg. Michael York was horribly cast in the role and it didn't work. Had they cast better and written him as a stronger man I do think it could've worked.

 

[Julia's Gun]

Yes, he was terribly cold and wooden in that role. Mills needed someone dark and sexy for us to believe she could really have fallen for.
Someone like Pierce Brosnan might have been a better choice, if they wanted the suave and debonair type. Remington Steele had been cancelled around that time too.