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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 199293" data-attributes="member: 22">Aftershocks (KNOTS, 26 Dec 85) v Alterations (KNOTS, 23 Jan 86)It’s kind of a jolt to jump straight from Aftermath (Season 3) to Alterations (Season 7). Only four faces from then are still in the opening credits and no-one’s married to the same person they used to be. Instead of car dealerships and natural childbirth, it’s all exploding satellite stations and assassins on the loose. The women’s hair is more coiffed, their shoulders are bigger and everyone seems just that bit more glam. But there’s still a pleasingly human messiness around the edges, with characters talking over one another, and an unpredictability about their behaviour. Greg Sumner, in particular, has a knack of delivering his most furious lines in a calm and measured way and then suddenly exploding when you least expect it. The scene where he demands Gary give him Empire Valley as if he were a child having a tantrum (“It’s MY land!”) is a particular highlight.You never quite know what’s coming next. One minute, you’ve got Gary dissolving into whooping hysterics as he recalls the buzz of blowing up Empire Valley; the next, you’ve got Greg delivering a riveting soliloquy to his dead father’s portrait: “I let you reach back from the grave and manipulate my life … Well, Dad, congratulations, you have hatched a new breed of barbarian, a creature determined to surpass even you in creating his own world.” And in-between, you've got Ben Gibson, all coiled Jimmy Stewart integrity, forever the frustrated truth seeker.For all the changes, it feels like the same show at heart. Abby and Karen might be arguing about running a million-dollar resort rather than bookkeeping discrepancies at KLM, but their relationship is fundamentally the same in ’85 as it was in ’81. What Karen said then — “I don’t trust you, Abby. I don’t think I ever will” — still applies.Alterations comes only four weeks later, but there’s been a notable loss of momentum. The show now feels kind of rudderless, really for the first time. Long-running plots are being rinsed dry, with the sad tale of Joshua’s death being padded out with tabloid headlines about Lilimae and Cathy’s supposed involvement. Meanwhile, Olivia becomes (almost) the last to know about Abby’s complicity in the twins’ kidnapping. Out of everyone who has been impacted by the stolen babies’ saga, the reactions of a self-righteous, self-involved, not especially bright teenager are the least important or interesting, yet the episode ends up revolving around them.The incongruity of rich glamorous people existing in an “ordinary” cut-de-sac is illustrated in a couple of contrasting ways during this ep. While billionaire tycoon Greg being left in charge of Laura’s kids is charming and funny, Cathy helping load the Gibson dishwasher while dressed in full MTV sexy pop star regalia just looks ridiculous.Still, there are some juicy future plots bubbling along in the background: Jill becoming Mack's full-time assistant; Sylvia Lean and Peter Hollister secretly plotting to lay claim to the Galveston fortune. And any episode that features Julie Harris having a supermarket freak out can’t be all bad.And the winner is … Aftershocks.BONUS BEATS[MEDIA=youtube]7SUC5JGuXB0[/MEDIA]Call me crazy, but yes I would. So #14 with a Bullet comes in-between Four, No Trump and The Fourth Son, and 1,001 Nights of Anne Matheson between One of a Kind and The One to Blame.</blockquote>

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