Rewatching Knots Landing

[Karin Schill]

I agree that there was no need to change the opening credits. Yet I guess they wanted a change. Then as for the sandcastle idea, too bad for Tonya Crowe, the only season she was in the opening credits and there were no images of the cast. I much prefer when there are images of the cast.

Tonight it was "Half-truths"...

After constantly telling Gary not to talk to Olivia and not getting involved Abby is finally glad that Gary did talk to Olivia as he manage to solve the puzzle. Olivia is innocent and so is Abby. I love Gary's reaction when he started laughing when Olivia told him that she thought Abby had killed Peter. Not that it's funny really since it's a serious matter and a serious crime that Olivia and Abby suspects each other for. They really should have talked earlier. But it took Gary to get them to talk and sort out the whole misunderstanding.

Mack didn't believe Abby was guilty yet he is not really relieved to find out that she didn't do it since now the prime suspect seems to be his very own daughter. All clues are pointing to Paige and Mack is concerned to hear that.

Jill is inconsistent, since in another episode she told Gary that Olivia and Brian could stay with them after Abby goes to prison yet when Abby is arrested she doesn't want Gary to go see the kids.

Val reads Karen a bunny story that she's written for the twins. How cute!

 

[Daniel Avery]

One of the best, all-time 'breaking the fourth wall' quotes ever came from Karen in this episode:

"I can't believe this is happening. A man I know personally is killed at Lotus Point and my sister-in-law is charged. I mean, this is something that happens on television. This is a soap opera...doesn't happen to real people like me."

 

[Karin Schill]

Oh yeah that was a great quote.

Tonight it was "There are smiles"...

Paige finally comes clean about her involvement in Peter's death and since she is Mack's daughter she gets off the hook. Nobody will prosecute her. Of course this upsets Jill.

Val finally tells Gary that she is capable of taking care of his children. She admits to his face that they are his children now when Ben is gone. Gary gets concerned when he hears that Val doesn't know when Ben is coming back.

Laura quits working at Lotus Point and at the end of the episode she lets Greg know that she is dying by saying that she's going to order a pizza since it doesn't matter anymore. She won't have enough time to get fat. This storyline with Laura is just so sad.

Also watching the show so many years later I can't help but thinking about when Laura tells Greg that she worries about her son's going to war if there's another war and of course now we know that her son's generation did go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It makes me sad to think of.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Not Jason...he is still twelve years old.

 

[Karin Schill]

So tonight it was "The Gift of Life"...

Finally a Laura centered episode. Too bad it's her last.

I remember this episode from the first time I watched the show and how I was sad when Laura left like that. At first I thought they had done it that way to leave the door open for her to return after she had been cured. But of course now I know that's not it.

So this is the episode where Laura is preparing to die. She has accepted that she is terminally ill and will die and has made all the necessary arrangements. Greg however won't accept it and insists she sees more specialists.

There is something so heart breaking about this episode. It gets under your skin somehow. Probably because it deals with such a serious subject matter that's very real. Laura got a brain tumor that's inoperable. She's got cancer which is a horrible disease that I think most people have some sort of relationship to. Either someone in your family has had cancer or one of your friends or their relatives. Actually once you get to a certain age it's quite likely that you know a number of people who have fought this disease and survived or even died from this disease. So in other words it's something that a lot of people can really relate to and that's why it touches you so much.

Watching the memorable scene where Laura and Karen goes shopping and Laura is planing ahead for all of Meg's birthdays that she will be missing gets me teary eyed. It's so sad to think of how this woman finally has the daugther she has always wanted and yet she won't be there to watch her grow up because she's dying.

Then there's Laura's goodbye party. Everyone's so happy and the montage between the party and people dancing and having fun and Greg talking to the doctors and then walking around alone is perfect. I love the cross-cutting between what she is doing and what he is doing. Kudos to whoever wrote and directed this episode as every little detail is just right, down to the person with the t-shirt that is passing by Greg with the text "Life is hard and then you die!"
It all fits so well and it hits a nerve. I loved Laura and Val's conversation too how Laura called Val a kindered spirit and well in essense saying goodbye to Val without Val knowing it.

Although it's Laura who is dying I somehow feel more sorry for Greg towards the end since she makes the choice to die alone without giving him anything to say about it. She doesn't let him be there for her until the end and therefore deprives him of the little time they could have left together. I think he would have felt better if she had let him be there for her. It would have been easier on him when she was gone if he had known that he had done everything he could for the person he loved. He had been there for her until the end. So the fact that she leaves him and the baby to die alone is not really doing the kind thing even though Laura thinks it is.

There is something really sad about their goodbye and the crying baby. Meg is too young to understand what is happening but she can sense that something is wrong. Laura driving away fighting back the tears is really sad too.

Now all the Avery's are out of the show. The only piece of Laura that remains is her daughter. At least she and Greg chose the best god-parents for her. It's sort of weird watching this knowing that Karen and Mack are really the ones who is going to becomes Meg's parents. They will raise her as their own.

But yeah it's a memorable episode in many ways. Brilliantly written, acted and directed.

 

[Seaviewer]

as for the sandcastle idea, too bad for Tonya Crowe, the only season she was in the opening credits and there were no images of the cast.

And she's the only series regular not seen in the opening credits throughout the whole run.

Abby is finally glad that Gary did talk to Olivia as he manage to solve the puzzle.

One of my all-time favourite quotes: "Because, dear Abby, she thinks you did it."

 

[Karin Schill]

Oh yeah that was a great line.

Tonight it was "Say Uncle"...

Now with the Peter Hollister drama put behind them Gary turns his attention back to the twins as they celebrate their third birthday. He is hurt that Val throws a birthday party without inviting him. Then he goes to Lilimae for help to get to see his kids. In order to get her on his side he has to tell her that he is in fact the twin's father. Lilimae is surprised to learn this and goes to Val and complains that she didn't come to her. It is hinted at that Val is afraid of letting Gary get too close to her now when Ben is out of the way since there is a chance they could get back together again now when Abby and Ben are not standing in their way and it seems like Val doesn't want to get hurt again. So she's built up a wall to protect her heart and in turns also keep Gary from their kids.

However after Gary gets a sprained shoulder when he plays with the kids Val has a change of heart and agrees that he can see the kids and that they will call him "Uncle Gary."

Al asks Lilimae out for dinner. It all seems a bit rushed since it wasn't long ago that she wanted nothing to do with him. Now she seems smitten by him.

Greg tries to take care of Meg and has trouble finding a nanny that measures up to his standards. He is in denial about Laura and talks about "when her mother gets back."

Michael rescues a girl from drowning and they go on a date.

 

[Karin Schill]

Tonight it was "Noises Everywhere Part I & II"...

So Julie Harris left the show in the previous episode and this was Constance McCashin's last episode. I'm really gonna miss these two ladies and their characters of Lilimae and Laura. The show will never be the same without them. Both brilliant actresses.

Anyway now on to Laura's exit...

These episodes are hard to watch so I figured better watch them together as it's the grief episodes. At first everyone gathers at Greg's house to offer their condolances. Karen and Mack arrive first and are followed by Gary and Val who hug each other a long time before going in. Then there's Abby and Richard who also arrives and the seven of them spends time at Greg's to comfort him and help him through this. There is something almost claustrophobic about this episode.

The characters are all dealing with their grief in their own way. Mack gets drunk as a skunk and even lay down in one of the coffins at the funeral home that he went to with Greg to help him pick out a coffin for Laura. Greg handles his grief stoically. I think he is in shock since he didn't truly expect Laura to leave him. He had been living in denial that she would get better and come back home to him. So this is a hard blow to him but he doesn't show much of his emotions. There is a touching moment however when he helps Jason toss one of his toys into the pool. He doesn't scold the boy for throwing his toys. He understands that the boy is angry and offer him a brief moment of comfort. I think the most touching moment comes towards the end when he watches Laura's video message to him. That has me in tears since it's just heartbreaking how his grief finally comes out in the privacy of his own home.

Richard is blaming the others for letting Laura die alone. For letting her down. But I think the one he is really angry with is himself for letting Laura down. He left her. It eats him up inside that she died alone. He is also remembering their time together and he feels bad about being back in Knots Landing. He has moved on with his life and runs a new restaurant and has a new wife and will get to raise his and Laura's boys. He is in a good place.

Val is angry and hurt that Karen didn't tell her that Laura was dying. She feels like people try to shelter her because they think she will break. But she is stronger than they think. There is a rift between her and Karen that is mended towards the end of the episode. Val also cries a lot openly and is comforted by Gary who seems to be close to her all the time. The two of them share confidences and their grief. Gary tells Val that he wants to make a difference. He wants the world to have been a better place for him having been in it. A part of him still feels like a failure and he doesn't listen when Val tries to tell him that he is not. He thinks she is being polite. What he doesn't understand is that in Val's eyes he is not the failure he thinks he is. Because in Val's life he did make all the difference in the world.

Abby is being sarcastic and accidentally steps on Val's toes about Ben leaving her. She finds out that Ben is gone. She tells Val that she would have divorced Ben if that had happened to her. Abby also admires Laura for getting Greg to marry her.

Karen and Mack talk too. He is drunk and his longing to be a father comes out. He has missed out on raising Paige and Michael is Karen's son. He wants to be a father and is attached to baby Meg.

Karen tries to comfort Richard and be the strong one. The one the other turns to with their problems. But she has her own grief and break down crying at Laura's video message. She also spends a lot of time worrying about Mack who's fallen apart and even missed the funeral.

Jill steals Peter's ashes from Greg's coffee table and then spreads them. She confides in Val that she feels abandoned when her brother died. Oddly enough the women exchange a hug. Odd since they are sort of rivals for Gary's love. But I can understand Jill's anger at Paige and why she stole Peter's ashes. He was really her brother and not Greg's.

The show closes on Laura reading the good night story to Meg. The baby can hear her mother's voice but can't feel her presense. It must be confusing for the poor little girl and my heart break for her.

So well that was a wrap on Laura's story. I wish they had shown her actual funeral and the reaction of when people found out that she had died since it feels like we were missing out on that. But except for that it was a superb episode that really got underneath your skin. The grief was raw and very realistic. The actors did a great job and the director, David Jacobs too.

Finally I seem to recall reading an article in TV guide from way back where it said that the actors had been allowed to improvise and go into their characters for a weekend they'd spent together in a house and that a lot of the stuff that happened in this episode was inspired by that acting exercise...

 

[Daniel Avery]

I believe that was David Jacobs's house.

 

[Seaviewer]

I wish they had shown her actual funeral

I felt kind of cheated by that, too, but in a way it's very Knotsian to dwell more on the effects on the relationships than the event itself. Weddings, too, with a couple of exceptions, are generally downplayed and Val's memorial was somewhat muted as well.

 

[Karin Schill]

That makes sense with it being David Jacobs' house since he did direct the episodes.

Good point about how they put more emphasis on the effects of the relationships than the event itself. I haven't thought of it that way before but you are right. I wish they had played up events like that more though as I do end up feeling cheated.

Okay so tonight it was "Weak Moment"...

The episode opens up with Gary and Val in bed together as that song plays in the background.

Later on when he comes home to Jill she confronts him and Gary admits that he doesn't love her. A scorn Jill goes to Val and tells her she is no better than Abby. So Val changes her mind about her and Gary and acts cold towards Gary for the rest of the episode and even telling him that they've made a mistake and she doesn't want him coming around the house anymore.

I like how Val reflected over that the ocean made her feel differently now when Laura was gone.

Karen surprise Mack with a Christmas gift, they are going to Tahiti. But just as they are about to leave Greg shows up with baby Meg and they end up staying at home being baby sitters instead...

Jill comes back to Gary on Christmas. She knows he doesn't love her and yet she is back. In a way it's pathetic and at the same time I can understand it. She's lonely without him since she has no other family to speak of.

Abby tosses Charles flowers into the fireplace and he then spend the episode courting her.Gary is surprised when he realized that it's that Charles and even more surprised when Charles tells him how he loves how Abby is so sweet and sympathetic. Gary gives him a look like "are you sure we're talking about the same woman?"

Abby and Charles has an awkward dinner with her kids. "More carrots?"

But then he finds a way to turn back the clock as he rents a vintage car and when it breaks down Abby fixes it. So now the flashback makes sense. It was actually a plantation for this moment. Very clever of the writers! Kudos on that.

The episode closes on another couple having a "weak moment" as we see Abby and Charles in bed together. I love how she's put his toy ring on her toe. It's so Abby.

I really enjoyed this episode.

 

[Karin Schill]

Tonight it was "If not now, when?"

I had forgotten that Val and Gary argued this much about the twins. Jill suggesting Gary take legal action really managed to ruin things between Val and Gary and just a few episodes ago I thought they were on the road to reconciliation.
I understand now why it took longer for them to get back together properly but a part of me still think they missed their moment this season and that it should have happened now as Danny was so annoying that it was painful watching Val's "romance" with him.

Charles wife tapes Abby to open Charles eyes as to what a woman he is leaving her for but it backfires on her.

Mack is suspicious of the new neighbours since he can smell that Frank is a cop. I remember liking them but now rewatching it I feel a bit sad knowing what will happen to Pat.

Michael's love life gets complicated when he doesn't want to make a commitment. Yet I think he did the right thing it would have been worse leading Jody on to believe he loved her when he didn't.

 

[Daniel Avery]

...and even worse still if he continued seeing that clingy, pathetic Jody for one minute longer, because I would have been forced to unplug the TV. And strangle myself with the cord.

 

[TheRealEwing]

Hard to believe that Jody was the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

[Karin Schill]

I know what you mean, I've noticed that she was portrayed by Kristy Swanson too and I agree that Jody was totally clingy and annoying. But at least she dumped Michael in the end!

Tonight it was "The Blushing Bride..."

Abby is planning her wedding and get some crushing news just as she's trying on her wedding dress. Charles has apparently made plans to expand the Lotus Point marina before he even met her. So it seems like he has an ulterior motif to marry her. She is crushed to realize it.

Val changes her statement and finally admits that Gary is the father of her twins in that legal document after Mack's had a serious talk with her. Poor Gary is also suffering from not being able to raise Lucy and doesn't want to miss out on seeing the twins too. I love that they added that detail. Then again David Jacobs did create both shows so maybe that's why they are so good at keeping the back stories straight and making appropriate references to stuff in them.

I think my favorite moment on today's show however was when Gary walked in and saw Abby in her wedding dress and then couldn't resist giving her a kiss and wishing her well. It was such a sweet moment.

Oh and Karen snooping around about the new neighbours were totally annoying. But it was sort of funny how Mack first blamed her for being a peeping Tom when she spied on the neighbours and then did the same thing himself!

 

[tommie]

Oh and Karen snooping around about the new neighbours were totally annoying. But it was sort of funny how Mack first blamed her for being a peeping Tom when she spied on the neighbours and then did the same thing himself!

To be fair, it's completely in line with Karen's personality to be snoopy - Mack's too since he's pretty much works with private investigation with his own law firm.

 

[Daniel Avery]

One could say that Mack's nosiness is a work hazard; Karen's nosiness is just a hobby.

 

[tommie]

I just watched the season 12 finale / season 13 premiere for the first time and man, you can tell that they are moving into early 90s territory now. Unfortunate looking gangs! Homelessness! Enviromentalism! I'm fully expecting safe sex/AIDS to pop up soon.

 

[Daniel Avery]

To be fair, the change of tone from season 12 to season 13 is akin to the change from Barbara Bel Geddes to Donna Reed on Dallas.

 

[tommie]

To be fair, the change of tone from season 12 to season 13 is akin to the change from Barbara Bel Geddes to Donna Reed on Dallas.

It's painfully clear that they're struggling with giving Val stuff to do at this point. Because we always wanted to watch Val learn someone to read, especially as I'm sure her "books" were three steps below a Jackie Collins novel.