From: snyder@MAILBOX.SLAC.Stanford.EDU

               Guiding Light TBIM (Too Bad It's Monday) Update
                                   Or
                           Twisted Love Day



I, Margaret Snyder, am the third of the gang of three who is taking over the 
Monday updates for Joan the English chick. Incredibly, just as I was on the 
last paragraph of this update in Pine, my husband who was helpfully showing 
me how to cut and paste threw me out of the editor, and it was lost forever. 
This is my second go round writing this update, so if I seem a little terse
in spots please understand.  I hate unix!

Monday's show continues the exploration of love in its many ramifications.

Highlights:
Van gives  Dinah conditional love
Alex takes brotherly love to new heights
Tangie and Alan continue to explore their version of love
Josh and Matt discuss unconditional love 
Blake and Rog and Alex and Nick explore child-parent loyalty

Let the show begin:

Boardinghouse Kitchen:
Van asks Dinah if her love means anything, and Di wonders why after she 
was thrown out just a few days ago,  Van is now being so generous. Van 
tells her that Matt made her
see that Di might feel unloved. Dinah finds it hard to believe that Matt 
could have stood up for her in this lifetime. Dinah thinks that she and Van
don't mean the same thing by love and says: "You love Bill, Peter ... 
When you tell me that you love me do you meanthe same thing? Look me 
in the eye, Mother, and tell me you love me as much as you 
love them. Go ahead, Mother. Say it."

Roger's Love Nest (The Regency):
Blake tells Rog that if it doesn't drop Dinah he will lose her. Rog 
rejoins: "You can't disownyour own Father, Chrissy." [Notice that 
whenever wily Rog wants to soften her up he callsher Chrissy]. 
Blake says she will if he contiues to use D. to hurt Ross. 
Blake:"I'll cut you out of my life so fast it will be like we never 
knew each other."Rog: "You couldn't do that in a million years.
Blake: "Watch me."
You go, girl!

Judge's Chambers:
An attractive 50ish blonde dressed in peach (female, natch) enters 
hanging up her robes.She and Alex coo about their  "social" friendship 
and about outfits at the Yacht Club luncheon.Alex inquires about her 
hubby Hermann, and the judge replies he is over the gout. Al cutsto 
the chase to express her happiness that the judge will be the assigning 
judge for Alan's pretrial. The judge tries to shush Al, but she pushes
on requesting Judge Thorndyke, who is smart enough to see thru the
trumped up charges. The judge warns Alex nicely to drop it, but Alex
moves in for the kill and says: "But Marjorie, between you, me and 
the bedsheets, does Hermann have any idea about this young stud you're
keeping on the 
side?" 

Tangie's Boathouse:
Tangie asks Alan to leave, and says he is wasting his time begging her 
not to testify.Alan says he is not there to beg, that he knows he has 
done dispicable things, and that everything she told the Asst. DA came
from him. Tangie threatens to call the DA but Alan says he's not leaving 
until he speaks his piece.[Whenever I write Asst. DA , I always want to 
leave off the final t in Asst.]

Roll Lighthouse
Whew. Do you have any idea how much more densely packed these scripts 
are since
Megan McT took over?

Boathouse:
Tangie calls Asst. DA Robinson, and while she is on hold, Alan keeps up 
his patterabout how he loves Tangie, and that everything he's done has 
been because of his love
for her. He says that he told her everything because he thought she would 
see thru his mistakes to the man underneath. He gets Tangie to look at him
and tells her that he will be sorry for breaking her heart until the day
he dies. He says she is the hope he has of making sense of his life, and
the one woman that he could love forever. Tangie crying hangs up the phone 
[she is in dire need of a brain and waterproof mascara].She asks Alan to 
go if he cares for her and not to torture  her [or us] any more. Alan takes
her inability to complete the call as a sign that she loves him as much 
as he loves her.[Maybe she was just tired of the muzak on  hold].

Judge Marjorie's:
Alex continues her blatant attempt to blackmail the judge, mentioning b/w 
photos ofher Scandinavian stud. Since they have been friends for 20 years, 
Marge gives Al 20seconds to vacate the office, in which case she'll forget 
they ever had this convo.Al counters that Marge might forget but the 
tabloids won't. When Marjorie threatensto charge Alex with blackmail, 
Al says she just wants "appropriate" Judge Thorndyke.Marge counters with 
the fact that Thorndyke is in the Spaulding's pocket , and Al incredibly 
calls that  slander. Marge says: "If you expect me to stand here and
compromise my position ... " ,  and Alex counters with: "My dear, you 
have already compromised yourself in several  positions." [LOL. This 
is one of my candidates forline of the day]. Marge says not another word 
or you will find yourself in court, but Al threatens Marge with Divorce 
Court which is very unpleasant especially when awealthy man is stripping 
his sneaking cheating wife of every dime ..."
Enter Nick, who apologizes to Judge Ritter and tells her that his Mother 
was justleaving. Al protests but Nick hustles her out, saying that Alex 
didn't mean what she
was saying.  
 
Outside Judge Ritter's Chambers:
Al tells Nick he was very rude, but he says she must be kidding since he 
knows whatshe was up to. She claims she was chatting with an old friend, 
but Nick says she was bribing the judge. Al counters that she was
blackmailing her, and that it was working.[She must be delusional. Al 
has been running around like a chicken with her headcut off, doing Alan 
far more harm than good]. Nick wonders if she has lost her mind.Alan is 
already in enough trouble without having his sister in an adjoining jail cell.
Al claims that this is called hard ball, and it works. Nick says that 
is the same kindof thinking that got Alan in hot water, and it is time 
for the Spauldings to learn that they can't throw their weight around
anytime they damn well please. Al wonders since when does Nick give a
hoot about the Spauldings. As of this morning he is no longer one of them.
Nick, bright boy that he is, says she must be talking about his byline, 
and Al bitterly says Nick McHenry rides again. She says the article he 
wrote drags the family thru the mud and back again, and wonders why she 
should listen to a son who has no loyalty. When Nick self-righteously
says he researched every sleazy detail, Alex congrats him for being 
a competent reporter, but says "you just drove a knife right through
your Mother's back."

Construction Site:
Matt and Josh get into it about Matt's rotten mood. Annie and the kids 
come by with a surprise for Josh, and he likes it , but has to be prompted
by Annie that it's a toolbelt the kids made for him at camp. Matt pronounces 
it "unique" and tries to leave but is invited to a picnic. Josh and Matt
discuss how much Josh loves his kids, and Matt wonders what he would do
if they weren't such great kids. Josh pronounces him self a champion sap
for his kids, and says he would love them with all his heart no matter
what. He says thats just what parents do. And Matt wonders do they?

Boardinghouse Kitchen:
Dinah thinks her question is pretty straight forward, does Van love her as
much as herother children. Van says she would like to be able to say that 
she does but she doesn't feel the same thing. Dinah, stricken, heads for 
the door saying it's the end of the conversation. Van grabs her saying no,
and takes her hands saying that she feels she has been trying but Dinah has
been making everything as difficult as possible. Dinah says it's because 
she isn't lovable enough, and that if she were better ...Van says that's 
not what she said, and that it seems like whenever they get a little
close Di does something to break them apart. It's very frustrating. Di 
with full sarcasm mode on says she is a very frustrating person . Van
agrees and mentions how hurt she was when Di turned up on her doorstep,
and then moved in with Ross avoiding her for weeks. Dinah says she had
her reasons, but Van says it hurt her, and she didn't know what they were.
She then catalogs Di's sins of stealing money, and engineering  kidnapping 
to get at her trust fund, and now she is with Roger Thorpe ...Dinah:"Now 
we get to it. This has nothing to do with me. It's all about Roger and
 how much you hate him." When Van protests that Roger and Blake think 
its bad too,Di counters with her vision that he is the only person in 
town who has been nice to her and accepts her as she is. Ross mutters that
he is using her, that he is a dangerous man. Di says he feels safe with 
him and they all argue about Roginah for a while. Dinah cuts to the crux 
of this discussion on mother daughter love by saying:"The point is that 
you only love me if I play by your rules, if I do what you say, give up
my own needs. It's conditional love. It's not love."
Van wants a chance to work on it, but Di thinks that either Van loves her 
by now or she doesn't. If she doesn't love her by now, she never will.
Ross intervenes to try and get her to hear what Vanessa is saying.Dinah:
"I have heard her. She's never loved me even when I was a little baby
and didn't do anything wrong she gave me away. She didn't want me. She
didn't love me then and every time she sees me  now she just wants to
get rid of me."  Van crying grabs Dinah into her arms, saying stop, 
don't say that.

Roger's Room at the Regency:
 Rog says he doesn't take kindly to ultimatums even from Chrissy. Blake 
says she is  trying to get him to do what is best for everyone, and Rog 
counters that she means her sainted hubby Ross. He feels that Ross has 
finally turned her against her Dad, but Blake says noone even Ross tells 
her what to think. Rog thinks that there are just too many people lined 
up against him for Blake to still be loyal and that she has bought into 
the idea that he is a demonic force. Blake thinks that for Dinah he is 
since Di lacks a moral center. She is just a parasite who latches onto 
whoever shows her the best time. Blake thinks Rog is just using her to 
hurt Ross and her mother, and that if he keeps on he will lose his daughter 
for good. Rog says that he doesn't want her to make him say that it is him 
or Ross.
 
 Half-time
 
 Roger's Room:
 Blake tells Rog she is not part of some big conspiracy, and that he is 
 taking advantageof Dinah. Rog wants to know why if Di needs so much 
 guidance her parents have disowned her. Blake accuses Rog of twisting 
 things around just like Dinah does.Rog says they can't give Dinah the 
 gate and still dictate who she sees. Rog says he hardly recognizes 
 Blake, that she has turned into one of Them. He says that the has 
 left Holly alone as they wanted, and now, btw, they say he can't see 
 Dinah either. As a grand finale, he says:" Dinah's not the problem. It's 
you sweetie. You've turned into a vindictive spoiled little girl who's so 
jealous of Dinah that you've turned her parents against her. Now you can't 
bear it that I won't knuckle under too. Get out  of here. Get the hell out 
and don't come back until you grow up." With an amazingly  long and 
agonizing look between the two, Blake walks out.
  
  Construction Site:
  Josh wonders why all the questions about kids and parents. Matt mentions 
his problems  with Sean and wonders if there is a line that a child can 
cross and lose his parent's love.  Josh can't imagine one. He thinks all 
kids are destined to get into trouble, and mentions  the way HB forgave 
Josh,Billy and Trish. HB used to say if he didn't forgive them who would.
 Josh says when Reva died it was rough with the kids since they reminded 
him of what he had lost. When Matt asks if he ever stopped loving them,
 Josh says he will never stop. Matt says that's how it will be when he
 has kids.
 
 Boardinghouse Kitchen:
 Van says she didn't want to get rid of Dinah then, and she doesn't now.
 She just doesn't want Dinah to make the same mistakes she did and
 letting Dinah go was the biggest mistake of all. She tries to explain
 how things were back then, and that at 17 she would have made the worst
 mother in the world. She says she was told Dinah was with a great family.
 When Dinah says she was in a carnival to be exact,   Van says she didn't
 know that. She brushes Di's hair back, and tells her how she tried to
 find her and couldn't. Van tells her about her "life of the party"
 syndrome, and Dinah says she must be a chip off the old block. Van
 tells her to listen, that she is her mother. She wants to start and 
 try to get to a place they have never been before. Whatever harm she
 has done to Dinah,  she is not going to let her use it to beat them
  up anymore. When Ross tells Dinah that they are sick of the guilt
 trip, and that Van made a terrible mistake which she admits, he wonders
 why if he can get past it Dinah can't. Dinah, with a bitter laugh, says:
 "You two are some piece of work. You rejected me and now you're whining
 about your pain and misery. What do you think it was like for me ..."
 Ross wonders how many times they have to say they did not know. Dinah
 erupts: "I knew! I had to live it. I was cheap child labor." When Ross
 says he wishes he could change it, Dinah says he can't and it is
 too little, too late. She says:" You can both take your imitation
 love and choke on it... I'm   going back to the way I was living
 growing up -- on my own -- going to do whatever I damn well please."
 Dinah brushes by Blake who is entering the kitchen. Ross hopes
 Blake had more luck than they did, but she says it was pretty terrible
 and she  is afraid that she made things worse. 
 
 Boathouse:
 Tangie tellls Alan not to tell her how she feels. Alan counters that
 she hasn't denied it. But Tangie says she is now, that she couldn't
 love someone who did that to AM and Lucy. Alan counters that she may
 not want to, but she does. Tangie says that it was Alan's bullying and
 manipulativeness that kept them apart before. She calls him selfish and
 immoral, and with that Alan  kisses her.
 
 Outside Roger's Pad:
 Dinah flashes back to the scene where she asked Ross about how she was
 released first. She realizes when she says that her Mother chose her over
 Matt, Ross didn't really reply. She looks down at the key in her hand. 
 
 Alex and Nick (still outside the Judge's chamber) :
 Alex says that Nick doesn't want to be her son, but Nick says that is not
 true.  Alex: "Why did you change your name to Nick McHenry? What am I
 supposed to think. The printer had a bad day, ran out of S's and P's,
 golly gee, don't have enough to complete Spaulding." [my second nominee
 for best line of the day] Nick says he is pulling back from the family,
 but he is not disowning her. When Alex says that is what it feels like,
 he tells her she has to stop the power plays and back stabbing. Alex says,
 with a straight face, that she doesn't usually operate this way. When Nick
 counters that she has just tried to bribe a judge, and that it amazes him
 the lengths she will go for her brother Alan. He tries to convince her that
 Alan is not worth it, but Alex says that Alan is not all evil and that
 they have "a very unique  relationship." Nick says she is blind to his
 faults and that's why she needs him around. Nick says her brother doesn't
 care about her, which gets Alex really upset. Nick claims if their
 situations were reversed Alan would not lift a finger to help her.
 When Alex says that    Alan needs her , Nick counters that the thing
 that Alan needs is for both of them to turn  their backs on him. Nick
 must change his name at the top of a column, and Alex needs to get away
 from her bro or he is going to drag her down with him.
 
 Boathouse:
 Tangie begs Alan to stop [please, please] and says that he just doesn't want
 her to testify. Alan says of course he doesn't, as tho that is the most
 reasonable thing in the world. He knows he can't change overnight but
 he's not boring [!!] and  no man could love her the way that he loves
 her. Tangie doesn't want to love Alan anymore, but admits that she still does.
 
 Angst in the Kitchen:
 Van sits dejected at the table, and Ross pats her shoulder. Blake gives a
 recap of what Rog said, i. e. you don't know anything Chrissie, you don't
 have a brain in your head Chrissie, get out of my life Chrissie ... the usual
 father-daughter stuff. Ross and Van see that it's obvious that Roginah are
 determined to continue seeing each other. When Blake says she tried to
 reason with her Dad, Ross says that never works with Roger, he lives by
 intimidation not common sense. Ross and Van try to think how they can 
 hurt Rog  where he lives, and what he would move heaven and earth to
 protect. Blake says in a small voice: "I used to think it was me."
 [So who is, Petey or Hart?]
 
 The Regency:
 Roger looks at  Blake's picture, crumples it, and throws it on the floor.
 Dinah enters, kicking it symbolically across the room. She falls on the
 bed, and Rog asks her if it was that bad, huh. Di says they don't love
 her and they never will. They just say that to keep her from Roger. Rog
 says he's glad she didn't listen to them. Di says she  couldn't after
 all they've done to her. She says: "Daddy showed he cared a little, but
 Vanessa, Saint Vanessa, holier than the Pope. Why don't we just give
 her a halo and get it over with?" She tells Rog that Van looked right
 at her and admitted she didn't really love her. Di wonders if the fact
 that they have the same blood running thru their veins means anything.
 Rog counters that the blood connection has always been highly overrated.
 Rog tells Dinah that if it makes her feel any better, things went badly
 for him too: "Chrissy disowned me but I'm not going to stop seeing you.
 I'm used to hatred and rejection." Dinah worries that now he doesn't
 even have his family, but Rog sweetly says that he has her. Dinah wants
 Rog to promise that he won't abandon her. She tells him of her worst
 nightmare where everyone she loves is gone and noone will speak to her.
 Rog promises that he'll always be there. He kisses the nape of her  neck
 tenderly and carries her to a chair across the room, holding her like a
 baby. We  cut to the pix of Blake on the floor.
 
 The Kitchen:
 Ross and Blake leave the boarding house, and Ross gives Van a final hug. 
   
 The Courthouse:
 Alex tells Nick that her entire life Alan has been the only one who ever
 stayed. Even though he has betrayed her once or twice, and they fight like
 cats and dogs, he loves her. Nick can't believe she thinks that is really
 love. Alex says it's love to her, and that he shouldn't ask her to give it
 up because she can't. Nick says she is a fool because her brother does not
 love her. Alan is playing her for a fool and she is falling for it. With
 that, Alex delivers a resounding slap to Nick's jaw, and exits. 
 
 The Boathouse:
 Tangie says she does love Alan, and he proposes that they get the hell out
 of there and flee the country. The phone rings, they both assume it's the
 Asst. DA, and Alan urges Tangie that she would be happy and save both their
 lives if she just came away with him now.
 
 Finis
 
 
     *
    /|\
   /-O-\           Margaret Snyder
  /\ | /\          Hoover Institution
 o=======o         Stanford University
  | G L |          Palo Alto, CA
  | u i |          (Hometown of Charles Jay Hammer,
  | i g |           a.k.a Fletcher Reade)
  | d h |
  | i t |          email:esnyder@leland.stanford.edu
  | n   |
  | g   |


