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All My Children Discussion Group
I mainly just lurk here, but the rampant stupidity of this storyline forces me to post, so I can scream at something besides my television. As a disclaimer, I should say:
(1) I have never hated any characters, in any form of media, more than I hate Ryan and his smug, little goon-squad. (Except maybe Sonny over on GH and I quit watching that show because he was going to make me break my TV in pure explosive rage.) I just DETEST every single, 'good guy' on AMC, right now. Because they're so obviously not 'good.'
(2) The only characters on this show that I can stand at the moment are David, Adam, and sometimes Annie, mostly because she makes Ryan so miserable. (Also JR, but he's not really part of this storyline.) Anyway, Adam, David and Annie are supposed to be the 'bad guys.' But, I find them so much more sympathetic. Really. It's not just 'love to hate them' voting for the 'bad guys' because they're fun. No. It's crazy, but I'm genuinely voting for them to win, because everyone else is so delusional and infuriating.
It's not that I think David's right. I like him because of his badness, most of the time. He keeps things interesting. But, I can't stand the double-standard. Why is he the only one who's going to get punished? Ryan and Zack and the other 'heroes' are breaking so many laws and... No one cares. Not even the police. They drugged an old man with a heart condition and forced him to hear the voice of his dead twin. They nearly drove him to suicide. He had to be rushed to the hospital and then they showed up to torment him some more. It's just evil in every sense of the word. I don't care that Adam really shot Stuart. They didn't know that and neither did he. They just wanted what they wanted and screw the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, David's now the villain in this. The one who needs to pay. How can Adam and David be on opposite sides and still both be wrong, while Zack and Ryan float around untouched by any of the mud they've slung?
I think the writers want this storyline to go both ways. They want David to be the 'bad guy' for drugging people. But they want Ryan and Zack to be the 'good guys' for doing the exact same thing. Did David drugging Adam lead to Stuart's murder? Yep. Did Zack drugging Adam nearly lead to Adam killing himself? Yep. So, what's the moral difference? If drugging someone is a scumbag thing to do (which it is), then okay. I can get behind that. It's wrong, and bad, and needs to be punished. So then writers, DON'T HAVE THE 'HEROES' OF THE SHOW FRIGGIN' DO IT, TOO!
Is it that hard to figure out?
Really?
How can David be the one punished for helping to carry out Ryan and Zack's scheme? How can it be wrong for him to hand them the drugs, but not wrong for them to administer them to a sick, grieving man? If David is the 'evil' one for helping, what does that make Ryan and Zack for coming up with the plan in the first place?
It seems more than a little hypocritical.
And then there's Jesse, who a few months ago arrested his own wife for planting drugs in David's home, but now he helps to conspire with Zack. He's complicit in this entire thing. Adam is the second person they've drugged now and he's just fine with it. Why? At first, Zack was blackmailing him, but now I guess I'm supposed to forget that and think it's all because Jesse wants to help Kendall so much. (Another disclaimer: I think Kendall's a friggin' moron. Seriously, she's like one of those stupid kids in a horror movie who gets killed in the first reel because she won't stay out of the haunted house or whatever. It's all her own fault. At this point, it's like Darwinism if she gets caught. The best thing for the species. Just let her rot in jail, so her stupidity can't contaminate anyone else.)
Anyway, the point is, Jesse said it was wrong of Angie to plant the drugs with Tad (or was it Jake? Whichever.) He was real clear on the moral line they'd crossed. And that's his wife. But, aside from some hand wringing he's apparently okay with Zack and Ryan's reign of terror. In fact, he wants Angie's help with the cover-up. Hey, why do we even need laws? Let's just send vigilantes after everyone they think might be guilty. The cops can just pat their heads and spend their time getting ready for the next dance-a-thon, I guess.
How can the writers not see the contradiction here?
There are literally different laws for different people in Pine Valley.
What the heck is going on with this show?
I guess you can argue that David should be held responsible for the last time he drugged Adam, on the night of Stuart's death. But, the writers have created a Catch-22 with that. After all, David thought he was justified. He thought he was protecting a child. He thought he was saving Little A from the evil Chandlers.
Sound familiar, Ryan? Yeah, it's the same BS justifications you pull out about Emma. Annie's evil. She'll hurt Emma. I'll do whatever it takes to protect my daughter from Annie, blah, blah, blah. It's the same darn argument. Criminals always have a reason for their crimes. But, that doesn't make it right. EVERYONE who breaks the law needs to be held responsible on the show or no one can be. The self-rightious attitude of the 'good guys' makes me crazy, since they're ALL terrible people, now.
Basically, I'm sick of the double standards. Ryan and Zack can do anything they want and it's noble. Jesse can cover for criminals and it's all part of the greater good. But, David's the evil one for helping them commit their crime-spree. I'm seriously angry about this and I haven't even seen today's show, yet. I'm the only one in my household who likes David, so maybe I'm just sensitive about his character but WTH is going on with this storyline? Who can I even vote for if everyone's guilty and nobody cares? Why should I care, as a viewer?
I just want some standards that everyone has to live up to if they're going to be the 'heroes' of the piece. For instance, no kidnapping and drugging people. Is that really so hard? Otherwise, the random morality of this show will drive me nuts.
Okay. That was super-long and someone's probably going to get mad, but I feel a little better.
*Whew!*
Oh, for the days when the Marian/Phoebe murder mystery with the purse "W" was really and "M"." Did I just date myself? Not literally, of course. I don't actually date myself.
Remember that intrigue? It was classic/vintage SO. How can things have gone so wrong? It isn't the internet. It's the writing and TPTB, etc. So sad.
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I just want some standards that everyone has to live up to if they're going to be the 'heroes' of the piece. For instance, no kidnapping and drugging people. Is that really so hard? Otherwise, the random morality of this show will drive me nuts.''
This is precisely what has made me turn off this show lately. I literally have no one to root for - I just don't care. Nobody deserves my empathy. What happened to the 'Guys in White Hats'? The ones who don't live in an anarchy?
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Good job describing the mess, KatieRose! You've nailed the main problem: contradictions in characters, motives, plots, intentions. It's a puzzle, wrapped in a bloody body bag, atop a filthy garbage scow, floating down a river of deceit, lies and corpses straight into the pit of hell.
And you failed to mention the Queen of Contradiction herself: Krystal Carey Chandler Hayward Martin. She stole babies, destroyed lives, ruined all of her marriages, aided her daughter in ruining several marriages, lied about babies and adulterous relationships, repeatedly lied about pert near everything --- yet that horrid trollop still manages to don a self-righteous cloak of knowledge and wisdom to lecture others on parenthood and love. Geesh, what a crock of crap.
The worst is that there's hardly anybody to root for any more. Who's the good guy? Who deserves to win? Where's the joy?
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