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S2 Ep16: Knots Landing -More than Friends: The "Retaliation Rendezvous'' episode

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Welcome Back Soap Fiends!! Well , well well....Its amazing what a little infidelity will do to your confidence.What if the tangled relationships of '80s soap operas hold the key to understanding modern-day dynamics? This episode of Soap Floor takes you back to the iconic "Knots Landing," where the character-driven sagas of Valene, Laura, and Gary provide a lens to examine evolving societal norms. We celebrate Valene's inspiring journey towards independence and empowerment, contrasting the traditional relationship norms of her time with today's social media-driven friendships. We promise an enlightening exploration of generational shifts in perspectives on love, marriage, and the liberating power of moving forward in life.

Join us as we unravel the complex web of office affairs and insecurities, spotlighting the unsung hero, Karen, as she becomes entangled in the tumultuous lives of her friends. Despite swirling gossip about Laura's potential affair with her boss, Scooter, Karen navigates these nuances with grace, all while Richard remains blissfully unaware of the undercurrents of infidelity around him. We'll also discuss the enduring power of platonic friendships, drawing personal parallels and reflections on how relationships can evolve while maintaining their core essence.

In the final chapter, we examine the timeless themes of betrayal, addiction, and redemption through the lens of Valene and Gary's tumultuous relationship. From the complexities faced by women in the 1980s to the realities of divorce and infidelity, this episode provides a rich tapestry of insights. As always, we remind our listeners to enjoy the drama from a distance and perhaps take a different approach to personal conflicts. Join us for a nostalgic yet pertinent discussion, as we reflect on the intricacies of human relationships and the journey towards self-awareness and empowerment.

Speaker 1:

As far as I can tell, people kissed each other on the mouth in 1980. I wasn't there. I wasn't there in 81. So I don't know, but it seems like that was okay to do. But I'm also basing this on.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome and welcome back to Soap Floor, the official gathering place for newbies, novices and OG diehard fans of the golden age of pop time. The official gathering place for movies novices and OG diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm your host, jet, viewing you on the tail end of season two of Mice Land. So, whether you needed this or treated us, sit back and enjoy. Tell the kids to play outside or out of sight, tell babe. No questions, suggestions or concerns for the next 25-35 minutes. Everyone else in air shock, cool, quiet or kicked out are your only options, because we are discussing our stories. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Sofie. Hello, coachesidgeys, what's up? Party people, welcome and welcome back to another five-fold edition of so Poor. We are nearing the end of an iconic sophomore, sensational season. Northlandic is quickly coming to a close.

Speaker 1:

It leads season two. We know there are seven more seasons after this, so get their feelings hurt. I am beyond excited. First and foremost Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, happy Birthday. Always feel so bad for the December people when their birthdays and their parents. Just because it's. It's a tough little dance. If you celebrate the holidays, it could just be a lot so happy, whatever to you. I'm happy we're back together because we've got something deep to talk about today.

Speaker 1:

This show continues to challenge my preconceived notions on vintage soap operas on the 80s as a whole, and I'm slowly realizing it's because if you were coming into something as a kid, you're going to see it from a kid's view. Yes, you're going to have these moments of clarity, you're going to pick up on certain things, but these topics are very adult in nature, without always being explicit. I want you to pour up something bubbly and bright as we delve in to one of the deepest episodes I've seen this season. Season two, episode 16, nod's Landing. More Than Friends. You ever accidentally fallen in love? Falling in love? This episode has conjured up an odd memory for me that I'm struggling with. But this isn't about me. This is about my girl, valene, this is about Laura and this is about a blast from the past.

Speaker 1:

Today's episode is an unusual rollercoaster of emotions, one of the most interesting things I've discovered as a full grown adult, entering my big fours, proud of it is that friendships don't develop the way they used to. I'm sure everyone goes through this, but as a kid you go to school with people. You're basically friends with people who share the same interests with you, who have the same schedule as you. Kids don't really have any control over that. So often you make friends at school camp. You go to your grandma's house for Christmas and there's kids playing down the street. You do things that way. Social media has changed the way we define friendships. You can be friends with someone across the universe, across the world, and never actually meet them, but you share this sort of parasocial relationship.

Speaker 1:

As I watch this episode, which is filmed circa 1980, 1981. The underlying theme is actually friendship. It's not romance, as you would believe it to be, but it is friendship and forming those relationships and what those relationships actually mean. So this episode opens up with my girl, valene, the Vidalia Onion Queen, making her way across the community college campus. My heart swells with pride. It is so refreshing for me to watch her specifically on the come up. I'm watching Laura on her come up as well, but I don't feel the same amount of joy because it's like you know. Laura actually had the opportunity to do something before. Valene has been looking over her shoulder for the last 15, 18 years and she has decided, instead of sitting at home nursing Gary's wounds or trying to build him up I'm going to try to be fair on this episode. We all know how I feel about Gary at this point. It's amped a little bit because of the last episode, but I mean not much has changed. Instead of her sitting at home trying to figure out how to be the best person for him, I love that she is doing something with her time.

Speaker 1:

To me, that is such a Gen X, millennial, millennial move. You cannot be frozen. I feel like our generation doesn't really have that option and I've gotten into a couple of not arguments but discussions with, like my parents and my in-laws about this. Like, well, everyone gets divorced now and like people always have gotten divorced. You just didn't know it as much. It wasn't as publicized as it is now because everything we do was kind of out in the open but also Gen X, millennials, millennials like, whose parents aren't divorced. There's so many people it's not evenoo. And I don't think it should be because, quite frankly, it's none of your business. But to see what a relationship might look like if you were just to be stagnant is more terrifying to me than what a relationship looks like when you move on.

Speaker 1:

Valene is the strongest case in point for me, so I'm super excited to see her moving on and getting her education. So she's walking across campus with a little homeboy and they're talking about this class Like they're obviously both a little bit nervous about this writing project. She's even more nervous because she's never had a formal education. Her education, seems like, ended sometime before she was 14, 15 years old. So writing a college paper must be just devastating. This is long before the internet. So she's cracking open encyclopedias. She's doing all the things to write this story.

Speaker 1:

She shows up in class, a teacher walks in and he's talking right away. I hear Richard Dreyfuss, but that's not who I see. It took me a second to realize. Oh my God, it's my favorite Knott's Landing drunk Earl. Y'all Earl is back on the picture. I recall Earl being a writer. I did not realize that he was a teacher or professor of some sort. He's basically filling in because the regular professor is out sick or something. For whatever reason he's on one, which is not unusual.

Speaker 1:

We've all dealt with people who feel themselves a little bit too much. I'm going to go ahead and say this no disrespect to anyone who teaches, but there is a certain amount of power that very weak people enjoy in positions of authority as in like a teacher, a cop, a therapist not therapist a doctor would be a better one, a nurse, anything they can kind of you know if they are the gatekeeper for the next step in your life, if you are a weak person, not in general, I think teachers, police officers, nurses all these are doctors incredibly noble positions. I'm so grateful for them. But you know what I'm saying. If you've ever met somebody who was a little bit insecure and they get in a position of authority, it's a whole nightmare. So it wasn't even really standing out to me when Errol starts talking because he's basically reading the whole class for Phil, y'all write like kids. This is pathetic. I thought I was gonna get a little something more, but, god bless, thank god he let me read these ahead of time. Basically, you guys suck. The suckiest of you all is this story in particular. Do you know? He had the audacity to disrespect the Vidalia Onion Queen really pissed me off because you know she's trying so hard. She is self-taught at best, trying to make her way. He knew who she was, he knows her personally. These are all little things that I've kind of forgotten. Let's refresh Earl is an alcoholic.

Speaker 1:

Gary Ewing is also an alcoholic. Earl is an alcoholic. Gary Ewing is also an alcoholic. Earl had a wife named Jill or Judy her name was safe at the moment and Valene Ewing is a wife of Gary. These two women meet at an alcoholic anonymous event where they have both reluctantly drug their husbands too. Gary Ewing shows up, earl does not. Jill or Judy is absolutely over it by the time the meeting ends and she starts explaining to Val and Gary that this is a lot on her. Her husband is not cooperative and this is the first time we meet him. He's outside cutting up. I got six or seven good cackles off of him. His iconic, probably the most iconic line of this whole season is I'm high.

Speaker 1:

Earl is not with the ish, as they would say. He is not interested in reformation through Alcoholic Anonymous. He is not interested in being judged quote unquote by any other alcoholics. I don't know how they do things now, but on this show which leads me to believe in the 80s, early 80s, they felt like it was a great idea for a freshly minted alcoholic to mentor another alcoholic. Thus the relationship between the Ewings and Earl and his wife begins. Now it ends in a tumultuous affair On one of the many nights that Earl does not show up to whatever event he's supposed to show up to.

Speaker 1:

His wife, lady J, as we'll call her for the rest of this episode, goes out looking for him. She reaches out to Gary Ewing because Gary Ewing is his coach, reaches out to Gary Ewing because Gary Ewing is his coach. Eventually they decide that it's probably a better use of time to bang one another versus looking for Earl. So they decide to stop doing that, start banging each other. Lady J catches feelings and although he never fully admits it at least not at the point where we are in this season Gary Ewing starts to feel appreciated, like a man. This woman doesn't know his full past like that. He's an alcoholic, but he's a good kind, if you know what I'm saying. So he becomes her hero, so much so that she shows up to the Vidalia Onion Queen's house. Yes, to be like I love your dude, your dude loves me. Now. Vidalia had witnessed them over dinner after he lied about going to a meeting. So this is all fresh.

Speaker 1:

This is within four episodes, so you can imagine how raw the feelings were. You can imagine how Vidalia or Valene, excuse me felt when she sees this guy, and she knows what a little bit of a terror he can be. That's his whole steal. He's this sort of difficult, jaded writer who is also an alcoholic. So it probably came as a shock when he starts to read her, specifically for Phil. She ain't never, never done nothing to him.

Speaker 1:

Now, as the audience member, it's kind of obvious that maybe he feels a way because he knows what went down. But it's like, why would you blame the other person, valene? And he, as far as we're concerned, as far as the affair goes, are the innocent parties. But he chose to humiliate her, not just embarrass, he humiliated her. So eventually Val runs off and you see the look on this guy's face. He's almost like what did I say? It hits me at that moment. I don't know who the actor is. I forget his name. I feel like it's another actor's name. It'll come to me eventually. Anyway, earl is clearly like oh God, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. So he seeks her out. She's having lunch with Karen at some point, and he seeks her out and he's like hey, I'm really really sorry. Honestly, I think you could be a good writer. It's like the bones are there, I'm just going to help you, like, rearrange it. So through the course of this episode, he begins giving her books books specifically written by Southern authors with the same sort of cadence as her speech, so that she feels a little bit more comfortable. Now, that seems nice. I don't really know his intentions, though.

Speaker 1:

At this point, before we get too deep into Valene, let's jump over to Laura, Laura the real estate impresario. I was there. I just got a text from my sister. I asked her if she wanted to go to breakfast tomorrow. They're traveling in, for they travel in for the holidays and they have to head out pretty quickly. So I'm like, do you want to have breakfast? Because I don't know. It depends on how drunk we get tonight. Wow, anyway, a sobering scene. Not really. Is our good friend Karen? Now, karen is the neighborhood, everything, and as far as I'm concerned, this episode solidifies the fact. I had no idea it was going to present itself.

Speaker 1:

Karen goes to Laura's job so that she can pick up the grocery list for her. Apparently, karen likes to go grocery shopping for all of her working home girls. If they're busy, she's like yeah, I got you, you already gave me the check. Just whatever, I'll go buy your groceries. She is indeed the first televised slash documented shipped employee. I believe she invented shipped Uber Eats or whatever. That is brilliant. Now that I think about it, I bet that's not that unusual for a very kind of close-knit set of friends. But just how awesome is that right? Especially if it's a friend Like just girl, get me whatever's on your list and I'm going to make the exact same meals as you do. Because that's the last thing I want to do is think about what to make after I've worked all day.

Speaker 1:

So Karen shows up at the office to basically get the the list from Laura and the receptionist greets her. She's like oh, just have a seat. She's in there with Scooter. Well, another guy comes up to the receptionist and he's like oh, are they in there again? It's very clear that the chatter, chatter, chit-chat around the office cooler. Is that, karen? Oh, there I go. God, I hate when I do that. Laura and Scooter. Y'all remember Scooter, the guy that kissed her in the mouth like episode one of the first few episodes when she was working there. They, everybody thinks something is going on.

Speaker 1:

Laura is a bit of an enigma to me on this show in particular, because you remember the first season. One of the better episodes is where she's out there. You know she's basically kind of going after what she can get. That sounds horrible, but you kind of got to watch it in context. I hope you guys are watching this on Amazon now that you have the opportunity. It's it's um, a reaction. Basically it's almost like she can't say no if she knows that someone is interested in her. They've never really delved deep into it, but season one.

Speaker 1:

The impression that I am left with that I still kind of think about when I watch her sometimes, is that she had a past at some point and Richard is aware of it, so I almost don't know if they're together in a sense where he, just like Gary, is to Lady J, who I just figured her name is Judy was a hero of some sort, because she puts up with a lot of just borderline emotional abuse from this guy, the way he talks about her, the way he does things, the way he blatantly has the affairs in her face and she just kind of smiles about it. That's the thing that bothers me about Laura not gets under my skin, but I just can't quite place it. It'd be easy to chalk it up to bad acting. But she's not a bad actor, she's a really great actress actually. But there's always this sort of we'll get through it kiddo. Look on her face, despite whatever it is he does.

Speaker 1:

So this time is no different. She comes out of the office. Now Karen is listening. She's like oh my god, never mind you. Karen is full of secrets at this point. She knows about the affair with Richard and Abby. She knows about the night that he hooked up with Sid's ex-wife. She knows about Sid kind of feeling the young girl. She knows about her almost hooking up with Mr Crane. She now knows that Gary Ewing has hooked up with Judy. She's sitting on five secrets.

Speaker 1:

So as she's maffing, she's like, listen, this tracks, this is adding up. Is my girl, laura, hooking up with her boss? So Laura comes out with that kind of there's no other way to describe it. She just looks like a proud daughter, almost just like it's so nice to have someone recognize her brilliance and recognize her hard work. So Karen doesn't say anything at first. A little bit later they're in the kitchen and Laura's just got that. Well, what are you talking about? Sure, everything's great. Karen's like girl. She basically says bitch, are you gonna bring us together? And Laura's like well, what do you mean? She says you know what I mean, I know what you mean. I think you, I mean you saying it, so say it, so tell me. She's like I just did. She's being very elusive. It's almost as if she's enjoying it, she's having a good time while everyone else is panicking.

Speaker 1:

So towards the beginning of the episode there is a dinner. Karen, who just come fresh now I guess she bought all the food is at the dinner with Sid. Of course. Richard is there and Scooter and his wife are there and his wife is talking about being a grandmother for the first time and how exciting it is. But she is. There's an energy, there's kind of a connection between Scooter and Laura that is undeniable. Now does it seem like there's more going on than meets the eye to me? No, not really. You ever just meet somebody, you just connect with. Y'all are just sisters from another misters, brother from another mother. You just like man, this person understands they share the same sense of humor. It just kind of feels like that. But as the dinner goes on it does seem to get a little bit more intimate, because Laura and Scooter don't seem to be aware that anyone else is at the table.

Speaker 1:

Now, surprisingly, unsurprisingly, richard does not clock this. He goes into the kitchen part. They're in the dining room. They go and he goes into the kitchen to cut pork butt or pork shells. Actually, laura just made my current, at least half my current salary now on one sale. So I'm sure, I'm sure she's eating veal or lamb or some sort of meat I've never purchased so I can't identify. But Richard is in there slicing up this good meat, right, and Mrs Scooter comes in and she's making small talk and she goes.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't bother you, I really admire you. She's using that old lady jedi mind trick, you know how old lady, especially southern old lady. She's from socal, but I mean, god she could be from mississippi, texas, tennessee, she's. Oh, that's so sweet. I'm just, I just admire you so much. Oh, wow, you're just handling this so well. It used to bother me, the affairs and all, but I knew it was only a moment in time, it was only a matter of time. It was going to happen and you're just handling it so well. I think I'm going to take a page out of your book. Richard's basically like WTF, excuse me, what are you talking about? She goes well. I mean, you're handling it so well. It doesn't bother you that they're blatantly having an. But if you grew up in the United States, she basically says bless your heart, which is code for oh, you're dumb. Well, I'm just going to follow your little lead. It's very cute, or whatever.

Speaker 1:

And Richard slices this beautiful meat and he goes back into the dining room. Much like the joy I get from watching the Vidalia Onion Queen expand her horizons, I have the same warm feeling in my gut when I watch Richard become irrationally insecure, or perfectly rationally insecure. As I stated before, this man has had not one, but two affairs in the last two seasons. He has all but hidden one and paraded the other. He has embarrassed his wife on many, many occasions. So to have him walk back into the dining room and continue to feed himself the no, it's no, there's nothing, it's nothing, it's totally fine. That line is refreshing, because he can't let it go the rest of the episode. He's just very insecure about it. You can tell.

Speaker 1:

And Laura, bless her heart, bless her genius, by keeping that sort of it's all going to be fine, that's that kind of smirk on her face at all times. It creates the most uncomfortable point of view you could have as an insecure man who is cheated on her multiple times. You don't know, because she keeps it cute, whether 15 women and she's sleeping with 15 men. You will just never know because she doesn't change it up. She keeps that Everything is going to be fine. She doesn't change it up. She keeps that everything's going to be fine. We'll work this out. I love you. I'm going to keep this smile on my face. Everything's great. So he pulls a Karen. But is it? Yeah, it's fine, everything's good, everything's great. But he's so insecure. He's so insecure that they're supposed to have dinner or something.

Speaker 1:

He shows up to her office early Now, mind you, everyone else has left. It is dark. It is lit like a sexy smoky Vaseline on the lens 1980 dinner party. It is a very seductive if you want it to be. Laura is sitting on Scooter's desk. Scooter is just praising her and he wraps her face in his hands. You know he cups her face delicately in both of his hands and he plants a kiss.

Speaker 1:

Far as I can tell, people kiss each other on the mouth in 1980. I wasn't there. I wasn't there in 81. I don't know, but it seems like that was okay to do. But I'm also basing this on Sid and Karen and Laura and Richard. I don't know, to me it was a problem.

Speaker 1:

But Richard sees this and he's like oh, hey, she turns around. Hey, you're early. She doesn't seem embarrassed, she doesn't seem like she's been caught in anything near the scooter. So eventually conversations are had and she's just like why is everybody thinking I want to be with Scooter? That's so random. He is my mentor, he is my boss, he is my friend. Laura, after God having to defend herself. To Richard, she basically breaks it down Like listen, you can be a man and a woman and be good friends without having to defend herself. To Richard, she basically breaks it down like listen, you can be a man and a woman and be good friends without having to sleep together. We are not me and Scooter, are not you and Abby. So sit down. She eventually has dinner with Scooter. I'd be remiss if I did not mention this.

Speaker 1:

If you are a soap fiend, especially a daytime soap fiend, and you are more than familiar with the incomparable Victor Newman. Victor Newman I don't even know this man's government name, but he is Victor Newman. He used to be married to Nicki. On Young and the Restless, they have Victoria and Nicholas. Nicholas was such a smoke show in the 90s. Oh my God, he was so hot. I don't even know if he's still on that show. I don't even know how I would even watch it now. I cut cable but just know that Scooter looks like Victor Newman's nephew or little brother, vincent new boy or whoever. So they're having this discussion over dinner.

Speaker 1:

She's like I just really really love working with you. He's like I love working with you too. She explains the whole thing with Richard. She's like I don't. It just pisses me off, because if we were two dudes, nobody would say anything about the amount of time we spent together. If we were two women, nobody would trip over how much time we spend together. And you know what? She's not wrong.

Speaker 1:

There is just this perception of when a woman and a man are friendly, especially when you're older and when you're not kids, there's always the assumption of. When you're older and when you're not kids, there's always the assumption of well, one of you must be gay, or one of you you're. You're having a affair. Those are the only two options. And she's just kind of like over it. So she goes I've never even thought about sleeping with you. And he's like, oh, that's nice, no. Then she goes you ever thought about sleeping with me? And he's like you know, I'm saying I'm a man obviously Like if I hadn't thought about it there'd be something wrong.

Speaker 1:

But just because I think about stuff doesn't mean I have to do it. I love that quote. I think about a lot of things. I think about waking up early. I think about meal prepping for the week. There's a lot of things I think about that never come to pass. I don't know why there needs to be any exception when it comes to this particular topic at hand. And she's like well, if you put it like that, maybe I thought about it too, but I appreciate it. But she breaks it down and she says listen, I adore you as my friend and if we ever cross that line, I am more concerned not only about ruining the marriages. We ruin two households, but we would lose this, and this friendship is so much more valuable to me than anything else. I can't lose you. If having you means I lose you, then I will never have you. So do with that information what you will.

Speaker 1:

But it did open a memory I'm going to get a little bit personal when I was about 19, I was in college and I started working at this company. When I got there, I don't think I met him right away, but I ended up meeting a very, very close friend. We're still close friends to this day. So instantly we liked the same kind of music. We had the same kind of music with the same kind of humor. He was a little bit older than me I think I was 19. He's probably about 24. And he was about to be engaged, to be married. But we started spending all of our lunch breaks together. We worked very closely with. He made me CDs and make him CDs. You know what it is? Millennials, wonderful relationship.

Speaker 1:

And I can be honest, that time in my life I really did need guidance and it was so much easier to get it from him. Like he told me about everything saving money, things I already knew Hearing it from someone closer to my age. It just hit a little bit differently. So I started to catch feelings. I'm not going to lie, I definitely did and it was very obvious to everyone in the office. But we had a similar conversation and I believe, laura, even though this is a television show, I understand that you can have affection for someone, but understand that there's a line that can't be crossed.

Speaker 1:

I believe it is very, very possible to have male-female relationships, male-female friendships, especially as an adult, because it's already difficult to make friends. It's ridiculous to believe that you will only have same-sex friends for the rest of your life. That's boring and it just doesn't make sense. Like baby Victor Newman says, you don't have to do everything you think of. So I swallowed my pride. I went to his wedding. It sucked, but we remained friends out of mutual respect. I went on to meet and marry a wonderful man and we're still friends to this day and eventually, honest to to god, the longer the relationship went on, it's just like you became an annoying brother. So that waned eventually. So Laura makes her point by saying I'm not going to give up the one of the best friends I've ever had over something silly.

Speaker 1:

Even though neither one of them were planning on crossing that line, they put it out in the open. He is her mentor. He is a good guy and I kind of like baby Victor Newman on the show. I like the way he makes Richard nervous, but the rest of the show Richard is shaking in his boots and I'm here for it. I feel like it serves him right to be a little bit nervous about the situation because I mean, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, as I say.

Speaker 1:

Quick side note do you guys remember that group, eden's Crush? They had a song called what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Love them. Nicole Scherzinger was one of the stars of that. It was like this pop group they put together. It was reality TV Like gosh. I don't even know. In early high school I can't remember when it came out exactly, but me and my best friend were absolutely obsessed.

Speaker 1:

Being a little bit nervous after cheating on someone is perfectly natural, so natural, in fact, that I did a little digging. I'll drop some facts at the end of this episode. But this is an angle I had not considered. It's very obvious that Richard would be nervous about Laura perhaps finding someone else, because he has done it not once but twice. She only knows about the one time that we, the audience know about. But when someone cheats on someone there's going to be fallout, no matter who they are. Laura seemed to take it better than most, but this episode kind of danced around an angle I had not considered.

Speaker 1:

Let's move back to Val. So Val has been humiliated by Earl. Earl feels like crap and he's like, hey, I can, can help you, I'll work with you, we'll get your stuff published Again. I don't really know his angle. Does he really think she's that good of a writer or is he just trying to make amends? It also occurred to me this episode that as far as Earl was concerned, he and Val and Gary were friends. They were all friends.

Speaker 1:

It's hard to realize that because he was so drunk or so just awful Most of the episodes that you don't really consider that he's never been a very pleasant person. He reminds me of a guy I used to work with at the same company who was just kind of loud and abrasive. And when I tell you, this man had the softest, sweetest, most kind, most genuine, like a genuinely sweet wife, and I could not figure out how in the hell this man managed to pull this woman. She was gorgeous, he was aight looking, not that looks matter. Maybe his personality made him aight looking, but I just couldn't figure out what the hell do y'all talk about all day? How does she keep her composure? But it's like God puts people together. He has to put this angelic woman together with this incredibly abrasive man, because nobody else is gonna wanna deal with him. Now, I didn't get that vibe from Judy. Judy didn't seem like an angel. Judy seemed like a woman who had just reached the end of her rope, and I love thinking about the difference between Laura, judy and Val. But let's get to Val.

Speaker 1:

So for the rest of the episode, earl is on his best-est behavior, but there's almost like this desperation. He really is upset that he upset her. So he's trying to teach her, he's trying to help her and at first she's reluctant and it's not immediately obvious why. But the truth is there's an elephant in the room. Val knows that Gary and Judy had an affair. She is unclear as to whether or not Earl knows this. It becomes abundantly clear as the episode progresses that Earl does know a little bit. He starts fishing. He's like you know, judy left me. What happened to you and Gary? You just stopped reaching out to me. What happened? I thought Gary was my friend and she's like oh crap. It pisses me off a little bit that she is yet in another position where she needs to defend his behavior.

Speaker 1:

I do not think this going forward is sustainable. Now, I know you OGs, you already know what's happening. But in just kind of the natural progression of a drama, or if this was a book I'm reading, this character can only take so much. She has literally spent most of her life looking over her shoulder. She has chased and accommodated this man. She is still accommodating him. Don't forget that the only reason he went to AA, gary that is is because Valene set him up there.

Speaker 1:

It's hard for me Shout out to my YouTube friend, jupiter. Most of my listens come from like podcast app, but I do have a sprinkling of people on YouTube and I really, really appreciate that because there's no visuals. I'm working on that. But Jupiter has great insight and the consensus is that Gary is going to have this character arc. He's going to actually grow and I can sort of see that now where he is coming into his own for the first time.

Speaker 1:

There's always that sort of rush of power. I think about it around the ages of like 1920 through like 25. You're figuring out who you are as an adult, not as a child, as a person who is solely responsible for themselves and making decisions for themselves good, bad or indifferent. And so I try to give Gary a little bit of grace, but it's hard to do that when he is with Valene, because the sacrifice is so uneven. She is always giving way way more, so, so much, in fact, that she eventually does go home and she tells Gary about everything that happens and Gary's like you know what? He's a bum. Don't talk to him. You don't need to mess with him. Now. That I mean, granted, he's not wrong, but it's unusual coming from someone who was also an alcoholic, who was supposed to be this man's coach.

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One of the things I forgot after the affair is that when Gary stopped fooling around with Judy, he also stopped fooling around with Earl. Gary knew before anyone that Judy was going to leave Earl and he's like oh, he's a jerk, he's this, that and the third. That's not fair, especially considering you were the one banging this man's wife. Of course you're not gonna have the best opinion of him, but it's like you almost forfeit the option to have that opinion because you were the one being deceitful Earl was being himself 100%, so was Valene, so did Gary and Judy, if you think about it. But you don't get to have a heavy opinion about the way this man is reacting to the current situation at hand, considering you are in part responsible for it. So the general conversation between Gary and Valene is that Val is on the side of. He was our friend. These people were people who confided in us, who trusted us. You helped him. I don't get to be ugly to him and I see a good man there. He's just struggling.

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Valene has the vantage point of someone who is watching someone else struggle with an addiction, so her sympathy is long and it is strong. Where Gary is wrestling with the guilt of banging this man's wife, betraying his trust and also being an alcoholic, he's like well, I pulled myself out. Yeah, you did, but you know what else? You found something else to pour yourself into. This dude does not have the same option you do, and that's a very complex thought. I love when television or books or just people challenge my present thought. My whole goal in life is not to die an idiot at 80 years old just with this one trick pony, one thought.

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And these are some of the complexities that come with being an adult. The longer you live, the more you understand that everything definitely is not black and white. Not everything is always good or bad, but the complexities that come with making a decision and sitting in the consequences are not something that most people can handle. So Valene is obviously torn because she loves Gary. She understands Judy probably a little more than he ever could, because she's not the one with the addiction and she's also not the one who has to. There's no accommodations that ever, ever need to be made for Valene.

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She shows up, she's accommodating, she, you know, know, takes it on the chin. She might not smile like Laura, but she definitely isn't going to buck back. She's giving Gary the grace that I don't want to say that that Earl doesn't have. But Earl has abused his grace to the point where Judy's, like you know what, two tears in a bucket. Let me go back to the east coast and live my life. I'm not worried about Gary and I'm worried about Earl. Any man with a four letter name can absolutely pass me by. I am not interested. So Valene, coming from this vulnerable spot where this was my friend and also comma, he is a brilliant man, he is a poet, he is a writer, he understands these things and if he's telling me that I have potential, I'm going to listen.

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Gary is struggling with this. Gary is struggling mostly because he's dealing with the guilt. He has to deal with the guilt of what he did in this operation not just banging out Judy, but abandoning her. And when you think about Gary's life, who else has he abandoned? He literally abandoned everyone he's ever been in contact with. Shout out to the writers. That's what I'm talking about. You hear me, that's what I'm talking about. That's how you put a series together. That's how you draw the audience in. Because I'm like, oh my god, this is deep as hell.

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So Malene is having dinner with Gary and he's still on that. Rah, rah, rah. You don't need to go over there. He ain't the one. Blah, blah, blah. But it's one of those things You're rubber or I'm glue. Whatever Rubber, glue, whatever you say, sticks back on you. Anything he can say about Earl, he can say about himself, and she's like listen, he come over to the apartment now. I gotta mention earl had been a little bit eager this entire episode, so it's not surprising that it feels like he just wants to make up for being a douche.

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So she agrees to go over to the apartment, which is the same apartment that gary and judy use for their rendezvous. He's like, sir the southern, this blah blah, blah dialect, this blah blah blah and Val's woman, woman, intuition is kicking in. She's like oh god, you know what? I gotta go, baby. Um, I told Gary I'd be home by 10 and he goes. Are you afraid of me? She's now what? Now?

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Everybody has been in this position where you really are uncomfortable, but you don't want to present yourself as uncomfortable. You're like no, no, of course not. He goes. Well, you should be. Her face goes. Oh shit. This is why intuition needs to be this whole. I feel like if you're gonna put kids in school, there needs to be a whole lesson. Amongst other things, you don't need to learn trigonometry. If you suck at math, you have. You have no business being anywhere near trigonometry. Teach me, uh, reading the room. Teach kids how to spot one of these things is not like the other. Let's focus on intuition. She's like oh crap, the thing I've been fighting this whole time is not just guilt, it's that there is something off with this kid. Earl's like you should be afraid of me.

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So Earl has devised this super, dimmy, villain plan where he has locked the door from the inside but somehow she can't open it and he's like we're gonna do what? Do we deserve to bang each other out because our spouses did the same thing? Don't you want revenge? Why are you such a doormat? You know what? This is great. These are great questions. These are wonderful questions. This is not a great time. I am. I'm in duress. I can't think straight. This is Melaine speaking. Dude, I can't do this with you.

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Well, the phone rings because Gary is pacing back and forth and he knows that something is up. So he ends up going over to the apartment and he saves her, but not before Earl breaks down in tears because she's like Earl, baby, please, you can't do this to me. I don't want to bang you, you're not going to attack me. And he's like I know I'm not. It just sucks. What do I do? And my heart breaks for Valene because once again she's been in a position where she bears a responsibility for two grown men who could make their own decisions, but she's stuck in a rock and hard place with that, believing in people, believing in this man and understanding where his pain comes from because, yeah, honestly, he has every right to feel that way. But she has to be the good wife and protect her husband and she also has to be the good friend and protect him and convince her husband that he needs protecting. I'm going to save the rest, because there's a little bit of a scene between Gary and Earl and it needs to happen. It is right on time and, by God, whether you love or hate Earl, I happen to love him. I love people who just are unapologetically themselves. You don't have to like where he's coming from, but what he's saying is raw, real and uncut. Like, dude, you abandoned me, dude, I lost my wife and I lost my friend because I'm a drunk. But you're a drunk and you get to do it. It's very intense, it's very quick, so I highly recommend that you watch this, but really quickly.

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The role of these women. This is 1980 and from what? What research I've done? This is a monumental time in history. We don't really feel it today because almost every woman I know works or decides they want to stay home. Both are noble, but women returning to the workforce in drones was a huge deal in 1980 and beyond.

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You look at a case of Laura, who probably had the opportunity to work at some point, married Richard and decided this is just my lot in life, I can handle this, I can put everything on my shoulders. And then you look at a Judy who's kind of coming from that same thing. And then you look at a Valene. Judy was able to make the decision for herself eventually. That says I am worth more than what this man is giving me. I don't deserve to wait for him to decide to be a good person. I'm not going to chance my life on making sure that this person wants to be with me and wants to be a standup guy. I'm going to move on it to me.

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It invokes a certain amount of strength that you just don't see. Now. Laura seems to house that same strength, only she uses it in a different way. She distributes it a little bit differently. I'm going to take it on the chin. I'm going to remain upbeat and sappy and happy at all times, and you just will never know if there's anything destroying me or not. I will not let you get the best of me one way or another. She might have a moment or two, but by and large no one's going to know. Anything's wrong with Laura.

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And then you got our Vidalia Onion, queen Valene, who moves heaven and earth, who removes any obstacles to make sure that this man, this beautiful man that she loves, has the opportunity to flourish and grow. And something occurred to me this episode that hadn't occurred before. We still don't have a very clear timeline, and I'm so grateful. It is simpatico the way this all fell together for me personally, with the birth of Knott's Landing and Dallas already being on air. I guess if you're watching this, if you're new to the show, all you have to do is start watching Dallas. When Val and Gary are introduced on Dallas, go ahead and start watching Knott's Landing and it'll kind of pair up, depending on how quickly you watch them.

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But one of the things that stood out to me this episode is that she is fighting very hard. This is a sucky, really crappy position to be in to, where you need to defend your husband who has cheated on you. You're defending him against the man whose wife he took. Basically, that sucks. There's no version on earth where you need to be in that position. But she is and I had to ask myself well, why does she keep fighting? It's obviously love, is obviously hope. She's obviously young enough to still have kids.

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But I wonder how Lucy getting married now affects all this, because think about it, they're never. There's no version of this story where Lucy is going to live with them and they're going to raise her. At best, lucy might move in temporarily until she gets a new house or something, but the family unit that she wanted involved Lucy and it involved Gary. Lucy is no longer an option. So it makes me wonder how much longer can Valene hold on to this? So it makes me wonder how much longer can Valene hold on to this. She's dealing with the same sort of mental gymnastics. I don't want to call it abuse, but it is neglect. I suppose Gary is trying, but at the end of the day, it's not your responsibility to make sure someone else tries. It's your responsibility to make sure you show up the way you need to, and I think she's done that crystal clearly across the board.

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I have an interesting bit of information for you. After watching this episode, I just kind of wonder man, this is about that, get back. Is it about that get back? Is it about friendships? It really is about what a real friend is. Were Gary and Valene real friends? To Earl and Judy. Who knows Valene was? She tries Earl I don't want to give away that scene, but you kind of get his perspective on this whole thing too. Laura has a friend who is so valuable to her that she thinks that ruining a marriage is less of a burden than losing him. As a friend, friendship relationship, we all need these things, especially as adults, and it's very difficult to find. But I want to drop a little tea for y'all.

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So 1981 proved to be an interesting year for divorce, as women are entering the workforce. It shows that about 1.2 million divorces happened in the US. Do you know the number one reason for those divorces? Of course, number one reason for all divorces infidelity. People decided I no longer need to stick with this. I have other options now. I don't have to wait on you, I can do other things. The statistic for 2024 is very interesting.

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As I stated at the top of this episode, lots of people are divorced. You don't even bat an eye at that. But do you know that 47% of people who find out their spouse has cheated on them cheat on their spouse or get that good, get back, as they would say, within seven days? Seven days which just goes to show. There's somebody out here ready, willing and able at all times if your spouse decides to disrespect you in any way. My, my, my. I'm not here to condone any sort of cheating or snapback, but you do what you got to do. You're a grown man or I'm not here to jump in your business. I'm here to mind my business and talk vintage soap business. All right, guys, thank you so much for joining me today.

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I really, really enjoyed this episode. I hope you do too. Remember you can watch all of this now if you have the Amazon Prime app. If you don't, they're not paying me. So guess what? Reach out to a friend and get their password. If you can't get a password, lightning bolt struck me the other day. I thought duh, you can go to the library. Go to the library, rent the DVDs, rent the DVD player and enjoy yourself In the meantime. In between time, if ever a drunk homeboy from the past comes stumbling into your life, stand up and exit the office quickly. That he will embarrass you to the fullest. Say hi to her, say moisturize, mind your own business and keep all of your drama on TV. Thank you.