Soaplore

S4 EP3 Knots Landing: Encounters - The "I Know You Lyin!!!!!" Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 327

Share episode

Send us a text

The cul-de-sac throws a sunny party for Baby Daniel, but every smile has a shadow. We dive into Knots Landing Season 4, Episode 3 to unpack the decisions that bruise, the truths that break through, and the one garage conversation that redraws the map. Richard dazzles the neighbors with food, then stuns Laura by leaping from law to restaurant owner with a secret deposit and a head full of wine lists. Val faces a ruthless PR gauntlet that turns her novel into headlines and her home into a photo set, until a bathtub refuge is shattered by pushy “support” and a trap that delivers Gary to her in a stark, echoing parking structure. Gary’s half-apology and “I miss you” land like a hook, but Val refuses the bait. Anger becomes a boundary, not a burden. Abby, meanwhile, won’t wait around for a man who can’t pick a house or a lane; she’s ready to build, and the stalling exposes Gary’s craving for admiration over accountability. At a dim lounge, a singer with a mullet and a powerhouse voice steals the scene and hints at a trend: when characters can’t say what they want, the music says it for them. Back at the shop, Karen’s grief sharpens into grit as Wayne’s “dentist” alibi slips in a casual brag. One eerie warehouse beat later, the murder thread tightens—and the score turns the air cold. This episode is a study in pressure and choice: paper plates vs. porcelain expectations, closure vs. control, dreams vs. consent. We talk love triangles, public image, career pivots, and the cost of secrets, with sharp character beats for Val, Abby, Karen, and Laura. If you’re here for soapy twists, 80s music cameos, true-crime tension, and fierce boundaries, you’ll feel right at home. If this breakdown hit a nerve, follow and subscribe, share with a friend who loves vintage prime-time soaps, and leave a quick review—what was your biggest “no way” moment?

SPEAKER_01:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome or welcome back to Soap Lore, the official gathering place for movies, novices, and OG diehard fans of the golden age of my diamonds. I'm your host, Jess reviewing and reviewing the Stopy Sentier. So whether you're doing this or turning this, it's on the sit back in the door. Everyone else on inside, no offers or inquired or two five. No exceptions for me. I'll watch your ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, of this soap. Hello, gorgeous. Welcome back, party people, to another fun-filled edition of Soap Lore. I hope your day is shaping up well. We gotta jump right on into this today. I hope you showed up with the bed bread. Or if you're listening to this on your mobile device, go on and get something to drink. We gotta discuss this. I'm almost speechless on this episode. I guess I should introduce it. We are watching Knot's Landing, season four, episode three, called the heck is this called? Encounters. Shout out to these generic titles, okay? I'm I'm starting to walk into this surprisingly more blind than before. I think it's a combination of watching four soap opera simultaneously and also not thinking too much about it. But encounters that could be anything, personal encounters, alien encounters. This one is just the only thing I can say is I know you lying. I know you're effing lying. Ain't no way. Oh. Go ahead and pour yourself up something bubbly and bright. Go ahead and black out your calendar for a little bit. Put your phone on do not disturb, y'all. We are jumping into season four, episode three of Knot's Landing Encounters. Okay, stay with me here. From growing up in the 90s, watching television, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, whatever. I can specifically recall in the maybe mid to late 90s on shows like Moesha, sometimes on Beverly Hills 902, and oh that was probably a little bit closer to the beginning of it. Specifically on sitcoms that were teenage-centered. Not at all unusual to have a musical guest. I can't tell you how many times I've seen that storyline. I think Full House had an episode or two. I know Moesha always had different guests on freaking Destiny's Child was on a couple shows. Say by the Bell definitely had a couple of iterations of them having some sort of music group one way or another. Having a musical guest is not that unusual, but I'm starting to see it more and more on these shows. Why? Why? Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I love a good A and B selection. I love me a good song. However, is this just par for the course when your show becomes popular? Is this how you fold in guests? Is this how they break new artists? We got a whole concert series this episode. We got discussions of stardom. I don't even really know what to make of it. I'm not mad at it, but I'm just like, are they gonna keep doing this? It comes to mind because of Dominique on Dynasty. That's her name, right? Dominique? Diane Carroll has a whole singing gig on there. We've already had, oh my god, what was what was Care Bear's name here on Knott's Landing? Carabare had a hit. She was, you know, popular for a little bit, which makes sense when you think of Kenny being on the show, but he's not even prominent. Okay, let me stop. I'm rambling. Let's get into this. Let's go ahead and break this off, okay? At the top of the show, we see the backyard extravaganza, aka a sip and see, or a belated baby shower for baby Daniel. Baby Daniel, by the way, does not seem all that impressed. His bassinet is outside. He didn't ask for any of this, but all of the neighbors are in the backyard stuffing their face. When I tell you, people are smacking lips, licking fingers, like, damn, this is fire. Richard, what is this? Richard explains this so-and-so, this that this with some cream fresh. Max country ass don't know what that is. He said, What does that mean? Karen's like, it's milk, it's cream, onions, and mushrooms. But I think Richard needs to open a restaurant. Damn, Rich, this is delicious. They are baby, they're going to town. Everybody is enjoying the F out of the meal and adoring baby Daniel. So we learn pretty quickly through all of the fawning over the baby that baby Daniel's backseat entry into the world is astonishing. The kid tipped the scales at over nine pounds, which makes Laura's concern about having an all-natural childbirth all the more real. Nine pounds, no epidural. She, no wonder she was like, I'm gonna die, yo. Women die giving birth every day. Yeah, you gave birth to a full watermelon in a sedan with nothing but orange juice on your lips. And a man you can barely stand on your hip. Give this woman a break. I quite frankly think she needs to do absolutely nothing but raise this baby for the next two to three months. Everybody else chip in, wonderful neighborhood to do that. Y'all come help her out. She shouldn't be doing anything. Richie makes a comment though that stands out to me more than anything else in this particular scene. He says, Y'all forgive the paper plates. My wife doesn't like to do dishes. Number one, sir, you are quite comfortable in your role as head of the household, even though you ain't got no job. No disrespect, but also you do the dishes, sir, okay? She's giving birth to quarterbacks and selling the finest houses money can buy. In SoCal, nonetheless, you can wash a dish or two. But then also, the country part of me is like, wait a minute, wait, wait, wait. Is this about is this is not a barbecue? It's not really a dinner party. I totally forgot that paper plates haven't been around since the dawn of time. Somebody used to really have a barbecue and you had real porcelain plates outside. I can't even imagine. Can you imagine washing plates after a barbecue? I hope my mom don't get mad at me saying this. Actually, it wasn't really. Well, it was all of them. My mom and my dad. My parents, I don't feel like they grew up super poor, but they were definitely raised by people who did grow up poor. Nothing wrong with that. But some of the things that we would wash, I'm like, what? We're just doing this because it's habit. We don't really need to do this. Y'all remember the Dixie plates that are the kind of plastic ones? They're a little more shiny. They're a little fancier. They're not actually paper, they're plastic. Yeah, I can distinctly remember washing those in the summer. And washing the bowls, and I would get so irritated that I would crack them so I can get rid of them. But yeah, like, why are we doing this? I get it, save a penny, especially in this economy. Now, yeah, I might rinse it out once or twice, but why are we doing this? And then I go to my great-grandmother's house and she'd have all these jars from jams and stuff over the years, using them as like glasses and stuff. That is a very country thing. Drinking tea out of a mason jar is very normal, but sometimes you might look at your mason jar and realize it's an old jar of helm's or some mustard from 1957. Anyway, the party is hopping. Everybody's adoring the baby. The baby looks uncomfortable, he wants to go inside, and Richard has just cooked his little narrow behind off. They're eating good, they loving the baby good. It's a wonderful time. Only Valen the Vidalia Onion Queen and her country and Western star mother have not made an appearance. Why? Val is upstairs fretting over an outfit. She don't know what to wear. Should I wear this? Should I wear that? Lily May say, girl, put on whatever. Baby Daniel is gonna think you look stunning. He's gonna say, Girl, that's so cute, Val. Thank you for showing up to my backyard kickback, baby shower, sip and see, whatever, eat and see. I don't know. Val says, No, Mama, I just, oh gosh, I'll let me get my mind together. Why don't you go ahead and head on over? Lily May does just that. You know, she comes with that good old country hoodoo, wives tell, the shape of the baby's head. Oh, he's smart. That's a smart baby you got there. She's going on and on. Joe comes up. Joe wants to know, hey, where's Vidalia? Lily May says she's at home, fretting over her dress. Immediately, Joe's spidey sense starts to tingle. This needs to be said, y'all know I like Joe. I like Joe a lot. However, he's reminding me of another Joe. He's he's more Joe Jackson this episode than he is Joe Karen's little brother. For those of you who don't know, Joe Jackson is Michael Jackson's dad. Some might say he beat his children into excellence. Some might say that's just for the way things were back then. Either way, once Karen's little brother Joe realizes that Valen, the Vidalia Onion Queen, ain't making an appearance, he goes over to the house after he dumps Lily May off on Mac. He goes over very sweet, seems like a very encouraging figure, per usual, Valen. My darling, why aren't you dressed? Why aren't you going over to the party? Oh, Joe, I'm doing a couple revisions. He immediately calls BS, which I love about Joe. Valen, you don't need to do any more revisions. Now we got people coming. You're gonna go to this meeting. Why don't you go say hi to your friends across the street? Starting to give off mom vibes a little, right? Or dad vibes. So well, Joe, I mean, I'm not really ready to do that. I'd rather chill here in my house and look over this book I don't really want to put out into the world. That's what I want to do. Oh, Val, these are your friends. They care about you. Everybody knows what's going on. Why don't you go over? Valen, the Vidalia Onion Queen, has had about enough of y'all telling her what she does and don't need to do. She's gonna let you know right now. Today is the new day joke. This is season four, episode three. I ain't the same little Vidalia onion queen back in the day. I'm not one of those little Vidalia onion. I'm a big country bum. I'm I'm damn near turning into a carriage in the middle of the night. I'm a bigger onion, okay? You don't tell me what to do. I don't go, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to the party. Stop asking me. I'll leave when I want to leave. It's the implication here. The implication is that she is turning into some sort of recluse. Two things can be true at once. Yes, she is a little bit, but also this is a totally reasonable reaction to a very life-changing thing that just happened to her. Granted, y'all already know my opinion. This was under her nose the entire time. Yes, it was on its way, but does it make it any easier? No, she ain't trying to celebrate. I'm gonna tell you that's what it is, too. It's very hard to go places and celebrate when you're in a like a super duper funk like that. You know she loves a baby, you know she loves a kid. It goes a little deeper than that, though. It's not just that she can't celebrate other people's things. That's not it. It's like I am frozen in a place that I don't want to be. She admits I don't want this house, I don't want to live in this neighborhood. Hell, if not for this book, I'd be on the first thing smoking to God knows where. I do not want to be here, Joe. So if I don't want to have a little weak barbecue every now and again, that means I don't have to. If I don't want to go over there and eat cream fresh, then I'm not going to. Yeah. Then she might have gone off on him a little harder than she would on a normal day. Because while she was minding her business, stressed out about going to this party, trying to think of a good excuse not to do it. Guess who has the audacity to call her? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. You know, homeboy is in his fully furnished, fully paid for apartment with his new boosky, Miss Abby Cunningham, who was washing her hair. She's fresh out of the shower. She's trying to get cute for him in the apartment that she funds. This mother lover is secret making secret phone calls, calling Valen's house. Valen is not having it. Stop playing on my phone, Gary. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you call my house again. It's gonna be a problem. Stop calling me. She got to. She has to do it. Let the girl let her be mad, let her kind of live through this, and once she gets on the other side, then we can do what we need to do. That's my personal opinion. But let's get back to um this kept man, the beautiful and stunning, and apparently worth pursuing Gary Blue Draws Ewing. I've been trying my best not to say Gary gets on my nerves, but Gary gets on my nerves. He gets on my nerves. I thought I was a little more neutral. And you know what? Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but this was so annoying and so satisfying. So, like I said, Abby was in the shower. She hops out the shower, her and Gary are sitting on this couch. Side note, she has on the cutest cream-colored, slightly puff-sleeved skater dress. It is adorable. She could wear that to this day. She's got on with some heels. She got dressed dressed just to chill at the house with him and his polo. So they're sitting on the couch. And if you recall episodes one and two, if I remember right, I feel like it was more on episode one. She's been looking all over Knott's Landing or wherever for a place for them to live. She understands the severity of the situation. Gary, you were once married. You were still married, technically. Your wife lives across the street. That makes it quite awkward for everyone involved. We need to find a place together. Let's start this life together. She is for real in love with him, as far as I can tell. He's dragging his feet though. And it's on this episode that she starts to see that. Like she found a listing that sounds incredible. It's private, it's near the ocean, it's near schools, it's got a sauna, three bedrooms, and a den. I mean, it seems like a steal. He's like, I don't know. I don't know when she look at it. She's like, Gary, at some point we gotta find a house. My kids don't even know where I live. They don't know if this is my house or our house is my house. We need something of our own. He's still apprehensive. She's like, What the heck? Like, what is your problem? We're already in this. Why aren't we doing more? He goes, Well, I don't have a job. Okay, you'll get a job. And you're about to have an inheritance. Well, I don't have money yet. I don't have it yet. It's less than a month away. She has a very valid point. Eventually, it clicks for her. She's like, Oh, okay, I see. Every time you get in a mood like this, it's because you're worried about your ex-wife. And Gary says, See, that's the thing. She's not my ex yet. There's still some things that are hanging over my head that just need to be taken care of. She's like, like what? I need to talk to her. Oh, and tell her that you found somebody better in bed. And here is the first crack of many, in my opinion, in their relationship. The scene goes on where Gary says, you know, this is a big thing. We have things left unsaid. I need to talk to her. I can't start something new if I if I don't finish off what we had. Like if I don't, if I don't find closure, I basically can't move through this. And Abby's like, um, you should have thought about that months ago when we started banging. You were already in it, my guy. Very valid point. But I didn't really think this the last episode, right? I didn't think this on the first episode of the season. I didn't think this the second to last of last season. When Gary Ewing on that infamous episode where Valen walks across the street and slaps the absolute dog mess out of Abby. Rightfully so. Gary was so compelled, so compelled by the thought of her that he walked across the street. He was, remember, he was stressed. He could not stop staring out of the window. He ran into the bathroom like a little girl when Val tried to confront him about the affair. He couldn't help himself. The minute he saw her walk out of her home, he ran over there. He ran over there when he thought she had another man. So I came to the conclusion that there must be deeper feelings involved. You know what I'm saying? He's definitely into this. But on this one, the fact that he's stutter stepping is like, okay, wait, did you just enjoy the chase? Or what is this? So Rabbby gets pissed, basically telling him, dude, you're already in something. You need to figure out what you need to do. So she tries to leave. She only weighs 48 pounds. So he's able to snatch her up. And it is the worst. Oh, put me down, Mister. It's it's that whole vaudeville villain puts the damsel in distress on the train tracks and she's kicking her feet two inches at a time, like, oh my god, I'm fighting for my life. Is one of those. But they done got so hot and bothered from fighting that you know it's on and popping. Is this just lust? Is it? I thought he was in love. You know what I'm saying? Are you compelled by the passion, Gary Ewing? Not annoying, but just like, huh. First time I actually had to think about that like this again. Like, okay. Originally I thought they got together because she obviously pursued him, but he saw that she believed in him and they they were working on something together, and she had these bright ideas. You got to know her. Seems like you really care for this woman. Only to have you be like, Well, I mean, I don't really want to, I don't really want to move, I don't really want to look at house, I don't have any money. He didn't say that when she got that apartment for him, now did she? Is this a y'all see the pattern? You see what I'm saying? You like what you like as long as someone is praising you, which is, I mean, it is what it is. But the minute you need to start making decisions, he starts to throw a fit. Now, the thing I like about Abby, I didn't think she would be someone who would allow that, and she certainly doesn't seem to be the case. If you want to act up, I'm gonna act up. If you want to turn your head and go this way, I'm gonna turn my head and go the opposite way. What I'm not gonna do is sit here and wait for you. My name is not Vidalia. It's Abby, okay? Gary goes to lunch with an older gentleman who I'm not quite sure who he is, and they're having a good time. This man knows that he is no longer with his wife, knows that Gary's no longer with Val. But he doesn't seem to think that he's with anyone else. And this man was going on and on about like, oh my god, dude, to be single in the early 80s, I mean, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Right? Life is so different now. Oh, god, what I wouldn't do to be single. You're so smart, Gary. It's so cool that you have this time to yourself to really think.

SPEAKER_01:

Although the man is being incredibly disrespectful to his own marriage, he is dropping some truths. Gary, nothing wrong with being alone for a little bit. Nothing wrong with getting your mind right. Nothing like coming alive again. You know what I'm saying? You gotta see what it's like out there. You're not a married man, you're a single man at this point. Now, Gary's got that ridiculous look on his face, per usual. Just eyebrows shifting all over his head like Lance Bass. He don't know what he's thinking. But you need to listen to this man's wisdom. He's like, yo, nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with sitting with yourself for a minute. Not everybody's able to do that. And then some let's be clear, not everybody's able to sit with themselves for long periods of time, and some people really do move through things pretty quickly. I.e. Richard. Now, at the backyard kickback, as we'll call it from this point on, there was a moment when Karen and Laura were sitting over by the buffet table, woofing down whatever it is that Richard had just prepared. And Karen's like, girl, he looks so good. He seems to be himself again. He is vibrant, he is healthy, he is happy. Oh my gosh, I'm just so happy to see him like this. Laura is apprehensive. Remember, the whole reason she moved back in is because she thought he was suicidal. She says, I mean, he he appears to be that way. He has his first interview tomorrow. He's gotta, you know, he's gonna go to a lawyer's firm, blah, blah, blah. I hope he's okay. She still doesn't really know for sure. So the next day comes, and I suppose Richard wanted to walk to his appointment. I didn't know people walk that much in LA, but maybe he's downtown and just Makes more sense. You know what I mean? Parking's expensive. Let me just walk, get my nerves together. It could be good for you. Well, instead of walking into the interview, or maybe he did, it seems like he did go to the interview. He walks by this run-down building. When he goes inside, there is a lovely gentlewoman sitting at a disc, a disc, a desk in the middle of this very vacant, once upon a time restaurant place. And they strike up a conversation. She shows him the former dance floor, the former bar. Do you want to see the kitchen? Do you want to see the dining room? He's like, Absolutely. So immediately she's like, Okay, what kind of restaurant are you opening? Oh me, I'm not opening one. I'm just I'm probably wasting your time. And she goes, Are you sure? He says, Yeah, it was just a dream. She goes, You know, well, guess what, baby? That's my specialty. I turned dreams into a reality. Apparently, based on the rave reviews he got at the kickback, Karen being a little birdie in his ear, like, yo, you need to cook, you need to open a restaurant, and him telling baby Daniel to be a chef and not a lawyer. He has this wonderful, sparkling idea. Richard goes home and Laura is preparing one of a well, a slightly less sad-looking salad. Y'all, actually, no, it's not. I think Miss Constant McCashin has enough McCassian to hire a McCookin' because ain't no way you telling me this woman can't pan a mime a salad. She is slicing this cucumber like it's alive, like if she is skinning a snake. It is terrifying. Then they got this half-wilted lettuce. Baby, there are mushrooms on the counter, a giant horse of a carrot. She's got a whole bunch of sliced, not diced. Who the hell eats sliced tomatoes on a salad? Sliced hamburger tomatoes, and she is skinning this cucumber alive, all at the bottom. Now, girl, come back to salad like you got some sense. That's neither here nor there. Because maybe she's distracted. Because Richard, instead of coming home talking about the lawyer and he's finna start doing, he comes in with this whole list about payroll and wine and food, rent insurance, blase, blase. So and so's restaurant called uh charges X amount. We're gonna have to up the Annie on our wine. She's like, Okay, what are you talking about? You're a lawyer. Why are we talking about restaurants? Tell me how your interview went, Richard. He's still going on and on about this restaurant or Bills, not even a restaurant. He didn't actually use that word. He says, Oh, the interview went fine. They want to start me off at 37 and a half. Oh my god, Richard, that's great. For those of you wondering, that with the rate of inflation in 2025 would be approximately 125,000 dollars. Not bad. Southern California home, brand new home was about 80k. He's doing fine, and Laura sells million dollar homes. So she's all happy. That's so great. She's hugging him. Yay, that's cute. So what'd you do? Sign a lease for the restaurant? She just says it kind of in passing. He starts laughing. She knows that laugh. Wait a minute, wait a minute. That was a that wasn't a it's a pipe dream laugh. That's a you signed a lease. You went out, wait, wait, hold on, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on, hold on, hold on. You went out to look for a lawyering job and then you bought a restaurant, a raggedy restaurant at that. A DIY restaurant at that. Richard, did you did you leave a deposit? He says he did. She is gobsmacked because this is exactly the sort of thing she left him for before. We're right back to square one. Richard, a whole agreement with me moving back in is that we would share, you would be open, uh you would communicate. I am telling you. No, you're not telling me. I had to ask. She had to ask. Oh it uh uh uh. He's comfortable. I understand being excited about a dream, but he's comfortable and probably really, really bored. I'll give him that, but girl, here you are back at square one. I didn't think it was a good idea that she moved back in. Ugh, I sure hate to see her revert back to her, so I don't know what's gonna happen. Well, he says, listen, we are gonna communicate a lot because I'm gonna need all of your help. I'm gonna need a lot of help. Sir, she has a fresh baby and a career. Speaking of bad ideas, depending on who you ask, Karen is on a mission. She is dead set on figuring out who killed Sid. Now she's come to the conclusion that whoever did it obviously worked in the shop that day. Could have been a temp, could have been one of the regulars. But as she goes over the three guys who were there, one of them being Weird Wayne or Warren, whatever his name is, it just didn't seem like any of the guys who were on the clock that day would do anything so so terrible. Now, what she doesn't know is that she is inches away from her husband's murderer every single day with Weird Wayne. Now, Weird Wayne is still working on getting those parts to her so that she can not burden her customers with the increase. The last thing she wants to do is pass the increase of cost over to them. Now, last week, Wayne was mortified and damn near drowned to death. When he went up to a house in the Hollywood Hills, two mafioso types told him, Not only are we not gonna sell you parts, you better not do anything weird behind our back, dude. We sure hate to drown your non-swimming ass in this pool. And he's like, Okay, cool, cool. I won't do anything. Now that he's away from the pool, Wayne ain't scared. He ain't afraid of those two losers. He's a mo he's a mob guy, too. He cut a whole brick line or something. And he'll be damned if he lets a poor man's John Burnthal and a man built like Fred Flintstone and a Lego man wearing salmon pants ruin his day. Y'all ain't finna tell me nothing. Unless we're Bible, and I'm then I'm gonna comply. But since he's not, he decides to get on a phone and and intimidate a uh a bookish type over the phone. Hey dude, we're gonna go ahead and go with those stolen parts, okay? But didn't the mafioso guys tell us not to? Yeah, they did. So we're gonna keep it a secret, okay? Just send me the stolen parts. I'm gonna make sure Karen Fairgate buys them. So what happens? He tells Karen, hey girl, I got you this deal. She's like, Oh my god, that's so great. But he can tell that she's distracted. Well, what's going on? I'm trying to figure out who killed Sid. I'm looking over the schedule that day. Do you remember anybody else weird coming in? He's like, No, I can't really remember because I had a dentist appointment. She's like, Oh, okay. Well, would Sid have hired someone to come in? Weird Wayne says, No, we generally just sort of pick up the slack for each other. If one of us is out, someone else just steps in. She's like, Okay, that makes sense. Well, maybe it's nothing, but I I thought I'd give it a go. She's not even suspecting him because he's he's he's unassuming until you sit and talk to him, make eye contact, then you're like, ooh, he's giving me a vibe. I don't like it. Anyway, he says, Yeah, so sorry, Karen. Wish I could help, but like I said, I was at the dentist that day. She's like, all right, bet. So a little later on, baby Daniel makes yet another appearance with our good sister Laura, who is now finna be a restaurant against her will. She pulls in because her car is making a funny sound or something. And even Weird Wayne can't resist charm. That is the nine-pound 1982 phenom Baby Daniel. He's like, Oh my god, that kid is so cute. Look at his smile. Oh my gosh, he has a cute smile. Laura's like, thank you. Apparently, it's gas. Apparently, he's a little too little to be smiling, but man, he's cute. Weird Wayne decides he's gonna shoot his shot. This is a woman who just had a baby. Maybe she's hard up. Maybe she needs a little Adam's family realness in her life. She needs a little uh, what's his name? Lurch. Somebody weird and odd. Maybe she's into it. So he says, Of course, the kid has a beautiful smile, so does his mother. She goes, Oh, thank you. Thank you. You have a great smile too. He goes, Yeah. I'm one of those lucky people. She goes, What do you mean? Well, I've never had a cavity in my life. Matter of fact, I don't even have to go to the dentist. I'm just born with naturally glowing, beautiful teeth. I hadn't been to a dentist in five years. Can you believe that? No cavities, no two fuses missing and whatnot. I'm good, I'm golden, I'm Gucci. He's going on and on. Unbeknownst to him, Karen has come up the rear. She hears everything he said, and she's like, Holy crap. You couldn't have gone to the dentist if you're talking about you have the best teeth in the world, you'll need to go to the dentist. Shout out to Baby Daniel for bringing out the worst and the best of this weirdo. So now she knows and she does the most caring thing she can do. She runs over to Mac. Now they'd had a little bit of a tift. I can't remember if it was right before this or during this. She's like, yo, I know who killed Sid. He's not trying to hear it. He's like, Karen for crying out loud. You're not a freaking detective. Why don't you let the people you pay taxes to, i.e., the police, the government, won't you let them do their job? She goes, Oh, I would, but last time y'all tried, you messed up. So now I'm gonna do it. I'd like to denote the distinction between a quote unquote Karen in 1982 versus a Karen in 2025. 2025, Karen would be like, listen, I pay taxes. You work for me, sir. You'll do what I say. It's hard for me to call. I mean, she is a Karen, but she's not a Karen. I don't know what you would call. She's a car mother or something, because she's a real one. She's like, I'm gonna tell you through your face that you suck at your job. I did a little reading and a little snooping, and I have cracked this ish wide open. Mac is like, I mean, calm down, Inspector Gadget. You haven't cracked anything. That dude had an alibi. Everybody had an alibi because that's what the police do. We do investigations. She goes, Well, somebody, it was a lie. In Mac's defense, just let's play devil's advocate for here for a second. Who's to say that this fool wasn't just lying to impress a pretty lady? What if weird Wayne was just trying to get into Laura's freshly birthed draws so that he could, you know, have a little fun or something? Maybe he was just trying to spit game, or maybe he was flattered because no one talks to him because he's creepy and off-putting. He could be lying either way. Karen's like, nah, he wouldn't lie. He definitely wouldn't lie. And if if he was lying, then the dentist was lying. Max's like, dude, really? He got a dentist to lie. So I see where everybody's coming from, but also, this is Karen Fairgay. Max says, Why don't you just fire him? Just get rid of the guy, then you don't have to think about it anymore. Sir, you're not listening to her. That's not what she said. She goes, No, no, why would I do a fool's thing like that if I fire him, then I can't watch him every day, okay? I want him to be none the wiser than gonna go to jail. Plus, I fire Gary, I need somebody to run the shop. He can run the shop up until he goes to jail. She's not wrong. But also, this is where she does a little bit of a stutter step. She backtracks. So she went from like, I know you lying. I can't believe this fool has never gone to the dentist. You killed my whole husband. To I'm gonna play it as cool as I can until I can't anymore. So she goes into the shop one day. Apparently, he's in the supply warehouse. She's looking for him. And I don't know why the score for this particular scene was so intense. It sounded like Jaws or one of those slasher films. She's walking around looking. Wayne, Wayne, nothing. It's creepy. They're shooting her below the waist, looking up. So you feel like she's being followed, like she's being watched. Then all of a sudden, I'm right here, Mrs. Fairgate. This fool's up on a ladder holding a perfect skull crushing pipe. And it was at that moment that Karen knew she didn't want no smoke. Especially with the man who doesn't blink and doesn't need to go to the dentist. He will crush your cranium just like that. She's like, oh hey, hey, hey. Uh I just I just wanted I wanted to talk to you about those parts. Those parts I asked you to to find me. Oh yeah, everything's set. He's not as expressive as I am. Sure, everything's set, Mrs. Fairgate. Okay, well, uh just just let me know what day they're coming and when the delivery is, and I I'll get the money. I actually actually I gotta I gotta scrounge up the money, you know what I mean? So just let me know when. I'll be sure to do that, Mrs. Fairgate. Creepy, creepy, creepy. Shout out to her for not breaking out running. I don't know. I girl, sir, soap fiends. Last time I'm in a room alone with him again. Last time ever. Speaking of being alone in a room, but not really. Remember, I was talking about Gary eating with the older gentleman, telling him, you know, it's cool to be single and not really be attached at this time to sort of see what's out there, see who you are. Well, Gary apparently foot the bill. He has enough men, he footed footed, he paid the bill. He had enough coin to take care of lunch, and because of that, he happens to be lingering around in this restaurant slash lounge, and he hears somebody uh belting out a power ballot, I believe they're called. Now, I don't know when my music history when it comes to rock music is minimal at best. And um he said he hears this this young little thing singing, and she's rather than stutter, step, and insult anyone, I decided to educate myself. I thought it was Richard Marks, but it's Journey open arms. And when I tell you this baby is singing, I didn't want to like her. She's talking, you know, at first she's just like, I don't know if it's in the right key, blase, blase. Hey, hey, hey, hot guy at the bar. You want to hear me sing? Sure, I want to hear you sing. I bet you do, Gary. I bet you do. So baby girl starts belting. And and when I'm like, okay, okay, I know that song. She is singing for her life. She's not singing for her life at this point. She's singing really well, though. He is like, hey, I want to introduce you to somebody. So now all of a sudden, he he's a he's an AR person. He's for real. He's uh Timblin', I guess. He gets so hyped that he goes and he finds Kenny and he says, Hey Kenny, I found someone. She's really amazing. You're gonna want to meet her. Guess what this girl's name is? Her name is CGI. CGI is a rock and roll singer with a with a sweet mullet, which we need to discuss at some point. Oh, geez, this is your time to educate your girl. If you made it this far in the show, I'm really glad you're still here. Thank you so much for listening. Listen, I'd love to hear from you. Reach out, holler at your girl. If you're listening to this on your mobile device, check the show notes. There is a link that says send us a text. Drop any information you think I might enjoy. I promise you I will. But specifically today, on this day, on this episode, I need to know what a proper early 80s mullet is. I say this because I haven't seen this. We are all the way up in 1985, I believe, on Falcon Crest. I have not run across a mullet, but this baby has one. She looks totally different. I'm calling her a baby. This woman is 20 years older than me, plus, probably more. Anyway, she had a baby on this show, so she's a baby to me. Okay. I need to know what the proper maintenance of a mullet, because in my opinion, it is still a little bit too thick around the edges. I can't tell if she has just really feathered bangs going all the way to the back of her head, or this is the first mullet on television. Actually, strike that. Y'all remember when Fallon tried to have a mullet, but her hair, she just she didn't have the thickness. Her hair couldn't carry it. They even tried to perm it. She just couldn't do it. Anyway, reach out to me in the show notes, or you can do it the new old-fashioned way via email at soaplorepodcast at gmail.com. That's S O A P L O R E P O D C A S T at Gmail.com. Holler at your girl, tell me about the new mullets. Or old mullets, pardon me. Okay, back to the business. Gary says Kenny, why don't you and Ginger come out with me and I almost said Val, come out with me and Abby, and uh we can hear C G I C or Fiji. No, I'm sorry. What's that girl's name? C G. I'm not gonna remember that. B C B C D A B C B B D C G. What the hell is with these? What was that other girl's name? She had a dumb name too. Either way, CGBG, CGI decides she's gonna do some singing. And Gary wants to be, I guess he's trying to make friends again. I didn't realize him and Kenny were even close. I can't really remember them having any other conversations, not for real, for real. But uh the invite is sent, and Gary's like, please, I'd really love you guys to come and hear her tonight. You're gonna love her. Kenny is like, yeah, gender will totally go for that. Okay, oddly enough, baby two names and baby Daniel never in the same scene together this episode. I guess this is introducing him and maybe two babies together are crying, or hell, maybe it's the same baby. I don't know. Ginger's like, Man, I don't want that's I feel weird. I'm not really trying to do all that. Now, Lily May is over there, she hears this. Kenny says, Hey, Lily Mae, can you watch Baby Two Names tonight? She goes, No, can't do it. Bye. Shout out to Lily Mae. She's got one foot in on the bust to shady pines if she don't get her life together. She's like, nah, absolutely not. I ain't gonna do that so he can go hook up that girl. Absolutely not. But Lily Mae is Lily Mae. She's been ear hustling this whole time. She takes information she has and she formulates a plan, which we'll get to here in a moment. Kenny and Ginger decide they're gonna drop baby two names off with baby Daniel and them at Laura's house because I mean, I guess that's the best option. And they do indeed go to dinner with Abby and Gary. This is the first time Abby and Gary are connecting with anyone back in the cul-de-sac, and it only makes sense that it would be that couple. There is zero chance that Laura would break bread with them. There is zero chance that Richard would break bread with them. It'd be far too awkward. Karen can't stand her openly. She is quite hostile to her, to her face. And you know, Valen ain't finna watch nobody else's baby, not anymore. Last time she did that, what happened? You see what happened. So it's awkward. I was very proud of Ginger for being a girl's girl. She didn't she didn't act like she was excited to be there with Abby. She didn't act like she was super hating. She's just like, okay, I'm just here because I'm also a singer. But it was very entertaining to me to watch this whole thing. So CGI comes out and she's got on the glittery, the golden, the shimmery, the shiny. She looks like a very sophisticated can of Cooler's Light. Hate on on her outfit if you will. Gary and Kenny had the nerve to do that. They were probably hating because her outfit was tighter than theirs, and they felt a way about it. They're trying to show off the family jewels and whatnot. She starts singing, and Baby Girl brought her a game. I had to, I'm not gonna lie, I listened to it twice. I thought, okay, let me go listen to this tongue. She was singing, baby. Singing. CGI is talented. The best part of this scene is looking at Ginger. Listen, Ginger was hey to she was like, she's she's she's light or whatever. She's she's right. She did not like it. She was looking, she was damn near scowling, like, oh I I mean, I guess if you like cover songs. I'm an original artist, but I mean, okay, okay. If you like mullets and silver bullets and and covers, she's she's like, she's cool. Abby seems genuinely entertained. So a waitress comes over. She says, Mr. Gary Ewing, there is a phone call for you. Now, Gary plays a lot of phone games this episode. Before he met CGI, CG the BG, whatever her name is, before he met her, he decided. Decided to make a phone call right after the old gentleman's like, dude, it's what a what a time to be alive and to be single, Gary. Gary felt a little bit more nostalgic, I suppose. Val leans heavy on his mind. So he goes, he makes a phone call, and it's Lily Mae who picks up. Lily Mae don't hang up, it's Gary. All right. I really need to talk to Bal. She's be here for click. That worked out. So he goes to the house. I gotta rewind a little bit. Let's let's put it, let's put a pen on, let's put a pin on the CGI, BG's, whatever her name is, Gary and his multiple phone calls and the hustler that is Lily May. After Valen cursed Joe out and told him to get out of her house after Valen told Gary to stop playing on her freaking phone, she still has to face the music. Even though Joe wasn't a hundred percent correct and, like, girl, you need to face your neighbor, she ain't really trying to do that. She does need to make these PR rounds today. That means she needs to have lunch with a woman who is the Miranda Priestley of book publishing. She is the devil wears Kmart versus Prada, but don't you ever turn your nose up at a sensibly dressed woman? JC Penny catalogs finest. She shows up to talk to her. So Joe is the publisher, whatever. He's representing Val. There is a wonderful woman who is, I guess, the PR lady. I'm not really sure. She's super happy. She is trying to brush everything over. She's trying to hype up Val. And she knows that this the Devil Wears Prada lady is kind of intense. So she's there to smooth things over. Devil Wars Prada ain't got time for that. As Joe and PR lady are hyping up Val, and Val is answering everything really sweetly. Miranda Priestley says, Cut the crap. This book is about the Ewings, right? J.R. Ewings, your brother-in-law. He's a scoundrel, right? Can you tell me about any of his deals? Oh, here go Val Amy. He is my brother-in-law, but this is a story I made up. This is from my imagination. But didn't your sister-in-law have a problem? Didn't they almost not be able to adopt a baby? Which, by the way, guys, is a little bit of a crossover. So I just finished the Dallas episode where Kristen had died, and I started the other one where Bobby and Pam started talking about adopting a kid, right? And they go to the agency, and I guess there's a shortage on babies. That's as far as I got. Now, let this woman tell it. Pam and uh Bobby are gonna have an issue with this book. Valen is about to drop, and apparently it's costing them adopting a baby. I don't really find that to be a spoiler because we don't really know how that's gonna turn out, but it's interesting that it's getting it's inching closer and closer to them being at the same place at the same time. And that would be Dallas season five, episode four, is where I'm at. Well, Valen, about this point, like she's like, oh crap. That second question really kicked her in the gut. Miranda Priestley, the devil wears Kmart, is not playing with her. She don't care, she keeps her foot on her neck. Valen, as a matter of fact, isn't that the reason you don't have a husband anymore? And your husband's so disgusted that you wrote this book that he left you in that the whole thing. Now, Valen has already told Joe that she can't even go to the grocery store without seeing her name or the Ewing's name or something splashed on the tabloid. She is Britney Spears circa 19 or 2003. It is the Paris Hilton of it all, the Lindsay Lohan. Y'all remember that? It is that era. It is brutal for her, which is why she wants to stay in the house and run away with first thing smoking. So this lunch went exactly the way she didn't want it to go. And she looks at Joe briefly, and it is the whole thing is like, I know you lying. You just threw me to the you know this is you threw me to the wolves. This is exact, this is exactly why I don't want to come out the house. This right here. So this book is becoming an even bigger nightmare, coupled with the fact that yes, her marriage is over, coupled with the fact that uh the kids who she loves, their baby mother, their mother is the one who snatched up her husband. He let's not say that. I'm gonna stop saying that. Abby didn't snatch him up, he allowed himself to be snatched up. Caught up in the rapture, if you will. She's having a rough day, baby. So she decides, let me go home and perform the sacred ritual of all the heavy laden women who are burdened and just done for the day. You've done all you can do. The only thing you can do is sit in the bathtub and soak your troubles away. Well, she goes home to do that, only to have Joe giving very much little brother energy and erupt her sacred bath time. Sir, she is doing something bubbly. It ain't bright, she ain't even got no music, she don't have no champagne, she's just sitting in lukewarm water with 800 bubbles, just chilling, sitting in a dark room by herself, oh, just letting it trying to let the world roll off her back. Joe comes in to be supportive. Like I said, there's tons of bubbles, but also that's not your sister. What the heck are you doing, Joe? He don't care. He's like, hey girl, hey, hey, hey, hey, you did great. Listen, it's gonna be some ish sometimes. You can't keep hiding, Val. I know you want to run and hide. You gotta grow some things, my baby. You got I'm paraphrasing here. You gotta step up, you gotta, you gotta do something about this. And also, you're being a little bit selfish. Like you're not the only person who's writing on this book. Val says, but Joe, you see how crazy this has gone, right? You see how wild this is. This is not what I signed up for. You don't know who I'm messing with here. He says, Okay, cool, I get that, but the moment you sign that contract, you threw it out in the world, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. The only thing you can do is control you. That's all you can do from here on out. Not to mention, this is my first time as a publisher, so please don't embarrass me. Not in the middle of my bubble bath, sir. Back to CGI, Kenny, Gary, Abby, and the restaurant concert. So as CG, see CG is singing her little heart out. Waitress comes over, Mr. U and you have a phone call. Gary goes and takes the phone call, is Lily Mae. Oh my god, Gary, I didn't know who else to call. He's like, How you know where I was at? Don't worry about that. I'm stuck, speaking of where I'm at. I'm stuck in this at the mall. I oh my god, my car won't start. Gary, I know who else to call, please. I mean, technically that's still her son-in-law, so he's like, All right, that I'll come get you. So he goes over to the table and he says, folks, I gotta go. Abby says, Where are you going? Uh that was Lily Mae. Lily May? Yeah, she's stuck. I gotta go get her. She goes, Oh, that's cute. Abby is not gonna sit around and wait for this man. She decides, you know what? You're out, I'm out. I'm not sitting around waiting for you, deal with it. Also, I need to make a quick correction. I just went back, I mixed it up. So Val has a little interview with this lady. This lady is it's an interview, I guess. She talks to her, doesn't go so well. The next day, I suppose, the publicist comes over with a photographer. They're doing all these photos in Val's house, making her look over her shoulder and stuff. It just doesn't really fit the vibe of the book, honestly. And it's not her personality. That's when she freaks out and eventually goes to the bathtub. When Gary had stopped by the house unannounced, and Lily May let him in. She looked at Val looked at Lily May, and not so many words that you let somebody else in my house who I said can't be here. You're gonna have to get out too. Shady Pines, Shady Pines, you better get your life together. So back to Gary's gone to go pick up Lily May. Lily May is giddy, knowing that she removed him from the restaurant where he was having a lovely dinner with his new boo. She got to stick it to him, you know what I'm saying? And she didn't babysit baby two names. So she calls Valen and she's like, Valen, oh hi. Something awful has happened. Most cheerful, something awful has happened I've ever heard in my life. She gives Valen the same song and dance. So we get to see Valen rushing to her mother's aid, fourth floor of a parking garage, which is very sketchy. Lily May is in the big old long Brady Bunch. What is that? A station wagon? As Valen rounds the corner, she sees Gary dirtbag youing. She quickly hops in the car. Lily Mae, that is, and says, Valen, you'll thank me for this, and peels out. She really isn't listening. Okay, bet. I gotta make a phone call after this. Gary, now that I'm trapped underground, what do you want? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, soap fiends of all ages. If you and I were having a conversation and you're like, Jack, I'll give you four hours, many guesses as you need. Guess what Gary wants to talk to Val about? I promise you, I I would have never, I would have never, ever guessed this. Gary starts off by saying, Your mother's right, we need to talk. Val says there's nothing to talk about. We can't let our lives together go on without ever talking to each other. She's like, but you didn't have nothing to say to me when you was running out with Abby. You that's when we should have been talking. So now we don't have nothing to talk about. I need to tell you I'm sorry. Now I I fully expected him to say he's sorry. Guilt. This this listen, scumbag or not, do I think he enjoys hurting people? No. They ask each other how they've been. She's not she's being very strong. I'm proud of her for trying. You can tell this is this is a struggle, but she's got enough righteous indignation, if you will, that she's able to say what she needs to say, but she's also not looking at him as much as she can. I'm so pissed at Louis. Here's where it gets weird. Have you been? How you've been? She told I don't need nothing from you. I really I thought, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened the way it did. I hope we can be friends. Or hey, do you think you can sell me back the house? I'm really not ready to be out of the neighborhood. I don't know. Do you mind calling my mom? Something like that. This mother lover says, I miss you. Now that's the I was saying, wait, what? Didn't cross my mind. I miss you. She's like, well, you got Abby. But I still miss you. Gary, are you are you high right now? What are you saying? Okay. Bear with me, ladies and gentlemen. Emotion. Listen, I'm gonna let it out. It's gonna be what it is. He says, I still miss you, and I'm sorry that you're so angry. I am sorry that you're so angry. The level of just not the level, the lack of emotional intelligence in this moment really pisses me off. You don't apologize for her emotion. You can apologize for her pain. I'm sorry that you were in such pain. I'm sorry that I hurt you the way I did. Don't you ever apologize for me feeling the way I feel over some ish you did to me. I'm sorry you feel so angry. Now, Val, I okay, I didn't expect her to roll over. I really didn't. And I'm really glad she's like, oh, okay, so you thought you could just do whatever you want and that I was gonna come back and I was gonna smile and bear it like the Vidalia Onion Queen. I'm gonna just be chipper and cool with it. Hell no, Gary. It's a brand new day. Absolutely not, Gary. She's like, you really you really do think that you you can do whatever you want, and I'm just I'm supposed to receive it with a smile on my face. He's like, no, no, I don't blame you for being angry. I know that. I don't blame you. She said, then don't try to take it from me. I'm I love that sentence so much because I think a lot of times all people are different. It is my personal policy that if you and I are close and I do something to upset you, I do not have a say in how you react from that point on. Choice could have been made when I did the thing, if I did it knowingly. It's one thing to be like, I had no idea that was a thing. And even then, you get to feel how you feel. I do not have the right to tell you how to feel about something that happened to you. And I don't think she's dragging it out. I hate when people just try to move through things like they didn't happen. I understand you can't dwell, but anything you don't actually work through is gonna repeat itself. She can be mad, she needs to be mad. How long has she not been mad? How long has she waited? How long has she and not perfectly, might I add? Not perfectly. Did she try her best to be what he needed, even if it was the wrong thing, even if she was neglecting herself, even though she was lying to herself? She can be mad. She's probably just as mad at herself as she is at him. But what you're not gonna do and be like, hey, let me bombard you every time I get a chance because I'm feeling guilty. Work through your own emotions, Gary Ewing. Work through your own crap. Don't bring it back to her. I miss you. And she values her anger because it's it's something. She gets to feel something. She tells me it's all I got to hold on to, and I'm not giving it up, mother lover. I'm mad, I'm mad, I'm mad. She did go back to that ridiculous ponytail in her hair. Regardless of that. Quick side note as I continue to correct myself. I only watched it once all the way through. Then I kind of went back to peek at a couple things. Lily May's not driving a station wagon. This mother lover says the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life, and I would not have you couldn't have paid me to think he was gonna say this. He says he wants to work this out. He wants to work this out. Are you serious? Oh geez, please, please, please, please tell me if you can remember the first time you see this. Did you expect that? Nothing in his behavior up until this point leads me to believe you even gave a damn, really. It was probably inconvenient. You know what it is? I feel like it was inconvenient because Val was not a bad wife. Maybe she was a little smothering, maybe she was a little too intense because she knew him. I think Gary can't stand the fact that Val has seen him at his very, very, very worst and still thinks the best of him. And maybe that's too much pressure for him, which this is a grown man, so we're only gonna cut him the sliverest of slack. Now you got me in this damn basement talking about I want to work this thing out. And when she is as as shocked as the natural as she could be, he has a nerve to get defensive. Again, total and complete lack of emotional intelligence. Fine acting, but total and complete lack of emotional intelligence. This is also the loosest pair of pants I've seen him wear ever. I want to try to work things out. He's like, you know, baby, all we've been through. Valen, Abby, and I, she was like, Don't you don't finish saying nothing else to me. I don't want to hear nothing about you and your little girl. But she's still a girl's girl because she says, you know what? Don't you dare humiliate us both. You want me to take you in so you can do this again? You want me to do this again? You know what he says? Val, if you walk out now, you walk out on everything we've been through. Let's go back to Abby at the beginning. She already told him, You don't know what you want. Boy, you already in this. You don't get to be like, Oh, I'm not ready. You are already in it. Now you're gaslighting this other woman by saying, Girl, if you give up on me now, you're giving up on everything we've been through. You didn't care what we went through. I am so upset with this fool. I cannot believe the audacity. Everything we've been through is gone. If you walk away now, if I walk away. So so basically, basically, you're going to Disneyland with your little family, you're sleeping at your new woman's house. She bought you a whole apartment. Yeah. You're having a real good time sneaking, calling me while she's washing her hair. She's away trying to provide for y'all's family now. But but now, if I don't take you back, I am throwing everything away. I am disrespecting the work that you've been through. Are you serious? Do you get off on this, Gary? Oh my god. Despite my tone, like this is so shocking. I can't even be mad, really. I'm I'm actually I'm far too curious now about your state of mind to even be mad. Because you you must you've got to be out your rabbit mind. You have to be. To come out here with a straight face, a loose fitting jacket, and lose maybe that's why he can talk now. His pants and stuff is loose enough. Sir, if you walk away now, you're throwing away everything. I know I'm not perfect, but it it takes what did he say? It takes it takes two people. What the hell did he say? You can't give up. Oh my god, you can't give up on us. Oh my girl, my girl, hold it together, Val. Hold it, hold it. He ain't even crying. Oh, hold it, girl. Hold it. Oh my god, I'm so proud of her. Oh my god, I'm so proud of her. I needed to see that again. Oh my gosh. Sorry. I'm not sorry. You know, if you know who I am at this point. If you if he doesn't want oh my god, this is so unfair. Hear me out. Maybe it's her love that he wants, not necessarily her. Maybe it's Abby's admiration, maybe it's her passion, it's her lust, it's the way that they look at him. Abby's the passion, Val is the steadfastness. It's she's that. And it's like if you lose that, you've always had this woman cheering for you, pining for you. Need to be the hero with no work. You lazy. Because if you walk away now, you're walking out on everything we ever had together. Damn it, I know what I've done, but it's never all just one person. You know what, sir? Sure. Maybe it's not all one person the first time. Maybe it's not all one person the second time. Maybe it's not all one person the third time. You on your own homeboy after this. Because what you what are you doing now? I'm glad he's doing this with Abby because I already know she's not the one. If Valen the Vidalia Onion Queen could find a rent spine for a couple minutes to let this mother lover know you ain't that fine. I'm not that interested. I'm writing a whole book. And as soon as I get this publishing money, I'm divorcing you and I'm sending your mother-in-law to Shady Pines. Or you know what? I'm sending her to y'all's house. Actually, y'all can be scandalous together. Lord have mercy. Anyway, y'all, my girl. She was stiff-lipped. She went, oh Val. God, this hurts to watch it again. Oh. She was stiff-lipped, strong spine. Told him goodbye, Gary. She turns. I'm so glad she didn't say anything else after that. Goodbye, Gary. She starts to walk off. Oh, baby. She gets about 10 feet. She starts to feel weak. She turns and she just sort of whispers, Gary. Oh, thank God she didn't scream it. Thank God she didn't scream it. Oh, oh my gosh. I'm so proud of her. But also, okay, for real, for real, somebody's got to move. This is not gonna work. I don't want to tell anybody's business. But I have a friend we were just talking yesterday, and he works at this library. Now, apparently, I don't need to go into all the detail, but luckily he's been able to transfer because he and this lady have this really beautiful relationship, or so we thought. Didn't quite work out, kind of strings him along, if I'm just being quite honest. Not gonna name names, I have a lot of friends. But one of the things he's Said just yesterday was that um every time he goes to work and they have to sort of interact, and they have these meetings, and they have whatever. It's like he can get away from her for a week and then seeing her again, it just it reopens. Like you can't ever heal, it's just ripping the band-aid off over and over and over and over, and you just really need that time to heal. I see this the same way. You can't look, you can't avoid each other if you live on a cul-de-sac. They're not related, but there's you know, she's Abby is related to Karen, her kids, you know what I'm saying? It's it's a complicated relationship, and I'm not saying the move is gonna heal everything, but they cannot be this close into to vicinity, especially with her being able to turn around and whisper his name there. She loves that man, she still loves that man. It's easier to be angry right now, and she needs to be angry right now, but she loves him, and dare I say it, I think Abby does, unless Abby's a phenomenal actress and she is setting him up, which I kind of hope she is. Lord, this is good. This is so good so far. Part of me feels like though, I don't I don't know if he's going to chase her, but part of me feels like the wrath that Abby would have would be enacted on Valen and not him. And I don't think that's fair. I I'm more nervous about what Abby would do to sabotage Valen because she's already doing it in order to get this man, which is a whole nother topic. We might have to wait for another episode, but how pissed off would you be if you had to pursue this man? You quote unquote snatched him from his wife because you thought he was so fabulous, or just a good lay, let's be honest. Now you got to live with him and you see that he is fully dragging his feet. He fully sleeps in your bed or a bed you bought every single night. He breaks bread with your children. You are still trying to support him. You put a lot of your ex-husband's money into this pipe dream for gasoline. And what do you have? You have a very unstable person. Good episode, y'all. Great episode. I guess we'll just see what happens. But yeah, this was a very much a I know you lying. I know you didn't just buy no restaurant. I know you didn't just tell me you have the world's most perfect teeth and kill my husband. I know you didn't just trap me in a garage and tell me you miss me, you love me, and that if I walk away from this now, I'm basically ruining everything. I know you lying. Wow. I think that's it. That's all for this episode. I hope you join me next time as we jump back into some vintage primetime soap opera. We gotta see if Pastor Pantydroppers is going to figure out that he is one of the heirs to Falcon Crest. Figure out what's going on with the adoption in Dallas. See if we can find Falon on Dynasty. And what the hell's gonna happen on Knott's Landing? My oh my. Send me a text in the show notes or send me an email at soaploorpodcast at gmail.com, S-O-A-P-L-O-R-E, P-O-D-C-A-S-T at gmail.com. Let me know the proper care and maintenance of a real mullet. Is CGI ahead of her time? In the meantime, in between time. Lock the bathroom doors. There is no reason on earth other than the house being on fire for anyone to disrupt bubbly bubble bath time, especially if you're listening to your favorite podcast. Stay hydrated, stay moisturized, mind your own business, and keep all of your drama on TV.