Episode #583

[Michael]

Episode #583 is now available.

In this episode: Molly leaves for her trip with Philip, but not without attracting some unwanted attention... Claire brings her son, Travis, together with her potential foster child, Tempest, to see if the arrangement could work... Tim receives advice from an ex on his current relationship woes.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

[kira]

Hey there. This was a quickie but a nice episode that pushed a few relationships forward in relatively healthy ways.

Did the twins get SORASed with Samantha et al.? I was surprised to see them referred to as eight -- feels like just yesterday Molly was leaving them one of 'em the side of the road or the car roof or whatever that was! Man, time flies.

That scene between Molly/Philip/Lauren/Josh. AWK-ward! Yowsa. Hell yes, Josh is gonna tell Brett... I sure would if I saw my sibling's spouse flying off with some smarmy individual of the opposite sex. (And Josh ain't no dummy -- he knows a fellow player when he sees one.) Molly has little room for hoping otherwise, especially since she herself seems to be a bit jealous of Brent / Claire's growing partnership. I liked Lauren's straightforward responses. She's still my girl; I just enjoy her honesty and good nature. I hope for good storylines in the months ahead.

Claire's faux pas was cute but dang, these kids sure laugh 'uproariously' pretty easily -- Photocrop could've easily been a slip rather than a genuine error. Maybe Claire put nitrous oxide in the food! (She's a nurse, she could totally do it! ) Otherwise the scene read very believably to me. Travis was a bit bratty, but that's just ... Travisy. And Claire was being overly protective of Tempest by giving her son the evil eye just for asking a simple question. She needs to dial that down. I was proud of Travis for offering to speak to Jason about a job. Is Travis working at the rink too? My mind's a blank there. Nice to see her eating, though. Hope that's not fat-free ranch.

And now Diane speaks for all of us (it's not just me, is it?) who have been bitching about Tim being too passive! Atta girl. The origami stuff was cute and silly, and I liked to see them just hanging out together. I still like these two, even just as friends, and I still wish they hadn't petered out the way they did. Maybe they got together too quickly after Tim returned from the dead? He still had unresolved feelings for Claire, understandably IMHO, but now that time has passed and he's found a new life, maybe the old spark could return...? I'm just rooting for Tim to have some excitement. If Cassandra turns out to be nothing but trouble, and not the good kind (like Diane), then I'll root for a Tim/Diane rerun. He needs someone peppery, that's for sure.

Thanks for the enjoyable episode!

[Michael]

Thanks, as always, for stopping in and sharing your thoughts, Kira.

Originally Posted by kira

Did the twins get SORASed with Samantha et al.? I was surprised to see them referred to as eight -- feels like just yesterday Molly was leaving them one of 'em the side of the road or the car roof or whatever that was! Man, time flies.

Yeah, they've been accelerated a bit. I have a thing about SORAS being okay if you keep everyone's ages consistent. The twins were actually born almost five years ago (!!!) in real time, so it's not even that much. And I am cracking up at the casual reference to "the side of the road or the car roof or whatever." Amazing.

Originally Posted by kira

That scene between Molly/Philip/Lauren/Josh. AWK-ward! Yowsa. Hell yes, Josh is gonna tell Brett... I sure would if I saw my sibling's spouse flying off with some smarmy individual of the opposite sex. (And Josh ain't no dummy -- he knows a fellow player when he sees one.) Molly has little room for hoping otherwise, especially since she herself seems to be a bit jealous of Brent / Claire's growing partnership. I liked Lauren's straightforward responses. She's still my girl; I just enjoy her honesty and good nature. I hope for good storylines in the months ahead.

I really enjoyed putting those four in a scene together, just because it's so charged with potential for a mess. There'll be fallout from this encounter in the next episode, which is really where it will count. I love putting Josh and Philip up against one another, because they're both pretty attitude-y, and we've rarely had two men like that going head-to-head in FP.

Originally Posted by kira

Claire's faux pas was cute but dang, these kids sure laugh 'uproariously' pretty easily -- Photocrop could've easily been a slip rather than a genuine error. Maybe Claire put nitrous oxide in the food! (She's a nurse, she could totally do it! ) Otherwise the scene read very believably to me. Travis was a bit bratty, but that's just ... Travisy. And Claire was being overly protective of Tempest by giving her son the evil eye just for asking a simple question. She needs to dial that down.

Wanna hear a sad story? That happened in real life -- it was my friend who said "Photocrop" without realizing it was the wrong word -- and we still talk about it to this day. Note to self: normal people do not react the way I do to improper word selection.

Originally Posted by kira

I was proud of Travis for offering to speak to Jason about a job. Is Travis working at the rink too? My mind's a blank there.

Yep. Two episodes ago (I think), Claire visited him at work to talk about the Tempest situation.

Originally Posted by kira

Nice to see [Claire] eating, though. Hope that's not fat-free ranch.

Bwahahahaha! Notice I only mentioned her eating the salad...

Originally Posted by kira

And now Diane speaks for all of us (it's not just me, is it?) who have been bitching about Tim being too passive! Atta girl. The origami stuff was cute and silly, and I liked to see them just hanging out together. I still like these two, even just as friends, and I still wish they hadn't petered out the way they did. Maybe they got together too quickly after Tim returned from the dead? He still had unresolved feelings for Claire, understandably IMHO, but now that time has passed and he's found a new life, maybe the old spark could return...? I'm just rooting for Tim to have some excitement. If Cassandra turns out to be nothing but trouble, and not the good kind (like Diane), then I'll root for a Tim/Diane rerun. He needs someone peppery, that's for sure.

I continue to enjoy their vibe together. It didn't feel fair to Diane, at the time their relationship ended, for it to continue; Tim was obviously hung up on Claire, and I want more for Diane than to be Tim's second choice. I really liked having her finally be the one to end that relationship. I know you weren't a fan of how it ended, but it was important to me to put a cap on that chapter of her life by making her say, "Look, I'm better than this." Never know what the future holds, though...

Thanks again, Kira! This was a fun post to respond to. I love having a snarkable series.

[Andy Eckles]

I'm consistently enjoying the Claire/Travis/Tempest thng you've got going on. I don't know why but it just seems that Tempest adds something to the series that I haven't seen before. I think it's her unpolished, street-wise perspective on things. It's nice. The scene with dinner was well-played. I expected the initial outburst, but then it was nice to see them make an effort to get along. It did happen fairly quickly, however, which surprised me. I'm sure it'll be a long road of back and forth though. I can't see them being instant friends and her tagging along with him and people like Elly and Landon. It might be fun to see them try though.

I love Diane, I think I've told you before. We haven't seen her in a few episodes and it was nice to see her in classic form - giving no-nonsense, un-sugar-coated advice. She's pretty much awesome in any scene - seriously, you could have her do just about anything and I would find it entertaining. Anyway, it was nice to see her and Tim in that type of scene together. And as always, I'm excited to see where the Tim/Cassandra storyline is headed.

I'm glad that the big ball is upon us. Will anyone other than Philip and Molly be attending? I'm thinking you'll find a way for Brent and maybe Claire to attend since it hinges on their investigation. Or rather Loretta does. Who knows - but I'm enjoying the suspense leading up to it.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by Andy Eckles

I'm consistently enjoying the Claire/Travis/Tempest thng you've got going on. I don't know why but it just seems that Tempest adds something to the series that I haven't seen before. I think it's her unpolished, street-wise perspective on things. ... I can't see them being instant friends and her tagging along with him and people like Elly and Landon. It might be fun to see them try though.

That's great to hear, Andy. Thanks. Tempest will eventually be incorporated with the others in her age group, but I like that she's coming from a totally independent story (with a lot of background to explore as we go). I'd like to do more in terms of offering characters with distinct perspectives -- the Fishers are all fairly homogenous and whitebred, in terms of their backgrounds and outlooks on the world. Graham, Philip, Tempest, those sorts of people are what we need to agitate and push things a bit.

Originally Posted by Andy Eckles

I'm glad that the big ball is upon us. Will anyone other than Philip and Molly be attending? I'm thinking you'll find a way for Brent and maybe Claire to attend since it hinges on their investigation. Or rather Loretta does. Who knows - but I'm enjoying the suspense leading up to it.

Yes, others will definitely appear at Loretta's for the ball. This is going to be a big soapy adventure. I'm excited to write it all!

Thanks for stopping in with your thoughts, Andy.

[Dallas]

Hey Michael,

Another nice read for Footprints. I'm so glad to see Diane back. She has always been a favorite character of mine, so just to have her back was nice. Of course, I laughed out loud at a number of her antics, especially making paper air plans out of the manuscript. Priceless.

I enjoyed the Molly scenes too. You can tell she's in a funk right now and it's over lapping into every scene she's in. I'm excited by Lauren and Josh's trip together, and of course the ball that's coming up.

Well done Michael!

d

[Michael]

Thanks for taking the time to stop in, Dallas!

Originally Posted by Dallas

I'm so glad to see Diane back. She has always been a favorite character of mine, so just to have her back was nice. Of course, I laughed out loud at a number of her antics, especially making paper air plans out of the manuscript. Priceless.

Me too! I'm more than ready to have her back on the frontburner. She has a story all ready to go. I just need a few pieces to fall into place and the timing to be right. But it's coming!