Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Knots Landing season 14

The great soap writer Ann Marcus was first brought aboard Knots Landing in 1981, to shore up the series after a shaky Season 2, and here's what she gave us in Season 3: Karen (Michele Lee, Emmy-nominated that season) coped with the death of her husband Sid; Abby, the vixen (Donna Mills), inserted herself into Val and Gary's marriage (that would be Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford); and long-suffering Laura, who'd left her jerk of a husband Richard, decided to return to him out of guilt and obligation.

With the series finally on firm footing, Marcus departed at the end of Season 3, and here's what happened over the following ten seasons, in 300 words or less:

Karen met federal prosecutor M. Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson, added in Season 4), married him, then when the writers couldn't figure out what to do with an intelligent, competent, compassionate woman, spent the next decade being shot, kidnapped, stalked and held hostage. Gary married Abby, inherited a fortune from his late father Jock (from Dallas), divorced Abby, and after he and Valene both suffered through a couple of crazies (for Gary, that was an attempted murderer; for Val, a serial rapist), they ended up back together. Donna Mills wanted off the show and received a send-off at the end of Season 10 so publicized that even The Wall Street Journal wrote it up. Laura's husband Richard left town under a cloud of self-hatred and shame, and Laura found newfound strength and love with charismatic politician and Mack's old law-school chum Gregory Sumner (William Devane, added in Season 5), which lasted until, shortly after giving birth to their first child, Meg, she developed a brain tumor and died. Mack's daughter-that-he-never-knew-he-had, Paige Matheson (Nicollette Sheridan), turned up at the end of Season 7, bedded Greg, nearly wed Greg, but was ultimately (and continually) rebuffed by Greg, who feared he'd hurt her as he did everyone else; her mother Anne Matheson (Michelle Phillips) was added as a regular in Season 11, and ever in need of money, bedded Greg herself in Season 13. Greg, meanwhile, on the verge of death from camaride poisoning (don't ask), received a surprise visit in Season 12 from his never-before-mentioned sister Claudia (Kathleen Noone) and her daughter Kate (Stacy Galina), a dead ringer for his own daughter Mary Frances, who had been shot and murdered before she could die of camaride poisoning (no, really: don't ask).

And now you're caught up.

By episode 16 of Season 13 (a fixed point in time that will become clearer later), we have, living in the Seaview Circle cul-de-sac: Gary and Val in their old home, Mack and Karen next door (where Karen had lived with Sid) -- and two doors down, in Abby's old house, Claudia and (occasionally) her daughter Kate. Greg and Paige are working side by side running the Sumner Group (the high-rise office complex added in 1988 when the more urban L.A. Law started siphoning away viewers). Greg resides at his ranch, Paige in her Sumner Group-paid apartment. As for Anne, the aging debutante with no skills or talents -- well, it's hard to say where she's living: on the streets for a while, but let's not go there. It's a plotline worth forgetting.

A lot of the plotlines from Knots Landing Seasons 6 through 12 are worth forgetting, but as many as the various headwriters got wrong (and there were a string of them: Gary being duped into funding an underground spy network; Val's second husband being blackmailed into murdering Greg; an entire story-line for the show's younger characters, set in a Mexican village; Val developing a "brain virus" and stir-frying her kids' hermit crabs), they typically got just as many plotlines right -- so you forgave them. And the actors remained consistent and strong, with the phenomenal William Devane creating a far more complex character in the tortured Gregory Sumner than ever appeared in any of the other '80s primetime soaps. For much of that time, despite its plotting gaffes, Knots was undeniably entertaining.

And then something awful happened: headwriters Bernard Lechowick and Lynn Marie Latham, who had been overseeing the story-lines (erratically, but efficiently) for five years, left to create the ABC period soap Homefront, and took with them the other two staff writers, James Stanley and Dianne Messina. Knots creator David Jacobs, still locked in an uphill ratings fight with L.A. Law, decided to hire an old Steven Bochco scribe, John Romano, to take over the reins for Season 13. And in just a few weeks, Romano and his team of new writers managed to destroy the show. They showed such a baffling lack of understanding of the series that the core characters became unrecognizable; it was the first time in my (then) 25+ years of TV viewing that I realized how little control the actors have: not over the writers, but over their own ability to portray their characters effectively. If the lines are inappropriate, if the plots are incongruous, then the characters -- no matter how long they've been on the air -- disappear, and the actors (however experienced) cannot find them. Romano and company made every possible mistake: the women were subordinated to the men (a strategy that never worked on Knots), the plots were unlikely in the extreme, compelling rivalries were dissolved without explanation, and new characters were miserably conceived and cast.

After fifteen grueling episodes, Jacobs called it quits. He shut down production, sacked Romano, and hired back Ann Marcus (after a decade away) with a simple request: save us.

And she did.

She did the most amazing salvage job that I had ever (and have ever) witnessed in television history. In this age of blogs and social networking, when every TV series is under intense viewer scrutiny, almost every season of every show seems to be at some point "unrecognizable" and then, six to ten episodes later, "back on track." The merest blip in a show's quality is seen as its unraveling, and the first solid episode seen as evidence that it's been saved. But Ann Marcus took a show she hadn't written for in nearly a decade, with almost an entirely new slate of actors, and restored sense, character, drama, tension and humor practically overnight. She reports in her autobiography Whistling Girl that she had just one week to devise a brand-new set of interweaving stories that would last till season's end, and her colleague Lisa Seidman, who was kind enough to email with me at length as I prepared this essay, concurred: "Ann arrived at the first meeting [with the executive producers and the writers who had been retained] with the game-plan already in place." Marcus passed away last December, so it's impossible to know how much of the show she studied, how many episodes she watched, in the mere days between being handed the assignment and her unveiling her new stories -- but it's akin to a television miracle, because every character instantly regained all the qualities that made you first fall in love with them. Her new story-lines mined Knots' history, restoring plot threads (Val's writing career, which Marcus herself had forged in Season 3) and character dynamics (Greg's grief over the death of his wife Laura) in ways that felt at once fresh, relevant, respectful and resonant.

Marcus and her writing team -- Seidman and James Magnuson -- only had seven episodes remaining in Season 13 to revive the show and prove to the network brass that they deserved a fourteenth season. And they did. The last seven episodes of Season 13, beginning with episode 16, are very good, but they go by fast: they feel like an appetizer to a main course -- and the resulting main course, Season 14, is the tastiest one imaginable. It's the best Knots Landing had been in years -- it's the first time since Season 5 that every plotline works: there are no misfires.

First, and most important: oh, what Knots Landing Season 14 does for Michele Lee. Finding a decent plotline for Karen Fairgate MacKenzie had proven a tough task for most of the Knots writing teams. She was, as noted, capable, smart and vivacious -- where's the drama in that? So much easier to just give her a stalker, or have her shot -- or kidnapped -- or held hostage. (In the later years, the writers stop bothering to characterize her altogether: she becomes "the voice of the people," a mouthpiece for whatever societal ills the creative team wants to bring to our attention.) Marcus knows Karen well -- she's the one who unleashed her in Season 3, in the aftermath of Sid's death -- and she understands all that Lee can do, and what it is she does best. And armed with that knowledge, she gifts her the best plot she's had in years: a family drama that splinters her marriage. The introduction of the shady Mary Robeson near the end of Season 13 proves crucial to her plan; Marcus and her team carefully tweak her backstory till they arrive at the one that will have the most impact on Karen: Mary emerges as Laura's birth mother, fresh out of jail and demanding visitation rights with her granddaughter Meg. It's a brilliant story-line; it evokes the series' rich history (Constance McCashin, who'd played Laura, had been a fan favorite, and viewers had long lamented her departure from the show), and by putting her adopted daughter Meg's welfare at stake, it gives Karen something relatable and domestic to play. Her fear for her daughter's safety ("Will she hurt Meg?" she keeps demanding of Greg, as if he'd know) is the kind of panic we all understand -- as opposed to, say, the fear of being kidnapped, or held hostage, or having your dead producer return from the grave and try to murder you. It grounds the character and showcases the actress, beautifully.

And as always happens when a family comes under attack from the outside, cracks appear on the inside. Mack always had a vigilante streak: in his law practice, he routinely took matters into his own hands. Here, faced with the possibility of a felon having visitation rights to his daughter, he again goes rogue -- but without confiding in Karen. Mack's used to going off half-cocked; why would he think twice when his family's welfare is at stake? Karen, at her worst, is self-righteous and judgmental -- she's the last person he'd confide in. It's a family crisis that shuts down communication: exactly the kind of down-to-earth story-line Lee and Dobson desperately needed -- and through it all, we're struck by Karen's muted terror at seeing her marriage fall apart, and her powerlessness to prevent it. (Season 3, the saga of Karen's instant widowhood, gives Lee the showier showcase, but in its own quiet way, this is no less stunning a piece of sustained acting. I would go so far as to label it Karen's best story-line since Season 3; Season 5 has a gutsier one, Season 11 a timelier one, but here we get to the heart of Karen Fairgate MacKenzie: the woman so assured and so determinedly right that she scares off the people who mean the most to her.) And it's a plotline where the writers remember -- as in all good Knots stories, and as in all of Season 14 -- that however grim the situation, there's humor in the ways we cope. As Karen dresses for Meg's visitation hearing, determined to make a good impression, she agonizes over whether or not to wear a scarf. "On or off?" she keeps asking Mack, as if he's some sort of fashion guru -- and when he suggests she seems a little tense, Karen fires back, in hushed hysteria: "Well, that's gonna look great in court: the judge is gonna think I'm some sort of a neurotic!" And so Mack does his best to appease her, and manages to calm her nerves -- until finally, resigned to expecting the worst but hoping for the best, Karen's left with just one question: "On or off?"

The wonders Marcus, Seidman and Magnuson work on some of the characters. They transform Claudia, who had always been a problem. She joined the show in Season 12 as a conniver, a master manipulator, but as often befalls those types of characters, she hijacked too many plotlines too quickly, and the writers needed to dial her back. And they did so in the laziest way possible: by making her a victim. ("Then the audience will like her better...") So they gave her a long-lost son she'd given up for adoption, conceived when she slept with her mother's lover. (Oh, dear Lord.) That was Season 12. Then Romano's team appears in Season 13, apparently only studies the last couple of episodes, and goes, "Oh, OK, so she's a victim: got it," and do it to her again: this time, she's blackmailed for a sordid secret, that she euthanized her mother. (Oh, sweet Jesus.) Marcus goes, "Enough! You've got Kathleen Noone, one of the most formidable and versatile actresses in the business; build her a great character." And she does. Four episodes into Marcus's regime, Greg finds himself unable to run the Sumner Group anymore -- and Claudia, the anthropology professor, steps in. She's transformed instantly into a businesswoman, and Marcus understands viewers well enough to know that it won't matter to the audience that Claudia has had no corporate training: the actress is great at taking charge -- she has the bearing of a natural leader. If she seems convincing in her new role, the audience won't question the steps taken (or skipped, in this case) to get her there.

Then, in Season 14, the masterstroke: Marcus and her team bring back a character from two seasons earlier, con artist and gigolo Nick Schillace. He'd previously been an ally of Anne's, but here he's placed in Claudia's orbit -- and she discovers that, for all her "business-only" posturing, she's quite pleased to have a handsome Italian showing up at her door with flattery and flowers. Claudia's goals have always been simple: see to her daughter's future, and secure a place at the Sumner Group. The possibility of more pleasurable pursuits has hardly entered her mind, but we understand intuitively that it's a part of her life she regrets neglecting. We like this softer side of Claudia; so does she -- and so, when Nick announces a few episodes later that he's contemplating a move to New York, she knows she has to act. In a great interweaving of story-lines, she uses Mack and Karen's situation with Mary Robeson to her advantage, exploiting Mack's need for a million dollars (to set up a sting) to dip into Sumner Foundation funds and set up Nick with his own restaurant. A few episodes later, as Claudia's double dealings are uncovered, Karen insists she's "a neighbor, a friend," Mack defends her as "the only one trying to help me," while Paige brands her "a shark" -- and all of these things are true. Claudia is no longer easily categorized as "a conniver" or "a victim" -- she's become as multi-dimensional as the other characters. So much so that even as you're appalled by her tactics, you can't help but admire her bravado and her exquisite timing when, just as Paige is about to prove that she stole a half a million dollars, Claudia sees to it that the money mysteriously reappears. She even has a ready-made explanation that she delivers with just the right blend of moral righteousness and martyrdom.

The women are particularly strong in Season 14; as Seidman notes, "Ann was a strong woman herself -- as am I -- so we were going to write women true to our own beliefs." But then, every character is at their best in Season 14; it's a good part of what makes it so rewarding. The characters are so on target, the plots seem almost self-generating -- like the reignited battle for Greg between mother Anne and daughter Paige. At the end of Season 13, Anne discovers she's pregnant with Greg's baby; at the start of Season 14, she convinces him to marry her by playing up their mutual failings as parents. Here's Anne arriving at Paige's office to break the news of her engagement, in the first of two crackling scenes written by Seidman:

Anne: Who's that?
Paige: My new assistant.
Anne: How did he know I'd been away?
Paige: Everyone knows you've been away. You should know by now there are no secrets in Knots Landing.
Anne: Well, I guess not. You know too?
Paige: Know what?
Anne: Don't be coy, Paige. It doesn't become you. That Greg and I spent some time alone together.
Paige: You mean, he took off and you chased him...
Anne: Well, believe me, he wasn't that difficult to catch.
Paige: Well, why don't you get to the point, mother...
Anne: I invited you to dinner because I have some very exciting news I wanted to share with you.
Paige: What, you and Greg got matching tattoos?
Anne (after a pause, firmly): Greg and I got engaged.
Paige: Engaged?
Anne: Yah -- as in "Here Comes the Bride..."
Paige: Well... Congratulations?
Anne: Thank you. You may kiss me on the cheek if you like.
Paige: Are you kidding?
Anne: Look, Paige, I stepped aside when I thought Greg wanted you. I can't help it if you dropped the ball.
Paige: Dropped the ball? What do you think this is: a football game?
Anne: I got Greg because I wanted him, and I did something about it.
Paige: Let me ask you something: does "love" enter into this?
Anne: I told you: we're getting married.
Paige: But did he tell you, "I love you Anne. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Anne."
Anne: Why should I answer that?
Paige: Oh, don't be coy, Mother. It doesn't become you.
Anne: Maybe dinner's a bad idea.
Paige: If you were planning on asking me to be your maid of honor, it is.
Anne: I was going to ask somebody who'd be happy for me.
Paige: Like your creditors?
Anne: I'll cancel the reservation.
Paige: Good idea.

Decades of hurt, rivalry and resentment poured into one scene -- and the next one, moments later, is even more brutal, as Anne reveals she's pregnant, and lords that over Paige's head, while Paige remains stoic and sarcastic. (Anne: "Maybe you'll have a cute little sister you can tell all your secrets to." Paige: "What fun.")

And then, in the final scene of the following episode, Anne discovers that she was never pregnant to begin with. (It's one of the series' great "gotcha!" moments.) And the lengths to which she goes to ensure that Greg doesn't find out until after the wedding (he doesn't) serve to humanize Anne. Like Claudia, Anne had appeared on the scene with a one-note agenda: willing to go to any lengths to get her hands on money. And as with Claudia, the Season 12 writers soon decided she needed more vulnerability and did it with the subtlety of a sledgehammer: in Anne's case, by making her homeless. (Like taking a woman with no scruples and putting her out on the streets would somehow make her "likable.") Marcus and her team make Anne sympathetic by revealing the very real insecurities that would, in fact, plague a forty-something former socialite raised only to be beautiful. And Michelle Phillips takes that scenario -- being in sexual competition with her own daughter, and all that comes with it (the fear of losing her looks, of being unloved) -- and runs with it, giving the kind of multi-layered, moving performance that was unthinkable just a season earlier.

In the season’s ninth episode -- Seidman’s bravura “Some Like It Hot” -- Anne realizes she has to come clean to Greg about her (false) pregnancy. She's quick-witted and shrewd -- those qualities, crucial to Lechowick and Latham’s conception of the character in Season 8, haven’t vanished since Marcus took the reins -- but it’s also clear that the rigors of aging have taken their toll: Anne's bravado now masks self-doubt and quiet desperation. We see her at her most honest and vulnerable, but ever Anne, she’s calculating that that honesty and vulnerability will counter the months of deceit. (It’s a dizzying high-wire act, and Phillips makes the most of it.) She makes the case for why Greg should forgive her and stay with her; determined to cover all her bases, she alternates between practicality (“I’ll make a great political wife”) and psychology (“Stay married to me and you don’t have to commit to Paige”), topping it off with a note of festivity: "Carlos is going to make a special dinner. I think I'll go down to the cellar and get us a Grand Crus Classé." And Sumner -- as ever, revealing no more than he absolutely has to -- proceeds to eviscerate her: “If this marriage is going to work, you're going to have to learn to mind your own business. 1. We don’t ever talk about Paige. Ever. 2. You don’t analyze me, I won’t sue you for fraud. 3. This is a marriage of convenience. My convenience. 4. Why don’t you go down to the cellar and get a nice bottle of domestic Cabernet?”

Ultimately, Anne's story in Season 14 becomes a cautionary tale, as she finds herself with the money and status she's been craving ever since she lost her fortune, but yoked to a man who has little use and no regard for her. But just because the writers strand Anne in a loveless marriage doesn't mean they’re about to strip away her self-esteem; everyone in the season is accorded equal dignity -- that's one of its accomplishments and a great part of its appeal. Late in the season, after a half-dozen episodes of trying to get back in Greg's good graces, Anne has had enough."You think you'll ever make love to me again?" she asks Greg, and he has a ready-made reply: "I don't know. The heart wants what the heart wants, and at the moment, it doesn't want you." And that's the last straw. Anne gets out of bed, dresses to the nines, and informs Greg she's going shopping. Isn't it a little late for that? "What I'm shopping for is open all night." Her self-respect is worth more to her than money or status. She pops in to see Nick at his restaurant, and toys with him just enough to remind herself how much she has to offer. And then she returns home, finally ready to unload on Greg:

Greg: How was shopping?
Anne: Fine.
Greg: Find anything you like?
Anne: I wouldn't be here if I had. (She starts to strip down.) What are you staring at?
Greg (laughing, as if the question were rhetorical): You.
Anne: What for? You want something? You see something you like? Anything I can do for you?
Greg: Just being sociable.
Anne: Then be sociable by yourself, OK? 'Cause you know, I gotta tell you something: up till now, I've been ready.
Greg: Ready for what?
Anne: Anything. Everything. Ready to make you happy. Ready to make you a nice home. Ready to make you proud in public. Drive you nuts in bed. But you didn't want that. OK. But you know, because I'm the one who knows what you're missing, I'm also the one who knows what a loser you are. (Closing the bathroom door behind her) So if you'll excuse me, it's hard to strip naked in front of a loser.

And Greg stares at the closed bathroom door with that mix of loathing and self-loathing that Bill Devane pulled off better than just about anyone in the business. It's a savage little scene, and it comes just one episode after Karen and Mack have their own big blow-up, where he regards her with that same look of shamed contempt. Season 14 doesn't get bogged down or defined by the callousness that seeps into several of its relationships; on the contrary, the pervading mood is warm and welcoming. But Knots Season 14 cuts deep. It's been a long time since the series so reflected its Scenes From a Marriage roots, but as she proved in Season 3, Marcus knows how to dramatize the damage that spouses can inflict on each other, while prizing the institution of marriage enough to ensure that the damage isn't permanent.

All of the characters become relatable and compelling in Season 14 in a way they haven't been in years (or haven't been at all), as they fight for their families, or face the realities of growing old, or worse, the prospect of growing old alone; it's a far cry from underground spy networks, Mexican drug cartels and dreams of saving the world with tidal energy. I asked Seidman: was there a conscious decision to ground the actors again, in character-based drama that made them seem at once "real" and sympathetic -- or was it just natural brilliance on the part of the writers? Her graceful and generous answer: "It was Ann's natural brilliance."

With the characters so well-served, the actors respond -- across the board -- with outstanding performances. For Noone, Galina and Phillips, it's their best work on the show; for the long-timers -- Lee, Dobson, Shackelford, Devane and Sheridan -- it's their strongest showing in years. In particular, the decision to kill off Valene, once Joan Van Ark elects not to return for Season 14, does wonders for Shackelford, who delivers his rawest scene work since Season 4. After nine seasons of watching him play the multimillionaire who buries himself on his ranch and willfully cuts himself off from the rest of the cast, it’s almost startling to see Shackelford throw himself back into middle-class life on the cul-de-sac -- and how effortlessly he manages it: cooking breakfast (badly) for the twins, interviewing housekeeper candidates (and withering under the stare of the one he finally hires), fretting about his oldest friend Karen and trying to instill some common sense into Mack. ("Karen know about this?”, he inquires, tilting his head for effect, when Mack tells him about his upcoming sting operation. Then, furrowing his brow and punctuating it with a cautionary smirk, “Don’t you think you ought to tell her?”) With Shackelford, every movement, every gesture, every piece of exposition is carefully considered and bathed in emotion. Gary seems haunted by the loss of Val, but as the season progresses, his dry wit and gentle skepticism resurface, and with everyone else increasingly consumed with marital woes or business intrigue, Shackelford ends up grounding the proceedings with that stoic quality that Gary Cooper once brought to the screen. Season 14 -- as it does for Lee, Phillips, Galina and Noone -- gives him the ideal final story-line. It returns Gary to Seaview Circle as if he’d never been away and reveals that -- for all the personal betrayals and professional upheavals he’s suffered -- he’s emerged a better, saner, sturdier man than when he left.

And most important perhaps, Shackelford’s playing opposite Stacy Galina has charm and assurance; it's surprisingly effective, given how their story-line forces the actors to rethink their relationship. The Gary-Kate coupling is clearly a last-minute creative decision; with Val gone, all the stories are mapped out except Gary and Kate's, so the writers pair them. On paper, the coupling feels calculated, but onscreen, it's lovely. You understand the attraction. To Kate, Gary is the one who's been looking after her ever since her tennis career evaporated; she feels a connection -- and a closeness. To Gary, Kate -- particularly once she starts caring for the twins at the top of Season 14 -- embodies many of the qualities that first attracted him to Val: her nurturing nature, her empathy and compassion, even that breezy optimism that too often seems out of place in a cynical world. That said, the writers know that -- given the age difference -- however gently they ease into the relationship, we'll have our doubts. So they don't ease in at all; they jump in, commencing the coupling at the most inappropriate time (right before Val's memorial service) -- then give us a month to ruminate before they return to it. And in case we're initially thrown for a loop, they make it clear that we're not the only ones; in the following episode, Kate self-flagellates over her lack of self-control:

Kate: I came into his bedroom, and he was cleaning out Val's closet, and he was sitting on the edge of the bed. I don't know, I just felt so bad for him, you know? -- so I was trying to comfort him and -- I don't know, I still can't believe it.
Paige: You made love with Gary right before Val's --
Kate: Yeah.
Paige: Oh my God.
Kate: Almost.
Paige: What?!
Kate: We were going to.
Paige: Oh, thank God!
Kate: I would've.
Paige: But you didn't.
Kate: No. He stopped, not me.
Paige: Well, you've always liked Gary. I mean, when someone's in trouble, and they're suffering, you want to comfort them. There's nothing wrong with that.
Kate (in disbelief): What??
Paige: Well, there's nothing wrong with the feeling.
Kate: What about the doing? Isn't there anything wrong with that?
Paige: But you didn't.
Kate: Right, right, but I was on my way -- I mean, no thanks to me. Wife not buried yet? Pht, that's not a problem. Is that her bed? Let's do it in there! I was gonna do it. See, I would've done it!

It's the characters' remorse at their initial indiscretion -- and in Kate's case, her very funny, frazzled remorse -- that makes us more receptive to the relationship. (Shrewdly, Marcus -- knowing she's going to pair Kate with Gary, a man more than twice her age -- doesn't make her seem older by making her more serious, which would go against the grain of everything she's done for Kate since taking over in Season 13. She ages her by making her more self-aware.) And once the pair come to terms with their feelings for each other, it’s all delicately scripted. When Gary pulls away from Kate, insisting it’s too soon, she argues, “If I thought that were true, I would never push you. But every time we’re in the same room together, I feel someone who’s very ready” -- and you understand where she’s coming from. Yet when they finally do spend the night together, and he instantly backpedals, confessing, “My wife died. I miss her. I still mourn her. I’m still in love with her. And until that ends, I can’t commit to anybody” -- you understand where he’s coming from. He feels guilty about betraying Val; she feels guilty about wanting more. As Kate puts it late in the season, jokingly, it’s a relationship based on “mutual guilt” — but it’s that very quality that gives it weight and specificity, and that keeps the actors’ scenes together bristling with such longing, hesitation, hurt and regret. Every time Kate manages a forward push in the relationship, Gary counters with a step back. Because the writers know the series is ending, and where Gary's future lies, that's how it has to be scripted, but that doesn't make it any less effective. The relationship comes at a terrible time for Gary, but arguably an even worse time for Kate, who for the first time on the show has found something meaningful. Ultimately, it’s the most rueful of romances, and when Kate has to face its dissolution at season’s end -- and come to terms (and come face to face) with the reason why -- it’s Galina’s finest hour.

One of the great ironies of Knots Season 14 is that even as the actors are doing some of their best work, their airtime is being limited. Getting Knots renewed for a fourteenth season had required deep budget cuts; each principal had to be written out of three or four episodes, and that, according to Seidman, was "insane ... a big part of our day-to-day story discussions." The cast absences are one of the things most folks remember about the season, and it is indeed unfortunate -- but it's handled skillfully and, on occasion, cannily. The episodes are sculpted to allow for the actors' absences, and sometimes the absences themselves impact the story-lines.

The best example: how Kevin Dobson's weeks off pave the way for Michele Lee's, and how they turn plot points into character beats. When Mack is thrown in prison in episode 10, under suspicion for the death of Mary Robeson, Dobson is written off the canvas entirely: instead of the expected scenes (Mack sweating in the slammer, his courtroom theatrics), we view his incarceration solely through the toll it takes on Karen -- which includes Mack's stubborn refusal to see her. It proves a striking showcase for Lee; as Karen awaits news about Mack, the writers deny her the sort of quaint surroundings that passed for a suburban police station in Seasons 2, 4 and 10. Instead, she's forced to navigate her way through the General Jail for the County of Los Angeles, a quagmire of booking areas and courtrooms and hallways, all of them awash in chaos and outrage. Lee is at once scared, flustered, resolute and self-righteous, and she's wonderful, as she is again later when she returns home and the simplest things -- sheets and pillowcases tumbling out of an overstuffed cabinet -- reduce her to tears. Two episodes later, when Mack jumps bail to go solve Robeson's murder, Dobson's written out again, and Karen once more has to fend for herself; yet again, it turns the expected episode (Mack cruising Tallahassee hunting for clues) into a character study for Karen, who finds herself increasingly desperate, seemingly abandoned and alienated from her own husband.

It all pays off in the following episode, when Karen and Mack face off over his inability to confide in her. (It's a knockout battle -- reminiscent of their rehab fight in Season 5 -- that gets to the differences in outlook and approach that have always plagued them.) The following morning, as Karen stands at the front door, bags packed and cab called, she informs Mack, "This was the biggest challenge we've ever been through, and you shut me out. And now that it's all over, you're keeping me out. I can't live that way." Couples in soaps always engage in hyperbole, but here the sentiment rings true, because we've been watching through Karen's eyes, and shutting her out is precisely what Mack did. And worse, by the actor's absence, he shut us out too -- that's even harder to forgive, so far be it from us to quibble with her decision to leave. And as a result, her resolve to take Meg and go stay with her oldest daughter Diana in New York -- a move designed solely to give Lee the requisite number of episodes off, and which might have seemed out-of-character for someone like Karen, who never shied away from conflict -- seems completely justified. The writers use Dobson's time away to legitimize Lee's, and in doing so, manage to turn stale procedural beats into fresh character ones. They don't just generate story around the budget restrictions, but through them. It's remarkable.

One of the other remarkable things about Season 14: how densely plotted it is. It doesn't waste any time. I always think of Ann Marcus seasons as having slow builds, but there's no time in Season 14 for slow builds. (The writers were given only nineteen episodes; Seasons 6, 7 and 8 had thirty.) Seidman recalls, "We consciously upped the pace because we knew we had limited time to tell the story." So the plotlines are stacked on top of each other, and come to a head sooner than you expect. The pacing feels swift, but never frantic. Seidman writes the season’s fifth episode, "Love and Death," which includes Val's memorial service and Anne and Sumner's wedding. It also manages to squeeze in a brand-new story-line, complete with new recurring characters, as Paige, still hurting over Greg, meets former major-league ballplayer Bill Nolan (David James Elliott), who's pitching the Sumner Group the idea of building a new sports complex. Bill flirts with Paige, she rebuffs him, he persists, she beds him, and then Sumner -- rethinking his impending nuptials -- turns up at Paige's (using his company key), walks in on them making love and resigns himself to marrying Anne. It's lightning speed, it's all payoffs, but it's so firmly rooted in character that you don't question it.

The brisker pace of Season 14 means that relationships have to unfold seemingly overnight -- there's no time for fifteen episodes of foreplay; the challenge for the writers is to ensure that the couplings feel character- rather than plot-driven. (Seidman recalls, "We struggled with making Paige sleeping with Bill seem believable" -- a struggle that totally pays off. Seidman and Magnuson take pains to show Paige's pain at losing Greg; of course she'd fall into the arms of a handsome stranger to avoid attending his wedding -- and to bury her grief.) Season 14 becomes a bit of a master class in making sudden pairings convincing. Claudia and Nick run into each other in episode 4 -- two characters who have had only the most fleeting of interactions up to that point in the series -- but given his way with women, and her susceptibility to flattery and need for companionship, it's unsurprising when a shared bottle of wine that night leads to much more. In episode 5, Gary returns from Florida, having watched his wife die in a blaze, and Kate consoles him by holding his face and kissing his forehead and cheeks -- and despite himself, Gary gets caught up in his need for comfort and human contact. The next thing you know, they're in a lip-lock. And late in the season, Nick's colleague Vanessa meets Paige's ex, Tom Ryan. She's felt unsafe since Nick threatened to expose her past, and a rugged cop is a ready-made protector; he's been pining after Paige since mid-season -- and that energy has to go somewhere. Small wonder that, within an episode, they're hitting the sheets. All these couplings emerge quickly, but the groundwork has been laid, in terms of our understanding of the characters: their goals, their needs and their natures. (Season 2, the last time the series moved this fast, couldn't make one instant pairing convincing. Season 14 nails them all.)

And although Season 14 moves along at a nice clip, the faster pace still permits a healthy dose of humor; in fact, it seems to encourage it. And not the kind of thought balloons, subtitles and music montages that had yielded the laughs in Season 12, but genuine character humor. In the aforementioned "Love and Death," Paige and Bill "meet cute," as -- in his first meeting with the Sumner Board of Directors -- Bill mistakes Paige for Claudia's office assistant, and suggests, "Maybe your girl can run out and get me some coffee." He admits to having a real sweet tooth, so Paige hands him a coffee cup and proceeds to dose it with serious sugar. "Hope that's sweet enough for you," she coos, before settling into her seat at the head of the boardroom table.

Later, we have Anne visiting Mack in his office, hoping he'll bring Paige to the wedding. (She wants her daughter there when Sumner is declared legally off limits.) All nerves, anxious to get that ring on her finger, she lets it slip about her false pregnancy, to Mack's disbelief:

Mack: Does Sumner know?
Anne: No.
Mack: No. You're not pregnant, but the man who's going to marry you thinks you are, and all you're concerned about is whether Paige is coming to the wedding or not...
Anne: You know, I don't criticize your life, Mack.

At the wedding, Kate helps Anne into her dress, then joins her mother in the pews:

Kate: She looks great. She has the most beautiful white suit on.
Claudia (too loud): She's wearing white?!?!
Kate: Shh! Mom! (Looking at her) Why are you wearing black? What are you, in mourning?
Claudia (resigned): Yes.

While over at Paige's, Bill is persisting, Paige is resisting:

Bill: Is the bedroom down the hall, or does the couch pull out?
Paige: I got a bedroom. Why? You gonna paint it?
Bill: I thought we had something going here.
Paige: Yeah? The only thing going is you. Out!

And speaking of moving things along, when Greg decides to go through with the wedding, here's how it goes down: he shows up at the church, where a panicked Anne is growing increasingly certain that she's been stood up, takes one look at her and (as always with Greg) revealing nothing, simply says, "You look great, babe. Whaddaya say, you wanna get married?" And Anne responds, with breathless relief, "Why not?" End of episode. No marching down the aisle. No rings. No vows. No need. The drama has occurred; we can move on: swiftly and confidently.

Knots Season 14 brings back two popular supporting players (the aforementioned Nick Schillace and Tom Ryan), but they aren't there for nostalgia; they're used smartly, and have key roles to play. The season seems acutely aware of every incident that's happened in the thirteen years prior -- past events and conversations are referenced with gratifying accuracy -- and another of the things that makes Season 14 so rich is that it feels like the writers know the show as well as we do. When Claudia first runs into Nick, she calls him "the thieving Mr. Schillace," referencing the statue he stole from the Sumner Foundation in Season 12; when Paige runs into Tom, she asks, pointedly, "Why did you come back from Brussels?" -- a plot-point left hanging that same season. (There's a lovely montage of past scenes between Tom and Paige, set to "We've Only Just Begun," which Tom had serenaded Paige with in Season 11 -- but the clip-fest isn't just there to elicit a sentimental response: it shows that Tom — two years later — still hasn’t gotten over Paige, and propels their story-line along without a word of dialogue.) When Karen leaves town, she goes to New York to stay with her daughter Diana, unseen since Season 6; when Abby returns to town, Greg asks, "How was Japan," and she asks Paige, "Are you still sleeping with Greg?" -- picking up where they left off in Season 10. Late in the season, Sumner tries to buy back the shares he handed over to Paige, Claudia, Karen and Mack at the end of the previous season, and when he takes Mack to an Irish pub to seal the deal, they rehash the ways in which Sumner sold out his core beliefs in Seasons 5 and 6; Paige then makes her own pitch for Mack’s shares and recalls his desire to move out from under the Governor’s shadow in Season 10, likening it to her ongoing quest for autonomy. And at season's end, when Val turns up alive and on the run, she sends Gary a coded note ("I've never seen the ocean") that references a scene from the very first episode; when the two reunite, they fall into old speech patterns ("Give us a kiss" "Piece of cake") from Season 2.

And a quick round of applause to Michele Lee and Joan Van Ark, who turn in the two best directing jobs of the season: Lee on episode 9 ("Some Like It Hot") and Van Ark on episode 15 ("Hints and Evasions"). No one understood the impulse behind Knots Landing better than these two: the middle-class domesticity that lay at the heart of each story-line, no matter how outrageous. As they do close-ups of the most mundane tasks -- Karen pouring a glass of milk for Meg, or Paige cleaning the underside of her glass dining-room table -- you're reminded of the ineffable "ordinariness" that is Knots Landing. But they also go for grand effects that pay off handsomely. In "Some Like It Hot," Claudia, having embezzled money from the Sumner Foundation, sets up Mack as the fall guy by filling Tom Ryan's head with half-truths -- and Lee shoots her mock confession in a tunnel, the two of them doused in blue lights and soaked in rain. It's a stunning sequence. In "Hints and Evasions," Vanessa comes clean to Tom about her past, including her involvement with a man named Treadwell, who plans to take over the Sumner Group; Van Ark shoots the pair at a carousel, first in close-up, and then, in an ambitious crane shot, inching slowly away until, just as Vanessa is revealing the extent of Treadwell's machinations, the whole carousel is revealed. (Van Ark also captures perhaps the season's best piece of acting: Noone's searing performance when Claudia finds out that Nick has been setting her up from the start. Actors directing actors: sometimes, there's nothing better.)

There are precious few things wrong with Season 14 -- or more to the point, when things go wrong, they don't stay wrong. And even when things do go wrong, they're not Jean Hackney or Tidal Energy wrong. Some rail against a plot in which Greg, having quit the Sumner Group at the end of Season 13, is recruited to head up a task force to rebuild L.A. following the real-life 1992 riots; they argue that it's the kind of story-line Knots has no business dabbling in, since it can offer no real solutions. I don't have a problem with it, at least not in concept. Since Sumner gave up his U.S. Senate seat in Season 6, he’s never been able to shake his political ambitions: sponsoring his half-brother’s State Senate run in Season 8, making a bid for Mayor of Los Angeles in Season 10. (Undeniably, part of his attraction to Paula in Season 11 was that he saw her as he once saw himself; he even nicknamed her “do-gooder.”) The task-force story-line gives us a chance to revisit Sumner as we met him in Season 5: as the insider struggling to balance idealism and pragmatism, determined to make a difference even if it means working within a rigged system. And not hiding behind a desk, but getting his hands dirty -- managing civic leaders, schmoozing reporters, haggling with City Hall: a look that’s far more interesting on Bill Devane than stranding him in a penthouse office at the Sumner Group. (As I noted in an earlier essay, Lechowick and Latham, who conceived the high-rise Sumner Group in Season 10, never saw it as anything other than a backdrop for the same old interpersonal relationships and rivalries. Sumner was never given a business project for which he had a passion -- he was stuck mooning after Paige, or amusing himself with Linda, or haggling with Claudia about time spent with Kate.) And ultimately, in Sumner’s late-season decision to return to the Sumner Group -- in his newfound understanding that you can’t go back, that the public sector is no longer where he belongs -- he’s accorded a measure of clarity that’s eluded him since Season 6. As the series ends, Sumner is finally comfortable in his own corporate skin.

So far from the task-force story-line being a misstep, I’d argue that it’s exactly the right plotline for both Greg Sumner and Bill Devane at this point in the series’ run. What lets it down isn’t the concept, but the execution. James Magnuson departed Knots after the first six episodes of Season 14, and Donald Marcus -- a leftover from the Romano regime -- returned to the series. Although he was an energetic and efficient writer, his personal style wasn't as striking as Seidman or Magnuson's, nor his character beats as strong -- at least not initially. The Task Force is prominent for only three episodes; Marcus writes two of them. His first script details Sumner's first day on the job; his second, Sumner's final day. They're obviously crucial episodes, and it's in great part due to Don Marcus's learning curve that the story-line seems flatter than everything around it. In the first, "A Death in the Family," Marcus works hard to establish the supporting players who are being introduced, and to address some contemporary concerns, but Sumner himself gets short shrift. You long for his scenes with the Task Force to hit the personal beats so powerfully that we truly understand how much he's pinning his hopes on this “second chance” (especially after his hopes of a second chance at fatherhood are dashed) -- but it never happens. Yes, Sumner is working long hours, but what -- and how much -- does the job mean to him? We never find out. And Don Marcus's second episode, "Call Waiting," is easily the season's weakest. As noted, it's the episode where Sumner decides that he and the Task Force aren't a good fit, and that he belongs back in his ivory tower -- but you never feel the mounting frustration that leads Greg to make a disastrous P.R. gaffe (one that prompts him to reevaluate), nor the importance of his epiphany at the end of it all. And if the intent wasn't an epiphany, but more a sense of defeat -- well, you don't get that either. It feels like Marcus is following the story beats dutifully, but the emotional content just isn't there in the writing, certainly not in the way it is in the story-lines devised for Shackelford, Lee, Phillips, Noone and pretty much everyone else in Season 14.

My other reservations about Season 14? They’re slight. The season premiere is weakened by spending too much time writing off Bruce Greenwood's character from Season 13 -- it makes for a rather static hour, and as a result, the season doesn’t get underway in earnest until episode 2. An unfortunate directorial choice (from Reza Badiyi, a fine Falcon Crest director who was not nearly as well suited to Knots) mars the cliffhanger to episode 7, when Mack -- setting up his sting -- hands over a suitcase of cash to Mary Robeson. Ann Marcus’s script includes key dialogue that makes it clear that Mack got Mary to say what he needed for his case to hold up in court -- but as Badiyi shoots it, almost entirely from Gary’s distant vantage point, we never hear those lines. We’re denied Mack’s momentary triumph. So the ironic turnabout that follows, when he realizes that Gary didn’t get the exchange on tape, doesn’t register, and Mack is denied the (fleeting) victory that we, as viewers, need to see: to understand how close he came and how sound his plan really was.

There’s a baffling scene in Don Marcus's first episode: a first date between two supporting players -- Bill Nolan’s business partner and Mary Robeson's attorney -- that you couldn't care less about. (Mercifully, there's no follow-up.) And there’s a preposterous set-piece in his second episode, where Paige keeps Tom from learning that Mack has skipped bail by helping him apprehend Mary’s killer at a local racetrack. Because there's nothing simmering subtextually (it might've shown Paige fighting her old attraction to Tom and/or her guilt at conning him), it ends up being little more than a caper: one that makes Tom look pretty dimwitted. (In fairness to Donald Marcus, whom I've been tough on, his third Season 14 script, "Day of the Assassin," is wicked good fun. He just took a while to learn the ropes.) And in a episode near the end of the season, when the cost-cutting demands allow for only three series regulars to appear, the script is handed to Howard Lakin, another fine Falcon Crest alumni who had no affinity for Knots. There’s nothing wrong with the plot -- one last scheme to strengthen Anne and Nick’s bond, as the finale nears -- but the lines too often feel ill-suited to the characters or a little too on-the-nose, especially for a series (and a season) so adept at avoiding the expected.

And from a scheduling standpoint, although it was lovely back in 1993 when CBS merged the last two episodes into a two-hour finale, then preceded it with a one-hour "Block Party" (a fitting tribute to a show that had served it so well for so long), the final two episodes play better separately. The reappearance of Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner (making one last power play) is designed as the cliffhanger of the penultimate episode. The end of the season has threatened to succumb to the sort of mobster melodrama that had undermined the end of Season 9. As it turns out, that's not where the writers are headed at all, and the reappearance of Abby (the last great character-driven cliffhanger) instantly restores a sense of equilibrium -- and a sense, as in all the best Ann Marcus soap seasons, that the story-lines are self-generating, that the core characters themselves are creating their own drama -- but it's undercut somewhat when the final two episodes are combined.

But aside from these minor peccadilloes, Knots Landing Season 14 is bliss. And it ends with the most wonderful wink to the audience, with a moment that harks back to Season 3, the last time Ann Marcus was in charge, and the season in which the show finally mastered the challenges inherent in its premise. Marcus was there at the (true) beginning; she and her gifted team of writers were there to oversee the ending. The symmetry is sweet and the conclusion clear: Knots was damn lucky to have her around. Had she not returned late in Season 13 to right the sinking ship, who knows if legions of fans would still be discussing the show with such fervor today. There's something rare and lovely about a long-running show departing the airwaves when it still has a little fire in its belly, and when it's still, at heart, the same show you first fell in love with.

The success of Knots Landing is ultimately due to the efforts and talents of thousands of people. Obviously, it never would have achieved a measure of its success without its extraordinary ensemble, and I hope I've sung their praises suitably over the last fourteen essays. But ultimately, its most remarkable achievement -- creating multi-dimensional characters whom the viewer came to empathize with and care about, and who generated a kind of audience loyalty that was rare for '80s primetime soaps -- began behind the scenes, in the writers' room, and that part of the story boils down to a few key players. David Jacobs, of course, for conceiving the series and nurturing it. And inescapably, Bernard Lechowick and Lynn Latham (as inconsistent as they were, and as self-congratulatory as they became), for taking over late in the game, when audiences were tiring of nighttime soaps, and for pioneering a cheeky irreverence that welcomed new viewers. And along the way, some wonderful writers and story editors (Diana Gould, Joel Feigenbaum, Dianne Messina, Lisa Seidman), whose contributions I've tried to honor here.

But ultimately, it's a story about three people whose consistency and commitment to character-driven story-lines were unmatched, and who came to the series precisely when it needed them the most: Ann Marcus, for giving Knots Landing a template for telling slow-burner stories in a fast-paced world; Peter Dunne, for saving a series on the verge of cancellation and goosing the ratings, not by making it more like Dallas (as folks expected), but by making it more like Knots; and Richard Gollance, whose gift for telling heightened stories in a naturalistic style -- and for digging deep into character -- proved invaluable to the transformation of Knots into a top-10 series. Primetime will probably never see another soap with the enduring affection Knots Landing engenders; the role of these three giants shouldn't be overlooked or undervalued. And at the end of the day, thank goodness Ann Marcus was around to set the series on its course, and to see it safely home.


Want more Knots? Check out my posts on Season 1, which establishes the characters and struggles to set the tone; Season 2, which pretty much mucks up everything; Season 3, in which new headwriter Ann Marcus masters the challenges inherent in the show's premise; Season 4, a shrewd and ultimately successful reinvention; Season 5, the show's annus mirabilis; Season 6, one of the series' best story-lines, and perhaps its greatest acting showcase; Season 7, in which Dallas scribe David Paulsen, newly installed as headwriter, shows an astonishing lack of affinity for the characters; Season 8, in which the characters return, but the plotting goes haywire; Season 9, in which the show once again gets back to basics, after a couple unrecognizable years; Season 10, the year the ratings rose; Season 11, in which the show jumps the tracks -- then jumps back; Season 12, a shot of pure adrenaline that soon fades; and Season 13, an epic fail, and an epic save.

26 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for writing this. After reading your brilliant post on season three, I was curious to why you put season fourteen so high up on your list of KL seasons, since most fans seem to just sorta ignore all the seasons after Abby leaves (I am NOT one of those fans, BTW).

    My own blog is currently up to season two of KNOTS (almost done! Oh wait, no, not so much.....) while in real-time I am up to season four and have written essays as far as "To Have and to Hold." Obviously it'll be some time before I get to season fourteen and am able to formulate my own opinion upon a second viewing.

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    1. I've been following your blog since you first directed me to it, and enjoying it very much. I rarely post at other people's sites, but know that I am "lurking." :) I was glad I found time to rewatch and write up Knots 14 last fall, and really appreciate your checking out my post. I definitely don't find the show goes downhill once Abby leaves; I'm not necessarily crazy about Seasons 11 & 12, but I certainly prefer them to 7 & 8. And rewatching Season 14 in November was as blissful as ever: it's such a "welcoming" season, like the writers know exactly how best to showcase each character, and exactly what the viewers want to see. It feels rich in history: just the kind of ending you hope for after a 14-year journey.

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  2. Season 14 may have been the best of the later seasons....actually I can easily say that it was. I can say it pretty soundly even though I haven't seen it in over a decade.

    I think you make a very strong case for it, even if I do feel it is a rather weak season when compared to its golden years, 4-6....and I would say 3 and 7 too despite their flaws at times.

    Perhaps it may not be fair for me to comment on this season until I rewatch it, but I do recall a certain warmth being brought back and you can obviously tell it was the Marcus touch. I do highly respect Ann Marcus, primarily for her work on Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, a comedic gem for sure.

    Ann Marcus does deserve to be commended for saving Knots and letting it die with dignity. I did begin to watch season 13 and it just felt so off in ways that just baffled me. The fact she did turn it around in the extent she did is very commendable.

    I just hope you eventually write about every season. As you can see, you have many passionate Knots fans out there. KNOTS BLOGGER isn't the only twenty-something that fell in love with it :-)

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    1. I could never make the case that Season 14 is the "best" Knots season, but it is the one I return to most. And maybe, as you noted, it's because of the sheer warmth that it exudes. It's a terribly inviting season; Marcus instantly understands how to focus in on the characters' most relatable traits, and really reinvents some of the newer characters (Claudia, Anne) in ways that make them sympathetic and compelling. I don't know if it's still in print, but if so, it's worth picking up Marcus's memoir WHISTLING GIRL. Her Knots insights are fascinating. She recalls that, when she was brought in during Season 13, to right the ship, the next episode that was set to go into production (before David Jacobs pulled the plug) was about car-pooling! It was, apparently, a major plot point in Season 13, episode 16. No wonder Jacobs shut down production after episode 15 and sent Marcus a cry for help.

      It's been truly gratifying for me, since I started this blog, to see all the passionate Knots fans out there, especially the younger ones like Brett and yourself. I suspect I will indeed ultimately cover all the seasons, and I will say that you and Knots Blogger have most definitely been instrumental in that. I think it was when Brett read my eulogy of Ann Marcus, in which I talked up Season 14, that he said he hoped I'd write about that season someday -- and so I did. And it was your comment under Season 9, in which you encouraged me to tackle a season I didn't much care for, that promped me to rewatch and write up Season 7, which I should be posting within a few days. I had initially intended to write just one Knots essay; now I suspect I shall be doing fourteen!

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    2. I'll be tempted to hear more about Season 7 and am anxious for it to be posted. When I rewatched it again recently, I was HOOKED and finished it in one weekend. For me personally, it probably hit its weakest stretch towards the end of the season which was extremely bizarre. But I'll save my thoughts until you post it..and I have a feeling we will probably disagree some but that'll make it fun haha

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    3. Well, we'll probably disagree on Season 7 a whole lot, but yes indeed, as you said, that'll make it fun. One thing I love about Knots is that, with 344 episodes to choose from, no two people see the series in exactly the same way. Back when I used to haunt the Knots Forum, in 2008 or so, we did one of those Grading the Seasons threads. Everyone was giving Season 7 an A or B; I think I gave it a C-. I tried to make friends with it during my latest rewatch, but alas, I think it irked me more than ever. Hopefully, I express my reservations clearly in the new essay; I should have it posted by Monday (currently proofing it, for about the 20th time).

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  3. Season 14 may have had only 19 episodes...but there was little to no filler that dragged out.

    Plus, there were still a few of the fun smaller scenes included such as the Paige scene in the boardroom...but another scene was when Karen knocks on neighbor Claudia's door...and instead of Claudia answerinf...it's nick with a towel around his waist...and the dramatic response on Karen's face startles Nickm.and he accidently gives Karen a full Monty scene before he closes the door..and both are embarrassed. Reminds me of Karen's slave to fashion scene in season 9 as well as Karen showing up at Mack'S office in her underwear and his clients walking in on them.

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    1. Ah yes, the Lorenzo Caccialanza towel scene! His timing is perfect, and Michele Lee's reactions are priceless. I chose the fifth episode, "Love and Death," to show how humor was used effectively, but you're right: it's sprinkled throughout the season -- frequently in episodes where the other plotlines are particularly dark. (The Karen/Nick scene, after all, happens in the episode where Val "dies.") It's similar to how, in "Some Like It Hot," just as Claudia is hanging Mack out to dry, and Tom is inching ever closer to an arrest, Lisa Seidman intercuts scenes of Kate interviewing baby sitters -- some of the worst baby sitters EVER -- with a smart, funny twist at the end. Season 14 maintains a really nice balance between the light and the dark.

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  4. I know that I posted about this season already, but I felt the need to revisit as I have rewatched several episodes from this season a couple of times over the past couple of years. I don’t necessarily disagree with what I originally said about this season before, but the truth is that it really WAS one of the best seasons of the entire run…and by best; I would consider it the fifth-best season. In recent analysis and rewatches, I have grown much more respect for seasons 3, 9, and 14 while my admiration for 7 and 10 has slightly dropped.

    Ann Marcus was obviously born to be a magnificent Soap Opera story plotter and the magic she works within this season is able to revitalize KNOTS into such a form that hadn’t been seen in quite some time. Truthfully, the Latham/Lechowick years had their great moments but they also had UNBELIVEABLY FRUSTRATING ones while Paulsen’s work in season 7 suffers from his DALLAS mentality and an eventual aimless feel by the end. Season 14 represents the best most consistent season for KNOTS since, probably, season 6…and even THAT season was probably 5 episodes too long.

    Considering how dire the show was in season 13, it was nothing short of a miracle that Ann Marcus was able to right the ship and see to it that KNOTS ended on a magnificent high note…way better than the other soaps had managed and it was one of the best series finales I have come across.

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  5. Acting wise, we also get some of the finest work Michele Lee ever did on the series. Her storyline with Mack and the evil Mary Robeson was stellar material and we finally see the return of the kind of intense but often subtle acting power Lee had during Marcus’ previous season (THREE) and even throwing in moments of neurosis like she often had in season 4 when she was thrown off by first meeting Mack. Her subtlety is so layered that you can spot a dash of every kind of emotion: anger, fear, sadness, desperation, loneliness…and she combines them all into something monumental. In some ways, a lot of her moments from this season top even her best most consistent work from way back in Season 3.

    The whole cast shines and you definitely tap into that. Noone, in particular, is a marvel and after being such a shoddily conceived character for two seasons, her transformation is shockingly both believable and she becomes a HUMAN character right before our eyes.

    Michelle Phillips, whom I’ve always greatly enjoyed, gets to turn in some great performances this year. She still gets to be the catty and devious Anne but her chance to have moments of pathos are truly wonderful.

    And Nicolette Sheridan blossoms so strongly by this season that it is hard to believe that she was at one time only capable of saying a line as if she a female version of Dan Rather on downers.

    Then for the longtime cast members, I already spoke of Lee but Shackelford does some of his best work in years but the thing about him is that he has been consistent and strong no matter what the show gave him; Devane is Devane…I don’t really need to say more about that.

    And we also get delicious work from Donna Mills in her final appearance and, no surprise, when Joan Van Ark comes back to town and she is basically paranoid perfection.

    So, just to add a little fun to this, I wanted to throw in my ranking of the seasons from worst-to-best, and maybe others will see it and want to compare. Plus, I’ve already said so much that I might as well just stretch it out!!

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  6. #14-S13
    -Despite the improvement that gradually builds with the final 7 episodes as Ann Marcus takes over, the first 15 under John Romano represent KNOTS at its absolute stagnant lowest and for that, I just have to rank it as the worst. Horrific dialogue that truly sounds horrible and untrue coming out of these characters’ mouths…it is the perfect example to show how a show like this could go wrong with the people you hire.

    #13-S11
    -This season perhaps makes me the angriest because Latham & Lechowick were entering their 4th season as showrunners and they try to pull out more of their shocking coincidence plot-twists and also throw in such a horrific character assassination in how Val responds to the whole Danny mess…not to mention boring stuff like Okmin Industries or the political decision to kill off Lynne Moody as Pat.

    #12-S8
    -In terms of consistency, this season barely kept its head above water. Even season 11 had episodes in its final third that I found good, but even the best episodes of season 8 (and only maybe 3-4 would even bet considered) don’t match up to the best episodes of other seasons. Still, I am not sure it gets QUITE as frustrating as 11 or 13 at their worst…although if you want horrible, you can’t go further than Jean Hackney…or the botched Kidnapping storyline…or the domination of Peter and Paige.

    #11-S1
    -As much as I hate to say it, I think KNOTS started off on a poor note. A lot of the hokey qualities that peered through were what really affected me, plus it doesn’t help that I don’t particularly care for the pairing of Don Murray and Michele Lee…and since they have the most featured plots, that is a problem. Only two episodes would be considered great in my book: The Lie and Courageous Convictions; the latter episode was even brought down by the annoying subplot with Diana’s boyfriend stealing money from Sid.

    #10-S2
    -The show tries to go serialized but the writers seemed to intent on going for scandal and the result is three of the four couples dealing with adultery…and even the fourth couple has a woman trying to tempt the man to cheat. It is just a very miscalculated season that actually COULD have worked better under a better writing team (as we will sort of see soon after). The final portion of the season is mostly filled with bad one-off episodes such as the abomination known as Man of the Hour…and then a cliffhanger that seemed a little cheesy…but had a marvelous payoff. Having said that, the season does have a rewatchability factor that the other lower ranked seasons don’t have for me…so I will call it “The Best Worst Season”.

    #9-S12
    -I actually feel bad ranking this season as low as I am but the problem is that the first 12 episodes or so are actually the most vibrant and infectious as the show had been in quite a while, primarily buoyed up by the marvelous Anne and Nick storyline while also containing some sinister fun with how they killed off Danny. Then…Latham and Lechowick go off to prepare for HOMEFRONT and the season ends up suffering to the point where it is truly left an aimless mess with such a boring cliffhanger and the show at such a standstill that it only made the new writers coming into season 13 less able to get a hold of the characters.

    #8-S10
    -This was a season I used to rank a couple of slots higher and I even called it “Latham & Lechowick’s Finest Hour”…but the truth is, most of the season isn’t actually that great. It is held up by one truly dynamic storyline: Jill going crazy…but the rest of it ranges from pretty good to dull…and then once they resolve Jill’s death, the season truly falls apart and only really has Donna Mills’ departure to provide some intrigue…and once she is gone, the show plummets even more. SALLY’S FRIEND? AUNT GINNY? PAULA? Ugh!!

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  7. #7-S7
    -Another dip season. The fascinating thing about this season was that it started off really strong (sort of a precursor season 12) and then, under new showrunner David Paulsen, the show took on a more DALLAS-like tone and it seemed like a lot of the characters were suffering to his lack of skill at character based drama. By the end of the season, the momentum that the show was building since late season 3 feels stalled. I feel like the material may have worked better under the Dunne/Gollance team a little more so, but there is a definite shift in quality that is noticeable after multiple viewings.

    #6-S9
    -Now THIS was “L&L’s finest hour. While the beginning portion does slightly falter because they have to clean up season 8’s mess and stretch probability on the outcome of Peter’s murder, it does contain quite a few strong episodes and then reaches its peak in the middle block and it is where L&L create their best and most character-driven work. Even the slightly weak Abby and Charles storyline has its perks for letting us have some Abby backstory and seeing Abby be a little caught off guard but it also suffers from lack of chemistry and also, not as much of a Wicked Abby. The final third does have the introduction to Jill becoming more villainous but then it suffers greatly due to Santa Tecla and it brings the season down. Had it not been for Santa Tecla, this probably would’ve gotten my #5 slot.

    #5-S14
    -…but L&L screwed up…no surprise there. This was such a great final season and a nice rebound for the show. I said a lot about it above so I won’t repeat it here.

    #4-S3
    -This was the season where KNOTS truly began to come into place. Killing off Sid was one of the greatest decisions any television show has ever made…and we can thank Don Murray for wanting to leave. Sid was dull and it opened up more prospects and allowed Michele Lee to have a stellar year…and then slowly, the show moved towards more serialized storytelling again and by the end of the year, the stretch of the episodes from Best Intentions to Living Dangerously was one of the best stretches of episodes of the entire series. The middle portion may have some dull one-offs but when this season found its voice…it was booming in the most unsuspecting ways.

    #3-S4
    -I think this season was interesting in that it was certainly a transitional season and often times, the tonal shifts and plotting leave you cold and unsure what to think…but then when the big shocker occurs at the end of “Celebration”, you marvel at how they got to that point. I can see someone not really liking this season truthfully, but it is truly remarkable how they achieved the big plot twist and then the aftermath that follows is so bracing and intense…and it also sets up the show for its true magnum opuses.

    #2-S5
    -I may have ranked it #2 but the truth is Season 5 is easily KNOTS’ most consistent season. The first 7 episodes and the last 7 episodes are among the finest you can witness in the genre of Primetime Soaps and whatever growing pains the show may have faced in season 4, the show overcame them in time for season 5 and it is glorious.

    #1- S6
    -The truth is Season 6 started off at a rather bland state…not necessarily bad but it just felt kind of sluggish…and that was for 5 episodes, until a jolt at the end of the 5th led us into what was the true peak of KNOTS: the stretch of episodes spanning from “Truth or Consequences up through Rough Edges. 15 episodes…and also, we got two great episodes leading up the really strong season finale so with that boost, I name it my favorite season for that reason. Joan Van Ark was robbed of an Emmy for this season and it was a shame she was snubbed for this performance. While Season 10 had been a year that had one truly remarkable storyline keeping it afloat, this one is just even more impressive…plus the rest of the storylines aren’t exactly as weak or dull as some of the worst from season 10. Plus, the artsy and often dark and dreary atmosphere we get at times with the cinematography add an extra chill to the proceedings.

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    1. So delighted to see you return with even greater admiration for S14. As I noted in our first conversation here, it’s the season I return to most. That consistency you mention is certainly part of it — with the exception of “Call Waiting,” there’s not an episode that doesn’t provide me with at least a half-dozen moments of pure pleasure — but the spot-on characterizations and bravura performances are a good part of it, too. And performances that rarely spill into melodrama. S14 really does get back to the essence of the original series, tonally, starting — as you note — with what it does for Michele Lee. Her acting choices come full circle back to S3, with all the complexities and subtleties, but none of the histrionics that became more pronounced late in S4. (And that’s not to knock Lee; that’s where the show was heading, and the result was an extraordinary reconceived series — but it’s fascinating to see the tone return so convincingly and winningly to the S3 and early S4 model.)

      It’s been interesting to take a look back at my essays, now that I’ve completed all 14 seasons. There are some things I would tweak, some places where I feel I was too hard or too soft on a season. I love the Marcus makeover in Season 13, but part of my love for it is how much better it is (more than that: what an insane relief it is) after the 15 Romano episodes. I don’t want to say I necessarily overpraise the Marcus makeover in my essay, but rewatching recently, I realized that those seven episodes at the end of Season 13 are “merely” wonderful — but Season 14 kicks it up a notch. There’s a noticeable difference between Marcus cleaning up someone else’s mess, and her getting to write the stories she truly wants to write, with proper lead time. And actors like Lee, Phillips and Noone come into vibrant focus in S14 as a result.

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    2. As for my own season rankings, they wouldn’t be all that different from yours. We have the same bottom three, although in a different order. And the same top six, although in a (slightly) different order. From worst to best, my ranking of the Knots seasons would probably be 8, 13, 11, 2, 12, 1, 7, 10, 9, 4, 14, 3, 6, 5.

      S8 makes me angry like no other season does. It is for me what S11 is for you. Almost every story-line feels like a misfire — bad concept, badly executed — and I keep thinking, “These people should have known better.” They should have known better than to give us Phil Harbert and Karen’s kidnapping, and the Jean Hackney saga, and The Nicollette Sheridan Hour, and The Perils of Peter Hollister. And the informant priest. I know it doesn’t inspire the same ire in others; it’s a subjective thing, but then, all viewing is a combination of the subjective and the objective. The first 15 episodes of S13, of course, are mostly far worse than anything in S8, but with S13, at least I understand why, and it’s salvaged by the final seven episodes. With S8, I just grow appalled at the unfathomable decisions, and the unwillingness to pull the plug on all the bad ideas, but instead to see them through to their enervating conclusions.

      I think all my other rankings are pretty much borne out by what I say about the seasons in my essays — e.g., why I actually think that S2, despite the welcome addition of Abby, is worse than S1; how S10 is such a mixed bag, elevated by one extraordinary story-line; how S3 so feels like the fulfillment of everything David Jacobs wanted to do with the series that I forgive the fractured story-telling; and what I see as the tonal issues that hinder the bewitching S4, enough to drag it down to fifth place in my rankings. (It might be the single most inviting season, but those tonal issues do hinder my enjoyment in spots.) Most notably, my feelings about S7 have softened a bit since I wrote that particular essay, and I could see flipping S10 and S7 in my rankings, thereby raising S7 a notch. I still find it problematic, Lord knows, but it was my first essay about a season that I think has fundamental issues, and I think I focused on the issues too much at the expense of what actually works, and why. Your comments (and Jayson’s and Pamela’s) made me see that I had accentuated the negative a bit too much, in order to make a point that would have been abundantly clear without my hammering it home a dozen times. :)

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  8. I'm happy you liked knots 14th season Tommy. But I felt the last 4 seasons were better than fans give them credit for being. Knots won't get put on dvd with so few devout fans. It is sickening that dallas is on dvd but knots isnt.

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    1. Yes, I know some fans stopped watching -- or to this day, write the show off -- after Donna Mills left, but I am definitely not one of them. Although I felt Lechowick and Latham were running out of inspiration by the time Mills departed, I still love that 20-episode run from "Wrong for Each Other" through "The Unknown," and as noted here, Ann Marcus's entire run from the end of Season 13 through to the series finale. Season 14 is one of the seasons I most return to: I find it endlessly rewatchable.

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  9. I recently discovered this blog and I find it so wonderfully written. So first I want to express my gratitude. Thank you for your insight, humor, good will, and sharp critique.

    I’m rewatching S14 now due to your writing, and I’m remembering why I stuck it out to the very end and have such a good overall feeling about the show - this is truly a much better season than even I gave it credit for the first time around. (I was so worn down over seasons 12 & 13, I suppose!) I have rewatched earlier seasons, particularly 4 & 5, several times; but I rarely revisited the later years. Until now.

    The one major misfire for me in S14 is Mack. Not enough to undo how terrific it is overall, but enough to give me pause. He’s been through exactly this scenario with Karen before (most directly similar to this in S5) and is a smart enough guy to have learned from his mistakes. I’m all for revisiting how lack of communication strains a marriage, and old habits truly die hard, but it still feels a stretch that he blatantly lies, avoids, and ignores Karen for what seems like episodes at a time. He’s outright rude and cruel in ways that feel very forced. I understand the need to push these old worn buttons, and it gives both Dobson and Lee some exceptional opportunities to shine; but I wish they’d been less aggressive about it, I guess.

    The other slight is Vanessa. For me, she grates in most every scene she’s in, but at least her saucer-eyed, painfully slow delivery of nearly every line begins to feel like legitimate fear for her own life as Nick gets creepier and the series climax approaches.

    Otherwise, our main characters are in top form. What a showcase this is for Ted Shakelford! Even knowing how it all ends, I shed real tears when he tells the twins that Val is dead. His grief is palpable throughout the season.

    Michele Lee is a wonder, and with some rich writing (finally!), she is the most perfectly complicated and layered version of Karen we’ve seen in some time. I’ve always thought of William Devane as one of the finest cast members of the entire series run, and his work in the final season only solidifies my high regard for him.

    My last observation about the season is how beautifully the writers wove Val into each episode. Her presence is felt throughout the season, and in such a natural and authentic way. And as the story of what happened to her unfolds with each revelation in the Robeson case, her reappearance - while still surprising - doesn’t feel completely out of left field. It’s exciting and satisfying and feels like a development rather than a twist. (On the opposite end of that well-balanced scale is Abby’s return, as exciting and satisfying as Val’s - but precisely because it IS such a shocking twist.)

    Thank you again for these essays. I particularly appreciate your interviews with the writers over the years. At one point, I wanted to be a television screenwriter and I know now it’s likely due to the talents of Ann Marcus, Peter Dunne, and Richard Gollance. I work in the publishing industry (and have all my adult life), but my college degree is in TV & film production, and my senior project was on Knots Landing. I imagined and wrote the script for my own ending to the series, at the time capping season 13, just before Knots began what would be its actual final season. Sadly, my research and work was lost in a flooded garage years ago - it would be fun to revisit it now!

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    1. Joe, I’m so glad you’re enjoying my Knots essays, and so happy you left a comment — and especially happy you left it here. I have such a warm place in my heart for Season 14. Like you, I think, I knew it was good when I first watched, but my admiration for it has only grown. (As you say, I think I was just so beaten down by the previous few seasons, I undervalued it.) I typically watch a little bit of Knots every day; silly as it sounds, it’s just one of those habits I’ve developed that sort of grounds me after a long day of work. I think I return to Season 14 more than just about any other. I won’t pretend it has the propulsion of Season 5 or the glorious flights of fancy of Season 6, but there’s something just so warm and inviting about it. And because it’s so short, pretty much every scene has point, which I love.

      Regarding your comments about Mack, it’s funny, because I can’t remember what prompted it, but last night, I was actually thinking about the scene from “The Price,” where Karen asks Mack, who’s obsessing over a plan to stop Mary Robeson, “What’s happening to you? To us?“ It’s a line I don’t particularly like, from an episode and a script I like a lot, and for some reason it was on my mind last night. I think I was thinking, like you, that Mack’s attitude and motivation seem to come out of nowhere. You can't figure out what the "trigger" is. For the first five episodes, he and Karen are very much on the same page, and then suddenly he decides to take matters into his own hands, and she’s commenting on the fact that he’s “changing.“ Lisa Seidman remarked to me when I interviewed her that they really had to make character beats work in record time in Season 14, because they couldn’t take two and three episodes to set them up — so they had to be very precise with their plotting. I think they manage it brilliantly with pretty much all the story-lines, but you’re right, there’s something missing with Mack. I think maybe Karen and Paige both insisting in that episode that “Greg is her father“ is supposed to be the trigger that sets Mack off, and makes him determined to handle it on his own, without Greg and — by extension — without Karen, who to his mind is arguing that Greg is “the solution.” But I don’t think it gets the weight that it needs. And that said, as you say, although Mack shutting out Karen is not generated well, it certainly results in great material for both of them. (I agree that Lee is amazing throughout the season.) That knockout scene they have before she leaves town is certainly some of Lee and Dobson’s best work. I still watch it and marvel how “on“ they are, after 10 years of working together — picking up their cues like crazy, and interrupting each other, and topping each other. Beautifully played.

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    2. You’ll find I’m hard-pressed to say anything against Vanessa. I quite love her. I enjoy Felicity Waterman, and I admire greatly how she’s asked to reimagine her character between seasons — from flirtatious tennis player looking for a good time to terrified mistress on the lam from her sociopathic ex-lover — and just runs with it, without any fuss. Part of the genius of Ann Marcus is because she knows Vanessa‘s not a character we care about, she can indulge in such a wild rewrite — provided the character is useful. And that’s just what Vanessa is: extremely useful. I mean, without her you don’t have Anne deciding to fake a miscarriage and then, in that magnificent scene, having to come clean to Greg about faking her pregnancy. Without Vanessa, as you note, you don’t have the feeling of mounting anxiety as Treadwell draws near. And of course you don’t have the resolution where she kills him. So she may be used a lot for plot, but it is certainly useful plot. And there’s one exchange that makes me forgive her anything. It’s in Seidman’s “Farewell my Lovely,” when Anne comes to see Nick in his restaurant, and remarks before she leaves something like “We did have fun, didn’t we?“ And Vanessa, who’s been watching from the wings, advances towards Nick, asking, “And *did* you have fun?“ He replies, “Of course.“ She asks pointedly, “Were you in love with her?” — and he bristles, “Oh, come on. In love? No.” And she smiles, seeing through the lie, and starts to stroke his shoulder as she responds, “Are you still?” — and he barks, “I said no.“ And she sighs, “Poor Nick," and slinks away. It’s just one of those lovely scenes that Knots did so well, where one character is revealing more than they intend to, and the other intuiting more than they’re meant to. It tells us everything we need to know about Nick’s state of mind by having Nick deny it and letting Vanessa infer it. I love it.

      Your point about the way Val’s return is prepared for, vs. the way Abby’s is, is brilliant. I had never thought about it that way, but you’re so absolutely right. And I love hearing about your background. Full confession: I wanted to be a TV writer when I was growing up. From the time I was 12, I was memorizing who wrote what episodes of the TV shows I loved. Like you, I never got into writing professionally, but did end up in the entertainment industry — and to this day, I still memorize the names of the writers on all the shows I watch. So it was a thrill to track down and have the chance to speak with several of the writers on Knots, especially Richard Gollance, with whom I became close friends.

      Damn that flood that destroyed your script. That would’ve been wonderful to see!

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    3. Tommy, I wanted to wait until I'd finished this run-through of season 14 before I wrote back. I was able to get back and watch the final three episodes last night. They were as wonderful as I remembered them to be.

      I will say my comparison of Val's and Abby's returns mostly holds up, but I might have written a bit more cautiously about Val's had I remembered that the writers do let us give Gary and Kate a little more space to come together before Val steps off that bus. I also didn't remember how early in the two-episode finale she reappears - I think it's the second scene of the first episode! But it all does flow from the story and it's kind of incredible as an audience member to see Val's confusion about things: it truly never crossed her mind that anyone would think she was dead. We were as duped by the whole thing as Gary was.

      The economy with which the final season comes to a close is remarkable, and that's all in the writing. I think you point out above that they purposely leave out some of the usual plotting that would have drawn all the connections. We're left to assume certain things have happened in between the scenes we're watching, and it makes for better television. It certainly moves things along.

      In their reconciliation, Mack and Karen end up saying things that explain Mack's behavior, but I stand by my assessment that he could have been less harsh and still served the story well. When they have returned from New York, kind of timid and unsure of each other, they hear about what's happened with Greg and Paige. Mack is leaving, and Karen says "Let me get my purse, I'll go with you" and it felt like they were on their way back. And the scenes when Gary brings Val to see them for the first time, their resolve to help her feels like the Mackenzies we know and love, working together.

      I do feel Vanessa is redeemed by season's end. I still find some of her delivery clunky but I won't argue at all that she is a great character for advancing plot. Of course, by betraying and then killing Treadwell, and saving Nick in the process, she becomes the catalyst for many of the elements that wrap up our story; and she does have some really lovely scenes, particularly with Nick and Anne.

      What I am left with are the hallmarks of how great this show ever was: the writing and the acting. I can see why you return to it repeatedly.

      I'm going back to an earlier season now, season three....

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    4. I'm so sorry about the delay in responding. I thought I had responded, but I guess it was just in my head. LOL

      I especially love your comment about how “we were as duped as Gary was.” I’d really never thought about Season 14 from Val’s perspective, as you do here, and you’re right — it’s fascinating: she comes back to Knots Landing never once suspecting that people might’ve thought she was dead. And that point of view continues all the way through one of her last conversations with Karen, when she can’t figure out why Gary seems so distant, and it suddenly dawns on her that – given everyone thought she was dead – it’s not unreasonable to wonder, “Was there somebody else?” I love that scene, and the fact that we don’t see Karen‘s response; instead, we cut away to Mack and Gary talking about Kate, and when we come back to Val, Karen has already told her. As you said, done with such an economy of words, but so effectively. And then it falls to Val to let Gary know that she understands, and to let Kate know that she understands. But she’s forced to rethink everything she’s been believing for the better part of the year. It’s wonderful.

      I’m sure you know this already, but the scene around the MacKenzie kitchen table, with Mack and Karen and Gary and Val, where Karen says something like, “We’ll get through this as we always have. Together” – that was the last scene filmed. So it’s interesting: they’re all much more united in their resolve and comfortable with each other than they will be in upcoming scenes, where we see that there are still unresolved issues between Val and Gary, and between Karen and Mack. But I think the gravity of the moment – that this was their final scene, and all the joyous years they’d worked together — just poured out in that scene, and they couldn’t help themselves. They couldn’t help but express the affection they had for each other, and that comes through in the playing. Honestly, if that scene were going to be played “accurately,” they probably would have been a little more hesitant and awkward in their discussions with each other — but that said, I wouldn’t have it any other way. We need that scene of the four of them together, exactly where it falls, exactly how it’s played – that reminder of the sense of a loving, supportive community that Knots always represented.

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  10. Hi! Now that you have masterfully done essays on all 14 seasons, have you considered writing an essay on the reunion mini-series from 1997? Thanks!

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  11. Just re-watched... my memory had told me that season 14 was a competent ending. My memory was wrong. Season 14 is excellent. It still feels very crisp 30 years later - sleek, sophisticated, tight. It is actually a shame that the show ends when it does. You get the feelings this show has another 5 years in it. What a triumph for Knots to go out on top as well as it does.

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    1. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that Season 14 is the season I keep returning to again and again. I don’t claim that it’s the best season – although it’s in my top five – but as you say, it’s “sleek, sophisticated, and tight.” In part because they upped the pace, due to the shorter episode count, pretty much every scene has purpose: there’s very little filler. I turned on a bit of “Some Like It Hot” the other day, just intending to watch a few scenes before dinner was ready, and ended up devouring the whole thing. It was too good to turn off. Of course, I’m no longer surprised by the plot points, but I’m still dazzled by the construction and creativity. As you said, a triumphant way for the show to go out.

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    2. I think it’s reasonable to have season 14 in the top five. It really is that good. It’s so intelligently constructed. It’s so much better than it even needed to be. It really makes you wish they’d given Ann Marcus more than 2.5 seasons to write Knots Landing.

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    3. I was texting with a friend who is also a Knots fan when your comment came in the other day. I read it to him, because we were both so taken with your commenting — as we both feel — that it’s a shame Marcus was only allowed 2.5 seasons to write Knots. And I then commented to him that, of course, it was pretty much the same for Peter Dunne and Richard Gollance: 2 1/2 years and they were shown the door – or (because I’ve never been sure) if “shown the door” is an inaccurate assessment of why Dunne left, then certainly his life was made miserable enough that he felt he had to go. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I find it hard to get a read on Jacobs, but Filerman was a sociopath. Did the pair grow resentful when writers came in and were successful and consistent and creative? I would certainly believe it of Filerman; from everything I’ve heard, he enjoyed making the writers’ lives miserable. And I’m sure nothing bugged him more than someone coming in and being successful at writing “his” show. But of course, what it meant is that the greatest Knots writers were either let go or forced out after a couple of years. Such a shame. Such a waste.

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