In a storyline that included classic soap elements, Brad Snyder was mortally wounded just hours after his son was born. He had discovered where his wife had been imprisoned, and had run to her rescue. Ralph Manzo, the creepy crime king, was waiting there and quickly took Brad hostage. Brad could hear his son crying, and in anguish demanded to see his wife and baby. But Jack burst in, and in the darkness Jack could not see that Ralph had pulled Brad in front of him to use as a shield, and when Ralph fired at Jack, Jack returned fire in the direction of Ralph’s muzzle flash. Then it was all over, Ralph was gone, Henry was holding the little baby and comforting Katie, and Jack was tripping over his brother’s body.

As much as I didn’t like Austin Peck’s portrayal of Brad--I much preferred the dark, older brother as played by Nick Kokotakis a few years ago--I hated to see the character die. This nuBrad was a completely different person from the original Brad. When Brad first came to Oakdale, he was on bad terms with his then-younger brother (Jack somehow managed to age faster than Brad when Brad returned to town this last time) because Jack believed that Brad had killed their father. He didn’t know that Brad was covering for their mother, who had accidentally run over their father in a drunken stupor. The old Brad was sneaky and manipulative, blackmailing Carly into marrying him. But when Brad came back to town a couple years ago, he had somehow been transformed into a goofy, silly, fun loving almost-narcissistic younger brother, and I never could warm up to him.

But I was definitely torn about his demise. I hated to see tragedy strike the Snyders just as their long-awaited baby was born. Katie has been around the marriage block quite a few times and I was hoping she, Brad, and the little guy would settle down as a stable family in Oakdale. However, soaps are all about tragedy, they always have been. Jennifer Munson and Rose D’Angelo are two recent tragedies that come to mind. So for whatever reason, TPTB decided that the finger of death would again touch a mainline, well-connected resident, and the wheels were set in motion for storylines to collide.

Katie and Brad were not involved in Henry’s momma-troubles at all. They had not been seen much in the last few weeks, as Henry tried to cope with becoming a Stenbeck, inherited millions, and dealing with his rotten mother and a crime boss who wanted to launder money. Brad’s daughter Liberty was pregnant and being torn in a dozen directions; however, Brad was not contributing much to her either, other than to declare that he wanted her to get an abortion so she wouldn’t miss the fun of her senior year in high school. So while Janet, Jack, Parker, Liberty, Paul and Emily went round and round about whom should raise the baby, Brad was not really on the scene. (And btw, did you choke when Janet told Emily and Paul to get out of “her” house? Since when did Emma deed the farm over to Janet? Emma gave Jack and his bride a chunk of her farmland to build their own dream home, but apparently the combined salary of a cop and a waitress is not enough to buy and haul even a single-wide mobile home out to that land and hook it up. Janet has pretty much run Emma out of her own home.)

But suddenly the Snyders were in the thick of it. Katie decided, while being at the 9 month mark of a high risk pregnancy, that she could get Ralph to leave Henry alone. She confronted the man, and threatened to call her sister the cop if he didn’t stop pressuring her BFF. Of course Katie was in over her head, and I have to point out it was all her own fault. What woman in that condition would risk her child’s life to go after a criminal? But this set everything in motion. Soon Henry and Brad were desperately searching for her.

Meanwhile, Liberty lost the baby in a freak fall, something I was expecting the moment I heard she was pregnant. Janet had been pressuring Jack to agree to raise the baby as their own, while Jack was dealing with the betrayal of his ex-wife by her sister and fiancé. After another argument, Jack left and went to a bar, presumably to drown some of his sorrows. Janet followed him, and they spent some time apologizing and drinking. When they finally left the bar, they ran into Henry and found out that Katie was a hostage. Jack sprang into hero mode, ignoring Janet’s reminder that he had been drinking and was perhaps not in condition to confront kidnappers. Instead, he entered the warehouse where Ralph was waiting with a gun. He didn’t wait for a swat team, he didn’t wait for backup (Henry doesn’t count) and he didn’t wait till he had a clear target before shooting. The result: soap tragedy at its best.

The repercussions of this story should go on for quite a while. Katie will be a widow and single mother, Jack will be crushed, Henry will carry the weight of guilt, and Janet will be unable to comfort her husband. Katie’s sad history will become her son’s; she also was raised without a father. Henry, usually the comic relief of the town, will never be able to look at Katie again without feeling in his heart that he is the reason Brad is gone. Janet will be coping with her daughter’s loss and not be able to reach her husband. Jack will be a lost soul, a compass unable to point to true north. Who will save him?

Well, Carly will be back soon…

Viewer Sandy hates “the Lilly story line.  Lily use to be such and strong character. She was able to stand up for herself and now having her believe everything Damien says is so ridiculous .  Get rid of Damien he is just annoying. Lily and Holden belong together. I love Katy and now that she can finally be happy to kill off Brad is just bad story telling.” 

A lot of people are not liking the Lily/Damian/Holden story, and IMHO the writers better do something fast or more viewers will be tuning out these longtime characters.

MJ is “really disappointed to read that Cady McClain (Rosanna Cabot) is leaving ATWT YET AGAIN in December. The producers/writers brought her back in 2007, and her character was barely recognizable from the strong-willed woman Rosanna was before she entered into a coma. Then, she departed in early 2008 (against her wishes) only to return in 2009...still a little awkward in terms of the storyline...but it was so nice to have her back. Cady is a great actress and an asset to ATWT. There are so many characters/actors that ATWT could do without. I'd like to see Janet, Terri, Liberty, Hunter, Riley, and a few others go in order to keep Rosanna on the show. All of the stunt-casted actors can go too, including Tom Pelphrey...and he hasn't even arrived yet!  Poor casting decisions and bad writing are leaving ATWT viewers disengaged, disinterested, disenchanted and disgusted. I am a long-time, loyal viewer since the 1970s, and I've never seen this show in worse shape. Even if I was a new viewer, I would only want to watch a show that was true to itself and its rich history...instead of trying to be like a rival soap on another network. The identity crisis is what will be this show's demise...just like Guiding Light. The bottom line is that the ATWT writers and producers don't care about viewers, don't care about history and fan-favorite characters, and don't care about accuracy and attention.” 

I’m bummed too about Cady’s imminent departure. I’m disgusted at the writers who have conveniently forgotten that Craig tried to kill Rosanna when she was going to set things straight about the baby switch, and now Ro is in love with him. I would also not cry if Hunter, Liberty, Janet, or Terri departed; Riley is long gone already. I am no fan of stunt casting either, because viewers know the character won’t be around long enough to get interested in. Sometimes I want to run this show myself so badly I could scream. 

And a special shout out to, R.W. (you know who you are!) for that jaw-dropping scoop you sent me about the show, I passed it on to Trixie!