Episode 64 Morals

In plain English, these are the morals from Episode 64:

Joshua discovers a long-buried secret that will devastate Nikki.

Ok, I admit it. This subtitle was just a shameless attempt to throw you off the scent of this story's punchline.

Ryan is moved to get short with Keith.

It's been a thing I've noticed for ages and ages and it's always puzzled me: Once a woman has been involved with Victor Newman, she can never really get her out of his system. The same, it seems, is true for Ryan but not Nick. Victoria, Nina, Trisha, and even Jill have very close bonds with Ryan and are steadfastly loyal in almost all circumstances; clearly a sign of Newman blood. Nick is nothing like this; even though a billionaire's son, if Sharon found out about Nick and Grace, she'd likely be gone in a minute. For ages I've wanted to swap these guys and see if it makes sense. I think it does.

Since I wrote this story a few days ago, I've been watching Victor's interactions with Ryan and Nick, and I'm convinced Ryan makes the better son and that Victor treats him in more of a fatherly way (and always has) than Nick. Maybe that's just a part of how Victor loves his company like it was a family, but it still seemed worth exploring and I'm glad I did.

The fact that it provided an excuse to explain Victoria's sexual hangups in a funny way is just a coincidence, but kind of a fun one.

Cassie gets a surprise she's been longing for.

Just look at this. She's been waiting to have a mother for so long, and she gets batted all around in this episode, and yet she still has to come up smiling. It's just impossible to write her without a smile on her face. There's something wonderful about that kid! What a great character (and a wonderful little actress).

Nick's family plans are unexpectedly cut short.

Nick is such a spoiled brat. This is really his due and was such fun to be writing.

Bartram116, a regular and very eloquent contributor to the newsgroup whose thoughtful essays are well worth dredging up from Deja News, has long wanted to see Victor fall from his position at the top so that he can finally confront the truth of who likes him for him and who only for his money. Well, it didn't happen here; maybe it will in another of my stories. Things like that turn out to be hard to script well in a short story since they really want lots of detailed interactions over a long time. But here we see at least a little part of that phenomenon, and I think it's pretty fun. Done on the show, there would doubtless be fewer laughs and more angst, but I think humor would still have its place from time to time. And I agree completely with Bartram that it would be very satisfying to see some of the outcomes that would be implied. Hmmm. I'm getting excited just thinking about it and I don't think I can wait for the show to do it. Maybe I'll find a way to take matters into my own hands one of these days after all. Stay tuned.

That's all for Episode 64's morals. Don't miss Episode 65 and its morals!
If you missed any older episodes, see the index.