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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 354342" data-attributes="member: 7">I've started Season 14. I've got four episodes in the can so far.First, I must state something I found blatantly obvious right from the start. Did practically every woman of the main cast get a hair cut between the thirteenth and fourteenth season? Paige, Anne, and Kate all have shorter hair, and I swear Claudia's looks shorter, too. I just find it comical how obvious it is when the Season 14 opener is supposed to start off literally moments after the conclusion of the Season 13 finale. But, hey, that's the way things go in TV land. Season 14 is starting off pretty strong, I'd say. Now, I'm not even off my first disc yet, but the writing seems to be a little more consistent compared to what Season 13 gave us with all the behind-the-camera hoopla and the second-half being a vast improvement over, say, the first dozen episodes. I actually really like the way they are choosing to deal with the absence of Joan Van Ark. Valene got caught up in writing Greg's unauthorized biography, and she's gotten into some hot water in Florida. Gary is naturally torn emotionally about the whereabouts of Valene when she doesn't return home. The last episode I watched saw Gary following a car driven by some maniac as someone who is obviously not Valene is in the passenger seat. The car plunges off a little cliff and explodes, leading the audience and Gary to believe that Valene has died. The story involving Laura's shady biological mother, Mary Robeson (which I just keep thinking "Mary Robeson" is too close to "Mary-Frances," but whatever), is moving along nicely. I knew I recognized actress Maree Cheatham from somewhere. Most DAYS OF OUR LIVES fans know her as Marie Horton, but I've never seen that show, so I remember her from her roles in BEETLEJUICE and THE WEDDING SINGER. Anyway, I'm liking the stakes this story is presenting, even if I think some of the dramatics seem a bit over-the-top for these latter-day KNOTS episodes. Mary decides to take Karen and Mack to court and demand visitation with Meg, but it's apparent that Mary is basically out for whatever money she can get. She's even recruited the help of her brother, Joe (which, wasn't that Abby's ex-husband's name, or Karen's brother rather?), to try and weasel some money out of the MacKenzies or, possibly, Greg. What thwarts this idea of mine, however, is Mary has denied money when Greg has offered it to her to get her out of Knots Landing. We shall see where it goes, but I have a hunch it's going to end messily. The story of Greg dividing up the Sumner Group between Paige, Claudia, and Meg (i.e. Mack and Karen) hasn't done too much so far. The main thing we've seen is Paige being irritated that Claudia is undermining her authority, while Claudia is unwillingly investing money into one of Greg's new political projects. Meanwhile, Mack and Karen seem to be out in left field. They aren't even really sure what the Sumner Group even does (which, to be frank, I doubt I could tell you what is does), and they spend their time fumbling through some paperwork (off-screen, I must add) or arguing about the Mary Robeson stuff during one of the big-shot meetings, which annoys Claudia. I still hope that more is drawn out of this subplot, but that remains to be seen. Then there's the story of Anne and Greg rekindling their relationship. Anne has told Greg that she is pregnant, and Greg doesn't know what to do with the information. He retreats to a cabin out in the woods, which I found to be quite authentic and unique for a soap opera to do, although I'm sure the set was utilized because it was cheaper for the ever-increasing budget-cautious producers. Anne follows Greg there and refuses to leave. Greg is shaky on his ambitions to be a father, but he eventually asks Anne if she'd like to get married. All this is right up Anne's alley --- she's getting to marry this wealthy, powerful man, and it's all the better that the man is Paige's long-lasting love. The parallels of Anne and Paige's relationship have some strong similarities to the relationship I have with my birth mother (even though I'm a guy, but it's been difficult, y'know?), so this is an interesting story. Things seem to go belly-up for Anne, however, when she learns that she might be going through menopause and therefore really pregnant, and then her old fling Dimitri/Nick slides back into her life. Will Greg still marry her? We shall see, although I'm sure he does. Claudia is basically just becoming the head-honcho at the Sumner Group, while Kate has gotten fed up with Alex and her British buddy Vanessa. After she finds them in the shower together, Alex bails town suddenly. Which ---- What happened to the blackmail he had on Claudia? I guess that just fell by the wayside, huh? But that's about the extent of their separate story-arcs right now, although I'm sure Claudia is going to find someone to squeeze her nose into Greg and Anne's relationship. Claudia's already fell into bed with Nick. So far, Season 14 is going good. I'm enjoying it. If it continues as it is now, I'm predicting this to be a enjoyable swan song season to my favorite primetime soap opera. Happy viewing!</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?