Thanksgiving With the Snyders

Luke & Noah were back on As The World Turns today, just in time for the Snyder family's annual Thanksgiving feast. Needless to say, Luke wasn't exactly in a celebratory mood, what with being miserable about the state of his life and having pesky flashbacks to being kissed by his new Grandpa.

Holden, being the great Dad that he is, went to see Noah at Java (the coffee place where Noah works; no word on where Luke's boyfriend is actually living since moving off the farm a couple of weeks ago) and asked him to come to Thanksgiving dinner, noting that Luke is in a bad place and seeing Noah might help.

Honestly, I think if Noah really wanted to help Luke he might clue Holden in on the drinking binges. He knows that drinking could destroy Luke's health and that Luke had a real problem with staying sober at one point in his life. Yet the guy who just had to tell the Dean the truth about Luke stealing the election seems to be keeping this particular secret. Go figure.

Back at the farm, Luke took time out between greeting relatives who haven't crossed storylines with him in ages to sneak several beers, pouring them into an innocent looking coffee mug. Once Brian and Lucinda arrived for dinner, he also busied himself with making bitchy cracks about what a 'real man' Brian was.

Luke did perk up a bit once Noah arrived and the two were on the cusp of sharing a moment after dinner until Brian interrupted them and Noah went home. When Brian pointed out that he could smell the alcohol on Luke's breath, Luke pulled out some classic soap dialogue and basically threatened Brian to keep his mouth shut about the drinking or Luke will tell everyone about the kiss.

I can't help thinking that if Luke were a straight character engaging in drinking binges after losing everything, he probably already would have had some drunken one night stand with another character to torture himself over. Think of the drama involved in losing his virginity not to Noah but to some guy he just met, or to someone like Reg, who'd expressed interest in him the last time he broke up with Noah.

I know the other Nuke fans would probably kill me just for thinking about that, but I'm just so tired of Luke & Noah being sexless characters just because they're gay! We're seeing how flawed Luke can be right now and a drunken one night stand wouldn't be that far removed from his current behavior.

If nothing else, Luke & Noah had better make love once they get back together again. It's beyond ridiculous that it hasn't happened yet.

By the way, I just read that two roles that were integral to Luke & Noah's story in the past have been re-cast. Luke's fake cousin-turned beard-turned real cousin Jade Taylor and Noah's ex-girlfriend Maddie Coleman will both be back in Oakdale in December, played by new actresses. Jade was a trouble maker but ultimately very supportive of Luke, so maybe she'll be able to help with his drinking problem... or make it worse. Maddie, of course, left town a little over a year ago, after she figured out that her boyfriend Noah was gay. The holiday season is sure to be interesting with these two back on the show.

Speaking of the holidays, Nuke fans have launched the second annual Project Holiday Spirit campaign. Last year, fans raised $6,750 for the charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in honor of Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann.