Award Winning Writing?

What a mess of an episode today's As the World Turns was. If you want proof that the Writers Guild of America is out of its mind for giving Best Writing in a Daytime Serial to ATWT, look no further than Luke & Noah's new storyline, clearly thrown together with about twenty seconds thought.

So, basically, Luke & Jade are planning a surprise 21st birthday party for their friend Casey, though Luke notes that his actual birthday isn't until Valentines Day. No big deal, except that they've planned the party to take place that night at Yo's, a local bar. Yeah, that makes sense, have the 21st birthday party in a bar, when the birthday boy (and his friends) are still underage.

Luke & Noah are greeted at Yo's by Reg, another Oakdale U gay student. The guys first met Reg (and his then boyfriend Tony) last year when they invited Luke & Noah to their all gay hot tub party, making it sound like it was to be the can't-miss Orgy of the Year.

Needless to say, virginal Luke & Noah didn't attend the party. Reg next popped up when Noah told Luke they should 'take a break' right after Noah's father died. Reg had broken up with Tony by that point and when he heard that Luke wasn't with Noah, he expressed his interest in dating Luke himself. (Tony also popped up around that time and asked Noah to Cyndi Lauper's Pride concert, where Noah & Luke reunited, dashing both Reg & Tony's hopes).

We last saw Reg this past fall, right at the beginning of the whole campaign storyline. He was present when Luke decided to run against Kevin, but we haven't seen him since.

Now, though, he's apparently close friends with Luke & Noah, and knows Casey well enough to be invited to the party and buy him gag gifts. When did this happen?

Anyway, the underage college students are having a great time drinking (except Luke) and dancing, and I'm wondering if Oakdale is actually located in an alternate universe without a legal drinking age. Actually, an alternate universe would explain a lot about the things that the writers create for this show, but I digress.

About that time, another blast from the past walks in the door: Casey's old college roommate Elwood, who started out as a likable nerd but was last seen after being caught framing Casey for theft and was sent to prison.

Long story short (too late), Luke & Noah take a break from the dance floor and go outside for some air, only to interrupt Reg & Elwood in what even a blind man could tell was a drug deal, though Luke & Noah just warn Reg that Elwood is bad news and seem otherwise completely unsuspicious.

Once they're back inside, Reg breaks up a fight between Casey & Elwood by collapsing to the floor (what a drama queen!) and the party ends with Luke & Noah at the hospital, getting the news that good old Reg is dead of a drug overdose.

Luke doesn't think Reg did drugs, though Noah points out that Tony was a recreational user, so maybe Reg was, too. About that time, a giant bag of pills (it's ridiculously large) falls out of Reg's coat, which Noah is carrying, and Luke suddenly clues in on the fact that Elwood must have sold Reg this hefty bag of pills right under their clueless noses!

So, our hero Luke charges off to find Elwood, which he of course does, and accuses him of murder for selling Reg the pills. Elwood runs off, and Luke breaks down on Noah's shoulder, looking like he's just lost his very best friend.

Maybe they could have given Reg a few scenes in the last week or two to remind the audience who he was and to show us that he's apparently been hanging out with Luke & Noah. Hell, even having Luke reference his name in the last few weeks would have been something. Instead, they bring him back out of nowhere, give him two scenes where he barely says anything, and then kill him off, most likely at the hand of another character not seen or mentioned for several months, and we're supposed to be invested in this story?

I've wished for awhile that the show would give Luke & Noah some gay friends to hang out with, and Reg would have been a good candidate for that, but apparently it was more important to kill him. I guess this is their February sweeps plan?

One thing I did like, at the very start of the episode, was a moment between the guys unrelated to the drama to come. Noah told Luke that he'd taken Valentines Day off, in case Luke wanted to surprise him. Luke's response was something like "Oh, I'm in charge of Valentines Day?" before they kissed. It was a nice moment between them, cementing the fact that they're a couple in love.

But this story is a mess and since I think it's supposed to be wrapped up before Luke's biological father hits town next month, I'm sure it won't have any long term consequences or any point at all, beyond being just the Plot of the Moment.