Here We Go Again

Now that the Z Twins story will presumably be winding down, it seems that Passanante has the next member of her Psycho of the Month Club all lined up and ready to go. Since Passanante is never one to shy away from repeating herself, it will be round three for this particular psycho. Who is it, you ask? Why, it's Colonel Winston Mayer, of course!

Yes, Noah's father, the man who murdered Noah's mother (aka the Oakdale Madame); shot Dusty Donovon and left him for dead in the trunk of a car (not that I hold that particular crime against him, of course. Hey, he's only human!); and tried on more than one occasion to kill Luke for 'turning' his son gay.

Winston was last seen diving to his 'death' in the Hudson River after his convoluted plan (is there any other sort of plan on this show?) to trade Ameera for his freedom fell through.

I never read spoilers, so I have no idea what Winston will be up to for round three, but I cringed when I saw the news that Daniel Hugh Kelly was returning in the role at the end of June. No offense to Kelly, I'm just sick and tired of so many of the boys' stories being about battling these psychotic people!

Why can't Passanante tell any other kind of story? It's not just Luke & Noah, either, who've had to deal with these ridiculous plots. Her tenure on the show is littered with these short term characters who go crazy: BJ Green, Eve Coleman, Nick Kasnof, Evan Walsh IV, Colonel Mayer, Mark what's his name who killed Reg & Elwood, the Z Twins, and that one guy who tried to blow up Tom & Margo's house with everyone inside. Those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head from before I started fast forwarding every story but Luke & Noah's. I suppose we should also count Adam Hughes on the list, a guy who was formerly a really good person, but whom Passanante inexplicably made into a would be rapist.

It also doesn't count the insane actions of long term characters who are still on the show and who faced no real consequences for anything they did: Emily for shooting Paul in the chest when he jilted her at the altar; or for holding Dusty captive, chained up like a dog (again, she's only human, so I forgive her for that one!); Craig for blowing Paul up with a car bomb; or Dusty for shooting Paul (notice a trend?).

All of this and so much more has happened under Passanante's pen over less than four years and none of it was well written. Why in the hell is she still the head writer of As the World Turns?

More to the point, why the hell am I still torturing myself by watching?!

Oh, that's right: