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UPDATED 3-8-2010
VIEW FROM THE VALLEY
Love
Story

This week viewers
caught a glimpse into why Tad and Dixie were one of this show’s
super couples! Too bad Dixie couldn’t have come back alive.

As many of
you know, I spent a lot of my life watching various daytime dramas. My late
paternal grandmother got us started on Ryan’s Hope at a very early age (we
weren’t out of diapers yet) and eventually introduced us to the ABC line up that
is still watched in my household today.
Yes, we did veer
off the ABC path (like many soap fans do) tuning into other shows
such as The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, Santa
Barbara, As The World Turns and even The Guiding Light. But
eventually we somehow always returned to ABC (well my sisters still
tune into CBS, but their weird birds….lol) and found ourselves
enamored with the newer shows that the alphabet network produced.
The one common
link that grabbed our attention with these daytime shows and brought
us “home” to ABC happened to be the dynamic couples and love stories
that many of these shows offered us. One of those couples just
happened to be Tad and Dixie on All My Children.
I still remember
my first introduction to Cady McClain (she was not the original
Dixie by the way) and can still remember when Dixie locked eyes with
Tad. It was at that moment that I became hooked and wanted to see
more of them. Something about Tad and Dixie’s relationship was
different than the others that played out on daytime. Yes their was
passion and those looks between the two that would just absolutely
make you melt, but their relationship started out as a friendship
something that was lacking in daytime back then and even nowadays.
As we know Dixie
married silver haired fox Adam Chandler with the thoughts and hopes
of a better life than the humble beginnings she got in Pigeon
Hollow, West Virginia. Adam married Dixie though to get his hands
on the child she was carrying, a child he had hoped to adopt while
married to Brooke English. I’m sure Adam also enjoyed the fact that
Dixie just happened to be the niece of his old pal and rival, Palmer Cortlandt.
Well we know how
the story played out and Tad became Dixie’s “knight in shining
armor.” Even though they seemed to be torn apart MANY times and
even entered into relationships with others, somehow Tad and Dixie
always managed to find their way back to one another.
To me, their love
was REAL love, true love and both revealed themselves to be each
other’s soul mates. Like so many other viewers out there, I felt
robbed when Tad had discovered Dixie had “died” in Switzerland and
also discovered she was pregnant with their little girl, whom she
planned on naming Kate after Tad’s beloved grandmother.
When Dixie turned
up alive (in Switzerland), I shouted Hooray from the rooftops and
could not wait for her to make her triumphant return to Pine Valley
and back to the arms of beloved Tad Martin. Secretly I had hoped
that if Dixie were alive that little Kate must have survived too.
Like so many other TnD fans, I imagined how the scenes would play
out when Dixie introduced Tad to their little girl.
Unfortunately for
us, the show made the decision to fire McClain and kill Dixie with
poisoned pancakes leaving us to wonder whether or not Tad would
indeed find his little girl. As we know, Kate was living in Pine
Valley with Julia Santos. Eventually, Tad was reunited with Kate
thanks in part to an angelic Dixie.
Dixie paid a
visit to Pine Valley and Tad once again this week, when it appeared
that her son JR was taking a turn for the worse in his battle with
cancer. I thought that the scenes between Cady McClain and Michael
Knight were both poignant and touching. The deep love Dixie and Tad
shared was still evident and still VERY much existent between the
two of them.
What saddens me
is that no one at the network from Brian Frons down to Lorraine
Broderick or David Kriezman could’ve figured out away to swing it
that Dixie was indeed alive, sign McClain to a contract and bring
Dixie back to Pine Valley for good.
Now that Ruth and
Joe are gone and with the impending departures of Adam and Brooke
(rumored to be together) Tad and Dixie could EASILY become the
matriarch and patriarch of this show (and the Martin family) and
carry it into the next generation.
But unfortunately
unless a miracle happens it does not appear as if Dixie’s visit will
be any longer than just a week. With the rumors of a possible Tad
and Liza romance on the horizon, will Dixie be the one that
encourages them to end up giving love a try. Also, whispers are
abundant that the mother Damon keeps referring to as “Hill” is none
other than Hillary Wilson. Longtime AMC fans know that Hillary
Wilson was once the wife of Tad Martin. Could Damon be Tad’s son
and Dixie bring them together or perhaps Hillary returns to town and
reunites with Tad, something that Dixie brings about.
Awww love, a love
story like Tad and Dixie’s carries on even after death. I am curious
though, they must have hair salons in heaven since Dixie died and
was buried as a blonde but came back as a red head? Hmmmmm
What do you think
about Dixie’s “angelic” return? Would you like to see Cady McClain
back on the show full time? Click on the email link below and let
me hear your thoughts on the matter!

Until next time…. the “Children” have spoken
Last weeks column
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me @
View@soaptownusa.com
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