Putting a Fresh Spin on a Baby Switch


As the World Turns takes its turn at this popular plot device


I cannot say that I have seen every baby switch story ever shown on the
soaps. It's interesting that As the World Turns and Guiding Light are
doing their baby switch stories so soon after ABC involved two of its
shows in a similar tale last year.

It seems that to get a baby switch story to work, certain rules usually
apply, and certain plot twists. Unfortunately, there is often a dead baby
involved. On OLTL in the early 90s, Alicia Grande died and so did her
baby, so Gabrielle gave her widower Brenda's baby. Brenda was convinced
the baby was alive, just as Bianca was convinced Miranda was alive, just
as Valene Ewing was convinced her twins were alive on Knots Landing.

So how does As the World Turns make its baby switch story interesting?
Well, from the get-go, we have the oddity of Paul and Emily knowing the
baby is Jennifer's but keeping up the fiction that he is in fact "Rory,"
the son Rosanna (now in a convenient coma) adopted from Gwen.

Currently, we have two newer spins on this device. Jennifer, unable to
cope, turned to crystal meth to deal with her emotions for her, with a
spectacular breakdown. Jennifer Ferrin, already a bit pale in general,
looked positively ghostly during her addiction. Maybe it was Maybelline,
but boy, was she pale, and the actress did a great job of capturing the
highs and lows. Concurrent to this is Gwen suing for custody of "her" son
from Carly. The excellent twist here is the story already in the telling;
that Carly might have caused the disappearance or death of her baby
half-brother. That she suppressed it is sort of convenient soap bull also,
but Terri Garber as Iris is chewing up all the scenery as she torments
Carly. And while maybe we should have seen it coming, that Iris is the
mother Gwen had herself legally emancipated from.

Usenet spoilers suggest more secrets to follow, which I won't reveal here,
but the revelation of Iris as Gwen's mother put a whole new dimension on
the Iris character. Not only is she connected to someone now, we get to
see her manipulate her own daughter when Gwen is at her most desperate.
Of course, Iris is motivated by the big, fat trust fund set up by Rosanna
for the baby, but it took Gwen a while to figure that out as Iris kept
cynically using the "I want us to be a family" line (the line most soap
viewers hate these days; someone says it on every show).

The flight of a mother with a baby that is not hers is always part of
these baby switch stories, and now Gwen is on the run in NYC with Will.
Jennifer Landon's been doing a great job with this storyline, given how
quickly it was forced upon the viewership.

The story has also managed to involve half the cast, including the show's
original cast member, Helen Wagner, as Nancy Hughes, brought in by Carly
to help set up Gwen (without Nancy ever realizing it). The whole
storyline has also shown was a loser Casey Hughes is, even though he
should be a lot nicer, given his heritage. He's been flaunting his good
connections and resting on the laurels of a DNA test that declared him not

see her manipulate her own daughter when Gwen is at her most desperate.
Of course, Iris is motivated by the big, fat trust fund set up by Rosanna
for the baby, but it took Gwen a while to figure that out as Iris kept
cynically using the "I want us to be a family" line (the line most soap
viewers hate these days; someone says it on every show).

The flight of a mother with a baby that is not hers is always part of
these baby switch stories, and now Gwen is on the run in NYC with Will.
Jennifer Landon's been doing a great job with this storyline, given how
quickly it was forced upon the viewership.

The story has also managed to involve half the cast, including the show's
original cast member, Helen Wagner, as Nancy Hughes, brought in by Carly
to help set up Gwen (without Nancy ever realizing it). The whole
storyline has also shown was a loser Casey Hughes is, even though he
should be a lot nicer, given his heritage. He's been flaunting his good
connections and resting on the laurels of a DNA test that declared him not
see her manipulate her own daughter when Gwen is at her most desperate.
Of course, Iris is motivated by the big, fat trust fund set up by Rosanna
for the baby, but it took Gwen a while to figure that out as Iris kept
cynically using the "I want us to be a family" line (the line most soap
viewers hate these days; someone says it on every show).

The flight of a mother with a baby that is not hers is always part of
these baby switch stories, and now Gwen is on the run in NYC with Will.
Jennifer Landon's been doing a great job with this storyline, given how
quickly it was forced upon the viewership.

The story has also managed to involve half the cast, including the show's
original cast member, Helen Wagner, as Nancy Hughes, brought in by Carly
to help set up Gwen (without Nancy ever realizing it). The whole
storyline has also shown was a loser Casey Hughes is, even though he
should be a lot nicer, given his heritage. He's been flaunting his good
connections and resting on the laurels of a DNA test that declared him not
the baby's father so he can rest assured that "Gwen's a slut." I am
praying for the day that Gwen returns, mourns her lost baby, and is able
to redeem herself at Casey's expense.

Posted: Fri - October 14, 2005 at 07:06 AM        

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