By Nicole Walker
Part #1: Ryan/Frankie and Donna/Grant
Dean and Lorna: I know, I know, Jenna and Dean were THE Another World young lover SuperCouple, complete with their own music video, but honestly I saw the heat potential between Dean and Lorna and a volatile love triangle involving sisters Lorna and Jenna with passionate impulsive Dean as the center, instead of the wishy-washy judgmental manchild Matt Cory.
While Jenna represented the white picket fenced happily ever after that Dean dreamed of, the lure of Lorna (besides being sexy hot even while playing the Ice Queen) was that she and Dean seemed cut from the same cloth: survivors of harsh childhoods, ambitious, focused, primed to rise above what they perceived as their lowly roots to be successful, willing to get their hands dirty to get the job done, always moving and looking forward. They would get each other, but what drew them together would also push them to want more than what they were and seek someone better, which is why Dean reached for Jenna and Lorna reached for Matt, believing that loving and being loved by the ‘right’ people would make them happy.
And, in many ways, Jenna and Matt could, but ultimately silver spoon-fed Matt and sheltered waif Jenna would fall short and Dean and Lorna would drift back to each other, hating themselves for it, but unable to resist. I mean seriously, did Ricky Paull Goldin not play Dean having such extreme distaste and animosity towards Lorna that the only thing that fit was that he was attracted to her, hated himself for it, hated her for it and so spewed it out at her in order to keep her prickly and less attractive to his baser desires?
Jamie and Olivia: Jamie and Olivia being the ones to find love and happiness together with baby Sarah instead of Marley and Dennis would’ve been hilarious for a number of reasons:
After all of Marley and Dennis’ schemes (Marley scheming to adopt Olivia’s baby for herself and Jamie to raise so she could finally have her perfect family; Dennis scheming to break up Jamie and Marley ‘for Jamie’s own good’ by seducing Marley away) the two victims actually ended up happy while Dennis is left to sulk as Jamie plays father to his child and Marley is left with no man AND no baby.
Jamie would’ve dated yet another woman from the Matthews family tree (he had dated 3 by the early 90s; Sally, Marianne, and Susan), a family tree that he was once considered part of when, at one time, Russ Matthews, Olivia’s father, was believed to be Jamie’s father.
Jamie’s sister, Amanda, was a rival of Olivia’s, the two women squaring off against each other for Sam Fowler. Olivia had named Sam as her baby’s father, causing months of angst for Amanda and Sam before Olivia finally came clean that she had a one night stand and knew that he, not Sam was the father of her child. Olivia finally moved on and left the couple alone, but if Jamie and Olivia had gotten married the baby that Amanda so resented would’ve gone from being her step-daughter to her niece and Olivia would have been even more firmly entrenched in Amanda’s family.
ADDED BONUS: Olivia would be around to witness the implosion of Amanda and Sam’s second marriage due to Sam’s burgeoning country music career. Oh, how Olivia would’ve laughed at that!
Finally, looking at the two characters, Olivia and Jamie could’ve been a fun, but surprisingly lasting couple. Sure, Olivia was needy and could resort to scheming, but she was a mess of a young woman whom you still rooted for (And frankly, she was at least better than Kelsey). Jamie could’ve given her the stability and safety she wanted, and the type of devotion she craved. As for Jamie, after the roller coaster of both Jamie and Vicky, Olivia’s type of needy, unpredictable desperation would be a cakewalk. And having the fight beaten out of him by his battles with Marley, Jamie would be more inclined to roll with the punches with Olivia and realize in doing so that he’s having a lot more fun with his life.
Jamie and Paulina: Rewatching Judi Evans and Russell Todd in Another World episodes of the early 90s, there were times when Jamie’s concern for Paulina – even before her involvement with Jake, but especially during - went beyond ‘brotherly’ concern and Paulina’s appreciation for Jamie’s friendship and loyalty was more than about being accepted by her 'family'.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, she was his ‘sister,’ but they weren’t blood related and they weren’t raised together. And Jamie Frame has no problem dating within the same family tree (Vicky and Marley) or dating within a family that he was once considered a member of. These two were being chem tested, I tells ya, and while I had some interest in seeing where TPTB could’ve gone with it, the writing was on the wall that Jake and Paulina was where it was at.
Sure they could’ve done a triangle, but honestly Jake and Jamie had been battling over Vicky and then Marley for the better part of three years, to add yet another woman to their sordid passionate history would’ve just been…silly. And beg the question of whether these men truly hated each other or just found any excuse to lock horns because of some unsaid, dare not be spoken attraction…(See entry above, Lorna and Dean)
Would any of the above have worked? Should they have been tried? Let us know below!
Nicole Walker is the Associate Producer of Another World Today.