Full Circle

I decided to put this entry's set up because I was (and remain) a huge champion of Lloyd "Lucky" Gold's time as headwriter of GUIDING LIGHT. Full Circle is taken from early June of 2002 and focuses on the third wedding of Josh and Reva. It features a flood of returning characters (Trish, Mindy, Rusty, Dylan, Vanessa, Hawk) and an event that showcases the entire cast (with the exception of Lillian and the Bauers who are all dealing with Rick's failing heart, as can be seen in the clipset entitled The Heart of the Matter). This large event features criss-crossing storylines and all the cast interaction you could possibly want-- and which we modern-day viewers of the current cash-strapped show so miss.

This was a time when Tory Granger was making life hell for Blake and Ross, Bill returned to town for the wedding and realized the Beth looked mighty familiar to him, Harley was fighting Phillip to be with Gus, Marah was embracing a life with Tony, and poor doomed Richard was inching ever closer to his fatal car accident. All of these stories are featured here, but the focus is obviously Reva and Josh (which, if you've ever watched GUIDING LIGHT, you know means "a whole lotta Reva with snippets of Josh") and their elaborate, yet somehow simple and warm, wedding ceremony.

This is a wonderful, strong, vital GUIDING LIGHT-- one which I really adored and which I pray that Gold is able to hearken back to now that he is part of the current headwriting team.

It's interesting to note though that this wonderful, diverse event would not have taken place if Kim Zimmer had been in charge.

From Soap Opera Weekly:

Zimmer confides she "was very nervous. Robert and I had

gone in awhile ago and pitched to have it just be family and a

justice of the peace at Cross Creek. Of course, when the

scripts started coming in and it turned into [something bigger],

I was a little... It didn't fit well."

Obviously, I disagree completely. I think this is a beautiful example of a soap wedding and it's a testament to that fact that I can enjoy this event even though I'm not a fan of this couple or the Reva character. Since this was contract time, Zimmer followed this (in the same article) with a threat to leave if her coming story wasn't adequately beefy, so I guess viewers were given a wedding event that the entire viewership could enjoy and Zimmer got her beefy story with killing Richard without Cassie's consent.

Enjoy Full Circle--

clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4 , clip 5 , clip 6

clip 7 , clip 8 , clip 9 , clip 10 , clip 11 , clip 12

clip 13 , clip 14 , clip 15 , clip 16 , clip 17 , clip 18

clip 19 , clip 20 , clip 21

If you like, you can take a look at Vanessa's visit with Ed right before the party that opens Full Circle. It's a mini-set that I posted a couple of years ago called Long Lost.

clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3