A promise is a promise is a promise. Darn. In my last “A Cynic” I promised to write my next column about things I like and enjoy about AMC. I also promised to talk about AMC things that make me hopeful.  

A thundering silence as I try to think of something. Anything.  

Wait! I’ve got it! 

I really liked it when the baseball hit Krystal in the head. It wasn’t a fatal lightening bolt, but it shut her up, which I liked quite a bit. 

I like that Livia Frye is back. I hope that Tom also becomes a permanent fixture. I wouldn’t mind if their son Jamal joined them. He can join the other Stanford alumni in town, David and Ron.  Jeff Martin also spent time at Stanford, as did Jake. Did they all go there to have sex with Krystal? 

Back to Livia. I am hopeful they will give her own story and soon. She is much too good to be doing things like supporting Maria. (And besides isn’t that what Maria’s Wonderbra is for?) 

Another character return that I am enjoying is Lily Montgomery. As I suspected, this Lily is hotter and less severely autistic than the previous Lily. And that’s OK; it certainly opens up more story possibilities for her. The actress is doing a good job showing chemistry with the other actors, which is a challenge given the limits autism imposes on the character. And if Lily helps the other rather self-absorbed members of the Montgomery clan see beyond themselves, then more power to her. 

I am enjoying Jackson as the head of the clan. He has a great rapport with all his “children.” Walt Willey’s best work is with his family.  

I really am enjoying the humor on AMC these days. How long did it take you to stop laughing when JR said, “I made a corporate decision.” ?   Kids do say the darndest things, don’t they? 

The intentional humor is pretty good, too. AMC’s characters have always had senses of humor, which is why I have been so fond of them over the years. A recent favorite: While tending to the anxiety ridden Krystal, David sent JR to fetch his medical bag. Adam adroitly said, “Take your time.” Ahhh, if only just once JR would do what his father tells him to do. 

Alexa Havins as Babe is an AMC something I am enjoying. Which is not to be confused with enjoying or liking Babe. Still she made me feel Babe’s pain when she was in the chapel mourning her baby boy. If she only knew he was just down the road. I wonder if she knew her son was alive, would she return Miranda to Bianca? Or would she and Krystal come with some more convoluted self-justification for keeping Bianca in pain by keeping Miranda in the Chandler nursery? 

Another thing I enjoyed was when Krystal got hit in the head with the baseball. A foul ball hitting a foul person. Perfect symmetry. 

I am also starting   to    like   Jamie.  I had to say it slowly because I cannot quite believe I am saying that. Justin Bruening has quieted down nicely into the part.  The writers helped of course by deciding perhaps Jamie should not be an insensitive goofy clod. And deciding that Jamie should not be controlled by his penis. If only the same could be said for Jamie’s father. 

I enjoy every Mary Smythe scene. I had hoped to see more of Mary in her role as wedding planner, but what I did see made me want to see more. True, Mary is quite often (always?) insensitive and manipulative, but Anna Stuart plays her so darn well that I want more, I tell you, more!  How about a Mary/Adam/Brooke triangle? The verbal jousting alone between Brooke and Mary would make it fun. 

I like Reggie. I enjoy his devotion to his new family and his need to try and fix everything. Reggie, dear, there is not enough time left in the world to fix what’s wrong with that crowd. I am hopeful that someday we will find out what’s up with Reggie’s biological sisters.  

I like that Pine Valley has condos that expand whenever needed. When Trey owned Jackson’s current place, it had two bedrooms. Now that Lily has moved in, the number has miraculously expanded to three. When Jake lived in his condo, it had one bedroom. Same number when Mia took it over. One day Liza and Colby decided to move in. Voila! More bedrooms appeared just for the wishing. Wonderful place, that Pine Valley. 

I like that they recast Isabella Santos. In the past I could only get angry at the character, I wasn’t able to loathe her. Why? Because Socorro Santiago always portrayed Isabella with a depth of character and a warmth that showed she loved her children even when she was being impossible.  Now that Isabella looks like she wandered in from a community theater production of The Sopranos I can hate Isabella with no problems at all.  

I like that Desiree Dubios has flitted her last feather. No. Make that I LOVE that Desiree Dubois flitted her last feather. 

I like David Hayward. No particular reason for saying except that I may not be feeling that way for much longer. (And for the sake of readers who are spoiler-free that is all I am going to say about that.) 

I like that Bianca knows what everyone in town should do about their relationships. Really. It saves them the energy of thinking for themselves.  

Speaking of Bianca, I really like that her grieving for Miranda is shown as an ongoing process. However, I do hope she starts to wonder why Bess and Krystal cannot get past “Miranda’s” death. 

I like that I was right about what Simone needed. The girl needed to get laid. Once that happened she turned into a different person. A smart person who has her pride back.  A good friend. Someone you can be around without being afraid that her heavy breathing is going to make her pass out and slip into a coma like her brother. He is still in a coma, right? 

I like that Kendall and Greenlee are no longer friends. I mean really, who wants to turn on the TV and see women being friends? Working together? Laughing together? Helping each other? How interesting would that be? It is so much better to see them being backstabbing paranoid bitches whose only goal in life is to snag Ryan. ( And we really cannot expect to see women’s friendships portrayed realistically on AMC, after all. It’s not as if AMC’s headwriter is a woman. Oh, wait…….) 

I like the new opening. The main pictures do nothing for me, but the retrospective pictures are grand.  

I liked the recent Chandler wedding. I am a sucker for soap weddings. Cake, flowers, tantrums, secrets.  And the clothes. Which leads us to 

All My Schmattes

Who would have ever guessed that Babe would come up with a better wedding dress for her wedding than Greens did for hers? A bride’s dress should reflect her vision of the wedding, no one else’s. Babe wanted a fairy tale wedding and she certainly chose a fairy tale princess dress. And it was not white which was appropriate for a third wedding.  The veil for a third wedding was pushing it a bit.  

Babe held back on the jewelry, which was a bit of a surprise. She made up for it though because every time she moved her dress sounded like a charm bracelet with a thousand charms. Still the dress was very Babe. No wait, the dress was very Arabella. The noise was very Babe. 

Bianca’s dress was gorgeous. Nothing Babe-y-ish about that pink. The style, the jewelry and her hair suited Bianca’s elegance perfectly. 

Krystal’s dress was tasteful. So tasteful I wonder who chose it for her, but then the addition of the oversized purple corsage added just the right blowsy Krystal touch. 

Greenlee was obviously muddled headed from being a newlywed, herself. Why else would she have forgotten the middle third of her dress? I loved the beaded material there just wasn’t quite enough of it. 

There is a debate about whether or not black is appropriate for a wedding. As someone who came thisclose to wearing a black wedding dress (what can I say? It’s my favorite color.) I think black is fine. It’s not the color so much as the outfit itself that is important.  

Mary wore black and that was fine because it had the sparkle of paillettes at the neck and down the shoulder. It was dramatic and Mary is a dramatic looking person.  

On the other hand Liza’s black outfit was all wrong for a wedding.  There was nothing celebratory about it, although its drabness certainly drove home the point that Liza is celibate. I wonder if Marcy Walker gets depressed every time she heads towards the AMC wardrobe department? I certainly would if I were her. 

I love Opal. When there is a celebration, dammit, she dresses for it. Her suit was bright and the material made it elegant. And her hat certainly was fun.  

Wardrobe needs to spring for a new suit for Myrtle. I like the gold number, but she needed something in more summery color for this wedding. 

And the men. Oh the men. They all clean up so nicely, don’t they? 

 Everyone looked good, even Maggie. Which shows that in Pine Valley costuming miracles can happen. (They just cannot happen for Liza.) 

And now a brief Emmy fashion comment. Several people wrote in telling me that while they liked my comment about Meredith Viera’s dress they did not actually see the dress on Emmy night. Here is the comment:” How innovative of Meredith Viera to have had her high school tracksuit made in to a dress.”  Here is the dress:

Well that’s it for this column. Except I did not really come up with anything that makes me hopeful.  Hmmmm….. oh, wait, I know: 

I remain hopeful that Krystal will get hit in the head again. And extremely hopeful that what hits her will be larger than a baseball and a hundred times more deadly.

If there are things you are liking about AMC, I would love to hear about them.