Daytime Royalty
Co-Head Writer Jill Lorie Hurst gives SOD a preview of what viewers can expect to happen in Springfield during GL's bittersweet September 18th finale.
"There will be new beginnings, some long overdue reunions, a lot of laughter, tears and, what's at the heart of GUIDING LIGHT - family," promises Hurst. "On a certain level, it's such a joy to know that we would be able to position these wonderful characters in a way that sends them off - I call it a transition, not an ending - into the next stage of their lives. It's really gratifying to revisit old relationships and couples."
Concerning the highly anticipated returns of Nola, Dylan, Bridget, Fletcher and Holly, Hurst says, "Ellen [Wheeler, EP] was very open to returns of veteran, beloved characters, but she wanted it to be at the right event and in the right way. We worked very hard to come up with the right connection for Fletcher, who comes in for something lovely at the very end. We had Holly come back, the wonderful Maureen Garrett, and we sat and thought about that for quite a long time. We wanted Holly's day to be about the anguish of love - Holly and Roger, basically - so we have her talking about love and she has her own ending."
"We aren't dealing with flashbacks," Hurst explains. "We didn't have time to do some of the things we would've loved to have done. Things have to happen more quickly than we would've liked, but the audience won't go away not knowing. It's not a scratch-your-head mystery ending. We're not throwing any curves. We wanted to remind the audience, acknowledge our past, and push characters who've returned and our current characters [and] give them all a satisfying resolution or place to take off into. [Fans] will have a very good idea about what their lives will be."
As far as Phillip's fate is concerned, Hurst says, "Phillip is trying to resolve a lot of things. We try to talk about everybody's love story and Phillip has Beth and his children. He wants to resolve all those things, but his greatest love story and his greatest agony is with his father. That's a lot of what we dealt with."
Will Reva be reunited with Josh or Jeffrey? Hurst teases, "You will know. You'll see the future for all three of them. It will be clear."
