On March 5, 2011, Mysteries of Our Lives (MOOL) officially turned the big 1-0. With five completed chapters and over 300 episodes, MOOL has brought a considerable amount of drama, heartache and camp to the screen. From the dysfunctional on-again/off-again romance of Leonard Stone and Rochelle Desmores to the emotional ins and outs of the Keller’s, Lombard’s, Pryce and Pierre families, one never knows what to expect when they open the door to fictional Hallandale, MA. Launched in 2001, Ty Junior was still a junior in high school when he started the daily (5-day a week) e-mail based sudser.
“I had so many ideas, and less inhibitions back then,” reflects Junior. “MOOL was primarily read by people I knew and they all seemed to enjoy where the stories were going at the time. Naturally, that fostered my desire to keep on writing.”
MYSTERIOUSLY DECADEnt on the cover of OSW Volume 6, Issue 1
Fast-forward to present day, the online serial now airs once a month. The scribe sums up the reduced episode production schedule in one word: “Time,” or lack thereof. Indeed, by winter 2002, Junior found himself prepping for a whole new journey.
“I kept up the momentum of daily episodes throughout the beginning of 2002. Then the hoopla of senior graduation, standardized tests, and college begin to rear its ugly head.” He further adds, “The episode production cutbacks were gradual; factored in by time constraints, the expanding cast of characters, and the evolving episode format.”
In fact, the serial made its most daring format advancement on September 6, 2010, when Episode 320 was released in narrative format. According to Junior, the idea had been in his head for quite a while, but he wanted to complete the serial’s 6th chapter before forging ahead with it.
However, “when I started writing Episode 320, something told me to take the plunge,” he adds. “It’s given me a fresh, new take on the project.” With a 10-year serial, keeping things fresh is definitely important. As the scribe journeys down memory lane, he realizes that what anchored the show back in 2001 is not really a strong focal point of the serial that exists today. Indeed, the characters and stories have evolved, but the good and bad moments stay in our minds forever.
High: Leonard Stone’s Murder Mystery – S01 thru S04
“When you’re writing a soapy drama with elements of mystery, it would stand to reason that a whodunit would pop up sooner or later. Lo and behold, by the middle of the first season, handsome lothario Leonard Stone found himself shot and killed in his hotel room with a slew of suspects at the helm. You had the jilted ex (Rochelle Desmores), his one-night stand (Lacreasha Dupree), the mysterious cohort in town (Kyle
Sharrington-Pierre), and so on. Leading the investigation was crafty, and very determined Officer Aubrey Capitulous Everestt, who had her eye on Rochelle for the crime. The story had many twists and turns with everyone believing Leonard was alive, only to learn during Rochelle’s trial for attempted murder that it was Dean Stone masquerading as his twin brother, a scheme masterminded by one of Hallandale PD’s finest: Aubrey Capitulous. Rochelle and Dean would later work together to find out what happened to his brother, yet drift apart when the town discovered it was actually meek, couldn’t hurt a fly Kavina Shah; Lacreasha and Kyle would find themselves right smack in the middle of the investigation and an extortion attempt. Furthermore, relationships and alliances would be tested through the investigation and both trials. What started as a plot-dictated move because of behind the scenes issues springed stories for four seasons, culminating with the arrest and conviction of Kavina Shah. Yet, in Hallandale, not everything is as it seems, and there is far more to the night of Leonard Stone’s murder than what meets the eye.”
Low: Computer Crash of 2003
“It was shortly after I got my first on-campus college job and figured I could re-claim my writing muse that I received the unfortunate news that the PC holding a year worth of history for MOOL had crash. Episodes, in depth cast bios, tons of amateur opening vids–everything gone…irrecoverable. It was a sad day and a sad couple of months. It still pains me even now just thinking about it. It’s definitely true what they say, ‘a lesson learned hard is a lesson learned.’ I am more diligent about backing things up now than I was back then.”
High/Low: Blackadder36 Virus – S04 thru S06
“Springing from my soap fan roots, this storyline did not have a large enough impact on the canvas. I mean, you felt and still continue to see the lifelong implications for the Pryce and Lombard-Keller families, but our remaining 30 or so residents were virtually untouched by this epidemic. I was very short-sighted with the makings of this storyline, not giving weight to whether or not this virus was contagious, nor whether or not some of these characters should have been under quarantine because of their exposure to infected individuals. So in hindsight, I missed a couple of beats and didn’t present a completely realistic picture of the story. Another problem area for me was Samantha’s search in Springfield as she encountered some dirty politics that detracted away from her mission of finding the antidote. That part of the storyline was left up in the air in order to expedite Samantha’s return to Hallandale. Whether or not that will ever be addressed now that Samantha is dead is something I continue to ponder over, especially since the dead don’t tell tales. Moving back to the positive, I really enjoyed a lot of the material to come post Samantha’s lethal poisoning because it really brought things back to the heart of the matter; the high stakes danger of knowing your sister-in-law is not long for this world and there is nothing you can do to stop it; the quandary of whether or not you should tell your brother what’s coming; childhood friends coming to some sort of peaceful resistance regarding their families turbulent history; I really think the culmination of the story helped to reinforce where the focal point of the story was.”
Low: Sins of Insecurity – S04
“Dr. Dylan McCloud was very jealous of his lover’s (GarrettLyn Michaels) close friendship with the never-seen Christian LeBlanc. In fact, he did everything in his power to keep her close to him, including terrorizing her and their friend, Jennifer. However, the point of no return came when he hired a man (Frankie Lancaster) to attack GarrettLyn in the hospital parking lot. Frankie, wrought with guilt over his actions, came to Brian and confessed that he was Garrett’s attacker. Frankie insisted there was more to the story, and Brian allowed him to see Garrett. Garrett refused to believe that the rape attempt was also masterminded by her boyfriend; however, cornered and unable to lie his way out of the situation, Dylan conceded that he was guilty. Inexcusably, Frankie, who attacked and nearly scarred this woman, did not serve any jail time, and, in turn, spent the next couple weeks trying to make repeated overtures to his victim. Even worse, Garrett entertained Frankie’s efforts while freezing out her boyfriend for months before ultimately giving him the boot (understandably). At the request of Garrett, Brian brushed off Dylan’s sins as if they never happened, and inexplicably expected Jennifer to do the same. Fortunately, Jennifer had better sense, and instead made sure to remind Dylan as much as she could that he royally screwed up. Why she didn’t follow Garrett’s lead and move out is anyone’s guess, though. It was a crazy story for sure.
High: Holiday Drama in Hallandale – S04
“Regretfully, these scenes are no longer available on the web, but I do recall fondly writing my first holiday-themed episode. The party was a collaboration between Samantha Lombard and Robin Elkasinogen, and was organized just shortly after Samantha and Brock had worked their way through their first marital roadblock. Of course, that very roadblock would come crashing in on their celebration in the form of Leigh Gray. Yet the best part for me came later on when longtime friends, turn bitter frenemies, Lacreasha and Rochelle, initiated a cake tossing contest. It’s just one of those community-building moments I always loved about the serialized-format.”
Honorable Mentions:
- Kasey Alvarez’ assasination, and his wife’s crusade to find his killer – S01 thru S02
- Dr. Laura Sedwick’s Reign of Terror – S01
- Widlin’s Secret and the trail of Blackmail – S01 thru S02
- Rochelle learns the big secret Lacreasha has been shielding from her all these years: Leonard and Dean Stone are her half-brothers – S04 thru S05
Ty Junior also recognizes his 10th year anniversary as a significant high. “It’s like earning a diploma; to have dedicated ten years to one project or place is not easy, and to be honest, there were a few times over the years where I wasn’t sure the show would go on. It is a wonderful feeling to have made it this far inspite of the good and the bad.”
To share your own thoughts on some of MOOL’s best and worst stories of the last decade, and/or if you wish to extend your own special anniversary wish, you may contact Ty Junior at info@mysteriesofourlives.com.
For more information about MOOL and the serial, check out the serial’s website at http://www.mysteriesofourlives.com.
If you’re looking for the latest episode recaps, and/or reviews, you may check out the MOOL forums @ http://forums.oswmagazine.com.
*This story originally appeared in the May 1st edition of OSW Magazine.