Interesting that you say you feel there's a good week's worth of material missing -- I think most of us have felt that also. I, however, suspect it was the latest switch in storylines that has thrown everything off.

If you think about it .. no matter where the story was headed at this point, the decision to tie Manny in with Josh and Reva and San Cristobal HAD to be a curve the writers didn't need. One has only to remember the on again/off again question of annulment to know there was once another path for our dynamic duo.

Early in the Manny storyline, there was another glaring change of direction, but it was handled MUCH more smoothly. It happened shortly after the off-screen marriage, when Danny was still only an obstacle in the Michelle/Jesse storyline. It was obvious to me that Jesse was to figure much more prominently in the story since Carmen went to great lengths to "hire" him and to even show him around the house ... it seemed he was going to live there with them. And then, Boom. Danny visits Jesse, tells him to back off, tells Mama that Jesse is no longer an employee and he was practically a no-show on GL for about a month. All that set-up -- for naught. In my opinion, that's when the storyline officially changed and the "triangle" idea was dropped. However, it was done very smoothly and I don't even recall too many people noticing.

For those of you who remember my posts back in the days of the D/D, you know that I believe the next big storyline arc was to have been Drew's pregnancy -- therefore the need for an annulment so that Danny would have to struggle over doing the honorable thing. Thank God we were spared that, but when you think about it, Danny and Michelle's story really progressed without the need to change too much UNTIL the point where it was necessary to drop the news of the annulment. And suddenly the story -- as it aired -- seemed disjointed and sometimes, downright confusing (getting married again one day vs renewing vows, the next). It takes time to change direction and to do so smoothly. It's a tribute that Manny could progress at all with any depth considering all the backstage maneuverings that appear to have gone on!

Liz M