AMC Commentary

“Who am I? Crazy Annie? Some gold-digging slut who married Adam Chandler and then cheated on him with his son? Women like me-we don’t get respect. We get spit on. We get ignored. I just want to be seen and I try so hard. I’ll always be nothing.” 

Annie’s soliloquy was a quicktears moment for me. Props to the writers for tapping into Annie’s soul. Even more props to Melissa Claire Egan for her raw, emotional performance. Quicktears moments are rare these days. It’s comforting that these moments are still possible on AMC. 

For quite some time, I’ve believed that Annie is 80% messed up and 20% crazy. OK, so realistically speaking it’s more like 75% messed up and 25% crazy. 

It’s clear that something was “off” in the Novak family. Not only did it produce Annie; it also produced Richie, who was 10% messed up and 90% crazy. Annie’s and Richie’s mother hung herself. Richie intimidated his father into submission. In addition, Richie was still a minor when he killed Annie’s friend. Oh, and Annie killed Richie. And lest we forget, one of them pushed their father out a window. What the hell was going on in that house? Walter Novak needs to return and shed some light on Annie’s back-story. 

In a crazy family, the craziest member dominates the household. It’s clear that Richie was the craziest Novak. If the craziest person isn’t happy, then nobody is happy.  What about the rest of the family? They can fight the situation, which only serves to exacerbate the craziest person’s craziness. Or they can “disappear.”  I believe that’s what Annie did and her parents let her. I suspect that Mr. and Mrs. Novak often treated Annie like the “inconsequential” child. It’s no surprise that she feels like she’s never seen. 

She married Terry to escape. Sadly, that marriage did not turn out very well. Terry had a lot of the crazy going on, too. Why didn’t Annie recognize this? Because “crazy” seemed normal to her. 

Then came Ryan. Ryan pursued her. Ryan saw her. It was Ryan’s idea to get married. Finally, Annie had a home, a safe environment, and a not-crazy man. (True, sometimes Ryan is cray cray, but compared to the Novaks, his craziness is nothing.) Annie was happy. She was a bit too Stepford wife for my liking, but she was happy.   

Sadly, Ryan’s amnesia smashed her security to smithereens. How could Ryan “see” her if he didn’t even remember who she was? He remembered his former loves, Kendall and Greenlee.  He pursued them with the goal of reviving his relationship with one, or maybe both, of them. He made dinner plans with Annie and then flew off to LA to stalk Kendall. Once again, Annie became inconsequential. 

Marrying Adam was another chance for a home, security and happiness. The world would have no choice but to “see” Mrs. Adam Chandler. True, Annie’s habit of kissing all the adult male Chandlers wasn’t her best move. Still, she was determined to make her marriage work. And then Adam got sick. He didn’t tell his wife about this, so when he avoided sex with her, Annie felt rejected. When Brooke showed up, it was good for the rest of the Chandlers. It was bad for Annie. Brooke and Adam spent a lot of time together. Annie could tell that her husband and his former wife were keeping a secret. Adam avoided her and Brooke ignored her. She saved JR’s life and even that didn’t gain her recognition she craved. Once again, Annie felt inconsequential. 

Her past doesn’t excuse some of her behavior but it does serve to make her a very interesting woman. 

Falling into JR’s bed was predictable. He wanted her. He seemed to be the only person in the world who truly wanted her. In addition, he is just damn hot. 

Annie repeatedly having adulterous sex with JR was no surprise, either. Scott saw Annie the way he thought she could be. JR sees Annie for who she really is. 

Can it work out for these two kids? Perhaps. Growing up in Adam’s shadow, JR often felt inconsequential. Growing up in Richie’s shadow, Annie always felt inconsequential. JR and Annie acknowledge each other’s existence. And goodness knows, they both deserve a hot love life.

On the other hand, they do live in Pine Valley, where no one’s happiness is a sure thing. I want them to stay together at least long enough to create massive gossip. I wouldn’t mind if they caused some trouble in the Valley,too. See you in two weeks. As always, thank you for reading what I write.

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