Marlene wasn't the most popular one with everybody when she arrived because in her initial enthusiam she tried to sort of "take over the family" and it wasn't really appreciated particularly by the women of the family (Elisabeth and Helena) (Rebecca since she never had any illusions of/design on power didn't care). There is this scene that's just really funny to me. Marlene arrived, got engaged to Hagen and a few weeks later theatrically broke up with him because he wouldn't buy her the right set of diamond rings, she then came back, they made up and announced that the engagement was back on. So they call everybody into the living room for their big announcement and Helena-Rebecca have this dialog about "R:What's her problem now again? H: Maybe this time she's pregnant" and then Hagen/Marlene announce and the entire Lahnstein family looks either completely indifferent or "for god's sake *rolleyes* and the only one who smiles and congratulates them is Dana who is actually in love with Hagen and hence also doesn't want them to get married and yet she is still closest to being genuinely happy for them.



I love Luise's little "ewwww" face. Luise was actually a pretty cool chick and she and Rebecca made up eventually. Actually after Rebecca went gay with Miriam I thought hmm, now in retrospect her latching onto Luise so violently makes a lot of sense. Back then she seemed like she totally was pissed more because her "friend" Luise (who she had met like 4 weeks ago) lied to her than because he had lost her love Gregor again.

The other girl where I kinda got maybe vibes with (even if it's just fan HoYay) was actually Rebecca I and Marlene's sister Kim (she's the one Rebecca is crying about on the stairs while Marlene is singing in the background, Rebecca helped her run away from her parents and hide in a cabin in the woods and now she's in danger because the woods are on fire and Rebecca blames herself) (again: girl she met like 2 months ago).



Though I think in retrospect Jasmin was just very, very, very young when she joined VL. I think she was just 18 and 19 and the guy who played Gregor was like 15 years her senior. I think she just related a lot better to the (generally female) actors who were her age => aka Miriam, Kim, Judith and Helena and hence the chemistry was just noticably better there.



I think with Jasmin the whole "yeah, Rebecca is the klutzy/akward/dumb Lahnstein... was a lot more pronounced. I kinda fear that I made her come across like the most annoying character ever with my summary. And at times she was, but I think she had her good sides as well. For example, I think she was very open, like she easily approached people and struck up friendships with them (that's why there is like a zillion pictures of Rebecca with various girls because she just latched on to everybody). And she imo was a pretty loyal and good friend. She also always tried the people in her family to get along and make peace which was often shamelessly abused by the scheming members of the family (like Tanja, Ansgar, Tristan, her stepdad Adrian).

I also liked that the show was also pretty consistent with her passion/job dream. Usually job dreams on the show always exist only to be fullfilled in the space of one storyline. Christian wants to be a boxer => 5 months later he wins his big champion match. Dana wants to be a jockey => 7 months later she wins her big race. Rebecca was introduced via her design dream but then she got kicked out of her internship and what followed was a looooooooooooooong period where everybody essentially told her that she sucked/had no talent/would never make it. And instead of becoming completely discouraged, but also instead of it being "NO! MUST! FIGHT! FOT! DREAM!" they showed her trying to find alternative ways to stay close her to dream even if she couldn't be a designer, like trying her hand at fashion journalism or for a while sewing bags out of her home and selling them. She's also the only Lahnstein we ever saw being broke and having to waitress to earn money. So in a lot of ways she was the most down to earth of the Lahnsteins (which I thought Rebecca I actually went so well with Miriam).

So yeah, she had her good sides and I like that some traits are kept consistent. I think it even somewhat suits her. You still have for example her tendency to doubt herself sometimes and get discouraged, but you also see her fighting that tendency by lashing out. Which is I think a sensible development from the old Rebecca who would usually just give up completely and throw herself a pity party/storm out crying.

I do think that Tatjana is probably the much stronger actress. Jasmin was ok for her thing, but I don't think that she would have been good at portraying what Rebecca is currently.

I kinda see Rebecca I as being most influenced by having huge abandonment issues (because her parents "died" when she was young and all her identification figures were distant for one reason or another, the twins because they mostly cared about each other, Seb because he isn't the mosty emotional type/he himself was completely overwhelmed by having to take the caretaker role, Hagen because he literally abandoned her, and Adrian because he was, well, Adrian) and hence she latched onto everybody and took everything way too much to heart.

While I see Rebecca II as being more influenced by the fact that she's been burned by her family/the frequent hypocrisy in her family (and that that is essentially growing up from the old Rebecca).

I think that's why some people find nuRebecca a bit offputting because it was kinda one of the most pronounced characteristics of Rebecca I that she was such a softie. But I think from a character POV it makes sense that people who are such softies and who were taken advantage of for being softies (like Rebecca was in her exit story) try to overcompensate into the other direction. That said, I'm not really counting on VL to keep continuity over a recast, they usually never really do even in those cases where it is clear that the new actor is completely acting the scripts of the old actor => they still often have a completely different swagger like in the case of HagenI&II and SebastianI&II. For example Hagen I was a lot more emotional/tearful and Sebastian II was a lot more cool&snobbish. I think Hagen I would probably have way more emotional and heartbroken in either the "dumping Marlene" or in the current "baby trouble with Dana" story. And I don't think Seb I would ever have worked either being cheated on by Lydia and forgiving her or having a longterm love relationship with Tanja.

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BTW some more thoughts => I think the general agreement is that the Lahnsteins are kinda cold and uncaring dicks most of the time and I think the vibe was Rebecca I was like the only one who was tenderhearted enough to notice that and really be bothered by it/distraught over that (and that Rebecca II is Rebecca I who got disappointed by her family and decided to "run with the family program").

There was really cool scene during Marlene's marriage to Hagen where Marlene's younger sister Kim (who is half Lahnstein btw) ran away from home and Hagen and Marlene met up with Marlene's parents Thomas and Viktoria to spread flyers. And Hagen told her that the Wolf family are a real family and the Lahnsteins are just a accumulation of individualists. => and I think generally most of them are at peace with that. Ludwig doesn't notice because he has a very stilted definition of family anyway, Hagen and Sebastian dealt with it by seeking family elsewhere (Hagen with the Wolfs and Seb by creating his own family with wife and child and cherishing them), Tristan used to deal with it by lavishing all his attention on Helena.

Helena is an interesting case. She is also very nice and generally very sweet to people. But I don't think she ever had quite the same abandonment issues as Rebecca because she always had Tristan. And later when he came back she also had their father Ludwig because he favored her as the older and responsible one. Plus I think Helena is kinda a little princess as well who constantly has people wanting to take care of her. She kinda has the opposite problem that Rebecca had, Rebecca I was always searching for people to be around her (and in a sad way I wonder if Rebecca II is Rebecca I who has made peace with the idea that she's going to be alone when things are bad), while Helena mostly has to beat people (usually guys) off with a stick to leave her alone/to finally let her do something by herself. While Rebecca can go off and do things by herself and nobody will care too much/take too much notice. I think Helena is also a lot more proactive when it comes to comfort. She is used to *of course* having people who comfort her, so when she wants comfort, she will just take it (like waltz into Tristan or Ludwig's room to collect her hug). I think Helena also deals with things by only caring about her own relationships. Like she has a relationship with Tristan. She has a relationship with Sebastian. She has a relationship with Ludwig, but she generally does not care about whether Tristan/Sebastian or Sebastian/Ludwig get along as long as it doesn't threaten the overall family peace too much (in that way she's like Ludwig who (even though he can be affectionate with his children [usually Helena, Hagen and Rebecca I] often doesn't care when his children are fighting unless it starts affecting the family's business goals), while Rebecca I was more the type who wanted everybody to get along and love each other in her family.

(there is a scene where Rebecca I actually macks on/kisses Olli on the lips just because he hugged her and was nice to her => for Helena this kind of treatment is the norm, for Rebecca it's the total exception)

But yeah. I think because of this neediness Rebecca I and Marlene would never have worked (even though technically that means Rebecca I and Marlene at the beginning actually had a lot more in common [I kinda suspect that Marlene also kinda feels apart from her family too due to being the oldest]) because Rebecca was so needy herself. What Marlene does now would have seemed way more destructive on Rebecca I's psyche. => that's why I actually thought Rebecca I and Miriam were such a good match because Miriam was just such a sweet, easygoing and happy person. She was like the perfect foil for Rebecca I.

==> Rebecca II is much stronger. She can now cope/carry a great love like she and Marlene have in a way that Rebecca I wouldn't have been able to. But yeah, Rebecca dancing with Marlene's dress => very probably a total case of Rebecca I (or rather pre New York Rebecca) cheesy, dorky personality shining through.

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Is there a "season" for VL? I thought soaps went on continuously, but it looks like there will be a season-ending episode. If there is a season, when will they be back? I'm just preparing myself for a MarBecca break. And I thought the break during the Olympics was tough...

BTW, this is a great board.

There are no seasons that are discernable to the viewer, the show airs all year around. I think for them a new season might be:
1.) after their invisible summer break
2.) basically whenever the writers get together and make the next 1-year plans

As a viewer you can sometimes tell 2 when suddenly a lot of stories are ending/culminating around the same time and a lot of new storylines start/new characters arrive etc.

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Bloody hell Lola it made my head hurt reading your last few posts but they were informative all the same.

You mention Rebecca I/II, Hagen I/II and Sebastian I/II is recasting cast a recurring issue on VL? And are the reasons for it usually personal or do VL just tend to get fed up with the Originals?

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I think it used to be rare before the current slew (Marlene's sister Kim is also a recast as is another character, Daniel, you saw him as the father of the girl who had an internship with Rebecca and who screwed up by spilling juice on a dress).

=> it's I think usually
1.) Personal issues of the actors (it's not known for everybody, but Sebastian I apparently left very abruptly because he got cast in a crime show and he also took his fellow actor girlfriend with him, Jasmin/Rebecca I seemed to be pretty determined to leave and do other things, the first actress who played Kim apparently didn't find it to her liking and left after like 1-2 months)
2.) Characters coming back after many years (where the original actors might no longer be willing to come back, or might no longer be in shape after so many years or just too expensive) => Daniel, Jan and Julia are examples

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About them, ya know the woman that bought that girl to LCL (not too sure whether she's Daniel's wife/the girl's mum?) is she the one who sleeps with...I wanna say Hagen? (Hagen is Marlene's ex who is now married to Dana (?) <-- thinking out loud) Yeah, so basically does Hagen do the dirty on Dana with that woman? lol

Also about the spoilers, do VL always give away the big climax to big storylines in their spoilers? Or is the whole Marlene/Rebecca/Tristan storyline not classed as a big storyline? I was quite surprised the climax was in the latest spoilers. They'd never do that for our soaps, for the big storylines we'd have to wait and see...

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Yes the spoilers are always like that even for the biggest storylines. It usually very, very rare that they can successfully hide anything significant from the spoilers. => the spoilers just go so far ahead even if they tried to keep the spoilers for an episode vague you would always be able to guess what happened. I'm guessing it's due to the style of the tv magazines in Germany? Who apparently print rather detailed synopsis.

The blonde woman is Jessica. She used to work as a maid at the castle, used to be Tristan's evil sidekick (together they framed Helena's then boyfriend Andi for rape), she then became the assisstant the Lahnstein company, stole that daddy of the girl, Daniel (who is also the brother of Andi, btw), from Helena. She's kinda a bit of the town tramp in addition (for example she presumably had a drunken threesome with Christian and Andi who both were in a relationship, she has repeatedly slept with Ansgar even though he grosses her out), but that guy, Daniel is her first real relationship. And yes, Hagen cheats on Dana with Jessica (in addition Dana and Jessica are actually flatmates and used to be kinda friends) in a one off drunk one night stand because they are both having the relationship blues. ===> general assumption is that this is so Jessica will get pregnant since the story of Dana and Hagen has been them dealing with the fact that they can't have children. [based on the spoilers that might show up in the new few videos of Mittag soon where Marlene apparently gives support in that storyline/listens to Dana's woes about not being able to have children]

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That is so effed up about Jessica, I fricken love it! lol I so need to start watching the whole episodes!

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Jessica is a fairly controversial character because;
1,) she get a lot of airtime. A while ago there was a time when people saw her as having essentially three different storylines at the same time, getting involved in the Dana/Hagen stuff, dealing with her boyfriend's daughter who loathes her, and befriending Arno the guy who is dying.
2.) some people are still very upset that she got to stay on the show at all after the story about framing Helena's boyfriend Andi for rape and then again after she slept with Andi/Christian and even made friends with some characters like Olli after that.
3.) and before, even before she did anything, the actress who plays her is romantically involved with the actor who plays Christian and they are very public about their relationship (which for example got the goat of some of the Christian/Olli fans that he would "flaunt" his hetero side like that or generally of people who don't really like very public celebrity relationships)

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Jessica reminds me a bit of Mercedes from Hollyoaks (her being a bitch and the village bike and all). So I can see why she would get a lot of hate but people hating off her/Christian being a couple in rl is pretty daft to me. Like seriously, who gives a frick if they flaunt their relationship. I would never hate off a straight character flaunting their rl gay relationship. Hope there aren't any Christian/Olli fans reading this! lol

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I think it was mostly in the beginning. I get the impression by now most fans are pretty cool with her. You just sometimes still have people who get upset when their two characters also share scenes. But I think the fact that there were upset fans in the beginning aided in her getting a scandalous reputation before her character also became controversial. She was pretty bad and trampy in her original storyline, but that was pretty "normal" for being a villain/semi-villain the complaints gained when they kept her around after her initial villain story was over, again with discussions whether she was just kept on because of her dating Christian in real life. => personally I think it's bull. It seems pretty obvious to me that 1.) the authors obviously get a kick out of writing Jessica and her hijinks and 2.) I really don't buy that the Christian actor has that much clout that they would keep somebody around just to keep him happy. I mean if he had that much clout it surely didn't reflect on the amount of screentime and quality storylines Christian and Olli have been getting.

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so if jessica isn't the most popular character on VL and if people still kinda hate on her, how come she gets to have her own video blog and stuff like that?

also would you be so kind as to explain to me a bit about dana's baby story and why everyone is now hating her because of it? i really like this character but it seems nobody really cares about her


thank you... as always.

Most people who hate her wonder about that too Personally I think the writers just love writing for her because they can do all sorts of crazy humorous shit with her. Like that vlog where she tries to reenact her own one person Lahnstein musical. I think for a writer she's just very versatile as a character. They can her use her for "Haha, Jessica is so stupid humor", they can use her to trash talk other characters/make fun of other storylines, they can have her be mean and spiteful, they can have her be sexy and slutty, they can have her be sweet and vulnerable and they can have her be romantic and in love. I think for a writer that is just way more fun to write than a more limited soap heroine nice girl archetype like Helena. Only that with Jessica it has been done to such an extent that it's giving a lot of people whiplash.



I think quite a lot of people sorta like Dana but don't care too much about Dana/Hagen or only like them when they are getting very low key/close to real life problems stories. Then the writers started this baby storylines and imo are making her kinda intentionally shrill in this

I think the dislike mostly comes from three levels:
1.) I think it's just really hard to understand for a lot of viewers why Dana even wants a child/why she's suddenly so desperate. She was kinda introduced as this cool down to earth chick who loved horses and just wanted a great career as a jockey. And then she suddenly decided she wanted a child. And right now. And it can only be by Hagen. Like, they only got married like 2 months ago or so. And she just found out that she can't have children and like 2 weeks later she's suggesting to Hagen that maybe they should break up because they could never be happy without biological children and is totally deaf to any reasonable argument Hagen makes like ("I'm happy just with you" or "Let's wait for a while" or "Let's adopt").
2.) She's constantly overruling Hagen and ignoring his wishes (like that he's very against the surrogacy idea that she's pushing right now and at the very least wants them to take it much slower) => I think that's the part where the authors actually want us to feel sorry for Hagen, but I think that's actually the point people care least about. It's more like "Dana is acting crazy" rather than "Dana is mean to poor Hagen"
3.) Surrogacy is actually illegal in Germany something that Dana blatantly ignores in her quest for a child (including some really yucky anti adoption statements) and some people have some pretty strong feelings on the subject and kinda view it as Dana wanting to buy or steal a child.

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