In thinking about Carol's impending decision regarding Doug and the babies, I was reminded of the episode (Of Past Regret and Future Fear) when Carol is treating a guy who has chemical burns and is dying. He has a little girl who he is estranged from and Carol gets involved with trying to locate his ex-wife so the daughter can see her father before he dies. The ex-wife was very hurt and bitter and refused, so Carol took down a final letter from the father to his daughter where he apologizes and tries to make things right and tells her he's sorry he never knew her. After he died, she and Doug had a tender scene where she told him that she wondered about the true circumstances of her own father's death and whether he asked for her in the end. She speculated that he may have committed suicide and felt that her mother may have also kept these things about her father from her. Carol was still struggling with the reprecussions in her trust issues with Doug. In light of Carol's experience and feelings, it just seems so implausible that she would deprive her own daughters of their father.

-- Christy (christy.steele@mindspring.com), April 17, 2000

Answers

Beware, Spoilers lie below:

Before "Match Made In Heaven," the episode "Of Past Regret and Future Fear" was always screaming from the back of my mind: "THEY WOULDN'T DO THIS!!" Well, now we know that Doug HAS been seeing his daughters -- in-character for both of them.

"OPRAFF", however, also shows us Carol's remaining insecurities regarding her relationship with Doug, insecurities that still persist and influence her judgements and decisions. They need to have another heart-to-heart, or he needs to return and announce that he refuses to leave without Carol -- say AND do something to tell and show Carol that he loves her without a doubt and assure her he'll never leave her again. She's been hurt deeply by him twice and will, naturally, be hesitant to put herself and her daughters in danger of that again.

-- Arianne (CarolRossSusanGreene@yahoo.com), April 17, 2000.

It may be that Carol is struggling with thoughts along the lines of... "If he's not a huge part of the girls' lives, then he can't let them down". Maybe the loss of her father was hard to take because they were close...if the girls don't get close to Doug they won't ever have to feel that sense of loss. It's all pretty sticky, because the writers just aren't giving us enough to go on.

-- nancy (ntc72@mailcity.com), April 18, 2000.

I think you're right, Nancy. Carol wants to be with Doug and yet she's afraid at the same time -- understandable given her past with her father and what's conspired between D&C over the years.

-- Arianne (CarolRossSusanGreene@yahoo.com), April 18, 2000.

There's also the fear of moving away from the place she's lived for most, if not all of her life, and the job she's had for most of her adult life.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), April 18, 2000.