Best Long-Lost Child Ever Introduced (Opinion)

[GuidingLite]

Over the years Guiding Light made liberal use of the 'long-lost child' soap staple.....I've picked out a few wondering who people think was the best....had the most impact on the town, or on their biological parents....and who people think was the worst...made little sense, changed little about the fabric of the show, etc.

Amanda Spaulding - first revealed to be Alan's long-lost, then revised to be Brandon Spaulding's daughter after all, and therefore Alan's sister

Dinah Marler - the long lost of Ross and Vanessa, born before either came to Springfield

Dylan Lewis - the long lost of Reva and Billy - first introduced as Harley's baby-daddy....

Jonathan Randall - the baby Reva had with Richard Winslow while an amnesiac living in San Cristobel

Ava Peralta - the long-lost of Olivia Spencer and Jeffrey O'Neill

Gus Aitoro - the long-lost of Alan Spaulding and a former nanny of Philip's turned nun

Cyrus Foley - the long-lost of Jenna Bradshaw and some unnamed man.....

[LoveStories]

Jonathan, Ava, Dinah

[SquealBeale]

Jonathan by a country mile. Ava would be much better if played by a different actress.

[GuidingLite]

I despised Ava from day one.....making her Olivia and Jeffrey's daughter didn't help. In so many cases bringing on a long-lost child seemed completely logical from a history standpoint - Dylan, Dinah, Gus (since Alan was such a player of women), Jonathan....all of them made sense. Ava, though, was such a contrived story from the start....I was glad when she left town.

[SquealBeale]

In my opinion, making Ava Jeffrey’s daughter was the only thing that felt contrived. When you look at Olivia and her characterization and failed relationships, too me it’s very plausible that Olivia had a secret child out there.

[SquealBeale]

Making Cyrus a secret child of Jenna should've been revealed when Coop was alive, not when the show was in its last days.

[LoveStories]

Oh, I forgot to mention Sebastian Hulce, Roger Thorpe’s long-lost son. I didn’t get into the storyline too much but the actor was mesmerizing to watch and listen to, imo.

He reminded me quite a lot of Roger and also, albeit a bit unnervingly, the great Michael Zaslow.

I just wish that the story had been better. It was all over the place and one huge morass as I recall.

[supersage]

Amanda, Dylan, Dinah.

Hart Jessup.

[GuidingLite]

I didn't put Hart on the list, but he definitely was one of the best long-lost child introductions. I suppose I could have included Cassie, too, as she was the long-lost of Sarah Shayne. I think it's too bad that the show never really dug into who her father was, nor ever gave her any siblings of her adoptive parents. I also wish that Annie had actually turned out to be Reva's half-sister, not Cassie.

[supersage]

*whispers* never was a fan of Cassie.....

Actually, it sounded for a while that Alan was going to be Cassie's father. I remember reading something that was where they initially wanted to go. I felt they did Annie AND Cassie a huge disservice by not fleshing either one of them out. I still miss this show.

[soapguy64]

The revelation of Amanda's parentage by Jennifer Richard in court:

The actual episode is on YouTube if anyone wants to take a look

Hart being Roger's son is second.