Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone

Maggie (seated) and Bianca (standing).

Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama All My Children. Bianca Montgomery is portrayed by Eden Riegel and Maggie Stone is portrayed by Elizabeth Hendrickson. Hendrickson was originally brought on as the character Frankie Stone; the storyline revolved around the close relationship of Bianca and Frankie, as well as the aftermath of Frankie's death. When her death attracted criticism, writer Richard Culliton decided to bring the actress back as the character's identical twin sister, Maggie Stone. Maggie debuted on the show in 2002, to investigate her sister's murder, and was immediately thereafter set up to bond with Agnes Nixon's 1988 creation, Bianca Montgomery.

The two characters became the center of a much campaigned for on-again/off-again romantic flirtation (and later romance) that spanned four years. The pairing was designed to have many ups and downs, with the underlying concept being each others' star-crossed true loves. Despite the couple taking three and a half years to make their romance official, they managed to constantly intrigue not only the All My Children audience, but soap opera critics and LGBT magazines and websites such as The Advocate and AfterEllen.com, ultimately becoming the most demanded homosexual pairing in American daytime soap opera history.

Background

Writing

All My Children head writer at the time, Richard Culliton, stated that he had always intended for his character creation Frankie Stone to die in a murder storyline. She was to only exist for three months. However, what Culliton or any ABC executive did not expect was fan reaction being positive in notable numbers for the love story of characters Bianca Montgomery and Frankie Stone, a storyline Culliton developed with Frankie's debut. When Frankie was killed, there was concern that the show was afraid to focus on a lesbian romance. Eventually, Culliton came up with the idea to bring the popular actress, who had portrayed Frankie, Elizabeth Hendrickson, back as the character's identical twin sister. He continued to write for the show until late 2002.

Brian Frons, who began his career at CBS and moved to NBC, where he became head of NBC Daytime at age 26, carried one specific ideal concerning soap operas with him: It is important for soaps to get real. Frons felt that soap opera clichés were well-known by viewers. He further relayed that real life is unpredictable. Having once worked with SBS Broadcasting for six years in England, when he returned to the U.S., he brought a different perspective as to his feelings on soap opera characters, stating, "I understood that people were watching authentic people in reality shows and believed people wanted soap characters to become more real."

As head of ABC Daytime, in 2002, with Jean Dadario Burke as executive producer, Frons had ABC begin adding more depth to All My Children's Bianca Montgomery, the lesbian daughter of Susan Lucci's Erica Kane, as originally scripted by Agnes Nixon. Feeling that Bianca was defined only by her sexuality, they began writing her character "to become everywoman, to make her more real and to understand what makes her good or bad." When it came to Bianca's best friend, Maggie Stone, while initially being uncertain whether to romantically pair Maggie with Bianca, the writers of All My Children later outlined the character to have trouble in admitting to being gay. Such plot points included Maggie dating male characters to avoid her romantic feelings for Bianca. And Bianca was given a lesbian love interest as to complicate matters further. At the time, in an interview to New York Post, Frons stated that he considered the Bianca-Lena Kundera pairing "much bolder" television than romantically pairing Bianca with "longtime" galpal Maggie. Unsure about whether pairing Maggie with a man romantically would be successful, he was quoted as saying, "Maybe it will turn out we made a mistake. Maybe it will be decided that Maggie has no chemistry with Henry because she is a lesbian and wasn't ready to deal with it."

When choosing Bianca's love interests, the audience often seemed to have more say in it than Frons himself. Before Maggie's relationship with character Henry Chin came to an end, viewers refused to give their romance a chance, adamant that the only true love for Maggie Stone had to be Bianca Montgomery. Ivan Shaw, Henry's then-portrayer, stated, "I have definitely felt the heat from all of the Bianca and Maggie fans, but hope that the Henry and Maggie relationship will eventually win them over."

Viewers did not, however, let up in their feeling that Henry was not the right love for Maggie, and Henry left town. Soon thereafter, Maggie was seen questioning her sexual orientation, eventually realizing her romantic feeling's for Bianca.

Her [[Coming out|coming-out] process was designed as going from denial, to confusion, to acceptance of her sexuality — realistically portraying what a lot of lesbian and bisexual women experience. Maggie's journey into her sexuality was what All My Children viewers never truly saw with Bianca, since Bianca had already accepted her sexuality when she returned to Pine Valley after a long absence.

Early scenes between Bianca and Maggie revolved around Bianca romantically desiring Maggie, and as time went on, Lena and Maggie glaring at each other while Bianca would discuss her baby or her mother, seemingly unaware of Maggie's newly developed romantic feelings for her. By the time Megan McTavish had stepped in as All My Children head writer with Julie Hanan Carruthers as executive producer, McTavish explained that Maggie's involvement with character, Jonathan Lavery, was as much a result of her feeling rejected by Bianca as anything else. After the Lena/Bianca/Maggie ordeal, a love triangle that viewers never did warm up to, a story arc was written with a real sense of direction toward a Jonathan/Maggie/Bianca love triangle, though very slow at times and not really a praised love triangle either.

However, with fan response cited as resonating astoundingly loud for a Bianca and Maggie romance, Frons felt that Bianca and Maggie had become the supercouple of daytime during their flirtatious reign on All My Children. In having added more drama to Bianca and Maggie's relationship by involving Maggie with an abusive boyfriend and having Bianca save her from that relationship, along with all the other aspects of Bianca and Maggie's complicated dynamic, Frons noted, "It was very real and had not been done in daytime [television] before."

Actresses' approach to the characters and couple

Actress Elizabeth Hendrickson had not planned on ever being on a soap opera. In fact, she felt that the soap opera medium would not be challenging enough for her as an actress. However, after a few years of struggling to acquire a steady acting job, she decided to give the daytime genre a chance and agreed to a contract role with the show All My Children. Within her first day on the series, she realized how challenging it very well could be.

Coincidentally, one year before Hendrickson signed on, Eden Riegel had also displayed apprehension about joining a soap opera, confessing that she was elitist. Her thought-process at the time of being offered the role of Bianca Montgomery was that she could not possibly appear on a soap opera, as she had previously been more about performing on Broadway when it came to acting. But after her parents urged her to take the role of Bianca, she eventually did.

Two years later, in 2002, a little after the death of lesbian character Frankie Stone and All My Children introduced the character's twin sister, Maggie, the show soon embarked on a will-they-won't-they storyline between characters Maggie and other resident Pine Valley lesbian, Bianca (Frankie's girlfriend, before Frankie was murdered), although at first hesitant on having Frankie Stone's twin sister be a lesbian as well.

Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson were noted by viewers as having immediate on-screen chemistry together. Magazine Soap Opera Digest wanted to know the key to their working dynamic. The two women, though both heterosexual in real life, stated that they "just clicked", that they made/make each other laugh and really cannot help but like each other.

When later queried on the matter of the significant viewer demand for a romance between Bianca and Maggie, the two were more than upfront about their desire for gay and or lesbian representation in the form of love stories on television, with Riegel stating first:

I think Liz will agree that it would be an amazing storyline. It would be an important storyline. Every single day, I meet a fan who has been spoken to personally by what they see on the screen. I realize what an incredible opportunity we have to show a real love between two women that really speaks to people and can promote tolerance and respect.

Hendrickson followed up Riegel's response with, "That's one of the reasons that I took the role of Frankie. They didn't necessarily say that Frankie was going to be a lesbian, but they alluded to the fact that she could be. I felt that I could make an impact, and what better way to choose a role? I am more than willing to go that way."

Riegel and Hendrickson also commented on how their roles as Bianca and Maggie affected them, with Riegel citing that her meeting the fans has shown that she's actually impacted their lives, and that when their fans eagerly address them about the Bianca and Maggie storyline, it makes them care about these two characters even more; it is not just a job to them.

Music

Music within the Bianca and Maggie relationship is brought together by a mixture of soft rock, indie, pop and the show's own original melodies. Romantic and or otherwise powerful undertones are always present within these scenes. In a less hectic time for the characters, an original song titled "All I Ever Wanted Was You" was played during a scene where Bianca and Maggie discussed their feelings for each other, but decided to remain best friends.

In a more difficult instance, on July 8 2003, during a pivotal scene in which Bianca is raped, Tori Amos's version of "I'm Not In Love" was featured prominently on the show. The following day, the show broadcast a RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) PSA after the program. In response to the rape storyline of Bianca, fans of the Bianca and Maggie relationship organized a charity auction on eBay that ran throughout the month of July 2003 with all proceeds having gone to RAINN.

Original and featured music on the show All My Children was followed through by composers A.J. Gundell, Gary Kuo, Kim Oler and Jerry Pilato, and in 2004, they were nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement In Music Direction And Composition For A Drama Series.

Storyline

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Bianca and Maggie first meet.

Maggie Stone comes to Pine Valley to investigate the murder of her twin sister, Frankie, whom Bianca mistakes her for at first sight. Maggie explains who she is, but Bianca is too happy to see Frankie’s face, that Maggie’s words are not immediately understood. They both meet later, where the two discuss Frankie in further detail. Maggie reconnects with her family, Vanessa Cortlandt and Leo du Pres, whom she barely knows. Bianca bonds with Maggie, who becomes angry when a drunken Bianca attempts to caress Maggie’s face. Maggie asserts that she is not a lesbian, unlike her sister. Bianca and Maggie reconcile, and decide to work together to find Frankie’s killer. After discovering Frankie was killed by her Aunt Vanessa’s henchman, Maggie confronts Vanessa. Maggie is drugged and left to die in an abandoned pump house, but she is rescued by David Hayward and Leo.

As the storyline progresses, Maggie begins to care for her family, but her bond with Bianca grows even stronger. The two develop a stronger friendship after Maggie assists Bianca in confronting some high school bullies. Bianca develops fears that she is using Maggie as a replacement to Frankie, and the sexual tension between the two pushes Maggie to Tim Dillon, whom she dates for a brief time. Bianca provides comfort for Maggie when Leo is killed, and decides to confront Maggie about her feelings. Maggie admits that she loves Bianca, but asserts that she is "into guys", and apologizes for not being able to be the woman Bianca wants her to be. Bianca begins dating Lena Kundera, and becomes oblivious to Maggie’s signs of jealousy. Maggie enrolls at Pine Valley University, and develops a relationship with a guy named Henry Chin. Despite the tension caused by Henry’s traditional Chinese family, who see Maggie as a distraction, it is Henry’s cheating on a test that causes their relationship to end.

In 2003, summer, Bianca is raped by Michael Cambias; Maggie comforts her during the aftermath, but Bianca keeps the event a secret to everyone else. She attributes her change in attitude to her ended relationship with Lena, and soon learns that she is pregnant. Maggie tries to persuade her to go to the police. Bianca convinces Maggie not to talk to the police, and decides that she will keep the baby. Fearing her mother will resent her baby, if she knows the truth about the conception, Bianca decides to leave town to give birth to the baby, and inform everyone on her return that she adopted.

File:Maggie and Bianca (D).jpg

Maggie stuns both Bianca and herself when she turns to kiss Bianca.

Over time, Maggie begins to show more signs that she desires Bianca, making excuses to distance herself from Bianca after making flattering remarks about her appearance. Bianca announces to Maggie that she plans to move to Paris, so that she can give birth without her mother finding out, which causes Maggie to become emotional. Maggie confuses herself and Bianca when she kisses Bianca. Embarrassed, Maggie abruptly leaves the apartment and later tells Bianca the kiss meant nothing. Soon after their kiss, Maggie begins dating Jamie Martin, as Bianca rekindles her relationship with Lena. Not long after, Lena leaves town and Bianca is told that the baby she just gave birth to is dead. Maggie becomes even more of a support line for Bianca, and eventually professes her love to Bianca, feeling this is her "coming out" moment. Bianca informs her that she does not want to begin a relationship, because she is still in love with Lena, and she does not want Maggie regretting her decision later. Hurt by Bianca’s rejection, Maggie distances herself from Bianca and begins dating Jonathan Lavery.

Maggie’s relationship with Jonathan becomes abusive, when Jonathan believes Maggie is secretly in love with Bianca. Jonathan intentionally tries to isolate Maggie from Bianca by proposing marriage. Maggie agrees, but Jonathan’s jealousy turns physical against Maggie. Bianca becomes concerned with Maggie’s relationship, visiting Jonathan and Maggie’s home, where she confesses that she has fallen in love with Maggie.

I think I was wrong. You're not just a friend to me... I think -- I think I've fallen in love with you.

--Bianca Montgomery to Maggie Stone

Initially rejecting Bianca’s love, Maggie learns the truth about Jonathan's abusive past with his previous girlfriend and dumps him. Free from Jonathan, Bianca and Maggie decide to move to Paris with Bianca’s newly-discovered-alive daughter, Miranda Montgomery.

When Bianca returns for a visit to Pine Valley, she tells everyone that she and Maggie are an official couple in Paris. She returns again near Thanksgiving in 2006. She brings her daughter, Miranda, and informs everyone that Maggie allegedly had an affair with another woman. Maggie shows up on Bianca's doorstep wanting to renew their romance. Bianca does not want to resume their relationship, and Maggie has a confrontation with Zoe, someone who wants to develop a romance with Bianca. Zoe is a transgender rockstar, biologically male, but identifying herself as a lesbian woman. Maggie cautions her not to hurt Bianca, and later says goodbye to Bianca. Bianca informs her there is still a chance that they may once again be together.

Cultural impact

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Maggie and Bianca on the cover of Soaps In Depth

Being one of the few or only lesbian romances on television, let alone on daytime, Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone's romance gave lesbian viewers a reflection of themselves, whether closeted or out and proud, and thus inspired other lesbian and or gay individuals to admit to their sexuality. Having been well appreciated by heterosexual fans as well, Bianca and Maggie's romance touched on more than just the expected:

When actress Eden Riegel was selected for the role of 16-year-old Bianca on the show All My Children, it was not long before Bianca became the first long-standing character on a soap opera to come out as gay or lesbian.

All My Children was constantly nominated thereafter by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for its "fair, accurate, and inclusive portrayal" of a lesbian teenager and her mother's process of coming to terms with her daughter's homosexuality.

But Bianca's awful habit of falling romantically for straight women could easily be noted as well, thus keeping her from having an on-screen girlfriend. GLAAD Director of Communications, John Sonego, contends that "Many young, newly out lesbians fall for a close friend, only to discover the friend is straight" and that on television "Unrequited love...and heartbreak are what keep the viewers tuning in - and learning."

With the writing on All My Children, however, this unrequited love angle kept happening to Bianca, especially when she then deeply fell in love with Maggie Stone, who would constantly assert her heterosexuality.

BAM

While GLAAD was pleased with Bianca's lesbian storyline, as demonstrated with their choosing the Bianca Montgomery character as their first gay character to receive the Favorite Out Image of the year Award, two years of no on-screen romance had BAM ("Bianca and Maggie") fans enraged. BAM fans set their sights on the writers and executive producers of the show All My Children in an effort to have them develop a romantic relationship between the two characters. The fans campaigned relentlessly and were pretty vocal, getting their intent across to the All My Children writers and execs. It seemed to work as top soap opera magazines constantly commented on the rabid fan support for the Bianca and Maggie relationship. Bianca and Maggie were even voted as "Best Non-Couple" of the year in Soap Opera Digest's December 31 issue.

All My Children holding off on pairing the two potential lovers only made fans cheer for them even more. Their deep discussions and the heated stares they would give each other drew in viewers just as much as any provactive love scene between a heterosexual couple would. Mail bags overflowed with support for Bianca and Maggie, and at some point, the show couldn't ignore it anymore.

With BAM supporters taking their campaign up to the next level, such as in February 2003, with letters, videos, t-shirts, and roses to All My Children, they proved to be a force to reckon with, gaining a great deal of attention from most soap opera magazines.

Caving in

The fan support for the much anticipated Bianca and Maggie romance was thought of as intense by the soap opera media. Award-winning LGBT news site Advocate.com (under the same name as its magazine The Advocate) noticed, stating, "Ironically, the move to provide Bianca with a girlfriend might disappoint the fans who've been cheering the most for it. When our lesbian protagonist finally gets her groove on, it won't be with Maggie, who flirted with Bianca for months. That potential pairing spawned a devoted fan club, BAM! (an acronym of the characters' initials), who lobbied the network in really inventive ways, even mailing Bianca-and-Maggie valentines. But the object of Bianca's affection will instead be the mysterious bisexual Lena (played by Olga Sosnovska), a newcomer to the fictional town of Pine Valley."

Jean Dadario Burke, the show's executive producer at the time, was noted as saying, "There was wonderful chemistry with Bianca and Maggie." But Brian Frons, head of ABC Daytime at this point, gave thoughts as to somewhat base his reasoning for not going through with the Bianca and Maggie romance when most screams for it could be heard the loudest:

Rather than trust that momentum, 'cowardly network people that we are, we did some research.' After polling 1,500 soap fans about Bianca's love life, the network found that many viewers wanted Bianca to have a romance — with someone else.

Maggie's sexuality

The assessment made by Frons did not entirely seem to add up when the Bianca and Maggie fanbase kept growing bigger and bigger, unprecedented in American daytime soap history for a homosexual pairing, and were being more and more vocal about what they wanted. The main reasoning that fans in the poll Frons alluded to on the matter may have wanted to see Bianca with another woman was likely due to Maggie's ambiguous nature during her early relationship with Bianca, to where fans had to wonder on more than one occasion whether or not Maggie was gay, naturally causing some to feel that she may not be right for Bianca romantically after all and spun into heated debate over whether Maggie or Lena was better romantically suited for Bianca. Elizabeth Hendrickson weighed in on her character's perplexing mixed signals when stating that she may or may not be gay: "There's a huge question mark hanging over her head, isn't there? But I think that almost any woman at that age [has one]. I think every woman and every man, at some point at their life... It's only natural to think twice about your sexual orientation."

Just as noteworthy is that Maggie's sexual identity managed to perplex the soap opera media as well, who usually have a good grasp on the psyche of soap opera characters. But in this case, their confusion led to even Soaps In Depth putting Bianca and Maggie on the cover of an October issue detailing November storylines with the caption "Together At Last!", though the actual article did not document an opportunity of a romantic relationship between the two.

Chemistry and media fascination

Bianca and Maggie's romantic chemistry has been praised quite often by critics, who deemed themselves fans as well. The press displayed feelings of being cheated out of opportunities to see Bianca and Maggie's chemistry play to its fullest as much as the average audience did.

TV Guide soap columnist Michael Logan dubbed the non-relationship as "Rip-Off of the Year" in his January 4 2003 roundup of "The Worst of 2002", simply stating:

AMC teased and titillated us mercilessly with the flirtatious sparks between openly gay Bianca (Eden Riegel) and her buddy Maggie (Elizabeth Hendrickson), but the show-once famous for its boldness-didn't have the guts to put them in a real romance, even though the fans are begging for it. C'mon, AMC! These two have more chemistry than any boy-girl duo in soaps!

Later, Bianca and Maggie's first kiss on All My Children was ranked as number four on TV Guide's list of the best same-sex kisses on television.

Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com, an online magazine, with content updated each weekday, expressed her thoughts about the never-ending sexual tension between Bianca and Maggie as well, detailing, "Bianca hasn't seen any action at all, partly because she mostly manages to fall for straight or unavailable women, including her close friend Maggie. The two characters have exchanged intimate gazes and frolicked provocatively in countless scenes, the tension becoming so unbearable that frustrated fans formed BAM."

Riegel and Hendrickson were asked by Soap Opera Digest what they thought accounted for their on-screen chemistry. While Riegel replied that "chemistry can't be faked, and when two people like each other, there's an energy between them that's undeniable", Hendrickson stated, "When I started, my friends were telling me what great chemistry we had, and I didn't notice it. But now that I've worked with probably half the cast, I realize what amazing chemistry we have together. I'll have to work with men and really, I'm heterosexual, but I have more chemistry with her! I'm trying to have romances with boys, but I don't know, I just feel it with her!"

On June 13 2004, New York Daily News (the sixth largest daily newspaper in the United States), was added as another aspect of the media taking interest in the love story of Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone, when they reported the week in which Maggie would finally, face-to-face, reveal being in love with Bianca to Bianca herself, just as all soap opera magazines revealed.

It's the moment BAM fans have been waiting for on All My Children, but thought would never come: Maggie finally 'fesses up to Bianca about her true feelings for her "best friend".

— Soap Opera Digest

Hendrickson was one of the ones most excited about the event as, when first informed of her character's reveal, she exulted, "It's about time!" Hendrickson could not believe her eyes when she read the script: "When I read the scene where Maggie tells Bianca she loves her, I was sure that the next day, Maggie would backpedal like she always does, like, 'I meant, "I love you as a friend."' I was so excited to get the next script and find out that she doesn't backpedal. She's honest, forward and open about her feelings. It took her two-and-a-half years, but she does it!"

Despite Maggie confessing her feelings to Bianca, Bianca would be the one to turn down their chance this time, expressing that her heart, in the romantic sense, belonged to Lena.

Merchandising

SOAPnet BAM ID bracelet

In November 1 2004, SOAPnet, described as the new way to watch soaps, launched shopsoapnet.com. An on-line shopping boutique which offers customers SOAPnet-themed items, including products from its original programs "I Wanna Be A Soap Star" and "Soap Talk" as well as exclusive SOAPnet-brand merchandise. SOAPnet stated that they are always looking for unique ways to put a new twist on a long-loved genre. One aspect of their marketing was to make popular soap opera couples a part of the equation. With Bianca and Maggie's notable visibility as being one of the more longed for couples, the following was stated:

Additionally, soap fans have a history of supporting character couples and giving their favorite couples nicknames that combine the letters of the characters' names. For example, fans of a Nikolas and Emily pairing on General Hospital refer to the couple as 'NEM.' Shopsoapnet.com will honor this tradition by offering limited edition bracelets engraved with a few of these popular couple names including NEM and BAM. BAM honors a Bianca and Maggie pairing on All My Children.

The Bianca and Maggie (BAM) ID bracelet originally went on sale for $14.95, as seen in the ABC TV Store with the advertisement of the couple's star-crossed predicament:

BAM bracelet — All My Children’s Bianca and Maggie (BAM) may not be a soap super couple...YET! That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show your support for the intriguing duo that can’t quite seem to get together (it’s like they’re distracted or something) with this stylish brushed-pewter/nickel plated ID emblem featuring engraved lettering, a 6 ¾" velvet strap in forest green and adjustable chain strap. Limited edition.

When the two left

Sarah Warn of AfterEllen.com, a website that focuses on the portrayal of lesbians and bisexual women in the media, had previously commented on All My Children taking a step back in giving Bianca a romance. Addressed was Bianca's pregnancy with Miranda, Warn feeling that "since it almost assures Bianca's continued asexuality in the near future, the pregnant-lesbian storyline is a favorite refuge for TV writers who both want to avoid dealing with the sexual aspects of lesbian relationships and who want to 'normalize' the lesbian characters — to show viewers that, at their core, lesbians are just like heterosexual women." With sarcasm thick, Warn further added, "Who of course, all want to be mothers."

When actresses Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson left their roles of Bianca and Maggie together in 2005, with their characters being written out as possible lovers, Warn's tone remained bitter, citing Bianca and Maggie's progression toward romance only after leaving television screens. There was good to weigh in on as well, detail concerning the duo's impact. The article was titled "The End of a Lesbian Era on All My Children." First initiated was a farewell to the pairing: "Today, as All My Children airs its final episode with actresses Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson (who have left the series to try their luck elsewhere), we say goodbye to one of American television's longer-running lesbian storylines — a storyline which has alternately entranced, infuriated, delighted and frustrated viewers over the last four and a half years." As to Bianca and Maggie's star-crossed dynamic, a point was brought up that "while stringing out romantic storylines for maximum drama is appropriate and even expected in daytime television, it is also expected that, eventually, star-crossed couples do get together."

Return

In early 2007, BAM fans were hit with the stunning news that Maggie cheated on Bianca. Bianca fleed back to Pine Valley, and Maggie soon followed to plead for her forgiveness. Viewers felt that it was completely out of character for Maggie to cheat on Bianca, the one woman she had longed for in what seemed like forever. Viewers were not the only ones upset. Soap Opera Weekly magazine's January 23 2007 issue quoted Elizabeth Hendrickson as saying that she found out that Maggie cheated on Bianca by watching the show (since her character of Maggie had not returned to Pine Valley at that time): "I was screaming and yelling at the TV. I was very upset. It was a huge shock to me."

Although, there was something Hendrickson was pleased about with the storyline of Maggie returning to chase after Bianca — Maggie's sexuality. It was more than apparent that Maggie had now come to terms with being a lesbian, and while upset that Maggie cheated on Bianca, Hendrickson was more than thrilled that Maggie had cheated on Bianca with a woman, confessing that she had always felt that Maggie was leaning more toward the women than the men, and that she is glad that the writers made a decision about Maggie's sexuality.

Maggie being complete in her sexuality with Bianca was something that viewers had wanted for years, but this new side to Maggie was tainted with the storyline of her unfaithfulness, the other new side viewers could not grasp.

Another element agitating the audience during and after Maggie's return was Bianca's romantic attraction to transgender Zarf/Zoe. Viewers felt that it was a clear and underhanded way for the show to romantically pair Bianca with a man while getting around that reality.

Victoria A. Brownworth of the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter, Inc., a free weekly newspaper serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) communities, found the storyline to be what she cited as a mess. Brownworth felt that it had an unhealthy angle to it, and made several comments voicing her and her publication's detest toward the romance, making sure to add a little about the brief Maggie/Bianca/Zoe love triangle that took place:{{cquote2|On January 15th Maggie, Bianca’s not-so-ex ex comes back to Pine Valley. And there was Bianca on New Year’s Eve, after she fled from Zarf/Zoe, with old pal Leslie (really, the writers actually named the only other lesbian Leslie), who is clearly still ready to take a tumble with Bianca. So there are some actual lesbian lesbians available for Binx. Zarf/Zoe can develop her transgendered lesbian self with someone else, post surgery and hormones.|personquoted=Victoria A. Brownworth

Maggie eventually returned to Paris at Bianca's request, but with a hint that maybe they will be together again.

Criticism

Though the romance received a great deal of positive criticism from gay, lesbian, and soap opera media, as well as average soap opera viewers, there was a part of the audience that saw it as detrimental to both characters, citing that it reinforced the notion that straight women can be "converted" by lesbians, and or that lesbians and straight women cannot be friends without sex becoming an issue between them.

Particularly, the topic of what message All My Children was sending with this storyline was brought into question. Was it a storyline about two women in a platonic relationship with each other, where one woman within the relationship fights the fact that she is gay and ends up with the woman she romantically desires, despite such a fight? Or was it about two women in a platonic relationship with each other, where the lesbian in the relationship waits long enough and the straight woman she romantically desires eventually becomes hers? The need viewers had for the show to tell this storyline, a controversial one, responsibly was there. Plenty of lesbian women, while watching Bianca and Maggie's dilemma, remembered how, in their own lives, they lost friendships, were subjected to acts of violence, and family estrangement because of the false belief that all gay/lesbian people are out to "turn" straight people to "their side" and are malicious in trying.

There were a number of message board postings from people who were scared or angered by the possibility of a Bianca and Maggie romance due to the fact that it caused bad memories in significant detail to resurface for them in real-life. It was addressed that it had not been that long for some gays and lesbians that "they could walk out of a bar after a night of fun and dancing and not worry about who was watching them leave."

Sentiment was expressed by Laura N. Cook of The Advocate that "despite assurances to the contrary, the show used Bianca's rape to marginalize Bianca's lover, Lena, and completely cut her out of Bianca's healing and recovery, while having Bianca's 'friend', Maggie, ponder her sexuality again, which added insult to injury."

For the most part, the melodramatic tension between Bianca and Maggie intrigued the audience, and the teasing played into the emotions of viewers who desperately wanted to see the two in a romantic relationship with each other.

See also

• List of supercouples

Further reading

• Harrington, C. Lee (July 2003). Lesbian(s) on daytime television: The Bianca narrative on All My Children. Feminist Media Studies. An analysis on Bianca's lesbian life, through which her complex relationship with Maggie Stone is also studied.

External links

• Official ABC page
• Soap Opera Digest.com
• soapcentral.com
• afterellen.com
• Advocate.com
• Bianca and Maggie youtube
• BAMForBeginners.com - A chronological listing of the BAM story
• BAMiepdia.com - A BAM specific Wiki