The story is moving away from Lulu/Charlotte/Valentin. Its really not going further, imo.
Maxie and her story is the focus so it stands to reason that HER mom will be the focus - and the bad guys like Faison, etc.
Alexis is a permanent fixture (NLG) apparently and they want to continue the Julian story and pit her against Ned (another blast from the past with a large fangroup-what were they called?). Did Nancy object to being a support player in this mayor race story? Who knows?
For those of you want to see Laura (current run) - and her beauty and her appeal....go to YouTube and do a search for Laura and Kevin; Laura and Spencer; Laura and Liz; and who will also see other current Laura scenes as options.
You will be surprised (for those of you that think she's lost her appeal) at just how beautiful and great she looks, btw. And, with exception of the engagement scenes, her hair is lovely.
I won't be watching any longer but I have to say - seeing Wally K again was delightful. He absolutely gets better looking and Ned is still a charmer.