As one who saw it in real time, I think that the writing team was blindsided by the unexpected popularity and chemistry of TG and GF. It was intended to be a rape, written that way, acted that way, intended as an obstacle for Laura and Scott. But something happened on the way to the farm! They had already written a lot of the story, but that would have meant the departure of TG. In those days, bad behavior was punished. So, they felt that they had to change it and whitewash him. By the time the rape scene aired, the audience was already fascinated by Luke. It was TG's sympathetic portrayal that saved his career on GH. He statred off as obnoxious but became endearing. It was a case of an actor rising above the writing. Much of his appeal was due to the unique chemistry that he shared with Genie. What else could Gloria do? She wanted to keep Luke. She knew she had stumbled on lightning in a bottle. When he writers protested, she fired them. Thank heaven!
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I think the original date rape storyline, as it was written before the left handed boy storyline started up, is excellent. It's not an easy story, but it was written with a nuance, complexity and depth that you just wouldn't see on a soap today. Laura was clearly raped, but she was conflicted because she was falling for him. Luke did a horrible thing, but he wasn't written as an unredeemable monster. You saw both their perspectives, and watched them working through what happened together.
It really is all the seduction/I-cried-rape rewrite material that's so awful. I don't even know why Gloria felt the need to have the writers do that. From everything I've learned from viewers like you who watched back then, L&L were already popular despite the rape.