MOB WORLD

The mob came to Another World's Bay City in 1980.

Jamie's ex-wife, Blaine, infiltrated Jess Cooper's criminal organization to protect her cop brother, Larry, by impulsively marrying innocent cop Jerry, whose mother had ties to the syndicate.

However, Blaine saw an even better way in when Cooper's top man, Jordan Scott, decided he liked Blaine -- a lot -- and offered her a chance to work alongside him building an entertainment complex encompassing Jordan's Supper Club and spa (which also happened to be a front for prostitution).

The woman running the "spa," Ilsa, became deeply unhappy when one of her boys, Sandy Alexander, decided he no longer wanted to work as a... uhm... masseuse, and took off, snatching Ilsa's book of secrets on his way out.

Blaine divorced Jerry, who got more bad news when his mother was killed by the mob. Blaine's brother, Larry, also risked his marriage to Clarice when he pretended to be a dirty cop in an attempt to bring Jordan down.

While all this was going on, a new arrival in town, Melissa, was keeping several secrets. 1) She too was involved with Jordan and Ilsa. 2) She knew that her boyfriend, Sandy, was Mac Cory's illegitimate son.

Melissa was played by Taro Meyer, a successful actress in her own right, but eventually best known as the mother of Ari Meyers, who played Emma on the prime-time hit, Kate & Allie.

The two worked together only once, on the miniseries Memories of Midnight, where Taro played the vindictive wife of a Greek shipping tycoon, and Ari a sociopathic killer for hire (in the book, the character was a young man; makes you wonder if the producers changed it so that Taro and Ari could work together, or if they just thought a teen female killer was more adorable).

To see what part Melissa plays in reuniting Sandy with his father -- not to mention a violent death and subsequent murder trial for one of the above, tune into Another World on the AOL/PGP Classic Soaps Channel!