JR Chandler and Babe Carey are fictional characters of the JR and Babe or Jabe couple from the American daytime drama All My Children. JR Chandler was portrayed by Jacob Young. Babe Carey was portrayed by actress Alexa Havins, and then by Amanda Baker. Written as volatile and yet loving, the up-and-down romance tells of a young star-crossed couple who met one captivating night at the end of a fog-covered dock and from there are faced with much interference, significantly but unintentionally caused by each other, in their struggle for true happiness.
The love story was originally scripted by former All My Children head writer Megan McTavish, and debuted on television in October 2003. The pairing's love-hate relationship soon gained a large and loyal following, despite the characters going through periods where they were not individually thought of fondly by viewers. The couple's popularity extended beyond the soap opera medium in early 2006, when the two were prominently featured in celebrity magazine Celebrity Living. In September 2011, People magazine named them one of the supercouples of the 2000s in their tribute to the series. The couple's reign came to an end on October 23, 2008, when the writers decided to have Babe struggle for and lose her life after a series of tornadoes hit Pine Valley.
Writing
Background In 1992, ABC executives decided that the show needed a fresh perspective and promoted Agnes Nixon's protégé, Megan McTavish, to the position of head writer. McTavish began adding new dimensions to the show. At the start of her third stint as All My Children head writer, she created character Babe Carey. Actress Alexa Havins was cast in the role, and Babe first appeared in the fictional town of Pine Valley on October 13, 2003. She was introduced as a vixen latched onto the arm of wealthy heir to the Chandler fortune JR Chandler, having had a one-night stand with JR's stepbrother, Jamie Martin, her first night there.
When McTavish and Brian Frons, president of ABC Daytime, collaborated on the storyline, their inspiration for the pairing was a story from two decades earlier — the Adam Chandler/Dixie Cooney/Tad Martin love triangle of the late 1980s — where Adam was set up as the roadblock against Tad and Dixie's union. McTavish and Frons originally saw Babe and Jamie as the true love couple with JR as the antagonist. Babe's true love was later revised. The character explains, "Jamie was around at one of the lowest points of my life, and I thought that he was the one. But I was wrong. As great as Jamie was, he could never take JR’s place in my heart, because JR never left."
In 2004, JR's portrayer, actor Jacob Young, wanted to focus more on widening his acting range. This was coincidental to the writers turning JR in a different direction. They deepened the story by having JR act increasingly more like his father, when he was originally characterized by having several aspects of his mother's personality.
The JR and Babe relationship was written as exemplifying the notion that love endures all, which became evident through their dysfunction. SOAPnet.com described their romance as the daytime version of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson, minus the sex tape and tattoos, but with the addition of felonies. The characters break nearly every vow, and commit multiple crimes during their "three" marriages, while their connection remains strong. SOAPnet referred to this as "very romantic, but also slightly insane". JR and Babe fight and divorce but always end back up together.
In late 2007, after four years on the series, Havins decided to leave the role of Babe to pursue other acting opportunities; the decision was confirmed on September 4, 2007, by magazine Soap Opera Digest. Actress Amanda Baker was selected to step into the role. With Baker as Babe, the writers decided to continue the JR and Babe love story but as more mature this time. In late 2008, after a year as Babe, Baker explained how Babe had grown since her portrayal of the character. "I think that she has become a lot more responsible," stated Baker. "She's definitely made some changes within herself, become more mature. At one point in time, especially with JR, a lot of her choices were careless and she thought too much with her heart."
Charles Pratt, Jr., new head writer of the series, ultimately decided to permanently kill Babe off. In an interview with Soap Opera Digest before her final episodes aired, Baker stated, "Going out with a bang is definitely better than going out with a whimper, and I'm going out with a bang!" Babe was killed off on October 23, 2008. Right before her death, the series showcased JR and Babe once again declaring each other as true loves.
Recurring themes Several recurring themes were incorporated into the JR and Babe romance, such as the pairing's meeting on the pier in San Diego, being star-crossed, JR's inner turmoil, and Babe's cheating. The "pier in San Diego" theme became symbolic for JR and Babe's experience of love at first sight. In the December 23, 2003 episode, Babe refers to meeting JR on a foggy dock as the answer to their prayers and confesses that she loved him upon seeing him. In the February 16, 2006 episode, the two describe themselves as lost until they saw each other.
The couple was occasionally compared to Tad and Dixie. Before her "death" in 2002, Dixie is said to have given JR a necklace Tad gave her. Once committed to Babe, JR gives Babe the necklace, saying Dixie believed it was filled with more love than he could ever imagine and that this is what he wants for himself, Babe and their family. Several months later, when JR is recovering from his jump out of a window, enraged at Babe for her one-night stand with Josh Madden, Tad tells JR that JR loves Babe the same way that he himself loves Dixie.
JR's father usually served as an obstacle in separating the pairing, and happiness for the two was typically a sign that tragedy would soon follow. One example is their 2006 honeymoon, where JR sketches a picture of Babe. In reference to the 1997 James Cameron film Titanic, where the two star-crossed lovers in the film are separated by tragedy, Babe states, "This is so Leo DiCaprio, but you are way hotter." Tragedy is foreshadowed when JR's sketch of Babe blows over in the wind (slow motion), following a scene where JR has just reassured Babe that everything will be fine. Meanwhile, JR's family back home predicts that he will fall into a place "so deep and dark" after Dixie reveals herself to have purposely stayed "dead" that "even Babe won't be able to reach him".
Author Carol P. from Total TV Online, when describing JR as a tortured soul, commented, "In the annals of literary history, there are many examples of the tortured soul anti-hero; i.e. Prince Hamlet, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, etc." She said that people are drawn to these characters "specifically because they are not your run-of–the mill male protagonists who win the day" and that they are rather "flawed to such a degree that we, as the reader or the viewer are often afraid, that they may never find the peace and joy we desire for them". P. drew similarities between Dixie and Babe, reasoning that Babe possesses several of Dixie's worst qualities (lying, manipulation, unfaithfulness, etc.), and concluded that this was another reason JR married Babe: How can a young man, who has been raised with mixed messages about love, truth, and self worth, find a suitable life mate? For JR it wasn’t as simple as it appeared to have happened. There is so very much about Arabella 'Babe' Carey that was reminiscent to JR of his 'lost' mother; her size, her build, her coloring, her accent, her love of life, people, and experiences. JR was a goner the moment he spent any amount of time with her. What JR neglected to realize was that one person cannot and should not replace anyone in our lives; and that no two people will ever be exactly alike.
In 2006, a few months after the couple's second wedding, the writers complicated JR and Babe's relationship by having JR try to kill Babe due to a mental breakdown and the belief that he would be saving their son. Not wanting Babe to unjustly die later in life and cause their son the same pain that he went through by losing mother Dixie, or the pain caused by lies, JR reasons that if their son were to lose Babe at an earlier age as opposed to later in life, it will hurt less due to significantly faded memories. In addition, JR was written to fear Babe targeting their son by running away with him and leaving JR without a wife and a child. JR's murder attempt on Babe was a controversial story arc by the writers (see below), further agitated by Babe's willingness to stand by JR even after the murder attempt, later welcome him into her bed, and stand up for him at his attempted murder trial. JR having accidentally harmed best friend Kendall Hart Slater, who subsequently became comatose as a result of the murder attempt, was also ill-received as viewers felt the character should receive jail time. The writers saw the story arc as an opportunity to further the theme of JR and Babe being true loves. To assist this, ABC ran promotional commercials to the original version of the song "Listen to Your Heart" of Babe voicing heartbreak at knowing JR tried to kill her interspersed with the couple enduring it all.
On two separate occasions, JR expresses to Babe that he felt he was insane when he tried to kill her. One daunting conversation he has with Babe about his mental turmoil suggests a deep-seated inner battle that he continually loses:
Other significant problems given to the romance are the couple's trust issues. One issue revolves around JR not knowing if he can trust Babe to be faithful to him. After cheating on JR with his brother Jamie due to what Babe states was a result of being nervous about meeting JR's family for the first time, JR later develops the tendency to occasionally refer to Babe as "a slut" or issue one-liners about her inability to be faithful to a romantic partner. Months after JR's murder attempt on Babe, the writers sought to prominently resurrect the unfaithfulness theme. Babe voices that JR does not communicate with her as much as he used to. Consistently feeling this way, Babe is seen being drawn to relative new character and "white knight" Josh Madden, whom she eventually cheats on JR with, emotionally and later sexually. "JR doesn't let Babe in," relayed Havins of her character's emotional affair with Josh. "He has that wall up, and it's not necessarily his fault; it's his past that has built the wall. I think maybe Babe had unrealistic expectations hoping, 'Oh, with time he'll let me in.' Well, it's their second marriage and they have a child together and it still has not changed. That wall is not budging." Havins continued, "Babe can only take so much. Plus, her husband tried to kill her. I honestly think, in a way, this is a hint of a delayed reaction, emotionally, to that." Havins felt that JR's murder attempt on Babe seemingly came out of nowhere: It happened so fast, and the resolve was in the blink of an eye. I would walk away for a lot less! I think she was so wanting to get that family unit back on track that she didn't allow herself the proper time to heal. Then, on top of it, here's Josh. Everything she wants to feel with her husband she's feeling with Josh, and that's what's missing, because JR doesn't talk.
Josh was written as the complete opposite of JR, and therefore representing everything that JR is not. Havins clarified: "At first, it's a wake-up call for her current relationship. It's like, 'Wow, this is what I could have and I don't.' And then she genuinely cares for Josh." Babe and Josh's friendship and emotional connection grows each day. "...it was pretty much inevitable," said Havins of the new romance. "Yes, it's a lack of judgment, but passion heats up, and it is what it is."