Were splashy weddings indeed a soap opera staple in 1971? The first one I remember hearing about is Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital ten years later.
Bramwell's an odd duck. He's clearly grief-stricken over Daphne's death, but already he's telling Julia he's the only man who can make Catherine happy. The scene between Bramwell and Julia was fun. However well Frid and Hall play their roles, it is simply not possible to forget that these are the same actors who played Julia Hoffman and Barnabas, so when Bramwell calls Julia his cousin, it's startling.
Kendrick's sort of impervious to humility. Here's what he's learned in the past day or two: Contrary to what he believed, finding out who Melanie's parents were didn't solve anything. Contrary to what he believed, his fairy princess Melanie is quite capable of murder when she is taken over by the other personality. Contrary to what he believed, taking Melanie away from Collinwood won't help. Anything else? I'm sure there's more. But Kendrick continues to believe he can fix everything. I remember watching the show in 1971 and thinking how nice Kendrick was. And indeed he is nice. But he's got a little too much in common with his daffy sister Stella.
At least Kendrick occasionally notices he was wrong. Has Morgan noticed that Brutus's latest rampage is all his fault? If Morgan had stayed in the Room instead of going exploring during his special night, he might have gone insane or he might be dead, but I strongly suspect that the entire Collins family wouldn't be facing imminent extinction. (Or anyway, not from Brutus.) And Morgan was wrong when he told Julia that it was OK to go into the Room during the day, too. Oh, gosh, how I wish I could have seen him throwing a fit when Catherine told him that Daphne was dead. If Catherine grieves for Daphne, it's because she fears she'll succumb to Bramwell's wiles now that he's free. If Catherine attends Daphne's funeral, it's because she's looking for a chance to see Bramwell. And so on and so forth.