It was meant in jest and I should know better than to ever try and make a joke about such a serious subject. I intended no disre[s]pect and apologize to anyone I offended." In response to viewer concern about the direction the writers seemed to be taking Todd and Marty's bond, Carlivati assured Soap Opera Digest that he would have never written this under different circumstances. "We're not talking about Marty with all her memories. She would never get close to Todd in any way," he said. "This is about a Marty who doesn't remember anything about him, and he starts to feel close to this new person and starts to feel this gratitude for the fact that she doesn't remember this horrible thing he did." Carlivati added, "It is like this new chapter and this new arc. I don't think I would ever attempt to tell this relationship the way we're telling it if she knew who she was." He said, "I think that's a much different scenario. If we had Marty just come back to town and we started to build a relationship between the two of them...I can't imagine." Todd and Marty's relationship became based on a psychiatrist/patient dynamic and not something physical. When asked if romance could be a possibility, Carlivati stated, "I'd like to watch it unfold a beat at a time, a day at a time, a week at a time and not have the audience jump to, 'Are they going to kiss? Are they going to fall in love? Are they going to sleep together?' The goal is more to take these two characters who have an unbelievable, dark history with each other and explore where it would or could go if they didn't have that obstacle — the rape — between them." However, Carlivati said that this obstacle would always be there and that the audience would see close moments. These close moments include Todd helping Marty walk and physical contact between the two while he nurses her back to health. "I think the thing about the two of them, the characters and the actors, is you feel a chemistry when they're just talking, so I don't necessarily categorize it as romantic," stated Carlivati. "They're definitely forming a relationship and it continues to grow and build through the fall." Regarding viewers' resistance to a romantic pairing between the two, Carlivati acknowledged, "I