Her return to form coincided with Asa’s death and the Woman of the Year dinner, where Nora was put in the awkward position of having to introduce her longtime nemesis, Lindsay. Nora was torn between being appropriately gracious or true to herself.

And Hillary B. Smith is seizing the opportunity to run all over Llanview with it. She plays ever note, every nuance, like a maestro with a finely tuned instrument. Nora is currently prosecuting Lindsay, who has come Llanview’s most beloved murderer. About once a day Nora has to assure someone (including her own son) that she is not letting her personal feelings cloud her judgement. When former stepson Will asked her to drop the charges against his mother, Nora firmly told him she had to do her job. Then she hugged him and agreed that they both missed Sam (her ex and his father).

Nora is one of OLTL’s most appealing characters, and Smith one of its finest actresses. So don’t call it a comeback – she never should have left.