When Vivian first came into the show she was quite twisted. I think in her first scene she actually shot someone in the Alamein living room and seemed to have no remorse at all, embracing Lawrence and just ignoring the poor sod at her feet. And then over the years they brought a more comedic twist to her character, then paired her with Ivan and by the end (although they were adorable) they were sort of buffoons. (Remember Susan’s wedding and the teeth flying through the air and Viv and Ivan in cowboy/cowgirl clothes?). My guess is that they are trying to go back to the origins of the character when Viv wasn’t so funny at all. In fact she was a cold, vindictive woman and she was always against Carly in Lawrence’s life. Will be interesting to see where her character goes.