I couldn't agree with you more about the writing on ATWT.  You mentioned previously that you've watched the show for years.  I watched steadily for awhile on both sides of 1990, and I think you'll agree the writing then was very good.  (I think they won writing awards a few times.)  I was lucky enough to be watching during the period when Lily discovered that her father (who had recently come into her life) had raped her mother, and that her conception was a result of the rape.  There were some literally edge-of-your-seat episodes then, which is very rare in soapland.  The acting was also superb.  The guy who played her father (William somebody) has gone on to do great character work in movies. And the woman who played Iva, her mother, did a fantastic job, balancing her horror at the return of her rapist, and his efforts to get to know Lily, with her efforts to protect Lily.  Soaps don't get better than that. 

The writing was great until head guy Doug Marland died, and then went downhill.  In the past two years there has been a bit of great writing (some of Luke's coming out stuff was really good), but some horrible dreck as well.

Regarding Henry, Trent Dawson at one point went to the PTB at the show and suggested his character become gay.  They turned him down.  Some have suggested that Trent is gay himself, but he's apparently not, at least based on his dating history.  I doubt if he were gay he would date women, and then suggest that his character be gay.  Interestingly, when he started on the show he was a very unsympathetic character, and they gradually made him lovable.

I watched yesterday's episode last night, and it really feels to me like they're trying to run through the Ameera storyline as fast as they can (in the old days Luke would have lived with them for weeks before deciding it didn't work).  And I also get the feeling they WANT to get Luke and Noah together.  I know you and a lot of others disagree with that, but that's my prediction.  And I'm sticking to it!

I don't know if the following opinion is damning with faint praise, or praising with faint damnation, but I don't think the ATWT people are smart enough to have created and manipulated this storyline to exploit ratings while sticking it to the queers.  I think they thought they'd create a nice little gay storyline that would generate publicity and ratings, but that they could keep it restrained and gradual enough to not alienate their old line audience.  They completely misjudged the gay community, PLUS the younger straight women (their largest demographic, which also made up a large portion of the Queer As Folk audience).  From what I read, the younger straight women have been protesting the lack of intimacy rather strongly.

So now they're kind of stuck in that they still don't want to alienate the conservatives, but they want to do a better job of satisfying the new audience.  They thought the Ameera storyline would be great because it would keep the guys out front, while providing an excuse for buttoning up the sex.  (Like I said, they aren't very bright.)  So it's more miscalculation than calculation.  I think the speed of light Luke move in/move out might be reflective of them trying to get out of something that totally backfired on them.

I completely agree with you that I'd like to see Nuke move ahead with a common sense "normal" relationship for awhile, with the story being just in that.  Again, the lack of smarts will, I'm afraid, result in their fate being the same as all couples.  There's no drama in happiness, so they'll have to break them up.  It will probably be temporary the first time, followed by a dramatic reconciliation.

Can you imagine what Doug Marland would have done with this situation?!?!  It pains me to think of what we're missing.