Riche was replaced by Jill Farren Phelps. During the first few months of her tenure, a number of "dark" storylines took place which earned a negative reaction for Phelps and new head writer Megan McTavish. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, ABC executives ordered less violence and warfare, causing rewrites and plot abandonments. One story, dubbed "Endgame," involved the culmination of the feud between the Spencer family and Cassadine family, a storyline which had begun in 1981 when Luke and Laura infamously defeated Mikkos Cassadine's weather machine. In the revival storyline, Helena Cassadine revives her deceased son Stavros Cassadine, who had been frozen through the use of cryogenics. The original script had Helena threaten the Spencers along with the rest of Port Charles with a biotoxin, which was quickly deemed inappropriate and dropped.