When Gary Tomlin joined the show as Executive Producer in January 2001, his familiarity with the series and its characters — from his stint as director from 1992 to 1995 — "manifested itself in ... the utilization of the show's rich history." At the time, Tomlin explained how then-Head Writers Christopher Whitesell and Lorraine Broderick had thought, "OK, where can we do something where we do bring back that history but also explore something that's going to affect the future of this show?" Barbara Garrick was brought back in 2001 as kidnapper Allison Perkins, with Tomlin noting that her return "invigorates the Viki storyline ... kidnapped Jessica, so there's a history there." "Soap Opera Weekly" called what followed "The Mother Of All Reveals," a storyline in which the series exploited a loophole in its continuity and created a secret history that would "resonate for months and years." The 2001 reveal that the now-teenage Jessica had actually been switched with another baby as an infant by Allison in 1986 — and so was not Clint and Viki's daughter — "was about as big as they come."