| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on OLTL | |
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REFLECTIONS
BY JILL…..
On a dark and foggy night, a
little over two years ago, a lovely woman found herself driving out in the
middle of nowhere. She was lost,
sad, lonely, confused, and wondering about the meaning of her life.
A recurring dream had brought her out that night, in search of something
she had yet to discover. She
arrived at a crossroads, in no way being able to imagine the enormity of the
change that was about to take place in her life, if she chose the right road.
She parked her car, noticed
the sign that read “Crossroads”, and walked into an out-of-the-way tavern.
On first glance, she couldn’t imagine what had drawn her to this
“less than chic” watering hole. As
she stood near the bar, looking around in confusion for some clue as to why she
felt compelled to be there, she heard a deep, warm voice say, “Hiya, Blondie!
You lost or just slummin’?” She
turned her head, wondering who Blondie was, and looked into a pair of dark,
warm, yet mysterious eyes, and after a moment of confusion, realized that she,
in fact, was Blondie. And so began
the journey of “Just Ben” and Blondie…THE LOVE STORY OF BEN AND
VIKI!
OK everyone, I have made no
secret of the fact that I love, worship and adore Ben and Viki.
I have been patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) awaiting yet
another reunion, so that I could write about them when they were finally happy.
This doesn’t happen too often for Ben and Viki, so you certainly
won’t have to read about the happy state of their lives too often in this
column. The last time they were
truly happy was on their wedding day, and even then, the happiness didn’t last
past the ceremony.
For those of you who are fans
of Ben and Viki, I dedicate this column to you, all of you, who have shared with
me the journey of happiness, sadness, fun, frustration, disappointment, joy,
sorrow, and the painful separations this couple has endured.
For those of you who may not be the biggest supporters of this couple, I
ask you to indulge me this week. I
am going to be arrogant enough to say that by the time I’m through, I fully
intend to indoctrinate a whole bunch of new Ben and Viki fans…LOL…well, I
can try, can’t I?????
From the moment I saw this
couple on the screen, they captivated me. Actually,
I found them quite by accident. I
had been a fan of OLTL for many years; however, I had taken a break from
it for a while during the ‘90’s and got involved in watching Another World. I fell in love with many of the characters on that show, as
well as their wonderful storylines. In
the late ‘90’s, when Another World was “on the chopping block” and
several of the actors moved to OLTL, I couldn’t help but flip the
channel back over there and see what they were up to.
Some of my favorite actors had gone there, and when Another World closed
its doors for the last time, I made the permanent move back to OLTL.
I have always adored Kale Brown, Tim Gibbs, Linda Dano, John Bolger and
Robin Christopher (although she ripped my guts out as Skye).
Little did I know that when I tuned in to see my old faves, I would fall
upon the best thing I’ve seen on soaps in decades.
I have always loved Erika Slezak, but when I got my first taste of she
and Mark Derwin together….I was hooked…it was amazing!
I hadn’t even see their story from its inception, since I started
watching the show again a few months into Mark Derwin’s arrival on the show.
Once I saw them together, I was glued to the screen and I immediately
needed to know it all. I needed to know every detail of their love story and thank
goodness I found a wonderful group of Internet friends who shared my devotion to
this couple. With their help, I was
able to live every second of the Ben and Blondie story from that first fateful
meeting at Crossroads. I take this
time to thank all of my good friends (you all know who you are) who provided me
with tapes, emails full of history, and most importantly, the knowledge that I
had not lost my mind, only my heart, to this wonderful couple.
Ok, all of you whose stomachs
are now turning…get out the Pepto!
I have to say that in a world
where we spend our days (at least I do) slaving at a job that may be less than
satisfying, dealing with all that life has to throw at us, and trying to grab a
little fun wherever we can….Ben and Viki, from the beginning, provided me with
something to smile about, especially on days when it was hard to find anything
to smile about. They are
refreshing, cute, funny, sexy, romantic, and a lot of other things I’ll
probably think of and stick in later.
Who can forget that first
kiss…that first dance? I know I
never will. If truth be told, the
reason I will never forget even one minute of “Ben and Blondie”, is that I
have watched tapes of every one of their scenes together such an embarrassing
number of times, that things are ingrained in my mind as permanently as my date
of birth, my mother’s name, the spelling of “Derwin” and
“Slezak”…well, you get the picture.
I think the thing that
intrigued me from the very beginning was that Ben and Viki were such an unlikely
pair to be thrown together. There
was Viki…the matriarch of Llanview…prim, proper, responsible, motherly,
disciplined, and always acting her age (or older).
Then there was Ben…the younger man…dark, handsome, mysterious, funny,
cocky, sensitive, charming, sexy, magnetic….Isn’t anybody going to stop
me????? Too late!
That first night they met, it was magic and the more they got to know
each other, the more evident it became that for two people from such different
walks of life, they shared and unbelievable amount of things in common.
They both came from very troubled childhoods, “damaged” as Viki calls
it. They both share a tremendous
love of family and respect for good friends, and they are both, above all, aware
of just how lucky they are to have found that perfect soul mate with whom to
share their lives….and they never take it for granted.
Over time, they each did so
much to enhance the life of the other. Viki
always had what Ben wanted and needed. Ben
always had what Viki wanted and needed. Neither
of them knew what they were missing, or dared to believe their lives could be
different, until the day that fate threw them together.
She gave him the loving family and home he’d always dreamed of but
never dared to hope for, and above all, she gave him someone who would surround
him with love and accept him no matter what, good times or bad.
He gave her the love, passion, fun and laughter that she had been missing
for so long, and complete acceptance to be who she was, and to have the life to
which she was entitled. Together,
they are the perfect couple, kindred spirits, and they are a joy to watch.
Even during their toughest
and most tragic times, they always seem to find ways to comfort each other. What was sadder than Jessica losing Megan and seeing Viki go
through the torture of knowing what her daughter had to face?
And there was Ben…right beside her, giving her loving support and even
stepping aside for Jessica’s father when he thought that might be what Viki
needed at the time. In the midst of
all that was happening, Viki always found a way to let him know how much he was
needed and how much his support meant to her.
I never loved Ben more than the day he went to the cemetery with no one
knowing about it, placed a single flower on baby Megan’s grave, and told her
how loved she was. What a special
guy!
Hey, it’s got to be
love…why else would Viki stick around when she hasn’t had a minute’s peace
from Ben’s past since she’s known him?
She’s been shot at, kidnapped (more than once, I might add), and let us
not forget, she has been tormented by not one, but two insane former
“paramours” of her beloved Ben. Some
might say that Ben is not worth all the pain and trouble Viki has had to face
since meeting him. I say, NONSENSE! The list of “pros” would knock the list of “cons”
right off the scale.
I must say that she did
benefit from her first “run in” with Ben’s past.
I mean, come on, meeting Ben gave her a whole new career.
I’ll bet she never even dreamed about going into medicine and becoming
a surgeon. LOL…most women would
be happy to just snuggle the first time they got the shirt off of a hunky guy
like Ben (well maybe not JUST snuggle)…but not Viki…overachiever that she
is…she got a whole medical education out of that experience.
Speaking of “it’s got to
be love”…we need to talk about Skye Chandler for a minute.
How many women would take that fiasco as well as Viki did?
I know a lot of people who were mighty disappointed in Ben when it came
out that he was married and never told Viki about it. I admit to having some trouble with that little omission
myself. It could only take someone
like Viki to see through all the garbage and know how much Ben loved her, and
know that he had made a terrible mistake in judgment, for which he was more than
sorry, and still stand beside him, giving him a second chance.
Viki knew what the payoff would be once they got rid of Skye…and she
was right.
Viki and Ben have been
through much more than their share of tragedy for the amount of time they’ve
been together. I could not have been more shaken on the day that Viki got
word of the irregularity in her mammogram and all she wanted was to be with Ben,
believing that with him, she could get through anything…and all Ben wanted was
revenge against Asa. The whole
separation that began with that horrible night was almost too much to sit
through….from watching Viki begging Ben not to choose vengeance over her…to
Ben not being able to see beyond his anger despite his love for her…to
Viki’s compelling journey from her diagnosis of breast cancer through her
surgery…to her good-bye to Ben at the re-opening of Crossroads when he begged
her to come back to him…to Ben failing to come to grips with the fact that Asa
is his father…Is there any other soap that has put one couple through what
these two have been through in only 2 years?
I actually did wait 15 years for John and Marlena to finally get married
on Days Of Our Lives, but believe it or not, that was not nearly as painful as
Ben and Viki’s separation last year. I
felt like someone shoved my heart into a vice when Viki packed up his clothes
and gave him back the engagement ring.
Ok…I think we need to
lighten this up a bit, because even though Viki and Ben have been to Hell and
back in their relationship, these two have somehow found a way to have a lot of
fun and do a lot of loving, even when faced with their worst nightmares.
You know, when someone told me that Viki sang karaoke at Crossroads, I
didn’t even believe it until I saw it on tape.
If nothing else, that bartender was going to show her how to have some
fun…and boy, did he! Having her
there sure took his mind off his troubles, too.
And who wouldn’t enjoy having a guy like Ben hidden in their attic?
That would certainly alleviate MY need for a step master.
Ben opened her up to all kinds of fun in that attic…after all, she was
mighty proud of herself when she yanked that bullet out of his shoulder…quite
an interesting way to learn the “ins and outs” of your new boyfriend’s
anatomy….LOL! And they have had so many simple little fun
moments…like last Halloween, before the wedding, giving out candy to the trick
or treaters…those fun bachelor and bachelorette parties…dancing in the
park…Ben showing up at the front door when he wasn’t supposed to see the
bride the night before the wedding. Will
I ever forget that massage in the attic? I
think not! How cute was he when
Renee caught him in the house with Viki on the morning of their wedding day? Boy, that Erika Slezak has such a hard job!
Poor thing! All of the
pre-wedding events were wonderful and showed the light and fun sides of the
entire cast. We need more of that
on OLTL and a lot less darkness.
Those were some of the
moments that made all the bad times a little bit more bearable.
They even managed to have a wonderful New Year’s Eve this year, with
Ben setting up that lovely dinner at Crossroads, buying Viki a beautiful dress,
enjoying that very sexy game of pool…and all this was going on with policemen
outside guarding against a hit on Ben. I
am not even going to discuss the awful thing that happened to Ben at the end of
that evening (GINABOBINA!). Too bad
the LPD was so easily “taken out” by Gina’s goons.
For the time being, we are well rid of that Duchess of Darkness, that
Pathetic Princess, that Empress of Evil, that Maniacal Mobstress.
Oh, you thought I liked Gina?????? Whew….excuse
me…I needed to take a deep breath….BACK TO FUN!
I absolutely adored Ben bringing Florida to the attic.
That was sweeter than sweet and it made Viki laugh so much, which is what
Ben loves best…making her laugh…well, it’s almost what he loves best.
I have to say that absolutely
no one knows how to turn lemons into lemonade like Ben and Viki.
When he got that lovely dead fish at the front door on Thanksgiving and
decided he had to leave Viki, I was so glad she didn’t let him have his way.
That Harley Honeymoon In Leather was a joy to watch.
OK…all of you who are now sitting there thinking how silly it was….I
want you to go out and buy a sense of humor.
In the face of terrible danger, Ben and Viki managed to keep the love,
romance, and most of all, the laughter in their lives.
The interruptions alone, when they were trying to have some “quality
honeymoon time” were hysterical…Harry and Jackie waltzing in on them and
Harry sitting there helping himself to a bagel…that chambermaid who really
should have assumed the room was rockin’, even though the sign on the door
didn’t say so…and that wild man biker guy with the braided chin….come
on….those shows were a barrel of laughs….correction…TWO BARRELS!
Need I remind you of the vibrating bed and the countless times they were
interrupted and Viki was sent to hide in the bathroom while “Bruce Lee” ran
to the door, gun poised for combat? I
know some people think that the prim and proper Viki would never do these
things, but wake up and smell the Lucky 7 Omelettes….she’s NOT that Viki any
more and the more un-Viki-like they make her, the more I love it.
She is living all the fun that was stolen from her in her youth…and I
applaud every minute of it.
I am now going to address my
favorite people…TPTB. Please
people, I need to know WHY….Why do you find it necessary to continually rip
this couple apart and give them only a couple of weeks of happiness a couple of
times a year? They are the most
refreshing, endearing characters on the show, and yet the air time allotted to
them is almost non-existent compared to that given to the continuous histrionics
we have to endure several times a week from the whiners…Lindsay, Blair, Will, Jen…etc.,
etc. I don’t really have anything
against Jen (yet), but did we need another whiner? I realize that TPTB on every show believe that a happy couple
is a boring couple – and I suppose we need to see some controversy now and
then (every 10 years for Ben and Viki would be fine with me), but the Ben and
Blondie fans don’t ever get to fully enjoy a reunion without wondering when
the other combat boot is going to drop and their favorite couple will be ripped
apart yet again.
Last year’s reunion, when
Ben and Viki revealed their secrets to one another and got back together, was
beautiful and so special. Ben being
there with Viki through her chemotherapy treatments, through losing her hair,
and his compassion and devotion to her as she coped with losing her breast, made
me cry for all the time they spent apart…when Viki went through her diagnosis
and surgery without him. Oh, what
we would have given for them to have been together from the beginning of that
nightmare! And then there was Viki,
being there for Ben when he revealed that he was Asa’s son…her insistence
that her love for him went way beyond whose blood was running through his veins.
It made me so sad and regretful that he had to go through all of that for
months without the one person who could have made it all bearable for him from
the start.
I say enough of keeping them
apart for such long periods of time. The
recent reunion of Ben and Viki after the Gina fiasco was proof that unlike a lot
of couples, these two don’t even need to be rolling around in a bed all the
time to prove that they are the sexiest, most romantic couple around.
Erika and Mark express more with a touch, a glance, or a smile than any
couple I’ve seen on daytime….and I have watched a lot of
“super couples” over the years.
The only ones that I can remember enjoying nearly as much as I do Ben and
Viki were Cruz and Eden on Santa Barbara, who had an unbelievable love story.
I might add that they, like Ben and Viki, were the creation of Jill
Farren Phelps, who has an uncanny flair for taking two people from totally
different universes and gloriously making their worlds collide.
Ben and Viki “survive”
together better than any couple I’ve seen – so why are the so often the
“side dish” rather than the “main course?” Come
on writers. Come on Mr. Tomlin. You’re
sitting on a goldmine here! You own
the diamonds and you sideline them for the zircons!
You have the filet mignon and you use the hamburger!
GET THE PICTURE??????
No matter what happens to Ben
and Viki, I will remain a loyal fan of theirs as long as they are on the show,
because no matter what they’re doing, they are the brightest rays of sunlight
that OLTL has in its possession. They
make me laugh – they make me cry – they touch my heart – and they warm my
soul. Detractors of Jill Farren
Phelps can say what they will, but it was her great insight that put Mark and
Erika together. It was a stroke of
soap genius and a very rare Grand Slam in the world of soaps!
Ok, all you converts…line
up! I have a fresh batch of “I Now Love Ben And Viki” badges
with each of your names on them. We
warmly welcome you to the club!
See ya next week….
Jill
FAN FEEDBACK
AND QUESTIONS ON LAST WEEK’S COLUMN
______________________
VTGrammy writes:
“WTG Jill...thanks for venting regarding Lindsay...she's also one of my
first in a long line of characters that need rehabilitation. This show has
become "Losers Life To Live" in the past year and IMO it's taking away
all the fun of rooting for characters that's so important for fans, because we
all know they'll never win, only the bad guys win on this show. I'm now
down to two people to root for...Ben and Viki. Considering their lack of airtime
and screen time...I've become rootless and we all know what happens when the
roots die...so does the plant.”
Dear VT: I, too, have a lot of
trouble with the bad guys always winning and the good guys looking like fools,
or hardly being seen. Let’s hope
someone with a brain notices your comments and mine regarding airtime and
“roots.” And…PLEASE stay
rooted. We sure don’t have enough
people like you around who enhance everyone’s OLTL experience. Let’s hope TPTB go out and buy a big watering can!
___________
Christina
writes: “Tsk..Ts..Tsk....I was just waiting for the day that you picked
on my girl Linz...LOL!! She tries (for a millisecond), she feels what she
is doing is RIGHT for her family. Yeah, I know what a warped sense of
family. Just wait until it comes out that all this time during this Colin
mess that she was protecting Nora (who killed Colin). Granted she is doing it to get some redemption for what she
did to Nora, I know, I know that doesn't excuse WHAT she did. But she can't go
to jail, Llanview needs a Lindsay in their fold....LOL!!”
___________
Dorothy
writes: “Hi Jill--Couldn't agree with you more about Lindsay!
Thanks for saying what I've been thinking all these months--this woman needs to
get what's coming to her! I'm beyond enjoying 'hating' Lindsay and
her misdeeds; now I'm just frustrated that she gets away with so much.
While I have your ear, I want to say that I'm a big fan of the Bo/Melanie
pairing. I think they make an adorable couple (although Ben & Viki are
my favorites) and I look forward to watching their relationship grow; I
hope the writers will develop Melanie more.”
Dear Dorothy: Couldn’t agree with you more about Bo and Melanie. They need more fans like us. I think people are going to start warming up to them, now that Melanie has been given a backbone by the writers. We need some more “nice guys” on the show to counteract all the meanies…and I’ve always loved Bo. I’m happy to see him with a storyline that I can live with. You’re a Ben and Viki fan? Funny…me, too!!!!!!! LOL!
___________
