"Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live

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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….

I noticed that last week’s shows brought us some humor and some interesting pairings…not necessarily couples in the traditional sense, but characters interacting that I quite enjoyed….and some who made me quite annoyed. Sometimes I find that the funniest material comes from the most unlikely sources, and sometimes characters who I swore would never meet on decent, common ground actually find a way to do just that. See if you agree.

I guess I’d like to start with my favorite chicks…the Laverne and Shirley of daytime television…that’s right…Roxy and Allison. I swear, enough funny lines come out of these two women to fill a book. I keep wondering if Roxy is really afraid of Allison when she comes nose to nose with her and threatens the life out of her. Somehow I think that even when Roxy is sober (does that ever happen?) she’s in some kind of a stupor. She seems to be afraid when Allison tells her that she can be very sweet when people treat her nicely but when she’s double-crossed she can make the devil sweat…but I’m not sure she really cares what Allison says, except when she hears big dollar amounts…that makes her stand at attention. Was anyone as surprised as I was the other day when Roxy handed Allison the money from Jessica and Allison didn’t come back screaming? I thought for sure Roxy would not give her a fair split…but I guess she actually did split the $1,000 with her. 

I have to say…I hope Roxy hangs around Llanview for a while…or even Atlantic City, because this woman kills me. When she said she wasn’t worried about having that illness “hyper glass meter”, I thought I would choke from laughing…not to mention when she said she hasn’t had a good hair day since Jimmy Carter was president. Something tells me that’s very true. But the best laugh was when she was talking with Viki and Viki was trying to have a serious conversation with her about how their babies could have been switched and Roxy said, “Well, I was kind of out of it you know…I had that post partition depression.”

NOTE TO GARY TOMLIN:  Listen Gary, I thought you were pretty, how shall I say this….dumb…when you let Ben’s mob buddies go, but I have a great suggestion. Why don’t you be smart and bring back Harry the Hook, pair him with Roxy, and see who can do a better job of butchering the English language? You want to talk about funny? That, my dear E.P. would be funny!

OK…on to a pair of cohorts that I am really annoyed with these days…..

I have a real problem with Natalie and Al. I mean, it’s bad enough that Natalie has cooked up this scheme to try and get Seth back, not caring how she hurts her sister…but Al, SHAME ON YOU! Jessica has been your friend since childhood and this is how you behave? I’m sorry, it’s bad enough that Al is in that wheelchair playing the soap opera “I can’t walk” card, but he has overheard and seen directly from Jen that she does not love him and is only with him because of his “condition.” He’s got to have some big ego to think he can make her love him. I was hoping to see less of this whole mess on my screen and now with Natalie and Al plotting away, it keeps getting worse. I expect this stuff from Natalie. She’s got a long way to go before she knows how to be a decent person (to everyone) and realize that Jessica never did a thing to her. She didn’t even take her boyfriend….Natalie lost Seth all by her little self. I hope this storyline doesn’t drag on for long, but when I hear Natalie say, “This is only the beginning”, I can feel more obnoxious behavior coming my way.

And can we talk for a minute about Jessica? Does this poor, sweet, dumb-stick carrying girl ever get the message? How many people have told her not to get sucked in by Roxy? Did she think she’d go to Roxy’s house and find $1,000 worth of hypoglycemia medication lined up? She heard it from her mother…she heard it from Ben…she even heard it from Sister Natalie.  Jess needs to wake up! And she also needs to get a clue about her good friend Al. When he tried to talk her out of getting serious with Seth at the carriage house, I thought she put him in his place pretty well…but then she went and cancelled the trip with Seth. Jess, I love ya, but please…get a clue!

Even my faves got in on the action last week. How long have I been waiting for this to happen…Ben, Asa and Renee all in the same room acting like some semblance of a family? I was shocked and delighted. I adored Ben giving Renee a gift to commemorate the anniversary of her finding out he was her son. (Wouldn’t it have been nice to see Ben and Viki commemorate their first wedding anniversary a few months ago? Had to throw that in.) The characters of Ben and Renee are wonderful together and it added to my pleasure when Asa came into the bar and found them together. I thought it was a major giant step forward when Renee asked Asa to join Ben and her for a drink to toast their family and Asa wouldn’t stay because he didn’t feel worthy of being with them. It was a major step all around. I loved the way Asa put it, “You don’t want an old pole cat like me around.” But the best part was Ben’s response of, “Why not, I’m half pole cat.” There is so much potential for great storylines with this new family, if we can call it that. Just the fact that Ben didn’t cringe when Renee invited Asa to have a drink with them was a major milestone.

Have I mentioned yet my favorite new awesome twosome? They brought me more than a few smiles and chuckles this week. My favorite duo of last week was….you guessed it…Starr and The Man on the Wheel. Starr actually made me tolerate Troy. Will wonders never cease? Ok, I know we’re all thinking it, so I’ll just say it. When the heck is Troy getting off that ridiculous wheel? I can’t believe he’s still chained up there. And here are the most important questions. How does he sleep? Does he just let go and hang there until his wrists start to bleed? How has it been days and he hasn’t needed a bathroom? Oh, forgot, nobody uses the bathroom on soaps. And most importantly…who unbuttoned his shirt the other day after Lindsay buttoned it up?  I know we have no answers to these important questions, so I will just say that Troy and Starr cracked me up last week.

I found it hysterical that Starr told Troy nobody would believe her because she’s lied “a little” lately and that she couldn’t call the police because she even lied to the Police Chief. She was too cute, bringing him orange juice with a Krazy Straw…but I laughed so hard when she shot that aerosol cheddar cheese into his mouth, acting as if it were caviar. I was surprised she didn’t bring him a bag of pork rinds. After all, that is the snack of choice for Starr and her daddy. And who was just wondering what part of Troy’s anatomy she would hack off with that big hammer? One thing that impressed me about Starr was that under all that “Toddliness” that is inbred in her, the kid actually has a heart and some compassion for others. I was impressed that she was so upset about not getting anyone to believe that there really was a man on the wheel. I believe this week that Sam finds Troy, and I guess it’s because he will be the one person to finally listen to Starr….and as I recall, this would make Starr a hero for the second time. Probably only the Ben and Viki nuts, like my proud self, would remember this, but it was Starr who saved Viki’s life when she was kidnapped by Hugo Monroe a few years ago. Starr was the one who recognized Hugo as the man she saw at Aunt Dorian’s house which led Ben and Kevin to find Viki. What a kid!

Hey, we should have some fun this week…I hear that Nora and Lindsay are going to face off…literally! Does GT really believe that when all other forms of excitement fail to raise the ratings that a little catfight will do the trick?

I have a piece of advise for GT….well, another one. I just read that Tom Eplin is, shall we say, not being invited to stay on over at As The World Turns.  GT, you know how much we all want Kevin and Joey Buchanan back on OLTL and I know there’s a snowball’s chance in “you know where” of getting Tim Gibbs back…so what do you say? I can see Tom Eplin playing Kevin…can’t you? And before you say anything, no he’s not too old. People thought Tim Gibbs was too old to play Kevin and in my opinion, he was the best Kevin we had. Go for it GT…Tom is right here in NY…you don’t even have to fly him in to talk to him…lol! He’s such a good actor…and I know you must remember that from your days at Another World. You take care of that and I’ll try to find someone else to play Joey…LOL! Hey, someone has to do it!

Soooo…another week has passed and I hear that we’re getting more teens on the show. Are we already gearing up for summer where all the good stuff gets put up on the shelf in mothballs? I hope not!

See ya next week......
Jill 
 

FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
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In answer to Todd’s question of last week about Max and RJ’s difficult past (which I could not answer), I thank Brian L. for the following reply:

Brian L. writes: “To answer the question from Todd about Max and RJ and their past, they did have a bad past when the character of RJ was introduced years ago (as Jimmy Glover).  Apparently, RJ had conned both Max and Blair into a gambling / loan-sharking scheme that ultimately put strain on the Max-Luna-Blair triangle.  Max ended up owing RJ a lot of money and then RJ came to Llanview to collect (plus interest).  As you can tell, he ended up staying and causing..well..just a little bit of trouble on the way (including framing his brother for murder, confessing to an affair with Nora, and teaming up with Carlo Hesser).  Max and RJ have had their disagreements and clashes (i.e. kidnapping of Frank and Leslie), but it seems like they became civil to each other over the years because of their shared disliking of the Vega's, Asa, and The Llanview Police dept. to name a few.

I did have one question while I'm at it....I did happen to miss a few months some time back...What happened to Joey? Where did they send him...And for that matter where did Kevin go as well?  The poor Buchanan men seem to walk out of one door and never return.”

Dear Brian:  Thanks for the wonderful history lesson.  I knew none of the information you sent me and now we all know.  Gee, it kind of makes me like RJ even less than I already do…lol.  In answer to your question, the Buchanan boys are something I do know about.  Joey Buchanan was completely heartbroken when he found out that Kevin and Kelly were in love.  Kelly married Joey knowing she had feelings for Kevin but she and Kevin decided to put their feelings aside so as not to hurt Joey.  It didn’t work because Kevin and Kelly couldn’t deny their feelings for each other.  Eventually Joey found out and tried to live with it, but he just couldn’t do it…so he very quickly departed Llanview, saying he was going to spend some time in London with his dad.  From what we know, Joey is still in London and working over there.  Viki visited him a while back and said he was fine.  As far as Kevin goes, he went to Texas to spend some time with his son, Duke, and wound up working with a Banner-owned newspaper there.  Kelly went with him.  It was my understand at the time, that Don Jeffcoat’s contract was not renewed and that Tim Gibbs had voiced the desire to leave and possibly changed his mind after it was too late.  If anyone has other information, please send it on and I’ll be happy to print it.
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Jennifer writes: “I for one have been a long time fan of OLTL, but I cant take much more of it.  This Lindsay/Nora/Sam/Troy (Collin) thing has been going on for so long I am wondering if there is an end coming in this decade.  It is time to maybe see if we like Sam and Nora as a couple not keep on with the same old storyline that has been going on for what seems like most of my life.  I think the writers could come up with a way to slam Lindsay yet keep her out of the slammer, although a jailhouse storyline for her might not be half bad. And why doesn't OLTL have a super couple?  There isn't anyone on this show to root for, what's the point?  I think maybe it's time to get another hobby at 2:00 in the afternoon.”

Dear Jennifer:  I agree with you on many points.  I think the Lindsay/Sam/Nora/Troy storyline was doomed from the start.  I don’t know many people who care about it and those who write to me sure don’t at this point.  And boy, like you, I’d love to see Lindsay get what’s really coming to her and seeing her trying to get along in jail for a while would really be my idea of entertainment.  As far as super couples go…everyone knows who my favorite couple is…but they don’t get enough airtime or storyline to be considered a super couple to anyone except those of us who love them even if they’re just scrambling eggs.

 © Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2002