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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….
Wow, lots of craziness on One Life To Live last week. Sometimes I wonder if our writers have decided to take a hiatus from serious writing and just come up with the zaniest things they can think of. I haven’t dwelled on romance for a while, so let’s just touch on it for a minute.
Where is it? When was the last time we saw real romance on our show between two people who are really in love? I was rooting for Keri and Antonio there for a while and would still like to see them together, but the writers are letting RJ get to this couple every single time. RJ hasn’t even had to work too hard at it. I hear that they’re bringing on a love interest for RJ…hah! Watch that turn out to be the one romance that survives. I’m sorry. I think Tim Stickney is a great actor, but why don’t they let him learn how to be a decent parent first and teach him some selflessness before they give him someone else he won’t know how to love?
And please, don’t give me Troy and Nora as an example of great romance. I say put Nora back in her lawyer suits and get her back in the courtroom where she shines. She and Troy are a total mismatch.
In the past couple of years, there have been so many good and potentially great romances destroyed on OLTL that it’s hard to remember them all….but I remember a lot of them. There was Sam and Nora (and I mean Sam as in Kale Brown, no offense to Larry Lau), John Sykes and Rae, Bo and Melanie (yes, I still think so), Kelly and Joey (having Kevin move in on that pair was just wrong), Kevin and Grace (a beautiful romance and a death I still don’t understand), Jessica and Cristian (I always wanted them together)…and Renee and Asa (as bad as he is, they need each other). I’m sure you can think of more and of course, for those of you who think I’ve lost my mind and left my favorite couple off this list, tune in to the second half of this article which I will dedicate to them.
So I guess for now, the craziness we’re getting is what I’ll deal with.
I did so very much love Asa’s face when he heard he was going to be a groom for the 12th time. Do you think he’s been able to recycle any of those suits? After all, who would really notice or care? I laughed so hard when he told Nigel that Rae, “the She Devil”, had him between a rock and a hard place. Hey Asa, I think she had you by an even more sensitive place, but young people read these things so I won’t go there. I think the most hysterical thing that could happen would be for Rae and Nigel to fall for each other. Poor Nigel…when was the last time he had a girlfriend?
Hey, does anyone else think that Jessica Morris is being way more impressive as “Jen, the Psychological Torturer” than she was as “Jen, the nice little wimpy girl?” I sure do. She was downright freaky when she was alone with Natalie the other day. I would never have taken a sip of that tea, Natalie. Haven’t you learned anything from that milk Niki gave you? Although Jen will have to have years and years of manipulative practice to come close to her mentor, she sure proved herself to be Lindsay’s daughter last week.
And how crazy is this? Gabrielle, the voice of reason and doing the right thing? I had a feeling that she knew Al set the fire, but the old Gabby would be working on devious ways to throw the blame on someone else and save her son. I hear this week she gets him to confess. I don’t know if he confesses to her or to the police, but I sure hope they throw the book at him. What a creep he is…being so willing to let Jessica believe that her mom set the fire. Niki has done enough…let’s not give Viki any more things to repent for when she finally comes back.
And let us not forget our beloved Three Stooges. Geez…Allison and Lindsay started out as Thelma and Louise and picked up Lizzie Borden along the way. These three are hysterical. When Allison was standing between them trying to decide whom to shoot, I thought Niki really won that battle, but funnier yet was Allison thinking that Niki was communicating in some kind of Morse code to Lindsay from the trunk of the car. Lindsay must be saying to herself, “Boy, everyone in Llanview thinks I’m a lunatic. They haven’t seen anything yet.” These three women are truly a riot together and I’m almost sorry to see them go…almost. I hear next week Allison is going back to St. Ann’s…wow…do you think Niki and Lindsay will visit her? NOT!
On to my favorite girl…who would have believed that Roxy would be the hero…that she would be the one to tell Bo what happened and put him on the trail of Allison and Niki? It’s just Roxy’s luck to be put in the middle of a situation she has no clue about and then have it turn out to totally work for her. Isn’t that what we call DUMB LUCK! Well, whatever you call it, Roxy has got it and I hope she gets everything she wants…including Maxamillion because it’s so funny to watch the two of them together. James DePaiva hasn’t had such good material in ages.
Now, for a little self indulgence. For those of you who know me…we share these feelings as friends and fans. For those of you whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting through writing this column….you have shared similar feelings with me. Friday, August 30th marks the last airdate for Mark Derwin on OLTL…hopefully, only for now. I’ve never been the kind of person to hope for things that I really don’t think will happen, so my opinion on whether or not Mark will return to our daytime screens is not as optimistic as some others are, but I keep a solid ear glued to those who truly believe he will be back, because it gives me hope. There are a lot of people out there who want nothing more than to see “Life With Bonnie” hit the skids early so that Mark will come running back to OLTL. I am not one of those people. I wish him the best in everything he does, but I’m not totally unselfish. Plenty of people have heard me say that I’d like him to stay on One Life to Live just until Erika Slezak is ready to retire. It can’t be more than a few years. Then they can ride off into the sunset together and Mark can go and be a star on nighttime television, or even win himself an Oscar or two…lol. So, it’s not exactly going my way…what can I do?
So, there is some kind of reunion on August 30th for Ben and Viki when Viki finally resurfaces. Would you call this just too little, too late? I’m sure I’ll shed a tear or two….I’m sure I’ll be furious that one of the greatest love stories every written and performed on daytime was reduced to a bullet and another coma….I’m sure I’ll be thinking about all the wonderful things Gary Tomlin could have done with Ben and Viki and miserably failed to do….and for sure I’ll be wondering what Viki will do in a life without Ben.
My sincere wish is that someone in charge learns from this. But above all, I want Mark Derwin and Erika Slezak to know how much joy they have brought into the life of this loyal viewer and writer over the past three and a half years. The enjoyment they share working together jumps right off the screen and is palpable. We don’t get that very often. For Erika, I wish only the best. Her career has been wonderful and will continue to do so. I will never stop watching her.
For Mark…what can I say? I know I go on about your great looks and irresistibility…it’s all true! But seriously, I know that given half a chance, I know you are going places. You made me adore Ben and his Blondie. You made me laugh and you made me cry. You are a talent that was never appreciated enough by The Powers That Be in daytime and I will be there every Tuesday night to see you make them regret their loss and desperately want you back. My best wishes go with you! And remember…the daytime porch light is always on for you!
See ya
next week...
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Julie writes: “Do you have any idea what has happened to John Bolger (A/K/A John Sykes)? Will he be returning to OLTL?”
Dear Julie: I guess we were on the same
wavelength this week since I mentioned missing John in my article above. I
don’t know of any plans to bring him back to the show as an actor, but if you
watch the credits at the end of the show, he has directed several episodes since
he left the show. At least we know he’s still connected to the show, even I we
can’t see those beautiful eyes on camera…lol.
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LionessQueen writes: “I saw Jen freaking out when she heard about Cristian and Natalie almost sleeping together. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER! I haven't been watching OLTL that long, but I saw when Lindsay knocked out Troy with that crowbar at that fun house, OOH that must have hurt. As for Cristian and Natalie, I would LOVE to see them together. They have so much chemistry! Jen and Cristian don't have any chemistry anymore, and I feel bad for saying that because I used to really like Jen. Would you like to see Cristian and Natalie together?”
Dear LionessQueen: Yes, Jen is sure a lot
more like her mother than we thought. And as far as Troy goes, I think he’s
just lucky Lindsay didn’t kill him at the funhouse. I do like Cris and Natalie
together. I just wonder how much of a relationship they can salvage after all
the hurt and bad feelings are brought out into the open. Now I hear that Jen
will drag Al into her schemes…so what will happen next? More trouble I suppose.
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Lucy writes: “Lol what did you do? Crawl into my brain and pull out my pet peeves? It’s too funny. I am so glad someone shares my incredulous reactions to the storyline/writing lately. I think the real writers must be on vacations and some big wigs’ ditzy girlfriends are taking up the slack. I really enjoyed reading your 7/29 column.”
Dear Lucy: No, lol, I did not crawl into
your brain and pull out your pet peeves. It seems that a lot of fans share the
same ones, doesn’t it? We sure do need some new storylines, some romance, some
decent intrigue…and some good old-fashioned soap writing.
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© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2002
