| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
|
REFLECTIONS BY JILL…. Last week was a pretty good one on One Life To Live. It seems like things are changing a bit. Was that a little bit of romance we got to see? I was wondering for a minute if I was watching the right show. Ah, but alas, I got to see Mitch Laurence locked up and I knew I was watching the right show.
I’m not a person who enjoys violence, but it didn’t make me the least bit upset to see Mitch locked up with the blood dripping from his demented face. There were so many powerful scenes centered on Mitch that it’s hard to recount them all. I will say first and foremost that I was more than impressed with Bree Williamson’s portrayal of Jessica. This young woman has come onto the show, taken on a role created and given life by a dearly loved actress and made it her own. The scenes where she was holding the broken pieces of glass to her throat were riveting. Her performance was incredible and she more than held her own with Erika Slezak and Roscoe Born, which can’t be an easy thing to do. I remember feeling the same way about Melissa Archer’s Natalie when she first came on the show and started interacting with Erika’s Viki…Bree and Melissa are two very talented young actresses whose scenes I love to watch. I am so glad that Jessica and Natalie are now not only sisters, but good friends.
I can’t say that my stomach didn’t turn a few hundred times when it was insinuated that Mitch might have in mind for Jessica what Victor did to Viki. Erika was wonderful in those scenes…especially when Viki had to dance with Mitch and she begged him to do whatever he had planned to her and not to Jessica. You could feel Viki’s terror, as well as the deep love that she always has for her children.
Do we think Antonio needs to go for some anger management therapy? I hope Rae can handle him and I hope she has enough of a budget to replace whatever furniture he continues to destroy in her office…lol. Not that I minded him pummeling Mitch, but I didn’t want him to kill the guy…I wanted to see Mitch behind bars and then let someone else bump him off. Bo must be tired of taking back Antonio’s badge, or threatening to.
Speaking of Bo…what a delight to watch that guy dance. It sure didn’t seem like Nora could keep up with him like she used to…but that guy can sure still shake his booty. I love seeing Bob Woods involved in some good storylines and I love him being a dad to Matthew. And no matter how old the guy is…he’s still got the moves.
Gabrielle sure isn’t happy about Bo being Matthew’s dad and his spending time with Nora, is she? It’s just going to be a matter of time before she lets her insecurities take over and force her to do something stupid to interfere with what is important to Bo. I’m surprised that she’s still telling him the truth about how she feels…but I don’t think it will last. AND…I am getting pretty sick of her not being happy with Al’s choice of women. I guess she thinks Al should have picked a girl that looks more like his mom, which is about as shallow an idea as her even having a right to an opinion. I was getting used to her with Bo, even though I think he deserves better, but now I think her days are numbered and she will deserve what she gets.
Speaking of Al and Marcie, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a great couple that made me want to root for them. How long has it been since we’ve seen a relationship where the two people involved care more about each other than what the world around them thinks? Hmmm….maybe Viki and ???????????
Keri has been one annoying person since she came back to Llanview. I think she’s pushing Antonio way too hard, telling him that she wants their relationship back. She might try letting him get used to not thinking of her and his daughter as dead for a while. I really like Antonio and Jessica together and this triangle is going to be really interesting to watch. Jessica won’t let Keri walk all over her…that’s for sure…and I like the fact that Cristian let Keri know exactly what he thinks of what she did to his brother.
I think Cristian and Natalie are a good solid couple. I’m looking forward to their wedding. I’m also looking forward to Roxy’s get up for the wedding…you just know she’s going to want a front row seat.
I have nothing to say about Jen and Rex. They are nothing but a reason to get up and make lunch. The fact that Joey is like a lovesick puppy dog over Jen makes me sick…can’t we do better as far as giving Joey something to do with his time? (And I don’t mean hanging out with Flash, either.)
I was surprised to see old Claire, the hospital administrator, back on the show. I guess if they wanted to turn Troy/Colin back into a bad boy, she’s the first one he’d pick to use for a night. That woman needs some pride. I wonder just how far the writers are going to go as far as making a maniac out of Troy before Ty Treadway leaves the show. Maybe next year he’ll get to come back as a third brother…lol…maybe the MacIver brothers are really triplets…or quads!!!!!!!!
Anyway, since we’re getting rid of a couple of bad boys in Mitch and Troy, I guess it fits that Tuc Watkins is rejoining the show later this summer as David Vickers. Now him I can handle. He’s a bad boy with charm. It will be interesting to see him interact with Dorian and Blair, especially since Blair hates his guts after the fiasco where Todd gave away her baby, Jack.
And last but not least…Kevin is back. I have always loved the character of Kevin. It’s no secret that I adored Tim Gibbs and wanted him back, but I’m willing to give a good replacement a chance. It was a joy to see Viki reunited with all of her kids. Of course there’s only one person missing from that clan…guess who? I would like to think that with a couple of decently paid actors leaving the show this summer, maybe TPTB could find a way to spring for a few bucks to wake up my beloved Ben. Come on execs…you haven’t done too badly with recasts lately…I can stand just one more…PLEASE!!!!!!!
See ya
next week...
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Melissa writes: “Do you really think the rumors about Walker actually
being Todd are true? I personally don't believe them. I don't like or trust
Walker. Why would anyone want to double cross his own brother with Dorian and
Blair? Just my opinion! As far as a recast for Todd goes, I am a devout Roger
Howarth fan and I can't possibly see anyone else in the role. Let me know what
you think!”
Dear Melissa: I do agree with you that
recasting the role of Todd would be one of the hardest things to pull off. Even
though I am not his biggest fan, I have a huge amount of respect for Roger’s
acting ability and the fact that he has made the role of Todd his own more than
any other actor I can think of. I don’t really like or trust Walker either,
especially when he got into Dorian’s safe so easily. I don’t really think he’s
Todd. Maybe he’s someone that Todd sent to keep an eye on his family. I have no
idea how long Roger will be on As The World Turns, but I don’t see it
being out of the realm of possibility that you’ll get your Todd back one of
these days.
Sameeluv writes: “If they kill off Mitch that would be great but I read on the OLTL web page the character that plays Mitch has a four year contract? How can that be? CURIOUS.”
Dear Sameeluv: Yes, it’s true, the actor did sign a four-year contract, but in the world of soaps, actors’ contracts run in 13-week cycles. This means that even though they have a contract, they can be released by the show at the end of any 13-week cycle. This policy obviously works in favor of the powers that be and not the actors. In an interview I read, Roscoe Born even said he had no illusions that he would be around for very long.
Sheree Miller writes: ”Jill, how long have you been watching OLTL? You should know that Kramer (as in Kelly, Blair etc.) is spelled Cramer with a C!”
Dear Sheree: Since I never really felt it was a life or death situation to make sure I spell the names of fictional characters on television correctly, I have never really bothered to answer any of the emails you’ve sent me correcting my spelling of these names. I think you also enlightened me to the fact that Jen’s name only has one “N.” hank Heavens I have you to keep me in check. I’m glad someone has time in their life to worry about such things. I thank you, Sheree. By the way, did I spell “MacIver” correctly?
Caboose writes: “I'm writing about a bad boy I love, RJ. What bothers me the most about the Keri story is that no one has yet pointed out to RJ that he condoned and helped Keri do the same thing to Antonio as Liz did to him. RJ never knew he had a daughter but Antonio thought his was dead, so it's extremely similar. This also bothers me because self-righteous Hank doesn't see that it's so similar to what he did to RJ too. Perhaps I missed something but, although what RJ did was wrong, I find it no worse than what was done to him. Of course, Mom always said, two wrongs don't make a right. LOL. As for recasting Ben, I prefer he stay in a coma until I feel secure these writers know how to write for a couple. Haven't seen any indication of that yet. Perhaps the forecasted romantic summer will change my opinion though.”
Dear Caboose: Several people have written to me expressing the fact that Hank is the bad guy in the current Keri/Antonio/RJ saga. I, too, love RJ’s character, and I do agree that Hank can be a very “high on his horse” kind of a guy, but I guess I just see RJ as a very selfish man, since he is driven by his hatred for Antonio, not by his love for Keri. I don’t believe Hank was behaving selfishly when Liz made the decision all those years ago not to let RJ know about Keri because he was a criminal and in jail. Hank certainly could have let RJ know about Keri later on…and yes, his Dudley Do-Right attitude obviously does annoy lots of people, but I don’t think what he did compares to RJ letting Antonio and everyone else who loves Keri mourn her death, as well as Jamie’s. I don’t think that Hank supported Keri for all those years out of selfishness, but I guess my tendency to side with the good guys can sometimes be as annoying as Hank is to the “bad boy” lovers….LOL! As far as recasting Ben goes…you know me…I’m all for it. I believe that if they get a decent actor to take the part, Erika will make him shine, just like she does with everyone else…and we’ll have a chance to try and accept the fact that Mark Derwin won’t be Ben…at least not for now.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2003
