| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
|
REFLECTIONS BY JILL…. Another good week on One Life To Live. Could it be that we’re seeing a pattern developing here? I sure hope so. I like it. Last week brought us good drama and a good dose of comedy as well, which is the best combination I could ask for…not that a little romance would hurt (hint, hint).
I was glad to see Viki at the end of the week. I was beginning think that she and her broken arm had veered off to the dreaded back burner again. Too bad she had to be witness to that horrible scene it the church when Jen stumbled in drunk. Jen had been disgusting me all week long with her blatant affair with Rex and even I couldn’t believe the show she put on at Rodi’s right in front of Roxy and Natalie. How I would have loved for Joey to walk in on that little scene. I am about to say something that I am almost positive I will regret…but here goes. I think Jessica Morris did a very good job as a tortured Jen in that church scene and yes, I’ll say it…I finally had a drop of sympathy for Jen. What she did with Rex was horrible, and I do not excuse her at all because of her upbringing, the death of her father, or her often sorry excuse for a mother…but she at least had the decency, even drunk, to realize what she’d done and that she couldn’t live with how she betrayed Joey and their marriage vows. She did pull at my heartstrings…there I said it. I am hoping that this was her rock bottom and she will begin to change…and if she doesn’t wake up and fly right after almost being slain by the Music Box Killer then there will be no hope for her.
I’m glad Joey is going to London for a while after this week because maybe something in the overseas water will give his brain a jolt. If he’s ever going to deal with his marriage, he better start facing the facts and take off the rose colored glasses.
Let’s talk about that nasty vestrywoman for a minute…Mrs. Bingham or whatever her name is. Is it my sick sense of humor, or did she remind any of you of Saturday Night Live’s Church Lady? I was waiting for her to comment to Viki on Jen’s behavior by saying, “Wasn’t that SPECIAL?”…and I could see her asking Joey, “Was that your wife or was it S A T A N?????” I loved the dirty look Viki gave her and how Marcie told her off. To be honest, during those church scenes, I was most annoyed by the fact that Jen’s drunken entrance interrupted Marcie’s beautiful singing.
Roxy’s humor was a killer last week. I loved when she told Natalie and John that she was worried about the Music Box Killer and hoped he didn’t mistake her for a college co-ed. She is too crazy. And what about when she was trying to push Natalie to get involved with John and told Natalie is was time to “get back on the hearse.” After all, Natalie and John are “constructing adults.” Wouldn’t you just love to get a look at her pink vinyl Christmas tree? I sure would.
David Vickers also provided lots of humor last week. I especially loved Lindsay leaving him “busted” when she told him she sold that very expensive art and gave him his cut…$15.00. His face was priceless. For a con man he doesn’t do “busted” very well. And I died laughing when he interviewed the girl to play a “new” Cramer woman who could inherit Aunt Betsy’s money and he told Dorian that he believed he had found “the long lost virgin Cramer.”
Did you all enjoy the special episode in honor of Kassie’s 10-year anniversary with the show? I have to say I thought it was disappointing. I can never really get up for those types of episodes. I would have much preferred an episode full of flashbacks of all of Kassie’s wonderful work as Blair…and we didn’t get it. Congratulations to Kassie anyway. She’s a great talent.
Speaking of Blair…she’s annoying the heck out of me lately. She’s playing a very dangerous game and as always, when Blair gets herself steamed up and goes after revenge, she is only thinking of herself. She’s definitely going to get burned herself…she’s going to hurt Kelly which is totally uncalled for…but most of all she’s once again going to selfishly hurt her kids. Why are they always the last thing she thinks of when she gets on these rampages? This is going to turn into one of those ridiculous, mean and nasty battles between she and Todd for the kids. I don’t even want to see that again. It’s been done too many times.
And what about Troy’s return? Another red herring? Oh yeah…they gave him a pass from the maximum-security lock-up because he’s on drugs that control his lunacy. I believe that…HAH! They’re going to figure out that all of the Music Box killings are somehow related to Nora. Hmmm…are they setting up Troy for the murders? We now know that Gabrielle is going to be killed off and she did run into him already. And was it coincidence that Jen was asleep in Rex’s apartment when the killer was spying on her and attacked her…especially since Rex does live in Troy’s former apartment. Some people think the killer is Daniel Colson. I’m still leaning toward the killer being a woman…just because I am not falling for the obvious…but I have no clue as to who it might be.
Okay, I know I’m still in the minority on this one, but I still like Jessica and Antonio together, although I don’t see this relationship lasting. I’m not going to say that Antonio’s temper has calmed down, because he hasn’t really had cause to use it lately, but I think he’s very sweet and loving with Jessica. Rumor has it that Kamar is not going to renew his contract when it expires. I don’t know if this is true or when his contract does expire. I wish the writers had done better by him.
Just a couple of weird things. Did you hear Kelly call Asa “Grandpa?” What was that about? I guess she considers him an ally now who will help her keep Kevin. It was just icky hearing her call him by that name.
Hmmm…Kelly… I have to say…I am going to take back my original opinion…I was not in favor of Heather Tom taking over the role…and I still think that Tracey Melchior got a raw deal…but in the couple of days that we’ve seen Heather as Kelly, I am very impressed. As I already knew, she is a seasoned actress and she seems to have seamlessly walked into the role of Kelly. I hope they give her some good material to work with and discontinue Kelly’s wimpy wife persona. She’s got the talent to do great things with this role. It would be nice to see someone get the chance to do just that.
Another weird thing…did you notice in the fantasy episode that Blair walked right over and knew the combination to Dorian’s safe so she could get the gun? I remember just a while back when Dorian had that ridiculous Badra diamond in the safe in the form of that necklace and when she went to the safe to give it to Blair, she made Blair look away so she wouldn’t find out the combination. Hmmm…maybe Starr gave her mom the combination!
I have to say that if I could have changed one thing last week it would have been to wipe that stupid smirk off Kevin’s face when Blair left his room at The Palace. If he does love Blair, this is just another case of a sick love story…just like Rex loving Jen. I think Kevin is playing along with her game and he sure doesn’t care about hurting his wife, or his career for that matter. Can someone please bring back Viki’s real #1 Son?
In closing I want to share with everyone that last week I received a very nice email from Robert Krimmer, Reverend Andrew Carpenter, in response to my column. He told me that he periodically reads it (which was very, very flattering) and I wrote him back telling him how nice it was to know that someone connected to the show was actually reading what we fans have to say. If you’re reading this Robert, thanks again and please keep reading.
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Michy writes: “It really distresses me that the writers keep forgetting what they've written and then completely contradict themselves. I was watching an old episode of OLTL and Marcie mentioned something about expecting a call from her mom... then later she mentioned that her mother died years ago. Hello? Phone calls from heaven? Then this whole Walker-being-Todd thing... First of all, why the hell would Todd save Mitch? Oh, that's right, he wouldn't! And "Walker" told Mitch all about Jessica betraying him...which made Mitch want to kill her. Why would Todd do that to his niece? Oh, that's right, he wouldn't! They didn't intend for Walker to be Todd from the start, and that bothers me! And now, the thing that bugs me the most is that I hear they plan to make Daniel Colson the Music Box Killer because of his alcoholism and fury. Well this is impossible because they showed the Music Box Killer (sort of) in his...house, I guess... and the radio said something like "DA Daniel Colson reveals to the media that there was a material witness to the last murder victim of the MBK.." blah, blah, blah, and the real MBK sat up like "WHAT!? There's a witness!? DAMNIT!" If Daniel were the killer, he wouldn't be so shocked to hear that because HE'S the one who revealed it to begin with! Do the writers even KNOW what they're doing!?”
Dear Michy: I agree…lots of things don’t make sense and very often it seems like the writers make things up without knowing or caring to know the history of the characters or storylines. Do you remember when Joey told Jen that Kelly was his ex-girlfriend? Hello…Joey and Kelly were married when Viki was having her cancer surgery. I have a big problem with continuity on the show also…for example…one day a few weeks ago Jen was in two scenes with Rex and one with Joey in the middle. In the scenes with Rex her hair was straight and in the scene with Joey it was curled. I know it’s a petty detail, but it was very obvious. And just the other day…everyone was bundled up in coats…after all it is cold in Pennsylvania in December…and Jen walked around for half the show in a skimpy sweater and no coat…then later on she had on a thin leather jacket. OLTL definitely needs a continuity person.
Kokokobylko writes: “Where is Blair's wedding dress from? Is it available to the public?”
Dear Kokokobylko: I do not know where
Blair’s wedding dress came from, but I believe that the person in charge of
wardrobe at the show is Susan Gammie and perhaps you should write to her at:
One Life to Live/ABC Daytime, Capital Cities, ABC, Inc.,
77 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023. Hope this helps. Blair’s clothes are
great, aren’t they? She has the best wardrobe on the show.
Rubyivie writes: “Is there any realistic hope of Mark Derwin returning? Is the Bonnie Hunt Show going to continue after this season?”
Dear Rubyivie: Girl, if I had any clue as to the plans for Mark Derwin or what the show’s thoughts are I would be a very happy camper. Sadly, I have no clue. It’s no secret that I’d give up just about anything to have Mark back on the show. I do hear from several sources that the reason the show has not recast the role of Ben or killed off the character is that they are waiting to see if Bonnie’s show is renewed, thereby having a chance to get Mark to come back. Last year it was well into the late spring as I recall before it was announced that Life With Bonnie would be coming back for a second season, so it does seem like they could be waiting a long time to see if Mark would be available, not to mention if he would even consider coming back. Nobody wants Mark back more than I do (I know that the Ben and Viki fans will dispute this as they want him back just as badly…lol) but I have serious doubts as to whether or not he would come back, even if Life With Bonnie were to be cancelled. At this point, I would definitely go for a recast of Ben, but if they told me Mark would come back…I’d wait…and wait…and wait.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2003
