| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….Wow…it’s a good thing I don’t need to have clear sinuses to write this today since my head is about to explode from all the crying. Yes, that’s right…don’t tell me you didn’t expect to hear that I shed a few tears during the last two episodes. Let me just say this to THE POWERS THAT BE at One Life To Live. People, if you’d just spend the rest of the year trying to make the show half as good as you do the specialty shows, you’d have a Top 3 show on your hands. I wish they would realize that fact. The Valentine’s Day shows far exceeded my expectations…and I WAS expecting a lot. They were wonderful. I even enjoyed the characters that I usually don’t care much about. The shows were beautifully done and the scenes flowed together in such a way that I surprisingly wanted to see what happened to all the players and not just the ones I’ve been waiting a year and a half to see reunited. Any ideas who I’m referring to? Be brave loyal readers…this commentary is not for the feint of heart, nor for those who are easily nauseated by the effusive gushing of a devoted fan. Fear Factor fans will be able to handle it…I think. Hey, I’ve patiently waited a year and a half for a few great scenes. You must let me rave…I insist.
I don’t know where to begin…but you know I’ll give it a shot. Ben and Viki…it was my dream come true to see them together again and the dream was slightly cracked but definitely NOT shattered knowing he was going to slip back into the coma. Putting Ben and Viki together again only proves to anyone and everyone in charge that they have been so foolish to keep them apart for so long. Mark and Erika fit together as if they hadn’t even been apart for 18 minutes, let alone 18 months. I cried from the moment I saw them together and didn’t stop until the end…happy memories, perhaps sad times to come…it doesn’t matter…I raised Kleenex’ stock for sure. Everything about their reunion was wonderful. I was sad that we didn’t get more, but happy considering that Mark Derwin was only able to give one day of his time for taping those two episodes. The flashbacks were beautiful…the funny banter…the ease they always have with each other…the happiness on their faces, which I choose to believe transcended the acting and was a reflection of their joy at working together again…the unmatched adorable presence of Mark Derwin in their scenes together and Erika’s timeless beauty…the romance…the devotion. Wasn’t it just like Ben to really want to say nothing more than the fact that he wanted Viki to be happy? Please…someone stop me…I could go on forever. See, I told you I could become nauseating! You also know I just can’t help myself.
A friend of mind had a suggestion for keeping Ben and Viki together. She figured that if Ben had to sink back into his coma, then one solution was for him to invite Viki to join him in bed and say, “Come on Blondie, let’s coma together.” Nice try Janice, but then we’d have to be screaming at TPTB to bring them BOTH back…lol.
I cannot say enough about Erika Slezak…but I never can. To say it gives me goose bumps to watch her in action is such a gross understatement. Just the fact that she could sit there talking to an unconscious person and evoke a river of tears out of me should have amazed me, but it didn’t. She never disappoints me and her portrayal of Viki stoically accepting that Ben “might not be able to wake up tomorrow” was beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time. If, sadly, we never get Mark Derwin back on a regular basis, at some point there really needs to be a recast of Ben because although the Ben/Blondie magic was created by Mark and Erika and probably cannot be duplicated, I can’t believe that Erika can’t create new magic if necessary with another actor. Of course, Mark’s shoes might as well be Shaquil O’Neal’s…I mean REALLY BIG SHOES TO FILL! I was totally geared up for Ben to ask Viki to move on and find someone new…and I was pleasantly surprised that he did it through Megan, which to me was great because I was wondering how Viki would agree to move on…and it worried me because Viki doesn’t break promises…but happy me…SHE DIDN’T PROMISE TO MOVE ON…SHE DIDN’T PROMISE BEN ANYTHING...!!!
I was glad that Ben wasn’t going to stay awake long enough to see his entire family and find out that his brother Sam was gone. That would have been more tears than I could handle. Thank goodness for small favors.
I loved seeing Megan again…her scenes with Luna were adorable but her scenes with Viki evoked as many tears from me as Viki’s scenes with Ben. When Megan told Viki to remember the small things…like a kiss on the cheek at the stove and a flower from her garden…well, breathing got pretty difficult for me. Jessica Tuck did a most wonderful job and I loved seeing her again.
And speaking of Luna, I will miss her so much. She was the brightest spot for me on many days when it was hard to watch that crazy Al/Marcie storyline. Susan Batten was priceless and having her back was a real prize. It just proves to me again that so much of the talent we used to have on One Life To Live is sorely missed.
The Al/Marcie relationship was done great justice on Valentine’s Day. They almost made me forget the storyline we’ve been forced to swallow over the past few months. It was sweet and romantic and also brought quite a few tears to my eyes. I loved the way Natalie released the piece of lace from the roof just as Al was praying for a way to find Marcie….and the lace fell at his feet with the matchbook underneath telling him where to find Marcie. That was very well done…nice touch. It seems that Kathy Brier has quite the talent for evoking compassionate tears from her viewers, like me, just the way Erika Slezak does and that is the most tremendous compliment I can give to Kathy. When Marcie talks about her love for Al, it’s like hearing Viki talk about her love for Ben. Kathy is wonderful to watch and listen to and she brightens any scene she’s in with her realistic and heartfelt portrayal of Marcie. I love watching her. I don’t like the idea of Al having to lose all his memories in this storyline and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but if anyone can pull off making it work, I’m counting on Kathy to make sense of it. I was surprise to find out that Marcie, too, would lose those last few memories of the truth about Al. To tell you the truth, that’s just another silly monkey wrench thrown into the mix. I know it’s supposed to mean she’s moving on with her life, but I don’t think she needed to lose the memory of what happened that helped her make sense of everything.
All in all, I shall happily admit that I was very satisfied with the gift I was given in seeing Ben and Viki together again, if only for a short time. Dare I say that it will have to hold me until Ben is back in Viki’s life permanently? Hey, sorry to the detractors, but THE DREAM LIVES!!! Ok, now I’m moving on…stop applauding!
As far as the rest of the show goes, it was a pretty good week. Let’s start with the Music Box Killer. I am so ready for nasty old Dr. Haver to be caught and strung up. He’s doing a real number on John and sending him that tape of his wife’s murder was just horrible. And now he’s got Dr. Rae. Oh boy, somewhere along the line the character of Dr. Rae really got screwed up, didn’t it? Too bad they didn’t make her smarter at the end like I think she really should have been. And I guess Haver is going to mess with Jessica before he’s gone, too. I wanted to kick him when he told her to watch out for John McBain because he could become unstable…bahahahaha…can you say “the pot calling the kettle black?” I was glad that John told Natalie the truth about why he was pushing her away. At least we don’t have to have a silly misunderstanding between them, even if Natalie is offended by being pushed away. She knows why he’s doing it.
Now, on to the courtroom. I have to say that I’ve always loved seeing Nora in action in the courtroom, but Evangeline crushed her like a bug. I agree with Todd…it’s obvious why she’s never lost a case before. The way she systematically destroyed the testimony of Dorian and then did the same to Kevin was brilliant. At this point Blair’s case sure does look shaky at best…and from that dream she had where she admitted she loved Todd (big surprise)…who knows where it will go from here? I know she’s going to testify, but I figured she’d waiver, too. I had to laugh during her dream when Starr was taken away in the orange prison jumpsuit. If they don’t either wise up her parents or keep her away from them, she’s going to have to get used to wearing that color when she grows up.
We had another case of creative geography again the other day when River and Adriana were in South Carolina getting married and Dorian and David were able to fly there from Pennsylvania in time to stop the wedding. I’ll bet it took them all of 15 minutes to get there. But then, how hard could it have been to find Willie’s Wedding World?
What about David proposing to Dorian on Valentine’s Day? What a novel approach…stealing a diamond from your lover’s necklace to make an engagement ring. That boy is thrifty if nothing else, isn’t he? I know it appears that he really loves Dorian, but I think he half loves her and is half scamming her. After all, he wouldn’t be David if he went completely straight over the love of a woman…way too boring. And…VA VA VOOM…what was with Dorian in that tight, red, almost blouse on Valentine’s Day? She looked like she wanted to take over where the Mayflower Madame left off. She did wear it well, though.
Good old Asa married Renee for the third time and honestly I’m glad we didn’t have to see the wedding. I love Renee but I’m kind of sick of seeing Asa getting married. It was pretty funny when Asa told Nora she was definitely NOT INVITED! She didn’t seem too upset to me, especially when she said, “Tell Renee I’ll pray for her.”
I am surprised to say that I liked seeing Kevin and Kelly together this week. Someone asked me if I thought Kevin was changing and becoming “Kevin” again. I really would like to see Kevin and Kelly make a go of their marriage and I like seeing glimpses of the Kevin I used to love…but I can only see it working and being tolerable for me if Blair is completely taken out of the equation…and I don’t think that’s going to happen. Blair has to stop calling on Kevin to save her and Kevin has to tell her to take a hike if she continues the way she’s been behaving. I don’t like the way Blair is handling herself, but I have to say that it’s not entirely her fault. Wasn’t it only a few weeks ago that Kevin was telling her he was in love with her? Then, when she decided to cash in on those feelings he went back to his wife. They are all in need of a good therapist’s couch…and I DO NOT mean Dr. Rae’s.
I read that Dr. Rae was actually not going to die. I hope it’s true and that Linda Dano leaves the show another way…I don’t want to see her killed off.
Is someone going to tell Bo that he’s not such a young stud any more (although I still love the guy) and give him some healthier food to eat? LOL…the guy lives on aggravation and burgers…a terrible combination for a man his age. I’d like to see his reaction to Marcie trying to push a nice, healthy salad on him one day. If anyone could do it, Marcie could.
Did anyone else find that pouring rain during the Valentine’s Day episode totally obnoxious? It was so loud I could hardly hear anything else, even though the actors were raising their voices to be heard. I was so happy when the rain stopped…it was a bit much, even for a storm. And how the heck did Marcie dry off and get her hair styled after being in that downpour without an umbrella? They must have a hair dryer, as well as a clothing dryer at Capricorn.
Did you think it was nice of Rex to give Jen that photo of her with her dad? Not me. I think he got exactly what he wanted out if it…he got to upset her enough so that he could go after her and console her. He knew just how she’d react and he took advantage of it. He knows how to push all of her buttons and today she said it perfectly when she agreed to believe he was sincere and she said, “I must be the biggest idiot in the world.” Yes Jen, you certainly are. OH, and did we really need to see so much of Jen and Rex in the last two days. They were an unwelcome intrusion for me on an otherwise very nice Valentine’s Day.
Before I close, I would not be true to myself if I did not address the fan, or fans, who have spent the better part of the last five years blatantly dissing Ben and Viki and their fans. Now don’t get me wrong…there have been plenty of storylines that I didn’t like and have made my opinions known…but it’s a totally different thing to spread nasty rumors and create fake spoilers just to upset a group of fans who have done nothing except stand behind a couple they love while others take sick pleasure in riling them up. This applies to all fan bases whose message boards are disrupted by unwelcome posters who live to upset people….not just the Ben and Viki fans. I always wonder about these people who claim to have quit watching a show because it’s so terrible, yet somehow their lives revolve around knowing exactly what happens on every episode…hmmm…I guess they’re clairvoyant. Ever since it was announced that Mark Derwin would be returning as Ben for a short while, plenty of people have wondered if this was finally the end of Ben’s life. I, too, spent plenty of time wondering what would happen…and if it weren’t that he was returning on Valentine’s Day, I would have felt more strongly that Ben would die. The thing I have a serious problem with is the fact that people (or one or two sad individuals who use multiple screen names) spent a lot of time on a lot of message boards professing to know the exact day that Mark Derwin taped the two shows and “confirming” that he had taped Ben’s death scenes. Now that we all know Ben is not dead, those same people are backpedaling since their information was obviously a ploy to annoy…saying that the plot changed and the Ben and Viki fans got lucky. I wonder how long it took these lovely folks to come up with that ridiculous way of weaseling out of their “sure thing” spoiler. Here’s my advice to those who are now home mourning the fact that Ben lived. We rational fans will go on with our lives and enjoy the show…you people go out and find a life you can enjoy without trying to mess with us normal folks who just want to enjoy their show.
So, here’s to the next time Ben wakes up….
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Jeff writes: “In your opinion, of Asa's 10 wives, which one woman was his obsession, or greatest love?”
Dear Jeff: I think that at the time he was involved with each one, Asa was his usual obsessed, domineering, obnoxious self and he married them all for different reasons, most of the time not for love. However, if you want to talk about his greatest love, I’d have to say it’s Renee, who is now Mrs. Asa Buchanan for the third time. Although I tend to want to give Renee a wake-up slap every time she lets Asa back into her life, I have to say that she’s the only one who could possibly handle him and still stand on her own two feet. No matter what, she truly loves the old coot. No matter whom he gets involved with, Asa always has Renee in his heart and wants her back. I love Renee and would love to see more of Patricia Elliot…she’s a wonderful actress and it’s a shame she was put on recurring status. At least she got to see her son again…and awake.
Carolyn writes: “Where's the real Todd Manning? Where's the real Jessica? I want Todd back. Why is he no longer on the show?”
Dear Carolyn: Are you asking about these characters literally or figuratively? The real Todd Manning, as far as the character goes is currently on the show of course, being played by Trevor St. John. Roger Howarth, who is always associated with the role of Todd is currently on As The World Turns. The real Jessica is currently being played by Bree Williamson…and Erin Torpey, who originated the role has moved to the west coast and has done some small roles on primetime television. For some people, the recasts have not been rewarding and satisfying. I personally have no problem with the recasts. I find the current Todd much easier to take and I find him very appealing most of the time…and I think Bree is doing a good job as Jessica.
Michael and Linda write: “Could the killer be Bo? The altered voice sometimes has a touch of Bo...and sometimes there is just a flicker of 'oddness' when talking about the killer...Bo kind of looks off, and when Asa was reaming him....and when Roxy reamed into Asa about 'Bo not doing enough'......God forbid it is him....but WHAT DO YOU THINK of THAT?”
Dear Michael and Linda: Ahhh…an easy one to answer. Do I think the killer could be Bo? NO…NEVER…NO WAY! Even if we didn’t already know the killer was Dr. Haver, I’d never think it could be Bo. I would never base my opinion on Roxy or Asa’s reactions…lol. Asa is always harping about something he knows nothing about and Roxy…well, Roxy looks at things from “her own little prospective.” Bo is one of the good guys…and some things will never change…thank goodness!!!
Myra writes: “When and where will the OLTL fan luncheon be held this year? Can anyone attend or do they need to be a fan club member? How much does the luncheon cost? I would love to attend because I am just a few hours from NYC.”
Dear Myra: This year’s fan club luncheon will be on Saturday, August 21st at the Roosevelt Hotel, Madison Avenue at 45th St., New York City. The cost of the luncheon is $95.00 and you do not need to be a fan club member to attend. You can contact Carol Dickson, the fan club president by mail at 948 N. Main St., Glassboro, New Jersey, 08028. Her email address is: carol@amcoltlfanclubs.com. Come on down. It’s always a fun day.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
