| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….Before I say anything about last week’s happenings on One Life To Live, I’d like to take a minute to congratulate two very fine actresses on their well-deserved Emmy nominations. I couldn’t be happier for Ilene Kristin and Kathy Brier, whose portrayals of Roxy and Marcie contribute so much to my enjoyment of the show every day. It’s nice to see these nominations for OLTL. I would have loved to see a nomination go to little Kristin Alderson and of course, I think Erika Slezak’s name should be a permanent fixture on that Best Actress list but I’ll be satisfied with what we got. Congratulations also go out to all the “behind the scenes” people involved in garnering several technical award nominations. It’s nice to see everyone recognized.
Now, if they happened to be giving out an Emmy for “Most Obnoxious Character Dominating Way Too Much Airtime”…come on…you know who I’d give it to…hands down it would go to Kevin Buchanan…he’d have no competition at all. And of course, the Supporting award in that same category would go to Blair Cramer. Could I be any more disgusted from seeing these two almost every day? NOPE! Kevin spent so much of his time at Blair’s bedside that they should have put him on the list for x-rays, blood work and three meals a day…either that or take both of them to surgery so that they will no longer be attached at the hip. I can’t stand to look at Kevin any more. He doesn’t even know why people are telling him to go home. It’s gotten to the point where every time I see his smug, grinning face (which he saves only for Blair) it makes me flinch. He has so efficiently knocked Rex off the top of my list of annoyances that Rex hardly makes the list any more. At least I don’t have to see Rex almost every day for almost a whole hour. Where did Kevin learn that being obsessed with another woman and badly hurting your pregnant wife was acceptable behavior? And Blair is no better. She adores the attention, even from her cousin’s husband and can’t seem to find her big mouth to tell him to hit the road. She sure finds enough of a voice to scream at Dorian. Kevin even made the doctor wait to examine Blair while he sat on the bed comforting the poor woman and trying to convince her that she was raped. Was he there? I loved seeing Addie, but I was not impressed that Kevin brought her to the hospital…it was just his way of spending more time with Blair and he couldn’t get Addie out of there fast enough when she started singing Todd’s praises.
I have to say that the most infuriating scenes all week were the ones where Kevin took the custody papers to Todd and Blair let him do it. I thought she might have a glimmer of decency left and stop him, but she disappointed me. Kevin was over the top in his cruelty towards Todd. He enjoyed it so much and it was a hateful thing for him to do. I don’t blame Todd a bit for going after Blair and telling Evangeline to take the gloves off and go after her. I won’t feel sorry for her…that’s for sure.
Roxy never lets me down. I loved her scenes with Viki. They are the funniest combination on the show next to Dorian and David. How cute was Roxy when Viki went to Natalie’s house before Cristian’s memorial service? Roxy was so sweet consoling Viki about Ben with a hug and then rubbing her shoulders. Viki just accepts Roxy for what she is and goes with the flow and some of the faces she makes in response to Roxy’s antics are hysterical. And could anyone else be as irreverent as Roxy and get away with it? My hand flew to my mouth just like Natalie’s did when Roxy got up at the memorial service in her sequined tee shirt (after all, Cris did buy it for her) and started plugging away for business at Foxy Roxy’s. It must have been the black mini skirt with all those fringes that won me over…LOL…she’s totally adorable.
Speaking of Ben…well you knew I had to somewhere in this column…I was very happy to see Roxy and Nora both speaking to Viki about him and Viki telling Nora that the doctors don’t know if he’ll wake up again but she’ll take what she can get. It sure doesn’t sound to me like Viki is a woman intent on moving on any time soon. And the fact that Ben remains a topic of conversation surely isn’t a bad thing. Maybe fingers, toes and anything else I may have crossed that is turning blue is going to pay off one of these days. Hey, if I have to watch Kevin every day I might as well have something pleasant to think about while he’s testing my patience.
Do you think it took Todd more than 15 minutes to break out of the prison infirmary and scoot down the pike to Llanview? It sure didn’t seem like it did. Maybe he just called himself a limo to take him to the hospital to see Blair. With the way people bust out of prison and walk out of the mental institution in that town, I’d be afraid to answer my door if I lived there…and I’m a born and bred New Yorker. There are a lot more nuts living in Llanview.
And speaking of nuts…I’ll say it…the Music Box Killer storyline has me on the edge of my seat. I was wondering if Haver knew Eve McBain or if he was just going to drug and hypnotize her like he did to Jessica. Silly me…he did it the old fashioned way…he just abducted her and tied her up. Good thinking doc. And couldn’t you just tell that Haver was setting up nearly the entire Llanview PD, sending most of them to the docks with Jessica while he made a play for Natalie as they looked the other way? And how stupid was that cop who was guarding Natalie? When she told him to go into the bathroom so she could change, the brainchild should have just gone out into the hallway. And what good does it do to have cops in two places across the hall from Natalie and Jessica if they can’t see what the heck is going on? I’ll bet Starsky and Hutch would never be so careless…LOL.
How do you like Shannon McBain? She’s certainly going to be a firecracker in Llanview, isn’t she? She could be fun to watch…and she could be a real pain in the neck…I hope they write her a good storyline and please, please, please…I beg you writers…don’t hook her up with Rex…I don’t need to see any more of him than I already do.
On to Dorian and David…they continue to delight me. She’s still mostly a pain in the neck, but paired with him…wonderful. Every time I see him on the screen I know I’m going to have a good time. I loved the bit with the dueling pre-nuptial agreements. I am going to love seeing David at a real job. Those two are certainly perfectly matched as con artists. Dorian is no fool and David appreciates that she’s his equal in the dirty dealing department. And I just about died laughing when Viki came to visit Dorian, had herself a good hoot about Dorian’s new “daughter” Adriana…and then when she left and David invited her to the wedding her face was priceless. As if that wasn’t funny enough, I nearly fell off the chair when David said to Dorian, “Is Viki upset? I always thought she had a thing for me.” Oh Lordy…that man says the most hysterical things with a straight face. I wish he had said something like that to Viki’s face. I love him to pieces.
Shame on Asa for cheating with Nigel at poker….and bravo to Nigel for winning that hand. It was great to see him stand his ground with Asa who nastily continues to vow to destroy Nigel’s dream. Go Nigel!
I think they could have come up with something a bit more original for Cristian than a coma. I mean after all…Ben is in a coma, Blair just had a brain tumor…couldn’t they think up something different than a head trauma for Cristian? Too bad Natalie didn’t stop long enough to think things through…if anyone could have figured out Haver’s game, I would think she would be sharp enough to do it. In any case, I wait with baited breath to see just how they are going to capture Haver. He’s creepier by the minute and I love it! Maybe when Todd is free next week, he can find him!
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Sharon writes: “Blair got rid of a tumor and inherited a Kevin! That guy is a pest to say the least. Does he ever leave her alone! I'm sick of looking at him. Viki needs to tell him to back off. I turned it off today so I don't have to look at him. He acts like a lovesick dog! What a creep! Blair doesn't have any more sense about him now than she did before. I hope Todd gets out and punches his lights out.”
Dear Sharon: Very well said…Blair did get rid of a tumor and inherited a Kevin. I don’t think I can describe him better than you did. Somehow I’m just not able to turn it off. Maybe I have a serious need to be annoyed every day for an hour…that’s got to be it. And maybe I stayed tuned in the hopes that someone will knock him down enough pegs so he won’t get up any time soon…yeah, that’s got to be it!
Jessica writes: “I would just like to say that I totally agree with you about Jen/Rex. I think that they are overdoing it. Personally, I like Jen's new friendship with Riley. Both of these characters are screwed up and they both need a friend. Soaps hardly ever have platonic relationships, so it’s a refreshing change. What do you think of Riley and Jen's new relationship?”
Dear Jessica: I don’t really have any patience left for Jessica. Riley has been pretty much a bore up to this point, so if they can spice him up and make him worth watching and turn Jen into at least a little bit of a human being, then I might be able to tolerate them together. I always hope for the best, but every time I think Jen is growing up even a little bit, she goes and does something else to take 10 steps backwards. I find it hard to believe that a little talk from Viki would make her turn her life around…but hope springs eternal….I guess.
Debby writes: “Could you please tell me the name of the song Marcie and Al danced to on Valentines Day?”
Dear Debby: The song was “You Make Me Feel Brand New”…sung by Simply Red. It was original done by The Stylistics back in the 70’s.
Ann writes: “Since we're looking at impossible to get recasts for Ben, my choice would be Mark Harmon. Not that he's available, either! I'd certainly like to think that, if Mark Derwin won't return, that there's someone out there who *is* available and could fill Ben's shoes.”
Dear Ann: Although I am not really in favor of a blonde Ben, I do feel that Mark Harmon would make a delicious leading man in any role. He’s got the right combination of strong man and cute personality. Someone else wrote and thought another good choice would be Joe Penny and I had to vigorously nod my head at that suggestion. Joe Penny has played very sweet, romantic and sexy leading men and I’ve seen him play a member of a mob family who was chilling. And I agree, there has to be someone out there who can satisfy the need for Ben. Someone needs to look harder and I’d be delighted to have that job.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
