"Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live

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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….Well, once again the big story of the week was the lovely Dr. Stephen Haver and having him apprehended as the Music Box Killer….or HAVE THEY finally put an end to his lunacy? You just want to scream when they start throwing around that insanity defense, don’t you? Oh sure, he’s insane, but with Llanview’s luck, he’ll wind up in St. Ann’s in a semi-private padded room with someone very sane that he can annoy, like Addie. She could probably have figured him out a lot faster than the Llanview PD and the FBI did. Maybe she could change places with Jessica…giving poor, trusting Jessica a rest and letting Addie straighten out a few people on the outside.

Haver’s mother sure was a piece of work, wasn’t she? Wow, talk about a candidate for Mother of the Year. I would have loved to see her confront her baby boy…maybe we’ll still get that chance. I hope so. 

Matthew Ashford continues to do a superb job as the killer. He certainly has that chilling “don’t mess with me or I’ll slice you up” persona down pat. I surely wouldn’t hesitate to toss a Guest Actor Emmy at him next year. Do they still give those out? He sure showed us last week how sharp and sick Haver’s mind is…from tying Eve McBain up and leaving her to drown…to snagging Natalie at the airport and calling John to let him know how he single handedly roped in his mother and Natalie. It was riveting to watch and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I also thought Michael Easton did a great job as John. I have to say it…I like this guy more all the time. Some people say they are annoyed that the Music Box Killer storyline was altered to center around John McBain’s arrival in Llanview…and I say, BRAVO! This story was going nowhere until they built it around John. The entire storyline was designed around the killings of several young women who really had no connection to anything we cared about and when it became personal for John, it became more than interesting to watch as far as I’m concerned. I know I complain about the writers more than enough, but this time they get my congratulations on writing some great drama. 

I did have to laugh a little bit when they finally apprehended Haver and John so nonchalantly hit the button on the detonator to stop the bomb from going off. I would have thought that with all the care they took to surround the hotel with all the cops and FBI agents, they would have brought in someone from the bomb squad to check out the bomb instead of John. I mean, after all, would you have trusted Haver not to have done something to that detonator to make the wrong button seem like the right one to push? LOL…maybe I’ve been trying to dig into his sick mind for too long. In any case, it was certainly a nice touch when John and Natalie thought the bomb was deactivated and then it started beeping and counting down again. Since Bo had just walked out the door I was expecting John to yell for him to come back with the boys from the bomb squad. Guess not…I guess in addition to being a major babe and an FBI super-agent, John is also well educated in the workings of explosives. What a guy!

And now…on to the two major dunderheads of daytime…Kevin and Todd. I was wondering how Todd was going to get out of jail and I’m glad we finally found out what the deal was with the juror who had the hearing aid problem during the trial. So…Todd is getting out of jail and will be on the warpath to take Kevin down. Big surprise! I have to say that in the past I always dreaded Todd’s schemes because they always had such disastrous results…but to be honest, short of murder, I don’t really know what he can do to Kevin that would bother me that much. The only problem I have with Todd going into his retaliation mode is that Viki is right in the middle of it all…loving her brother whom she wants to strangle most of the time…and loving her son, whom she SHOULD want to strangle most of the time. I heard a rumor that Todd was going to somehow involve Kevin’s son, Duke, in his plans. I hope he knows what he’s doing…but of course, he doesn’t have a clue. 

And Kevin…Kevin, Kevin, Kevin…I would love to stop talking about how horrible a human being he’s become…but every single week he gives me more reasons to want to tie him up and let Todd, or someone, knock some sense into him. Did you laugh as hard as I did when he finally took his eyes off of Blair long enough to wonder what happened to Kelly? And talk about the pot calling the kettle black…my mouth fell open when he was worried about Kelly possibly going to see the guy she had the affair with back in Texas. Give me a break Kevin. While he’s worrying about his wife and talking about getting on with his life, his wife and new baby, he’s putting Blair in charge of his new magazine, making sure he gets to spend even more time with her. Blair thinks SHE’S got a headache…I’VE got a headache from having to watch her with Kevin. She pushes him away with one hand and pulls him back with the other. Nice way to treat cousin Kelly.

And what about Kelly? This girl has jumped out of the plane without a parachute for sure. What is she thinking? I was hoping that once Heather Tom took over the role of Kelly they would hopefully write Kelly more like the character truly should be but unfortunately, they are making Kelly even less recognizable than she was when Tracy Melchior played the part. Heather Tom is a very good actress and her performance on the day Kelly lost the baby was wonderful, but it’s painful to watch what has become of Kelly. It’s hard to believe she’s even thinking about cooking up some sinister plot with Paul to get a baby. I was hoping that they would make Kevin a bit more compassionate like he used to be and make Kelly more of the woman she used to be and these two could have a life together that we’d want to watch….guess not!

Old Asa was quite the character last week, wasn’t he? He had me laughing so hard when he confronted Kevin about ordering $3 Million worth of new computers for Buchanan Enterprises and Kevin so much as told him that he needed to jump into the 21^st century. I loved it when Asa told him that he cancelled the order because they didn’t need new computers…well heck, back in his day he did business with a glass of bourbon and branch. Well, come on, isn’t that the way Donald Trump and Bill Gates do business? Sounds like the way to amass a great fortune to me…LOL!

And what about Asa heading down to the police station with his trusty old six-shooter, wanting John to use it to kill Haver? I’m with Asa when it comes to Haver…Let’s string him up!  Did he think the FBI had a shortage of weapons? Or did he think no one would know where John got that gun? And is it Asa waiting down by the jail cell taking aim at Haver? I don’t think so…I’m thinking it’s probably someone else who wants revenge…but who?

I would have liked to see all the dealings and negotiations between Viki, Kevin and Asa when Buchanan Enterprises bought The Sun and then Viki bought it to merge it with The Banner. That would have been a lot more interesting to watch than Rex, once again making a play for Lindsay to retaliate against Jen for turning her back on him. I loved Nora walking in on Lindsay and Rex in the ladies’ room. Too bad Lindsay still has her warped little way of looking at things…thinking Nora would be jealous that two men have the hots for her and Nora has no one. I’m sure Nora is crying her eyes out every night that Rex doesn’t want her and Daniel probably isn’t interested either…right.

And of course, we must talk about David and Dorian. I have to say that David sure seems serious about his feelings and devotion to Dorian. And hey, who could love her more than another con artist who is definitely her equal? Well, maybe Mel…but then she’d have to learn to behave herself. I guess she’s going to go through with the wedding. After all, he did buy her a beautiful dress…and what more does Dorian need besides a great dress, her fortune in diamonds and her daughter’s $30 Million? She’s a happy girl. And let’s face it ladies (excuse us ladies for a moment, gentlemen)…it’s hard to look at David Vickers, especially all decked out in a tux and that black dress coat and not be the least bit tempted. I don’t blame Dorian a bit. I somehow have a vague recollection of Ben in that very same type of outfit several times and not being able to concentrate on anything else…BUT, I digress…sorry. When it comes to David, I’d definitely have to agree with Roxy when she calls him “a tall, dark glass of love” and says, “Call the butcher, there’s a slab of beefcake on the loose.” She sure has a way with words and she was right on the money this time. She was sure ready to help David out with his “pre-wedding jitterbugs.”

Did you find it as hysterical as I did when Blair so adamantly begged Dorian not to marry David, telling her she’d only get hurt? Um, excuse me Blair…but, how many times did you marry Todd?

How wonderful was it to see John Sykes back again? I miss him so much. It was a major mistake destroying John and Rae. She was never the same after he left and I am sad that we got to see a glimpse of them happy together again and now they’re gone. I’d love to see them both back some day…soon.

Well, the latest rumor, or spoiler, or whatever you want to call it is that Viki is going to suffer from yet another illness. I didn’t realize there were any left that she hasn’t had. I guess having DID, a stroke, and breast cancer wasn’t enough. After all, we must keep the major heroines of daytime sick, kidnapped, or desperately trying to be with the love of their life. Actually, I’d gladly endure anything they felt like throwing at Viki if they promised me that Ben would be there to see her through it. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Do you? Oh, and by the way, does anyone know why Eve McBain referred to Viki as Viki Buchanan? Someone correct that woman…fast. The last time I looked, Viki was still very much Mrs. Davidson.

See ya next week...
Jill Berry

FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS

Just a note:  I want to apologize for something I printed last week. In an answer to an email I received from a fan who was unhappy with Jen and Riley, I answered that I was tired of “Jessica” and wasn’t too hopeful for that storyline. Since I don’t ever, ever, ever bash any actors personally, I wanted to make it clear that I meant to say I was tired of “Jen” as in Jen Rappaport, not Jessica Morris. My dislike of Jen has nothing to do with the actress…my gripe is with what I feel is a tiresome character…and I think my mind was on Jessica Buchanan when I meant to direct my comment to the character, Jen Rappaport. Sorry to Ms. Morris.

Stephanie writes: “I’m a big fan of OLTL, and since they did not find Cristian’s body, do you think that David would ever come back to the show?  I hope so... I miss him.  He is so hot.  Anyway, I also thought killing off Al was dumb.  What they should done was do to him what they did to Ben…put him in a coma, and then have him wake up on Valentine’s Day.  That would have been romantic.  Then he would still be Al.  I just really miss David.  Do you have any idea what made him want to leave?”

Dear Stephanie:  It doesn’t look like David Fumero will be returning to the show any time soon as far as I know.  To my knowledge, he wanted to leave the show at least a year before he actually did and Gary Tomlin, who was Executive Producer at the time, convinced him to stay on for about another year.  Then I supposed he was more than ready to leave and try something else.  As far as Al goes…I completely agree...it was dumb to kill him off, but I think it’s more than enough to have Ben in a coma.  They could have come up with something better than killing off Al, even if they wanted to have the actor leave.  He didn’t have to die…just like Gabrielle didn’t have to die.  Both were mistakes in my opinion.

Peg writes: “It's so nice to see Antonio clean shaven since his return from vacation. Now, if you could do the same for John and add a haircut that would be ideal.”

Dear Peg:  Since I don’t have control over anything that happens on One Life To Live, I’m sorry but I can’t help you with anyone’s appearance on the show.  I will agree that Antonio does look better clean-shaven.  I do like his hair longer and curly, which a lot of people have expressed a dislike for.  As far as John goes…I’m very sorry but I cannot agree with you there.  I have no trouble looking at him just the way he is.

Erin writes: “I am a loyal fan who has watched the show for at least 25 years and I am very upset with the announcement that Dr. Have is the MBK. Are they really trying to drive away long time viewers with this horrible discovery?  I don't understand why they make this killer's identity so obvious?  Not to bring up another soap, but take for instance the fact that the serial killer on Days is the most popular and otherwise upstanding citizen in Salem, Marlena.  I think it was a complete shock to everyone when her identity was revealed.  OLTL writers needed to do something like that with our show.  I am a fan of Matt Ashford, however, to bring him on only to make him the killer is ridiculous.  They have plenty of other talented actors to utilize as the killer instead of someone we know virtually nothing about. For example, to see someone like Kevin or even Asa as the killer would be more surprising and also add an element of suspense the show now seems to be lacking. Also, I was mad at the online reports before the scenes were even aired stating that Haver was indeed the killer.  Let me know if you agree with my feelings!”

Dear Erin:  I have to say that I was not happy at first when I read on line that Haver was the killer, but I now definitely feel that the story has gotten 100% better since it was revealed.  I can’t really see them making someone like Asa or Kevin the killer because they are characters that most people don’t want to see leave the show and in most cases, a serial killer doesn’t hang around after they are found out.  As far as Days Of Our Lives goes, I was a huge fan for over 20 years and quit watching a few years back, but I have been following the serial killer storyline and I think it’s just ridiculous.  When they finally resolve that mess, there won’t be anyone left in Salem for anyone to care about watching.  Also, I don’t currently see OLTL or any other soap making the most upstanding and well-loved person in town a serial killer because although I often want to knock our writers over the head for what they write, no other writer on daytime is demented enough to kill off every beloved person in town like Jim Reilly is doing.  I don’t know how they’re going to get Marlena off the hook for murdering almost everyone in her life that she loves, but I’m sure it will be at least as unbelievable as her being possessed by the devil, as she was years ago.  James Reilly’s writing is “other worldly” to say the least and I don’t miss having that kind of writing on One Life To Live.  I don’t enjoy my soaps leaning towards the supernatural and Days bringing back all those dead characters as ghosts is as silly as it gets.  And if they get Marlena out of this mess with any semblance of reality or believability…I’ll eat my hat.

 © Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004