| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….I’m going to begin this week’s commentary with a famous old phrase, “Don’t believe everything you read.” I’d like someone to tell me why several sites on the Internet are still prefacing comments about Viki with phrases like, “now that she is honoring her promise to Ben to move on…..” (I won’t mention the name, but one magazine in particular continues to print things like this, as if they saw something when Ben “resurfaced” back on Valentine’s Day that plainly showed Viki agreeing to move on at his request.) They even printed a list of eligible men for Viki and I died laughing…the list included Daniel, Bo, Asa, Clint and Larry. Now, I live in New York City…watch One Life To Live on Channel 7, ABC at 2:00 p.m. every day…and for the life of me I can’t understand how I missed that major “Viki moving on” tidbit of information on those two days when I distinctly remember sitting closer than usual to the television and turning the volume up louder than usual because as we all know…this girl doesn’t miss a millisecond when Ben is on her screen. I just know they were watching a different show than I was watching.
I hope the people from that magazine were watching last week when I counted at least five references to Ben, including the one where Viki had just come from visiting him at the hospital (which she mentions doing 100 times more now than before Valentine’s Day) and ran into Kevin, Kelly and little Ace. I hope they were listening when Viki told them that she had just told Ben all about the new baby and that hopefully one day he’d get to meet him…not to mention Kevin happily saying that Ben would surely love to meet the newest Buchanan. And what about earlier that day when Jessica and Viki were talking about Viki’s illness and Jess asked if Viki was going to tell Ben about her heart. Viki’s answer was my favorite line of the week when she said, “I’m certainly going to tell him what’s in it.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but does this sound like a woman who is moving on? Ben remains as alive a member of that family as if he were walking among them. As long as he is breathing, he will be a major part of Viki’s life, as much as anything else she has going on. Viki moving on may have been something that was possibly going to happen…but it didn’t happen and it makes no sense to keep discussing something as if we saw it happen when it didn’t.
Ok, now I have vented…let’s move on…STOP CHEERING!
Well, at least we found out what Haver did with those pills he stole from Jessica’s purse. I was very happy that they figured it out and John was taken off the hook before we got into another ridiculous trial. Now we have to contend with that cryptic letter from Haver. Gee, for a character that is dead, he’s still quite a presence, isn’t he? And what’s with John taking painkillers all of a sudden for nerve damage we never even heard about? I suppose the pain is from the time he was shot by Haver along with his ex-fiancé. So now we know…but come on…are we supposed to believe that he’s dumb enough to down painkillers with beer?
Have you seen enough of Paul Cramer yet? I sure have. Old Paul…New Paul…he doesn’t thrill me and his new quest to latch on to Natalie because the Buchanan bucks look appetizing to him does not interest me at all. If he makes John jealous enough to openly return Natalie’s feelings before I have to watch him annoy Natalie too much, I guess I can live with that…but now we have the sister of John’s ex-fiancé coming to Llanview and I am very interested to see what her presence is going to bring to Natalie and John’s already confusing situation.
And speaking of Natalie…what’s with this girl? Are the writers trying to return her to the Natalie she was when she came to Llanview? If they are, all I can say is…been there, done that. Natalie has come such a long way and I don’t like the direction she’s going in. It was bad enough that she attacked Jen the first time and got locked up…but when she went for her the second time at Rodi’s, it brought me back to her early days with Seth when she was hell-bent on destroying Jessica and Viki. Let’s not go there again.
Ooohhh…I just laughed my head off when Jen caught Lindsay and Rex in the act on the floor at Ultra Violet. I did feel sorry for Jen…I mean, when you find out that your mother cares more about a boy half her age who was your husband than she cares about your thoughts and feelings, what are you supposed to do? And to top it off, Lindsay, of course, did her “how could I be so stupid” routine and then ran to Coulson to apologize to him, saying she doesn’t know why she does the things she does. Oh Geez Linz! You are in desperate need of some time on a couch…and I don’t mean any man’s couch either! Even I was shocked (for the life of me I don’t know why I was shocked) when Lindsay went to Rex and begged him to tell Jen it was his fault that she was rolling around on the floor with him like a dog in heat. Talk about the lowest of the low! Why was she surprised when Rex told her that she never meant anything to him? Did she think she was so irresistible that he’d get down on one knee and propose?
And Blair…finally admitting to Todd that she might have made the teensiest little mistake in accusing him of rape. Well, at least that nonsense is behind us…no matter what the outcome. I’m just glad we don’t have to hear them argue about it any more. And Todd is sure up to his old tricks. It sure didn’t take him more than about five minutes this time around to either blackmail, or get enough dirt to blackmail half of Llanview. It reminds me of the time he rounded up all that dirty information a few years ago and then revealed everyone’s secrets at his non-wedding to Blair…Skye being Rae’s daughter…Blair shooting Max…Ben being Asa’s long lost son. The only difference for me is that this time, Todd has some good dirt on the people who deserve to get back some of what they’ve been dishing out…mainly Kevin who even at his brand new son’s christening party spent 90% of the time with his head together with Blair’s and 10% paying attention to his wife and family. I laughed my head off when Kevin went to Todd’s office to complain about the article Todd printed about the new baby and Todd was waving the paper at Kevin behind Viki’s back like a little kid…taunting him. Sometimes you just have to forget you’re a grown-up and appreciate something so immaturely comical…I do….and I did when Kevin told Todd to go to Hell and Todd said, “I’ve already been there…it’s your turn.” I just might have to agree with Todd on that one.
There are very mixed feelings out there about Bo and Nora. The die-hard Bo/Nora fans couldn’t be happier about the prospect of a reunion between these two and then there are the ones who aren’t so keen on the idea…to say the least…lol. Personally, I’d like to see Bo and Nora back together. I think they have things between them (aside from Matthew) that tie them together so strongly. They know each other inside and out and they care very deeply about each other, which is evident all the time. For a while I thought their time had passed, but I don’t think so any more. I was very intrigued with Nora’s scenes with Daniel the other day. They were pretty cozy and comfortable with each other, doing the crossword puzzle while Nora was more than comfortable wearing her facial mask. And I love the way Bo teased her about it without saying much at all. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a couple of sarcastically funny characters, but I like them together. I think what I like and crave most is a decent, devoted couple with a mature relationship based on love and family. Call me a sap…I don’t care. It’s seriously lacking on soaps these days…especially ours and I miss it. What I would enjoy watching is Nora getting close to Daniel…Bo getting close to Eve…and then Bo and Nora being jealous of each other and realizing they want to be together again. Time will tell.
How about Asa’s reaction to his little namesake? That’s it Asa…don’t put too much pressure on the kid…keep telling him he’s going to be the next President of the United States. Boy, Asa’s mansion was on testosterone overload the other day with four generations of Buchanan men in one room. I was surprised that the camera could get them all in one shot. And now that Ace already has his own pony, could the hunting rifle and his own personal oil well be far behind? What a lucky boy! I wonder if his mother, well….I wonder if Kelly will survive this huge lie she’s carrying around. At the rate she’s going, she’ll have a heart attack from stress way before Viki does. Hey, don’t all mothers forget the birth weight of their babies? Get a grip Kelly.
So, what is Dorian doing in Mendorra? Do we care? I’m a bit bored with the whole Adriana storyline. It has no punch and neither do River, Adriana and Shannon. However, no matter what is going on in that storyline, I can never get enough of watching David, especially when he continues to talk about Car-LOW-ta. He now does it with such a straight face as if it’s just natural to pronounce it that way. I think it’s hysterical the way he picked up on that from Dorian and he uses it brilliantly. I also love seeing his vulnerability when it comes to Dorian…it’s a very nice change seeing all sides of him…especially protecting all the Cramer women. He’s too much.
Michael and Marcie were very cute last week, although for the life of me I can’t look at him and not see Al…physically and in personality. Maybe their upcoming mystery storyline will make me interested in them again. Right now I find them tolerable to watch, but they’re just not the same for me. And I thought Marcie was way out of line when she so blatantly asked Nora about her divorce from Bo. She was becoming quite the little pain in the butt and I was glad Nora politely put her in her place, especially with just a look when she fell asleep on her desk. Marcie is a great character. I hope they do right by Kathy Brier in this upcoming storyline.
Ok…in closing, I have one question. Did Roxy pick out that get-up for Starr? Where the heck did she get a sexy little black dress like that? At first I thought she’d stolen it from Blair’s closet, but I’m not so sure even Blair could squeeze herself into that dress and be able to walk…although she’d probably try. The upcoming storyline for Starr is probably a good wake-up call for young people fooling around with Internet relationships, but I love it because it shows so well the relationship between Starr and her father. Todd shows his heart purely for two people…Viki and Starr…and where Starr is concerned, he’ll stop at nothing to see that she’s okay. I still cringe at some of the things Todd does, but I adore his relationship with his daughter. Trevor is doing a great job of giving us Todd’s old, demented side…and an even better job of showing Todd’s vulnerabilities. Good Job!
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Tararaja writes: “I have been watching OLTL for about 5 years but only recently started reading the website messages. I really enjoy reading the discussions and recently started adding my own comments. My question is, "Do comments from the viewers have an impact on the storyline?" If they do, I want to encourage the writers of the show to consider the following: 1. Starr as a survivor who shows her parents how to "live their one life"…2. Evangeline and RJ in a loving relationship that extends beyond the bar scene…3. Kevin and Kelly with their own baby so they can return Babe's boy to AMC.”
Dear Tararaja: Those sound like very viable storylines. I wonder what would happen if we really got some realistic storylines as you suggest. In any case, although I have never been the biggest believer in viewers’ comments having impact (aside from a few major campaigns that have definitely changed things), I have resorted to writing letters and emails to the bigwigs when I absolutely had to say something. Tons of fans write in, call and e-mail all the time. I’d say if you feel strongly about something to do with the show, go ahead and let them know. Here are a few contacts for you:
Josh
Griffith – Headwriter - josh.griffith@abc.com
Michael Malone - Headwriter along with Josh -
michael.malone@abc.com
You can send regular snail mail to Frank Valentini (Exec. Producer), as well as
Griffith and Malone at:
One
Life to Live,
ABC Daytime, Capital Cities, ABC, Inc.
77 West 66th Street
New York, NY 10023.
Give it a shot…it can’t hurt.
Sharon writes: “I'm so happy about the way Rae Cummings left the show. I enjoyed seeing John Sykes again! They were always a good couple and another example of an older woman younger/man relationship that worked out! I hear rumors that we haven't seen the last of Ben! I hope that means he is going to wake up! Another man that might be a good recast for Ben might be Tom Wopat! I still like Joe Penny!”
Dear Sharon: I couldn’t agree more about Rae and John and although it was wonderful to see them together again, it was sad to have to say good-bye to them at the same time. I adored them together and I will miss everything about them, just like I miss Viki’s old friendship with Rae, which was so horribly destroyed by the whole Niki Smith fiasco. I don’t believe we’ve seen the last of Ben, although my wishful thinking is legendary. Tom Wopat is okay…Joe Penny would be a delicious Ben.
Phyllis writes: “Please…please get on with the show. This thing with Dorian trying to get the money from Adriana is going way to far. It is boring. The only reason my friends and I watch is to wait for Cristian to come back.”
Dear Phyllis: I agree…Dorian’s quest for Adriana’s inheritance is indeed boring. I love Dorian and David, but there are tons of schemes those two can be involved in that would be much more fun to watch. This storyline is not doing it for me either. I’m sorry that the only reason you watch the show is because of Cristian. Unless you know something the rest of us don’t, I hope you begin to give the rest of the show a chance because it doesn’t look like we’re going to see Cristian again any time soon as far as I know.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
