| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….The one thing that stood out from everything else for me last week was, of course, that horrible sham of a hearing that was held to determine the custody of little Ace Buchanan. To say it was ridiculous is a huge understatement. We’ve certainly seen plenty of hearings and trials where judges were “purchased” by Asa Buchanan, but this one was not even close to being believable. Tico should take a lesson from Asa on how to bribe a judge and get away with it. And what’s wrong with the writers? Did they think that it made sense for the hearing to be 100% one-sided in Kelly’s favor and then have the judge rule for Kevin? Didn’t they think that maybe it would have made a bit more sense to at least leave a few blurry areas so that there wouldn’t be a clear cut winner and then the judge might look at least a tiny bit believable? There wasn’t even one point that the judge heard that even resembled a point in Kevin’s favor…which was what made me realize right away that Kevin would win…it was just too good to be true…but it certainly was silly that the hearing went one way and the decision went in the opposite direction. I was surprised that Evangeline even had to think for a minute about what went wrong.
And isn’t it bad enough that we’ve had to endure Asa buying judged left and right for so many years? Hasn’t Tico done enough already without this latest cause of his? And, ok, let’s talk about my pal, Kevin. I think Kelly said it all when she confronted him and begged him to reconsider letting her see Ace…when she just looked at him in disbelief and said, “You’re awful...you’re awful!” Yep, that about says it all Kelly…although I would have used some stronger words.
Kudos to Dorian for her outburst in court when Kevin reminded the judge that Kelly’s family has spent most of their lives in mental institutions. As much as I love Viki, I was not upset to hear Dorian shoot up out of her seat and vehemently remind the court that Kevin surely doesn’t come from the sanest stock.
And you have to love David. I died laughing when he hired that call girl to testify that she had an affair with Kevin. You surely know that Dorian wants to ruin Kevin at any cost when she doesn’t even blink at the fact that David bought the call girl with one of her precious pieces of jewelry. Go Dorian!
And how big a jerk was Kevin’s lawyer. He was like a cartoon character. I was waiting for the judge to have him hauled off for contempt…silly me!
I was shocked at how well Kelly held up…well, for Kelly it was good. Even though she tossed out her pills to do her best to testify to get Ace back she didn’t have a chance. The scene where she had to give the baby up to Kevin was heart-wrenching. I think I could have literally strangled him at that very moment, and when he told Kelly that she brought this all on herself I could have done unthinkable things to him. It just goes to show you how horrible he really is when he told David he’d let Kelly see Ace if he sold him his shares of Craze for $1.00. Kevin has truly become a disgusting human being and I hope he has to come begging to the people he has hurt for help when he realizes what it’s going to cost him now that he owes his success in that hearing to Tico Santi. Kevin is the one person I won’t mind seeing Tico walk all over. Kevin doesn’t have a clue what a FAVOR Tico did for him.
I did have one good laugh during the court scenes, and of course it was the scene where the judge called Todd to the front of the courtroom and he very obviously made sure his fly was well zipped as he strolled to the front of the courtroom. The irreverence of that man is hysterical.
Since my blood pressure goes way too high when I think about Kevin, I’ll move on. Ah yes, the three stooges…Natalie, Paul and Rex. It was nice the way John was able to manipulate the law and have Paul and Rex carted off in handcuffs while Natalie got a slap on the wrist while she sprawled all over her fancy car in a cocktail dress for John. I love the law in Llanview. I guess I have to give Natalie a little credit for digging deep and doing what she thought was right to save her idiot brother and boyfriend from worse trouble than they were already in…but she still did a very dumb thing. The only good thing that’s coming out of all this stuff is that it will lead to Natalie realizing that she’s better than she gives herself credit for and that Paul will drag her down into the gutter before she can blink an eye. John said it perfectly when he told her, “Deep down you’re no tough guy and there’s nothing but good inside you.” If Natalie could only start to believe that about herself she would be able to turn her life around. I like the fact that no matter what is going on, John and Natalie still care about each other and there is a connection that even John admits he’s not willing to give up.
Oh, and let’s not forget that the Love Crew has been given an extension on building the community center until December. Should I say this is lucky for us? Couldn’t Viki have just given the kids a pass for their great efforts and let us move on? I guess not. I’ll admit that the storyline hasn’t been as bad as I originally thought it would be, but we spent a whole summer with these characters and didn’t really get into nearly enough of their lives to make us care that much. Sure, we found out bits and pieces of what makes them all tick, but it surely wasn’t a riveting summer storyline. I guess the only good thing is that Roxy has decided that even though her community service is over, she’s going to stay on as housemother. I supposed that ensures that we’ll see Ilene Kristin once in a blue moon for a few months. I guess I should thank the powers that be for the tiny crumbs…but I won’t.
And Lindsay…could she have looked any more pathetic when she got a hold of Shannon to warn her that Rex would only hurt her like he hurts all of his other women? That was a totally pathetic scene, as was the one where Lindsay was dumb enough to think Rex was behind the planned heist of her paintings. She gives that boy entirely too much credit. You’d think after all the years she’s known RJ she might wonder about his connection with Rex…but I guess Lindsay doesn’t see anything beyond the fact that she was scorned by her little boy lover. I do so wish that Lindsay would get a grown-up life.
What do you think about Sonia being a federal agent? Here’s my answer…NOT MUCH! Somehow I didn’t have trouble seeing John McBain go from a supposed mobster to an FBI agent when he suckered Natalie into participating in that pool tournament for Flynn…but unlike John, Sonia hasn’t snuggled her way into anyone’s heart that I can see…so why should we care? And does she really think Tico is innocent or is that just a ploy to keep Antonio out of her way?
Is anyone still wondering about where Antonio really came from? How kind of Angelina to take a bullet for him…something only a mother would do…no? Let’s just figure out who the real Santi brothers are and who gets the $100 million and move on. I’m bored silly with these Santi characters and it doesn’t help that they’ve brought out the obnoxious, bad-tempered Antonio again…or has that guy every really gone away. This storyline has made me cringe at the sight of Carlotta and Antonio and it’s turning Jessica into a naïve idiot every time we have to watch her being sucked in by Tico in the most obvious way.
One thing I will say for Jessica…no matter what is going on in her life and how her family is being torn apart, she remains a tribute to her mother. I thought she was such a great lady when she turned her back on Kevin in the courtroom and went to see Kelly, telling Dorian that she was sorry for what happened and that she’d visit Ace and let Kelly know how he’s doing. Even Dorian had to realize that Jessica is the best product of Viki and has a ton of class. Go Jess!
And what is poor Marcie to do? Was it a bit much that her father and brother, Ron, made the decision to cut her out of their lives if she accepts her gay brother’s lifestyle? I think it was way too much. Even in the “age of enlightenment” we live in, I know that there are still people walking this earth who cannot and will not accept the fact that some people are different that they are, but for Marcie’s father and brother to behave the way they are towards her is over the line as far as I’m concerned. I do think she should realize that some people feel as strongly as she does on the opposite side of this issue and learn to accept their ignorance and move on. If she doesn’t, she’s going to be the one who gets hurt the most and frankly, she’s not really interesting to watch, in my opinion, when she gets in her relentless mode. She never accepts that she can’t make everyone a saint.
Well, now that the summer has come to a close, I hope the writers are working on some good storylines to keep us interested. First on my list would be a nice holiday season gift for all of us…writing out the Santi family. At this point I’d settle for not seeing them in 90% of the scenes every day. That would be a good start. No offense to the actors, but they got dragged into a no-win storyline and it is unfortunate that the writers have given us nothing to like about the Santis. Maybe El Tiburon will turn out to be someone we can at least like a little bit…oh forget that, it might bring us yet another Santi!
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN
FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Cynthia writes: “Jill, I work full time, and do not get a chance to watch and read. I love OLTL and I have watched since 1970. I wanted to ask, the fellow that plays Michael McBain (AL)…was he really injured. I thought that was part of the script. Now I see he is still out. What gives?”
Dear Cynthia: Nathaniel Marston (Al/Michael) did, in fact, get injured in real life. I was told he had to have surgery to re-attach his heel and it has taken quite a while for him to totally recover. He’s been on the show sporadically during his recovery, but he is doing fine now from what I’m told and at the fan club luncheon a couple of weeks ago he told everyone that in about a month he’d be as good as new.
Sarah writes: “Have you figured out who "El Tiburon" is? I think I know who it is...Cristian! My theory is that because Antonio's handprint was the key to the Santi fortune, he is the one that will be the person to find his little brother alive and well. I think that Flynn and someone in the Santi organization were working together and that is why Cristian's body was never found when all the mess with Flynn went down. Anyway, that's my opinion...it may be far fetched, but who knows???”
Dear Sarah: Hey, your opinion is as good as anyone’s. Your theory could be right…who knows? I guess we’ll have to wait and see just how much of a role Cristian will play in this storyline when David Fumero returns this fall. So far we don’t know if Cristian will return as just a “ghost” or if he’ll be more than that. I guess it will all depend on the length of David’s stay on the show. Honestly, I never quite recognized any the chemistry between Cristian and Natalie, so if David’s return means a reunion for this pair, I don’t think I’d be too excited about that.
Robbie writes: “I hate to break it to the rest of America and Hollywood/New York writers, but the way Duke is being portrayed is NOT representative of men from Houston, Texas. That's where I live (born and raised here) and that's where they're saying Duke has been living all of his life. This is a CITY of about 2 million people and if you want someone who looks, dresses, acts, and especially speaks like Duke, you have to go to East Texas or North Central Texas where the ranches and rednecks are, NOT the big city of Houston. I get so tired of movie writers stereotyping people from Texas!!!!!!! The chivalry of a "Southern gentleman" is long dead or else it's moved on to another southern state.”
Dear Robbie: Too funny! I have to say that having relatives in Houston, I have visited the city many times and I would tend to agree with you. Houston certainly is a very cosmopolitan city but I will say that I did meet more than one southern gentleman there. I was born and raised in New York City and I’m sure we’ve even got some southern gentlemen here. Granted, Duke is a little “overdone” as far as the southern aspect goes, but as in any big city, I’m sure a little bit of everything exists in Houston, too. I’ll give Duke some points right off the bat because he seems like a good guy and has a sweet personality…but I would have like to see him really boot his father a good one the other day when he still refused to give Kelly visitation rights, rather than watch him share that father/son moment after Kevin ripped ace from Kelly’s arms.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
