| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….Nothing was better last week than seeing Kelly reclaim the self-respecting and decent person that she always used to be. I have to give Heather Tom an A++++ for her performance. I would have to search far and wide to find another actress who could do as much justice to those scenes where Kelly had to give Ace back to his biological mother. She never goes over the top…she seems to feel every word…and with every word and tear she just has the capacity to wrench your heart right out of your chest.
I remember the last time I wrote about Heather. It was when she did the scenes where Kevin ripped Ace out of Kelly’s arms after she lost the custody battle. I would never have thought that she could touch me more than she did in those scenes, but last week she most definitely did. When Kelly held Ace for the last time and spoke to him about remembering her and how much she loved him, I couldn’t remember the last time an actress made me feel so much. And when she went to Ace’s room and begged Kevin to let her have some of his things I thought my arm would fall off from reaching for the Kleenex. The only thing that really did irk me a bit was when she told Kevin that she still loved him and had never stopped. Personally, I don’t think he deserved those feelings from Kelly and the fact that he’s going to go ahead with trying to find Ace on his own just shows that he just can’t and won’t see beyond his own selfish needs.
Maybe Kelly and Babe should share custody of Ace…the heck with Kevin!
Although I’m not crazy about Paige, I have to give her some credit. She doesn’t fool herself where Bo is concerned and I thought it was great when she told him flat out that she thinks he and Nora are still trying to figure out if they have anything left to hang on to.
Are you getting a bit tired of John pressuring Jessica to remember who she saw pull Tico’s plug? I sure am. And for all the people who wrote in asking me why John is constantly chewing gum in so many scenes…lol…I have no clue! Not too much about John annoys me, but I could live without the gum chewing. What does annoy me is that he can’t leave the job at the office for even five minutes. Even Evangeline knows how to kick back and leave the office behind once in a while and she certainly puts a high priority on her career. He does need to loosen up a bit….no, more than a bit.
And then there’s Antonio…that boy can’t buy an alibi for the night Tico was killed. Doesn’t it make you laugh that every time someone needs an alibi, people remember where they were down to the minute…like Adriana remembering that she was in the hospital cafeteria at 8:27 because they said they were closing in 5 minutes…and the priest saying he was visiting a patient and the alarm on his watch was set for just that time. Give me a break! Come see me, Antonio…I’ll make up a great alibi for you. No one should spend a minute in jail for ridding the world of Tico Santi…and you didn’t even do it…I’m sure.
And of course, you have to love Dorian. I guess she thinks it’s Viki’s fault that she only spent about two seconds in her office as Chief of Staff of the hospital so that she could traipse around the world looking for Manuel Santi’s millions. Shame on you, Viki, for making Dorian lose her job. I had to laugh…even David couldn’t keep a straight face and say anything bad about Viki when Dorian kept complaining about Viki being responsible for everything from the price of gas to global warming.
What was the deal with that cigarette butt Jessica found on the floor at Llanfair? Hmmm….who was smoking in the house? I don’t believe that they are going to do another DID storyline like people are talking about, but I do have to believe that Jessica is having some kind of breakdown. She’s just been through too much lately and maybe she was the one smoking. Who knows? I can’t help but remember when baby Megan died and Jessica was the one who was haunting Dorian with those letters and the tapes of the baby crying…and didn’t even know she was doing it. I hope they don’t let Jessica go too far over the edge…I’d really like to see her happy with Antonio again.
Well, Carlotta finally came home. I’ll bet Natalie thought it was a great surprise to bring her home. I thought it was…but Carlotta sure did see something different about Cristian. Putting aside Cristian’s situation, I have to say that I loved the reunion between Carlotta and Antonio. I’m so glad he has finally seen the light and wants his “real” family. Kamar did a good job in that scene…wonderful emotion.
I guess things are going to get interesting with RJ and Antonio fighting over Jamie. I know lots of people don’t think Antonio should have her back. I don’t agree. I think he made a major mistake in walking away from his family when he found out his true identity, but if I had to choose who was the better parent for Jamie…RJ or Antonio…I wouldn’t have to think very hard. I think it could get very interesting because RJ may try to come off like he’s a new man and a wonderful, devoted grandfather, but there is that little nasty business of him sabotaging the community center very recently, so that he could buy the land at a cheap price for his own profit. Of course, only Rex knows about that and blackmailed RJ with that information so he could get his club back…but all Antonio needs is to get a little sniff of what went on and RJ’s new grandpa image will be down the drain.
We can’t let a week go by without talking about my favorite loony lady. Margaret was in rare form last week. She wants Todd’s baby…and that makes her a bit off balance right away. I died laughing when she came in and said she had taken a fertility test and she was ripe. Ewwww Margaret…thanks for sharing…but way too much information, hon! And it was bad enough when she performed her little surgery on Todd’s leg with that giant knife….but when she came into the room with that chainsaw…whew, if I were Todd I would have just passed out and put myself out of my misery. It was good thinking on his part to steal the pills from her purse and knock her out. The other day when she gave him the painkillers, I wondered if he really swallowed them. I wouldn’t have. I figured the next thing she’d try to feed him would be Viagra. I guess that would be her next plan if the skin magazine didn’t work.
Wasn’t it great to see Roxy and Nigel for Christmas? I miss them both a lot. And good old Asa…the old grouch…could you tell he wasn’t in the best mood when he bellowed, “Merry Damn Christmas?” I loved it when Nigel gave the hotel to Roxy and decided to go back to working for Asa…and even better was how humble and thrilled Asa was to have him back. Thanks to Dena Higley, our new head writer, for putting back together one of Llanview’s most beloved couples…Asa and Nigel.
And in conclusion…I cannot let the week go by without giving my own personal thanks to Dena Higley for having done her homework and realizing what’s really important to our most beloved citizens of Llanview, one in particular. Ms. Higley, bless her heart, had Viki thinking about and missing her beloved Ben in not one, but two episodes last week. It warmed my heart to know that someone thought Viki needed some time away from her crazy kids and their problems to sit quietly in church and acknowledge how much she misses her Ben, even though she is so grateful to be alive. Having him “with her” the way things are now just isn’t the same as really having him with her…is it? And with all the Christmas festivities going on, the one thing that kept coming to mind was that I will never be able to look at that Llanfair Christmas tree without remember Ben coming home to surprise Viki and putting the angel on top. Oh, let me mope a bit…it’s the end of the year…and the end of another year without Ben. I still hate it! Help me Dena!
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN
FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Helen writes: “I enjoyed your column and your insights into the Bo & Nora relationship. My favorite part though was when Bo brought up how Nora had always made Gabrielle insecure. I was shocked. I thought TPTB had forgotten that Bo & Gabrielle were engaged. Could Dena Higley actually have done her research about these characters’ pasts?”
Dear Helen: I believe that the answer is YES, Dena Higley has obviously done her homework as far as trying to learn all she can about the characters in Llanview. I do remember how insecure Gabrielle was about Nora, but at the time, Bo and Nora were definitely leading their own lives and not going through the soul searching that they’re going through now. Gabrielle always felt insecure because due to her past, she never thought she deserved someone like Bo, whereas Paige has a real reason to worry about Nora these days.
Clara writes: “I for one am enjoying some of the things on OLTL. I
think the new
writer is doing a decent job so far….of course its not 100%, but what is? I love
that Nora's snappy sense of humor is back, Blair is Blair again, Dorian and
Viki’s rivalry is back, Kelly has come to her senses about Ace, Adriana has a
backbone, etc. I like the edgy Cris and am looking forward to seeing why he has
changed so much. Now if only Ben could come back and give Viki some lovin'!”
Dear Clara: Many people have written positive comments about the recent shows that are Dena Higley’s. I agree with you about all the changes that you see on the show. Those are some of my favorites, too. Maybe we’re getting back to a bit of the most important, core storylines that we’ve been missing. I hope so. And regarding Ben…on all of God’s green earth, there’s nothing Viki needs more than to see him walk through the front door again…or the back door…or any darn door!
Martha writes: “What irritates me about soaps is they take intelligent women like Evangeline and turn them into harpies as soon as they "fall in love." They make them suspicious, jealous and needy. And that scene with the knife and when Margaret shakes Todd’s injured leg made me sick.”
Dear Martha: I don’t really see Evangeline as a harpie. I think she has a lot to deal with being in a relationship with someone like John who not only has a ton of baggage from the past, but who definitely has his emotions split between her and another woman. That could never be easy for anyone to deal with and I think Evangeline is just being very human. I’ve never made it a secret that I think their relationship is lacking in some major areas…I think that the “strings” they decided to add to their relationship are merely very thin threads on some levels. They care deeply for each other, but it is obvious that John can’t give her everything she wants in moving forward with their relationship at this point, even thought she claims not to be interested in marriage. I have to agree about Margaret…that leg-shaking business sent a chill right up my spine.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
