| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….Wow, talk about the worst possible ways to find out horrible secrets! Viki and Blair sure had their share last week, didn’t they? You knew, of course, that the secrets would be revealed in nasty ways because the keepers of the secrets refused to reveal them in a compassionate way…but you still had to feel sorry for Viki and Blair.
Let’s tackle Viki first. Has this woman led such a boring life that she needed one more jolt to make her feel alive…or possibly kill her? I wish Viki had been on the scene more in recent months so that she could have figured things out for herself about Jessica’s illness. I hated having her find out the way she did. I could have smacked Antonio for not telling her sooner on one of the many opportunities he had to do it. He should have called Viki right away last week when Jessica wanted to call her, but he had to do it his way. And further, Antonio should have just come out and told Nash the truth about Jessica. What’s the big deal? There’s already more confusion and emotional upheaval than anyone needs. Who cares if Antonio is the one to tell Nash the truth? He deserves to know. He’s in the middle of a pool of quicksand with the rest of the strange loonies around him. He’s been dragged in…at least give him an even playing field. And what about poor little Jamie? She’s been shuffled around so much she probably doesn’t even remember who’s who. Antonio sure hasn’t paid enough attention to making a stable home for her since he’s had her back. Sure, his life is torn apart over the custody battle and Jessica’s problems, but I think Jamie should come first. Now he’s in trouble with the social worker…nice going, Antonio.
The scenes where Viki found Tess down on the docks were wonderful. I still maintain…a dramatic scene is made into a masterpiece when Erika Slezak is thrown into the mix…and Bree Williamson’s performances have been nothing less that brilliant as the tormented Jess/Tess. It was interesting to hear Tess admit that she and Jessica needed each other, even though it infuriates her to acknowledge it and when Tess faced Viki head on it was amazing to see Viki when the realization came over her that she wasn’t talking to Jessica at all and that Tess was an alter. Leave it to Viki, who was always a stellar mom, to blame herself for not seeing that Jessica was sick. I felt terrible for Viki. And wasn’t it just like her to show compassion and love for Tess, to the point where I think even Tess had to start believing it, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
It certainly must have shocked Tess to hear Viki say that she was grateful to her for protecting her Jessie and that she loved her the same way she loved Jessie. Of course, I was hoping Tess would let her guard down just a bit more and tell Viki the secret, but no such luck. Poor Viki…I felt the pain inside her when Tess told her that she didn’t have to tell her anything because she already knew what happened to Jessica. If there is any way to hurt Viki, it’s to imply that she wasn’t a good mother to her kids, which is what she lives for. Powerful scenes…I can’t wait for more this week. I guess we can expect Clint’s arrival this week. I guess this is one family crisis he can’t stay away from. I’m anxious to see Jerry ver Dorn in the role of Clint. Viki could sure use some help with her family. After all, I don’t think this woman has gotten a break in a long time. As a matter of fact, the last lucky break she got was six years ago when she walked into Crossroads and met the incomparable Ben Davidson. Wouldn’t it be great to have Ben back to help Viki deal with everything…and to have Ben deal with his big brother, Clint? Oh yeah, I could get behind that scenario.
Okay…on to Blair. I guess one secret wasn’t enough for her to find out the hard way. I was holding my breath when she found that photo of Ginger and Margaret. I was waiting for her to either faint or rip the house apart. Ginger is lucky she didn’t rip her apart…limb from limb. I’m sure Blair would have liked nothing better. But it only got worse when Ginger confronted Blair in front of her whole family and blurted out that Margaret was pregnant. How long do you think Todd would have survived if he were at Blair’s side at that moment? He’d probably live only long enough for her to choke him so hard that those contact lenses would pop right out of his eyes.
Todd deserves whatever he gets for all his lying. I died laughing the other day when he told the biggest, dumbest one of all. Was anyone supposed to believe that he had the car detailed so that he could give it to Starr for her birthday in January? Give me a break, Todd! Well, Starr believed it, but why not? And since when was Starr near driving age anyway. Wasn’t it just last summer when she was involved with that boy Travis and she had just turned thirteen years old? I guess we’re doing the old soap opera aging syndrome again.
Can we talk for a minute about Spencer showing up at Todd and Blair’s penthouse just after Blair found out about Ginger? Spencer has more nerve that I’ve seen in a long time. It sickened me to see him put his hands on Blair right in front of Todd and even after Todd decked him (good for Todd) Spencer had the nerve to start rubbing her shoulders again. Is he kidding? What nerve! That guy makes my skin crawl! The only thing worse was Blair defending him. Ugh! And poor, stupid Ginger…did she believe him when he gave her money to get by on and said to her, “It’s not like you’re selling your soul to the devil.” I beg to differ.
And speaking of the creativity in this show’s continuity…did it take even five minutes for Bo to get from the police station in town all the way up to the mountains to Asa’s cabin when he heard that Matthew had run away? Maybe the police commissioner is now using the Batmobile. I liked David’s description of the bachelor party as “A Texas Hold “Em Pig Roast.”
My mouth was hanging open when Asa was spouting off about how Matthew should disobey his father and stay up at the cabin for David’s bachelor party. Leave it to Asa to say, “Matthew, you deserve to be mad at your father. After all, he put his own Pa in jail.” Obviously, Asa’s logic hasn’t improved with age, has it? What a jerk.
And was that the Buchanan’s idea of a bachelor party? A few bags of chips, some beer and a deck of cards? Boy, David would have been better off staying behind at Dorian’s bachelorette party.
Now…on to the topic we all agree on most…NOT…John, Natalie, Evangeline and Cristian. Tell me something…did you laugh as hard as I did when the warden told John that there was no evidence to prove that Cristian’s hanging in his cell was anything but a suicide? I mean, come on…how many people stuff a gag in their own mouths before they kick away the stool and hang themselves? Is it me, or was that just stupid?
And let’s talk about poor Cristian for a minute here. I was cheering John on when he reminded him that it was his idea in the first place to keep his identity a secret from Natalie and that Natalie might hate him as much as she’ll hate John when she finds out that he was alive and didn’t tell her. Cristian did give his blessing for Natalie to move on with another man. He can’t do anything about the fact that it’s John she moved on with and that’s partly his own fault. To be fair to Cristian, he did get ripped away from his wife on their honeymoon and it was John who lured Natalie into that pool tournament that changed all of their lives…so I’ll give Cris a little bit of a break but Evangeline and John were both on the money when they reminded Cris that John saved his life. Cris saying that he can take care of himself is a joke. He helped create this mess and needs to take some responsibility. I can’t wait to see the scenes between Cris and Natalie. I guess she’s just about the last person he expected to visit him.
How cute…Hugh asked Marcie out on a real date. I love it. Every time I see these two together I like them more and more….but I feel the whole Marcie/Michael thing has so much unresolved at this point. Hugh is adorable and Marcie shines around him…what could be bad about that? Michael better watch out…Hugh could be the one thing to stop Marcie from moping about her relationship with him.
Just when we thought we’d heard it all…along comes Lindsay telling RJ she wants to have a baby with him. Oh yeah…that makes a ton of sense. I think Linz should wait a while to see if her baby would have a home-based daddy or one that he or she will have to visit in jail. And let’s be realistic here. In reality, Lindsay would be very close to fifty years old at this point, if not more. Not that she couldn’t have a baby, but by the time a good therapist helps her figure out why she wants one, she would quality for social security. I hope that RJ steers Lindsay compassionately towards getting some help to cope with her loss. It would be the kindest thing he could do for her.
And in conclusion….who wouldn’t have wanted to attend that lovely party of Dorian’s? What a special event. Was there one family member at that table who wasn’t scowling at her for one nasty deed she’s committed or another? I think the luckiest one was Viki…she didn’t attend…although I doubt Viki would have called what she was going through lucky. I think Starr and Adriana would have happily preferred to be chained to their rooms for the day. Actually, good old Dorian got the party she deserved…especially after what she said to Viki. I was thrilled to see Viki throw her out of Llanfair when she implied that Jessica was unbalanced. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Leave it to Dorian to say, when Viki reminded her that she was the one who ran down Jessica with her car and caused her to lose her baby, “Viki, you just had to bring that up, didn’t you?” Ah Dorian… you’ve gotta love that little witch!
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN
FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Bobbi writes: “What would a soap opera be like without characters like Spencer and Layla? The answer is "boring." What annoys me more is John and Natalie. They are supposed to be moral characters, however both of them did Evangeline wrong! They deserve to be punished for that and maybe their punishment is being together.”
Dear Bobbi: You’re right about characters like Spencer and Layla…without them we’d have no one to want to throw off a bridge. Now don’t go crazy…I didn’t say Layla should be thrown off a bridge…but Spencer…hmmm…I’m not so sure I’d mind that. I don’t really believe that John and Natalie both did Evangeline wrong. I think that all along John had real feelings for Natalie, even though they differed from his feelings for Evangeline…and it was very obvious that Evangeline was aware of that all along. John made no secret of the fact that he felt somehow obligated to be there for Natalie. Evangeline ended the relationship with her eyes wide open. She was smart…she wasn’t getting what she needed from him. Did he do her wrong because he couldn’t feel what she wanted him to feel and couldn’t say the words? John is lame when it comes to saying those words…he was and he still is…Shall we shoot him for being honest about it? And yes, Natalie’s behavior when she was trying to get between John and Evangeline was less than moral or mature…I have said that many time…and why one woman or the other is right for John is beyond all of us. No one can account for what satisfies someone else’s needs. Why bother trying? And as far as John and Natalie being punished by being together…LOL…if I were Natalie I’d say, PUNISH ME…PUNISH ME!
Judy writes: “Why in the world would anyone pair Paige and Bo? Do you think she is a good match for him? I dread the time I see them together on screen because I just don't think they "fit". We've been teased with the idea of Bo and Nora getting back together and if that's true, then I can hardly wait! I love them together. As far as the "good guys", I think aside from Asa, Carlo and Spencer, don't they all seem to be "good" in their own way? I'm really hoping Todd will be redeemed yet once again, and then remain a decent guy. I'm tired of his lying too. It gets too old too fast. I'd love to see Spencer be Margaret's killer this time, or even Ginger. Can't you imagine Margaret pushing Ginger far enough for Ginger to want to see her dead? Although, you have to admit, Todd does have a good reason to want to kill her, yet there's no excuse for killing an unborn baby. God only knows he'd have a great defense after all Margaret put him and his family through. Don't you feel even a tiny bit OK about Todd having reason enough after being tormented, tortured and raped by this idiot of a woman.....aside from the baby.....not to mention what the devil woman put Blair through and what she managed to do to Starr. I say give whoever did this a big hand, and only punish them for the death of the unborn baby. Sound fair to you?”
Dear Judy: I totally agree. I don’t see any chemistry at all between Paige and Bo. I didn’t see it with the former Paige and I don’t see it with this one. I’d still like to see Bo and Nora have a second chance, too. I would love to see Spencer as Margaret’s killer…if she’s dead. I think that old girl just might have a few more lives in her. And yes, of course, in my imagination, where Todd could bump off Margaret and get away with it, I probably wouldn’t cry too much for her. But the baby makes a difference. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy Todd terrifying Margaret when he was rocking that boat…can’t help it. She’s done enough for the whole town to want to lynch her. If only Margaret could get what’s really coming to her and the baby go unharmed…that would be fine with me. Then again, I keep being drawn back to the fact that if Todd hadn’t used her and abused her feelings from the start, none of this would be going on. Of course, he couldn’t know she was an unstable maniac, but hey, in many ways, so is Todd.
Donna writes: “I think that your observations about the John, Natalie, and Evangeline triangle to be off base and biased. I have always wondered why you were so adverse to the John and Evangeline pairing and why you think John and Natalie are the way to go. Since I have been watching soaps and One Life to Live, I have found John and Natalie to be one of the most lack luster pairings. Natalie is no match for John. Contrary to what TPTB want us to believe, Natalie is not the strong character that they wanted to play against John, but Evangeline is. Natalie and John can play off each other in a platonic sense, but that is as far as it goes for me. Chemistry is the mutual attraction or rapport of individuals and it is something anyone who watches OLTL has to admit John and Evangeline have and that John and Natalie can't steal. I think most of us readers can see that you are pro Natalie and John, but the question is why?”
Dear
Donna: Well, I may be biased, which is my right, but “off base” is your
opinion…which you are entirely entitled to. I am not adverse to John and
Evangeline…I just prefer John and Natalie. As far as someone being a match for
John, don’t you realize after all this time that we all have different opinions
and since all are based on emotion and not on fact, none is wrong? Frankly, John
and Natalie’s relationship started way back when he was undercover and she was
newly married to Cristian. There was a spark right away, in my opinion, and
whether John’s feelings for Natalie arose from his guilt over Cristian’s “death”
(the first time around) or not, there was an attachment there from the start. I
don’t feel that way about John and Evangeline. Their relationship started in a
stranger’s basement with mindless, drunken sex (not that that’s a bad thing…lol),
and it developed from there. It just didn’t develop for me the way you’d like me
to see it. Sorry! And as far as your questioning why I prefer John and
Natalie….here’s the answer…plain and simple…I LIKE THEM TOGETHER! What’s the big
deal? I also prefer dark, rugged guys to pretty blond ones (although Nash is an
exception)….and chocolate ice cream to vanilla. Shall I explain those
preferences as well?
© Copyright by Katherine
Thurston, 2005
