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

Featured Links • Previous Commentaries • ASK JILL - E-mail your comments or questions    Join the Discussion • OLTL Fans Forum • OLTL Couples Forum     Related Resources • This week's Scoops • More Spoilers • Casting News • Daily Recaps • OLTL Events

REFLECTIONS BY JILL….Do you think Cristian should be a little more grateful that John is trying to save his butt in the midst of the prison uprising? Honestly, I think the only thing Cris kind of had right was that John was responsible for this mess in the first place for getting he and Natalie involved in that mess back in Las Vegas where Cris first disappeared and was presumed dead…but let’s be real…John was doing an undercover job and probably did tons of jobs like that in the past. Who could know what would evolve from that fiasco?

Obviously, Cristian was a helpless victim in what happened to him. We all know that, but I think he’s going a little overboard lashing out at John when John is only trying to protect him and save his life. I’d like to tell him to shut up and deal with John when the crisis is over. I’m sure Cris doesn’t want to admit that John is a good guy. Why else would John risk his own life to stay behind and stitch up Cristian’s gut when he could try to save himself? Yes, of course, Natalie is at the center of everything that drives these two men, but Cris shouldn’t be surprised that John would do the right thing and try to save his life. And talk about that stitching job….wow, it sure did look real and I think the worst part was when John poured the booze into the wound to sterilize it and Cris almost hit the ceiling screaming. I felt that! And give credit to Michael Eaton…he sure made that stitching job look real…dragging the thread through on every stitch…OUCH!

Okey Dokey! Natalie finally knows the truth about Cristian’s big secret. It’s about time!!! At first I though Evangeline was going to withhold some of the truth, like the fact that Cristian made John swear not to tell her who he was…but I was glad that Evangeline finally told her that even though John knew from the beginning that John Doe was Cris, it was Cris’s doing that John withheld the truth. Sure, John should have told Natalie from the beginning no matter what, but at least Natalie knowing the whole truth leveled the playing field a bit for John. Maybe she’ll now want to kill them both equally, rather than blame John for lying to her for a year. I think both of those boys are in for a world of hurt from Miss Natalie.

And one more thing about Evangeline…and I don’t care how anyone explains her motives….but I’d like to know how she had the nerve, in all the hysteria at the prison and with Natalie dealing with hearing the truth, to say to Natalie, “I have to ask this for my client. If Cristian gets out will you be waiting for him?” How the heck is that a question for her to ask on behalf of her client? She’s working to get Cris out of prison and who might be waiting for him is none of her concern. It felt like a totally inappropriate question to ask and it seemed like she need to know the answer for only one person…herself.

It’s very creepy the way Carlo is using Hayes. Hayes is such a loose cannon, but Carlo knows just how to manipulate him. It was totally unnerving to listen to that conversation between Hayes and Natalie. When he kept calling her “Natty”, it made my skin crawl.

Natalie didn’t ask for any of this mess to come crashing down around her and it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out, especially since she just got done telling her father that she never thought she’d get over Cristian but now she loves John as much as she ever loved Cristian. Hmmm…we’ll see…I, for one, hope that is true. I’m not the biggest fan of Cristian and I’d like to see John and Natalie have a chance to have a relationship and see where it goes…and I’m holding my breath to find out what’s going to happen because I recently read the news that Renee Goldsberry is pregnant IRL (in real life) and they haven’t decided whether or not to write her pregnancy into the storyline. For me, it was one of those “oh no” moments.

And the battle continues between Antonio and Nash. It still seems like Nash is hanging around because he sincerely wants to be there for Jess, Tess, or whomever she turns out to be and possibly, for his child. Antonio, although he does have a right to feel threatened and protective of Jessica, continues to be obnoxious. It’s obvious that the only times Nash went back at Antonio and tried to get him riled up were those times where Antonio started it and pushed him too far…like at the gym when Jessica was having a calm, decent conversation with Nash and Antonio jumped in for a confrontation…or when Antonio tried to throw Nash out of his club. I know, I know…Nash was watching Jess and Antonio dance like the jealous boyfriend he is, but you know Antonio is going overboard when Jessica has to tell him to stop going after Nash and that Nash is only trying to be nice. Did Antonio need to call Nash “pathetic?” I couldn’t blame Nash for going back at him by describing the passion that he shared with Tess. Nash gives as good as he gets and he’s not backing down. By the way, I never expected him to plant that big kiss on Jess out in the alley…Wow!

I was surprised that Viki was not able to bring Niki out to play with Dr. Jameson. After all, Rae Cummings sure had no trouble bring her out, did she? I was dumbfounded that Viki went to Dorian to help her bring Niki out. I couldn’t believe Viki told Dorian to bring Niki out and then call Dr. Jameson after what happened the last time she came up with the crazy idea to bring Niki out with Rae. This is going to be wild…that’s for sure.

Was it necessary for Clint to bring up, once again, the fact that the last time Niki came out she pushed Ben out a window? I think this second time he said it Viki should have just slugged him, but I loved it when he tried to apologize and she just gave him the hand telling him she couldn’t deal with him right now and walked out of the room. When will he learn that he can’t tell her what to do? I was cheering Viki on when she told Clint that she knew he meant well but that she was the only one who could help Jessica…and that although she was glad he was there, if he had a problem with her plan he should just turn around and go back to London.

I was so glad that we FINALLY found out how Margaret died…or at least we found out how she got from the boat to floating dead in the lake. I couldn’t figure out how Todd was going to explain how she was suddenly gone and he swam to shore alone. Leave it to crazy Margaret to throw herself off the side of the boat. Unbelievable! And now Todd swears he didn’t strangle her…and I’m sure he didn’t…but how is he going to prove it when his two biggest allies, Blair and Viki, are having some trouble believing everything he says and putting up with his latest set of lies?

Poor David…Dorian sure blasted him good, didn’t she? I guess from her perspective he definitely deserved it for humiliating her in front of the whole world. It’s hard for me not to think that Dorian is more upset about being humiliated than about losing David. I wouldn’t expect her to give him a second chance right away, but knowing her past, I would expect her to understand why he appeared to be a coward by not wanting to go to jail for murder. Dorian’s position was clear when David reminded her that there is no statute of limitations on murder and she reminded him that there is no statute of limitation on humiliating one’s fiancé by refusing to say “I do.”

I did have a good laugh when David wound up at Roxy’s hotel needing a room and she accused him of trying to steal a key for a free room. David was so indignant when he said, “Hey, I live in a mansion” and Roxy said, “Yeah, I heard, it’s the chateau de bull crappe.” Leave it to Roxy to call a spade a spade.

Can’t let a week go by without talking about Spencer. He sickens me more each week. He was awful when he went to Dorian’s house to gloat over destroying her wedding and he added insult to injury by telling Kelly right in front of Dorian that he was ready to do the procedure to help her have a baby. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. This man is lower than dirt. He’s one of those villains that have no redeeming qualities and I can take only so much of these characters before I need them to get killed off or leave town. I will offer a reward to anyone in Llanview who can accomplish either outcome.

And in conclusion…I love it…Asa and Dorian joining forces to bring Spencer down. I’m going to love this. Maybe they can convince Roxy to annoy Spencer to death, or at least annoy him enough to run him out of town…I WISH!

See ya next week...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Jill Berry

FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS

AGARD47 writes: “My wish for John and Natalie is to remain together since it is obvious that they are in love with each other. I know Natalie will be furious with Cristian and John, but hopefully she will realize the secret was intended for her to be able to get on with her life and hopefully be happy. I hope John fights for the person he is in love with. I definitely don't want him to go back with Evangeline. I know the majority of fans do not agree with my opinion.”

Dear AGARD47: I am curious to see just what Natalie does when everything calms down…if we can call it calming down. The aftermath of this secret is going to affect a lot of people, that’s for sure. I’d like to think that John will fight for Natalie…but it’s going to be a sticky situation with Cris fighting for his life. Will Natalie be by his side? And by the way, the majority of fans do not disagree with you…I think there is a fairly even split of fans when it comes to the John/Nat/Cris/Evangeline situation.

PT writes: “Recently, there has been no mention of Nigel on the show. Is he in recurring status or what? I really like him with Roxy and I only hope that those two will be contracted on for the long term. Roxy and Nigel are so funny. OLTL needs them for some funny scenes to make a diversion from all the drama with Jessica, Natalie, Viki, etc....What do you know?

Dear Patty: Oh boy, I miss Nigel, too. He and Roxy were a riot on the show and since they are not currently on contract, we never know when we’re going to see them. Maybe now that Asa and Dorian are going to be working together against Spencer we’ll get to see more of Nigel hanging around Asa’s mansion and putting in his two cents. I’d love to see more of Renee as well. Although I love the drama, especially when Viki is involved in it, I agree, the comical diversions we sometimes get are great. Whoever writes those comedic scenes for the show does a great job.

Janice writes: “I think I figured out the Clint recast. It's a two for one sale for ABC. They had been promising a new man for Viki for ages and fans were getting cranky. Clint was obviously missing from some major events/problems in his children's lives. Jerry Ver Dorn is a well-known and very good actor who's show, Guiding Light, was putting him out to pasture. A good fit (not perfect, that would be Ben) for Viki and he could play Clint too. Wow, one paycheck solves two problems. Now, I sure hope their savings does not cause or allow them to insult long time viewers by reuniting Clint and Viki without addressing two previous marriages and divorces. In my opinion, the writers often take advantage of the loyalty of long-term viewers, assuming we will stick through anything, and ignore history. New viewers will buy into it because they don't know history and yet the loyal long time viewers probably won't leave anyway. We didn't during the silly “Victor is alive” story, so maybe we deserve it. I sure don't mind Viki and Clint. Loved them for years. Just address their history and just as they get close, wake Ben from his coma (maybe as a recast) and we find out Asa bought Viki's heart from Paul Kramer during the organ selling story, and hid Ben away. Then you have a fancy triangle and we know who will win, Ben!”

Dear Janice: I love your take on the situation. You’re so right about the long-term fans being taken for granted when history is rewritten on the show. They know most of us aren’t going anywhere, at least not the die-hard ones like you and me. I would love it if the new fans could be treated to some of the history because it would be an insult to Viki’s character if they did not address her marriages and divorces with Clint before they moved forward with any kind of romantic attachment (can’t help it…I hate the sound of that). Erika Slezak herself has stated that she dislikes nothing more than when history is rewritten and I completely agree. Recently on the show I have been happy to see that at least they are addressing the fact that Clint still has that bossy streak and Viki refuses to sit back and let him bully her. I say that if they still have these personality traits that go up against each other, then why give romance a third shot? As far as Ben waking from his coma….let’s just say…I live for it!

Sheree writes: “I agree with you about Blair. I am tired of the writer's making her SOOO stupid! How many times does Todd have to lie to her face before she finally says ENOUGH! I guess plenty because Spencer will be doing it to her too. As for Spencer, you have to remember that WE, the viewers, know he's a slime bucket but not every one in Llanview does, yet.” 

Dear Sheree: You’re right…not everyone in Llanview knows Spencer is slime, but a whole lot of people already do know…like Dorian, David, Todd, Paige, Bo, Asa, Kevin and I don’t think Kelly will be far behind…but we’ll see.

© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2005