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

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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….All I can say is thank goodness Todd is finally in custody again. Now, hopefully we can get this storyline moving. I had to laugh when Evangeline said that Todd had six weeks until his execution. Boy, they move fast, don’t they…even though he did refuse to appeal his conviction? I just hope we don’t have one of those scenes like they did on Days of Our Lives years ago when Sami was on death row and the needle was practically in her arm before they found out who the real killer was. That will just annoy me because I’m one of those silly people who will cry their eyes out over all the good-byes, even though I know the execution will never take place. Why waste my good tears and risk a major headache? LOL!

I loved the scenes in the police station where Todd got to confront Spencer. How cute that Blair marched into the police station with Spencer on her tail….hmmm…bad choice of phrase I guess. And how low has that Manning family sunk that their young teenage daughter feels compelled to blurt out her mother’s affair with her father’s biggest enemy in front of everyone. Poor Starr. Her poor little eyes are probably still burning from having to see her mother half naked on the floor in Spencer’s hotel room. Yuck!

Although Spencer didn’t seem at all ruffled by Todd accusing him of murdering Margaret in front of the entire police force, I think he’s becoming a bit rattled. He is way too bugged every time he sees Paige and David together and it can’t be a comfort to him that Todd is in custody and wasn’t shot on sight…and it can’t be a comfort to him that Todd just might have the ear of the Commission and the head detective, one of whom totally hates Spencer’s guts. I love the fact that Bo and John are now going to work diligently to find out the truth and that they believe Todd could be innocent.

And there’s Margaret, lounging away her life in Thailand doing crosswords and living the life of luxury? Where is Todd Junior?

So…Todd is back in prison…Rex spent time in a cell…but the one person who should be locked up, in my opinion, is Paige. Maybe if Bo put her on ice for a while she’d give up what she knows. I don’t know why Bo even bothers to talk to her any more. I thought Paige would fall apart and run when Todd accused her of having information in front of everyone…especially when Todd pointed the finger at Spencer and told Bo that Paige said, “He’s too smart to leave evidence behind.” Bo needs to do something to make her talk. She has been digging herself a grave she’ll never get out of. Paige is more annoying than I can say and I can’t wait for Nora to wake up because I hear she’s going to have some serious question s for Paige…and we know what a bulldog Nora is when she’s digging for information.

And Rex…that poor guy…not only did he have to get into it with Adriana when she found out that he didn’t tell her he knew where Todd was, but now he’s put his relationship with Bo in jeopardy. I think that when Bo told Rex that he couldn’t trust him any more, that was like a knife in Rex’s heart. He values his relationship with Bo more than just about anything and Bo is so disillusioned with all the people around him who he is supposed to be able to count on that Rex may have to do the impossible to win back his relationship with Bo.

And while we’re talking about Adriana…I really wanted to give her a smack last week when she was upset with Rex and went and blurted out to Dorian that she was right about Rex. Holey Cow Adriana…the one thing you never do is tell your mother that she was right in her criticism of the love life of one of her Cramer girls. Adriana still has a lot of growing up to do and even though she told Dorian that she still loves Rex, she’s only made it harder to live with Dorian now.

And I was certainly glad that Dorian fessed up and told Clint that she didn’t cook those eggs when he popped over for breakfast and some consolation. Well, Clint did figure out that she didn’t cook the eggs…but I laughed when he also figured out that she didn’t cook the pot roast the other night either. I think it’s only fair that if Dorian is going to use her maid to help her get her man through his stomach, that Dorian remember the maid’s name, don’t you?

It was interesting to see Clint’s reaction when he left Dorian’s house after realizing he was in the “enemy camp.” It’s good that he remembers what she’s done to his family and how much she wants to stick it to Viki any chance she gets. I do think that Clint and Dorian have an interesting thing going on though…and who knows what could happen?

So, Kevin continues to fall into the bottle over his inability to give Kelly a baby and his son’s confession that he’s in love with her. Duke is just annoying these days, but I have to say that he probably would be more attuned to his father’s feelings and care more what he’s doing to him if he had a real father/son relationship with Kevin all his life. Maybe he doesn’t feel that connection to Kevin so he feels it’s okay to admit his feelings for Kelly in spite of all the hurt his father is going through. In any case, it’s an ugly situation.

Hmmm…Kelly and Hugh in the park. Do we see a new couple emerging here? I’m going to have to mull this one over for a lot longer and see if I believe that Hugh is worthy of a decent woman like Kelly. He’s been quite the little weasel lately and I don’t see him in the same light that I used to see him.

On to Natalie and her crew. I am a little tired of watching her try to take on the bad guys by herself, but that’s Natalie and she’s never going to change. I think she made a big mistake in not telling John about her meeting with Vincent Jones in Atlantic City. It’s funny to see John just finally admit that even though she says she’s going to stay out of things he really doesn’t believe it…and it doesn’t even make him that mad any more. I guess he knows when to give up the fight.

I don’t know what to make of those scenes between Natalie and Cristian when he called her over to his place to tell her that he was giving up trying to get her back since he knows she doesn’t love him any more…and he now knows that he can move on with his life without her in it. Although she didn’t seem to want to accept that to easily, she didn’t try to change his mind. I thought that was clear when he told her he knew she didn’t love him any more and she said, “I don’t know what you want me to say.” She could have said she needed more time if she was that afraid of losing him, but she didn’t do that.

And is Cristian going to head in Evangeline’s direction now? Evangeline has certainly bared her soul to him, even though she went crazy afterwards for doing it. Her admitting to the obsessive-compulsive thing was very telling. It explains a lot about the way she is and I did laugh when she told Cristian about how over-organized she is with everything in her life from the way she hangs up her clothes to the way she organizes the food in her kitchen. I still like the connection between these two and I see real possibilities for them.

The biggest shocker of the week for me was Antonio’s conversation Cristian. I almost tried to clean out my ears when I heard Antonio say that he can’t expect things to be the same as they were with Jessica…and that if he wanted Jessica, he had to learn to love Tess. Wow, that’s a turn around if ever I heard one. Now, let’s see if he can do it…not that Tess will let him…but I’d like to see it.

And speaking of Tess…I was moved beyond words during her scenes with Viki last week. I wondered if Viki would ever be able to break through Tess’s impenetrable hard shell to help her. Those scenes were unbelievable. It always breaks my heart so much to see Viki stand in front of Tess, exposed to all of her wrath and taking all the bitterness aimed at her when all she can possible do is apologize and say it wasn’t her and she can’t ever be sorry enough for what Niki did to her. Just looking at Viki’s face as she stood there taking all the stuff Tess threw at her was painful to watch. Again, nobody does it better than Erika when it comes to conveying emotions without words. Amazing! And when Tess finally gave it up, broke down crying and said, “Why…why did you let him do that do me?”…I cried right along with she and Viki. It made me feel great to see Viki finally able to hold Tess and console her. I hope they can move forward in a positive way from here.

I enjoyed Starr’s talk with John in the park. They have a lot more in common that Starr realizes and John can totally relate to her when she tells him how hard it is to know you could lose your dad and not be able to do anything about it.

And how unsettling was it when John was confronted by the father of the junkie he shot in the church? Wow, that was unbelievable…the way it paralleled John’s life when the man told him that when he shot his son he took away the lives of his whole family. That’s all John needed to send him over the edge. I was glad Natalie wound up on the roof when she did. Good think John didn’t take her head off with one of those beer bottles.

And in closing…cheers to Lindsay for calmly letting that creepy woman in the bridal shop have it good when she snubbed Marcie. I loved it when Lindsay let her know that she wasn’t going to take any garbage from her and that she expected her to take good care of Marcie. It reminded me of that scene in Pretty Woman (which I’ve seen 100 times and I’m sure you have, too) where Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts to the boutique and tells the manager that there would be lots of sucking up required. I love that and I was cheering Lindsay on. Kudos to the writers for bringing some realism to One Life To Live. Marcie is about as real as it gets and I love watching her blossom in this storyline.

See ya next week….

Jill Berry

FAN FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS

JOCALTAGIR writes: “Am I the only one who doesn't like Cristian's career as a boxer?  I am not a fan of boxing so the scenes are boring to me.  The noise in the background is so loud that you can't hear what the characters saying. I understand that the boxing area is supposed to be noisy but if the viewers are supposed to hear what is being said between the characters it is difficult. I may be in the minority but I have always thought that Antonio and Jessica were wrong for each other!  Antonio has been away and I haven't missed him! It will be a sad day for me if Kathy Brier and Tuc Watkins leave the show.  While I enjoy the character of Marcie she hasn't had a storyline of her own in a long time. Tuc Watkins' dry humor makes me LOL!”

Dear JOCALTAGIR: I have to agree with you about the boxing storyline. It doesn’t interest me much and I don’t see it as a viable career for Cristian. You’d think that with all the people he knows in Llanview he’d be offered something better…but I don’t think it will be his permanent career. I also agree about Jessica and Antonio. Although I used to love them together, they have lost most of their appeal for me since the Nash/Tess relationship came to be. I’d hate to see Kathy Brier leave the show. There are plenty of good storylines that could be created for her…and as far as Tuc is concerned, I never get enough of David’s charm and wit…I’d hate to see him go.

Gray writes: “I have a question for you. I know you are a big Ben fan but why are you so opposed to Viki finding love again with Clint since Ben is dead. Don't you think that Viki deserves some love and happiness in her life again? I happen to think Viki and this new Clint are wonderful together and I am rooting them on to find love. This show needs a good romance and I think Viki and Clint would fit the bill nicely. Plus I think Erika and Jerry are fabulous together. Clint already told Viki he loves her, now it is time for Viki to wake up and grab into the happiness realm once more. It is time for Viki to find love again, and this Clint is the perfect fit.

Dear Gray: I’m glad you asked me this. I absolutely feel that Viki deserves to have love and romance in her life again…and I would be lying BIG TIME if I didn’t admit that my idea of Viki finding that again meant that Ben was somehow still alive. As I’ve said before, I really like and respect Jerry ver Dorn as an actor. I watched and loved him for years as Ross Marler on Guiding Light and I think he is doing a great job on our show in the role of Clint. My problem is this…I believe that if Clint Ritchie had reprised the role of Clint, the powers that be would never have tried to create another romance between Clint and Viki. It would have been more realistic to the history of the show where Clint and Viki, after many years of love, turmoil and two marriages, came together to help their family and remained the good friends that they have been able to become. That’s how I think of Clint these days. Now…if Jerry had been brought on to the show as a totally new character for Viki to fall in love with, I could accept that 100 times more easily than I can accept the fact that Viki would opt for round #3 with Clint. Unfortunately, the show has opted on too many occasions to ignore the past and ignore how a character would react to a situation and has them react in a way that suits the storyline rather than being true to the character. Where Viki is concerned, I think that Erika Slezak has woven an incredible set of personality traits and standards for Viki’s character and TPTB are just messing with what Viki truly is. I like the relationship between Viki and the new Clint…but I just keep seeing him as a new guy and when I think “Clint” I think “the real Clint” with whom Viki would not fall in love a third time. I also never forget the fact that Clint is Ben’s big brother and that was awkward enough when Ben found out his real identify…it’s even weirder now that Viki will probably wind up with big brother again. Look, I never say never…which is why I think a perfect time for Ben to come back would be just at the point where Viki and Clint get romantic again…so I can’t say I’ll never accept a Viki/Clint romance…my problem is accepting Jerry as the Clint that I wasn’t so fond of in recent years. I know that lots of people disagree with me on this…but that’s how I feel.

Sharon writes: “I can't believe that Blair strolled into the police station with Spencer right behind her. What is wrong with her? She's an idiot! Her own daughter caught her with Spencer and Blair acted like she didn't even care. When Starr lashed out at her, she told Starr to respect her. How can you respect a Mother that is a tramp? Spencer told Starr he loves Blair? I'm sure Blair will eat that right up. What a poor excuse for a human being. Blair and Spencer belong together. They are both sleazy. I hope Todd gets set free so he can be with his kids, since their mother is too busy sleeping around.”

Dear Sharon: “I couldn’t agree more. Blair is a total disappointment to me. Above all else I always thought she was a good and caring mother, but now I even have to question that. Blair is too needy herself to be able to put aside all of her needs for her kids, even though she doesn’t think that’s true. Isn’t it a scary thing to think that Todd is the better parent in this situation? Blair can’t expect respect from Starr…but she can surely take some lessons from her daughter in the loyalty department.

Linda writes: “Did I just read the Emmy nominations list correctly??? I thought for sure Bree Williamson would be on there for her phenomenal portrayal of Jessica/Tess! She is one of the best daytime actors I've seen in a long, long time.”

Dear Linda: Yes, you read the list correctly. The only actor/actress from our show who got a nomination was Renee Goldsberry (Evangeline). It makes no sense to me that so many were left out. I think Bree is a sure bet for next year….her work this year has been incredible. Fingers crossed.

© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2006