Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for February 3, 2009

Why are we wasting our time watching Todd’s trial? Haven’t we seen enough of him in court to know that he hasn’t even gotten what he deserved for crimes that the prosecution could clearly prove, let alone crimes that his attorney can twist in a million directions that muddy the waters? Todd didn’t even think twice about assaulting Janet by ripping her shirt open to find the wire she was wearing, but do you think he will be punished for attempted rape for doing that? I think not. And then to add insult to injury, of course Tea shows ready to sink her teeth into Antonio and Talia.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Tea is an exact female version of Todd? She’s got that evil, cruel thing going on in her eyes and on her face and she is just as annoying to watch as Todd is. Obviously, Tea has an ulterior motive for being in Llanview and defending Todd is just a side job for her as she works to get Ray out of prison. However, she sure is doing her best to make enemies of everyone while she defends Todd. I guess she thinks it’s okay to sit and sip coffee with Todd while he nonchalantly tells her he wants Janet gone. Telling Todd that Janet has immunity means nothing to Todd and Tea didn’t even flinch when Todd’s answer to Janet having immunity was, “not if I kill her first.” So, this is the changed man that Todd became after his time spent with Marty. Hmmm. It’s very interesting that he was a changed man as long as he had what he wanted, Marty, and now that he has lost her, he’s right back to trying to outsmart and outfox everyone in any way he can.

It’s pretty sad that Tea had so little feeling or care for Starr that she marched right over to see her before Starr was supposed to testify against her father and played on every decent bone in Starr’s body. It was awful of Tea to tell Starr that Todd tried to kill himself. Not that Starr didn’t deserve to know; her mother should have told her long before this; but Tea did a beautiful job of twisting the truth so that Starr would believe her father didn’t want her to know about his attempted suicide because he didn’t want her to feel responsible for him trying to end his life. Todd jumping off that roof had nothing to do with his kids. Truthfully, he didn’t even think about his kids before he did it; he just wanted to do what would make Marty happy. I so wish Blair had walked in and found Tea harassing Starr. It would have been pretty funny to see Tea trying to defend Todd in a body cast. LOL!

What makes Tea as disgusting as Todd is that she once had a very good relationship with Starr and she took advantage of Starr’s trust? And to top it all off, Tea put on that crying act and sat there telling Starr that her father isn’t the man he used to be and I really died laughing when Tea said, “Your father has done horrible things to people, but then he does something so loving to make up for it.” OMG! Tell me that is not the most hilarious thing you’ve heard all week. Tea should be brought up on charges for even coming near Starr, let alone discussing the case with her. I just wish Starr had been a little wiser and not even let Tea in the door. Now Starr has to suffer with guilt over testifying against her father and Todd sits there and watches it happen.

It was so sad to watch Starr up on the stand. This young woman has been through more than any adult should have to go through in a year, let alone a teenager. From her pregnancy; to her father’s hatred of Cole; to her father holding Cole’s mother in that sick relationship; to losing her baby; to Cole’s drug problem; to dealing with her little brother needing his father and still loving Todd herself; it was no wonder that it was so easy for Tea to get to Starr and make her feel like she had no choice but to lie for her father. Starr sat on that stand and recanted her whole original story, saying that Todd never told her he was going to steal her baby. To see her run out of the courtroom and find her lying at her baby’s grave was heartbreaking.

So, sitting in the courtroom was Schuyler Joplin. Very interesting. He has just read the letter his mother left him, explaining exactly what she did for Todd and why she did it. While Todd sits there and tells Tea that there is no one alive who can prove he tried to steal Starr’s baby, Schuyler sits in the courtroom taking it all in. Will he come forward with the letter that can bury Todd, or will he decided that he can’t sully his mother’s name after he found out that she did what Todd blackmailed her into doing so that her son could have the life he worked hard to establish after his problems with drugs?

Janet was pretty well convinced that she had to testify against Todd so she was being hidden away with Talia as her guard. Bo brings Marty by to give Janet an extra push to convince her to bury Todd on the stand. Marty doesn’t want to hear any of Janet’s bull about how she took good care of her and didn’t tell her what she knew about Todd because Marty was so in love with him. Give me a break, Janet! She was saving her own butt and Marty called her on it right away.

Tea decides to push the limits and has Todd put Janet on the front page of his rag newspaper, including information about her past. Janet, who is already antsy enough hiding out with Talia before she has to testify, sees the paper and goes crazy because Todd’s paper has outed her and she knows there are people who would love to find her and kill her for stealing their life savings. Janet realizes she has to get away before someone finds her, so the minute Talia’s back is turned, she knocks her over the head and gets away. Did we really think Janet would make it to the witness stand? Of course not!

So, Janet runs and somehow winds up at Todd’s house. Three hours after the courtroom fiasco, Tea goes to Todd’s house, finds the door ajar, walks in and finds Todd on the floor, holding a bloody knife next to Janet’s body and all he can say is, “Well, she’s dead.” So, who killed Janet?