Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for April 8, 2008

Finally, one secret has been revealed, or part of it anyway. Jared finally told Natalie that he is not a Buchanan and therefore he is not her uncle. Obviously Jared is relieved to let Natalie know that his feelings for her have nothing to do with being a degenerate uncle lusting after his niece, but I’m glad she’s not letting him off the hook. After all, he has had so much time to deal with his feelings as well as the truth about why he posed as someone he is not, but he has done nothing but jerk Natalie around by her heart and confuse her ever since it came out that he was supposedly a Buchanan. I really have come to like Jared, even though I hate his deception, because I think he has a much bigger heart than a devious streak.

I did think Jared was pretty dumb to think that his revelation to Natalie would somehow make her accept everything. Jared was confused that Natalie wasn’t happier about the fact that they are not related but even though I’m sure she will come around eventually because she does have strong feelings for him, he deserves for Natalie to keep him off balance for a while and holding his fate in her hands. Knowing that David Vickers is the real Buchanan made Natalie realize that Jared is the lesser of the two evils because let’s face it, I adore David, but the minute he finds out he is a Buke, he will be so blinded by dollar signs that he won’t be able to see straight. Also, Natalie is no fool and she knows that if Alex Olanov knows the truth about David, then the trouble could just be beginning and she’s going to see how it all plays out.

Maybe Natalie should understand a bit more that Jared has wanted to be part of the Buchanan family for a long time, because she sure felt like an outside when she came to Llanview to bulldoze her way into the clan. I guess the big difference is that she really is a Buchanan and it is her birthright. I did get a kick out of Natalie teasing Jared and letting him know that she thinks he’s disgusting and in a very seductive tone told him they would never be together and their relationship will be all business. And let’s face it; she was right when she said he chose money over her. Jared didn’t realize that he could fall in love and it would matter more than his ambition. How long will Natalie be able to hold out?

And then there’s poor, stuck in the middle, Nigel. I was glad that Natalie wasn’t too hard on the old boy. He did remind her that she was the first one to put her faith in Jared and that she saw the good in him first. It’s interesting how Nigel has taken a liking to Jared and feels that Jared has been good for Renee. Honestly, if Renee doesn’t get really mad when she finds out the truth, I will be surprised and disappointed. I think Jared’s deception of Renee was the worst of all because she was in such deep mourning for Asa and if the writers keep her true to character (when have they done that?) she will feel humiliated because of how she defended Jared to the family and treated him like a son right off the bat. Jared deserves to feel guilty about Renee most of all in my opinion.

So, we’ve seen Todd’s five minutes of remorse for this year. Boo hoo! He tells Blair that Addie got through to him about hurting the ones he loves and asks Blair to tell him how to fix things. Of course he can’t figure this out for himself like a grown man should because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong. Blair has to tell him that he has been harsh and cruel and that he needs to talk to Starr. What makes Blair think that talking to Starr will fix anything? And I wonder if anyone thinks Todd was sincere when he had the nerve to go up to Starr’s room and said, “Let’s just forget what happened and start over.” Yeah, right. The only problem with that is that Todd isn’t willing to give an inch. Can we blame Starr for not wanting him to touch her or for saying that they can’t forget what happened? Gee, it was really big of him to let her go back to school, especially since Sean will still be watching her and he still threatens to throw Cole in jail if she even makes eye contact with him? This man is so insane that I can’t even describe how insane he is. What I think is really disgusting is that he is strong-arming Langston as well. It was just awful when Starr and Langston came home and Todd grabbed Langston’s bag, found the drug store bag that contained the pregnancy test, and only relented and gave it back when Starr told him it was tampons. What a jerk! I have lost all respect for Blair because AGAIN, she stood there watching him rifle through Langston’s things and then literally threw the bag back at the poor girl. And all Blair can do is smile at him and kiss him and tell him how well he’s doing making amends to Starr. Is she crazy? She doesn’t even see the writing on the wall when Todd smirks at her and says, “Now that I’m doing so well making progress with Starr, why don’t you give up the idea of running that club?” Mark my words, he will find a way to take that club away from Blair or throw a monkey wrench into her happiness at owning it.

Starr sure has her hands full with dealing with Todd, going back to school and dealing with staying away from Cole and his trouble in school. And now Starr will find out that she’s pregnant. Honestly, if there is one thing that doesn’t need to be added to the mix in the Manning family it is Starr being pregnant. To me this is overkill. I think the writers could come up with lots of ways to make trouble for Starr and Cole without having them deal with a teenage pregnancy.