Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for September 17, 2007

Todd Manning never disappoints me. He continues to be the most obnoxious, self-centered, immature adult or child in Llanview. Of course, just like we can predict that the sun will rise every morning, we could have predicted the way Todd would behave when he found out that Tommy was his son. Yes, I know that he deserved all along to know where his son was and that he was alive and well, but I think that the way Todd treated Marcie and Michael was disgusting, heartless and it was behavior befitting someone who cares about nothing but himself. In other words, it was pure Todd!

It’s like a cloud forms around his head and all he can see is what he wants and he doesn’t care about anyone else or what they think or feel. I wasn’t surprised at all at how horribly he treated Marcie and Michael. He should have been thanking his lucky stars that Spencer didn’t really make that baby disappear. Instead, he went after Marcie with a vengeance, without a care in the world that she took such good care of and loved that baby like he was her own. He was totally unfeeling and heartless when Marcie brought out the photo album and tried to show him what a good life Tommy has had and how much love they’ve given him. All he could say was, “At least they have some memories. I have none. They’ve had more than they deserve.”

And you know it’s going to come out that Michael knew about Tommy all along. He’s in for a world of hurt and I don’t know how much more Marcie will be able to take.

And what’s with the judges in Llanview? Asa is dead so they should all be playing fairly, shouldn’t they? It was bad enough when that creep, Miles said he wouldn’t testify that Todd assaulted him and the judge had to drop the charges against Todd, but I sat staring at the television in shock when the judge decides to give Todd a fine and community service after he knocked out that guard and escaped from jail. That was totally ridiculous, about as ridiculous as Todd’s new lawyers standing up ten seconds after being hired in the courtroom and yelling, “Produce the child!” Some of this stuff is just too stupid to believe.

I have to commend Kathy Brier this week for the way she played Marcie. Marcie was out for blood, but not before we saw her heart and guts hanging out. It hurt me to see her begging and pleading with Todd not to take Tommy away from them, especially since Todd didn’t give a damn and even seemed like he was enjoying it a bit. Of course, Marcie was thinking of Tommy first, how much she and Michael love him and know that it would hurt him to be dragged away from the only parents he knows. Todd was thinking that he’s been deprived of his son (“HE’S MINE!”) for all this time and it didn’t cross his mind at all how Tommy would be hurt.

And what was the purpose of Todd barging into Marcie and Michael’s apartment with a cop and his lawyer to get a DNA sample from Tommy? He had no business being there and the judge should have given him some restrictions since his presence is clearly disruptive to the child.

Again, I give credit to Blair for having a heart where Marcie is concerned. She is worried that what she did will cause her to lose Todd, but I’d rather see her alone than to keep putting herself in his face trying to get back into his good graces. No matter what Blair has done, she deserves better than Todd and even though they always do wind up back together, I’d like better for her.

And poor Starr. She has to start off the new school year with more family garbage hanging over her head courtesy of her wacky father. How much is Todd thinking about Starr and Jack while he’s selfishly seeking what he wants? Blair was right when she told him he was acting like a 2-year old. I do think that Blair should have had more compassion for Starr when she said she was horrified to go back to school and have to take all the ribbing and hate from Brittany again. It was very easy for Blair to tell her to ignore the whole thing, but it was insensitive of Blair to treat the situation that way.

It looks like I’m going to get one of my wishes and that is that Langston is going to have quite a storyline in Llanview. Dorian has already taken quite an interest in her situation, wondering why she’s on her own so much and why her parents travel so much. As it turns out, I believe that Langston’s parents died a while back and she has been living on her own and taking care of herself, not telling anyone the truth. Now it is going to come out and it turns out that she will be related to someone in Llanview. I can’t wait to see how this unfolds because I think this young actress has a lot to bring to a meaty storyline. What if she winds up being one of “Dorian’s girls?” LOL!