Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for September 21, 2009

I am very glad that the whole drug storyline is over in Llanview, although it is pretty unrealistic that knocking off a few Russian thugs takes care of the problem. What I do appreciate is that the storyline didn’t drag on forever like most do.

John and his team did manage to bring down the bad guys, but not before there were several casualties to our good guys. I have to say that I like Brody more and more every day. I love a good hero and a guy who is dedicated to making his woman happy and that’s who Brody is. We did see some of that in the beginning when we first knew him and found out that he was willing to marry Gigi and take care of her and Shane, but of course Brody had to go a little crazy on us for a while before we got to really know him. He’s a very honorable guy and at least he is going to be okay. I think he is just what Jessica needs, someone who loves her dearly and accepts her for what she is and what she has been through. And the Big Cahuna, Clint, welcomed him to the family so what more does he need? LOL!

I enjoyed watching the ceremony where Bo gave medals of honor to Cole, John and Fish and it was so nice when Bo went to the hospital personally to give Brody his medal and tell him that he has a job on the police force waiting for him. What I loved most about Brody was that when he saw that Jessica was upset about him being a cop, he said if she was going to worry, he wouldn’t do it. He knows that she saw Nash’s death flash before her eyes when Brody was hurt and he was willing to give up a great career for her. Of course Jessica wouldn’t let that happen. She loves him and assures him that she will worry but she wants him to be happy and take the job.

Unfortunately, poor Shawn hasn’t weathered the takedown of the drug lords very well. At first it looked like he would be fine once Greg did the surgery to remove the bullet fragment from his brain, but then it turned out that a piece was left and it was dangerous for it to remain in Shawn’s head. Despite warning from another doctor in the emergency room to leave it alone, Greg insisted that he could get that piece out and I guess it was a combination of his ego and his love for his brother that made him ignore the advice and go ahead with the procedure. (I think it was more ego, but that’s my opinion.) Shawn wound up in a coma and things don’t look good for him.

When it comes to Greg Evans, I can’t wrap my mind around liking this guy. Even when it seemed he was in so much pain after what happened to Shawn and blamed himself, his tirade did seem very self-centered. He ranted like a maniac to Rachel about how he insisted he could do the surgery even though he could have called in another surgeon and how his ego led him to go ahead when he shouldn’t have. It just seemed like even in his grief over his brother, it was all about himself.

It didn’t help Greg that his family, who has always put him on a pedestal, appeared to be blaming him when they found out what happened to Shawn. They weren’t blaming him, of course, but their shock and grief didn’t immediately allow room for them to worry about how Greg felt. And Destiny broke down and suffered the most over the fact that her perfect, infallible brother could have hurt Shawn when she always touted him as the “hero” brother, even to Shawn who always looked out for her most.

At least Cole is now off the hook and can finally try to lead a somewhat normal life, if that’s possible being an 18-year old dad going to college and loving the daughter of the man who had a hand in almost getting him killed. Yes, Cole did get his GED and he and Markko are now going to attend college and be roommates. Marty agreed to foot the bill for Cole to have his own place as long as he keeps his grades up and he invited Markko to live with him. Markko has been living with Viki in the hopes that his father will come around and invite him back home, but a visit from his mother proved that that’s not happening. His mother gave him some money to get by (without daddy dearest knowing about it) and although Markko was disappointed that his father hasn’t changed him mind, he refused to give up Langston to please him.

And OMG! I think Llanview has the market cornered on ridiculous dads. I thought that Markko’s father would be only creature of his kind who would disown his son for doing something he doesn’t approve of, but wait a minute! Here comes George Fish! Wow, is Oliver’s father the biggest jackass you’ve ever seen?

Okay, first Oliver’s parents come to Llanview a day early and run into Cris at the diner. Cris realizes who they are and they insist that he take them back to the apartment to see Oliver. Oh boy! They are all excited about seeing their son and meeting his girlfriend and boy, is Oliver shocked to see them? Before we even get to the part about Oliver being gay, let’s first address the idiocy of Oliver’s mother’s reaction to Layla. Whatever your opinion may be on this subject, you have to admit that Oliver’s parents are pretty ignorant people to blurt out exactly what they are thinking, like when his mother commented on Layla being black. What year is this?

Okay, so she was unsuccessful in backtracking her way out of her bigoted comments and then everyone sat down to get acquainted. Oliver seems finally ready to tell his parents he is gay when his father pulls out the book from the couch cushion about telling your parents you’re gay. I must say that I died laughing when Oliver’s father got the wrong idea and figured that Cris was the one who was gay. Poor macho Cris must be wondering what kind of signals he is giving off. First his mother thinks he’s gay, then Oliver’s father. It was pretty funny, until the moment when Oliver’s father decided that Cris needed the church to help him get “un-gay” and that living with a “HOMOSEXUAL” was no place for his son. OMG! I have to give Cris credit for going along with everything when at first Oliver didn’t fess up. He was being a really good friend. But Oliver’s father was so disgusting in the way he treated Cris that Oliver finally had to come forward and declare that he was gay. Of course his stupid father figured he was covering for Cris, as if being gay was a capital offense.