Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for November 11, 2008

Well, it finally happened. I’ve never done it before, but last week for the first time I fast- forwarded through scenes I just couldn’t watch. Have you figured out which ones I skipped? Sure you have. I knew that Todd and Marty were going to have sex (don’t even dream that I’d call it making love) and I just didn’t have the stomach to watch that disgusting display. Actually, I was sorry that I only fast forward through the actual sex scenes. I was really repulsed watching as Marty had to convince Todd to sleep with her. That added a new level of depravity to the situation. At least I didn’t have to listen to the pillow talk (ewww) and happily kept my finger on the fast-forward button. I am saving my undivided attention for when Todd gets caught. Those scenes I won’t miss.

So, John decides he’s not leaving Mexico until he gets the truth out of Keys and hey, what’s a little game of attempted drowning between law enforcement and a thug? John held Keys head under the water until he got him to admit that Marty is the woman Todd is hiding and hopefully rushes back to Llanview to get that coveted warrant he’s been after to search Todd’s apartment. But of course, knowing the justice system in Llanview, we all knew that the judge would take leave of his senses and deny John the warrant because he didn’t take Keys’ word as the truth. I didn’t blame John for throwing in the towel at that point and going ballistic. He got himself thrown in jail and had to fake hanging himself for one of the cops to take notice. John realized at that point that he had tried everything he could while remaining by the book and it got him nowhere. He couldn’t stand another minute of knowing where Marty was and wondering what Todd had done to her so he threw out the ethics and armed himself to smash himself into Todd’s house, where Marty, blind to the truth about Todd, is sitting there waxing poetic in her journal about her love for Todd. Ick! Now that Marty and John are finally face to face, I can’t wait to see what happens.

All the pregnant women in Llanview gave birth at the same time. Yes, that includes Starr, Tess and let’s not forget David Vickers whom we hysterically find out is not really a David, but a Davida. How did Tina not know David was a female? That was too funny.

Starr is at the hospital about to give birth with everyone around her; Langston, Cole, Blair, Marcie, Dorian Addie and Viki. Oh, and let’s not forget her idiot of a doctor and Janet, the nurse from you know where. Kristin Alderson did a great job of portraying Starr in labor. I though it was very realistic, especially as Starr was going through labor as a 16-year old girl who had no clue what to expect. Starr finally gives birth to a beautiful, seemingly healthy baby girl and the doctor quickly tells her something is wrong and rushes the baby to intensive care. In the meantime, Marcie is frantic that something is wrong with “her” new baby and she runs into Todd in the hallway. Todd seems to be playing games with Marcie (what else is new?) and shows her a lot of compassion for what she’s going through. That was another scene I should have ignored. Then Todd confronts Starr’s doctor and tells her he has changed his mind and he wants her to put the baby back where she belongs. Is Todd really having a change of heart? Has his great revelation of loving Marty changed him? OMG, give me a break! Even if Todd decided to have a tiny attack of conscience, I couldn’t care less. It’s waaaay to little, waaaaay too late.

I have to say that I was touched by the scene where Starr called Todd. No matter what has happened, she will always remember how much she loves him no matter what he has done in his life and when she is desperate and scared, she remembers that he was always there for her when she needed him. I don’t really believe that is true, but it is the way Starr remembers her young life. What eventually ruined that call for me was when Todd repeated his old mantra, “Everything I’ve ever done in my life I’ve done because I love you.” No Todd, everything you’ve ever done in your life was done because it suited your sick needs and allowed you to live with yourself. If your kids just happened to benefit, lucky for you.

And the problem is across town where Tess has fled to the vineyard to be somehow close to Nash as she feels her baby is coming. Tess conjures up Niki Smith who seems to have had an attack of conscience herself. She convinces Tess that it is she that Tess hates and wants to hurt, not Natalie and she tries to say she’s sorry for what she did to her as a child. I have always thought that Bree Williamson did a great job as Jessica and Tess and I was floored by her performance when she finally let loose on Niki and cried, “What kind of person takes a little girl to a roadside bar and leaves her alone so that the pervert next door can rape her?” That was the most powerful scene I’ve watched in a long time. Niki finally convinced Tess to take her anger out on her instead of Natalie and they set out to free Natalie and Jared from the basement but Tess doubles over and labor begins. It was hard to watch knowing that she was alone out there. But was she alone?

Then what happened next? You had to figure it was coming. Another alter emerges, in the name of Bess and whereas Tess is a copy of Niki, Bess is a copy of Jean Randolph. I loved that scene where Bess took over, pulled back her hair, put on the glasses and set out to “clean up the mess” which of course is her job. It seems like Tess’s baby has died (?) and Bess flashes back to when Tess overheard Todd’s plan to take Starr’s baby and let everyone believe that the baby died. So what is going on here? Bess heads out with the baby and you know she has something in mind to “fix things.” Is Todd going to be the victim of his own evil plan and be told that Starr’s baby really did die? Is Bess going to switch the babies? Yes, I know we’re all sick of the alters, but I have to admit, I enjoyed this latest twist.