REFLECTIONS BY JILL for December 10, 2007

I suppose that all the Todd fans will want me to acknowledge his great remorse over Marty’s death. Yes, I do believe he feels sorry and I did believe him when he admitted to Blair that raping Marty was the worst thing he ever did in his life in a long line of worst things. The problem with Todd is that these little flashes of conscience usually last about ten seconds and then he’s on to the next self-serving escapade. Honestly, I just find him annoying when he has his bouts of remorse about what he’s done and who he is because he carries it to the point where it sounds more like he feels sorry for himself rather than sorry for what he’s done and who he’s hurt. It’s like he knows just how far to push the “poor horrible me” routine before Blair tries to tell him how wonderful he is and convince him he’s not so bad. I’d like to believe that he means it when he says that he doesn’t even deserve his own kids and surely doesn’t deserve Tommy, but I don’t expect him to give an inch in the long run where Michael and Marcie are concerned. Believe me, if he does, I’ll be happy to admit I was wrong. Now let’s see what he does to help Cole. He’s right about one thing; I don’t see Cole opening his arms to him any time soon, or ever. Even Viki, in spite of the fact that she loves Todd, had to admit to David that Michael and Marcie are wonderful parents to Tommy and that Todd has done some really awful things.

Blair really annoyed me as she always does when it comes to talking about Marty. Dorian was so right when she told Blair, “You keep referring to what happened as ‘what happened between Todd and Marty’. It was RAPE. Call it what it is!” Blair just cannot face the fact that Todd raped Marty and even when he was admitting that it was the worst thing he ever did, Blair kept trying to make him feel better by telling him that Marty had a good life and had put it all behind her. It is horribly insensitive for Blair to talk this way and I don’t care how much she loves Todd, she should understand that on many levels, women never get over rape.

So Charlie shows up at Asa’s place to confront Jared. Talk about timing! I would imagine that Charlie was every bit the horrible person he says he was when he was drinking all those years because otherwise Jared wouldn’t be so against having a relationship with him. I guess Jared had a pretty bad childhood with a father who was a drunk and now he has no use for Charlie. In addition to Jared’s bitterness about his father, he now has a chance to get his hands into the big Buchanan pie, so Charlie is nothing more than a stumbling block to getting what he wants. But Jared really broke Charlie’s heart when he so brutally rejected him and Charlie headed for the nearest watering hole and proceeded to fall off the wagon. Ouch! Ten months of sobriety have now been ruined. Let’s hope it ends there. But I love the fact that Jared’s fate is now in the hands of the Queen of La Boulaie. I loved seeing Dorian skulking around outside Asa’s mansion and of course she heard the whole conversation between Jared and Charlie. Jared can kiss his secret good-bye just as soon as Dorian figures out a good way to use it for her own benefit.

Did anyone think Renee would be the least bit suspicious about Jared being a Buchanan? Not me. I’m having a serious problem with how dumb the character of Renee is being written. I don’t care how deep in mourning she is. Renee is a smart woman and she’s used to spotting a con a mile away. She’s going to be badly hurt when the truth comes out. I can’t believe that Nigel is going along with this con. It figures that no one who could blow him out of the water saw Jared slip David’s hair into that envelope. Clint and Bo better stay on top of this mess. Renee sure won’t. I’m waiting for her to give Jared Asa’s ten-gallon hat and his smoking jacket.

And when it comes to talking about Jared, Natalie can’t be far behind. I am so sick of hearing Natalie say, “I can’t believe I might have been making out with my uncle all this time.” I think she said that about ten times last week and Jessica said it a couple of times, too. It was comical for about a minute and then it just got more and more annoying. At least Natalie doesn’t believe Jared is a Buchanan, but her desire for him to be unrelated to her has nothing to do with the welfare of the family.

It was pretty bad seeing that van blow up with Marty supposedly in it. Poor Cole. I have to say that when Brandon Buddy first joined the cast I liked him, but thought he had a way to go as far as being a good actor as the young ones often do, but he sure has come a long way. He did a great job of portraying Cole’s heartbreak at now having lost both of his parents violently. It’s a good thing he has John to lean on, even if John does have his own issues, especially with Ramsey, that creep. It’s too bad Cole had to hear that Ramsey shot out the tires that made the van go over the embankment eventually killing his mom. Cole was fierce when he got a hold of Ramsey’s gun and threatened to shoot him. Cole was over the edge and talk about someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Miles just happened to be wandering around dealing with Marty’s death himself when he walks up on Cole about to shoot Ramsey or maybe even John and too bad for him, Cole pulls the trigger. Is Miles gone?

Hey, maybe Dorian can take Cole in. She could run the ritziest foster home in the country. I just shook my head when Dorian told Langston that she’d always be there for her. Yes, Dorian, you will always be there until your first selfish impulse takes you away. And wasn’t Dorian gracious to Nora when she came by looking for Cole. Nora was devastated over Marty’s death and felt she had to take care of Cole and Dorian wouldn’t even let her in the house. I’ll bet Clint would be proud of Dorian for that. NOT!