Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL for December 24, 2007

And Viki is back in Texas with Charlie. Nothing scares Viki off, that’s for sure, even a drunk and grumpy guy. Charlie was sure surprised to see her. I thought their scenes were great. No matter what is going on in her life, it is never hard for Viki to understand and have compassion for what someone else is going through. But she wasn’t going to take any guff from him. She’s tough and when it appeared that he was going to just wallow in self-pity, she headed for the door. Charlie is no fool. He knew better than to let her go. I felt terrible for the guy when he told Viki how horribly his meeting with his son went and that he never wanted to see his father again. Charlie had to listen when Viki reminded him that even though he quit drinking for his son, he still became a better man for it even if it didn’t work out with his son. Viki hit him right between the eyes when he said, “Who cares?” and she said, “I do.” Have you notice that every man Viki gets involved in just wants to be a better man after knowing her?

Kudos to Brian Kerwin for some fine acting. He made us feel Charlie’s pain and made it a turning point for Charlie and Viki. I think he really heard her when she told him that he should go to a meeting for himself, even if it didn’t get him his son back. I thought it was very sweet when they decided to go to the café for lunch and Viki said, “It’s a date” and Charlie said he didn’t want to dishonor the other wonderful dates they had by calling this a date. Well, it sure turned out to be a date when they headed for the drive-in again and admitted how much they missed each other. And then the big kiss. Not too bad. I didn’t feel the knife turning too badly in my heart when I thought of Ben and I feel like this is a good thing for Viki. Now they’re headed for Charlie’s bed and if I thought Ben’s heart was really beating in Viki’s chest I’d wonder if his heart could take what was coming. You know me; never say die.

Oh, I just love it when the OLTL writers toss some comedy into my day and that pie judging fiasco was just the ticket. Noelle and Moe have been making me laugh since I first saw them fighting over who makes the better pie, but those scenes with the judge were hysterical. And leave it to clumsy Marcie to bump into the guy carrying a bucket full of dishes when he has a mouthful of pie, causing him to choke. It figures she’d be the one to know how to do the Heimlich maneuver on him. I think the old judge just ate too many bites of too many pies and had no room to push that last bite down. And let’s not forget Viki’s line when she and Charlie walked into the diner and into the commotion while everyone was tossing pies at each other when she said, “I guess we’re not having pie.” I hope all these characters are coming back to Llanview. If not, I will miss them when everyone heads home for good. And of course, Marcie gets away once again without anyone seeing her because while Viki stood there watching everyone carrying on, Marcie’s face was covered in pie. How convenient!

So, let’s talk. How long has it been since Todd decided to come home and take care of the two children that he’s been neglecting? Hmmm, I’d say it’s been about a day. Now here he is, having Christmas days early with Starr, Jack and Blair because he can’t wait to get back out on the trail and track down Tommy even though the kids beg him to stay. Is it more important after all that has gone on in the last several months to leave them alone again especially during the holidays than to just let the search go for a few days. Sure it is. I just shook my head as Starr and Jack opened tons of presents from Todd, which was his way of bribing them to forgive him for leaving yet again. If I thought for a minute I was being harsh towards Todd, that ended when he asked his kids, “So, have I given you enough presents to make up for leaving you at Christmas?” I rest my case. Ramsey is going to help Todd find Tommy just to get back at John. That can’t be a good thing. And Blair, as always, thinks it’s okay for Todd to run off again. She is such an enabler when it comes to him.

Lindsay is going back to court and I guess we’ll have to hear about Spencer once again. And is there going to be something between Lindsay and Bo? Lindsay and RJ? Now that would be an interesting triangle if I really cared about Lindsay’s love life. I do care about Bo’s love life and I would love to see him find someone new and wonderful since it appears he won’t be with Nora. But I guess you never know, do you?

What is Jessica doing? Is it wise to deal with the subject of Tess again? I hope this doesn’t go too far.