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October 17, 2005

Wednesday was just the soapiest of soap days that I have seen in awhile.  It was so good and had me in tears.  Mostly the Chandler mansion scenes, but the Frye family scenes were perfection as well.  Everything was soapy with a capital S.  People were smiling, crying, hugging, bickering, staring, unsure, afraid, angsty, burning letters, secrets, lies, regret, snarking, children, longing gazes, reconciliation, tearing apart, sharing, just SOAPY! 

Di and Julia developed quite the sisterhood.  Dulia!  Julia actually looked animated as she tried to convince Di that they could take down the Dragon together.  She apparently didn’t do a good enough training job.  Di could never be a cop or a spy because every emotion and thought is displayed for everyone to see.  Not only did she inadvertently tip off Garrett to the fact that Julia was sneaking up behind him, but when Garrett and Julia started to struggle, she cowered in fright.  Of course, Julia flaked out for a moment there, too.  When the two goons entered the room, she should have kept going for the gun instead of freezing up.  And then there was Garrett.  When he was shocked by the water faucet, he screamed like a little girl.  *cough* Yep, nothing makes a scene more tense than a group of vicious, desperate people at each other’s throats in their fight for survival.   

What really made the scenario stand out from other cheesy violent confrontations on soaps, was that Julia took a trip down Luke Spencer lane.  He is one of the few other soap characters who followed through on an intent to rid the world of someone evil, when the other person was clearly defenseless.  Very few characters, even outside of daytime, will make that choice.   

I was so relieved to see Julia change into a normal outfit.  She looked like a normal person, even though her nerves were shot by her ordeal.  Now that this storyline is over, maybe we’ll get to see what Julia is really like.  Woman On The Edge was clearly not her natural persona.  

By the same token, I think Kelli Giddish does much better in the family scenes than she did as a reluctant mob moll.  I was annoyed with her character for weeks as she was pulled into the Dragon storyline.  Then on Wednesday she came back into the fold and I was back to liking Di again.   

The Frye family talk was poignant.   I loved when Dani asked how a mother could choose her boyfriend over her daughter, and Livia didn’t answer.  How does one answer that question?.  She just walked over to the couch and gave Derek a “You’re up” look.  Instead of attempting to answer it himself, he turned it around and praised Dani for having the courage to come out with her concerns in an attempt to spare her mother from a man like Garrett. 

Ryan must be the biggest idiot in the world if he really didn’t clue into how his actions would have devastated Greenlee.  And not because losing Ryan is the worst thing in the world to happen to a girl.  How about the fact that she lost another husband in a very similar manner to the way her first husband was killed.  That kinda thing makes a girl want to close the book on relationships forever.   

I guess we’re not going to see Erin portrayed as a do-no-wrong saint.  She didn’t even bat an eyelash as she suggested to Ryan that he lie about his time apart from Greenlee.   

JR always has a habit of underestimating the people he goes against.  Ripping into Kendall is about as smart as sticking your arm in a tank full of sharks and splashing it around.  But it was nice that he calmed down so they could have a sweet and meaningful conversation about forgiveness.  Too bad someone wasn’t taping the conversation to use later.  She’s going to need reminding about the benefits of forgiveness pretty soon. 

There wasn’t a whole lot of JR and Babe this week, but what little there was, was good.  She had him pegged about his mama and he couldn’t stand it. 

I was so glad to see Brooke on for a couple of days.  She really knocks it out of the park with whomever she shares a scene.  She totally sparkled with Adam, and you could see in his face that he knows he missed out on something big.  She also had some great scenes with Tad.  But one thing made me sit up and take notice.  I could have misinterpreted it, but here is what she said to Tad:  “I've seen how she looks at you. She just radiates, and I didn't see that, I didn't see that in her eyes until she came back.”  Was she indicating (unknowingly) that Di loves Tad more than Dixie did? 

We got to see some Opal this week, too!  And only she could carry off an outfit like that funky green Asian number with panache.  Palmer was hilarious, giving “the bride” Krystal a lingering congratulatory kiss.  Opal got him back by flirting with and leaving the party with Del.  Smart boy.  He knows a woman that can have a good time.   

The scenes between Jamie, JR and Di this week were sweet, not cheesy or overdone in my opinion.  If I had to choose a moment of nausea, it was seeing the empty plate after they consumed the entire pile of chocolate chip cookies.  I like cookies, but there were a lot of them. 

We got more Zad this week, wonderful Zad.  I laughed when Zach suggested they beat the information out of Garrett, and Tad looked back at the hulking Dragon and asked “With what?” 

There were many great lines this week, and most of them were said with the intent to wit.  The hilarious line that was made, I believe, inadvertently, was after Dr. Madden told Kendall she should have no trouble finding a competent OB/GYN.  “I don’t want a competent OB.  I want you!” 

I didn’t think it was possible to beat out last week’s “Would you like to whisper it to me?” scenes.  In those scenes, Zach and Kendall managed to make viewers go up in flames without so much as touching each other.  I don’t count the fact that Zach was playing with Kendall’s shirt strings.  We didn’t actually see that happening – we could only interpret it by their body language at the time (damn, freaking camera angles).  This week he was clearly making prolonged contact with her shoulder.  How, how, HOW does a woman stand there and take that sort of physical flirting without seriously responding?  No, it wasn’t even flirting.  Flirting is light and playful.  This was a conveyance of raw need, not just through his hand touching her shoulder, but by the expression on his face as he was doing it.  Kendall should bottle her self-control and make a fortune, because if it had been me?  There would have been two slams – the door slamming and us slamming against the floor.  We wouldn’t have even made it to the couch. 

I watched bits and pieces of OLTL and GH this week.  Its funny, on my notes for this week, I wrote the phrase “Sam is a badass.”  When looking at it later, at first I thought I was referring to Sam Grey.  I kept wondering why I would call him a badass.  He’s an ass for sure, but most certainly not a badass.  Then it hit me that I was talking abut Sam McCall.  Watching her, I continue to be convinced that she is Jason’s soulmate.  I certainly couldn’t see Robin, Elizabeth or Courtney doing any of the things she does.  

Speaking of Robin, I was more than a little pissed that her long awaited return lasted five seconds, and then nothing for the next two days.  I’ve heard all the complaints about Saint Robin, and I am sure they are true.  However, the last I saw of Robin was her reuniting with Anna on AMC.  Before that, I saw her as a little girl who was thrilled to bits that her parents were getting back together.  So I hope for everyone’s sake that this time around she is not the reputed sanctimonious priss that I (thankfully) didn’t see. 

I am so happy to see my beautiful Skye again.  When I stopped watching GH regularly last May, they still had her dressed in dark, drab frumpy clothes, with frightful makeup and wilting hair.  This week she was luminous in soft pink, her hair bouncing in waves, and her face kissed with a touch of color.  I guess having two men lusting after her has given her new vigor. 

I had the distinct pleasure of tuning in at the moment that Tracy went from victim to master kidnapper with one knee to an unfortunate day player’s groin.  Thumbs up to the man for comically well playing that scene with the legendary Jane Elliot. 

Speaking of daytime legends, Carlo Hesser is a fine wine nestled in amongst all the wine coolers on OLTL.  I did have to laugh when he threw himself on top of Christian.  I’m sure many women have contemplated doing exactly that, but I wouldn’t have guessed that Carlo had it in him. 

I am thrilled beyond thrilled that this past week I have managed to get my daughter hooked on the Muppets.  Today, in particular, she was enchanted with the Swedish Chef and his gruesome methods for dispatching the terrified chicken (should I be worried?).  Her favorite phrase to repeat over and over is “Chicky in the basky.”   

Thanks for reading.  Cheers!