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Comments through Friday, June 18, 2004
Love is the irresistible desire to be
desired irresistibly. If last week’s theme revolved around finding happiness, this week focused on the four letter word that makes the world go ‘round. L-O-V-E.
My world revolves around love, but it doesn’t work out in nearly as interesting a fashion as on “General Hospital”. For instance, because I love my children I hound them every single day to pick up after themselves, I drive them places, I cook for them and insist upon help with the clean up, yet no one’s expressed an interest in portraying the love in my life on television. Because I love my husband, I listen attentively when he calls me to vent about work, I keep the house clean (and believe me, I’d rather leave vacuuming to the housecleaning fairies), and I perform mundane tasks like measuring walls in the garage and visiting Home Depot to determine how much it will cost to add cabinets and shelves to one wall when I’d much rather sit at my computer and write all day. Imagine, all that love and no TV show. I guess I don’t compare to love on a soap. Mary loves Connor so much she threw herself in the river. Carly loves Sonny enough to sneak through tunnels and wear a nun’s habit to sit at her wounded husband’s bedside. Jason loves Michael enough to claim paternity to Sam and Sonny’s baby. Emily loves Nik enough to hold herself back from spilling the beans about his stolen identity. Skye understands that she’ll never replace Laura in Luke’s life. Romance may be in short supply, but there’s a heck of a lotta talk about love floatin’ around Port Star-Crossed Chuck.
Not only was this a week of love, it was a week of scenes to appease the fan bases. Journey lovers saw Jason and Courtney talking nice with their hearts breaking in a jail cell. Fans of Jason and Sam watched them inching closer. Carly and Sonny did what they do best; love each other in difficult circumstances. Jax and Courtney grabbed a few smiles. Ric and Liz crossed paths and looked at other with hopeless yearning while Ric and Alexis bonded over childhood pain. The Nikolas and Emily fans were so loud they practically drowned out everyone else as Nik and Em intimately connected. Wow, what a (dare I say it?) balanced week. I think the writer’s must have called a meeting where they decided to offer a tidbit to all the bases before tearing them up again, because as was explained oh so subtly this week, “That’s amore!”
Carly’s the love narrator, “That’s Amore!” What a whoppin’ long 24 hour period! Jason and Sam almost tied the knot but didn’t, then Sam flew off to Texas while Sonny flew to Costa Rica to get shot. Again. Meanwhile, Jason flew to Italy to rescue Carly from herself, returned home to his penthouse, received a call from Sam and promptly flew to Texas, returned from Texas and waited through Sam’s surgery at GH. Carly returned from Italy and promptly grabbed a flight to Costa Rica after hearing about dying Sonny from Sister Agnes. I know this all happened in one twenty four hour period because Emily is still wearing the blue dress she wore to Jason’s almost wedding. Poor Natalia Livingston’s been wearing that dress for eight shooting days and counting, since previews for Monday showed her in the same clothes.
Emily and her Dress Of A Thousand Scenes. I wonder if Tyler Christopher’s male castmates are miffed at him. With that serious bod he’s sportin’, he’s raised the standard so high, it will be tough for anyone else to measure up. Talk about male beauty! Not only that, he can act too. Would you want him looking at you with scorn, like he did in Mary’s dream and calling you pathetic? I wouldn’t. I might go all whussy and cry. Top off that with his realistic confusion over what he’s remembering and what he’s been told about his life and the love scene with Emily and the guy showed serious range of emotion. For me, Nikolas has always been an interesting character sometimes more must-watch than at others depending on storyline, but this week he received my admiration for showing intense emotions without overkill. When he touched Emily’s face and then kissed her I felt vicariously seduced right along with her. Not to mention my big-eyed ga-ga over his sculpted body wearing only his jockeys. (I just dug my own grave with that comment. ‘Cause right after Carolyn reads it, she’s going to tease me about cheating on Jason in my lustful love-in-the-afternoon heart. Yeah, Carolyn, I know we’re cool until Lorenzo rips off his shirt and I comment on him.)
Wow, I could write a hot romance from these pictures alone. This moment would be inscribed in her memory with indelible ink. The colors would remain clear, never fading or softening, until the day she died. Pulling in a full breath seemed impossible as the man she knew as Nikolas and who knew himself as someone else ran his fingers over her lips as if he too, was making a permanent memory. Or perhaps the echoes of their forgotten memories buried deep in his subconscious were guiding him. “Did he touch your face?” ConNik asked softly, gazing intently at her lips. “I think so,” she replied barely able to respond as she soaked in his touch. “Did you realize he was going to kiss you?” he asked, lightly gliding the tips of his fingers over her jaw to her neck. “Not until it happened.” Emily breathed as Nikolas, her Nikolas, cupped her neck and drew her to him. The kiss suspended time and could have lasted a moment or an hour. Emily’s senses were swamped. His smell, his flavor, the sound of his breathing, combined into the feel of him against her. He was a drink of water that flowed into the parched cracks of her soul and reminded her of how it felt to love with her whole being and to be loved in that way. Help! *Gasp* I’m drowning in my Harlequin moment! I love to write this way, until I crack myself up because anyone who is a mature, experienced lady knows that if we are lucky, we experience a couple insanely romantic moments in our life, but the rest of the time, the real deal is more like a bumpy roller coaster ride – fun, sometimes intense, definitely not smooth. And if anyone describes to you their life like a series of beautiful moments in a Harlequin romance, don’t believe them, just assume they have a rich fantasy life. Did you notice that Nikolas and Emily had an entire, intense love scene and the candle fairies didn’t light any candles? “Mr. Bishop,” the doctor intoned seriously, “you’re wife is getting worse.” Really? Worse than what? For goodness sake, she’s only wet, maybe cold and a little bruised. No offense intended towards real drowning victims, whom I know deal with harsh reality like potential brain damage from lack of oxygen. I thought Mary would hit my sympathy button when she felt so badly that she tried to commit suicide, but so far, it hasn’t happened. It’s not like she’s dealt with any fall out for her actions. Nope, she saw Emily and Nikolas together, assumed she’d been busted, and promptly tried to check out. C’mon, Mary, gimme some guts and gumption and I’ll drum up some empathy, cause so far, I got nothin’. Since Mary didn’t die, I tried to imagine the next conversation between Emily and Mary. Mary knows, that Emily knows, that Mary stole Nikolas, but Emily doesn’t know that Mary knows that Emily knows. Have I made it clear for you now?
NEM and McNik collided,
So Mary took her part of the show down to the river and jumped in. Since Lorenzo doesn’t have much storyline lately, it’s nice of the writer’s to allow him to dabble in marriage counseling for the insane, by understanding and offering to remove Mary and ConNik from Port Charles. Ahem, another dig at Mary, I’m going to try to stop now.
Marriage a la Lorenzo You pick ‘em and I’ll help you trick ‘em. When Jason breaks his habitual emotionless demeanor and shows his emotions I’m always pulled in. In Jason’s life, babies represent love that he can give unconditionally without being hurt. Arguments can rage about his motivations and the rights and wrongs of his actions, but what boils down is that babies are precious cargo for Jason and while I’ll watch any Jason on my screen, caring Jason sucks me in most of all. “This baby deserves a good life. I can support you both. I will be the best father I can be. And (teasing) I also know a lot more about parenting than you ever will.” I’m beginning to feel like I did when Jason claimed fathership to Michael. My head knew Michael was A.J.’s son and keeping him away from a father who wanted his son was wrong, but my heart wanted Jason to remain as Michael’s father. I apologize ahead of time for the lopsidedness that’s bound to show up in my column as I root for Jason and Sam, and bash Sonny for interfering, even though Sonny’s technically the proud papa.
Steve Burton probably hates Jason showing emotion. I bet he receives his script and thinks, “There goes Jason running his mouth again!” Want to know why Jason will always be important in Port Charles? Because he’s the only guy on the canvas who carries women. Carly, Sam, Courtney, Liz all come to mind when I think about it. Can you think of any instances of other guys sweeping a woman into his arms and carrying her to safety?
He’s the go-to guy when it comes to carrying women, children or babies. Did you enjoy Sonny and Carly this week? I did. First, because the show didn’t revolve entirely around them; secondly, they had scenes with characters outside their usual realm; and thirdly, because when I’m not seeing them every single day in every single segment, I realize how amazing they are together. “We’ve got the crisis situation down, Sonny why are we so lousy at the day to day?” Carly nailed the essence of their relationship and then they returned to oppositional status quo. “We have to get out of here, it’s dangerous.” Sonny informed Carly. “No way, we have to stay.” Carly replied automatically disagreeing. I want to be Carly for a day. For just one day I want to do exactly as I please as the whim hits me. Like jump on a plane to Italy with only a telephone call left on the answering machine as explanation to my family. Throw a pitcher of water on Jax’s head to stop him from making his moves on my best friend. Break dishes on purpose to get myself thrown in jail in a foreign country with no thought that it might not play out in my favor. And then perform a brilliant “I’m a passionate woman” swoon song to be let out of her cell. One of the best parts of Carly’s song and dance in the Italian jail were the expressions on Jax, Courtney, and Jason’s faces as she let her playful drama queen loose on the guard. Plus, this week she wore cool red pants and top with a stone colored jacket which I really liked. Please, please can I be Carly for a day?
*Gulp* *Gasp* “Guard, they’re sucking up all my air. Can you feel the passion?” Isn’t it funny how most of the residents, including the people who can’t stand Carly and whom Carly dislikes hang out at her club?
You know the place has good atmosphere when everyone hates the owner, most of the patrons don’t like each other, yet they continue to show up. This is difficult to type and I know I am going to regret it, but I liked Ric talking to Alexis. Why is it that a person can be bad, terrible even, but clue me in on motivations and past experiences and suddenly they’re not nearly as terrible as a few minutes previously. Alexis asked Ric why he wastes his brilliance trying to bring Sonny down. “Maybe it’s just the oldest, simplest reason in the world. Jealousy. Mommy liked him best,” Ric offered, honest for once. Since he clearly leans towards obsessive behavior I don’t see him giving up Liz, but I could see him sparring with Alexis and developing a mutual respect, maybe even friendship (if the writer’s allow him to develop as a character).
I loved when Alexis told Ric, “My stepmother can trump your mother anytime.” Alexis charges $650 per hour! I was considering taking some classes, think I’ll check out law school instead. Apparently, Lucky’s resignation from the PCPD didn’t stick since he keeps showing up at every crime scene with his badge around his neck. He seems to have shed the uniform, too bad he didn’t find a clue. Because I’m with Skye in that it’s beyond ridiculous that Lucky believes she broke Laura out of the sanitarium, kidnapped herself and tried to frame Laura for it, and then set up Laura to take the fall for ice-pick-in-the-back Ross.
“OK, Mac, I’ll wear the badge, but I’m not putting on the uniform.” Umm, Leslie? Have you not noticed that it’s summer? Even in Port Charles it must be odd to creep around in the heat in a black cloak complete with hood and scarf.
Little Red Riding Hood, she ain’t. Any person able to hand back to Tracey what she dishes out, I like. In her best we-are-better-than-thee voice Tracey informed Lois that she wasn’t getting her claws into Nedly again. Lois, uncowed and uncaring, brushed her off with a, “Could you possibly find some better time to threaten me because it sounds like something’s seriously wrong here,” while Ned said very little. Isn’t Ned a little too old to allow Mommy to dictate his love life?
Personality clash, fashion clash, ownership of Nedly clash. They’re off to a roaring start. If I were Brook Lynn, I’d refuse to come home until Mommy promised to stop calling me Brookie.
Tons of spoilers and rumors have surfaced on the net waves but nothing struck my funny bone. In upcoming episodes, we’ll be hearing music for our viewing pleasure as L&B hosts a talent contest and Carly interviews bands for her club which offers a nice change from drama. If you’re perusing Eye On Soaps, you already know that we have something much better that mere spoilers, news and rumors. We have Sage who possesses the amazing ability to not only share soapy news but fill us with warm fuzzies at the same time. He’s the coolest guy I never met! Catherine Wadkins made an appearance on SoapTalk last week. Guess what? She’s a walking, talking normal person - not unbalanced at all as GH would have us believe. Like most newcomers to soaps, she had nothing but praise for the GH cast, appreciating their talent and dedication to their work. Her most amusing anecdote had to do with her mom and about 400 of her closest friends who now tune into “General Hospital”. She’s also a bit overwhelmed with relatives and friends calling her to question “Mary’s” choices, wondering why she she’s breaking up that nice Emily and Nikolas, and offering advice on how Mary should behave. Besides acting, Ms. Wadkins is learning the art of belly dancing and she gamely taught Lissa and Ty some of the moves.
Really, she’s only psycho on TV. An odd incident happened to me last week. My son, daughter and I went to an afternoon matinee just to get out of the house for a while (turns out that afternoon matinees are not cheap entertainment anymore when popcorn is included). During the movie my cell phone began to vibrate indicating that I’d received a message. Retreating to the hallway, I listened to a message from a lady, clearly upset, informing me that Ted had been involved in an accident, he was on his way to the hospital but they thought he was going to make it. Stomach clenching fear shimmied through me, but I was saved by one fact - I don’t know a Ted. After a few seconds of working my way through the fear and relief, I realized that I had to return the lady’s call to inform her that she hadn’t reached whoever needed to know about the accident. She picked up the telephone right away and I could hear the tension and tears in her voice. After I explained about the missed message, she apologized and thanked me, saying that she’d already realized her mistake and spoken with the correct party. Insert awkward pause here. How does one end a call to a complete stranger who is clearly upset, even though it had nothing to do with me? A connection, however minute and temporary had been forged. Finally, unsure if I should probe in an area clearly not my business, but unable to shrug it away I asked, “Are they OK?” It was like asking for a teaspoon of water but receiving a whole cup. She launched into an explanation of what had happened, where they were, and their injuries (thankfully, nonlife-threatening). Abruptly she stopped, wondering I am sure, why she was explaining to a complete stranger. Relief surged through me that the injured parties would make it and I offered my regret for bothering her and told her that I was glad everything would be OK before saying good-bye. She warmly thanked me for calling and that was the end. Except it wasn’t quite. For the rest of the day I pondered about how connections are made. I don’t know Ted and his friends, so their accident shouldn’t have affected me, but I’d experienced the fear and relief along with the worried lady making the call. She used me, an anonymous caller, to release some tension. The incident took maybe three minutes total and yet I walked back into the theater feeling buoyant with relief that the people I didn’t know would be OK, and glad that I’d been able to help in a small way by listening. You might be asking why am I telling this blip of a story and I’ll tell you. Soaps provide the same outlet as the fear and relief I felt for complete strangers. They engage our emotions with a built in safety switch, since they’re not real, though I’ve read a few message boards where I wonder if the people writing have lost sight of the fact that they’re watching fictional characters in a storyline. We can let our emotions surge with fear, anger, love, tenderness, laughter, danger, delight, and sometimes insanity and evilness and then hit the power switch when we’ve had enough. If I could give you a present I’d send you a day of pleasure without consequences - ice cream without calories; the ability to drive fast without fear of a ticket; an area to rollerblade without curbs or bumps in the road; exercise without pain; and time to watch GH without interruption. Pleasure without consequences - the concept is appealing, but reality bites, so instead I’ll wish for you adventure with a safety net. Kinda like watching an episode of GH. Thanks for stopping by.
Yay! For screen caps at GH World 5
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