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Comments through July 23, 2004
Have you ever wondered how it feels to skateboard off a curb and land with perfect balance? How about skiing? Ever tried to imagine skiing gracefully off a ledge, sailing through the air and landing upright on a soft pillow of snow and swooshing down the mountain? Does the thought of skydiving intrigue you? All these activities are the physical equivalent to what we vicariously experience watching soaps. There are lots of activities that I’ll never attempt but that doesn’t mean I don’t try to imagine what it feels like to experience them. On a soap characters plot, plan, and mark a course that most of us wouldn’t dream of in real life. But isn’t it nice to watch, absorb and imagine ourselves in a soapy character’s situation for a short while? Soap characters rarely eat, clean up or use the bathroom. I’m trying to imagine that right now… I want to label Monday, July 19, “The Day That Sonny Made Sense”. Sonny returned to the chapel after Lila’s memorial service to find Jason and agonize one more time that he can’t keep Carly and his family in one penthouse and Sam and her baby in Jason’s penthouse unless Jason claims paternity. Finding Jason in the chapel was essential because life revolves around Sonny and his feelings and he wouldn’t want to respect Jason’s grief or acknowledge that Jason could feel for anyone but him. After an eye roll over Sonny’s disrespect towards Jason’s private moment of grief, I liked how the conversation flowed.
Jason, you’ve had five whole minutes to grieve. Not it’s all about me again! Jason: Do you want it [the marriage] to be real? That’s what you have to figure out. Sonny, do you want to be married to Carly or do you want to tell the truth so she leaves and you’re free to go back to Sam? What? Sonny: Sam and I were together for about a month and a half. Long enough to enjoy each other’s company, long enough to make a baby, long enough for her to fall in love. The truth is she’s a great woman, I care about her, but I’m not in love with her. I couldn’t because my family was there. And I think they always will be….I want Carly as my wife, not my roommate. I want to be able to sleep with her. I want to be able to trust her and I want her to be able to trust me. If I tell her the truth and she leaves, at least it’s resolved. And if she stays, at least I know that she did it knowingly with her eyes open, because she wanted to….I want a real marriage or I don’t want a marriage. Way to go, Sonny! It was way past time for him to define his wants. Of course, since Jason left with Danny on Monday the rest of the week could be called “Sonny Trashes His Life Because Jason Isn’t Around to Stop Him” which is what he always does when left to his own devices for a couple days. It’s so hard to keep track of…what promise is Sonny honoring now by being honest with Carly? His promise to God to keep his family together? His promise to Jason and Michael to place Michael’s well being above his own? One of his many promises to Carly to love, honor and respect her? Oh well, it was a dumb paternity secret in the first place and should have been told months ago. Don’t send me hateful e-mails because this needs to be said. Has it occurred to anyone else that Carly has become Robin in the Carly/Sonny/Sam triangle? Carly accuses Sam (unfairly most of the time) of trying to steal Sonny because she assumes that Sam is working the same agenda Carly used when she pursued Jason. Carly deliberately trashed Jason’s relationship with Robin because she wanted him and she had no problem using Jason’s love of Michael to tip the scales in her favor. Sam may not be actively pursuing Sonny, but Carly will never believe it because she automatically believes that Sam is trying to manipulate Sonny using her unborn child. As Carly told Sonny, she feels threatened and under attack and a part of me can’t help but mentally shake my head and think, “What goes around, comes around.” It’s not that I’m watching and thinking bad Carly thoughts (well OK, sometimes I think bad Carly thoughts but not always), but I keep hoping that she’ll make the connection, learn the lesson, mature, grow. You know, the way most of us do in real life when situations hit that make us sit back and take stock.
I’m trying to think of a name for the dance these two perform in a scene. They have similar mannerisms. Sonny declared to Carly with heartfelt honesty, “You’re who I love.” A tear spilled down Carly’s cheek. How do actors do that? Really. It’s not like they film scenes in sequence and have the benefit of the emotions from the scene we saw on screen seconds before to work up to the tears. Have you ever tried to think of something sad to make yourself cry? I’ve tried just to see if I could and it doesn’t work for me.
And one perfectly timed tear drop rolled down her cheek. Alexis’ has a dilemma. If she does as Sonny asks and takes Sam’s case, she’ll be helping to free the woman Carly hates. After Alexis desperately pleaded for Carly’s understanding regarding Kristina, she might want to keep a low profile and try to stay on Carly’s good side. She begged Carly, “You’re a mother. Mothers choose their children above anyone else. I’m begging you, please, please, don’t tell him. Not ever.” I felt her gut deep fear over losing her child. But if she takes the case and wins, freeing Sonny’s former lover and the mother of his child, Sonny would owe her which may give her leverage if Carly spills to Sonny that his DNA is running through Kristina. Those are the pitfalls she knows about. Ric carries Alexis’ fragile well-being in the breast pocket of his suits reveling in the fact that knowledge is power. And Ric loves him a helpin’ of power over Sonny.
Alexis has no dignity with Carly. She’s always begging for Carly’s silence. You can wash an old faded towel in Downy and love its new smell but it’s still an old faded towel. Sam was washed with a sympathetic fabric softener named Danny her mentally challenged older brother who she’s been supporting secretly for years, but she’s still the Sam who slept with Jax, then Sonny, then Jax, then Sonny with no shower in between. I’m willing to appreciate the new fresh smelling Sam if she keeps the fabric softener called Danny. C’mon GH, don’t offer two scenes with interesting Danny and then have Jason hide him away in the broom closet. Step up to the plate and show us a story involving a mentally handicapped person, I dare you. It has a lot more pull than one incident of erectile dysfunction in a teenager.
Downy soft and fresh smelling? Maybe. Smellin’ good or not, my heart hurt for Sam when Sonny, as gently as he could, stated flat out that he was going to come clean with Carly about Sam’s baby in an attempt to salvage his marriage with no secrets between Carly and him. It was hard to watch Sam’s private fantasies shatter along with her heart.
It was a regular cryfest among Sonny’s women this week. Raise your hand if you talked to your TV screen telling Georgie to shut up already! I remember being an insecure teenager, but I don’t remember being quite as self involved as Georgie. Dillon tried and tried to explain his situation with his shrinky dinky and rejuvenated mojo but she couldn’t grasp that it wasn’t about her. My parent side is glad that they’re not having sex because teenagers having sex hits a little too close to home for me with my kids. In fact, I’d like Irish priest Dillon to come to my house and discuss the benefits if picnics and volleyball with my son as long as Lizard Lounge Dillon doesn’t show up with him.
Dillon’s fantasies certainly are filled with detail from the priest’s collar to the smarmy jacket. Dillon’s one time embarrassing moment doesn’t strike me as a life scarring problem that teens across the land can relate to. However, Brook Lynn reacting badly when she spotted her mother talking and laughing with handsome Lorenzo, a man other than her father, could be a relatable issue. I like that Brook Lynn consistently disses her mother but leaps to protect her when, for example, Granny Tracey calls her trailer park trash. Poor, poor unlucky Lucky. No matter what door the guy knocks on he finds a girl in love with somebody else. Now he’s pining for Emily who can’t see him for the shine on her lip gloss. Lucky/Emily/Nik can’t even be labeled a triangle. His scenes are more of a can’t-figure-out-what-to-do-with-this-hunk variety. Now if Lucky took off his shirt every time he saw Emily and told her he loved her, I might be intrigued. And for the record, he can break me out of the hospital anytime.
Can you hear the background music? “Stop! In the name of looooove. Before you break my heart. Think it o-oveerrrrr.” Nikolas is riding his don’t-like-anybody steed with authority. So far he doesn’t like Emily, Mary, Lucky, Alexis, Helena and Jason and since that’s everyone he knows except Lorenzo, I’d say he’s successfully moving to the dark side of Cassadine. I’m bummed that neither Mary nor Emily are showing signs of morning sickness because I was really looking forward to future Cassadine offspring. Somebody has to make some babies or Sonny’s kids are going to take over Port Sibling-Rivalry StepChuck in a couple years. In a new twist GH tried dark comedy. Heather fantasized about marrying widowed Edward and then poisoned him while still wearing her wedding dress. She moved so quickly that SoapNet could use her fantasy on their One Minute Soap series and it really would be one minute.
I love you, you’re dead. Now that I think about it, comedy popped up a couple more times during the week. Mike gave Jax the Daddy Glare when he delivered food to Courtney’s apartment and didn’t back down until Jax made his excuses and left. Right or wrong, Daddy Glares create a special bond between fathers and daughters. Sometimes they create heated arguments too, but that’s a different issue.
It was a perfect touch-my-daughter-and-you’re-dead glare. How great was it that Monica and Alan shared a couple scenes that didn’t involve propping up other characters. Blue mojo pills notwithstanding, I enjoyed seeing two of the over 30 characters playing love-in-the-afternoon, love-on-a-gurney, and love-in-a-rose-garden. “Can we have a little privacy please?”
The doctors Quartermaine shake their groove thang. Let us not forget Faith’s comeuppance when she, busy reveling in her power over Sonny because she knew Sam’s paternity secret, didn’t notice Carly’s entrance into the penthouse. As Faith uncharacteristically turned fearful and ran out of the penthouse as she realized that Carly knew the baby secret, I thought Carly should say, “Hop, hop, little bunny.”
From gloating, to gut twisting realization, to panic. Not Faith’s usual modus operandi.
Most people panic and turn pale. Faith panics and wears white and her hair turns black. How come the deputy from South Carolina sent to escort Sam to her guilty fate looks like his name should be Bubba or Jim Bob.
An I got dis here badge dat says I kin take ‘er back t’ face ‘er punishment. An I got a gun too. I wondered why I saw nuLucas in a couple scenes and then he disappeared but then I figured out. He’s keeping a low profile afraid that if he speaks or appears in too many scenes, he’ll be sent away again to diabetic camp or boarding school. If I couldn’t laugh at spoilers, I’d give ‘em up. Not! I love spoilers. Emily eavesdrops and hears Lorenzo telling Nikolas and Mary to sneak Faith out of the country on his Yacht. (GHFF) Ahem. I’m afraid that this unacceptable behavior for Emily. After all, she has an important image to uphold as Lila-in-training. This doesn’t seem like appropriate Lila-esque behavior. Nik is on drugs, courtesy of Helena. Em gets herself locked up, and is drugged up, along with Nikolas. Will Nikolas be able to save them both? (GHH2) Will Emily realize how ridiculous it was to voluntarily have herself committed? Doesn’t she know that straightjackets as a fashion statement are out this year? Coleman gives Carly a helping hand. (GHH2) Really? Does it involve a pool table? School supply ads held sway in this week’s Sunday paper and I realized that summer is winding down. It’s flown by at breakneck speed. Soon I’ll be rising in the middle of the night to cart sleepy kids to school. My theory is that if it’s still dark outside, it’s night not morning. And if the temperature rises over 80, it’s still summer. However, the school board never calls to ask me what I think, so they don’t have the benefit of my assessments when they designate a date for the first day of school. August 11th should be filled with cartoons, swimming, hide and seeks, and popsicles – not buses, backpacks and class schedules. Trying for a positive spin, I’ll have peace and quiet during the day which I always appreciate but rarely experience. I hope your summer has been filled with adventure and good memories as mine has this year. Soon the leaves will begin changing and temperatures will gradually wane, until jackets become necessary. Autumn is my favorite season! Don’t forget to buy a new box of crayons for your kids and even if you don’t have kids, spend the $.50 and buy a box anyway. There’s something pristine and hopeful about a brand new box of crayons that makes every picture in your head seem possible to draw and color. May your colors be unique and vivid! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m taking a walk to clear my head. Be back soon.
Yay! For screen caps at GH World 5
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