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Time for a "check up" on
ABC's Daytime Drama and “Physician, heal thyself”, indeed… Sorry for the long delay in updating, folks! As some of you may already know, I have been very sick since the end of March, and the sadder part --- I’ve STILL got the crud! Trying out another antibiotic this week, hoping this one finally clears me up … and it better damn well, considering that these 7 pills alone cost 90 FREAKING dollars! The money this thing has cost me has me in debt for the rest of the year, not to mention I’ve slept away almost one entire month, missing my soaps for the most part. So I’m going to apologize in advance for the short column this week. Without further ado, here we go… AMC
No, listen to me. Listen. Bianca, Miranda is gone. She's gone. She's never going to be hurt -- never going to be hurt or scared ever again, ok? She's with Mona now. She's warm and she's safe in Mona’s arms. Deep, heart-wrenching, gut-twisting drama hit Pine Valley, and hit it hard! How many of us found ourselves wiping away tears and clutching wet, snotty tissues to our hearts, as we watched Kendall struggle to find the strength to get those words out of her mouth? Yes, the storyline is entirely horrific, and some may argue, in bad taste, but the acting by all involved has been entirely phenomenal. All three of the actresses playing the Kane women have delivered scene after scene of purely awesome, definitely Emmy-worthy performances. Kendall’s love for Bianca and her baby has never been more plainly evident. Alicia Minshew has flawlessly conveyed Kendall’s heartbreaking grief---not only in having to tell Bianca that the child that they had fought so hard for, was gone, but also her own grief about losing her already dearly loved niece. Bianca’s absolute horror and disbelief upon finding out about Miranda’s death was performed to perfection by Eden Riegel. And she hasn’t stopped yet. ER is continually amazing me with her performances. On TV and the big screen, characters have babies all the time, and while we watch the scenes of them holding and stroking their newborn babies, or listen to them coochie-cooing, the one thing we don’t often see in these scenes is “the glow“. After bringing a new life into the world, a mother develops a glow, stemming from inside, that shines outside with inherent motherly pride and love. When Bianca held her baby, and said “She’s mine”, I was blown away to find myself seeing that peaceful, light, motherly glow brought to life by Eden. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn that ER was holding her real-life child. As for Erica, not since Mona’s death and funeral have I seen Susan Lucci deliver such solid performances. Erica’s sorrow over Bianca losing her child was palpable. Even better, was Bianca taking Erica to task in the hospital after finding out about Miranda’s death. During Bianca’s brutally honest tirade to her mother for daring to say she was sorry, I could literally feel Erica’s sorrow, pain, and yes, GUILT, from La Lucci’s stellar performance.
I’ve watched Jack through the years, and I’ve always been amazed by Walt Willey. He consistently delivers a solid performance, each and every time, no matter the scene. But even I wasn’t prepared for WW’s wholly awesome performance of Jack’s grief. My heart went out to Jack, as he clutched tight that mangled incubator, and sobbed unashamedly. I’ve seen the character of Jack cry before, but NEVER like that, like WW’s own heart was breaking.
I also truly loved the above scene. True - Travis was Bianca’s father, but Jackson has always treated Bianca as if she was his own daughter. He has supported her, encouraged her, helped her, and has always tried to be a safe haven for her. But this one time, Jack couldn’t protect her, he couldn’t “right this wrong”, and this scene really reflected that to me. I really felt that while Jack was grieving for the baby, and grieving for Bianca because he knew she was devastated, Jack was also feeling that somehow, because he couldn’t “save the day” for Bianca, that he had let her down somehow . I was mesmerized by Walt’s performance in this scene. He’s always been a consummate actor, but watching this scene, and many of the others he’s had lately over this storyline, I can’t help but be awed about how truly awesome he is.
Neglecting or rewriting show history or character history has been par for the course on all 3 ABC soaps lately, and it was a sweet surprise to see that some things haven’t changed. Tad’s scene this last week, when he was talking about losing Dixie and the baby, and how he felt he understood how Bianca was feeling, was a very, very nice treat. Watching Tad wax poetic about his lost love and child, Michael E. Knight played the scene with such love and sadness in his eyes, that he made it seem like Tad had just lost them, instead of it being years afterwards. Also, another reason I loved this scene, was that after months of just seeing Tad as an aging “ladies man”, we were reminded of just how good MEK can act. His talent is considerable, and it has been hard remembering that while watching scene after scene of Tad being solely portrayed as some sort of middle-aged, shallow womanizer.
As much as I hear about how bad AMC’s writing has gotten, especially for writing the baby-switch storyline, I can’t help but think honestly, isn’t this exactly the type of classic, soap opera drama that’s been sorely missing from ABC Daytime? Yes, it is cruelly inhuman to think about Binks going through all this pain over her “dead” baby, it’s heartless for Krystal to switch the DNA tests just to perpetuate the lie, and it was plain EVIL for Paul to do the switches in the first place…I agree with it all. And I willingly admit, I’m glued to the set, waiting to see the babies back in their rightful places, and waiting to see Paul and Kelly get caught up in their own web of lies and deceit. But, after watching these characters go through all these deceptions, and watching Bianca and the others go through all this intense pain, when the end to this storyline comes, won’t it be all the sweeter because of it? When Bianca finds out that that Bess is HER Miranda, won’t we all be cheering or crying tears of joy for her? Won’t we all feel intense satisfaction that Miranda will be back where she belongs, and happiness for Bianca to be given her baby back? At the same time, more than likely most of us will feel immense sympathy for Babe, JR, Adam, and perhaps even Krystal, for thinking that Babe’s baby was the one that died. This storyline has been gut-wrenching, heart breaking, and has made more than one of us shake fists at our TV screens in indignant outrage. But we know that an end will come, we know that all the secrets will be exposed, and the babies will go back to their rightful families. Then, we’ll all cry tears of joy when Bianca is finally reunited with her baby, we’ll remember why exactly we like Erica (sometimes) when she takes one look at her granddaughter and fall instantly in love with her, and we’ll all be saying “BOOYAH!!” in a happily vengeful way when we see Paul get “his” for switching the babies. This storyline has been, and still is, a wild ride, to be sure, and filled with more ups and downs than a roller coaster … but *stop me if I lie*, isn’t all of it so purely classically, dramatically, and wonderfully Soap Opera-esque? A well-acted, well-written storyline SHOULD fill us with emotion, running the gamut from rage, heartache, and sometimes plain disgust, to joy, happiness, and love. This storyline has done, and keeps doing, all of it - and then some. In 5-10 years, I won’t remember much about Reggie being so SHOCKED about Danielle’s parentage (at this point, I may not even remember Reggie or Danielle themselves, lol)…I won’t remember much about Kendall and Greenlee’s feud over Ryan…I won’t remember much about “Tad the Cad”…but I can promise you, I will remember this. And that’s what a good storyline does, regardless of whether it filled us with rage, sorrow, happiness, or love. It makes us remember it. OLTL Whoever convinced OLTL to get rid of THIS…
…in favor of THIS…
…needs to be given a big, fat raise IMO. Saying merely thank you just doesn’t seem like nearly enough in this case, lol. What the hell OLTL was trying to accomplish by making Kamar de los Reyes look like a Jeri-curled poodle was perched on his head, I’ll never understand. Now that he gave the curls back to Curly Sue, and his hair is back to smooth, short, and sleek, I can watch Antonio’s scenes without cringing and screaming “Take the damn wig off!!” lol.
Okay, so River and Adrianna are together, and yes, he’s Dorian’s grandson and she’s Dorian’s daughter, but since River was adopted, and is no blood relation, it never really freaked me out. I don’t care a whole lot for the coupling, as honestly, I’m not much for the actor who plays River (take a note from KDLR and get rid of the poofy, mid-80’s hair, guy!!) and the character of Adrianna seems deadly dull. But, the ICK factor of them being kinda-sorta related never really was hit me … until today, when Cassie got into town to investigate her so-called half-sister. Watching Adrianna and Cassie talk about being sisters, then in the next instant Cassie telling her son, River, “I can see why you’re so in love with her.” made me cringe. Not only is it ICKY, but it’s another case of the writers totally changing a beloved character. The REAL Cassie would have NEVER have been SO blasé about her son (blood or not, she adopted him, and she loves him as a son) being in a love relationship with her sister. No way, no how, Nuh-uh. She would have taken River as far away from Adrianna as possible and preached to him about having those types of feelings for HER SISTER, HIS AUNT. She would have told her newly found sister, Adrianna, to take a flying leap off of Llantano Mountain for putting the moves on her son when she’s his AUNT for cris’sakes (for all intent and purposes, at this point anyway). Cassie would have NEVER have been portrayed as flashing those pearly whites while saying “Hmm…you’re my sister, and you’re my son, and the two of you are in love…golly gee, guys, that’s just swell!!” Character assassination is at work at OLTL once again. And for what? Why sacrifice such a well-established, well-known, and beloved character such as Cassie, for the sole purpose of pushing a couple down our throats that has little to no appeal to the majority of OLTL fans? If there’s more behind this story than meets the eye, then great, but at the moment, Cassie’s sister being in a love relationship with Cassie’s son is just too whacked for me, and I’m not sure if I want to even want to imagine any more twists or turns in this storyline.
I gotta say I’m digging this whole hospital/Dr. Long mystery shmeil, even more than I enjoyed the MBK story-*moment of silence for the loss of the very talented, and awfully cute Matthew Ashford from our screens*-. Purely my own personal speculation here, but I honestly see this going to a reveal that the good Doctor is illegally taking healthy organs out of recently deceased bodies, or killing them off if need be, so he can reap their parts, and sell them to the highest bidder…
"Who'll give me a thou’and dollars for this kneecap? Thou’and dollar bid, now two, now two, will ya give me two? Two thou’and dollar bid, now three, now three, will ya give me three? Three thou‘and, three and a half, three-fifty, three-fifty. How about three-fifty? fifty? fifty? fifty? Three and a half gone! How about four, four, four thou’and, four thou’and, I’ve got four! How about four and a quarter, four and a quarter…” Paul’s part in all this is of course, to deliver the goods to the people with the cash. I’m almost betting that Paul and Kathryn have some sort of connection over this, and that Kathryn already knows about Dr. Long’s “extracurricular” activities , but either she’s involved, or was involved, in it somehow (perhaps Dr. Long sold Kaitlin’s body parts to Kathryn?) or someone’s blackmailing her to keep quiet. I also see Viki’s heart problems crossing into this storyline by summer. Jess, Nat, Dorian…SOMEONE finds out about the body parts for sale, and they try, or do, buy a new heart for Viki, to save her life. Keep in mind, these aren’t spoilers or even rumors mind you, just my own personal thoughts on where this storyline is headed. I’m also very interested in finding out how Michael and Marcie will fit into the whole thing. Sure, they’re investigating now, but how long will they investigate before either giving up or becoming more involved in it? If they do get more involved, how far will they go to get evidence against Dr. Long? This storyline is keeping me in suspense, and I like how it’s going to pull in so many of our OLTL characters into the mix. GH
“Okay, you know what, Carly? If you really want to prove your undying love and loyalty to me, there’s just ONE way…you need to commit a felony and become an unethical murderer. Ask Jason, he’ll tell ya how it works…Brains and blood tend to really stain, and you know, I’ve tried Clorox, Biz, taking them to the cleaners, shooting the cleaner because he couldn’t get the stains out, NOTHING works…the insolent bastard…ANYHOO, glad you’re wearing black, here’s the gun, now prove your loyalty to me by killing your once-lover, slut!” Anyone else think this guy has some MAJOR issues? What an absolute HORRID thing this guy wanted the mother of his children to do, *just* to satisfy his own damn, big-headed ego. All these years, hasn’t Sonny always been the one to tell Carly how he loved her so much, and how he was going to make sure that his choice in “lifestyle” was never going to touch Carly or Michael, and later, Morgan? And remember how he would NEVER let Carly put herself into jeopardy or in harm’s way, even to save his life? He even kept her from killing AJ and Ric, because he didn’t want her to have blood on her own hands. He cared SO much about her and the kids that he didn’t want her to bear any guilt, or go to prison and have to be away from him and the kids…PFFT!
Carly: “Oh, gawd, Sonny, I’m gonna be in prison for 18 to 25 years…I won’t get to watch my man and Morgan grow up, go on their first dates, graduate…I feel so guilty for “playing God” and killing someone. It will torment me for the rest of my life…and worst of all, I will never get the life with you that I wanted. I’ll be in this emotional and physical hell, while Sam shares your bed and raises my boys…*sniff, sniff*… Oh, Sonny, I’ve lost everything I ever wanted in life…” Sonny: “Aw…Don’t cry, honey… Just remember, you proved your loyalty to me, so it’s all worth it! Where’s the smile? Show me the smile…there it is!” (looks at watch) “Ooops, gotta run, Sam and I are flying off to St. Tropez. Catch ya later, Carly babes!” And what was even sadder and more pathetic than Sonny ordering his wife to murder someone? The fact that Carly almost did it! I take it that obeying Sonny was in their blessed nuptials…“I, Carly, take thee, Sonny, to be my God and overlord, I will bow down to his greatness at every opportunity, defend him to the Nth degree even if he takes my children away or threatens to kill someone I love, and I promise to obey him, obey him, and obey him until death do us part…either our own, or when one of us gets put in the can for causing someone else’s death…”
Enough of the Sob Sisters already! We understand Emily lost Nik and she’s sad, we get that, but does EVERY scene we see of Emily lately, HAVE to have Emily sniveling into a tissue about Nik being the ONLY man she’d ever loved…hmm, the name “Zander” ring any bells, Em?? You remember … ‘member? Cute guy, kidnapped you, you fell in love with him, you were gonna go to Canada, you pledged your undying love to him, you MARRIED him…any of that ringing a bell?” As for Mary, I agree that the girl playing her is good, and she’s really very pretty. But I’m still not getting why I’m supposed to be sympathetic to her character. She’s lying to Nik, lying to Em, keeping the two of them apart, even though she knows how much Emily is devastated by losing him. She went to Nik’s funeral for cris’sakes, when she knows he’s not dead. Emily spilled her heartache out to Mary over coffee at Kelly’s, and Mary simply patted her on the back, gave out some “I’m so sorry.”-ies, and pretended to lend a friendly ear to Em’s grief, while all along she’s shacking up with Nik, having led him to believe that she’s his wife. Sorry, no sympathy from me. The one thing about Mary’s presence in Port Charles that I’m grateful for is Nik and Em were just getting a bit too cutesy, cotton candy-ish, saccharine sweet for my tastes, so I fully admit that it’s been nice having a respite from that.
Assorted odds and ends worth mentioning… Skye and Luke…never thought I’d really, REALLY like Luke romantically with anyone but Laura. But, Luke and Skye are wholly great together! He understands her, and accepts her as is, faults and all, and she understands and sympathizes with his pain of losing Laura. Not to mention that RC and TG have tremendous chemistry! Kudos to TIIC for giving this couple lots of airtime, they deserve it. Georgie/Dillon…honestly, very very wonderful couple. I do like how they haven’t had sex yet; I think that really adds to their popularity. Dillon reminds me a lot of the character of Luke--an unconventional character with some very endearing personality quirks, but roguishly loveable to a fault. Paired with Georgie’s level-headed, honest, and forthright personality, both characters compliment one another. If TIIC keep writing good stuff for them, I could see the couple going a long ways. Well, folks, that’s it for now. I’ll be catching up on rest, relaxation, and the soaps next week, can’t wait to dish it with ya’ll!
Until next time, Many thanks to these sites for the use of their screen caps: http://groups.msn.com/RRSSPAMC2004/ http://groups.msn.com/RRSSPOLTL2004 http://groups.msn.com/GHWorld4/
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