While watching One Life to Live lately, I noticed many characters make some strange decisions. Some are intriguing, others are bad, and still others are a combination of both. Here are just a few examples of the interesting decisions that caught my attention:
Every time there is a Woman of the Year awards ceremony, I have to wonder why anyone would want to accept that award. As Dorian was eager to point out, something disastrous happens every single time. Bo found out about Nora's indiscretion with Sam, and Rae was exposed as a fraud at this event. Now we have Evangeline accepting this infamous award. I am positive her turn at being Women of the Year will not alter the award's legacy. As far as we know, she is not hiding a deep dark secret, so the impending disaster will have to be from an external source. With the Killing Club murderer on the loose, and John McBain attending the event, I am sure whatever happens will somehow be linked to John. As a side note, I've opted not to read spoilers this week, just to see if watching the show is a different experience this way. Now that I've divulged, let's get back to the Evangeline and her award. It was nice to see Evangeline's mother come to Llanview to watch her daughter accept the award. She and Evangeline don't seem to agree on a lot of things, but it has been interesting to see how her relationship with her mother affects her. Making Evangeline's family a part of the show is an inspired idea. She is one of the few characters that came to Llanview without ties to anyone and has become an important part of the show. Now we are getting to learn more about her past through her family, and I think it's a great idea. Of course, after the Woman of the Year awards dinner, Evangeline's mother might want Evangeline to leave Llanview! I am sure we are in for a week of things going awry and some sort of havoc. Maybe after what happens this year, the rest of Llanview's women will learn that they should decline this award!
Meanwhile, Jessica is trying to battle her DID without many people knowing. So far, only Todd and Blair know. It was refreshing to see Todd be forthright with Blair about what was going on with Jessica. I think Todd has finally learned that keeping secrets from Blair is never a good idea, and he is marking ardent strides to improve their relationship. At the same time, he wants to protect Viki, who is in fragile condition. He knows that Viki should know about Jessica's DID, but her attack made him back down from telling her. Instead of telling Viki, he is trying to help Jessica himself. Jessica needs help, but I am not sure that checking her into St. Ann's will help. After all, that place has a bad reputation for people escaping and for others sneaking in at random times. Todd should know this, since he snuck into St. Ann's himself dressed as nun, which made for a weird sight! Regardless of less than ideal location, Todd is dedicated to helping Jessica get better. I wish Viki would find out about this sooner, but it looks like it will be several more weeks before she does find out (given that Erika Slezak takes her vacation soon). The best part of this story, in my opinion, will be when Viki discovers that her daughter is fighting the same battle that Viki did for so many years. Watching Viki help Jessica will be powerful, and we will gain insight into why Jessica created an alter in the first place. This will be a great storyline for the fall, and a lot of questions should be answered. From a writer's stance, I can see why putting Jessica in St. Ann's is a good idea. There is little chance for her to actually recover, and she will probably escape or be taken away from there anyway!
In my last column, I wondered why Asa thought it was a good idea to have Carlo kill Blair. He seemed to think it would be his "Get out of jail free" card, and he still does. However, it took Bo and the LPD about 10 minutes to find Carlo trying to kill Blair. If the Llanview Police Department can find Carlo that quickly, Asa's plan isn't a good one. Also, Renee now knows that he is up to something, after she was shocked to find him chatting with Carlo. She knows he and Carlo have made a deal to do something to Blair. It is only a matter of time before she figures it out. On Friday's show, Bo was prepared to arrest Asa. So far, Asa's plan has failed miserably. Carlo told Todd and Blair that he was sent by Asa, Renee knows Asa is up to something, and Asa will end up being in more trouble than before he left town. I've been thinking about this, and 2 explanations have come to mind. Either the writers couldn't find a better way to bring back Carlo but really wanted to bring him back, or Asa's character is being written into a corner. I understand the desire to bring Carlo back, especially after the miserable attempt to create a new villain in Tico Santi. However, this is not a good used of a character with so much history on the show. If Carlo is returning to Llanview, his return should be done in grand fashion. Having him dress up as a security guard to get to Blair and be caught by the police 10 minutes later is not the big reintroduction that a character like Carlo deserves. I hope there are bigger things in store for Carlo in the near future. As for Asa, I don't understand why the writers would have him getting into more trouble. He already went to far by kidnapping Blair, and for him to want Blair dead is too much. Asa hates Blair for many things that happened a long ago and in the not so distant past. However, it just doesn't make sense that Asa would want Blair to be killed. Asa likes revenge and has alienated many people over the years because of it (including his own family), but his revenge didn't involve murder. If he had succeeded in having Blair killed, I think almost everyone in Llanview would turn on him...and possibly some viewers too. The only thing that I can think that would explain this strange writing decision is that the writers want to explore Asa becoming senile or losing his grip on reality, as they have toyed with in the past. If this isn't the writers' intentions, then I am at a loss for why they wrote the story this way. Only time will tell, but I hope Asa will not continue his vendetta against Blair. Enough is enough!
Finally, I am baffled by Nora's state of mind lately. She is still hurting from Daniel's betrayal and the humiliation she suffered. She is trying to move on with her life and not fall apart. However, I don't understand why she insists on taking everything out on Bo. Yes, he arrested Daniel in a very public way, which led to all of Daniel's secrets being exposed in front of all of Llanview. Maybe Bo could have waited until after the ceremony to arrest Daniel. However, all of Daniel's secrets would have been exposed even if he had been arrested after the ceremony. Bo even tried to move the situation inside, but Nora wouldn't allow him to do it. Now, Nora is furious at Bo and won't forgive him. She accused Bo of "relishing" Daniel's arrest and said that she would never forgive him for that. I think Bo was happy to arrest Daniel after finding out everything he had done, but Bo wasn't out to hurt Nora, and she should know that. She knows Bo better than anyone, but she is pretending like he is just as bad as Daniel. It's possible that she just isn't thinking clearly right now, either as a result of the fiasco with Daniel or because of a health condition. She had blurry eyesight a couple of times, which makes me think her brain tumor might be coming back. If it does, this could somehow bring Bo and Nora back together, since he was such a big part of her recovery the first time. However, I digress. I think Nora should forgive Bo and not insist on being mean-spirited and aloof with him. Bo asked her if it mattered that they used to love each other, and she said "Not anymore." Ouch. Before her world was shatter by Daniel, Nora would have never said anything so cold to Bo. Nora's character is being taken in a darker direction, and I although I like seeing her reclaim her life for herself, I don't like seeing her push away people that care. While I will never give up hope that Bo and Nora will reunite, I would settle for Nora forgiving Bo and treating him like a nice, caring person again. I think Nora will have a hard time this summer, and I hope it doesn't end up being hard for the fans to watch her.
Have a pleasant week!
Until next time, Dawn
