Wow, Natalie sure gives new meaning to the term "hard-headed." No mere mortal could have survived that fall from the Angel Square Hotel rooftop, but thankfully, Natalie is no mere mortal. She had that handy-dandy awning to help break her fall, and she appears to be somewhat immortal, which is why she just had a few cracked ribs and a broken wrist after falling several stories and then landing on concrete. I love soap characters; they're like vampires, nothing really kills them except a beheading and a stake through the heart -- sometimes!
Remember when Allison Perkins survived her fall from the hotel during the Go Red Ball? She, too, had one of those nifty awnings break her fall. Although, her fall had been from a high rise, so her injuries were a little more serious than Natalie's. However, she did eventually make a full recovery too. Hi folks, it's been a long time since I've last had the pleasure to share my opinion with all of you. I pray that it won't be my last. I still hold out hope that someone, somewhere, is going to realize what an absolute coup it would be to snatch up two great soaps from ABC/Disney and will continue to provide us with two wonderful hours of television each and every weekday. Do you hear me, Sony? I'm talking to you!
This week reminded me of why I love soaps so much. Natalie taking that Nestea Plunge off of the rooftop was soap drama at its finest! I know many are upset with Marty's breakdown and homicidal rampage storyline, but I'm not one of them. Marty going crazy is absolutely riveting television. When you think of how Loving ended, who springs to mind: those who moved on to The City or the identity of the Corinth Killer?
I imagine it's much more fun for Susan Haskell to take Marty out in a blaze of glory, than to have some lame send-off like the one that Charlie got when he handed Viki the signed divorce papers and then announced that he was returning to Paris, Texas, to rebuild the Bon Jour Café, which had been leveled by a tornado. He's not coming back, so why not have Charlie do something shocking like strangle Echo to death for lying to him and for destroying his marriage? What a fitting end it would be for Echo DiSavoy too! I'm certain that Kim Zimmer would have made it memorable.
Back to Marty though. Note to everyone: if you are ever faced with a completely unhinged person who just tried to filet you with knife, do not antagonize that person by threatening to expose all of their dirty secrets to the object of their obsession. Otherwise, you will meet the same fate as Natalie did. However, unlike Natalie, you most likely won't survive the fall because in real life there are no miracle awnings that break people's falls.
Soap dramatic license aside, I love how this storyline is playing out. Susan is doing such a phenomenal job of showing us that Marty has completely lost touch with reality. When she screamed at Kelly, just before attacking her, I was shocked. It was startling to see Marty so utterly filled with hate and anger that all she could do was roar her fury at Kelly. It was so out of character for Marty that it perfectly illustrated the depth of her insanity.
By comparison, Jessica's seamless transition from Tess to Wes, after a passionate kiss with Brody, seemed almost comical. I have to be honest, Wes seems pointless. Tess can't handle Brody's kiss? Really? Isn't that kind of Tess's job? I could have sworn her purpose was to protect Jessica from sexual situations that Jessica couldn't cope with.
Wes appears to have been created as some sort of prop for Rama and Aubrey. That tells me that it's time for these two questionable ladies to bid adieu to Llanview. If I only have a limited number of One Life to Live episodes left to watch, then I want the writers to focus on the characters that I care about, not the ones that I don't.
I think that's why I'm so happy to see that Joey is finally opening his eyes to Aubrey's true colors. I don't buy that she's in love with Joey. I suspect that she's in love with his wealthy lifestyle and the person she's pretending to be. If she were truly in love with Joey then I would expect to see more guilt from her for betraying Joey. I don't see that with Aubrey. I see someone who is desperate to keep her secret because she doesn't want to lose the life that she's created for herself.
I suppose that a part of Aubrey realizes that Joey is in love with Kelly, which is why Aubrey is so certain that Joey will ditch her. If there were ever any doubt about Joey's feelings for Kelly then Kelly's life-or-death struggle eradicated it. I'm just sad that Joey didn't figure it out on his own instead of having the way to enlightenment paved by the realization that his wife is a little liar. The love for Kelly was there all along, so he should have seen it.
Admittedly, I'm not crazy about Rama either. Especially, not Rama and Cris. I simply don't find Rama to be a likeable character. There's nothing endearing about a woman who claims to love a man and then lies about being pregnant. It also leaves a sour taste in my mouth to see her mooching off of Clint. What's wrong with getting a job and supporting herself? Money doesn't buy anyone happiness -- just look at everyone around you, Rama. Does anyone seem even remotely content and satisfied?
I think I'd be more into Rama and Cris if Rama had made an effort to be a better person. Cris is a nice guy, who deserves to have a nice girl, not someone who sold her husband out for a cushier life. Cutter seems to be a better fit for Rama than Cris. In fact, Rama, Cutter, and Aubrey all deserve each other, so I wouldn't mind seeing them all leave together.
Moving on, Roger Howarth returned this week. Finally!! It appears that he is the real Todd Manning. According to the show, Todd has spent all these years stubbornly refusing to utter a single word while he stares blankly across a room located in a facility that looks like it's straight out of a Halloween movie. We learned that the compound was run by an agency, but it's not clear if it was a private or government-run organization. Is it the CIA? We don't know yet, but it's a good guess that it is, since there have been a couple of top secret CIA files surface in the last few weeks.
We were also told that the agency was preparing to shut down the project, in which Todd appeared to have played a central role. As I watched that last scene, I couldn't help but wonder if the reason that Todd had refused to talk to those in charge was because they had forced him to wear that hideous white uniform and those cheap canvas shoes. I couldn't decide if Todd was an inmate, an orderly, or an ice cream truck driver with that getup.
It's not clear what Todd's fate will be now that the project is scheduled to be shut down. Will they kill him, transfer him, or set him free? I guess it doesn't matter because we know that he's eventually going to end up in Llanview. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any point in showing him.
I know that there are people who are outraged at the idea that the Todd that we've been watching since Roger exited the role isn't the real Todd. I've read comments suggesting that it makes a total mockery out of what we've watched unfold since Trevor St. John took over, but I disagree. We essentially watched a man lie about his identity, for reasons that I'm sure we will eventually discover.
What we feel now is what everyone on the show is going to feel when they learn the truth. I think that is a fantastic way to give us insight. However, none of that changes the fact that Trevor St. John's Todd has a history on this show. He clearly immersed himself in Todd's life.
He reacted to Cole and Starr's relationship the way that he did because he truly loved Starr as a daughter. The connections and relationships that he formed over the years were real to him because he became Todd. He never broke from character, which means that the "memories" he had of Todd's life were what he envisioned had played out.
Tomas warned his sister this week that Todd is not the man that she thinks he is, but I suspect that on some level, Téa knew. She accused Todd of being an imposter when she suffered that faux brain tumor, so it's going to be interesting to see what Trevor's Todd has to say for himself. I have no doubt that Téa is going to feel betrayed and hurt at first, but I'm curious if she will eventually forgive him because ultimately she did fall in love with the man that she married.
I'm a Trevor St. John fan and a Roger Howarth fan, so I'm thrilled to have them both on the show. I'm really looking forward to the day that they share a scene. It's going to rock; I'm sure of it.
Another storyline that's going to have a huge impact on us is Clint's saga as he deals with his failing heart. I confess that I never believed that Clint would die because Jerry verDorn is much too fine of an actor not to take to the very end. I've recently heard rumblings about what's going to happen, but fear not, I won't spoil it for anyone. However, I will advise you to have your hankies at the ready because we are in for a real tearjerker.
I agree with Viki's assessment that it's a mistake for Clint not to tell the kids that he needs a heart transplant. His kids aren't young children; they are adults. They no longer need daddy to protect them, and even if they did, he can't protect them from this. Either he's going to die, in which case they are going to be deeply hurt that they didn't have an opportunity to make amends with him, or he will receive a donor heart, which will create resentment because he didn't respect them enough to tell them the truth.
Thank you, dear readers, for taking the time to read my opinion. I love hearing back from you, so please feel free to drop me a line to share your thoughts about the show. Until next time, take care.
Liz Masters
