I'm not a fan of summer because I don't like the hot weather, and I'm really not a fan of One Life to Live's summer stories so far. I know this the time of year when there tend to be lots of filler scenes and frivolous stories, but it feels like most of the show has been taking that to extremes lately.
If nothing else, the show has reinforced my prior belief that Starr and Cole (or Nate, James, or any other teen) simply cannot carry the show. I'm not against having a "teen scene" on the show, but it continues to grow and consume more air time as time goes on, which is frustrating when there are other well-established non-teen characters that are barely seen or heard. Now that I've said my piece, I can move on to last week's events.
While I still marvel at the concept that the writers think that Starr being kidnapped multiple times isn't supposed to be ridiculous, I also marvel at the fact that Starr actually seems like she's enjoying the experience. She has smiled and been more energetic despite the fact that Bull is after her and James for something they don't have. She has also proved that she is Todd Manning's daughter, as she took charge and got what she wanted. She and James have made some stupid decisions, but it's nice to see Starr assert herself for a change. This is how I thought Starr would be when she grew up.
As for James, Starr seems to have grown fond of him even though she won't admit it. While I don't want to see her move on with James, I think it's good that she knows there are options. I see a spark between James and Starr, but as I said before, James has a lot of stories and explanations for things, and I think she needs to get to know him better before making any decisions. I'm not saying that I want Starr and Cole to break up, but I think they might after all of this is over. Todd will continue to be an issue, and they have doubted each other a lot in the last few weeks.
I am glad Cole finally figured out that Hannah has been playing him for a long time. He was so quick to trust her, and now, he feels incredibly stupid for having believed her over Starr. Hannah is pretty good at covering her tracks, but fortunately, she got a sloppy as she got more desperate, and Cole finally caught a clue. Now that the truth is out, I wonder what will happen with her. It doesn't seem like she will have a purpose on the show if she can't come between Cole and Starr anymore. Since she is claiming she didn't push Marty, and Ford said he lied about her being his attacker, it seems like Hannah could be on her way out, and few in Llanview would notice.
I have to say I am disappointed at idea of Eli being Ford's attacker. I liked Eli as a character without a dark side or agenda, and now it looks like he could have both. It will be interesting to see what his motivation is, but it's hard to accept. Blair and Eli have been one of the better things about the show recently, and I hate to see Blair end up being duped by another man.
Blair's reaction to Eli's proposal was interesting. She looked blindsided and almost turned off by the idea. I know Blair probably doesn't have an optimistic view of marriage with her past, but it just seemed like she thought he asked her if she wanted to get a root canal instead of marry him. From what we saw on Friday, her initial reaction could be right.
I liked how Blair, Dorian, and Kelly confronted Ford, and they proved that it is a BAD idea to mess with the Cramer women. It will be interesting to see if Langston goes back to Ford. She can't seem to stay away from him, so I wouldn't be surprised if she did go back. If she does, she can't be mad if Karen the pizza girl also becomes a part of Ford's life again. She knows better now, so can't play the victim a second time.
Then there is Nate. I feel like we were asked to spend a lot of time caring about him last week, when we barely know who he is. I know people are speculating that he is related to James and Ford, and while that may be true, it's far too soon to be focusing so much attention on a new character. So far, he has made some pretty bad choices and managed to rope Dani into his mess. That's not exactly a way to make viewers latch on to a new character!
As for Dani's role in all of this, it's amazing that she decided to suddenly accept Todd as her father when she needed some money. Fortunately for her, Todd was ready, willing, and able to accept her request to save Nate. As he said, he is a pro when it comes to dealing with hostage situations, so he can handle it without breaking a sweat. However, I hope she is at least nice to Todd after all of this. She might think that $50,000 is pocket change for Todd, but he is still going to great lengths to help her.
I think Nate's mom will owe Todd a lot of gratitude too. After all, if she hadn't accepted money that her son obtained inappropriately, he wouldn't be in this mess. Can you tell I'm not a big fan of the Salingers so far?
I haven't decided if I am a fan of Natalie's career change yet. It depends on why she chose to do it. If she made the decision because she enjoys that job and finds personal fulfillment, that's one thing. Switching careers just to be close to John all day is another. It seemed like she and John needed space when they were together the first time, so spending all day together might not be a good idea. We'll see how this works out, but she already proved she can't stay objective, as she berated Hannah while she was working in an official capacity. That's not a good start, but I'll give it more time.
I wish we could have seen Natalie explain her decision to Clint, though. She seemed to like working at BE, and thanks to a certain ad for tax software that she was forced to do, we know she earned good money there. I know we haven't seen BE lately, but I liked seeing her work with Clint, so I think he should have been part of the equation when she made her decision to change careers. I guess seeing Clint without a shotgun would have been too much to ask!
As for Jessica and Brody, I think they handled Bree's announcement that she wanted Brody to be her father as well as they could. They were both taken aback, but they managed to appease her for the moment. However, I think all of their talk about committing and moving forward is a little soon. Jessica has barely dealt with her ordeal with Mitch, and she still has to deal with what she thinks she did to Ford.
I hope she goes through with telling Brody the truth, so she can actually deal with it instead of constantly flashing back to it. I would much rather see Jessica work through her issues once and for all than to rush into anything serious with Brody. I know that's a lot to ask from a soap opera, but she's been through way too much to simply brush it under the proverbial rug!
I am glad that Cristian and Layla are finally going to tell Layla's mom about their engagement. They are taking their sweet time, as Aberdeen, Maryland isn't far from where Llanview is supposed to be in Pennsylvania, but that's beside the point. They are moving forward, and that's a good thing! It was nice to see Layla remember Evangeline by looking at the picture. Cristian constantly tries to assure Layla that Evangeline would be okay with their relationship, but I think it will always be an underlying issue between them, so I am glad that they acknowledge it.
As for Rex and Gigi, I liked their scenes a couple of weeks ago, but watching Rex obsess over an empty metal briefcase was just silly. I don't know why he felt the need to go question Ford about the briefcase, when it was a long shot that he was connected to it in the first place. Ford is a common last name, so the whole scene felt like a clumsy way to get Ford to talk about his father. I hope Rex is consumed by his investigation into who killed Kelly's mother, because his story with the briefcase is stupid.
On the other hand, Gigi's upcoming story could be interesting. It is plausible for her to want to go to college now that her situation has changed. She doesn't have to do everything and can take the time to do something good for herself. I hope she is accepted to Llanview University and that we get to see this play out. I liked Viki's pep talk and insistence that she should apply. I am surprised that she didn't mention that she used to be president of Llanview University, though. I guess she doesn't like to remember those days, since Dorian played a role in her stepping down!
It was great to see Bo and Nora return from their honeymoon. I am dismayed that we weren't give at least one or two scenes of Bo and Nora's trip to Hawaii, but I suppose that's too much to ask after almost 2 weeks were dedicated to their wedding. I can't help it. I love Bo and Nora! They looked relaxed and happy and even got to return to a clean home, thanks to Matthew and David's quick work. However, it's very disappointing that there wasn't any follow up to them seeing Wendy the prostitute in the doorway. I don't know why that confrontation was skipped, when there are so many filler scenes these days!
Finally, I hope you have a good 4th of July, whether you celebrate with patriotic swim suits like David and Ford or another way. Don't worry about watching One Life to Live on the 5th of July. It's a repeat because I guess no one is supposed to watch soap operas on that very special day!
Until next time,
Dawn
