The “Jared Banks Hour” is killing me. I don’t find him the least bit interesting. I’m not riveted by his plot to con the Buchanan’s into thinking that he’s one of them, I’m not at all sympathetic to his father/son struggle with Charlie, nor am I enchanted by this (self-imposed) “forbidden fruit” angst that he’s having with Natalie. To me, he comes across as arrogant, bitter, chauvinistic, condescending, conniving, egotistical, greedy, masochistic, rigged, spiteful…and most fatally, wearisome. It’s all about Jared: his ambition…his con…his father…his lust…his mother…his upbringing, etc., etc. It’s too much, too soon.In my opinion, Jared is the most overhyped and overrated character this show has seen since John McBain. He is on too much. Then too much of his dialogue is, and too many of his scenes are, disguised as being “riveting” when they are actually boring and mundane. Eighteen months ago when One Life to Live was all about Spencer Truman, I never got the impression that TPTB expected viewers to find him captivating and magnetic like I sense they do with Jared. I feel resentment that he has invaded Asa’s mansion, made himself at home, while walking around barefoot at the mantle of his manipulation of DNA results. The sad part is that when his scheme is revealed, I have a feeling Natalie and Renee (the two who will come out looking like the biggest fools of his deception) will probably forgive him after only fleeting anger. Why don’t they get that viewers have to develop a simpatico with a character before we start to bond with them? This guy is a perfect example of a current head writer overestimating the appeal of HIS creation, and attempting to springboard them into a superstar.
Antonio and Talia’s “new” beginning…
I’ve seen this before and I’m not falling for it. Every one of Antonio’s previous relationships have started off with a quasi-sweetness about it, while a seemingly sincere Antonio acts amiable and attentive toward this new (and seemingly forthright) lady love. Then as the weeks/months past, a shift in dynamic conspicuously occurs. Six months down the line, Antonio is back to being his usual egotistical and huffy-puffy self, while the woman grows into an anxiety-addled mess at the mantle of his smugness. With that whole “George” nonsense, already Talia has been shown to behave desperate and pitiful where he is concerned. Then after she finally made her true feelings known, she attempts to bolt as Antonio stood there pondering about it in all his conceited glory; the idea of being rejected by him was so crushing to her that she made haste to run away. Yeah, I’m going to love this. All of the ingredients are there for this to yet another episode of “Antonio the Asshole & His Pathetic Girlfriend.” Already I’m bored. Hopefully the bulk of this relationship will largely happen off camera.Marcie (still) on the run…
End this…now. Back in September I thought that this storyline was exhilarating, but they have milked it for all it’s worth. The life has been drained from it, and now it’s just a walking corpse.These days, when I see Marcie, all I can think of is shoot to kill! At what point does it (finally) dawn on this fruitcake that she will never be able to stop running, and that she is only wrecking this poor kid’s life by dragging him around from like an escaped con? What makes it so bad is that she honestly believes that she is being earnest, sincere, and is acting out of a mothers love. Bull. This is all because she can’t get over having lost the fight and her not being strong enough to let go of this little boy.
I can’t believe that after Michael got shot right there in front of her, she could still run away and practically leave him for dead. Seriously, the bitch is an exposed nerve, has used up all of the sympathy she had coming, and currently is deserving of nothing but contempt. Now she’s about to take Viki hostage? I swear, Marcie just digs herself deeper and deeper.
We all know that she won’t do any prison time. Everyone and their brother will be making impassioned arguments and pleas for her character when the authorities finally nab her. I am guessing that they will have even Todd become sympathetic towards her and not press for her prosecution (or they’ll have others guilt and/pressure him to have mercy on her.) I just hope that she gets sentenced to lengthy remand at St. Ann’s; at this point she is beginning to compete with Tommy/Sam’s birth mother in the department of unbalance.
Beyond Marcie, I have to say that first runner up for most annoying is fucking Lee Ramsey! This guy comes off like a malevolent Appalachian cop, and is jaded enough to make even Todd seem compassionate by contrast. (And why didn’t he just shoot out the tires of Marcie’s car?) Meanwhile, Gigi comes in second for being fool enough to get herself involved in this mess to begin with. What kind of ditz knowingly entangles herself with someone (whom she barely knows) on the run from the FBI with a child she’s abducted? Even if Gigi sympathizes with Marcie as a mother, and believes in her fight to keep Tommy/Sam, she should think enough of her own son to not deliberately become an accessory to a federal crime.That being said…despite how cartoonish and played-out this whole thing has become, I will say this past week was the most interesting this story has been since the end of the custody trial. Finally there’s been some eye-catching movement again. The problem, however, is that what we’re seeing now should have happened about six weeks sooner. We didn’t need to see Marcie perform at the strip club…or venture into Louisiana to converse with Katrina victims…or pose as some screwball waitress named “Sally Ann.” Had things like that been eradicated from the story, the story itself could have been a gem from start to finish.
Lindsay v. Nora: Revisted…
Years ago, when the show was all about ‘Lindsay v. Nora,’ I firmly sided with Lindsay. Her troublesome antics were salacious and juicy. Today, however, I’m siding with Nora. I enjoyed watching her turn up the notch on her usual high and mighty attitude to sheer vindictiveness. Hillary B. Smith never fails to shine when playing Nora’s more merciless side, and I always enjoy when she goes for the jugular. By contrast, Lindsay was the dull one in those courtroom scenes—sitting there all quiet, quasi-demure, and seemingly doped up. In the meantime, what I found annoying was Lindsay’s cheering section: Dorian, Addie, and Blair, who came off like idiots at a ball game.Beyond her smug grimaces and self-righteousness, Nora is right. Lindsay is now two-time murderer, who pretty much walked the first time. Why should she get a reprieve again? Yes, Spencer Truman was a despicable character who needed to be off’d, but the fact remains that Lindsay is but one homicide short of being a serial killer. Whenever she reaches a manic high and becomes ultra frantic, murder becomes an option for her. Considering how neurotic Lindsay generally is, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to believe that she very well could find herself in that mind frame again.
That being said…again, I used to adore Lindsay. In fact, she was the *only* Rappaport I liked when the show was being overrun with the RappaDavidson colony. But they did a real disservice to the character when they took her to the extreme of killing Sam. That pushed her into such a tight corner that she simply couldn’t, with murder now on her rapsheet, continue being the hell-on-wheels rogue she had been. To justify keeping her around, they had to defang, and make her more user friendly—which has completely underwhelming. Then when Jen was killed, that pushed her even further away from her original vindictive self and deeper into the “pity” category.
Quite frankly, this poignant basketcase version of Lindsay is a real snooze. So, sadly, IMO they should use this to usher the character off the show. Quite frankly, she’s peaked. And in the meantime, this seeming reconnecting with Bo is just plain ridiculous. After all that they went through, after all Lindsay did, it would be totally out of character for Bo to ever be willing to be more than just lightly-cordial with her. He definitely shouldn’t be competing with RJ over who gets to take her home with him.
Odds 'n Ends:
The show is doing a real disservice to the Charlie/Viki romance by continually having Charlie fraternize with Dorian. I say that because, honestly, Charlie and Dorian look more interesting in their scenes together. Since, though, it’s been forever since Viki had a man, I’ll still cheering them.
Clint and Nora together, IMO, are just plain wrong. Jerry verDorn and Hillary B. Smith are selling their scenes (simply because they are competent enough actors to do so), but I just don’t see anything “special” about Clint and Nora together. Instead, I feel that it’s treason on both of their parts to be getting with their former sister/brother-in-law. Give Ramsey a soul and have him switch to decaf, then test him with Nora. As for Clint, I know people bitch about newbies, but in this case I wouldn’t mind a new woman being brought on for him to be paired with. No more mismatched Nora and Dorian for him, please.
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