A Thankless Fordsgiving

Oh lordie.  That was dismal, particularly in light of how lovely last year's Llanview Thanksgiving was. Basically, this year's Thanksgiving episode of One Life to Live was primarily focused on the Ford clan.  Shall we re-visit the agony?  

- Ford and James ran a 10K on Thanksgiving morning! See?  Aren't they wonderful, productive, healthy people, especially the hugely-transformed now-saint-and-all-around-great-guy Robert Ford?  Oh wait, you're not convinced yet?  Wait, let's think of another contrivance to further prove how wonderful Ford is!  It wasn't just any old 10K, it was a 10K run to raise money for the homeless!  Are you fucking kidding me?  

- Then Ford and James went to ruin the Cramer family Thanksgiving by their mere presence, presumably after they stopped by a soup kitchen and served some food, went by the Llanview orphanage to help build the kids' self-esteem, helped a few old ladies across the street, and rescued some baby birds who'd fallen from their nest.  Because somehow the Cramers couldn't just spend the day with each other, providing a little comfort after the traumas most of them have experienced with each other.  This wouldn't have been satisfying enough for a Thanksgiving episode?

- Daddy Ford showed up and further ruined the already-ruined Cramer Thanksgiving.  So far most of Eddie Ford's scenes have been campy-fun-bad, but yesterday's were just plain bad.  Not that I don't enjoy it any time a Ford brother is punched in the face, but he chose the wrong one and it sadly only served to further endear the other characters to these asses.  Eddie did one thing right, though, and that was to appropriately compliment Blair.

- At the Buchanan Thanksgiving, Inez and Nate proved their Ford-ness by showing up and ruining that one as well.  What doesn't Bo understand about how much his son hates Nate?  Misplaced or wrong-headed as it might be, that's not the way to handle it. Bo went out of his way to invite the Salingers into his son's life for no good reason, and now acts like it makes no sense that it bothers Matthew to have them in his family's home on Thanksgiving?  (Oh, I guess technically Clint invited them, but Bo approved of it and brought them into their lives to begin with.)  Then that even got hijacked by Fords since Bo got called away to go deal with Eddie's assault at the Cramers'.

- How inappropriate is Kelly?  She's blathering on to Kevin about her feelings for his brother -- you know, the man she cheated on with Kevin while she was married to him.  The man she left for Kevin, who she eventually cheated on with his son.  I love having Kevin around so I suppose any excuse is worth it, but he's just way too accepting of this whole thing.

- Shall we assume poor Roxy was alone on Thanksgiving???  (Or are we all imagining that she went to visit her son in prison?  Or was invited to the Fish-Lewis's Thanksgiving celebration?)

But in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I will give credit where it's due to a few good details: Cristian coming by to see Blair was good and I'm personally loving that this friendship is being ratcheted back up a bit.  And of course, anytime there's a Dorian/Viki scene is good.

Viki's digs at Echo were fun, and Echo showing her true colors (being super-nasty, especially to Gigi about her makeup!) was a hoot, Brody's comment to Shane about how he should stop growing because he's making Brody look bad was awesome, Brody and Shane having a scene at all was excellent, Tea admonishing Todd for the Starr/Marty/Hope stuff was certainly welcome, and Joey's "return" at the end was a lovely touch (despite this certainly not being Joey yet).

Appropriately, last night I saw Peter Bartlett (Nigel/Neville) on Broadway in A Free Man of Color.  He was absolutely fantastic, and in such a huge (and noteworthy) cast, it really meant something that he fast became an audience favorite.  (There was an amusing -- probably just to me -- "iconic butlers" theme to the cast, too, as the actor who played the butler [Jeffrey, yes?] on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" was in it as well.)

He did have a fun dual-gig on yesterday's show!

Well, dear readers, despite my disappointment in yesterday's Thanksgiving episode, there were a few morsels to be thankful for (and we can always hold on to the fact that Ted King is coming!).  I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your turkey or tofurkey or whatever it is you do to mark this holiday!

Destiny out.

Comments

[Chad]

I did really like the hook at the end of the episode, with Clint casually telling Inez, "I want you to sleep with my brother."

I know some fans aren't liking Clint becoming Asa II, but I'm digging it, at least because Jerry ver Dorn does it so well.

[E.O]

How much do you want to bet that since Kelly now knows Joey is in Llanview, she hightails it outta England without eating thanksgiving dinner!

[Jane]

Wow, you are really selling this episode short. Compared to the crap that the Rylee court episode of AMC and the mediocre GH episode that featured no Brenda, which is a really good thing, this OLTL episode was great. It seems as if your FordFamily hate is clouding your judgement.

[C]

I, for one, definitely imagined that Roxy went to go see Sky in the morning and then had Thanksgiving dinner with Kyle, Fish, and Sierra Rose.

Really liking Cris and Blair. Just so glad Cris has seemingly been spared any more time in Gigi's orbit.

The Fords suck. And they couldn't be contained in their own scenes, they had to go and infect three different households.

[Louise]

Jane, I think what my Ford family hate is clouding is my enjoyment of this show. (And actually I loved the GH episode, it was one of my favorites in a long time!)

Chad, you're right, that bit at the end was fun! I'd completely forgotten about that - good to finally know what Clint's big "plan" is with Inez.

[LadyBug]

I like James, and could care less Nate. It should take over a year to redeem Ford and don't put him with Langston.

Inez/Clint - Woah! That was a juicy comment from Clint.

[Andrea]

A Brody/Shane scene???? YAY!!!!!!!! I loved their relationship.

[nOva]

Wait wait wait. No mention of Nora's comment about Inez knowing a lot about tarts? C'mon, that was an epic burn!

[Jackie]

Hey Louise! I went to see a Free Man of Color with my university class and we had a "talkback" with the actors. It was so hard not to see him and go "Nigel! How are the Buchannon's this year?"

I completely agree with the letdown of this Thanksgiving episode especially since this is the one show that actually looks/sounds like what a soap opera should be (with notable exceptions of course cough*FORDS*cough). After everything that this year brought Llanview, it would have been nice to have some real quality family moments (possibly sprinkled with ending drama like Joey showing up as Kevin/Kelly almost kiss or Marty showing up to see Hope for Thanksgiving and a cop arresting her or most of the Ford family simply vanishing into the Bermuda Triangle...) before it all hits the fan again for the new year. *sigh*

[Andiej]

Ford and Langston are beyond sickening. What a way to ruin a Thanksgiving. "Saint" and boring Ford counting down the days until sex with his big love Langston is just disgusting. When will OLTL learn that viewers want to see some strong females- not a bunch of stupid weak idiots. No way no how should Langston be taking back Ford sex or no sex. Hope he cheats and soon.

[jamie g]

I don't know about you, but the thing I like to do most after getting the crap kicked out of me and maybe getting a couple of broken ribs, is to run a 10k with my brother who was recently buried alive! We are in the BEST SHAPE OF OUR LIVES!

[Judy]

Jamie, that's hilarious!

Kelly and her sudden reversion to Joey-love is the worst writing I've seen in a long time. Seriously, they really make Kelly look like the next candidate for the Cramer crazies. I wonder if Awesome Writer might be leaving GH for OLTL? That would be a good thing...

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