Llanview's Biggest Bully Finally Weighs In
Hurrah. Todd's awake and can now offer his infinite wisdom to every situation.
Todd's reaction to Jack having bullied Shane was pretty much as I suspected -- I didn't really expect the show to write Todd as condoning Jack's behavior. I did appreciate that they showed he would've been completely fine with Jack bullying Shane by just calling him names and taunting him, it was just that he had to put his foot down when Jack did something so cruel that it led Shane to a suicide attempt. Because absolutely. Todd probably would have high-fived Jack for the "lesser" stuff and, as he told Blair, he thinks the more mid-level bullying is "just what kids do." Which, of course, is precisely the problem -- tacit approval of the less dangerous kind of teasing only serves to escalate the situation.
Also, Todd's list of people that he and Jack love who have accused Todd of being a bully: Starr, Dani, Viki, Blair, Tea. All women. Except would Jack really care what women think? Hasn't he been raised to think women are soft and sentimental and perennial victims and that tough men are whom to look up to?
Todd reverted back to form when he threatened Rex for having sent the thugs after Jack, which Rex did in retaliation for Jack's cruelty to Shane. Way to be an example, Todd! Jack bullies Shane so Rex bullies Jack, so you bully Rex. Clearly that will end the cycle, right?? (And to be clear, I think the show is hitting the right notes here by making it obvious how much damage Todd has done and continues to do. I was just a little worried they might make him too much a hero by waking up and saying all the right, moral things about what Jack's been up to. Thankfully he said a few right things and a few wrong things, which is the gray area that the character should live in.)
And naturally, Jack didn't get the message at all (since he's doing as Todd does, not as he says) and whined to his sisters that something must've happened to Todd's brain because he's acting like a sit-com dad, and everyone looked a little worried. "Oh no! What if our dad grew a conscience? That would be terrible!"
And, of course, Jack and his pals are still doing plenty of bullying.
Seriously, why does Shane not de-friend these people on MyFace?! Or delete this account and start a new one?
I did love that Dr. Buhari pointed out that he might not want to go check his MyFace account anymore. In fact, I kind of love Dr. Buhari altogether.
She's the first therapist this show in a long time who occasionally actually says something accurate and worthwhile and, thankfully, did point out on Friday that confidentiality laws do not extend to situations where the patient could be a threat to himself or others, so Gigi and Rex should skip violating the law and their son's privacy to listen in on his counseling sessions. (I do, of course, question why she hasn't had obviously-still-nuts Marty re-committed.)
Across town, Tomas got interrogated for possibly shooting poor Todd. John's whole smirk-and-smile-sarcastically routine that he does anytime he's talking to a suspect drives me crazy.
On the other hand, I do need to remind myself that at least it's a detective being all smug and superior and not a mobster. It's the little things, people! And Tomas did smirk back a bit, at least. I hear tell that Tomas' story clears up a little bit starting next week, so I'm certainly looking forward to that! Ted King is awesome, but I need just a little more here to work with!
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Thursday's episode. I didn't do a whole post on it because it would be a little embarrassing as it would just be me gushing and fawning and trying to find other words for "awesome" while describing how completely phenomenal everything involving Echo and Charlie and Viki and Dorian was. Brian Kerwin and Kim Zimmer absolutely nailed their fantastic scenes (well done, writers, too!). And Viki and Dorian's final moment of the episode?
Viki: You do realize that we have a very big problem.
Dorian: We do? Oh, Echo!
Viki: Yes, Echo. I'm afraid that we have made a very dangerous enemy.
Dorian: Well, we won the first round. If I were a betting woman -- and I am -- I'd be putting money on the two of us.
Perfection.
Destiny out!
ITA with everything you said about Todd. It's nice that he's said those things, but it does squat for Jack if Todd continues to act as he does. I mean, he's probably going to go after Tomas now, so all Jack is learning is that his father is a hypocrite. Jack is going to keep doing what he's doing so it'll be interesting to see what Todd does.
Tomas is so awesome. I still say that he's a spy for the CIA ever since he left home to go on a tour of Europe. He's heavily involved in the whole TSJ/RH Todd storyline and has done a lot of bad things while on his mission.
Too bad Brian Kerwin had to be written out with such a bad storyline for Charlie so Viki and Clint could reunite before the end of the show cuz he's amazing.
And I totally loved Viki and Dorian's last scene. I really hope that the writers don't make them hate each other before the end of the show.
Posted by: Andrea | May 08, 2011 at 01:52 PM
"Also, Todd's list of people that he and Jack love who have accused Todd of being a bully: Starr, Dani, Viki, Blair, Tea. All women. Except would Jack really care what women think?"
I'm not arguing the point, but as a very sporadic viewer of OLTL, I'm wondering... are there any men that Todd/Jack love or respect? I can't think of any.
And yeah, with the show's days numbered, Viki and Dorian need to stay in partner mode.
Posted by: CZ | May 08, 2011 at 03:14 PM
I liked Todd's reaction, too, Louise. I think he actually meant the "sitcom dad" stuff, because if anyone knows that ultimately it kinda sucks to be Todd Manning it's Todd Manning (or IS it Todd Manning....?), but he's still Todd (or IS he....?), so threatening Rex was par for the course.
I'm slightly worried about where Jack is going to go. Ultimately, I think the story has to have him almost, if not quite, do something even more despicable than he already has. Will he almost do a "Spring Fling" with Shane? Would they go there? I don't know.
Really, though, he needs some Dr. Buhari right quick. If anyone can metaphorically slap some sense into the budding sociopath, it'll be her. She's just awesome!
Thursday's show really was great, wasn't it? I'm still not all that upset that Charlie's leaving, and I haven't always been BK's biggest fan during this soap opera turn, but him and Kim Zimmer ripped it apart! And then we even got a Declaration of Revenge from Echo towards Dorian and Viki! How classically soap is that?!???
But how can you say, "Destiny out!" Louise without mentioning Destiny and Matthew! They kissed! And... Matthew led her into his bedroom? Is there about to be some devirgining going on? Would they really do that so off-handedly? I would suspect not, but it was still kind of a disturbingly porny thing. I'm a little squicked about it.
Posted by: Bourgeois Nerd | May 08, 2011 at 11:16 PM
OLTL is totally awesome! I would still send Cutter, Aubrey, old man Nate, Deanna and Ford packing.
I love Ted King.
We probably won't know until July what happened with Matt/Des.
Posted by: LadyBug | May 09, 2011 at 12:12 AM
Matt/Des are actually supposed to be on next week. If they really do have sex, I have no idea how they could from "I just killed Eddie Ford and feel so horrible" to "Hey, let's have sex!" It makes no sense to me, especially on Matthew's part.
Posted by: Andrea | May 09, 2011 at 11:14 AM
I love,love,love Dr. Buhari. The actress is superb and I am sure she must be stage trained with the lovely way she enunciates each word. Best shrink on daytime ever! Now if she could just get Marty to realize being obsessed with the likes of John Mcbain is crazy and Marty needs therapy at St. Ann's to realize John is a creep.
It just doesn't get better than Viki and Dorian tag teaming Echo.
Posted by: Ariel | May 09, 2011 at 06:40 PM
I have said it before and I will say it again. Viki and Dorian are by far the BEST couple in daytime. :)
Posted by: Dawn | May 10, 2011 at 08:17 AM