Still Alive!

I didn't die, y'all. And I've finally caught up on OLTL, so I'm going to jump right back in by recapping the most recent episode (#37).

I like this new "TOLN presents" graphic at the beginning of the show. I'm not crazy, that's new, isn't it?

Ugh. Destiny and Natalie are getting ready for their "double date that isn't a date." I am not a fan of this friendship, it's too weird. Not that I don't have close friends where there's an even bigger age difference, but I just don't like it. It feels forced. Anyway they're talking about how Jeffrey is a "buffer," which... okay, sure, y'all.

Blair shows up at Todd's to chew him out about whatever his plan is to save ALL OF THE LOVED ONES.

Jack is at the coffee shop with his totally disgusting teacher. I still have post-traumatic stress from their impromptu sexathon so I can't even deal. Oh yeah, and Shaun is there as Jack's bodyguard. Shaun!

Jeffrey shows up at Llanfair at VIki's behest. She wants him to do some digging about the Pellegrino fund investors because Clint is super-sketchy because Viki is not brain-dead. I for serious love Viki/Jeffrey scenes, you guys. 

David is excited that he gets to pitch his new reality show to some network and wants Dorian to come to Shelter to celebrate. Dr. Dorian Lord, however, has "important" things to do and David just sort of awkwardly emits an "Oh," and exits. Dorian is in a terrible blazer and calling the investment dude Frank and is trying to figure out how Viki didn't go belly-up with the bad investment, and Frank insists that she actually did.

Dance credits!

Peach Pit After Dark. Rama and David are flirting. Like hard. Dani is filling in on having helped Arturo clean out DeadBriana's belongings. But Michelle shows up and now has to confess some other lie to Matthew.

Coffee Shop. Jack's teacher isn't comfortable with a bodyguard around so she gets the hell out of Dodge. I guess because maybe it's frowned upon to bed strange students before meeting them? Anyway, Jack calls Blair to have Blair tell Todd to call off his goons. It's like a game of telephone! Except it's the actual telephone.

Casa Banks. Natalie answers the door to Jeffrey, who brought a bottle of wine. Classy and all, but really? These 21-year-olds are really old! When I was 21, the best case scenario was maybe a handle of well vodka and the worst case scenario was maybe a little Mad Dog 20/20. Destiny is wearing very little, like all frazzled and overworked young single mothers!

Cutter shows up with a nice bottle of fancytime liquor and is sad-faced to see that it's not just going to be him and Natalie. Because duh. 

Llanfair. Viki asks Clint if he's hiding anything from her and he assures her that he is not, because Clint 'fessing up to things is about as common as my subway line running on time at the end of my work day. Dorian turns up to taunt the Lord-Buchanans about foul play and SEC investigations. Dorian announces that Clint has betrayed Viki once again and that Viki is just too besotted with love to see it. She threatens to go to the media with what she knows. Clint tells Dorian to skedaddle so he can talk to Viki, who tells him she already knows he covered the financial loss. The queen is disappointed.

She feels utterly betrayed by Clint.

Clint has been appropriately shamed.

Peach Pit After Dark. Rama and David are dancing the night away and then almost kiss when they get interrupted. Eww. Seriously? No. Do not want.

Michelle is 'fessing up to Matthew about how she's a maid and didn't really go to Toronto and had to lie because she was so embarrassed about having, like, a job or something that she couldn't be honest. Inexplicably, Matthew is impressed by how forthcoming she is! Dani feels pretty much the same way I do about Matthew's reaction.

Can we talk about how much Kelley Missal rocks this kind of stuff?

Because she does.

Casa Banks. Cutter is filling the gang in on all the drama at the Peach Pit After Dark while Natalie plays footsie with him under the table.

I'm not nuts about Nat's bright pink lipstick or Cutter's outfit. (Though Nat still looks crazy-hot, because reality.)

Cutter gets a crisis call from work and has to bail. Natalie's Catwoman suit will go to waste, which is a shame. I'm not here to watch Destiny on a date, people! I'm here for Cutter and Natalie!

Manning Hotel Room. Blair talks about when they first brought Starr home from the hospital how tired and scared they were. I... am going to assume she's referring to after Starr's first big health scare or something? Because obviously Todd was presumed dead and nowhere to be seen when Starr was a newborn. Todd offers Blair support and she's pleased to see "that Todd" since she hasn't in a while. She's going to leave. Oh! Moment!

There they are, kids. Angst and more angst. Oh yes.

Peach Pit After Dark. Rama and Cutter bicker about work a bit and he goes off to fix something, I couldn't quite follow the issue because it was hardly the point. Rama's upset so she does a shot. 

David Vickers approaches. This certainly cannot lead to anything good. She goes over and sexy-dances with him because apparently that is a thing you can do at her job. And they kiss. Like for realsies. Just as guess who is descending the stairs. 

Well, she is of course not pleased and throws a "Back off, bitch!" at Rama who appropriately scurries off because stop it, and then Dorian reads David the riot act and he has the weakest apologies ever. She tells him something has been broken here tonight and takes off. Good. Go find Ray Montez, do it!

Casa Banks. Dessert. Cutter calls Natalie to tell her it was a false alarm and he's so sorry to have missed dessert. He suggests that next time they lose the chaperones. YES PLEASE.

Llanfair. Viki is dressing down her beloved for having lied to her. Again. He insists it's totes no biggie that he lied because it's not as if he did anything illegal. He is not making a persuasive argument to Queen Victoria. She insists that his attempts to "fix" things are not love but control. And Viki lays it down. "Because of what you've done, I've lost the most important thing of all." She hands him the engagement ring. Oof.

Manning Hotel Room. Todd and Blair are having dinner. Todd reaches for Blair's hand, and she cannot help but let him. Then they get all "Todd and Blair" up in this bitch.

It is on.

And there it was! Finally caught up. I'm so sorry I've been too busy to keep up and do posts. I'm going to do my best with my insane schedule because I do love our OLTL and I do love getting to chat with you lovely folks about the show!

Comments

[O42]

Why isn't Frank the investment manager in trouble for sharing PRIVATE client information? And complete failure to do due diligence before recommending an investment. He is the WORST.

So, Michelle is a groupie for guys from rich families, right? A groupie in a terrible, terrible hat.

[Kim]

I love OLTL. That's all I can say, and it is ON!

[Alley]

KM's facial expression are priceless. I didn't care for her much on ABC OLTL, but I'm kind of digging her on PP OLTL. It will be interesting to see how the Dani/Arturo thing plays out. Is he a pimp, or what?

Matthew is an idiot.

Jack and teacher: Gross

Natalie and Cutter: Hot. I want more of them!

Loved Jeffrey: "I did a few musicals in high school". Nice shout-out to CB's roles in the HSM movies.

Todd and Blair. Although I was taken out of the scene with the bringing home Starr remark, I still love them. RH and KDP have some serious chemistry -- even though their total screen time was just under three minutes.

I'm loving this show!

[MD]

So glad you didn't die. Although, if you had, and then came back, it would be perfectly soapily appropriate.

I've never been high on KM, sans coveting her hair, but the facial expressions were priceless.

But Clint, Clint, Clint. Oh, dear, Clint. Even when doing good things your hat isn't white. But damned if I don't love me some JVD.

[June]

Natalie and Cutter are so hot and all they did was say hello, goodbye and later. I want MORE!!!!!

More more more.

More.

[Louise]

Yes, I'm sorry I didn't say much about why I dislike the Nat/Des friendship or more about Jack and his gross teacher, but Soap Opera Digest is where to find my longer analysis on that! We'll post it when that issue comes out.

[C]

I'm conflicted. I love Viki, but this was exactly the dynamic I was dreading with her and Clint back together: Clint always bad and wrong and Viki always right and scolding him. If Viki can't accept him for who he is, honestly, it's time to get Kim back up in this piece.

Natalie and Cutter need more solo screen time. So hot!

If Todd din't want Jack to know he was being followed, perhaps he shouldn't have hired Shaun, a professional bodyguard who Jack knows quite well.

[Lauren]

I've liked the Des/Nat friendship but this ep it was bad. I think it could work as a single mom friend/big sister/little sister type thing especially since both kids are Buchanans. But today they acted like silly 16 year-olds who were throwing a boy-girl party for the first time. They're both above that.

Love Jeffrey but he hasn't even kissed Destiny yet and I'm bored of them. 2 sweet, upstanding people getting together is beautiful in real life, not sold on them in soap life unless the Matthew angle creates some drama.

Prefer Viki & Clint on the outs- Viki disappointed/exasperated is my fave.

The continuity fail on when we brought Starr home almost ruined the TnB stuff. Almost.

Kelley Missal gave me life with her faces. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Arturo.

[nancy]

Absolutely loving Cutter and Natalie. They said like 2 words to each other and yet I couldn't stop watching. I'm with Cutter, they need to lose the chaperones and get it on. All kinds of hot.

[Ziyal]

Loved all the screencaps and i am loving the Todd & Blair :) Looking forward to a BnB post now that the big secret is OUT :D

[Debbie]

Ok, love OLTL as it is and do not find myself straining to watch it, which would be the case under RC writing...hated the Rex and Gigi overkill, but anyhow here we are...LOVE Todd and Blair and can't wait to see their story unfold..

[boes]

I guess David is having some sort of mid-life crisis. That's the only thing that can explain this thing with Rama to me. I have to say that as much as I've always liked David, I'm intrigued to see if they take this into a more "dramatic" direction. Both Tuc and Dorian have got the chops to pull it off.

I really liked this week's two episodes. I don't mind Cutter as much as some, but - Sorry to all the Natalie fans - Gnat is still Flubbette to me. I know that Cutter and Gnat were supposed to be the center of that little storyline, but Jeffrey and Destiny were more interesting to me.

That guy with no brow and unidentifiable accent is creeping me out with Dani. He seems like a predator, and no matter how smart Dani thinks she is, we all know and so does he that she's easy pickings. That guy just oozes slime.

LOVED Bo in Cop Mode! Bob Woods is just so good, he makes it look easy. And then at the end of the interview he blasted that guy. And it was a nice touch to see the tattoo on the guys arm as he left. Intertwining this storyline with the Todd/Victor one could be a winner.

Vicki and Dorian are the stars of the show. And as remarked in the AMC thread, how amazing that PP sees that story can be built around two towering women of a certain age. I think that even if I'd hated the rest of the show I wouldn't have remembered that after seeing as much of Vicki and Dorian as we got yesterday.

And as you say, Clint can't catch a break. Although he shouldn't have interfered in Gnat's life, he's right. McBain is a jerk no matter what Gnat hopes. His methods were all kinds of wrong but with McBain he's on the money IMO. Still, he needs to let her make (yet another) her own mistakes.

As for Vicki and him, okay, he should have told her but he did try to help her. I bet he felt responsible for her buying into that Fund to begin with. She's been simmering at him for a while so this blow-up was coming. One of the things I like about this reboot is that Vicki, no matter how much I love her, isn't always being shown as above it all. Again, thanks PP, for letting even St. Victoria get it wrong, get mad, even be a bit unsympathetic, even a little.

I fully cop to being a Todd/Blair lover. Their scenes, just the two of them were a real pleasure for me. No Tea - who I also love - made it even better. It's hard to reconcile RH as Todd and how much I like him here with his Franco on GH which I DETEST.

Surprise, surprise, I'm liking Jack's storyline. It's certainly got that "ripped from the headlines" vibe, but so far I think AT is portraying Jack credibly. Jack is a little dumb and a whole lot entitled - and a lot more insecure than the thinks people know. The woman portraying the teacher has just as much creep factor as the guy who seems to be going after Dani.

Good show! More, please.

[LadyBug]

OLTL is the bomb. My only issue is the sudden friendship between a much older Natalie who needs friends her own age like Rama and Nikki, versus 21 year old Destinty.

[loki]

I actually think Nat and Destiny have more in common as single mother of sons than she does with Icky Nikki and Rama who treats Vimal kind of the way John treated her..
I adore T&B and think KDP deserves an award for making RH show up and be amazing rather than how he is acting on GH which is less than amazing.

[Chris]

Louise, Cutter wasn't carrying abottle of "fancytime liquor", but a bottle of patron tequila!

[Louise]

In my book, Patron is PRECISELY fancytime liquor!

[Chris]

What do you mean by describing an alcoholic beverage as "fancytime liquor", Louise?

[Louise]

I just mean liquor that's fancy as opposed to crappy!

[Chris]

Is wine not fancy at all?

[Louise]

Yes, wine can be fancy. But it's not liquor!

[MD]

Wine can be fancy, if it doesn't come in a box or if it requires an actual corkscrew. Although it still can be not even then, and I do like the whole juicebox wine concept. The kids are so more relaxed after that.

But I digress, perhaps I need me some fancytime liquor of my own.

[Elizabeth]

Any liquor that can cost you upwards of $50 is definitely fancytime liquor. Which is why when I was 21, I would have brought Cuervo to that party.

(And also why the idea of Cutter and Destiny as some sort of peers who hang out socially is just hilariously NOPE.)

[C]

Let's get real, my boy Cutter probably "borrowed" a bottle of booze from Shelter.

[Sam]

I also don't feel it between Nat and Destiny. Maybe its because of the storylines they used to have on ABC and Shennell who used to play the character. I find the age different too big for me. However, the new actress playing Destiny now is older and a bit more mature, so IF I was a new viewer, I wouldn't mind it I guess.

I'm surprised how they have completely dropped the Destiny/Dani relationship all together. They act as if they have never been friends before. I wonder what happened....

I am loving this new David, someone who is more "REAL" than what ABC ever gave him.

[Lauren]

Sam, I've watched even with SE and I didn't mind Nat/Des until they had them acting like 16 year olds in the date/tattoo scenes. It could work if it was a kiddie playdate friendship type thing. I could see Nat wanting to be a shoulder for Des to lean on since Drew's her cousin but they haven't written it right.

I think the Dani/Des distance makes sense- Detsiny has been busy raising her baby alone and working while Dani's been partying and dealing with her own drama- they went in different directions after high school. Add to the fact that the friendship started b/c of Matthew and they both have lingering feelings & each knows the other girl's history with him, it would be weird if they were still extremely tight. It looks like they have an argument next week so I'm excited to see if they explore why there's friction or just distance.

[sjgs]

Can I state how so very, very, very freaking glad I am that they're going to start repeating OLTL episodes on OWN? I've fallen behind just because I so utterly loathe watching TV on a computer.

[Dar]

i am so confused .. is Roger doing both soaps? how is that possible given his (awful) dye job on GH and that Llanview is shot on the East Coast while GH is on the West?

[Chris]

@Dar: Roger isn't doing both soaps, he only taped his forty episodes for OLTL 2.0 during the first taping cycle, and then left Stamford, CT (where both AMC and OLTL tapes now) to go back to L.A. to play the recast Franco on GH.

[loki]

Roger is doing both soaps he taped the first 40 episodes and will be back on OL when the show resumes taping and he has time off from GH..

[sjgs]

Well if the spoilers that are floating about are true, they might mean that Franco/RH will be ditching the blond hair.