One Life to Live: Episode 49
I have been the worst soap blogger ever, I know. And while it's literally been months since I've caught any of GH or B&B, I'm still doing my best to keep up with One Life to Live. I'm just lagging behind! (I'd lie and say I'm too busy to ever watch any television, but those of y'all who are my Twitter buddies know damn well I've watched Orange is The New Black about three times through already, so you're onto me...)
So since everything that can be said about the latest episode has probably been discussed, let's just keep things safe by doing a straight recap while I finally get caught up to speed! Join me, and forgive me?
Llanview Hospital. Destiny and Matthew are there for Drew, who has had a seizure, they are informed by a cute doctor lady. Not only is OLTL the only soap (is it still?) to actually have regular South Asian-American characters, but they really love to fill their dayplayer roles that way as well, and I love it. Soaps are notoriously bad at diversity, so this always makes me happy that things are at least in motion to improve!
But I digress. Doc tells the worried 'rents that these seizures may recur and that he has a 105 degree fever. Laura Harrier delivers this scene in a manner which reminds me: boy is she pretty.
So pretty, and I'm sure very, very nice. Horrible Michelle lurks in the background looking concerned or grossed out or pissed, I can't quite tell which.
La Boulaie. David's TV producer visits Dorian and tells her about how she's going to the award gala with David as her date. Dorian tells her to scram.
The Banner. Jeffrey is letting Viki know that Drunken Clint's photo is on the cover of the paper and they are going to need to address it, both at The Banner and at the gala.
Coffeeshop. David is taunting Clint about his public drunken escapades. Clint suggests that David ought to go straight to hell.
Opening credits.
Hospital. Destiny calls Shaun to fill him in, and Shaun tells her he loves her and will be there as soon as possible (and will call Nora since she needs "real family" and Matthew doesn't count). Michelle tries to give them coffee and Destiny does not want any niceties. Michelle tells Matthew she can tell what a good father he is, which is hilarious because today is the first she's heard of his THREE-YEAR-OLD SON. Michelle asks about Drew's conception and refers to him as a "mistake," which Matthew does not appreciate.
Coffeeshop. Rama wants to know if she still gets to be on David's reality show. Shenaz Treasury gets cuter with every passing scene.
La Boulaie. Producer Lady tells Dorian about the new angle for the reality show ("Anatomy of a Divorce"). This does not please Dr. Dorian Lord.
The Banner. Viki promotes Jeffrey to Director of Online Content. He tries to get a quote from Clint and Clint finds the whole thing beneath him. Clint yells at Viki for her brother's tabloid (aka Todd's paper The Sun). He insists she better print his publicist's statement.
Todd's place. Todd and Blair are having some sad afterglow. Todd talks about how telling jokes is his "tell," like Blair's tell of putting her hair behind her ear. She knows his tell is something he does when he's lying, and he reminds her it's also something he does when he's hurting. This is so sweet. They talk about fate and they kiss and there's just no way to articulate how freaking well Kassie DePaiva and Roger Howarth play Blair and Todd's angst together.
They are electric and have only deepened that spark with time.
The Banner. Jeffrey reads Viki the statement from Clint's publicist. Viki's not sure they should give Clint a chance to clean up his image, but Jeffrey insists they just print it verbatim. They chat about Jeffrey's mentor coming to town to be the keynote speaker at the gala, which Viki is annoyed is still going to honor Clint as Man of the Year.
Coffeehouse. Rama insists she was the catalyst for David and Dorian's divorce, so you're damn right she should be on his reality show! She wants to be a star, as well she should be. David reminds her that their kiss was real, which Rama isn't so convinced of.
La Boulaie. This Producer Lady is wearing the shortest skirt in the history of executive positions.
She appeals to Dorian's ego and wants Dorian to be the real protagonist of the reality show and throws out some good feminist chatter which gets right to Dorian's woman-power heart. Unsurprisingly, Dorian is in!
Todd's place. Blair and Todd got secretly married? I feel like I missed a scene and I want to cry because Todd and Blair got married and I didn't get to see it??!!! Blair tells Todd she loves him and she always will and they say goodbye and call each other Mannings and they cry and I do NOT cry, shut up shut up, no I don't. I'M TOTES NEUTRAL ON THIS PAIRING, Y'ALL.
Ouch.
Hospital. Bo and Nora turn up to be grandparents. Destiny fills them in on the situation, while Michelle inserts herself obnoxiously into the situation and introduces herself as Matthew's girlfriend, which is news to Bo and Nora. Matthew's about had it with her and tells her it's time to make a graceful exit. The doctor tells Destiny she can see Drew now, and Matthew sends his love (because they're only allowed in one at a time).
The Banner. Jeffrey shows Viki a smartphone video of Clint's incident at The Peach Pit After Dark. Queen Victoria is disappointed. What is worse than that. Nothing is. Nothing.
B.E. (or Clint's house?) Nigel is taking a lint brush to Clint's suit. Clint makes a call or two to make sure he can still buy his high social standing. He can!
Todd's place. Blair is bawling, which I cannot watch because I love her in a way one should not since she's not real. But she makes my heart bleed and always has. Todd is on the other side of the door, leaning in toward her. He takes out the message with the symbol and it has a Gladys Street address on it. He walks away from Blair, in slow motion because duh.
Matt/Dani/Jeffrey apartment. Jeffrey is the only one there. He grabs a beer from the fridge and relaxes and puts his bare feet up on the coffee table (young man!). They play some awesomely hilarious horror movie music as we see that on the bottom of Jeffrey's foot, there is a tattoo of the evil symbol of the group blackmailing and terrorizing Todd and Victor!
I LOVE IT.
The end! I'm finally caught up!!!
So what do you guys think? Is Jeffrey under their thumb or is he one of the bad guys? Who is this mentor of his? Is everyone else super-excited for the gala because, hello, SOAP GALAS!?
Oh Louise Don't worry I am sure that after 19 years you are not the only one who is totally neutral on T&B and it is only allergy season that is making all the lumps in the throats and watery eyes when you watch RH and KDP in any scenes together.
Posted by: loki | August 10, 2013 at 08:30 PM
In my head Jeffrey feels conflicted because he owes his mentor, the baddest of his baddies, but has come to love and respect Viki, and ultimately will feel guilty and protect her, without losing his own life. Maybe with Destiny, Jack, and Jack's teacher as collateral damage. Oh, and I have a Nigel of my own. It's pretty here.
Posted by: MD | August 10, 2013 at 10:22 PM
Interesting twist with Jeffrey and I hope we see him with more of an edge.
I do enjoy Jeffrey and Viki's relationship, but what is a soap opera without a good betrayal?
Speaking of betrayal, I hope this reality series nonsense ends quickly especially as to Dorian's involvement. David cheating on Dorian should have been the impetus for her to reevaluate her life with him. The Dorian I grew up watching -the strong and confident one--would never give David a second look. It is time for a new direction for this diva-from from all things David.
Very telling that David gave his assent through no reaction to Rama when she claimed she was the hot young thing that saved him from his dreadful marriage.
Posted by: Jennifer | August 11, 2013 at 11:06 AM
LH is pretty. I wish she was a pretty actress instead of a pretty model because she has decent chem with the people in Destiny's life but it's not good enough to compensate for a basic inability to do her job.
At this point, I REALLY want Destiny and Jack to be coma victims who wake up as recasts
Posted by: O42 | August 11, 2013 at 12:31 PM
Yes, LH is pretty, but pretty does not make an actress. LH is the weak link in the Matt, Jeffrey, and Dani quad.
When OLTL comes back next year, I want to see some major changes. Dorian is given back her balls, David moves on and has a torrid romance with a now divorced Rama, Kevin (Dan Gauthier) is back with HIS son Zane (Drew was never the biological father!), and he battles David for Ram's affections. Max's twins (now teenagers) Frank and Leslie help make up the new teen set of Jack, Zane, Frank, Leslie, and Jamie Vega. The nonsense that Viki is broke needs to stop. Yes, The Banner can still be in jeopardy financially, but Viki controlled Victor's fortune of newspapers and other business interests. It makes zero sense for Todd to have a successful newspaper empire while Viki who ran her father's empire for decades is suddenly broke. Shelter should not be entire focus of the show. Tea finds out she pregnant again and this time, and Victor Jr. is nowhere to be found. Nora needs to drop the radio DJ act. I want to see Nora in DA mode, and Tea needs to be in courtroom drama.
Posted by: LadyBug | August 11, 2013 at 05:52 PM
Jennifer,Dorian threw David out. I like David and Dorian better now than I did before. David is no longer a buffoon and Dorian is no longer a cartoon. Love her with Jack. Todd and Blair were amazing! Destiny is green- gorgeous- but very unsure of herself.. I feel like in time she will become more comfortable. Jeffrey and Matthew are real finds!
I am very impressed with the AMC and OLTL reboots. I never used to watch AMC, but now I'm hooked.
I may be unusual but I love watching on Hulu. And watching when I want. I'm not tied to the TV or DVR.
Shallow note but IMO, Robin Strasser and Erika Slezak look better than they ever did on ABC and Melissa Archer is a goddess! Dani breaks my heart. Love, love the show
Posted by: Tonya | August 11, 2013 at 05:58 PM
I don't think Jeffrey knows he even had the tattoo!
He's a sleeper cel!
LH is beautiful, and she must have some wit, because I saw her at the marathon reading of David Rakoff's last book.
Lets hope she's been working with a coach during the break.
I'm really enjoying the tension between Bo & Clint, too!
Posted by: Norn Cutson | August 12, 2013 at 01:32 AM
Michelle is...a turd.
I'm starting to find Rama increasingly annoying.
I just want to say, I watch OLTL at work and was having a really crappy day, but when Todd & Blair revealed their wedding rings I FANGIRLED OUT!!! My frown turned upside down. They are beyond beyond.
Posted by: realbrenda4evr | August 12, 2013 at 11:21 AM
Don't worry you're not the worst soap opera blogger since that honor goes to me.
Posted by: Barbara | August 12, 2013 at 12:16 PM
THE MANNINGS ARE MARRIED!!! They are still/always my favorite soap couple of all time.
Too many exclamation points?
Posted by: O42 | August 12, 2013 at 12:35 PM
Good to have you back, Louise!
But if you chose 48 to recap, you could preserved a screen cap of Cutter in tiny lime green briefs on the Internets forever!
Posted by: C | August 12, 2013 at 04:09 PM
The reveal of the Manning wedding rings in the midst of the 'I believe that Fate has another ending for us' afterglow was beautifully done. Words cannot express how happy I am that they secretly got married and are holding onto that while he goes off to try and fix all this shit.
And while he's doing that, I really need Blair and Tea to team up and start figuring shit out in Llanview. Obviously, Triskelion.org is planted right there in town and not going anywhere (dude who killed Briana; Jeffrey -- now Carl Peterson.)
Speaking of Jeffrey... what an awesome reveal that was! And so well done. We like Jeffrey! He's a nice guy and just all around good... DUN DUN DUNNNNN!! All the while we're seeing this Triskelion tattoo connected to all sorts of bad things and then they put it on the nicest guy in town.
BAM!
That was awesome. Love love love it!
Posted by: Dandesun | August 13, 2013 at 07:01 PM
Whenever I think about how wonderful a model Laura Harrier must have been (while I cringe at her acting), I remind myself that I thought Shenell Edmonds was the worst teen actor(and I loathed Brandon Buddy) when she first started, and she held that title until Andrew Trischitta took over Jack. Her line readings were always so awkward. However, what made both Shenell Edmonds and Destiny Evans root-worthy was her chemistry with others, particularly the adults. So I think it is fair to say that Laura Harrier deserves some of the same generosity, because she is likable and has chemistry with most of the other actors. I think her fight/make-up scene with Dani was her best performance, so far. Her emotions felt authentic.
Posted by: jbj | August 14, 2013 at 12:54 AM
Harrier's performance in those scenes with Dani made me cringe in embarrassment.
Posted by: Lisa B | August 14, 2013 at 07:40 AM
Shenell was the absolute worst- she had over two years to grow in the role and IMO got worse as Destiny went from fun, quirky secondary friend character to getting more dramatic front-burner. Laura's green but besides her fight with Dani where Kelley Missal just obliterated her, I haven't minded her too much. And she has chemistry with everyone-- most especially Rob Gorrie which is funny because Shenell and Eddie had none and looked so young, younger than they were playing, that the thought of Matthew getting Destiny pregnant was just...unpleasant. Now I'm almost shipping them.
The Jeffrey twist is brilliant- the show is finally starting to really gel together & get exciting. The hiatus will be brutal.
Posted by: Laura | August 14, 2013 at 10:41 PM
Tonya, David packed his bags and decided to move into a hotel after Dorian caught him cheating. She asked him to stay and fight for their marriage. He said he wanted to focus on something positive--his show. He told her he had a room at the Palace and would be back to pick up the rest of his things. The next day Dorian threw his things into the foyer and said he could stop by to pick them up. Dorian needs to be rid of David like yesterday and get back to being her fierce self.
Posted by: cheryl | August 15, 2013 at 04:51 PM
Dorian has done the whole cougar thing with Joey and David, it's time for her to move on with a strong older man a la Victor Lord, Herb Callison or Mel Hayes. Dorian is tough and needs an even tougher man on her arm.
Posted by: LadyBug | August 18, 2013 at 05:35 PM