August 4, 2008

“You were -- you were thunder and lightning, fireworks on the Fourth of July, passion couplified. ..Yeah, and, I mean, you two made big stuff happen. I mean, incredibly romantic, sweepingly romantic with, you know, some great tortured love stuff thrown in. .. He died for you… That's because he -- he -- he loved you, and he hated that he was hurting you, so he thought death would be the only way to end it. But, in the end, Greenlee, he came back from the dead for you. There is no other love story that can touch it.”

I do not know what Kendall is smoking, but I want some of it. I want it and I want it now. That is the only way I can stomach what Kendall was saying. On the other hand, maybe Kendall and I were watching two different Greenlee/Ryan love stories. My version is filled with awkward and forced moments. I remember being embarrassed for both the characters and the actors. Greenlee’s determination to make Ryan love her was sad. Greenlee, clad in La Perla, standing thisclose to Ryan while defying him to think about Kendall was more than sad, it was pathetic. No one, not even Greenlee, should have to debase herself in order to get someone to fall in love with her.  Could Greenlee and Ryan have fallen in love any other way? Of course, they could have. Their relationship could have developed over time in a way that did justice to everyone involved in their story.  

AMC has had many wonderful romances. Tara and Phil. Palmer and Daisy. Langley and Phoebe. Palmer and Opal. Erica and Dimitri. Myra and Sloan.  Benny and Estelle. Erica and, well, Erica. Cliff and Nina. Noah and Julia. Greenlee and Leo. Mona and Charles. Natalie and Trevor. Tad and Dixie. Angie and Jesse. Donna and Chuck. Kendall and Zach. Greg and Jenny. Mark and Ellen.  This is merely a sampling of the love stories we have enjoyed over the years.

None of these relationships felt forced. Falling anvils were not required to make us believe in these relationships, even if it took years for some of these couples to be together. Mona and Charles are a perfect example of the poignant longing that comes with waiting to be with the one you truly love.

Ryan and Greenlee were another story altogether. The only way I could justify it was to believe that Greens suffered a major undiagnosed breakdown after Leo’s death.

Maybe this time around Greenlee’s and Ryan’s story will handled with care. The characters deserve it. We viewers deserve it, too.

“Well, you know what? Let them eat cake. Let them wait.”

Somewhere Mona was saying, “Oh, Erica.”   With that one sentence. Erica forgot her manners and regressed about 10 years. She invited Jack, Carmen, Kendall, and Zach to sit at her table. At the very least, she could have told them she was leaving. Alas, she did not. With an imperious nod of her head, she dismissed them.The most frustrating part? In all likelihood, she expected them to wait for her return. Juvenile behavior is excusable when one is a child. When one is a grandmother? Not so much.

 “Listen to me. You don't brush me aside, son. Not here. Not at Chandler. Nowhere, ever.”

What perfect lines. What a perfect delivery. JR must be living in alternate universe on the Planet Crack. Only there could his plan to bring down Adam seem the least bit plausible. JR wanting Adam to be powerless doesn’t mean Adam is powerless.  When it comes to CE, Adam has always been hard on JR. Too hard? Maybe. Maybe not. Adam knows that the weak do not survive in the corporate world, at least at his level. The naïve do not fare any better. Filling in for your father and closing deals already in motion, do not earn you the keys to the kingdom, JR. Adam held on to the company after being drugged and left naked(sigh) in the board room, why think a leaked photo bring him down?  If JR had come at his father directly, he still may not have gotten what he wanted, but he would have earned his father’s respect.

JR thinking Adam would be happy spending his days puttering around Casa Chandler was funny. JR obviously had confused Adam with Tad.

“ Oh, God, Ryan! Where are you? [Sobbing]  I need you! The baby needs you! [heavy breathing]  Oh, God! Help me! [heavy breathing] : [Calmly] You'd better call me back, Ryan. And you better not be with Greenlee.”

This scene made me sad. Sad that AMC has not made better use of Melissa Claire Egan and Annie. For the most part, Annie has behaved like an adult. Raising Emma on her own. Not making other people’s difficult situations all about her. Being a good friend to Zach. A good stepmother to Spike. Dealing with Greenlee’s return to Pine Valley. How adult was Annie? She even had a real resume complete with real work experience. Regrettably, behaving like an adult, especially if you are a female character on ABC, means your future holds only two options: being backburnered or being crazy. Sigh.

What else. What else.

“You decided I’m a criminal, so treat me like one.” Criminal or not, Cassie is behaving like a spoiled child. Spoiled children are boring.

“because nobody here likes you.” Colby grows more and more like her mother, that bitch Liza Colby, every day, doesn’t she?

“I’m never going to be that cruel or selfish again, unless I don’t get what I want.” Well, that’s what I heard Ryan say. In my head.

“Oh, I have an idea. Why don’t you mind your own business?” I do not worship Zach, but for a moment there, I came pretty darn close.

 “You really want them to go to jail for your brother’s murder? Have you forgotten that we live in Pine Valley? Where people never spend time up river for killing a bad person? After all, did Tad serve any time for killing Greg Madden? Oops, I was supposed to keep that a secret.” Well, that’s what I heard Ryan say. In my head.

Zach: You sound like Kendall and Greenlee talking about Ryan, obsessed with what he's been through, what he's done. You got to stop.

Aidan: Zach, those three have a lot of history, so it's unlikely that obsession's going to end anytime soon.

Sad, but true. Definitely sad, but definitely true.

I was disappointed, very disappointed, when Jesse did not arrest Frankie. Still, a police chief who wears a diamond earring is hard to resist.

“And Jacky, so handsome.” Jack and Carmen are wonderful together. Carmen needs a friend. Goodness knows Jack could use one. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

“Yeah, well, sure. You had to prove to those -- to the backers, the -- the board, that I was, uh, cuckoo-noonoo.” I replayed this scene several times simply because it made me laugh.

“10 acres out by the Yacht Club.” Color me confused. The private dicking agency is barely alive yet Aidan was able to buy 10 acres of prime real estate. Special Ops must have a great retirement package.

“You know, you always try to convince yourself that you weren't crazy like me. But conjuring up dead brothers qualifies for pretty insane. ..  I didn't think you had murder in you. But I guess I'm dead proof that you do.” I love the Novaks. Their unique brand of dysfunction is always interesting.

“She is pregnant with a faked vasectomy baby.” That would sound a bit odd anywhere else except in a town where an aborted abortion is walking around. I love Pine Valley.

Here’s to another week in the Valley!