Sept 25, 2006

You know how when you’re watching a storyline unfold and a character makes terrible assumptions about another character, making their lives miserable as a result?  As a viewer, you can see that a grave injustice is being enacted and you can’t wait for the day when the big climax is reached and the Truth is revealed.  You sincerely hope after all the grief that you the victim suffered, the instigator is made to feel endless guilt, weeping and gnashing of teeth and a thousand apologies.  And what usually ends up happening is that after the dust settles, the torch-wielding villager shrugs and says “My bad,” and moves on with their lives.  The demonized victim is left to pick up the pieces and act as if the scurrilous accusations were never hurled.  The more important that put-upon character is to you, the viewer, the less likely that apologies will be coming forth.   

I realized on Monday that the reverse is also true.  The less you care that a character was victimized by unfounded judgment, the more you will have to endure the genuflecting at their feet.  I refer, of course, to the endless loop of Jackson groveling before the Lavery clan as they repeatedly called him on the carpet for his dastardly behavior.  I don’t have a problem with an apology coming forth.  Much as I found the storyline of Jonathan and Lily distasteful, I was able to recognize that Jonathan was apparently reformed for good, that he truly loved Lily, and that they seemed to be happy together.  So I can objectively say that Jackson’s many attempts to break them up were, objectively, unfair.  I just couldn’t, objectively, bring myself to care.   

Naturally, having been robbed in so many other instances of that very scenario I crave, it really, really irked me to see it played out over and over and OVER on Monday.  We get it!  Jackson is a VERY BAD MAN for tormenting poor Jonathan Lavery.     

Okay, I love Kendall – I really do, I love her to bitty bits.  However, I’m unable to hold back the snark in this instance.  To Dixie:  “You’re spying on me?  What kind of sick freak are you?”  I agree Kendall, she’s not very clever is she?  The more effective way to spy is to put oneself in a box and have the box delivered to the spyee’s doorstep.   

Having said that, it is entirely possible that Kendall caught foot-in-mouth disease from Dixie herself, after Dixie let this whopper fly in her direction:  “Well, at least I’m not a hypocrite.” 

Okay, now onto the absurdity of Friday’s scenes.  I gotta tell ya, I was actually looking forward to Josh and Babe getting it on.  I knew based on comments at the fan club stuff last month that it would happen.  They’re both hot, they’re hot for each other, it could have been good.  Unfortunately it just didn’t work out.   

Problem #1:  The premise.  In general I don’t have a problem with Babe cheating on JR.  He tried to murder her – he even planned it.  Those two were so done, black smoke was billowing out of the oven.  But did the impetus of Babe turning to Josh result from her fear of JR’s murderous proclivities?  No.  Did it result from JR’s endless jealousy and wrong assumptions about her character?  No.  Babe went to Josh and begged him to make love to her because her husband didn’t want to cry on her shoulder and pour out his feewings.  What.  the.  hell???? 

Problem #2: The succumbing.  We got the slow build over time.  We got the subtle transference of affections from JR to Josh.  We got the low point of loneliness and vulnerability.  What we didn’t get was her giving in during the heat of the moment.  It seemed like she went to him, came on to him.  There were plenty of pauses when, theoretically, cold reality should have surfaced or twinges of guilt felt.  Nope.  It was made abundantly obvious that Babe was not only thinking very clearly about what she was doing, but she was totally on board with it.  Maybe I would be okay with that if it weren’t for Problem #1.  If Babe had said “JR is a murderous, untrusting, untrustworthy sot, to hell with him,” that would be one thing.  But the way it played out was that she’s acting like the stereotypical bored neglected housewife that just wants to be the center of attention. 

Problem #3.  The execution.  They had sex in the Fusion main office - the place that is notorious for being grand central station.  I also couldn’t get past the fact that Josh produced a blanket and two pillows out of nowhere.  I defy anyone to find such items in any of the thirteen floors in my office building, yet Josh didn’t even have to leave the main room to conjure them up.  I’m surprised he didn’t whip out a few ubiquitous candles.  After their passion was sated and Babe, again, seemed to have not an inkling of remorse, they decide to go for round two in a …kiddy pool.  Be still my heart. 

Problem #4:  The Others.  I might have been able to ignore every single bit of the above and just sit back and enjoy the making out, if it weren’t for the fact that most of those scenes were juxtaposed with the make out scenes of Ryan and Kendall.  How much did I hate those scenes?  This much. 

Consider my mood well and thoroughly killed like that fish in the above link. 

I might have been relieved that Kendall put a stop to it before it went too far, but it was hard to take solace in that with all the gushing about wonderful super duper stupendous ay-okay gosharooni he’s terrific Ryan “You Da Man” Lavery.  He’s so much better than whatshisface who she kinda sorta loves but she can’t really think of why at the moment…oh well, it will come to her eventually.  I’m really glad that we have TPTB around to help us separate the wheat from the chaff because we certainly don’t have brains or any sort of functioning memories.  If they tell us enough times that Ryan Lavery is the Most Awesome Man In The Universe (MAMITU), then by golly he sure must be! 

Question of the week:  Was that the Polyphonic Spree playing during Josh and Babe’s love scenes?  I only know about that group because they used to have a wicked game productivity enhancer on their site.  I just checked and it appears to be gone. 

Loved the scenes at the beginning of the week with Zach freaking out in his cell.  Loved the scenes at the end of the week with Jamie, Dixie and Tad all glaring daggers at each other.  I thought it was hilarious when Dixie’s posse descended.  It’s sweet that Di and Del have her back. 

Thanks for reading.  Cheers! 

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