Up to April 20th, 1993
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"One Last Night in New York."
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Guys... I intended to stop, but I simply... couldn't. The show is so captivating at the moment... that I just HAD to keep watching. Last night, I binge-watched until 3 AM and finished 4 new episodes. So please bear with me as I go through... a lot of material.
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This time, I'm starting with something different. People might begin to think that I'm completely ignoring the Mortimer/Pygmalion storyline, and honestly... they would be right. However, I feel like I have to finally say something, as it seems they are nearing a conclusion and hopefully getting rid of this character or at least revamping it for the future. Let's backtrack a bit. The origins of this entireee catastrophe. First we had Alex Olanov, who they transformed from a stalkerish attorney into a looney tunes mob wife in one of the most pathetic soap opera arcs I've witnessed in my entire life. They eliminated everything that Tonja excelled at - the more dramatic, menacing, sinister scenes - and replaced it with maniacal comedy routines that dragged the entire show down. For me... Alex Olanov went from I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HER to OMG, HERE is THIS BITCH again. Then we had to endure one of the most tedious storylines of the entire Malone era - The Who Killed Carlo "Mystery" that dragged on for week after week after week after week. The only storyline that nearly made me stop watching. They arrested the entire town in the process, and in the end, it was so boring that even if Viki was the killer I wouldn't have cared. But just when we thought this misery had come to an end... surprise... surprise... we got a new Carlo. Sort of. This talented actor was subjected to ridiculous scripts and scenes where Alex Hesser would give him handjobs, and he would act like an infantile imbecile. IT WAS UNBEARABLE. But I will give them this - on paper... this storyline sounds somewhat good. The Pygmalion archetype - a mob bitch decides to transform the most boring man into the head of the mob. Sounds kinda good. But it only worked on paper. It didn't look or feel authentic on screen. The execution was BAD. And now we have sort of... AGAIN GOOD ON PAPER... twist - that boring man has somewhat turned into that mobster TOO MUCH, he's too real, and now nobody believes him when he says he is not the guy. He is being attacked by all sorts of bizarre mob comedic characters who want to kill him. YAWN. This could work in a crime-themed comedy sitcom. BUT no here. At least not in the way they are presenting it. That's just my opinion. Some may disagree, but I find it hard not to fast-forward.
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Marty Saybrooke is getting one step closer to becoming a brand new woman. She has even completed her community service and received a beautiful flower bouquet from Suede. She is also studying for her exams (instead of hitting the booze and the men), and there is a LIGHT radiating from her entire being. Everything finally seems to be improving for this girl... but then... THIS IS A SOAP OPERA... and WE CAN'T allow anyone to be happy, right? Enter the group of IDIOTIC college jerks from the Kappa Mappa whatever clique. They are like a pack of vultures circling around Marty. Waiting for the right moment to tear her to pieces. They WON'T and CAN'T accept that she has changed and that she wants nothing to do with them. Todd, in particular... is fixated on sleeping with her again. To the racist pig she is just an easy girl who HE - the master of the universe... should be able to have whenever he desires. So now they've devised this trap - asking Marty to assist Todd in studying for his exams, exploiting the fact that she's been acting like a good Samaritan lately. Todd was putting on his I'M A GOOD BOY act and pleading with her for help. And Marty... unfortunately took the bait. As soon as they were alone together, he began pressuring her to have sex. I wouldn't even be shocked if he resorts to giving her drugs or something to make her more vulnerable. I'm so on EDGE about what will happen here. They've crafted a character (Marty) with so many STAKES and a great deal of suspense tied to her re-invention, and we all hope she can succeed, while also anticipating her potential downfall. In a sense, this represents a classic soap scenario where the past won't allow the character to redeem themselves and will pull them down to the very end. Her old ways and old persona are preventing her from going forwards. It's a fascinating dramatic situation that can be explored from so many psychological angles, and if executed correctly, this could really turn Marty into the show's heroine.
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We have the war of the Buchlords (as @DRW50 perfectly said) and we also have the war of the Roblords. Cord has decided to do whatever it takes to eliminate Cain and ensure Tina loses custody of her children. He is so used to dominating her in every way... that he cannot imagine she is actually rejecting him. I love seeing him like this. Additionally, we have the viper Angela Holiday lurking in the shadows. One of the most memorable scenes in the entire show was when she paid a visit to her former accomplice - Cain. Just witnessing Cain's reaction when he learned she had discovered "GOD" (or more like he found her... which in other words is called psychosis) one morning in her prison cell... and had TRANSFORMED into this SAINT... HE LAUGHED for a full minute. I laughed too. IMO this is not a reformed soul. The bitch has just elevated her con. Instead of swindling people in her old ways, she has refined her technique and is now using God and religion as a facade. We've seen plenty of these people in real life. Watching her fish for information about Tina and Cord... while pretending to be innocent with Cain... was mesmerizing. It's reminiscent of 1992 Blair, mixed with something else and a bad wig. I am now completely convinced this woman will target Cord, and later in the year, we will see her true nature. Tina would probably have to save him from her or something like that. I can't WAIT.
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And the best for LAST - Dorian Lord/Robin Strasser is FRONT AND CENTRE. This marks her second month back, and she has already been given one of the most impactful storylines this show has ever attempted to tell. Watching Dorian struggle with the decision to go for the biopsy and then making a last-minute escape... followed by Cassie and Jason rushing to find her. Cassie pleading with her to do it FOR HER... once again had me in tears. Fuc-king sobbing. Thank you, Malone and team... for putting me through this. Why do I find myself crying every single night of the week because of this show? And I keep coming back for more. And then they completely broke me with what Dorian did after her talk with Cassie - she decided to go on one last trip to New York - one final night to enjoy her life, her body, her reality before everything changes... before hearing the word "cancer". Watching her desperately hold onto her sexuality and beauty, trying to be intimate with Jason while he is clearly troubled by what she is going through... STRUCK me right in the heart. And then witnessing her unravel at the end of the night, almost incoherently mumbling to herself and Jason, declaring that she won't go through with the biopsy... MAN! They are not missing a beat. She hasn't even received an official diagnosis yet, and I've already cried twice. This... ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done. When writing drama, you MUST hit every beat, you need to build it up and allow the audience to connect with the character's struggle. I've seen soaps try to tackle these types of storylines and make the error of rushing everything too quickly. One month and it's over. No... this is not how it should be done... and I appreciate that OLTL is demonstrating the importance of telling these stories slowly and thoughtfully. I will never forget how Dorian kissed Jason's scar on his face. The metaphor that she was acknowledging that in the future she might also have a scar herself... and that it WON'T MAKE her ugly... but rather the OPPOSITE... was so powerful. SO-F-CKING-POWERFUL. I have no more words.
Overall - out of Can't get better than this. (They can if they write off Mortimer.)
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