OLTL: Nelson Branco's views on last weeks show.

[JackPeyton]

every word of this post.

[Cheap21]

Does he realize that sweeps has been over for weeks now?

Murder? There was no intent to kill at all from Jared

[JackPeyton]

No, but it was Manslaughter

[leevo64]

I disagree with almost everything he says in the article. Was it a stunt? Stunts usually have no long term effect on the show. This produced story for months, maybe years to come.

[Kstaff]

And I was afraid of being alone in disagreeing with this article, since some see Nelson as a god. I just chalked it up to being ignorant of "true" soap viewing til I came here.

Seriously, I couldn't believe he pretty well bashed a week so many people were kudo'ing. It was like an alternate universe experience or something.

[MarkH]

I have come to understand that one of the ways in which this columnist has been effective in generating *buzz* for daytime is as a contrarian. His general strategy is to create provocative statements that are against the mainstream. Often he is saying what *needs* to be said, but he is still saying what *hasn't* been said...and that generates discussion and energy.

So, I must confess, a part of me wondered if he suddenly went a little in the negative precisely to counteract the rising group-think (of which I am a member) praising the high heavens of OLTL.

My opinion is that last week's episodes were highly entertaining, used history, used veterans, and were mostly character based.

But (if anyone were to go back and dig out my comments from last week, they'd see I said this) there is also no doubt that it was a little "broad". Numerous comparisons were made to Dynasty, and I think those comparisons were perfect.

But.....Dynasty in Seasons 2-4 was outstanding. After that...not too much. The high-concept over-the-top (literally) melodrama wore thin, the show became hackneyed, suffered under creative dissent and some unfortunate recasts....

So, in this one way, I am inclined to suggest we listen to Nelson's warnings. All indications are, for at least the next month, we're going to continue this high octane beat-beat-beat explosion of story.

That is going to be great fun....but it does risk creating a high-energy flame that burns out. The audience expects so many stunts that returning to more day-to-day storytelling seems boring, lackluster. But, if the high energy doesn't stop, the audience burns out in a different way...and soon the show is accused of being a superficial, plot-driven mess.

What needs to happen--it is a word you use all the time--is balance! For every grand explosive scene with Tina or Marty or Tessica or whatever, there need to be quiet, humorous, or serious moments with Viki or David or just John and Evangeline (yup...I still miss her, and I don't mind him in the right context) having quiet pillow talk.

I can tolerate all this high energy now because the goal is to rebuild the show AND its audience. But the show has to quickly click back into an everyday mode, with quieter moments, if it wants to be sustainable.

Out of Nelson's contrarian writings, I think he proposes the wisdom of remembering balanced storytelling, rooted in history and character.

[All My Shadows]

Riiiight. Because, you know, they were standing at least four or five feet away from the top of the skylight.

If Jared wanted to murder Nash, he would have hit him back after Nash punched him in the face.

If you're going to expect deep, philosophical, grammar-correct dialogue from characters like Rex and Gigi, two of the show's decidedly most unsophisticated characters, you really have to ask yourself if you know the characters.

Because um...all of this stuff happened JUST! LAST! WEEK! It's a soap opera, not Law & Order!

[leevo64]

MarkH - I agree that Branco is not completely off in saying that the intimate character moments are important to the show... but we haven't lost those. Viki/Jessica, Blair/Starr, Dorian/Langston, Michael/Marcie, and Christian/Sarah have all had quiet yet powerful scenes driven by human emotion in the past week. What I love about Ron Carlivati's work is that for every fall through a skylight there are ten one-on-one scenes where we get a peek into the characters' hearts.

[rhythmchyc]

I think Nelson wanted Jared in jail because he despises the little prick as much as I do. I HOPE HE ROTS IN JAIL THEN BURNS IN HELL.

Pretty irrational, I know.

I also don't think Dorian was in love with Clint and a huge motivation for taking over BE was because of Viki. BUT, I think that she did like Clint enough to plot this for months. After all, he did end up with the ever-self-righteous Nora.

I've seen over the top. Bree was not. Especially when she began hyperventilating and repeatedly covering her face. She totally forgot the cameras were there. She was totally beside herself. I loved it.

And Rex and Gigi don't need to speak. They just need to look at each other and it's H-O-T!! LOL.

[2shane8]

This is ridiculous, and the only people who would be laughing are you and this Branco person. And her name is Bree WILLIAMSON. I can't stand it when people are going to lambaste an actress and can't get the name correct.

ETA: After calming down a little, I read his blog again. I think his Dorian stuff is WAY OFF. In fact, I spent all of last week happily rejoicing in the fact that she is NO LONGER a cartoon and has gone back to her evil ways. RS said that pouring alcohol down Charlie's throat is the worst thing she's ever done. Maybe Nelson is too young to remember that she used to be a VILLIAN. Under Nancy Pinkerton, she was very cold, and RS Versons 1 and 2 were quite malevolent at times.

What gets me about the very few people attacking Bree are that they seem to have no place for scene-stealing in daytime. There are times when BW and KDP may seem OTT, but it's usually in a scene that calls for it, and daytime would be sorely lacking if we never had histrionics. And I'm sorry, but to say that Archer stole the show with her "visceral" performance betrays his fanbase loyalties. She was quite good, but she didn't really do anything to "steal the show" last week. Excellent work, though.

[rhythmchyc]

This is the way to do a soap opera villain VETERAN or at least someone the writers want to keep on the show. Although drugging Charlie and leaving him for dead was pretty despicable it wasn't as morally deplorable as what Gloria did to poor William Bardwell and the Jabot cream fiasco.

Also, the fact that Dorian's motivations were revealed after the crime, and even vaguely so, make this storytelling so damn good.

[rhinohide]

This column just confirms what I've suspected all along. Nelson is just another viewer with an opinion, with the exception that he has a forum to express his opinions to a wider audience which leads he and his sycophants to consider him an "expert" whose opinion is somehow more factual. Mimi Torchin's interview revealed that she too considers the "legitimate" (whatever that means) columnists to be somehow more qualified to evaluate and critique the soaps because they have a broader perspective. However I find that the columnists themselves view the soaps from the vantage points of their own favorites (performers and characters) and their opinions are as biased as anyone else's.

Sounds to me like Nelson is upset that his fave is being villified in the interest of this story and he's letting that bias show, but I love Dorian too, and I totally disagree with his take. I thought last week was totally in character for Dorian, (not like she didn't have somebody kidnap her daughter which ultimately nearly got her killed, or that she didn't have Rex dragged out of a hotel room and injected with heroin). If you're going to annoint yourself "objective" then you have to consider the characters' entire histories, not just those parts that fit your perceived positioning of that character.

As for his opinions on Bree's performances. Again I disagree. Not a fan of Jessica's, or Bree's particularly, but I thought her performances for last week were, if not stellar, at the very least genuine and real. I never got the "watch me act" feeling and that's hard to avoid in scenes calling for extremes. Anguish and devastation aren't quiet emotions, and I thought Bree brought that to the screen very capably.

MA: Again, I thought MA was awesome in the role she was intended to play for her scenes. She was a back drop. The scenes, other than her scenes alone in the chapel and when she told Jared that Nash was dying, weren't really about her and her emotions. She was in those scenes to provide the catalyst to which the other characters were reacting, and I think she was very effective. Again the common mistake performers make in those kinds of scenes is to chew them up and overact, which draws the viewers attention from what they're really supposed to be focusing on. MA played her part with the subtlety and emotion that achieved exactly the objectives the writers intended.

JB: I agree with Nelson that Jared needs to get his edge back. I think we started to see that yesterday when he showed complete stoicism as he was led off in handcuffs. At least I hope.

FF: I have to laugh! I have no idea what the appeal is, but Nelson is totally enamoured of Farah Fath and her incredible talent (?????), so when he passes off her subpar performances to weak dialogue . . . ? I like the character of Gigi just fine. I think Farah Fath is a capable performer who does certain kinds of scenes better than others (like most of the actors). I just don't get the adoration.

Sorry to disagree Shane, but Nelson has blasted Archer for years. I can assure you he has no allegience to fans of MA. That is one of many reasons I usually just disregard his opinion on everything. Even now when he pays her a compliment, he always makes a point to highlight his surprise that she is actually good on occasion (if not that she still has a job, since he personally has called out that she be recast on many occasions). He consistently names her as one of the worst actresses in daytime, and her detractors love to consider him the final authority on who is good and who is bad. Please don't assign his bias to any particular affection for MA. There isn't any.

[2shane8]

Hey, thanks! I didn't realizes he had disliked her in the past, so I shouldn't have run my mouth.

In that case, I'm glad that he had something nice to say about her. You know I will always love her; just didn't think she "stole the show" last week.

And again, a big thumbs up to your whole post and your OBJECTIVE comments re: Dorian, Bree, MA, and everybody. You rock.

[Khan]

Looks like someone's asking to be ex-communicated from the Church of Ron.

Ditto. In order to make a pivotal moment in its history truly "vault-worthy" (and regardless of motivation, Dorian's seizing control of BE is pivotal), OLTL needed a more effective EP. Someone who could get the entire cast and crew firing on all proverbial cylinders. As usual, though, Frank Valentini proved just how vision-deprived he is.

As reluctant as I am to admit this, however, I did agree with a couple of things Mrs. Carlivati (kidding, NB!) had to say.

* "Poisoning" Charlie with alcohol is a tad much even for Dorian. To me, that's right down there with running down Jessica with her car and causing her to lose Megan (and not admitting her actions immediately).

* Something was off about John Brotherton's performance last week. I haven't seen much of this guy, but what I have seen has left me feeling very underwhelmed.

“If OLTL was going this route, wouldn’t it have made more story sense if Asa came back from the dead to expose Jared, and reveal he faked his death to have his family run the family business?”

But that's presuming 1) Asa isn't really dead (and I'm sorry, but after two faked deaths from this man, I'm not down for any more); and 2) Phil Carey would have returned for that occasion (because, a recast, especially for this, would have been unthinkable).

[Cat]

Nelson Branco is entitled to his opinion. I disagree with some of it, agree with others.

For example. Bree Williamson. DISAGREE. I went through a rough patch a couple of months ago and one day had a full-on meltdown. It got to the point where I lost my voice and couldn't even get the words out, I was crying so hard. Seeing BW do the exact same thing last week (only somewhat more elegantly) really brought it home. I have never related to soap grief more than I did with Jessica's.

But the Buchanan corporate high-jinks? AGREE. I love Dorian, loved everything about the reveal, loved her Alexis Morell Carrington Colby hat, loved her idea for a Cramer Women company... It was the Buchanans who let me down. Even when Clint choked Dorian, I didn't really "feel" Bo or Clint or Nora's reactions. I don't think they can do campy especially well (even though JvD in particular is a big ole ham). Bo and Nora, in particular, are better at being the straight men to Rex and Lindsey's shenanigans.

And speaking of ham... this is IMO where JB's performance fell flat. In line with the BE takeover, it makes sense. In line with Nash's bloody demise and Jess's breakdown? It looked a little out of place. I think OLTL messed up with keeping the tone consistent here.

Anyhoo, not that my opinion counts for much. I'm just saying... I can still love OLTL even when taking into consideration some of the little kinks that soaps have ALWAYS been famous for. It's not about loving perfection, it's about loving soaps in all their messy, high-turnover glory, I guess. Besides. What on earth would we have to talk about if we couldn't nag the small details?