Pretty sure that was the shirt she was wearing when Jess first tried to seduce Jared (pretending to be Tess). Could be wrong.

Thats what I thought too.

This week was rather boring IMO. Didn't get good til Thursday, and even then, it was still bad.

I'm scared to see Melissa Archer and Bree Williamson try to relive the brilliance of Robin Strasser and Erika Slezak in The Secret Room.

Very much enjoyed today!

Liked:

- Delbert Fina & Madame Delphina -

I think Lea Delaria is fantastic. Are both characters very campy? Yes. BUT, the oddball characters give soaps great flavor. AMC's Opal, OLTL's Roxy, GH's Spinelli (though he really wears on me). And while campy, I do feel like it adds a new dimension to OLTL (and I ain't talking the dimension of 1968). It gives way to the notion that there is a supernatural, a spiritual, an otherworldly side to Llanview. And it really taps into the raw core of characters that just need a little hope sometimes. Would we see the scared, lonely woman inside Dorian if not for Delphina's channelling Mel? Would timid Gigi boldly delve into her feelings for Rex, take the leap that she's about to take, if Delphina hadn't proven herself by knowing the truth about Shane's paternity? Delphina's all-seeing gaze strips the pretense away from these characters and shows their raw core, and that's valuable in a town with so much duplicity, scheming, and backstabbing.

Naturally someone who sees all and knows all can be corrupted by so much knowledge, and so I love the sinister edge of Delphina, that comes out in her outrageous demand of $5000 from poor-as-dirt Gigi. Things like that make you doubt Delphina's credibility, believe she's a con artist and grifter, only for her to reveal something that she shouldn't possibly know, and give someone hope again. I actually could see myself investing in this character, wanting to know the reasons why she IS so detached from people, can play with peoples' emotions so easily, and just turn around and walk away when they can't produce $5000 in a matter of minutes. Why, if she doesn't care about people, is she in the business of hope, giving people a chance to be connected to the dearly departed or to the self they have buried deep inside? I want to see Delphina's tricked-out version of Bo's apartment and I want the dejected and the lonely to seek comfort and hope at her door when all seems lost. Or maybe Delphina's running the biggest hoax game Llanview has ever seen and got her hands on that "box of secrets" from the "Go Red Ball" and is using it to con everyone in Llanview out of all their money... but wouldn't she have to still have "powers" to match the secret to its keeper?

And Delbert Fina is just fun. All the little details and mannerisms and speech patterns are a completely different avenue than Delphina. Lea Delaria is a very versatile performer, and I heard quite a popular musician in Europe as well! I'm probably the only one on this board, but I hope she DID get a contract and will stick around for the long haul.

- Tina's BACK! -

So happy that Tina Lord is back on Llanview soil and MIXING IT UP with Jessica and Natalie. It just made the Tess story more interesting, and I hope Tina is involved heavily with Natalie, Jessica, and this secret room Tess wants to construct. I fell asleep on the episode where Tina and Viki reunited (I had a long workday), so I'm going to HAVE to set my VCR this weekend for OLTL's marathon on SoapNet and catch it. Sorry to hear that Tina didn't interact with human David Vickers!

- Keys! -

My favorite sexy man is BACK, just in time to get fired. I was completely disappointed that he was revealed as straight by wanting to see Blair in that nightgown. I've seen a million guys like him at the local gay bar! I guess every hot man on soaps needs to be left straight in case their popularity takes off and the role expands so they can be viable leading men. But damn if I wouldn't have loved to find out that what Keys really wanted was to model the nightie for Blair! Come on Keyshawn! At least have the decency to be on the down low!

Didn't like:

- Sarah -

I'm starting to not enjoy Sarah that much and I didn't think it was possible, but Tina has made Sarah MORE bland by returning to Sarah's life. I was dying since the days of Flash and Midnight Logic for an EXPLOSIVE Sarah/Tina reunion, and now all I want to do is turn the channel until Tina's in a scene with some other family member that has something interesting to say to her. Who the hell thought it was a good idea for Sarah to be all gushy and happy to be reunited with Tina when the YEARS of backstory had Sarah calling her mother "garbage" and telling stories of how Tina ruined Sarah's life to run off with Cain, etc.? It makes no sense to me and it's not even creating any kind of dynamic relationship for them, and with Cristian for a love interest, Sarah needs SOMETHING dynamic in her life pretty damn soon.

- Layla -

Don't get me wrong, I like Tika Sumpter. I won't forget the talk she gave Adriana, telling her that her marriage to Rex being built on lies would go nowhere, and boy was she right. And I enjoyed the "oh no you didn't" scenes where she found out about Vincent. Though I wouldn't have minded Vincent's squeeze on the side being Keyshawn Riddick. If you're gonna write Vincent out over an out-of-nowhere affair, why not go all the way! But anyway, what I am not buying about Layla, still, is this roommate/friendship thing with Sarah (and Talia). I don't know if I missed all the episodes where these three gals had their slumber parties in their PJs and did each others' nails and gossipped about boys, but it's such an awkward device that has done nothing to boost story or character for any of the three roommates. And did Layla even get to talk about her Vincent breakup with Sarah? Layla needs a better support system in her life, she lost her sister, her best friend Bitchy Bangs, and her man to some low rent hoochie. Layla needs to start kicking some ass and taking some names, and START by sleeping with Brody who is too hot to be chasing uninterested Gigi, giving her $5000 to go find another man, and sleeping alone on the couch, AND giving up drinking! Give Layla her groove back! Layla and Brody are two people who've been shitted on by life, so they need to start commisserating and having some sympathy sex FAST. Then Layla can get pregnant and Shane can have a new half-brother that it turns out won't be related to him at all, and then Shane gets sick and needs his "new brother's" bone marrow to save his life, only for THAT to finally expose that Rex is Shane's biological father! Besides, Layla knows the truth about Rex and Shane, so she'd be a fun wild card in this story. Damn, that's the best idea Layla has ever inspired in me!

Great post DES! ITA about Delphina and Leyla.