AMC: Thursday, March 12, 2009

[NYC123]

Discuss.

I thought today's show was decent. I liked the Taylor/Tad scenes!

Also Chrishell did a wonderful job today!

[R Sinclair]

Why the hell does Tad keep sniffing around Taylor? Ugh, he gets on my nerves. And, I'm sorry, but can every single female stop being "honey" or "sweetheart"? He says it to EVERY single one of them to the point where it's sounding extremely insincere.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Loved David scenes today. I love his one liners and how he gets into everyone's faces. There lives would be so boring without him.

"If Opal had a voodoo ceremony and cremated herself, don't blame me. ROFL

David pouring water on TadAss to wake him up..It's a little messy. ROFL

[Lone Palm]

Chrishell was fabulous today, she rocked all of her scenes. I love Amanda but I am glad that the truth is finally out. Now bring on Jake and Amanda!

David had quite the one liner about Opal.

All of this contrived crap forcing Tad to interact with Taylor makes me physically ill. I am tired of Taylor yelling at people.

I love Brot and would like to see him interacting with the rest of Pine Valley.

[Cheap21]

Aidan has sex with a mental patient now? I found it sick of him taking advantage of someone who is mentally ill and currently seeking professional help to fix her mind and get her life together.

[nell17]

They're chem testing Tad/Taylor. She's slowly growing on me. I like her better with Brot than with anybody else on the show so far.

[DRW50]

Tad will turn Taylor into another drone who can do no right. She will be forced to devote herself to his kids (the kids he barely notices half the time), and any opinion of her own will be turned to nothing, or turned back against her.

Tad's a terrible partner for any woman. Taylor/Brot are a much better couple.

AMC seems to have a strong aversion now to couples who actually have chemistry and work well together.

[Lone Palm]

I can save them the time and effort - there is none. Leave Taylor with Brot...afterall, by her own recent admission, she would rather die than live without him. Pratt should stick with that.

[DRW50]

I heard about some quote Pratt made about how he wanted to make the men on AMC strong. I don't even think the men are that strong at the moment. Being a jerk doesn't mean you're strong.

[VaAnn]

Really enjoyed Tad/Taylor moments. I'm seeing a very natural, easy chemistry with them and want to see more.

I like Brot also. He was terrified for a few moments and couldn't move until Taylor, understanding what was happening, "yelled" at him to bring him out of it. Afterwards, he could realize he had overcome a huge hurdle!

Pratt has gone way overboard with David which is a disease of writers today, I think. They take a character so far that it makes him/her almost impossible to redeem.

va

[R Sinclair]

Wow! I agree with this statement, Carl.

MEK and BE have chemistry, but the characters make absolutely NO SENSE together. Tad doesn't like strong women. He likes women he can convince to taking care of him and his needs... Tad's never been a fan of women who think for themselves. He likes women he can save, manipulate and mold. He tried to mold Dixie -- to the point where he attempted to bully her into an abortion, which is why she put Kate up for adoption. He ruined Liza Colby. He turned Krystal from a scheming skank into a Skank in Donna Reed's Clothing... now we're supposed to watch him to the same to Taylor? They make no sense. Tad wants a housewife who hangs on his every word. Not a partner. Not a woman with her own mind. That brings me back to my objection regarding all of the "honey" and "sweethearts" he calls these women he barely knows. He treats women like little girls -- not grown, independent women with minds of their own. Plus, he never pursues a woman who is single or free. He pursues women who are attached to someone else. Dixie--> Adam. Brooke-->Adam. Liza--->Adam. Krystal-->Adam. Taylor-->Brot/Jake/Brot. The only woman over the last 20 years I can remember Tad being into that wasn't dancing with someone else was Gloria Marsh. It was Gloria who was best friends with Dixie and she felt she had to get Dixie's blessing to pursue a relationship with Tad. But anyone else, it's as if Tad the Cad gets his panties in a bunch when he sees women acting like he's not the only game in town.

But, that's the thing -- I don't think Pratt intends on "redeeming" David. But, at the same time, David doesn't need "redemption." He's a trouble maker. David owns it. Even during his conversation with Krystal on Wednesday, he was up front, talking about the fact that he would use something as leverage against Amanda but he's fresh out. That's his purpose. There's no reason to make David a hero -- or even worse, a Pine Valley Two Faced Hypocritical Hero. Let him be.

It's like Helena Cassadine on General Hosptial. She comes, causes trouble, then slinks into the night undetected... only to come back again and cause more trouble. But, then again, this is just my opinion. I like watching David cause trouble. It adds a little spice and flavor. But I also like watching him be neutralized -- not defeated... because, then, he can cause more trouble down the road.

David would need redemption if TPTB were trying to make him this poor, heroic soul... but they're not. They are making David a brazen trouble maker who doesn't care about who he tramples over as long as he gets what he wants.

[RomeAt50]

David's never been a hero nor should he be but he used to be more complex and human and I miss that.

[VaAnn]

As I wrote that the thought crossed my mind that perhaps Pratt doesn't plan to redeem him, but the problem I have, as a relatively new viewer, is one of having a hard time enjoying him. I really liked VI on GL in the early '90s and was looking forward to seeing him return to AMC. However, David isn't a character I'm particularly enjoying because I think the dark characters need a little more balance to them. I have quite often loved the villain, but I like a little good guy/bad guy mix. And he's dreadful to women! I hope to see another side to David because I can't imagine there isn't one since he has so many fans.

fitz

[DRW50]

There was another side to David. He did some awful things but he was a complex, grey character, at least until the last few years in VI's original run. He had friendships, he had some family he was close to, and while he had obsessions with some women, he also had a few genuine love stories. Seeing David as he is now can be hard to watch sometimes. If I'd never seen that David I might enjoy him more now, I don't know.

[R Sinclair]

I guess I see David as a complex character -- regardless of what's on my screen these days. Having seen this character go through stories over the last 11 1/2 years, I am able to use ALL of his history to understand his present actions. Furthermore, I don't see any contradtictions. It's not like Ryan, who burst onto the scene as a con man and is all of a sudden a sanctimonious hero. It's not like Zach, who burst onto the scene as a schemer with a hidden identity who was looked at as the town pariah -- turned powerful, prideful, sanctimonious hero.

David has been David. He came onto the canvas in 1997 as a dark, calculating manipulating villain, and he's returned as such. That doesn't mean there hasn't been attempts to humanize him (his back story about watching his mother force his father into committing suicide, his romance with Erica, watching his mother and brother both plunge to their deaths, losing his infant daughter Leora, etc.), but David's purpose on this show is to be a twisted soul who takes his pain out on others. He's being true to form. He's a man who works through his pain by making destructive choices -- which is understandable. It's a whole lot easier for a man like David to lash out rather than show vulnerability and allow someone in.