OLTL: Discussion for the week of February 14

[zenarmour]

Is the Cutter character supposed to be on drugs? He is too hyper for words and not at all entertaining. I don't know whether it is the actor or the way it is written but this story went downhill straight to the bottom as soon as this character showed up. Aubrey had potential but now just isn't worth keeping on. Send them back to Europe. Didn't we just finish up a con man using an alias story? These two just aren't psycho killers ... yet.

[DRW50]

The Viki/Niki story was better because Niki had fairly solid reasons for coming out and because Niki was a part of Viki. Tess is not a part of Jessica. Jessica is just there until it's Tess Time again. Viki is strong (or was - these days not so much) whereas Jessica is weak.

Niki initially began appearing in the late 60s, and the original idea was that she appeared because Viki had always been made to be the best and strongest and most proper, since her father had wanted a boy. Viki also cracked under the pressure because she was in love with a man who challenged her, and whom her father disapproved of. Niki had her own life, and her own love (with Vinnie Wolek), which made it more of a drama. Then Niki was dormant for over fifteen years. Whenever they wanted to bring Niki back, they would have characters try to make Viki think she was becoming Niki again.

The next time Niki actually emerged was in 1985 or so, and the reason this time was that Viki had walked in on her father having sex with her college roommate, Irene. This is when Victor began to be turned into a perv, but it wasn't quite that bad yet. Niki fought for a life away from Viki's husband and children and again fell in love, this time with Pete O'Neill.

After the integration, Niki only made fleeting appearances, usually to try to encourage Viki through health problems, or if she was drugged. Niki was never a main character again.

When Michael Malone and Josh Griffith did the big DID story in 1995 they said that Viki had all sorts of personalities, each with their own role. Niki had been created to tolerate the sexual abuse Victor inflicted on Viki. Princess was the little girl scarred by this abuse. Jean was the one who controlled everything. Tommy was the rage. Tori was the manifestation of Viki's hatred of the Lord name. Victor was the darkest, and almost convinced Viki to commit suicide.

They generally did OK handling everything until 2002, when they had Niki return because of yet another secret, through a hypnosis gone wrong by a terrible psychologist (she left the room while Viki was still under). Niki suddenly became a cartoon, setting up all these huge plans of murder and trying to drive people insane, which she had never been - she was a fun-lover, not much else.

It's a paper-thin character and the actor struggles to compensate, as any actor would. I imagine we will start to see Cookie Cutter's vulnerability soon.

People say this story would be better without Joey around but Aubrey and Cutter fail all on their own IMO.

[IcyOne]

You as well.

[CouchTomato]

Adding a bit more to the great memories above about Tess and Viki and Dorian. After the car crash when Dorian grabbed the wheel from Viki, Dorian barely tried to revive Viki. While Viki was riding the Heaven elevator, Ghost Mel appeared to Dorian and shamed her into doing the right thing by saving his dear friend Viki. Dorian still hesitated until she found a way to get something for herself out of it. She forced David to promise he would divorce her sister Addie before she would actually try to save Viki's life, which she eventually did. Tess was furious that Viki didn't die after she had cut the brakes on Viki's car.

One major flaw (of many flaws) in Higley's rip-off of Viki's DID with Jess was that Niki would never have taken any of Viki's kids with her anywhere let alone to a bar. Niki couldn't wait to leave the kids to someone else. Also, we saw Jessica's entire life from birth on screen. There was no way Clint and Viki had allowed anything like Higley claimed to have repeatedly happened to Jessica over a long period of time. Niki was not out at all during that period. She had no reason to be. The major difference between Malone's original Viki/Niki/Jean/Tori/Tommy/Princess/Victor and Higley/Carlivatti's imitation Jess/Tess/Bess is Erika Slezak. There is no comparison IMO.

[DRW50]

I had almost forgotten just how far OLTL took Dorian in 2008 - she also hired a hit man, and of course the whole thing with Charlie and the booze. They cut all of this out very quickly towards the end of the year and early 2009 where the police were called on her, she went on vacation, then it was never mentioned again.

Tess would work more if it was not so clumsily obvious how the show looks for any reason to bring her back. The attempt to try to skirt around this - by having "Teen Jess" act just like Tess - made it even worse.

They also created many very ugly fissures in the Lord/Buchanan family with her last appearance which the show has refused to address, in her relationships with Todd and Natalie and Viki.

[dragonflies]

The thought of Charlie & Echo getting it on *shudders*

[SFK]

"I'm comin' Chuckles!"

[Mr. Vixen]

+1.

[SFK]

Carl, re: what you were saying about Niki, I think she'd had a history of cartoonishness, at least in ES's hands... when she first played her in the flashbacks, to an extent when Viki had the stroke, and went to heaven, and during DID and yes, *especially* all subsequent appearances. I think she was the most "real" in the mid-'80s stuff, Gillian Spencer's run not included. I've wondered if the decision to go broader and broader in the '90s and beyond was an acting and directorial choice based on better knowledge of the mental illness, i.e., these alters are very secific slivers of a person. In the scenes of Niki from the '80s that I've seen, Niki comes across much more three dimensional, more like Viki's twin than a fragment of her personality. Of course this is exactly what they've done with Tess, she isn't written at all like any of Viki's "one note" (and I don't mean that at all in a bad way) alters. Even Jean Randolph, a great character who had loads of material to play, was one note at the end of the day. Taking care of TCB, unfeeling, in control. Bess, pssshhh, that was like little Jessica playing Mommy's crazy dress-up.

[Vizion]

So did I hear Charlie right? Was he basically saying he's in love with two women today? I thought I'd see more remose or regret from him and I didn't get that at all. At least he didn't put all of the blame on Echo, they were both sober. Isn't Rex a PI? It hasn't crossed his mind that perhaps Echo knew that Charlie wasn't his father? Especially considering the way she acted when he told her that he wanted to get another DNA test a few weeks ago? Charlie looked like hell today....he might not have taken a drink but he sure had that hangover face going on

Speaking of, The Minuteman must have been rocking, between ChEcho and John/Kelly, SMH. ME and GT work well together, but their characters should not be romantically paired. I thought their scenes were interesting until Kelly started pontificating on the great Jolie "love"...umm, no. Seriously, Evangeline ended up dead, Marty ended up crazy talking to a rag doll, and Blair's just fortunate she had a really long history on this show and was also tied to that barnacle Todd - whoever gets between John/Nat will not have good things happen to them. Run Kelly - and fast.

Hey Viki, you can kind of choke on your self-righteous attitude about Clint's lies since you basically excused all of Natalie's. She said, as Natalie stood right beside her "I can't believe Clint would lie like that! What right does he think he has to play with people's lives?" Bitch, look to your left (and I don't even hate Natalie, I'm just sayin).

Aubrey and Clint still have chem.

Joey's hair in his scenes with Viki really bugged me (he looked like 'Dennis the Menace').

Dorian's such a diva, how can you not enjoy her?

I don't get Todd and Tea, not this incarnation. I got them way back in like 2002 (or whenever it was they were on the island), I don't get them now. Todd acts like he's the same age as Dani & Starr most of the time.

[SFK]

"Evangeline ended up dead, Marty ended up crazy talking to a rag doll..."

I *almost* feel that the writers having Viki go soft on Natalie is a pointed decision because everybody always says that Viki always takes Jessica's side and is so hard on Natalie. The whole "Jessica couldn't handle the truth" thing is, well, obviously valid whether Natalie truly had Jessica's best interests in mind over her own, but that doesn't change the original sin. She still party fouled sleeping with her mentally ill sister's dude (and liked it) drunk or not.

[DRW50]

The crux of the Todd/Tea relationship was that Todd was a monster and Tea, by being with him and fighting tooth and nail against anyone who looked at him the wrong way, was a martyr of the ages. Without that it is a very pointless relationship, played with an actor who barely managed to make eye contact with his bride and told the wedding guests about how she was mostly good for sex.

JvD has had enough crap material without Terri Conn being foisted on him too.

I think it had to do with Niki no longer being the anti-Viki, and just being one part of her.

I also think starting with the 2002 story the show decided the only way to play an altar is crazy and wacky and desperate. There is no longer any subtlety.

Bree as Bess is OK but the glasses do more acting. It's kind of like those ludicrous scenes of Dani and Starr having to dress up like Bailey from WKRP to go gatecrash at Llanview PD.

[Astrid]

Ack! I hate Aubrey. She's annoying and I wish Clint would squash her like a bug. Plus, the actress is so blah. Get her Clint!!!!!!!

Phew! I needed to get that out.

[~bl~]

LOL I'm comin' Chuckles...where is the red car, and the bridge when you need them?

Charlie is being trashed are we supposed to like him still?

I think Kelly needs to run away from John too.

I wish Natalie would have said to Viki, that Clint did the same thing that she did so while she is upset about Rex, she gets it.

[Money]

Vicki need to STFU. I'm tired of her shrieking and ringing of the hands when it comes to Charlie. Her free pass of Natalie while ranting about Clint's lies is ridiculous.

Charlie not being the least remorseful for boinking Echo is disgusting. The writers fucked him over and it wasn't even remotely necessary.

Aubrey and Cutter are completely useless, with Cutter even more so. With Kelly now sexing John RC can get obvious mileage between them, Natalie and Joey.

Joey is so stupid he makes me stupid for watching this show.

And thank the soap gods for small mercies even though Easton's wife beater still wasn't enough to hide his raging gut.