OLTL Discussion for the week of August 15th

[SFK]

I think it's one worth YouTube'ing. We still don't know the full story, but they combed the diary a little and Irene is in custody...

[Soapsuds]

Where are you vacationing at? Nothing happened. Irene arrived at Viki's at the end with Doggy Daddy and Co. Viki opened the door and saw Irene and Doggy Daddy and Co.

[SFK]

I could see them switching out the theme for the last few months if they wanted to, but even if not, I bet that song will air as the opening theme at least the day/day after she sings it on the show.

[alexisfan07]

Yea, for sure. I think they've been itching to get back to an incarnation of that 80s theme for a while now. They've had Blair sing it on air and how can we forget the musical openings? I'm sure this is their idea of keeping it fresh. Maybe they couldn't legally keep it exactly the same.

[SalemPlace]

Oops! My apologies to Kim. It was so bad. I was embarrassed just watching. LOL

[IcyOne]

Cut it out with that "Frood" sh*t before I start referring to the other one as "DumboTodd" (or how about just Tumbo?)

[Antoyne]

How funny was it that TSJTodd actually did reach for the sandwich when RHTodd offered it.

[Juliajms]

Today's episode was pretty clear over all. The Todd's were pretty damn funny.

[Khan]

Here's how I've always justified the double standard: Tina, unlike the Todds, had Irene for most of her young life; and though Irene is looking more and more nefarious these days, one thing that hasn't been questioned (so far!) is her devotion to her daughter. (Irene didn't even want Tina to know she was "dying," IIRC, just sick with anemia.) So, as far as Viki's concerned, Tina should "know better," because at least she had one parent who knew right from wrong (just as Viki herself had mother Eugenia until her tragic death), whereas Todd was raised almost solely by a controlling and manipulative father, like Victor had raised Viki.

Plus, Tina started out - again, IIRC - as a more-or-less nice, if naive, girl. She only became the vixen that she is today thanks to her association with Mitch Laurence; and for someone who doesn't suffer fools gladly (see Maria Roberts and Allison Perkins), Viki probably has a hard time understanding how one man who was so obvious in his machinations could "turn" her sister like he did.

[SFK]

That's an interesting perspective Khan. I would love it if all that was actually spoken aloud instead of continuing under the assumption that Viki's love for Todd rivals that of her own sons and it's all daddy-issue motivated (which to me has seemed more like a convenient excuse to keep Todd in Viki's and therefore our favor).

[Cheap21]

WTF to John trying to arrest Irene. What jurisdiction does he have?

Why would info about Todd's birth be in the same diary as Tina's birth? Tina is at least 15 years older than him! She wrote 15 years worth of entries in that thing?

Why did David still have the diary? I dont know who had it least in the 90s but it seemsodd that it would be him after all these years

Baz hasnt been seen bc he was in Paris this whole time? Boy needs to go back. Starr is rehasing to him what she rehashed to James last week. Did we really need another rehash?

Love me some Mama Evans

Still liking Blair and Tea as friends. It seems so weird yet works. Now Tea notices Todd was different in bed? Just a few weeks ago she said he makes love like Todd

[Juliajms]

I like Mrs. Evans too, but I think it's weird the way she's talking as if Destiny's life is over/completely ruined. Sure, it's going to be harder now, but she has enough people to help her that there's really no reason she can't go to college and have a decent job. Teen parents do it all the time. It's not like she doesn't have a ton of resources at her disposal.

[Khan]

Two other points:

1) If Tony and Meredith were still alive, and in Llanview, I've no doubt that Viki would regard Todd differently than she does now. She'd probably regard him as she has regarded Tina since '85. Tony would be more sympathetic toward Todd, because he'd know what it felt like to be an outsider among one's own family; and Meredith wouldn't fully comprehend the emotional distance between her siblings, because (and this is very important) she wasn't as exposed to Victor's "dark side" as Viki had been. She'd recognize Victor's controlling tendencies in Todd, but only Viki would see what Todd was REALLY capable of.

2) Viki's closer to Todd than she is to her own children, because there are painful memories attached to Kevin, Joey and even Jessica. She loves Kevin, but also almost lost him forever after Cathy Craig had abducted him. Although most mothers would become more attached to their once-abducted children who have since been returned, I think Viki was afraid thereafter to be TOO close to Kevin out of fear what might happen to her should she have lost him again. (It also doesn't help any for Kevin to possess the qualities from his own biological father that often drove a wedge between Viki and Joe.)

Moreover, though she loves Joey because he reminds her of Joe's kinder, more passionate qualities, he's also a reminder of what was probably the most difficult part of Viki's life - i.e., her pregnancy with him as Joe slowly succumbed to cancer. In my mind, there's a part of Viki that never really stopped grieving for Joe, even after marriage to Clint and everything else; and seeing Joey just makes her wish Joe were still around to see their children growing up and living their own lives.

Finally, she WAS close to Jessica, once, but now there's a wall between them, thanks to the mistakes made during the whole Jessica/Natalie baby-switch, as well as the fact that Viki was, in one sense, responsible for the creation of Tess and Jess' other personalities. No matter how much the two have attempted to reconcile since then, that's a fact in their history that never goes away and is always - ALWAYS - brought up whenever Tess re-emerges.

And of course, there's also Megan, who WAS taken from Viki, twice; and Natalie, who's known her for a relatively short period of time. However, if any of her children have or might've had a fighting chance to build the kind of lasting bonds with Viki that she needed, it would have been Megan and Natalie.

[IcyOne]

There doesn't need to be any such scenes addressing how Viki *allegedly* has a "double standard" where Tina and Todd are concerned...and if there is, then I hope it's another Jack/Dani-type of 'get over, it's the way it is' eye roll at the audience. The show shouldn't give into viewer cynicism. These are not new characters; they are who they are, and if you don't 'get' the who/what /why of them (and how other people react) by now, then no explanation is going to make sense anyway.

Tina and Todd and two different people, with two different ways about themselves, and with two different relationships with Viki. It's not a one-size-fits-all; where Viki see's (and therefore treats) them as exactly the same. Furthermore, Viki has has seen first hand how big the catastrophe Tina's petty schemes cause. And because they're pettier, and more vapid, that makes them more frustrating and less tolerable. With Todd, because his actions are more bombastic, it's easier for Viki to look at the bigger picture and kinda/sorta understand why -- despite how terrible his misdeeds were, or how ugly the fallout was. Tina's motivations are dumber, or greedier, making them harder to empathize with and to reconcile.

[Khan]

Tina and Todd are both extremely insecure, self-destructive individuals (although, in Tina's case, I still argue some slight revisionism when it comes to her story). But you are right: they are also completely different - at least, in terms of basic motives. Todd acts the way he does, often because he's hurt and the only way he feels he can be heard and/or respected is to lash out at everyone around him. Tina, though, honestly believes whatever she's doing at the moment is for the greater good. When it comes to her, really, it's all about doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.