I do remember that now. It was good that was the line in the sand that IIRC made Victor/Todd back off.
And yes, I remember TSJ starting bitching as soon as the very dumb T&B caper re: Asa's mansion happened in '04. I was thinking about that recently, as it was really the sort of stuff you see Max and Luna or Cain and Tina doing re: Asa or Alex or others in the early '90s (including the 'rare coins' con Max and Luna run on Asa in early '92 to try to secure the land for Serenity Springs). What Malone was doing there was reheating the old leftovers from those couples for Todd and Blair.
The impulse I understood, and supported at the time: In Malone's first run, Todd and Blair were (at their best moments, lol) a united front who'd enjoyed tearing up the town against other people in Llanview society. Since his exit they had been apart, often at each other's throats or with Todd lying to Blair constantly, etc. Once he finally had them back together after a series of very twisted, inappropriate or largely unwise stories (Walker, the Rashomon rape trial, etc.) in mid-'04 Malone obviously wanted to get away from more of Todd lying to Blair and repeating the same cycle vs. getting back to what they did best when they were together in his first tenure. Except the old stuff he reheated for them was Asa was just so bad - faking a haunting or trying to gaslight Asa or whatever, wolf howls over the telephone, Asa stuck in a ditch in the woods, etc.
I can't blame TSJ for hating that dumb story. But I can blame him for totally checking out, whereas up to that point he had played both sincere material and twisted stuff with total conviction.
I completely agree. I think TSJ was, in his way, right to keep the pervy, transgressive and truly evil side of his character always at the forefront onscreen. I'm sure he made that argument in interviews at least once or twice. He knew Victor/Todd was a sick puppy, he played it very well. The problem was that for better or worse, OLTL was a show that for many years had committed to trying to rehabilitate this "Todd" to a degree and make him a leading man, and wanted him to at least have layers, dimension and to have shown some growth. Did their storylines often reflect that post-1995? No, lol. But it was still the aim. Yet after Malone II, even when they tried to write those layers or pathos, TSJ would usually throw it away onscreen and focus on the most dysfunctional, ugly or sarcastic element. He just didn't buy it, he was bored and he was doing what moved him. And unfortunately the show and Brian Frons' ABC Daytime totally supported that and enabled that, as opposed to saying this has got to change, and writing or consulting the actor accordingly. They just kept treating TSJ's "Todd" like a mischievous sex machine - especially Carlivati, who I think was just excited to finally get to pair "Todd" and Marty, or revisit Todd and Tea in what I'm sure he thought was 'the right way.' With Florencia sobbing her heart out in vow renewal scenes trying to sell the love story (and don't get me wrong, TSJ and Florencia were very hot together, but conventional love story it was not for me) while Trevor smirked and Victor was probably thinking about Tea in crotchless panties. It was impossible to watch many of their 'romantic' (as, in not kinky sex) scenes in the RC era, post-rapemance, and not think 'this woman is delusional, this dude is a psychopath.' FL was doing Peyton Place and TSJ's "Todd" acted like he was a suspect on The First 48.
Roger Howarth certainly phoned it in a lot between 1997 and 2003. (Ironically he did some of his best work since the '90s in his last months onscreen in 2003, under Malone II as he was getting ready to flee the scene ASAP) He allowed the character to become a silly cartoon to defray his own deep discomfort with the role. But just as you say, one thing he never did, and never allowed the show to do, was lean into the sexual transgression of Todd again, to allow him to become a swinging dick catting around town or using his sexuality to threaten people. He just didn't go there. TSJ's did, all the time. At first it was interesting. When TSJ first took over the role I (and the writing, to an extent) figured that the plastic surgery had emboldened Todd, allowed him to disassociate himself more (which he definitely seems like he is doing in the reveal scenes with Blair upthread) and explore his sexuality again. I was open to that to a degree in the first few years, because he was very unpredictable and dangerous again. But it went well beyond that later, obviously, and became far too much.
Howarth did come back to the show in 2011 much more willing to work and commit to material, and by his own admission in many interviews less stressed out or tortured about the role. He worked hard and he was emotionally present, and he did play love scenes. But he kept them to one love interest at a time, there was clear tenderness and vulnerability, and you could tell the same shield was up for the character re: sex and violence again. And I respect that a lot. It really delineates the difference between the two Todds.
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Vee ·
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