The Decline and Fall of the Monty Empire
Week Eight (Feb. 17-21, 1986) -- Part I
Terry: "Well, there's no clouds, no shadows, and no ghosts from three years ago in my life now."
Patrick: "Everything's been put to rest?"
Terry: "Everything. What about your ghosts?"
Patrick: "Well ... they're going."
-- the new in-laws, prematurely declaring happily ever after
Laurelton: Just one heading for this week, as the relationships and mystery elements were pretty much integrated. Anna learns that the Purity Water medallion used to kill Earl Moody had what is likely to have been an "O," which apparently was someone's last initial. Actually, it could be either an "O" or a "Q," but obviously they weren't going to plug Edward, et al. into this mess. (I suppose Celia could have done it, as she was the only Quartermaine not preoccupied with Susan Moore's murder.)
Anyway, because of the letter's placement on the medallion, Patrick and Kevin O'Connor are considered more likely suspects than Terry Brock, Jennifer Talbot, and Ted Holmes. Now that we're supposed to take Kevin seriously as a potential murderer, his aggression is ratcheted up several notches. It's things like saying he could kill Patrick for seeming to lose Terry's wedding ring (Frisco was hiding it), or holding Terry too tightly when he puts on her necklace and later gives her a massage, and getting into a fight with Patrick over his failed sexual encounter with Terry on Valentine's Day 1983. Kevin's behavior is plausible, but it would have been more effective if it didn't seem to come out of nowhere.
On the other hand, what appears to be the big reveal about Terry and Patrick has been anticpated for several months. During her intended cathartic journey down Main Street (Sherman should have had such a march), Terry remembers that after fleeing her and Patrick's motel room, she went down that same street while naked, hysterical, and being seen by various Laurelton citizens. It's like the daytime TV version of Isabella Rossellini's nude scene in Blue Velvet, but the similarity is obviously coincidental. After this, Terry once again sings "I Am So Happy (His Way Is My Way)," apparently achieving genuine catharsis while this time, various Port Charles folk watch.
While Anna is literally running through Laurelton to get to the right church (and GH's directors are trying to make it look like Finola is traveling farther than she actually is), and after Terry's fainted (because sure, why not?) and Frisco and Felicia have tried everything to stall the wedding short of hijacking it for themselves, Terry and Kevin are wed. I smirked at how after all that buildup, the actual ceremony's done after five minutes of screentime.
I can understand why Hilary Edson left GH after her contract expired. All of the other Brownstone residents at least have something to come back to in Port Charles. Right now, Tania exists to wear a boring bridesmaid's dress and have her turn with the "Those Laurelton folks are strange!" dialogue.
Similar to Kevin's emerging tough guy routine, there's some tweaking going on with the old guard in Laurelton. It's revealed this week that Terry's pre-wedding march included her seeming to be fixated on the town hall (where her reception ended up not taking place). Later on, Terry says she recalls hearing angry voices at the hall on Valentine's Day 1983. I know that eventually, it's going to turn out that the Laureltonians are more afraid of Terry than she is of them, but that's not coming across on screen. We kept hearing about how Jennifer had to twist arms to get those people to come to the wedding, and it would have been so much more effective to see this apparent tension in a way other than rehashed observations from the Port Charles gang.
Wednesday's episode includes both a meeting of the Purity Water board, which is mostly an excuse to gang up on "weak link" Sarah, and Terry and Kevin's ill-fated wedding night. It's sort of fascinating that in the end, almost everybody eventually got some kind of harsh punishment for Laurelton. Jennifer, Kevin, Ted and Sheriff Broder died. Sarah went to jail. Mrs. Russell lost her husband. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor lost one son and ended up permanently alienated from another. Patrick and Terry faded away as characters. The winners would be Lucy, and of course, Nestlé, which undoubtedly bought Purity Water for a song at some point.
Tim O'Connor: "You ask the lawyer. Until Earl Moody's will is processed, you are nothing. You are nothing to us, and you are nothing to Purity Water. You don't even belong here. ... You come off that high horse, boy! You don't even deserve to have us give you the time of day. I ought to take you by the collar and bodily throw you out of here."
Patrick: "Watch it, Dad. You're not dealing with your little skinny Patrick anymore."
Jennifer, a little later: "You were a very wild young boy, Patrick. Your father's right. You haven't changed. Too bad you aren't more like your brother, Kevin."
The hatred for Patrick is being presented as a result of Valentine's Day 1983, but I can't shake the feeling that it's all a barely concealed allegory for long-term homophobia. It certainly would have added a bit more nuance to what happened at that motel, if one or both of Patrick and Terry were closeted. Terry being a lesbian would also add an extra wrinkle to why she's resisting sex with Kevin, although the in-universe explanation that she's got trauma works well enough on its own. Anyway, the 1986 audience is being asked to believe that Kevin's decent enough that married or not, he'll wait until Terry's ready for sex.
Kevin and Terry's honeymoon is postponed for an especially contrived reason, even in-universe. Alone in the Brownstone's attic apartment and having just found out about Terry's emerging memories, Jennifer throws herself to the floor. This gives Ted an excuse to call the newlyweds (who are in NYC prior to leaving for the Caribbean) and get them back in Port Charles. It turns out Jennifer's only got a sprained ankle, but naturally, Terry wouldn't even think of leaving her ... and oh, how I loved Bobbie's barely concealed exasperation with the old crone and her lackey. That's what I'm kind of looking forward to in Martha Scott's last weeks, if there will be a time where Jennifer realizes she can't influence the situation or has found out the truth and is now horrified. What can I say, I like when a villain realizes they're powerless.
On other positive notes, I was digging the jazz versions of "It's De-Lovely," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and "Blue Moon" playing during Terry and Kevin's reception. And Kevin Bernhardt had a cute body, so thanks for the underwear scene. It was also fun when Jennifer called the Brownstone a commune.
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By
Franko ·
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