» One Life To Live Options

[varnish7]

I don't think that this is the end of David on the show. If it were, they wouldn't have bothered to make David Bo's son. They would have just said that the first DNA test was a mistake and ended it. David being a Buchanan gives him more legitimate reasons to return to town. In the Buddhist storyline, they needed some reason so David to return to Llanview so he would find out about being a Buke, hence his "conversion". IMO, that was one of the biggest problems with that storyline. His other returns were legitimate in the sense that it made sense for David to be back in town and his return helped to advance the plot for whatever storyline he was involved in. The problem is that these returns always seemed to be a case of David being on his next wacky adventure and happening to stop by Llanview. It was never necessary that David be there. Now that he actually has family in Llanview, maybe he'll return to town because he is actually wanted or needed.

My guess is that David will be gone for at least several months and then come back for a long stint with an interesting storyline involving the Buchanans. This is when we'll see David and Bo getting to know each other as father and son and all of that stuff. Just because they haven't addressed this yet, doesn't mean it's never going to be mentioned again. Apparently, with the writers out of sight is out of mind. Once David left the show, the Buchanans never mentioned him again. Not even to say that he'd left town or to show everyone finding out and reacting to the news that David was a Buchanan but not in the way that everyone thought. It would have been nice to have one scene where Bo finds out that David left town without staying to talk to him and show him as being just a tiny bit disappointed.

I think the David and Dorian break up scenes were good. They've been done several times, but they're still sweet. Does anyone else think that David would be the best person in the world to break up with? No fights. No nastiness. Just the realization that things aren't going to work out even though the two of you genuinely love each other. Jealous of the other guy, but willing to step aside if that'll make you happy.

[Dandesun]

There's a part of me that envys the lot of you for being able to compartmentalize the show and see it in a vaccuum. To me, that's not what the genre is. If I'm watching a character that's been around for 15 years there are certain things I expect from them. Otherwise, why should I care?

If this is the way it is, then they can easily get rid of Viki. Her longevity doesn't matter because it's all in a vaccuum... there is no 'Viki is the cornerstone of OLTL' because when it comes down to it each scene is a 2 minute vigniette that has nothing to do with what came before and what will come after.

Todd's not actually a rapist. He's just a guy who likes having rousing sex with his ex-wife. End of story. Blair doesn't have any history. She's just a woman in a hospital bed in love with John. Nora doesn't have any history, she's just a mother mourning her son being paralyzed at this particular moment in time. Dorian and Viki don't have a rivalry... it's too much history to deal with so never mind that. Hell, Marty's whole reintroduction is based solely on robbing her of her history. Her whole romance with Todd was based on 'well she doesn't remember why are you people getting all bent out of shape?'

I didn't realize that I needed amnesia to watch this show. I suppose that means I'm not changing enough for the genre to survive. Yes, it's the audience that's at fault... not the people who have been driving soaps into the ground for the last decade and who still keep getting work. It's not the people in charge who insist that 'happy couples are boring' to reason why a pairing with fans can't be allowed to continue. It's the audience's fault that dead weight like Michael Easton continues to devour screentime without any real payoff for those watching. It's the audience that won't think out of the box and is keeping the creative geniuses at work in giving us... the same old shit...

My problem is that I found YouTube videos from last January/February. When Rex/Nat had scenes to discuss Rex' father that grew out of his dissatisfaction that he had no one to come to the wedding he and Adrianna were planning and he had a yearning to see who he was connected to. Jess/Nat and their Allison caper. Todd and Blair having discussions about their 'fake marriage' -- Blair allowing herself to be vulnerable to Todd in telling him that she was seeing visions of Margaret and him actually listening to her and caring about her. Starr and Langston talking about why Langston kept the secrets of her parents' death for so long. Jessica admitting to Nash that she was the one who broke Allison out of St. Anne's...

I didn't need to watch anything in a vacuum then. The show was GOOD. Yeah, Marcie's Baby Rabies was well-nigh intolerable but Michael trying so hard to be there for her... Gigi not devouring the whole fucking show... I guess I don't see what was so wrong with that. If the only way to watch the show is to erase everyone's name and history and take everything for what it is at that particular moment... what's the point? Why bother watching OLTL at all then?

Anyway, the Todd/Tea fuckfests continue. Blair gets out of the hospital and immediately gets sucked into their world. Delightful. Tell me again why this is worthwhile?

[dubbel zout]

If the only way to watch the show is to erase everyone's name and history and take everything for what it is at that particular moment... what's the point? Why bother watching OLTL at all then?

There's already an ABC soap that does this—GH.

[peachmangosteen]

Anyway, the Todd/Tea fuckfests continue. Blair gets out of the hospital and immediately gets sucked into their world. Delightful. Tell me again why this is worthwhile?

See now, that is unnecessary. Will they just be entangling all the characters into the same web now? Why won't they just pull Blair away from that shit? Now would be the perfect time to do it too. I will never understand the way they treat Blair. I just won't. It doesn't follow real world logic.

[jen419]

I apologize if someone has already suggested this, I didn't have time to go back and read all the posts I've missed, but does anyone think it's possible that Todd set John up to be arrested for being the serial killer so he could have a reason to try to get custody of his kids again? Maybe that's what that weird and lingering scene with him touching Zach's bloodstain was about....that was when the idea occurred to him?

This post has been edited by jen419: Apr 24, 2009 @ 11:29 am.

[Freya]

Telenovelas arcs? It's two different audiences. From the little I've glimpsed of AMC in the last few minutes before OLTL it certainly seems it's being veered in that direction. Is OLTL far behind? Can this be their answer to slumping soaps since telenovelas have remained so popular? Gawd, I hope not.

Didn't they try that with Port Charles? That certainly didn't work there.

[dubbel zout]

And it didn't work on MyNetworks, either. Granted, those were shown in prime time, but there should have been some crossover. The ratings were terrible.

This post has been edited by dubbel zout: Apr 24, 2009 @ 11:43 am.

[JilliBean]

Dandesun, I totally see where you're coming from, but let me just say this: I'm pretty sure that in order to have sex with Jessica, Brody will have to remove his shirt. And that alone might be worth tuning in for.

[nollf]

If the only way to watch the show is to erase everyone's name and history and take everything for what it is at that particular moment... what's the point? Why bother watching OLTL at all then?

That's the other choice I've flirted with. Watch in a vacuum or turn the show off. It's getting pretty obvious that the show isn't going to return to its past competency, and with no power for creative input there isn't anything we viewers can do about it -- except stop watching, watch for what little entertainment value can be gleaned from what valuable moments there are, or watch with total disgust and get no enjoyment at all, except what satisfaction comes from expressing that disgust.

All valid choices.

I apologize if someone has already suggested this, I didn't have time to go back and read all the posts I've missed, but does anyone think it's possible that Todd set John up to be arrested for being the serial killer so he could have a reason to try to get custody of his kids again?

That's exactly what I thought as soon as he said something along the lines, "Is it up already?" about John's arrest being released to the press. It implied that he was in the know (of course, the mayor may have told him). He could have procured some of Blair's blood from the hospital, picked up any old knife (that happened to be the right size and shape), stolen John's partial print from his crawl space (because, why not?), sneaked into Zach's room to plant it, and there you go. Less likely things have happened.

[Emmett]

As as sidenote? I don't care if Todd degrades Tea. After what that thug with a law degree did to Blair all those years ago her self-respect is the last thing I give a shit about. I hope he continues to degrade her... she seems to get off on it anyway. Yeah, I carry a grudge.

I mostly like Tea, but I've never completely forgiven her for what she did to Blair. I always felt any suffering Tea incurs because of Todd is karma.

My very UO is that I don't hate John. I missed a lot of the Dena Higley years, so maybe that's part of it, but I think the guy is all right. I don't love him, but I don't understand lumping John in with ABC soaps other favorite sons. He's not a "hero" mobster or criminal. He hasn't raped or murdered anyone. He hasn't threatened to punch or kill the mother of his child. He hasn't faked his death to get away from his wife. He hasn't secretly impregnated his sister-in-law. I just can't hate on the guy. God help me, he was kind of amusing on Thursday's show and looked kind of cute in the scrubs.

[rhinohide]

I am John fan (lord help me, why I have no idea anymore, so I won't be defending it.) but I don't remember him solving a case without a Blasom doing the heavy lifting..

So true. John really isn't that good of a cop. But I think he did solve Spencer's murder and finally put it together that it was Lindsay. Of course he and Natalie were broken up, so had she been involved the case would have been resolved much sooner.

[TonyG]

I, too, was amused and confused by David's reading of the Roman numerals. Obviously, we all know he got them completely wrong - he said 1984. But IIRC, the numbers were MCCMXXIV. Which makes no sense. I don't think that's really even a number. An online converter says it's 2024, which is weird, but then it reconverts 2024 to MMXXIV. Hmm.

Anyone catch Todd glancing back and forth between Tea's backside and RJ - who was not paying him attention?

I'm trying to go into May spoiler free (I started a month ago, just to make sure), to see how I enjoy it that way. I really do like surprises in my show, and knowing too much about every plot movement and actor change weeks beforehand just made watching feel like homework or something - I was watching and waiting. So far so good, except some things continue to drag out and I'm not sure when something will change - like the stoopid Gexstacy thing. Man, a whole show where Gigi was convinced to finally tell REx, and then decide not to. What a waste of an hour, and so old-school soapy in the worst sense.

Another benefit - sorry, extremely UO, and it goes against a lot of TWOP in general - is that I get to avoid all the very animated handwringing over things that have not actually happened yet. So I read here for reactions to the show, rather than spoilers, and t's kinda more fun for me. And that's just me.

[Cinabuns]

So true. John really isn't that good of a cop. But I think he did solve Spencer's murder and finally put it together that it was Lindsay. Of course he and Natalie were broken up, so had she been involved the case would have been resolved much sooner.

Well to be fair to my point a great deal of those clues came from Rex. (unwitting but still) I guess the lack of Balsoms in the one thing that makes this story different..

This post has been edited by Cinabuns: Apr 24, 2009 @ 12:42 pm.

[Dandesun]

Blair's the one that got all the goods on Spencer, too. So, of course, John leaves her behind when he goes on the run.

Yes, yes, her wounds. Blair looked pretty hardy to me. Of course, I'm for just about anything that gets Blair out of the freaking hospital and into the land of the actually on screen again.

Just about anything.

[krizmic]

Yes, it's the audience that's at fault... not the people who have been driving soaps into the ground for the last decade and who still keep getting work.

Yes.

As long as people like Brian Frons and Jill Farren Phelps (ooh, I detest that woman) keep getting work, the genre will continue to suffer. I'm willing to welcome new characters when those characters work. Think about (if you watch) Alexis on GH. She sorta came out of nowhere and now she's legitimately connected to so much of the canvas, when the writers decide to let the (very vocal) Nancy Lee Grahn out of her cage. You can introduce characters (think Natalie) that require a complete ret-con and the audience will accept it if it is well-written and tied to people we care about. Granted, I wasn't watching when Nat was introduced, but I know enough about the story to know it must've been a WTF moment, but y'all went with it, right? And we love Natty now?

We do not and cannot accept crap, however.