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To sum it up, this was a week of comings and goings.
I can't believe it. She's gone. Dorian has left the building. Dorian Cramer-Lord-Callison-Vickers-Hayes and Robin
Strasser, the marvelous actor who portrayed her for so many years, are gone. OLTL has been blessed with an abundance
of wonderful characters and amazing performers -- in the past, in the present, and undoubtedly in the future. But
Dorian and Robin are both one of a kind -- irreplaceable. If you've been reading the soap mags and listening to
the hotline, you couldn't help but watch as Dorian's bittersweet farewell played out on two levels: Dorian and
Robin -- both leaving a difficult present to seek happiness in an uncertain but hopeful future.
Several months ago, when I realized that Robin Strasser was indeed leaving her Emmy Award-winning role, I wrote
that I wanted Dorian to leave on a high note, a grace note, and with the door wide open for her return -- and I
think the show has fulfilled that wish. Was it all that it could be? Sadly, no. What we had was wonderful, but
for a character of this importance and with this much history, there should've been more -- much more. Certainly,
Dorian's goodbye glance should have closed the show on Wednesday. I honestly think they owed her (and us) that
much. But, like Robin, I want to look forward and keep things positive. So to you two wonderful women, one fictional,
one real, may the future bring everything you wish (I'm chanting now "sitcom, sitcom, sitcom"). Ladies,
you will be missed.
Oh course, this week's other big news: He's baaaack! Todd the terrifically terrible returns for one short week
to mix it up in Llanview again.
The guest list for Dorian's big announcement included Kevin, Kelly, Joey, Blair, Max, R.J., Sophia, Viki, and Ben.
Once they were all gathered together, Dorian announced that she was leaving town with Drake. First, there was stunned
silence, then loads of objections: who is he? how long have you known him? what's he really after?, etc. Till Viki
burst out with a highly emotional speech about living for today, taking chances, and grabbing for the gusto. Viki
to Dorian: "You spent your whole
life breaking the rules, why would you change now?" Then Blair accused Viki of not caring a hoot about Dorian's
happiness (which is probably a bit true), and Viki rushed out of the room.
Dorian found Viki upstairs crying and asked her what was really the matter. Viki said she was upset about Ben and
all the time she'd wasted in her life. Frankly, having Viki and Dorian alone like this felt pretty contrived (Viki
called it, a "preposterous turnabout"), yet ES and RS managed to generate real feeling from a manufactured
situation. Then Dorian sent Ben upstairs to comfort Viki. When Ben asked for another chance. Viki said she could
only take him back if he gave up the fight with Asa. So what did Ben say? He said he couldn't make that promise
in good faith and he wouldn't lie to her. Boo!
After Ben left, Dorian returned and Viki told her about the chance of cancer. Dorian said she would stay in Llanview
and help Viki through this (and wouldn't that be a great story!), but Viki said no, that Dorian must live her life.
To which Dorian replied, "Stop being so noble, stop being so strong, stop being so
'Viki'."
Then the two women (I suspect, both the characters and the actors who portray them), shared a lovely farewell toast.
Viki and Dorian have had several moving rapprochements in the past. The trouble has always been that when the writers
get low on inspiration, they resurrect the old feud and all Viki and Dorian's hard-won understanding is tossed
aside with little regard for history or dramatic groundwork. This time, with Dorian actually leaving Llanview,
their bond can endure. When Viki told Dorian "I will miss you," it was wonderful -- yes, a bit of a Lifetime
moment, but so what!
On Dorian's final day, Lindsay came by to apologize. She hadn't realized Dorian was leaving, but wished her well.
For all its bizarre twists and turns. I've found the friendship between these two women to be believable and heartfelt.
Lindsay warned Drake that he'd better take good care of her friend.
After Lindsay left there was a sweet but too brief flashback of Dorian bidding farewell to a tearful Kelly and
Blair (slipping them some favorite pieces of jewelry!), then a wonderful scene where Dorian looked around her home,
tossed back a drink of champagne, nodded to that marvelous portrait at the top of the stairs, and said, "Hey,
gorgeous, I am sure we're doing the right thing." Then she opened the door, glanced back with an intriguing
mixture of defiance and rue, and walked into the
future.
You may ask: Why were Kevin and Sophia on Dorian's guest list? Well, the only reason Kevin and Sophia were invited
to Dorian's farewell soiree was to put them in the same room with Kelly and Joey so that Sophia could tell Joey
about New Year's Eve. And that's exactly what happened.
Of course, Joey refused to believe Sophia and marched her over to Kevin and Kelly to repeat the accusation. Even
though Kevin and Kelly made no denials and looked guilty and shell-shocked, Joey wasn't suspicious. Instead, he
dragged Sophia out to the hallway, told her off, and said their friendship was over. Sophia was cool, she didn't
lose control, she just told Joey that when the truth comes out, he should remember where he heard it first.
Later in the week, Kelly wound up in the Serenity Springs sauna with Kevin (she claimed she thought Joey was in
there). They were almost in a clinch, when Kelly got scared and ran off. Good thing, too, because Joey walked in
about two seconds later. Poor Kelly is desperate. So desperate she went to Blair for advice! At first Blair was
too caught up in her own pain and confusion over Max to realize that Kelly was really upset. But when she finally
heard the whole story, I think Blair was a little shocked! Her advice to Kelly: If you want to find out if your
feelings for Kevin are real, hop in the sack with him! She's no Dr. Rae. More like Dr. Ruth!
The Sam/Nora/Lindsay/Bo situation continues to play out in intriguing ways. Sam put Nora to the test: Marry me
now or forget it. Nora refused to be put on the spot and told Sam they needed time and communication to work things
out, not a quickie wedding, but Sam wouldn't listen to reason.
Meanwhile, Lindsay was "this close" to telling Bo about the baby. Then Asa walked in and started insulting
Lindsay. When Bo defended his ex-fiancée and kicked Asa out, Lindsay asked if he could ever forgive her.
Bo said no.
Next, Sam stopped by Bo's office to discuss Will and put in a good word for Lindsay. Bo didn't want to hear it.
Then Sam urged Bo not to throw away what he had. I wonder? Was Sam referring to Lindsay or Nora?
Looking for some privacy, Bo went to Rodi's to drown his sorrows. Guess who was on the next bar stool: Nora! More
sparks! Bo started giving Nora grief, but Nora wouldn't take it. In between shots, Nora told Bo to stop bottling
up his emotions, then she proceeded to make a big scene at Rodi's, demanding to be "punished" for telling
the truth. Perhaps, she suggested to the crowd, she should be forced to wear a big scarlet "T" on her
chest for truth -- good one, Nora! As Nora got more and more wound up, Bo's hero instincts were aroused and he
drove her home.
When Nora came downstairs after checking on Matthew, she found Bo in her closet trying to fix the coat rack in
a scene right out of one of her dreams. Freaked out, she collapsed in a heap, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
When Bo tried to help her up, it turned into a kiss (mostly on Nora's part), which freaked out both of them, and
Bo left. Looking dazed, Nora wondered aloud, "Was Sam right?"
The next day, Sam came over to celebrate Matthew's birthday (he's one and cute as a button). Nora reached out again,
but Sam stood firm. Then Nora went to see Bo and told him she still has "feelings" for him.
Bo did not want to hear about Nora's feelings. In fact, he seemed quite upset by Nora's confession (wonder why...).
It couldn't have been easy for Nora to admit her feelings to Bo, but he didn't make things easy, asking her coldly,
"So what do you want from me, Nora? Am I supposed to do something about this?" Nora said she didn't want
anything from Bo, she just wanted to be honest with him. But Bo kept getting madder and madder.
My take is that Bo is angry with Nora for bringing up a whole range of painful emotions he has tried his damnedest
to bury. Finally, Nora got mad back and said the Bo she knew always valued the truth. As Bo stormed out to ride
off his emotions on his motorcycle, Nora shouted, "I don't know this Bo, what the hell did Lindsay do to you?"
Bo was just about to roar off down the highway, when Hank took his keys, telling Bo he needed to calm down before
taking to the road. Bo got pretty grumpy with his old friend but eventually regained his composure and even told
Hank what Nora had said. Hank seemed surprised.
Then R.J. and Tea came into the garage, and before you knew it, out of nowhere, a car zoomed at R.J. and the driver
shot him! Luckily, R.J. was wearing a bulletproof vest. The car sped off, Bo gave chase but found only the car
-- torched. Guess who stepped from the shadows, revealed only to the audience: Todd.
Meanwhile, Sam was out in the park with Matthew when he got called away to the office, so Lindsay volunteered to
take Matthew home. Nora was not amused to find Lindsay billing and cooing to her one remaining fella.
Lindsay and Nora were just about to get into it when Nora noticed Matthew's coughing. Cut to a scene with Lindsay,
Nora, and Matthew misting in a steamy shower to ease Matthew's congestion.
Believe it or not, Lindsay and Nora bonded a bit over Matthew (a stretch to be sure) and even when Lindsay ventured
into the danger zone of their tangled history, things didn't get out of hand. But Nora couldn't help but wonder
about Lindsay's strange new serenity, and she's starting to put two and two together about Lindsay's pregnancy.
Oh, Nora, I think you'd better let this one drop.
Jeepers! How many more close calls can Skye and Max get away with? Skye had just crawled under the covers with
Max when Blair walked in. Luckily Skye is petite enough and the comforters at Asa's house voluminous enough so
that Blair didn't realize her least-favorite person was right under her nose under Max's covers!
When Skye pushed Max for a commitment, he told her they could rendezvous in Denver, then he'd come back to Llanview
and divorce Blair. He even told Skye he "loved" her. I'm assuming Max is trying to buy time with this
scheme, but short of murder, I don't know how he can get rid of Skye and keep his Buchanan identity and his marriage
intact.
Skye is really gone over Max. Kevin found her in the park all dreamy-eyed, talking about love and hope and optimism.
Sucker! Across town, Max and Blair were rediscovering their passion and talking about "forever." After
apologizing to Viki for all the troubled she caused, Skye dashed over to Asa's hoping to catch Max alone. Well,
she caught him alright, but he wasn't alone.
The situation remains pretty much status quo with Llanview's younger set. Cris asked Will to sign an affidavit
detailing his scam with Roseanne to help Cris get his annulment. Will refused. Then Roseanne told Cris for the
millionth time that a.) she did everything for him, b.) she loves him like no other, and c.) she'll never let him
go. Antonio thinks he can change her
mind. Hmmmm.
Typical Will. He lucks out by running into Jessica at Matthew's birthday party but ruins it by trying to capitalize
on the slight thaw in Jessica's demeanor. Stop pressuring her!
Snippets:
- I loved the chic two-piece outfit Kelly wore
to Dorian's party, especially the white sleeveless top with its sprinkling of rectangle sparkles.
- What is Sam talking about when he says he and
Nora don't have time to wait? Why must they get married right away? Is it because he's afraid a newly free Bo is
too much competition? I think Sam is being very disloyal to Nora right now.
- Now that Bo knows what Lindsay is capable of,
why doesn't he question what she told him about her involvement in Matthew's paternity test?
- I couldn't believe Lindsay was actually urging
Sam to forgive Nora.
- Lindsay has to have something to obsess over.
First it was Sam, then Bo, now it's this poor little baby.
- The Serenity Springs gym was a veritable beefcake
brigade on Wednesday. Forget AMC's tatty Crystal Ball tokens, OLTL should put out a "Men of Llanview"
calendar.
- There was just a smidgen of truth in what Roseanne
said to Jess about real love meaning not running for cover when you hit a rough patch. Of course, there was a whole
lot of truth in what Jess said to Roseanne, namely get some self-esteem and stop confusing obsession with love.
- Could you believe all that stationhouse gossip
about Bo and Lindsay's ill-fated wedding? I've said it before and I'll say it again: when it comes to gossip, men
are the worst!
- I was very happy to see Nora spending time
with Matthew (for a change). Maybe that's the fella she ought to be focusing on.
- Asa's has one steady drumbeat when it comes
to discussions Bo: Nora, Nora, Nora.
- I really like Nora's darker hair color, a rich
chestnut brown.
- What's all this "feelings" crap,
Nora? Just tell Bo you love him!
- It must've been hard for Kevin to listen to
Joey apologize for Sophia's "lies" and his own brief moment of doubt -- brutal!
- Cool shoes, Todd!
- Geez, you've got one cop (commissioner of police,
no less), three prosecutors, and one savvy ex-con, yet no one notices the mysterious Porsche with the tinted windshield?
- Starr is so funny! First, she told Blair that
"black is daddy's favorite color" and then showed her a picture of "grandpa falling off a horse."
LOL when Blair asked her daughter which one was which!
- Dorian's farewell party guest list was missing
a few key people. Where was Madame Delphina? Where was Carlotta?
Till next week!
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