Okay, so I watched it - February

I did watch one episode with Philip Spaulding on 'Guiding Light.'

I did not mean to. I was going into work very late and had the tv on for background noise as usual. It was only until I got out of the shower and started to pay attention to the tv, that I discovered that Mr. Philip was in this episode. I could have changed the channel, but figured I'd watch so I would have fodder for a post.

I knew from reading a recap that Coop went after Beth to stop her wedding to Alan Spaudling in that tired old chestnut of a storyline where the damsel in distress marries the evil villain to save her true love. (Gee, I saw that somewhere recently, oh yeah in the movies 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles, which were set in periods where this idea was quaint even then). Also knew that he got into a car accident and it was Philip who saved him. The man in the red sweatershirt.

So Philip breaks up the wedding of his ex-wife and soulmate and his dad (I always found this pairing disturbing. Not so much for the fact that a man was marrying his former daughter in law, but for the fact that he had to have, especially after years of trying to shoehorn her out of the family in a manner that recalls the phrase 'thee doth protests too much'. I mean, was he lusting after her while she dating Philip in high school?) News of Coop's accident comes to all. Beth is covered in Coop's blood and goes the changes that Beth does. Buzz tries to take out Alan, who doesn't get that once you pay somebody to run over the father of your great grandchild and it results in the death of his girlfriend, people might suspect you when a similar instance takes place. Super Philip is on hand to keep Buzz from going to jail. Even after he receives the news that Harley has left with Zach and that no one really knows where she is, he flies off and goes to Beth's side.

Beth, who can never decide whether she is an independent woman, a bitch or beyond needy, is sitting in her blood drenched clothes feeling guilt and other things. Philip arrives and he gets another happy update on more of his various children. Seldom seen James is in boarding school-a decision Beth and Alan (because his parenting skills are best) made. Lizzie, Lizzie...had a baby, was married, lost the baby because of her grandfather's meddling ('meddling is too nice a word'), hooked up with Billy Lewis as an all purpose assistant, hooked up with Bill Lewis (who is fighting his own demons) and fell in love and got kidnapped and still believes Bill did it.

Super Philip hasn't even gotten to poor little Emma yet, but that's another episode.

Super Philip comforts Beth about her more often then not rotten parenting choices in his absence and helps her change out of the clothes stained with Coop's blood. He then flies off to find the daughter that in his Mr. Hyde days left behind and that has for all intents and purposes still considers dead.

Well, Quasi-repentant Super Philip was not exactly what I expected. The promos for his return would have led you to believe that he was riding in like a Horseman of the Apocalypse and all ye in Springfield better tremble. Then again it is early days. Like Ed Bauer once said, Philip is his own worse enemy. (And if anyone is an authority on that, it's Ed Bauer.)

I mentioned in an earlier post that I did not mind the return of a kinder, gentler Philip, but it should make sense. I get that Bill Lewis got him to return for Lizzie. It seems to me that he should be doing something constructive and away from the nuts that put him on the path to destruction. I joked yesterday that he should take up with Ashley Wolf, who should have him focusing on more worthwhile things. I now don't think that's a bad idea. It would be a more interesting story than the Beth/Alan/Rick retread. I also mentioned that a Leah and James storyline would be interesting.

I don't know in which direction Philip go. I thought that Grant Aleksander was always interesting when he was on-screen no matter what role he did-even that weird turn on All My Children as an almost love-interest of Haley Vaughn and biological father of a Black boy named Jamal in a custody battle that I think wanted to be more relevant than it ending up being because All My Children did not want to go there.

Well Philip is back and all I can do is wish him well.

Olivia and Natalia or 'My Two Mommies'

'Guiding Light' decided to have what are now 'frenemies' Olivia and Natalia live together and jointly raise Olivia's daughter Emma. They also work together (with Natalia being Olivia's personal assistant-a job she's been doing for a while anyway without pay or recognition). What first turned out to be a sick and weird connection between these two (Olivia tried to take Natalia's late husband away from her and ended up with his donated heart, which she did not want. Natalia thwarted Olivia's attempts at suicide and self neglect)., has somehow blossomed into a real friendship.

I watched an episode of the "all-new Olivia and Natalia roadshow" and I wondered why no one thought of romanticallt pairing these two before. To be sure, women can be friends without being lovers, just like men and women, but maybe it's me-I saw some romantic chemistry there and the potential for some interesting explorations of character. Neither have to be latent lesbians (both can be bisexual-meaning that writers would not have to fret about how Olivia and Natalia, whose sexual history speaks of heterosexual choices would all of a sudden 'turn' gay because they could be latent bisexuals who didn't find the right gal yet.)

Emma's presentation on the episode that aired January 16th, seems to open the door to yet another storyline where the town 'misunderstands' their relationship and the morals of both women, particularly Olivia's are called into question. After all, Natalia's son is in the joint and Olivia...well the townfolk could roast her for many sins as it is. What's more rather than take a real and honest look at how a relationship between two same-sex people happens and evolves, they'll bung it up and what would have been cool will be reviled in soap mags across the country.

I mean, I get it. Soaps are basically heterosexual women's fantasies. I would even, given the dearth of main characters of color, even say they are white heterosexual women's fanstasies. White heterosexual women are not fantasizing (or at least admitted they are if they do) about two women falling in love and having a loving and sexual relationship. The writers just are acknowledging that healthy same-sex anything exists. I voted for creating a drinking game that had everyone doing a shot everytime the camera cutaway when ATWT's Luke and Noah were just about to kiss (had we done the game, would have been very drunk indeed).

I want Guiding Light to be that-a 'guiding light' in terms of introducing new stories and new ways of looking at life. I love the fact that they changed the way that the stories were shot and certain outcomes of storylines. Unfortunately, I think they still cling onto plots and devices that are woefully dated and that don't serve the show at all (this can be said of many soaps). True, certain stories are soap staples and you need to have them. I only ask for a diversity of viewpoint a rescue from plotlines that use the same characters in plotlines that they did 20 years ago and that apparently they never learned lessons from.


And to respond to those who feel that Emma does not need to 'see two women being loving towards each other in that way'...well, consider that Emma has been exposed to insane kidnapping father, formerly insane older sister (who tried to kill her in utero), scheming mother who used sex to manipulate along with money, more infidelity than normal, crazy other older sister who faked pregnancy to keep a man while tormenting another women to keep her and another man apart and crazy selfish grandfather who has blackmailed her mother, I think she'd survive seeing her mother in a loving relationship with another woman.

I also would remind the naysayers about how soap characters who have various children manage to have lots of sex, sexcapades and shenanigans and no one seems bothered this.

So...here's to the hope that Olivia and Natalia hook up and have a loving and romantic and adult relationship, which oddly enough I think Gus would have been okay with.

Huh.

Huh.




That is what I felt when I read the recap for the January 12th recap for Guiding Light (GL).



I think Lizzie's expression here says it all: http://www.cbs.com/daytime/guiding_light/recaps/2009/20090112/recaps.php?day=0





Oh where to begin...

Monday, January 12, 2009

­Rick tells Olivia her health has improved and she can move out sooner than
she thinks. Olivia tells Rick how much Emma loves living there.

Memo to Rick Bauer: You don't need to rescue everyone, especially a she-wolf like Olivia. Although I expect you like that since you rejected the 'boring' normalcy of married life with Mel Boudreaux and Abigail, "the girl from Goshen."

Memo to Olivia: The fact that your daughter enjoys living in a quiet and stable environment should tell you something about your decision making skills.

Buzz asks Frank about his date with Natalia and takes Frank to drop in on
Natalia.

You know your love life must be flatlining if your dad is the one working yenta-style to get you sorted. Admittedly, Buzz has seen more action than Frank ever has. Actually Buzz isn't doing bad for a burned out at times Vietnam Vet who runs a neighborhood restaurant in the romance department. He has opted for the quasi-normal, but collaterally crisis-involved Lilian Raines, whose daughter and granddaughter will insure that she will have more peace in the ER than she ever will at home. Heaven help her when James and Peyton get old enough to have storylines.

The Frank-Natalia pairing is definitely one of those, "well, why didn't they think of this before?" Unfortunately, I have not seen much chemistry between them. I've seen more between Olivia and Natalia. I actually think they should try Mel and Frank. Besides the storylines that could come from their respective lines of work, they would be a good fit for each other-islands of normalcy in the maelstrom of Springfield society.

She [Olivia] suggests a game of poker where the losers have to admit an
embarrassing secret about themselves. Olivia wins and the guys all have to share
embarrassing secrets. Olivia pretends to agree with Rick that she hates living
there, but really she enjoys it.

Are you kidding me? Do they guys never learn? Idiot, Idiot, Idiot. I am sure this was a cute interlude-a placeholder because the writers' brain energy was redirected into salvaging interest in the kidnap storyline.

Remy hesitates when Christina asks for the financial papers she left at his
place. Remy covers his tracks and tells Christina he threw out the papers and is
sending off the divorce papers. They’re both a little wistful of their good
times together. Meanwhile, Shayne takes out a worn datebook with the word
“remember” and a drawing of a birthday candle on January 12th. Josh outlines the
medical research he’s done. He pulls out Shayne’s discarded medal and tells him
he’s giving up on life. Shayne tries to keep Josh off his case. Remy and
Christina burst in and Christina offers to be Shayne’s physical therapist.
Shayne agrees. Josh is happy Shayne didn’t suspect that he planned the whole
thing. Remy doesn’t like lying to Shayne but Josh says it’s justified because
they’re helping him. Remy admits he lied to Christina and didn’t push the
divorce through so she could get a loan for married people. Josh advises Remy to
think hard before he signs the divorce papers. Remy decides to mail the
financial aid application and stay married to Christina. Shayne has his first
session with Christina, but reveals he knows Josh was behind the whole thing.
Shayne rips out the birthday page from the datebook and starts to crumple it but
then puts it back inside.

To quote Ricky Ricardo: Ay-Yi-Yi-Yi-Yi!

The Remy-Christina storyline is really just dragging and not exactly endearing either to anyone. Remy was his coolest when he was a cop and even when he was spiraling out of control after Tammy's death. I didn't mind the Ava pairing, but it seemed that Remy was doing the 'dark knight in shining armor' bit again.

Memo to writers: Please give Remy a meaning storyline or a meaningful role in the general storyline. And if his love interest happens to not be Black, that's okay. The world will not end. Christina, though a sweet girl, is so unnecessary. Her only function is to provide Remy with what looks like a Black love interest (the actress is one in a long line of actresses that look ethnic enough without being definitively one race or another) and to provide some 'diversity' soap style. That is, she is the poor hardworking Negro from the other side of the tracks and through her relationship with Remy, she becomes more 'civilized' and he learns how overprivileged he is.

Because we haven't seen that before.

Clearly the GI Shayne storyline was created to give Josh something to do now that Reva's kicked him to the curb as he once kicked her to the curb (well it seems that they do that a lot to each other).

I always kinda liked Shayne. It seemed like the writers took the best of Reva and Josh's characters and created this cool son who gets along great with his sister, is generally a good guy and is passionate about everything. I did hope that a Shayne return would also mean a Marah return. Though this storyline line seems a bit trite, it would be interesting to see how Shayne and his parents get on since the HUGE changes that they have through.

Lizzie and Bill are hopeful that the hypnosis will bring back Bill’s memory.
Meanwhile, Alan is trying to convince the doctor to make sure Bill’s
memories stay buried. Alan offers to fund his whole operation, but Dr.
Wenkel refuses.
Dr. Wenkel finally arrives and Bill tells him that his
memory is shot and there’s a chance he was involved with the crime. Wenkel
shares that Alan talked to him. Alan listens in on Bill and Lizzie’s meeting
with the doctor. Lizzie tells Wenkel to ignore her grandfather. Wenkel
directs Lizzie closer to Bill and begins. Lizzie is frustrated that Bill
can’t remember anything about the kidnapping. Bill, in trance, calls out for
Lizzie. Wenkel slips Lizzie a note not to lead Bill on but she ignores it.
Wenkel brings Bill around after he gets agitated that he can’t remember.
Bill stares at Lizzie, devastated. Wenkel tells Bill that his memories are
buried too deep. Lizzie tells Bill she needs time to think about what’s next.
Bill starts to sign the buyout papers but can’t do it.
Alan is relieved. He
tells Jeremy to bring something down from the attic. Lizzie arrives and Alan
pulls off a sheet covering an object. He reveals Phillip’s model of Springfield.
He tells Lizzie to take her pain and use it to become the most powerful person
in the town. Bill arrives to see Alan pulling Lizzie into his orbit again.

And now we know why Lizzie looked the way she did.

Genug already!

I don't understand why this storyline is taking the turns that it is. It started when the writers had the deep thought that they wanted to revisit the Alan/Alexandra dynamic and so cast Bill as Alan and Dinah as Alexandra, complete with Dinah mimicking Alexandra's act of kidnapping the younger rival (in this case, Lizzie, her own cousine and one time saviour).

It's no secret that I thought this was a stupid development, especially given the trajectory that Dinah was travelling. I did like the Chamberlain siblings against the world thing they had going. I loved Dinah and her sister Maureen dancing it out as she schooled her on how to get what she wanted. I also liked the way that in the early days and even in some of the later days, that they included Lizzie. The troika of Bill-Lizzie-Dinah was an attractive one and I felt it could have generated lots of interesting plots. My dream would have been that Ava would have come back from the Dark Side and the troika would be a powerful quad to rival the older generation. I also liked the dance that Bill and Lizzie did with each other. More importantly, I liked self assured and high functioning Lizzie vs. the tragic, Beth-the-sequel Lizzie that the show keeps throwing at us. This reversal of character does a disservice not just to the viewers, but to poor Marcy Ryland, who portrays Lizzie.

Genug Already--the January edition

• Is it me or is everyone about through with the "Did Bill Lewis kidnap Lizzie" storyline? I hated this on so many levels, not the least of which because it was a huge leap backwards for Dinah, who had become my girl again (the 'Dance with me' scene between her and Bill and Maureen and the other one with her and Remy as she hammered more nails in the Spaulding coffin were my favorites). Setting aside the whole 'Dinah' angle-this has just gone on TOO long. Wrap it and move on. Clearly the writers wrote themselves into a corner and thought that this was the way to handle it. And if this is a way to turn BLizzie into a supercouple, wrong path indeed. I don't mind stories where couples survive every obstacle, but this is just stupid. BLizzie as the cool and strong power-business couple was interesting. Crazy plot to incriminated Bill as kidnapper and Lizzie questioning if people love her, less so.

• I could spend space bemoaning the Robin Scorpio-Patrick Drake wedding, but I've made my position very clear. I am sadly hoping for the eventual messy breakup. I am also hoping that girls the world over will not internalize that it is better to be in a relationship with someone who treated you like crap than it is to have your self respect and be alone.

• The writers of 'The Bold and the Beautiful' should all be taken out, lined up against a wall and shot. OMG. Granted, they get points for taking part in the latest trend in television, which is that no character is safe or sacred. Joss Whedon evolved this concept, which was before usually used by shows to deal with an actor who left, an actor who was fired or to drive rating up (and usually the character would be brought back through the magic of plot). He killed characters in his shows (Buffy, Angel, and Firefly) not just because a plot demanded it, but because death can be just that random. 'The Bold and the Beautiful lost points by tying Phoebe's death to Rick, the village idiot and continuing to escalate the pointless Logan-Forrester war.

• Paul Ryan!!!!!!!! Please put him out of his misery. What I hate about what is going on with Paul Ryan is that he has a lot of cool qualities, including the ESP, but they insist on having him just be his own worst enemy in a way that's just not entertaining anymore. I liked him and Meg, but I also though he and Sophie were fine and would have been a good break from the Meg-Rosanna-Craig quagmire. Somehow Paul managed to get one killed (Sophie by her ex) and drive the other away again (Meg). I also thought that the writers of 'As the World Turns' screwed up the Chris Hughes-Alison Stewart pairing. They could have made that less messed up and more positive. The way that Chris in particular acted (before the wacky plot by John James' character-oh Jeff, how far thee have fallen) just made me wonder what pockets of evil and delusion live in the Hughes-Sullivan genes. Perhaps I should say 'Sullivan' since Chris Hughes and Paul Ryan are related through their mothers (Barbara Ryan is Kim Hughes' niece through her sister the late Jennifer Sullivan Ryan). And geez, genug already with Carly-Jack-Janet triangle and the 'Oh my god, Parker and Liberty (who are not related by blood at all) are dating-we must stop this!' Parker and Liberty probably have more sense then all of their various parents combined. On the scale of responsibility, they have shown the most. I also somehow think that if Parker's biological father Hal Munson were still around that he would probably have taken a more logical approach.

• No more DID storylines! These are very 80s. While I am sure that someone thought it would be cool if Jessica, daughter of soapdom's favorite DID (Disassociative Identity Disorder-that' Multiple Personality Disorder to you old schoolers) sufferer Viki Lord, suffered from it too (and oh the storylines it would create), it must be acknowledged that many of the storylines that grew out of this condition back the day existed because mental illness was not a common topic and we were not as informed about conditions as we are now. The Jess/Tess thing with tormenting her sister because her husband died and they inadvertantly had a hand in it thing just was stupid.
And what is up with Todd Manning? OMG. Kinda thought he loved and respected Starr. One of the things I loved about Todd and Starr was their father-daughter relationship, which has so eroded that again...not funny anymore. The Marty thing might have been noble when it was on paper, but again a dated storyline back when people thought that being held captive was romantic.

The Return of Philip Spaulding

Lock your doors and shoot the neighbors-Philip Spaulding, son of Alan (well adopted son), ex-husband to Blake Marler, Beth Raines, Harley Cooper, Olivia Spencer, Mindy Lewis and India, and father to Lizzie, James, Jude and Emma will return in person to torment everyone in Springfield.

I have one question: why?

Guiding Light seems likes they are grasping at anything that will drive up viewership. I went along with the change in production and format-unlike most fans, I embraced it since I've been introduced to this style of camera work through the telenovelas that populate the tv landscape.

I even accepted that this time, Josh and Reva were not going to get back together. Reva grew up and chose the person with whom she could build a relationship with in the here and now.

I don't understand what bringing Philip back could bring to the overall story. At least, not Philip the Insane and Evil. I wish they would intend to bring back a more penitent Philip who would have crafted a different life in the interim. Maybe he joins Ed Bauer in Africa or unlike a lot of the Spauldings, he comes to terms with the person he was and is becoming better. Maybe he and Harley find a way to reconnect and they do good. (Personally I am rooting for a 'reformed' Philip and Mel pairing).

Evil Philip just means more of the same. More Spaulding walking over people and more complicated plots that serve no purpose. More demonstrations of irredemption-boring, at least to me.

I won't be waiting in anticipation for 2/9/09, which is the date of Philip. If I see that Philip gets a more interesting path to walk, then I'll tune in.