With both Monday and Tuesday’s OLTL under my belt now, I don’t even know where to begin with my paroxysm of glee. Ergo, here is a list:
•Melissa Archer has been absolutely fierce during this Jared death arc, and yesterday was no exception. Natalie laying into Kim, wrecking Jared’s office and then going all Crazy Eyes and stabbing Mitch? Holy crap.
•Speaking of Mitch, I really love how he gets under everyone’s skin, and his manipulation of John is especially entertaining. I mean, was he…flirting? LOL.
•Michael Lowry is selling the Hell out of Raging!Ross Rayburn. (That is the only good thing about this storyline.)
•Mama Evans smacking down Greg and Destiny was hilarious.
•”Have fun with Trout.” Oh, Roxy. You are awesome.
•Trout and Kyle’s subsequent makeout interruptus was really well handled. It was so soapy, because we knew they were on the verge of getting the call about Nick! But that didn’t make the scenes any less sweet. Also? I am such a sap, but Fish calling Kyle “beautiful” was incredibly romantic.
•So was Cris and Layla’s first date. The man made flan. What more do you need? But given that these two have fiery emotions and whatnot, it didn’t stay sweet and sugary for long! Oh my. I admit to being distracted by Layla’s boots when they got horizontal on the couch. LOL.
•Loved Cris and Layla sneaking across the hall in their sheets the next morning. Like Fish isn’t going to see them (or hear them?) in an apartment that small? HA.
•I also really loved Layla getting to draw the parallels between Nick’s attack and what happened to Vange. Thank you, OLTL for the attention to detail!
•Speaking of which, way to hammer home that Fish is a great cop. Sure, he lost his temper with Homophobe #1, but that’s par for the course for Oliver. We love him for being emotional. But he also put that aside and got the job done. And the big thing for me was when he was listening in on John and Mitch. He knew John was crossing the line and letting Mitch get to him and interrupted to cut the tension. Bravo.
People talk about Fish and Kyle and the Gays o’ Llanview being a PSA and, sure, the story gets didactic. But they balance the teaching moments by reminding us that these aren’t just The Gay Characters. They’re regular people with jobs and friends and lives. And John and Fish’s mentor/student relationship, that friendship, is a wonderful thing to watch.
Aaaand one last thing: While Markko, Langston, Cole and Starr were all kinds of cute at the All-American Rejects show, did anyone else get shades of One Tree Hill‘s Nathan and Haley? Starr and Cole’s constant checking in on Hope and the decision to go home reminded me of Naley at the graduation party in season four!
badnecklace.com 
Melissa Archer is TEARING IT UP in her scenes. I’m loving her. I’m a new viewer and in all honesty, I didn’t care much for Jared, but I’m feeling Natalie’s pain. And when she stabbed Mitch! Fab! And it was only a Tuesday. How come OLTL does killer cliffhangers in the middle of the week all the time?
I hate, hate, hate what has been done to Ross. Yes, the acting is great, but I don’t like the story. And it’s being done to make Todd the rapist and the sociopath the hero. Blech.
As for Kyle and Oliver… well… I am still stunned that OLTL showed two men in bed kissing rather passionately, not to mention the discussion about condoms and first times that came beforehand. Never, ever did I think I’d see that on daytime television. I guess it’s because ATWT taught me to expect so little. I’ll just say that if those K/O scenes are what happens when they get interrupted, when they finally do kick it later this month….
I like Cris and Layla, but I think their romance is getting the short-shrift. They rushed them into the sack in a scene that I didn’t find very romantic or sexy. More over, they exist solely to prop Kyle and Oliver. Most of their conversations revolve around them. They’re even propping Nick now.
But I am glad Nick is back and I’m looking forward to where this new story arc goes.
LOVING all things Mitch. I know he can’t stay too long because he’s just too evil, but I’m enjoying him while he’s here.
And Mama Evans is great. The rest of the family (except Destiny)… not so much. Rachel needs a new love interest pronto.
LikeLike
What I think is odd is that they take time for not just Cris and Layla but also the teens to prop Fish and Kyle. Like they need to assure the audience that most people in Llanview are not only okay with the duo but invested in them as well….which would be fine if it didn’t seem so stilted and out of place. Cris and Layla talking about them on their date? The teens randomly discussing the gay marriage issue and Officer Fish’s love life because it’s tangentially related to Dorian being mayor…? It’s very…scripted. When most of OLTL’s dialogue comes off as organic and people just talking, that’s jarring.
I thought Cris and Layla’s actual horizontal-ness was awkward..hence the focus on the boots. WHY was I focusing on boots? Take her shoes off for crying out loud! But up until they hit the couch it was smokin’.
Don’t even get me started on Ross and Todd. Ugh. Just…ugh. It hearkens back to one of my recent Soapbox columns: You cannot possibly make someone look worse than the face-punching, teenager-beating, serial rapist!
I think the great thing about Mitch’s run is how deftly they’re using him to expose every single character’s vulnerability. Got a weakness? Mitch knows it. And there is NO combatting that! It’s not a gun battle. Mitch fights with his mind.
LikeLike
Yeah, they also had the teens talking about Nick and feeling sorry for him, etc, etc. It’s strange. I also think it’s not needed. Kyle and Oliver are a popular couple it would seem. They seem to have been accepted by the fans, they’re a critical success and the show obviously liked writing for them. I just think the propping does more harm than good. Just focus on telling great stories, which is what they are doing for the most part and everything will fall into place, IMO.
I want more Viki in this Mitch storyline and I can’t believe we haven’t had a Mitch/Roxie scene yet.
LikeLike