Guiding Light - NEWS ROOM

Blogging From The Beacon.

Thoughts on the week of August 17-21.

Reva spent the first part of the week totally flipping out. She finally caught herself doing it, but didn't seem able to let go of the little cocoon she was building out of her memories. She's done this sort of thing before, it's one of her most consistent character traits, but she usually only pays homage to herself, this is the first time she's gone this far for someone else. Jonathan finally popped up to snap her out of it. After they screamed at each other like schoolgirls, they caught up, only to be interrupted by Shayne. They'd never met so it was interesting. I was reminded of Jonathan's run-in with Will a few years ago. That time, Jonathan was just scared, this time it was different. There was a kind of sibling jealousy between them. There was also the eerie obviousness that Jonathan is so much Reva's son and Shayne is so much Josh's. I like that they don't like each other. There isn't much rivalry on the show. There isn't any between Rafe and James, which is a complete waste since they have the whole Spaulding empire to fight over, not just Cross Creek. Anyway, at least Jonathan was smiling this week and joking around, he wasn't anywhere near one of his frequent lapses into Tammy-induced zombiedom. He and Jeffrey had a shootout with Edmund which didn't go well, on any level. It wasn't even fun to watch, though seeing David Andrew MacDonald walk around shooting like he was "The Terminator" was unintentionally funny.

Natalia's back. After she ran off, deflating most of the tension in the story and robbing viewers of the chance to actually see the character run through her mental machinations and gain some much needed depth, Natalia popped up to pick up with Olivia again like nothing had happened. I know Natalia's always been 'naïve', which is a hard thing for a single mother who spent most of her life living in a crime ridden slum and working in dive bars to keep up, but she managed. Then again, when it's that willful and disciplined, it isn't naivety anymore, it's far too deliberate. Olivia, quite rightly, doesn't trust her and is trying to keep her self-respect while Nat attacks her with a charm offensive. To add a bit of insult to injury, the whole thing was conducted in the least imaginative of ways. I mean flowers and cookies? That's all she could come up with while she was away on her retreat? I know cookies are part of their shtick, but still... If only she'd have baked a pie, at least my poor Olivia could have thrown it in her doe eyed face. But the cookie seduction technique seemed to be working well elsewhere. Mel made a move on Cyrus, baking him a batch for his birthday. They made out and she ran away. There's still time for them to get together.

Frank took news of the pregnancy well. The family seemed nearly indifferent. He and Blake ended up connecting through an online dating site, though neither of them are wise to this yet. Poor Blake. Since we're unlikely to see the mischievous side of Blake return, at least we might see her happy. Honestly, I'd rather see her hook up with Josh. I've wanted to see that for years.

Billy and his son abducted Vanessa to bring her to Towers for her surprise wedding. She refused, but seemed impressed by the thought. They later had a date. It was nice, in a nostalgic way, but it reminded me of what used to make them interesting characters. There was a time when they were fiercely competitive, cut throat business people who didn't shy away from brutally destroying lives and mixing in criminal activity. They were vindictive, manipulative people, which is what made their romantic moments so much more sweet. Now they just seem tired and filled with longing for the past that really wasn't. I enjoy watching them together and I'll take what I can get, but both characters seem to be victims of the show's unfortunate tendency to gentrify its unsavory characters.

Anyway, those were my thoughts about last week. Please feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below and remember that this is all in fun.

- Matt Purvis