Farewell, Llanview! (Part One)

One Life to Live left the airwaves after 43 years on air. When I was working, I fell behind and had to catch up on about three months worth of episodes online. But I made it in time to watch the finale.

Though it was the penultimate episode that nearly made me cry! Everyone was gathered around their TVs, watching the finale of Llanview’s favorite sudser, Fraternity Row. Before the show aired, the Blanca Morales show hosted a tribute to it. Basically, it was an excuse for Agnes Nixon and Erika Slezak to say good-bye to the fans. Of course they were “Agnes Dixon” and Viki. But I knew it was really them.

But let me back it up. As I said, I had to catch up on a LOT of episodes. So I just kept watching and watching, not so much reacting. If you will allow me, I’d like to react.

John/Natalie/Brody: I admit it. I actually paused the video, jumped up and did a happy dance when Tina burst into the wedding with Princess David Vickers and gave Natalie the results of the paternity test. It was about time! This story was interesting back in February. It then looked like it was going to reach it’s peak this past spring when Natalie found out. Then Marty pushed her off the roof, Gigi died and Brody erased the tape. And his character assassination began. Seriously, they took a great character and made him an unstable douche. Fortunately, they didn’t draw it out, even if poor Brody was shuffled off to St. Anne’s after the revelation.

Of course, that didn’t end all the drama. John and Natalie still hadn’t gotten back together. Roxy channeled our annoyance and spoke to Natalie. She let it slip that John confessed his love for Natalie. Rather than be elated, Natalie was upset that John hadn’t tried to stop her wedding. She thinks its because he hasn’t forgiven her for lying to him. I think she’s projecting her own feelings onto John—she hasn’t forgive him for how he reacted. So there is still some angst over that—with poor John having no clue why Natalie is suddenly cold to him.

Cutter/Aubrey/Kim: I regret that One Life to Live didn’t have a couple months more. Mostly because then we could’ve gotten a few more episodes. But I think a few more storylines could’ve had a more satisfying payoff if not a conclusion. One of them was Aubrey’s redemption arc. Because that was what was going on. From Cutter’s partner, conning Joey to a hard working, friendly woman. Her friendship with Rex and Shane was sweet. Terri Conn and John-Paul Lavoisier had some great chemistry. I’m sorry our last shot of Aubrey was of a heartbroken woman leaving the Buchanan mansion. There was still so much possibility with her. Why did Cutter call her “Christine”? What were her ties to Llanview? I think, if given the chance, Aubrey/Christine might have even become the next big heroine on the show.

Cutter…Oh, Cutter. They tried to redeem him, they did. Twice even. First, he tried to go straight for Audrey. But that failed once Rex’s gun and Kim came into play. And then he got sucked into the whole Stacy/Gigi plotline. He tried to run a con on Rex. But Stacy was having none of that. She felt guilty and wanted to fix her face. Giving up, Cutter escorted her down to Rio. There he slowly started to fall for her. But then he realized she was really Gigi and that they were being chased by Rex and his Gal Friday, Aubrey. Those two made a deal with the jailed Kim Andrews, proving her innocence and Cutter’s guilt. The last shot we had of Cutter was him in jail begging his sister to help him with another con—on their mother, Alex Olanov.

Gigi/Rex: This was drawn out for a long time. It grew exceedingly obvious that “Stacy” was really “Gigi.” The doctor in Rio confirmed it. Now, we just had to wait for Gigi to reunite with Rex. And it looked like it was going to be in Paris, TX, where their story began. Gigi and Cutter randomly select it as a place to begin new lives. Rex and Shane fly down there to support a friend in a pie contest. Judged by a Professor Del Fina, who resembled their psychic friend Mme. Delfina. They finally saw what happened that night—courtesy of Del Fina’s work with time travel. They saw Stacy and Gigi switch clothes—meaning the woman in the wedding dress was Stacy. Realizing this, Rex kissed Gigi and all her memories came back. I admit it was cheesy, but I teared up.

Viki/Clint: The writers teased it. Fans saw it coming and welcomed it. Even after how horrible Clint had been at the end of 2010. But then he needed the heart transplant and actually took stock of his life. The writers started his redemption arc with enough time to give it a payoff. He confessed to all his sins (and one of Matthew’s). Viki took him in and his daughters forgave him. He started to mend fences with Rex and Shane. And he grew closer and closer to his ex-wife.

Then Kim comes into play. She is framed by her brother, sent to prison and he orchestrates a way that she and Clint will never talk again. But then Rex and Aubrey spring her. And she heads straight for Clint. Right after Clint and Viki had kissed and Clint had blown it by mentioning Kim. When the woman showed up, she demanded that Clint make a choice. And he did. He chose Viki.

Shane/Jack/Neela: Shane…Was Shane seeing someone else after Marty murdered his therapist? Because I think he still had some issues about Gigi’s death. Even after Jack’s own “father” was murdered. And no one was arrested for it. But Shane still wanted Jack to take responsibility for his actions.

Jack, meanwhile, needed to go to military school or reform school or acting classes. He was going out of control and didn’t have the acting abilities to sell it. Jack decided to burn down The Sun so Todd couldn’t take over. Unfortunately, Brody had locked Vimal and his wife Rama inside. Jack discovered this because he had been helping Vimal’s runaway teenage sister, Neela. The two grew closer over shared hatred: Neela’s for her arranged marriage, Jack’s for Todd.

Neela seemed interesting. I felt bad that she was introduced so close to the end. I don’t think Jack had earned a love interest yet. Shane, yes. Jack, no. I thought they were setting up a love triangle, but that wasn’t it. Shane wanted Neela to use her growing relationship with Jack to get him to confess to what he did. And he did. And then he got arrested on Christmas Day. John couldn’t wait one more day? Anyway, Jack raged (?) in his jail cell, raged (?) at Blair, and raged (?) at Neela. Shane meanwhile was overjoyed while Neela was conflicted.

And Shane’s reunion with Gigi? I was smiling and reaching for the tissue box at the same time. Austin Williams and Farah Fath killed those scenes. They were so touching. Actually, Gigi’s return was excellently done. From her taunting Jack in LPD to her giving Natalie a helping of reality to her reunion with Viki—everything was perfect. Especially Roxy’s reaction. She wanted to protect Rex and make sure it wasn’t really Stacy. When Gigi became upset that Fraternity Row was ending, Roxy knew it was really her. Which leads us to…

The Wedding: It’s about time a wedding went off without a hitch this year! Well, yes, we had Tina and Cord’s last minute nuptials. I am sad I didn’t tune into One Life to Live earlier to witness some of their best storylines. Though Andrea Evans will always be Rebecca from Passions to me, just as I will continue referring to McKenzie Westmore as Sheridan Crane in my “Face Off” recaps (shameless plug?). But I was happy to see Gigi and Rex finally get married in Viki’s living room. It had the perfect guest list too. Bo was there, leading to a sweet moment between him and Rex. Viki and Clint were also there as was Natalie, who brought John as her guest. And, of course, Shane and Roxy as best man and maid of honor. I loved Gigi’s dress, it was much better than the original one she was wearing.

I liked the bookending of the storyline. It began with Gigi getting ready for a wedding and ended with Gigi actually getting married.

Matthew/Destiny: Hallelujah, they woke Matthew up! I think this should’ve been done earlier. But I guess Eddie Alderson was busy elsewhere. Anyway, the Thanksgiving episode probably would’ve packed a little more punch for me if I wasn’t watching it on YouTube. Why? Because in the recommended videos, they had a video “Matthew flatlines.” Kills the suspense a bit, doesn’t it? But they didn’t kill Matthew thankfully. They brought him back—with no lasting problems! Which is allowed to side for two reasons. 1) It’s a soap and these thing’s happen. 2) It’s soap that’s about to end and Eddie Alderson is one of it’s best teen actors.

But then they woke him up just to have Matthew be a major jerk to Destiny. Okay, to be fair, his reaction was realistic—at first. But even after he had time to get used to the idea, he still was a jerk. If it weren’t for the head wound, I would’ve cheered Destiny slapping him. Fortunately, he manned up thanks to David, of all people.

Jessica: I’ll admit, I thought Jessica was bland when I started watching. But she was pregnant—as was the actress. So she wasn’t given much except to worry about her baby’s paternity. Then she had her wedding ruined, learned about Liam’s (now proven false) paternity and snapped into Tess. At first, I liked it. And then it got old. So I was glad when Tess was finally gone for good. In her place was a stronger Jessica. A Jessica I could root for. She wasn’t going to take anything lying down. We even got a good old fashion soap fight between Jessica and Natalie. But Jessica still cares about her sister. When she finds out about Liam’s true paternity, she thinks of nothing else. She is torn about telling her sister. On one hand, she doesn’t want to lie to Natalie. On the other, she has no proof the test is real. She doesn’t want to be considered the jealous vindictive bitch. Which Natalie thought she was anyway, especially as Jessica didn’t have the test at that point.

I liked her friendship with Ford at this point. Mostly because he was the only one she could turn to. Christian had left, Viki was busy, Natalie was mad and Brody was doing his best to keep the secret from slipping. He was really the only one she could turn to. He kept urging her to tell the truth. I wasn’t too thrilled with the romance though. I didn’t really feel it. But that’s okay given the ending.

Starr: Oh man, Rick. That’s really who should have this title as most of Starr’s storylines were tied with him. Well, except the time she busted her father out of prison in a move that was totally badass and made me wish I had been around before they saddled Starr with a kid. But after that…Yeah, it was Rick, the sleazeball. Rick, who went from being a porn director to being a talent agent. How? Who knows, it’s a soap! Which is why Starr had to be saddled with Rick, who could’ve been sued up and down for half the stuff he threatened Starr with. Especially that Jailbait video. Most times he was on, I wanted him off as soon as possible.

Fraternity Row: Even though I’m a relative newcomer to One Life to Live, I knew about Fraternity Row (thank you Soap Opera Digest!). I liked the parallels between Fraternity Row’s cancellation and One Life to Live’s. Roxy was every fan. Her attempts to save Fraternity Row were admirable, but you knew it wouldn’t work. One Life to Live wasn’t saved, after all.

One of my regrets was that I missed some of One Life to Live’s zanier episodes. I watched one on YouTube, where several cast members switched roles (Catherine Hickland as Nora and Hillary B. Smith as Lindsay was a highlight!). And now I watched another zany episode…on YouTube. But I loved this one. You can tell everyone was having fun with their other characters in this episode. I especially enjoyed Michael Easton playing a comedic role. He didn’t get to do that a lot. Same goes for Kassie de Paiva (Blair) and Florencia Lorenzo (Tea). They were hysterical! I think the writers also had fun mocking their own storylines as well. Like the two Todds, the multiple personality disorder, etc.

The sweetest part? When Roxy woke back up in the deserted Fraternity Row set (clearly the Llanfair set) and David escorted her off. Ilene () and Tuc Watkins walked hand in hand down the actual studio where One Life to Live airs. It was wonderful.

Jailbreak: I was looking forward to this plotline. Mostly because I wanted to see Lindsay again. And I got my wish. But we also got Troy and Cole and Mitch and Allison. And Hannah. These episodes were suspenseful and wonderfully done. Natalie and Mitch’s verbal sparring. Jessica’s courageous strength. Nora pleading with Troy not to erase her memories of Bo. Lindsay’s redemption. Allison holding Viki and Clint hostage.

But the best storyline in my opinion was Cole’s. He escaped and went immediately to see Starr. And Hope, who was adorable. Turns out he got a letter from Marty and Patrick from…wherever that Top Secret Agency sent them. He wants to join them…somehow. But he needs Starr’s help. And of course she’s going to give it. Because she loves him still, it was pretty obvious. I felt more of a connection between Kristen Alderson and Van Hughes than KA and Buddy Branson. And the few scenes she had were Cole were better than half the ones between Starr and James. I didn’t care for his turmoil and just kept thinking, “Let’s end this relationship, please.”

Then there were the scenes between Hannah and Sam. But what made this plotline work? Hannah and Todd. They were wonderful together. Two crazy people working off each other. Too bad Roger Howarth wasn’t around for Hannah’s heyday.

Afterlife: I looked up the episode where Viki went to Heaven about a year ago. And here she is back in Heaven, this time with daughter Megan. Last time, it was a car accident. This time, it was Allison Perkins’ gunshot. And she wasn’t the only one floating around the afterlife. Bo was also shot, this time by Troy. Former flame Gabrielle tried to convince him it was time to go to Heaven. Meanwhile, former Llanview resident Luna Moody greeted Cole, who was also shot—by Hannah, who was really aiming for Starr.

On the other end, Bobby Ford was taken out by a chandelier. Unfortunately, they did not get the rights to play the music from “Phantom of the Opera.” He’s met in a dark space by his father, Eddie. Because we all wanted to see Eddie Ford again (note the sarcasm). But Ford wasn’t the only one spending time down below. Clint had suffered a heart attack while trying to get Viki help. And he gets created by Stacy Morasco. But not as played by Farah Fath. They got Crystal Hunt back to play bad girl Stacy. She taunted Clint, who resisted the flames of hell to go into the light of Heaven. There he convinced Viki that Heaven can wait a little longer. She agreed and the two came back, surrounded by Natalie, John and a bunch of paramedics.

Bo also decided to forego Heaven at the time when he heard a sobbing Nora plead with him. He returned to her, much to her joy. Especially as she had to plead with Troy to save his life. Meanwhile, Cole decided it might be better if he went to Heaven, upsetting Luna. While they are arguing, Ford breaks free of his dad and also arrives at Heaven. In the end, Luna reveals to Gabrielle and Megan she could only save one—which turns out to be Cole. Who Starr confessed her undying love for. So poor James had to deal with his brother’s death and the end of his relationship. And I didn’t really care. I never did get much into the Brothers Ford. Cole, meanwhile, faked his own death in order to join his parents…wherever that Top Secret Agency sent them.

Well, this has gone on long enough…I think I shall write up my feelings about the finale separately.