Only in Llanview does it seem your parents never turn out to be who you think they are! This week we had two cases of mistaken parental identities taking front and center. While I must say that both caused for some unusually interesting and riveting television this week, surely there must be other stories to tell that don't involve the same ol' cliché's. Poor Ace and Antonio---just who ARE your daddies?
All My Children and One Life to Live are FINALLY getting it right! The way each show handled Babe's interaction with Kevin and Ace (her own son!) was the way this entire storyline should have been handled. Each show seamlessly handled her conversation with Kevin and Paul in such a manner that if someone didn't watch one of the two shows, that viewer would not have been lost in following the action. For those of us who watch both shows, it was a special treat. Babe's realization that Ace must be her own son and that Paul very likely was the catalyst to the entire chain of events that took place that fateful night in March probably made many viewers ecstatic since it marks the beginning of the end of this horrid storyline.
However, I will reiterate that I think the baby switching storyline could have been very successful had it been written with the same attention to utilizing the affected characters from both shows the same way that was done this week. For OLTL viewers to see Babe and Bianca (the affected mothers) only makes us feel torn between Ace remaining with Kelly (who has no idea about the grieving mothers in Pine Valley) and going back to the rightful mother. I hope both writing teams learned a valuable lesson from that botched attempt at crossovers and do a better job when someone closely connected to this story is murdered very soon. Supposedly characters from both AMC and OLTL will be suspects, and John McBain will interrogate and investigate the crime on both shows. Sounds promising. I only hope that the murder mystery restores our faith that crossover storylines can be done well!
But back to Ace's Daddy. Weren't the scenes between Babe and Kevin also killer? Talk about some great chemistry! It's too bad these characters are on separate shows, because for a brief moment, I actually liked Kevin Buchanan again during his scenes as a father with Babe. It was refreshing not to see him scheming against his wife or plotting his next political move. It's a complete contrast to his paternal skills with Duke, the son he basically ignored all of his childhood. It's amazing Duke is so civil to his father after the little time Kevin actually spent with him. Maybe seeing Duke as a grown adult has forced Kevin to the realization that he really fumbled with his fathering duties the first go around, so he had better make up for that with Ace. Unfortunately, Kevin, you're about to realize you aren't Ace's daddy at all...that honor goes to...wait! We still don't know! Who's his daddy? Those astute viewers of both AMC and OLTL know that Paul TOLD Babe that J.R. Chandler (son of the infamous Adam Chandler) is the father of the child, but we know how capable Paul is of telling the truth (yeah, right). And if anyone watched the recently re-aired AMC episode involving the baby switch, you would have picked up on the subtle way Paul told Babe this news. He said, "If you want it to be J.R., it's J.R." Hmmmm....sounds reliable news to me, don't ya think? It could go one of two ways: first, baby Ace could be Paul's child (because Babe and Paul DID have a brief fling!). This would be the more unpopular way to go with viewers, especially if Paul isn't around to help raise the child (hint, hint!). Second, the popular way to end this paternity bewilderment is to have the child be that of Jaime Martin, son of Tad and Brooke on AMC. That would appease the disgruntled viewers who A.) were sick of the baby switch storyline to begin with and B.) resent the jerk that J.R. has become. But, both of these options leave Kevin without an infant to care for. Knowing Kevin, he'll probably breathe a sigh of relief and devote himself fully to political campaigning.
Then we have the BIG revelation that Antonio is not really a Vega; rather, he's the infamous eldest son of Manuel and Isabella Santi. I must admit, I'm not a big Antonio fan. I never have been. With that said, watching his recent scenes have been what has kept me coming back to OLTL every day this week. Connecting a Llanview citizen to the Santi family is what should have happened from the very beginning (and not just mentioning that Dorian and Manuel bore a child together in the form of Adriana). The scenes between Carlotta and Antonio have been amazing! Some think that the actors are chewing scenery; I think that the emotions have been heartfelt and genuine. These actors have been working together for up to ten years. I'm sure that the revelation that they are not related on the show makes performing these scenes easier and more realistic. Watching Antonio fight back tears (and notice how he always faces the other direction...nobody sees his emotion get the better of him) and then turn back to face his mother with a confident, unsettled look has been great television! I'm not a fan of the story or the rewrite in history (again!), but I do like how the actors have made lemonade out of lemons. Antonio's life has changed forever, and the plethora of storyline opportunities that await his character is just beginning. Imagine---Llanview's top cop being the son of an infamous drug lord!
By the way, with all of this history being rewritten, wouldn't it be great if Malone could reveal that Viki's heart was donated by someone else and that Ben is actually alive?
I can dream, can't I?
Enjoy the week,
Ryan
