Blue robes, blueprints and that damn pink sweater!

12 . 27 . 99

It's nice to have the time to ruminate like I once did! And away we go...

MATTESSA/CARMEN:

• The minute Carmen showed up, I noticeably jumped and my first audible reaction was, "eahugh! Get off my screen!" I think her presence only hurt today's show as a whole, to be quite honest. But then again, the whole "Vanessa is the REAL murderer!" angle of this Ben Murder Mystery bothers me to no end. Not only does it waste the talent of MK and KM, but it gives Carmen the OUT that soaps use to keep a character on the canvas after they've done something unforgivable. The only thing worse would be if they completely whitewashed Carmen and turned her into the town martyr (oh wait, that's Drew). The story would've been better served had they left Vanessa out of it completely and simply given she and Matt another storyline. KM is really quite good. The poor guy just hasn't been given enough material to make me take notice before.

   

• Ok, on to this so-called "plot" - this whole Carmen-becoming-Matt's best-friend is downright sickening. I may not know Matt very well, but I know he's not STUPID. And that's how they're writing him now.

   

• Odd mind-picture of the day: Carmen wandering through Tower Records picking through CD's saying –

   

  • "Excuse me, boy? Can you help me?"
    
  • "Yeah, just a minute, ma'am, I have to go stock the newest boy band cd."
    
  • "Peons! I'll get them all myself! What's this? The Chipmunks do Christmas? Oh, Vanessa will like that…"

   

• Ahhhhhhh!! Get out of my head!!!!!!!

   

• Ok, back.. quickly - The Matt we saw in the very first scene just made me want to take him home to Mom. Anyone else just go "awww" when he mumbled that he told the nurse to put the lip balm on? I know I did!

OLISH? JOLIVIA? OLIVISH? WHATEVERISH...

• Actually, I really enjoyed their first scenes together. They're playful and natural with each other, and I really am getting to like RN more and more every day (even in that robe, and even with that beard!). I sat there staring at him in real time today wondering why I liked him so much (and I stress, that I think it's RN that I like more than Josh himself), and I realized that he has very kind eyes. The eyes of an incredibly wonderful man. And I like watching him.

   

• On to the characters/show itself - I found his scenes with Marah to be quite bittersweet. I will applaud the writers in these instances - the situations where they deal with the children going through a divorce and the ramifications that the parents have to deal with are being done very well. And also, in these very situations, I don't really hate Marah! Something I've noticed is that Marah is not nearly as hostile with Josh as she is with Reva. I'll admit to not having watched every Jeva/family scene with complete attention, but I've seen enough to comment briefly.

   

• I've talked a little bit recently with a friend of mine about father's and their place in a daughter's life, and as such, I've thought a lot about it on my own. They have such a special bond, as do mothers/sons, which I'm glad to see that the writers have not forgotten. Shane feels the need to protect his mother, and Marah refuses to see her father's faults in this whole situation. Granted, I can sit here and say that most of this *is* Reva's fault, but in the grand scheme, Marah doesn't hold her father responsible for not keeping his marriage together, which is something she realistically could do. And if she does, she doesn't show it. Their relationship is different than any other they have – and it was showcased by bringing up the past, the memories, the tradition of going skating every Christmas morning (oh, and I'd like to see Marah's friend's mother when Marah shows up on her doorstep on Christmas day! Uh huh!).

   

• Anyway.. Marah finds it easier to blame her mother for her misgivings and lash out at her because she is more like her mother than she will ever want to admit. Marah's got deep-seeded issues going on that I hope they explore as time goes on. One can not grow up as Reva's daughter and not have issues. She feels the need to blame herself for her parent's split, which is a normal feeling for any child of divorce. But while she denies taking on that responsibility (sound like Reva?), she'll do whatever she can to place the blame on the one person she probably loves most in this world (similar to Reva/Cassie). I'm probably losing everyone here, but it makes perfect sense in my head! Let's just say I’m interested (shocker!) to see what they do with Marah in the coming months.

   

• Ummmm-worthy thought of the day: What were those balls with ribbon around them all over Josh & Matt's place? I simply have no comment.

BLOSS/HOSS:

• Up at the cabin, we had the new/old Marler's back together again. Is this getting old? Perhaps. But what I did like what the fact that it seems like (stressing *seems*) Blake is learning something – finally. Pardon me, for I stopped watching in the middle of this decade and didn't see the whole fiasco with Rick & Ben, so I don't know if she's made this kind of self-deprecating denouncement before, but I liked it. I liked that she KNEW she f'd up, and she admitted how scared she was that she'd do it again. JvD seemed a little *off* today – but maybe it was me, I don't know. EK however, once again showed me why I've always adored her and her portrayal/interpretation of Blake. She brings a real soul so an already interesting character.

   

• Holly, on the other hand, made me feel all oogey. Well, her scenes alone with Ross did, actually. I have never been a huge Bloss fan, but they had an opportunity for some really beautiful reconciliation scenes between them, had it not been for the obviously forced feelings they've written for Holly & Ross. If they were going to do this, they should've thought it out better, and made it good. Right now, it's as though they said, "whew! Ok, Liz is back from maternity leave – let's start their new story.. oh crap! What about all this Ross & Holly stuff we wrote 5 minutes before they shot it?" Sad, indeed.

   

• Oh, non sequitur here.. Um, I may not have any kids, but since when do two little boys come running into a room THAT QUIET? The video they're watching back there must be "Winky the Mute Puppy".

Manny:

• Re-watching Carrie's little video (and if none of you have seen it, SEE IT!) just made me realize how lucky I am. Well, how lucky WE are, to have been given such a wonderful couple to watch, enjoy and fall in love with. While I mean no ill-will toward any other fanbases, I truly feel as though we've struck gold, and if someone else doesn't see it - MORE GOLD FOR US! So.. I loved today's show, but it brought up some old Manny issues that I wanted to touch on, hence the separate post.

   

• Shallow Candy says: Was it just me or did Danny look 100 times sexier in *his* blue Hugh Hefner robe than Josh did in his?

   

• Deep Candy says: What a beautiful few scenes we got! And even though I know that not enough credit is given to Joie these days for her wonderfully stoic and graceful performances, I am not ashamed to say that I feel that PAS stole the show today. The full range of emotions were there:

   

  • a man who is swimming in the love that he shares with his beloved
  • a man who is desperate enough to go on the run just to keep her out of jail
  • a man who doesn't care who gets hurt in the process
  • a man who is hopeful for a life that they will share in their new home (where's that nursery?)
  • a man who can still make fun of his wife's spelling ability
  • a man who encourages his wife never to give up on herself and her life with him
  • a man who never wants to let her go, physically
  • a man who is trying to keep his chin up for her all the while physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted
  • a man on the brink.

   

• This man will crumble without her. I don't doubt that.

   

• But I will, indeed, turn my thoughts toward Joie Lenz right now. I will take this time to applaud her performances in jail for the last few weeks. While with any other actress, you run the risk of their constant despair growing tired and boring, Joie never ceases to keep drawing me in with her beautiful subtlety, her passionate emotions, her ability to show the loss of faith and regaining of hope in one fell swoop. Such ranges are extremely difficult, and I feel assured in saying that I don't know if any other actress on the show could pull this off WITH SUCH BELIEVABILITY.

   

• That being said, I will turn my attention to Michelle today. First, and most importantly - the fashion report - Michelle, dear, stay away from sleeveless sweaters! And hon, you're going back to jail - think practical! Some jeans, a nice t-shirt or a sweatshirt for those cold nights without yer lil' mobster would be beneficial!

   

• While, for a moment, I was hoping that Michelle would just agree with Danny and we'd get the "on the run" story that we all want, I knew she would say no. And the fact that it was based not upon what would happen to them (not at first), but to a third party (Frank), was telling. Right there, we had the obvious difference between the two – Danny doesn't care about anyone but Michelle right now, and Michelle cares about everyone BUT herself right now. She cares about Frank's role in this, she cares about what would happen to Danny if they ran away and subsequently got caught. Almost as an afterthought did she stop to realize what could happen to her. Her calmer head prevailed – she knew that if she ran, everyone would think she was guilty.

   

• Danny, who is slowly, I believe, losing his mind, just can't see everything clearly right now. He has tunnel vision, while Michelle is opening up to see the entire picture, and how her actions would effect not only herself, but everyone around her.

   

• This has been the crux of Manny since the dawn of time (ok, well, you know what I mean). Danny, for as much as he loves Michelle, really wasn't thinking of Michelle first in that instance. Looking back at Manny history, Danny always saw his relationship with Michelle from the viewpoint of what he could get out of it. Ok, stop screaming at me and let me explain.

   

• It sounds harsh, I realize, but I don't really even mean it in the worst way. It's simply the result of the way Danny was brought up – to see how every situation he was faced with would effect HIM. In his family's business, thinking of others first gets you killed, fast. He was never really brought up to think that way. While some would say that he put her first by saving her life a year ago, I contend that most of what he did at that time was done for selfish reasons. It was simple. He wanted Michelle, and nobody was going to get in his way. (At the family dinner, to Carmen - "I am not going to let you take her away from me, Michelle is here because I want her here, she belongs with me!")

   

• It was only through their months of living together that he learned how to love another human being selflessly. This is part of the gift that Michelle has given to him during their marriage. This is the one thing that nobody else has been able to give to him – the ability to love someone so much that their happiness comes before his.

   

• We've seen this new Danny emerge more and more since he fell in love with Michelle, and I believe it all started when he lost her and was giving himself up to save Michelle and Pilar from his mother (going to California, for those who have no clue where I'm going with this).

   

• This Danny has reached an even stronger plateau now, when having to deal with his life without the one person who believes in him. As much as Michelle is coming to a place of acceptance of her life with Danny, he is just as much coming to realize that his place is next to her. He's finding the strength in him that she knew existed all along. He's finding it there for her (cheering her up when he himself is in such despair – the necklace, etc.).

   

• But it's not something that will be fixed overnight. We still see parts of the old Danny coming out here and there. We saw it today, and we saw it last week in the cell when he told her that they would use him as a suspect. You can take Danny out of the mob, but you can't take the mob out of Danny. In the mob, it's kill or be killed, and you always look out for #1. It's taken 12 months and hundreds upon hundreds of ::thud:: worthy moments for Danny to realize that the #1 in is life has changed. It's not himself anymore... it's Michelle.

   

• If you want to talk themes, THERE'S one for you. Now go write me a 10 page essay on it! Stat! :)

Candy