While watching One Life to Live in the past 2 weeks, I found myself wondering "Is this necessary?" about several storylines. It seems like storylines are being stretched beyond their limits or that there are plot twists that don't make sense. Watching the show has been like sitting in a waiting room without your name ever being called. It's time to move forward with storylines instead of letting them drag on indefinitely.
For months, we have watched Bo and Nora discuss their marriage, scream at each other about it, and try to move on with other people. We have been subjected to countless scenes with Bo and Paige and Nora and Daniel. The only thing that has kept me watching is knowing that Paige and Daniel aren't going to be the next great loves for Bo and Nora. However, Nora accepting Daniel's marriage proposal was just maddening. She looked absolutely horrified when Daniel asked her, and it took an argument with Bo to get her to accept Daniel's proposal. Does anyone believe that Nora and Daniel's marriage will last or that they will even get married? Why would Daniel want to marry Nora after she basically said "I'll marry you. I don't have any better offers." She didn't say that exactly, but she really wasn't enthusiastic about accepting the proposal (until she saw the ring!). Nora is one of my favorite characters on this show, but accepting Daniel's proposal as a reaction to her argument with Bo was not one of her finer moments. To make matter worse, we don't really know anything about Daniel. It's hard to be interested in a couple, when one of the people is basically a mystery. As for Bo and Paige, all they seem to do is talk about Nora. We know very little about Paige, and her relationship with Bo hasn't given us any insight to her character. Some people have speculated that she has a dark side, but there haven't been any indications of that yet. In fact, we know even less about her than we do about Daniel. We haven't been given a reason to root for either couple, and their scenes are so boring that I want to fast forward through them. I am tired of having to watch these couples interact day after day. If the ultimate goal is for Bo and Nora to reunite, what is the point of pairing them with other people for this long?
Meanwhile, Margaret continues to keep Todd as her prisoner. Why? I am not sure. Todd has gotten out of many impossible situations in his life, and yet, Margaret has managed to outsmart him more than once. Having Margaret return in the first place was unnecessary; we've seen enough of Todd and Blair's attempts at getting married ruined. To have Margaret still holding Todd prisoner several weeks later is really pushing it. I still can't believe that Blair didn't think that Margaret was behind Todd's disappearance right away. She and Todd both have strong survival instincts, but Margaret's antics are still prevailing. It seems like Todd and Blair's instincts and strength have been watered down in order to prolong this storyline. Mrs. Bigelow is the only one who considered Margaret might be behind Todd's disappearance, while Blair was too quick to accept that Todd had abandoned her and the children. In my opinion, the Blair we know would have at least considered Margaret as a suspect, especially since she was adamant about Margaret staying away from her family. I am happy Blair is finally taking matters into her own hands to find Todd, but it took her too long to get there. Changing characters for the sake of a storyline doesn't work; the viewers know their characters and have trouble accepting changes like this. This whole storyline has seemed like a way to fill time, rather than one that builds relationships, develops characters, or prepares characters for the future. This needs to end soon; I can't watch much more of it!
The murder investigations for Paul and Tico are dragging on and are going no where. It seems like no one in Llanview cares who killed Paul, and the only person who cares about Tico's murder is John McBain. Paul's murder investigation hasn't been mentioned recently. but Tico's murder investigation took a very strange turn. Why would Michael McBain be a suspect? Did he ever meet Tico or even cross paths with him? Michael doesn't have a motive for killing Tico, and he was upset when he found ou that Tico was dead. Maybe John has to consider him because of the gloves, but this had better not take too long. Meanwhile, we saw Cristian having a flashback of pulling the plug on Tico. It could be a long time before John finds out about this memory. but he really needs to stop focusing on suspects that don't have a motive and who didn't even know the victim! At this rate, we may never know who killed Paul, and John may never figure out who killed Tico. Some viewers speculated that having 2 murder mysteries going on at the same time would be overwhelming. It turns out that it is underwhelming instead. It is time to wrap up both murder mysteries and move on to something new.
Speaking of moving on, Kevin needs to do that regarding Ace. It doesn't make sense that he would want to start a legal battle over Ace, when he knows he doesn't have any biological ties to Ace. He needs to say goodbye to Ace and try mending his relationship with Duke, his real son. Kevin is one of the victims in this storyline. He grew attached to Ace, only to find out that Ace belonged to someone else. However, he needs to accept that Ace's real parents want him, and they have a right to raise him. Most of the people in Llanvie agree with that, except of course, for good old Asa. He is always read to fight for his family and for the Buchnanan legacy. I think it could be interesting to watch the Chandlers over on All My Children and the Buchanans engage in some type of battle. The fun would be to see who would win. Fighting over custody of Ace, however, is not the right battle for these families. The baby swap storyline has gone on for long enough, and I think it's time for the residents of Llanview to bow out and go on with their lives. Keeping Kevin involved in this storyline doesn't serve a purpose, other than to prolong a storyline that has already taken too much time and caused enough problems.
Finally, I must comment on Cristian's return. This is probably the only storyline that isn't dragging on forever. Everyday, we learn about what really happened to Cristian while he was being held captive. It appears that he has been programmed to kill 2 people, Tico and Antonio. Programming Cristian to commit murder doesn't make much sense; it seems like a lot of work to program someone to kill, when there are plenty of hitmen out there. However, I digress. The fact that Cristian has to fight the programming in order to keep Antonio alive is an interesting story. Will he be able to stay in Llanview without putting others in danger? Can he overcome the what he has been programmed to do? Can he live anything resembling a normal life after what he has been through? These are things we have to find out about Cristian, and so far, this story has been told well. I am interested to see where Cristian's character is being taken and what will happen to his relationships with Natalie and his family as a result. As of right now, Cristian trying to adapt to his old life is the only storyline keeping me interested in One Life to Live. Cristian's return cannot hold the show up on its own; the other storylines need to follow suit and move forward.
Have a pleasant week!
Until next time, Dawn
