I always knew that Starr had a big future ahead of her, but I didn't expect her to shoot someone in her teens. In an intense fight with Bull, Starr pulled the trigger for the first time, wounding James and feeling terrible about it after the fact. I think she even surprised Todd with her actions, and that's not easy to do. As much as I dislike the focus on the teens recently, the fight scene turned out to be good, and it will be interesting to see what happens to Starr as a result of her shooting someone. I wonder if that moment will forever change her.
I think Starr proved that she is somewhat like Todd last week. She was able to think quickly and take action in a crisis, just as Todd was cool, calm, and collected when confronting Bull with the money. I have liked seeing this side of Starr. She's had to think for herself and help herself as she and James tried to get Bull off of their trail. Instead of letting things happen to her, Starr took charge and did what she thought was best.
Then she came face-to-face with Cole, and she returned to the whiney person she usually becomes around him, as he interrogated her about her time with James. It's convenient that Cole didn't mention that he almost cheated on Starr with Hannah, and he was quick to blame all of his false beliefs on Hannah's manipulations. While Hannah did a great job of twisting reality, I think Cole needs to take more responsibility for his actions than he has so far. I guess it doesn't help that John let Cole slide after jumping bail. Why would Cole accept responsibility for anything when Marty and John continue to let him get away with stuff?
I feel bad for Marty, though. She is going through a lot of emotional turmoil not knowing who pushed her down the stairs. I cringed as she demanded answers from Hannah, even when Hannah made it clear she wouldn't say anything. She wants answers, and she looked desperate trying to get them from Hannah. I wonder what her reaction will be when she discovers Eli did it. That should be interesting, since he has represented her son!
I think Hannah and Eli met their true match in one another, not romantically speaking, but as schemers. It was interesting to watch them compare methods of manipulating other people. I don't think it was the best idea for Hannah to hire Eli as her attorney if she already knew that he pushed Marty down the stairs. He doesn't have motivation to provide her with a zealous defense if he is trying to cover up his own actions! Hannah can be smart, but she gets sloppy with her decisions at times. Did she really think that he would accept her threats of telling John the truth? Hannah's major flaw seems to be that she underestimates people, and that could cost her big-time with Eli, since he has no problem with using violence to get what he wants.
That brings me to the big question. What is Eli's motivation in all of this? There has to be a reason that he's gone to so much trouble to frame Hannah and to bully Ford into doing what he wants. I think revealing Eli as the attacker was done very well. I also didn't expect him to be Bennett Thompson. However, we have to learn why he is a bad guy. It looks like he has a score to settle with the Cramer women, if he is the one who killed Kelly's mother, but why? I don't want to see Llanview have another villain without a clear reason for being one, so I hope the explanation is good. While I think it was clever to make Eli the attacker, I am also disappointed by it.
I really liked Blair and Eli as a couple before we learned the truth. Blair finally found someone to focus on other than Todd, and Eli seemed like a good guy without an agenda. It was a different experience for Blair, and she is happy. Now that we know that Eli has probably been using Blair to get near her family, it's going to be difficult to watch their scenes. I hope the story about Bennett Thompson turns out to be a strong one that captivates me, because it has a strike against it so far for ruining a good couple.
I am glad that Jessica finally told Brody the truth about seeing Ford on prom night. Maybe we will see fewer flashbacks of that night now that more people know about it. I wish Brody had shared his own secret about his night with Natalie, but at least one secret is out. It's interesting that Jessica keeps questioning if Ford is being truthful about whether they had sex that night. I am guessing that this means that they did, and Ford is lying about it for some reason. If that is true, I really hope there isn't an unexpected pregnancy as a result. We don't need any more of those!
As for Dorian and David, I hope they stop with their childish antics and realize that they still love each other. It was kind of fun to see David pour water over Dorian's head, since she needs to be put in her place sometimes, but they've got to face their reality. I would much rather see them get back together than watch them continue their games of jealousy with Viki and Charlie this summer. All four characters deserve a better story, and putting Dorian and David back together while allowing Charlie and Viki to enjoy their own marriage would be a good start.
I think the best scenes of the week were with Todd, Téa, and Dani, and then later on with Téa and Blair. I thought the Dani's reaction to Téa's illness was realistic; it was just how I would expect someone who has been through everything she has been through to react. She was felt anger, pain, sadness, and even guilt all at the same time. Todd and Téa's reactions were also realistic. They couldn't handle watching their daughter be so upset over the news, and Téa felt like she was abandoning her daughter. I like how Todd assured Téa that Dani will be okay and actually comforted Téa instead of denying that Téa will die.
I am glad someone was there for Dani after she ran away from Todd and Téa, but I don't think it should have been Nate. I think Dani should have run into Matthew instead. I don't want them to get back together as a couple, but I think it would have been a good way to mend their friendship. I am sure Matthew would have put aside his issues with Dani to comfort her after she learned such horrible news about her mother. We could have witnessed an emotional moment between two characters we know, instead of watching Nate give his thoughts on the topic of mothers keeping secrets. In my opinion, this was a missed opportunity for Dani and Matthew to move forward as friends, but maybe they will still do that when he finds out about Téa.
Florencia Lozano has been doing an outstanding job with this story, along with the actors that are involved. Her scenes have been intense, emotional, and I can feel Téa's sense of sadness and devastation about her being near death. I don't think Téa will die, or even if she does, she won't stay dead. It's just the nature of the stories about terminal illnesses on soap operas. However, this story has been the impetus for some powerful performances, including some moving scenes between Téa and Blair. Blair promised Téa that she would make sure that she and Todd would always be a part of Dani's life, and the strong bond between Blair and Téa was moving. I hope we get to see more scenes between them before the conclusion of Téa's illness.
I am glad that Cristian and Layla finally arrived at Layla's mother's house. They took the extreme scenic route to get there, but at least they did! Cristian must really love Layla if he is willing to accept Lisa as his mother-in-law. She strikes me as someone who doesn't think anyone is good enough for her daughters, and he already has a strike against him because of Evangeline. I am glad that Layla was able to accept her mother saying "It's fine" as her blessing of their engagement. Lisa certainly wasn't going to give Layla anything else to go by, but Layla made the best of a strained moment.
It looks like it will be a difficult week coming up for Layla and Cristian, however, as it appears that Evangeline has taken a turn for the worse. I think it was ridiculous to have the camera do a slow pan to the hospital bed when all we were going to see was a monitor covering Evangeline's face. I realize that the face can't be shown for obvious reasons, but it was a lame way to end the week, especially when it was supposed to serve as the beginning of an emotional story for all involved.
Until next time,
Dawn
