PLEASE NOTE:  These columns are "rebroadcasts!"  Sherry wrote about Port Charles a solid TWO YEARS ago, but they correspond to the episodes of PC we're seeing aired on SoapNet right now, so it's exciting to read them again!  Enjoy!

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE:  March 14, 2002

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited and honored to have my very own column here on Eye On Soaps.  I've been a fan of this site and it's varied columnists since it's infancy, and am so pleased to be a small part of it.  I'll be attempting to give you a regular commentary on the current happenings around Port Charles and whether you agree with my opinions or not, I hope that you will get some enjoyment from reading them.  I would ask that all my readers please know that the opinions I give on any given day are truly the way I feel that day, but aren't set in stone.  With soaps you can't always wait to see how things end up because they don't ever end.  And what looked really bad yesterday often looks better when you see what tomorrow brings or vice versa.  I've also gotten very good at seeing most characters in more than one light, so just because I enjoy a character doesn't mean I can't see why others find them completely appalling.  And it doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good humorous barb about them now and again.  I really try not to take my own, or anyone else's opinions too seriously. 

 
Most importantly, I want everyone to know that I really love and enjoy these shows or I wouldn't be spending valuable time watching and then writing about them.  Any criticism's I give are meant to be (okay, mostly) constructive criticisms with a twist of humor, of course!  So the goal here is to enjoy the great shows together and to use a little humor and sarcasm to get through the not so great ones. 
 
Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing :)
 
Sherry
 

********************

Let me start with a small disclaimer:  I enjoy PC a lot and watch as often as I can, but there have been times when that has been less than I’d like.  Obviously this means that there is the potential for me to have missed things here and there, so I ask that you be gentle with me and know that I am fully aware that I’m not an absolute expert on Port Charles.  I welcome your comments and hope to learn about anything I’ve missed that could be clouding my opinions J!  Lets dive right in… 

Rafe: “You were sleeping and I thought I could run out for a few hours…”  

Alison:  “…People run out to get milk or to gas up the car, not running up to Heaven to hunt around looking for hints on perspective dead people…  Stop getting so crazy about this killer chair…”

Seriously, does dialogue get any more interesting than that?  It’s really fun to just suspend belief with this show and ride with the flow.  Not to mention how downright hysterically funny the dialogue itself is sometimes.  Soaps have a way of making us talk about things that would make us sound crazy to someone who isn’t a viewer, and that’s half the fun for me.  And on that note, lets just get right into … 

Who will fill “The Fifth Chair”?  I have to say that this arc has kept me fairly in the dark for most of the time.  I find I’m figuring out the next secret not long before it’s spoken by the character, and sometimes not until it’s uttered.  That’s what makes this soap work right now (or maybe I’m particularly dense these days!); we are constantly trying to figure something out which translates to continued interest for most people.  The logical assumption to make is that it will be someone linked to the dark angel whom we now know is Amy.   So that makes Eve, Ian or their baby the most likely targets.  Since she’s in love with Ian, and they better not kill the baby, that leaves Eve.  Because she suddenly became happier than she’s ever been…well, I don’t see that as a good sign.  Inevitably, when a soap character is walking on air something bad is gonna happen!  The bride/groom runs off, someone’s sleeping around on them, vampires or something equally threatening is coming…whatever it may be, it won’t be good.  So due to the foot of air under Eve’s shoes, I’m going with her.  Ian is a close second though, and even if either one is the “seat filler” that doesn’t mean that they won’t be around after this arc, after all half the characters are already dead right now.  

How cute are Rafe and Alison?  I liked Jamal and Alison together quite well and I feel terrible for Jamal right now.  And since Rafe and Alison got together very quickly and under not so great circumstances, you just know a great triangle is going to develop.  There’s no way Alison is really over him already, though she’s doing a good job of hiding that these days!   

Personally I don’t really miss seeing Lizzie and Jack, I’m not a really big fan of theirs.  And they were so much the focus of the vampire stuff that I was really ready for a break.  I don’t really have a problem with their acting; it’s more just a preference for other characters I guess.  Like Chris, I do miss seeing more of him – I’m hoping to see an arc entitled “All about Chris – with a few others thrown in sometimes!” soon!  But that’s obviously a personal preference.  I am impressed with the actors they picked for the angels, while not one of the characters is all that likeable being that they are messing with our lovely PC residents, you still don’t hear that many complaints about all the newbies.   I miss the regulars I’m not seeing but at least I know I have a shot at seeing more of them at the end of this arc, which is a positive compared to other soaps where you have no idea how long you might have to wait to see someone who’s been back-burnered.  It’s early yet in the “arc” experiment, but they seem to be trying to rotate who is the main focus.  With a half hour show, it’s hard to get enough of anyone to begin with so… we’ll see how it goes with the next arc!  

Okay, that scene where Lucy was watching Kevin stroke Paige’s cheek and listening to him say “So beautiful, amazing”, etc?  Obviously we knew what was going on but if I were Lucy I would have been doing a lot more than pointing to my ring and talking about being the “wife here, married and ring and stuff”!  I’d have been slapping him out of that mesmerized state he was in.  On the other hand, she handled the next issue quite well – telling him to get painting so they could get rid of her.   

Casey and Ricky don’t really interest me much either.  With Gabby gone Ricky is probably another good candidate for the chair.  He’s not really very integral in anything else except I guess as story for Jamal while he and Alison are apart.  I’m sure there is some secret there that I either missed or don’t see coming!  By the way, hasn’t Ricky ever heard of lying?  I mean if he was that worried about getting medical treatment that he obviously really needed, he could have just made something up about getting mugged or something so he didn’t get into trouble with his parole.  Not that I’m trying to negatively influence a youngster, but c’mon – he should run over to GH’s Sonny’s house and get a quick lesson on how to receive medical treatment without incriminating yourself.  It’s got to be better than bleeding to death! 

I’ve heard some people commenting on the angels and how they aren’t really very angel-like.  And I’d have to agree with that, who knew angels were running around causing as much trouble as these are.  So if Paige tempted Kevin, and he wanted to have one of those chats with his little shoulder devil and little shoulder angel, how exactly would that go?  The devil saying, “do it” and the angel saying “yeah, do it right now”??  Hopefully we are supposed to assume that our own personal guardian angels are a bit more on our side than this group is!   

Let me close with my praise of Ed.  I’ve been waiting awhile to get to say this!  I love Ed.  Just love him, and I wish they could find a way to keep him around longer too.  If Rafe gets to stay on earth then I think he needs a full time supervisor available at all times – Ed, of course!  I love the command both actor and character have over every scene he’s in.  His scenes with Rafe especially, are lots of fun.  If he’s leaving at the end of this arc, I’ll be sad to see him go.  But the positive side of that is there’s always the next great temporary addition to look forward to, Charles Keating and Michael Easton were fun to watch too and I’m sure that PC will keep giving us a chance to see some great actors in some really fun roles.  Roles they may not have taken if they were longer term, so I’ll be happy with what I get to see of them!   

Well, that wraps up my first try with this J Please feel free to let me know how I’m doing; I’d love to hear your input!   

Take care,

Sherry