Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms on the site and a special Mother's Day to you mom - I love you.
In honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to focus my comments on the mothers of Llanview. Honestly, I feel sorry for most of them. Instead of getting: pancakes with sprinkles, coffee that would do a truck stop proud, fresh-picked flowers, handmade gifts, all kinds of hugs, kisses, and special attention from their precious babies most of the moms in Llanview are getting grief or heartbreak.
Let's start with Gigi. I'm not much of a fan of hers, but I give a character props when it's due. Gigi deserves props for what she had done for Shane over the years and recently, during his illness.
She put everything on the line for Shane including her own happiness. I know some scoff because Gigi remains tight-lipped around Rex about Stacy, while she gave Brody the okay to tell Jessica the truth. However, in Gigi's mind she struck a bargain with God to save Shane by giving up Rex, not Jessica. Telling Rex the truth would be going back on her promise.
I happen to think God would never make such a bargain with a soul in need, so I don't think He would have any problem with Gigi exposing Stacy's evil plot. However, what I think is not the issue, it's what Gigi thinks. In her heart she believes that God expects her to honor her word. Nothing short of divine intervention is going to change her mind.
That's why I imagine it had to be doubly crushing for Gigi to have Shane confront her about an affair she didn't even have. How can you not want to defend yourself to the one person whose opinion means the most to you?
My heart bleeds for Shane because he's going through a lot right now. No child should have to deal with cancer much less his parents breaking up. Those are devastating blows. Despite that though, I was annoyed that he made such a public spectacle in his mother's work place and talked to her the way that he had. This woman was at his side when no one else was; she deserved better than that.
It's going to be a downright awful Mother's Day for Gigi this year, especially since Stacy will no doubt to rub it in Gigi's face that Shane hates his mother. It's unfair because it should be a time for celebration for them as a family.
Speaking of Stacy. I half expect Schuyler to invite Stacy to the prom - or Operation: Deflower as it's become known - and then arrange for a bucket of her blood to be dumped on her. What is with him suddenly? And why exactly is he so hot for Stacy? Even if we are to believe their version of the past, we know that Stacy was never that into Schuyler. How could she be when she claims to have loved Rex all of these years?
So what prompted this great love for Stacy that Schuyler has? More importantly, why is Schuyler suddenly acting kind of creepy with all his blood sleuthing in the name of saving Stacy from herself?
Maybe Lola has been giving him lessons.
Then again, I can't imagine Lola having the time for Schuyler what with all of her skulking in hallways, plotting revenge, and blabbing to Dorian about Operation: Deflower.
I bet Dorian had a moment of, "Why did I adopt a teenager?" before her mother instinct kicked in and she began plotting ways to murder Markko. Dorian has always been an exceedingly protective mother. It is why I think Cassie and Adriana keep themselves at a nice safe, non-interfering, distance from her.
I feel for Dorian because she's really in a no win situation with Langston. If she forbids Langston and Markko from having sex then she might as well hand them the condoms. If she takes the opposite approach, she might be giving them the green light into forging ahead with something that they aren't quite ready for.
My hope is that Dorian will take a deep breath, sit down with Langston, and point out that if they are afraid to buy condoms and are resorting to giving such a monumental event names like Operation: Deflower, then perhaps they aren't quite ready to make love yet.
I don't know about others, but I am really loving Roxy these days. When she first came on the show I thought that she was one of the worst characters to hit the screen. Over the years her sense of humor and quirky ways won me over. However, there was always something lacking when it came to Roxy as a mother. She had a serious drinking problem and neglected Natalie shamelessly. Rex, it turned out, she didn't even really raise.
Maybe Viki's influence has rubbed off on Roxy. Or maybe it was realizing that kids tend to love their parents even when they don't do the best job of raising them. Whatever it is, Roxy has tried to come through for her kids in recent years. I don't always agree with her methods, but I respect her determination.
Terminating John Doe's life-support wasn't exactly a brilliant move - it was essentially attempted murder - but she did it for the sake of her son. There's something about John Doe that presents catastrophic danger to Rex, and by extension Shane. The fear of that is what drove her to turn off those machines. Roxy wasn't doing it for herself, but for Rex.
This week, she allowed Kyle Lewis to blackmail her into giving him free room and board. It wasn't the threat of the bone marrow switch that terrified Roxy, it was the threat of Rex learning John Doe's true identity that prompted her to give in to Kyle's demands.
Roxy might be a mess as a person, but she's devoted to her children in her own way.
Next, we have Blair who lost custody of her children because she was stabbed and spent a very long time recovering from it. A soap first, to be sure - I've seen people on soaps recover from brain surgery faster than Blair did from her stabbing.
I never blamed Todd for trying to get his kids back or resorting to taking advantage of Blair's situation, but whatever happened to JOINT custody?
Why did it have to be all or nothing? Joint custody would have allowed Todd to take custody of the kids while Blair recovered. It would have also left visitation on the table.
Blair has made many mistakes, like every character on the show, but she didn't deserve to lose the kids like that. When she fought for custody of the kids, Blair had a justified fear that Todd was off his ever lovin' rocker. The man had kept a woman, he'd once raped, a virtual prisoner in his home for months while he brainwashed her. What parent would want that person around their children?
However, through the years Blair has proven to be quite forgiving when it came to Todd. She always relented when Todd settled down and behaved himself. She would have eventually capitulated and let Todd see the kids. This was all so unnecessary.
Unfortunately, it's also moot because instead of spending Mother's Day with the kids, it looks like Todd and Blair are going to spend Mother's Day with a serial killer at a Spring Fling.
This brings me to Starr. Admittedly, I'm a bit confused. I totally understand her grief over losing Hope, but I get the feeling that things aren't going to end, the way that we think they will, when the truth is finally revealed.
For a while now, I've had a sneaking suspicion that, if given the chance to have Hope back, Starr wouldn't be so quick to give her up for adoption. It wasn't Starr's admission that she picked Marcie to adopt Hope, in part because Starr knew it would hurt Todd. It's the way Starr talks about Hope to Cole. She doesn't sound like a birth mother, she sounds like a mother.
I'm happy that Starr and Cole are working their way back to each other. It's better this way. Schuyler is hot but I don't think it would have been a good message to those young girls, my daughter among them, who watch the show because of Starr. I don't want my daughter thinking it's romantic to hook up with a teacher. It's not; it's illegal.
I'm also hoping that with their reconciliation, Starr and Cole will decide to keep Hope. If not, I'd want them to let Jessica adopt her. The baby will remain in the family and she will have a sister to grow up with. Hope has bonded with Jessica and her family; it would be horrible to take Hope away from that.
With Marcie and Michael exiting the show, I really don't see the point of letting them have Hope. I'd rather Marcie have a miracle pregnancy. Hey, it happens all the time on soaps.
Admittedly, I also want some happiness for Jessica and Brody. Both have gone through some really ugly things over the past year or so. It would be nice to see them both catch a break for once.
Well, that's all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading my column. I'm always happy to hear back from readers so please feel free to drop me a line to share your thoughts about the show. Until next time, take care.
Liz Masters is a freelance writer who occasionally submits news stories for Soap Central. She is filling in for Dawn this week.
