All hell broke look this week in the Crane mansion, thanks to Ivy Crane's deep secret. Ethan is not a true Crane, but rather a mere Bennett! All of the performances this week were outstanding, from Ethan to Sam to Julian. However my vote for this week's Spotlight goes to Ivy Crane. Kim Johnton Ulrich finally got some juicy material to sink her teeth into and she pulled it off effortlessly.
Portraying the love-lorn Ivy for all of these months finally had it's payoff when she had to portray her character as both heartbroken and determined all at the same time. Ivy did everything she could think of to convince Julian that he was wrong with his accusations about her and Sam Bennett (telling him was a "drunken fool"). The emotions that Kim had to go through to bring this character to life in front of all these people was fabulous. Retelling the story about her love affair with Sam all those years ago is something that we have only seen in flashback mode, but with the words tumbling out of Kim's mouth – it finally gave it a life all it's own. To witness her trembling as she recounted the events of long ago, as well as emit the hatred that Ivy has towards Julian and Alistair because of their treachery was wonderful. Kim's performance was well worth the wait, thanks to some wonderful dialogue. But it takes a seasoned actress such as Kim to make it completely believable. It's times like this that I find myself absorbed into what I am watching, and when the scene is over, the "trance" that I was under wears off and I realize that the actor has done his/her job – they have pulled me into their scene and made me feel like I was standing there with them watching it all unfold in person. The raw emotion that was projected by Kim was intense, and at the same time, gratifying. To finally witness Ivy stand up to everyone and everything after all of these years keeping her secret tightly guarded was most shocking.
This week was most impressive with the performance by James Hyde. When his character, Sam, found out that his wife not only lost their baby, but was going to die because she had given up on life, Sam was beside himself. The only thing that could bring her back was Sam's love (when did we last see that one?)
James' performance as the devastated Sam was so heartfelt and pure, I was actually amazed. He has never been given kind of performance before. He is always relegated to doing the hero, the loving husband who always fights for the rights of everyone else. But now he was faced with pulling off a devastated husband and father, and truly showing his emotions and love for his wife. While he sat next to Grace's hospital bed, telling her how much he loves her and needs her, my heart bled for him. He has never doubted his love for Grace or allowed Ivy to persuade him to even think anything other than loving his wife. This emotional performance was exactly what his character needed to once and for all secure in the minds of the viewers that he is the loving man he has always claimed he is. To admit his mistakes to Grace about not telling her the truth, as well as declaring his love for her. With tears rolling down his face, and his voice cracking, James turned in a marvelous performance as a man who is totally devoted to his family, on the verge of losing everything – because of what he didn't do years ago.
Ben Masters was wonderful as the scorned husband this week, but he did turn the heat up on Ivy just a little bit. With Rebecca plotting to break up the entire Crane family (unbeknownst to anyone else), Julian orders Ivy to pack her bags and move out of the mansion immediately. He informs her that she is no only going to be penniless, but completely destroyed when he is finished with her. Ivy scoffs at the idea of a divorce, claiming Alistair will not approve of the bad publicity (like he hasn't had enough of that already). Julian angrily tells Ivy that her little secret has already made front-page news across the world, that there is nothing worse that could come from this divorce. He argues the scandal she caused gives him the perfect excuse to divorce her. With every breath, Ben Masters really drives home the notion that he is completely and utterly destroyed by what has happened. Ivy puts up a strong front, but its clear that she worries that his threats will come true. Ben plays Julian perfectly every single time, and lately he has thrown in a little bit of heart into the character. It's been a joy to watch him go from squirming fool with his father Alistair, to raving lunatic with Ivy to sex puppet with Rebecca. If he doesn't receive a nomination for his portrayal of the snobby Julian, I don't know what I will do.
I know that we have all been waiting for a very long time for Grace Bennett to grow a spine and backbone. Well if finally happened these past few weeks because of her unfortunate accident at the Crane Mansion. That knock on her head didn't just give her a slight concussion, it also gave her a brain and a whole lotta nerve!
She is finally standing up to the people and things that have hurt her and speaking her mind about all that has happened. To find out that your husband didn't tell you about his past with Ivy was stupid (on Sam's part) and then to also find out that their affair produced a son, which Ivy tried to pass off as Julian's – was immoral (according to Grace). While at the hospital recuperating, you start to see her meanness when she is with Sam. The cold, bitter eyes and sharp tongue are just the tip of the iceberg. She really lets loose on Ivy and causes an earthquake (which nobody else in Harmony seemed to feel). No matter what Sam says or does to Grace to show her that he still loves her more than anything, she continues to give him the cold shoulder. Finally, she insists on checking out of the hospital, despite Eve's reservations. Grace swears she senses something is wrong at home. As Grace grows more agitated, Sam, Eve, and TC are taken aback by her anger. On her way back from the hospital, Grace insists to Sam she senses the presence of evil in their home. Sam asks Grace if she still loves him. He's hurt when she admits she doesn't know if she'll ever trust him again.
I am thankful that the writers have given Dana Sparks something to sink her teeth into. I know she is a much better actress than what we have been seeing for the past 2 years, and frankly, I am a little surprised that she has remained on the show playing a character that had no foreseeable future. I'm glad that she stuck it out, because now it's like we are watching an entirely whole new character develop right before out eyes. Dana is doing a wonderful job at portraying the scorned wife whose marriage is not as perfect as everyone thought. I just hope that with his newfound anger and hurt, she keeps the waterworks to a minimum.
Last week it was Grace Bennett, this week it’s TC Russell. It looks like the two dumb-dumbs are finally waking up and seeing what’s been going on right in front of their eyes.
With Eve’s secrets on the verge of being revealed, thanks to the DNA test to find Chad’s biological parents, TC started to put two-and-two together about why Eve has been so strange lately with regards to this test. Now he believes that Chad could be Julian and Eve’s son from an affair that they had years ago. TC recalls some of the previous conversations that he overheard between Eve and Julian, and Eve and Grace, and finally is seeing what has been right in front of his face all along.
But this time when TC starts to suspect what is really going on, he surprises us all by NOT blowing up like a madman and attack either his wife or Julian Crane. Instead, he slowly seethes about the news and keeps himself calm. He knew he had to wait for the test results to be revealed before he can accuse his wife of being Chad’s mother. He confides in Sam Bennett, who thinks that TC is nuts.
Rodney Van Johnson was finally given was wonderful material to work with last week, and it was way overdue. I’m tired of seeing some of these characters portrayed like they don’t have a brain at all, that they have been living under a rock for the past 20 years. With raw emotion, Rodney was able to pull of the conflicted TC with such quiet force, you almost couldn’t recognize it at all. Glaring down at Tracey Ross as if she were his real-life wife was pretty scary in itself, and then to also come to terms with the fact that his daughter might be falling in love with her half-brother. Lots of emotions running through these shows, and all of them were made just a little better thanks to Rodney’s portrayal of a man betrayed not once, but twice, by the same man who ruined his life years ago (Julian).
This past week, one of the most drawn out scenes, but one that had a lot of heart, was watching Eve slowly find out of Chad Harris was her son, whom she thought had died right after birth. When Alistair finds out that Eve is running a DNA search for Chad's real parents, he begins to seriously panic. He has his lackey at the hospital try to prevent her and the rest of the family see those test results. While Alistair's henchman causes a power outage, and subsequently makes him delete the test results, Eve is sitting at the computer terminal dying a slow and painful death. She fears that if Chad is her son, her life will be ruined (which it will be). To complicate matters more, TC begins to act really strangely towards his wife, and he confides in Sam Bennett that he believes Chad is Eve and Julian's son from a previous affair. As the day rolls on, Eve sees how her husband is acting and questioning her and really begins to sweat. Grace, throughout it all, tries to convince Eve to tell her husband the truth.
Eve was given numerous chances to come clean about her past, and now she has dug herself into such a deep whole, that she will never be able to climb her way out of it. She really gave herself away with those test results because she was taking so long to come up with them from the beginning. Tracey Ross gave a good performance as the completely stressed-out and panic-stricken Eve Russell, who was watching her life crumble right in front of her. She made you feel sorry for her because of the heartache we might have had to admit to, yet at the same time, she made you feel angry with her for not admitting her past and trying to deal with the present. She obviously is torn between two worlds, and that is not a great place to be in.
By unanimous decision, this week's Spotlight goes to Miguel and Kay. Kay admitted her true feelings (again) to Miguel to try and stop him from entering the portal to hell. The look in Kay's eyes said it all, "Please, don't leave me!" Miguel, a little shocked at first, realized that Kay wasn't just saying those words to prevent him from rescuing Charity, but that they came from the heart. When she informed him that she has loved him for as long as she can remember, he realized that he too, has loved her for just as long. He told Kay that if Charity hadn't come along, they would be together as a couple, instead of just friends.
The way that Kay and Miguel looked at each other and spoke was wonderful, and both actors deserve a round of applause for pulling it off in such a tender and romantic way. Although Miguel is completely head-over-heels in love with Charity, didn't stop him for admitting his feelings for Kay. And to top it all off, Miguel gave Kay a kiss before entering Charity's bedroom to try and save her. Kay could do nothing except say goodbye and watch him walk away from her. This entire scene was extremely sweet and finally gave these two characters a major turning point that they have needed for some time. I'll bet that once Charity is rescued, things will never be the same for this teen threesome. Looks like a real love triangle is about to take off.
Ok, it seems a little weird to be giving this week's Spotlight to a bunch of demons and a serpent, but you have to admit – these scenes, as hoaky and they were, were incredible with there special effects.
Thanks to the special effects staff, these hellish characters were brought to life and gave this storyline the punch that it needed. For almost 2 years, we have been hearing about the Dark Side and witchcraft, but now we have finally seen first hand what it all boils down to. Granted, it seems like it is very over-the-top, but without the gargoyles and the serpent, and the walking dead inside Charity's closet, we would probably get extremely tired and bored of this story. But it has come to life (so to speak) and given it a final shot in the arm. I applaud the writers, directors, special effects team, and the entire cast for pulling off an extremely difficult bunch of scenes.
There were a few really good performances during this entire “Final Fury” week, but I am giving it to James Hyde. He showed not only that he can handle the physical work involved in pulling off these scenes, but also his conviction as the wounded husband who will stop at nothing to keep his wife and family together.
One minute, Sam Bennett is trying to save his family from the burning house they are trapped in, thanks to the demons in hell (which he didn’t believe existed at first). His police chief mode went out the window and he was thinking purely as a father and husband. His decision to try and fight the demons single handedly was brave and courageous. The next minute, he is telling Ivy Crane to keep away from him and his family, because thanks to her lies and manipulations, he is loosing the one thing that means the most to him: the love of his family.
How he was able to show such concern and caring for Ethan when he tried to rush into the burning house to save the kids, to give off such hatred and disgust to Ivy when she rushed into his arms to thank him for saving their son. It is not an easy thing to do for an actor, to switch their personality gears so quickly and convincingly, and James pulled it off flawlessly. Adding to this entire scene, was the look of pure surprise on Ethan’s face when his father told him “I may have already lost a daughter and niece, I am not about to loose a son too!”. That sealed it for me, his intensity was truly believable, and I for the first time, realized that Sam is not going to have an easy road ahead of himself. I’m sure we will see more Spotlights given to James for his work in the future.
We all know how much of a protector Pilar is when it comes to her family, and loved ones. But this past week, we got to see Pilar really get her temper up, and again it was aimed at Ivy Crane.
After catching Ivy leaving a love letter for Sam (at their former secret meeting place in the park), Pilar again tells Ivy that she is making terrible trouble for the people of Harmony. She tells her that she will end up alone and broken hearted when all this is done with, because Sam will not leave his wife for her. Ivy gets very upset at hearing this and tries her best to convince Pilar that she is wrong. But Pilar, being the God-fearing woman that she is, really laces into Ivy and tells her she must stop what she is trying to do. Eva Tamargo Lemus doesn't get that much in the way of good writing, therefore, good scenes to act out. But when they do come along, it's wonderful watching her interact with the other characters on the show. She may come across as being holier-than-thou, but you have to realize that a large majority of the Hispanic population is very religious and spiritual. It is a nice thing to see Eva portray her character with such fire and emotion, it truly pulls the viewer into the scene with her and makes you see things from her eyes. Let's hope that with the summer storylines heating up, Eva (Pilar) is given some more hot stuff to work with (and giving her a man would be nice too).
Well finally we got to see Natalie Zea bare her fangs last week. Since joining the show, she has stepped in and made the role of Gwen Hotchkiss her own, still keeping some similarities of Liza Huber in effect. But she wasn't given anything close to the scenes that Liza had right before her departure. Natalie has been relegated to the constant whining, ex-fiancée that she portrays.
However, things finally changed a bit when her character Gwen walked into the Crane mansion and saw Theresa trying on wedding dresses. Something in her snapped and she marched right up to Theresa and told her that this wedding is not going to happen. She proceeded to tell her that she knows all about her dirty little secret and is going to destroy her. With fierce determination, Natalie brought Gwen to a new level and let the viewers know that she can handle anything they throw her way. We wanted Gwen to tell Theresa the truth so that this damn secret of hers can be out in the open and the next chapter of the storyline can begin. It's always hard to find someone as a recast in a show, especially someone who portrayed their character so effortlessly, but Natalie is a perfect choice, and makes it easy to forget that there was someone before her (no offense Liza!)
That's right – this week I am giving the Spotlight to that dastardly fog that surrounded the Crane Estate. How wonderful was it to see all of these characters do the exact opposite of what they really wanted to do?
Chad coming up on Simone and planting a big, juicy, wet kiss on her thinking she was Whitney. Sam saving Ivy's life, and then telling her that he loves her and will always love her (in front of Grace no less). Sheridan catching who she thought was her fiancée making love to another woman. And let us not forget Julian seeing Timmy alive and running around the house! This was a wonderful way to get the audience into the show just a little bit more by revealing some things that we suspect will happen in the future, but not actually telling us that they will happen. Tabitha and Timmy using some of Hecuba's potion to cause the fog was brilliant, and then watching them watch the Harmony residents from within the cave was quite funny (although maybe predicted).
I for one, believe that this is going to be a long, hot summer in Harmony. I just wish they would still pick up the pace just a step or two. When the heck are Theresa and Ethan going to get married?
Looks like Sheridan finally grew a backbone this week. After spotting "Luis" in bed with another woman, she was more determined than ever to break off all ties with her fiancée, and vowed never to be taken in by a man again.
Upon arriving back at her cottage, fuming over what she saw with her own eyes, Julian and Rebecca are there to conveniently comfort her. Of course, they just add fuel to the fire and get her more upset about Luis. When Luis arrives, he is stunned to hear that Sheridan saw him with another woman and that she never wants to see him again. Sheridan tells Luis that she will hate him forever for what he did and tries to get him to leave the cottage for good. Throughout this entire time, Luis is proclaiming that it wasn't him she saw and that he loves her and wants to be with her. Sheridan stuck to her guns (for the time being) and told him to leave. That he has hurt her the way no other man has ever hurt her and will never forgive him for it. Although Luis tries to repair whatever damage has taken place, Sheridan stays strong and determined to not be a cowering, little girl anymore.
Give this girl some much overdo credit (even though Luis was right all along). She stood up for herself and proclaimed that she would not be victimized anymore by men. Let's hope she follows through with that proclamation when Alistair tries to work his charms on her in the future.
What an about face Chad Harris has made since joining the show more than a year ago. Chad arrived in town determined to find out who is real parents were, and make them pay for abandoning him. With that built up anger towards his parents, he had become a very tough, street-smart young man, making his way in the world completely on his own. His trust of everyone and everything was non-existent.
Then came Whitney Russell, and their eventual love for one another. With that love, there was also friendships in the likes of Ethan Crane and Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald. True friendships that made Chad realize there is a lot more to people then what is first perceived. Donn Swaby has done a wonderful job in showing the different layers to Chad's character. He is tough and savvy when he needs to be, and yet vulnerable when anyone shows him that he is cared about. With the upcoming wedding of his best friend Ethan, Chad has been determined to find out the truth about the tabloid leak, as his way of paying Ethan back for all of his kindness and friendship. When he discovered that it was Theresa's computer that the incrimination email came from, Chad had to battle his own demons within. His loyalty to his friend, or to allow true love to win out.
Donn has shown so much growth as an actor, and I'm sure we have only just seen the tip of the iceberg with his abilities. He brings his character to life with such realism that it is sometimes hard to make a distinction between Donn and Chad. I can only sit back and wait and the ensuing months go on, to see more incredible depths to Donn's talents
All I can say is … WOW! What a performance by Kim Johnston Ulrich this past week. When Ivy finally opened the envelope and read the tabloid headline that Theresa was the person to send the email about Ethan to them, she literally hit the roof.
We've seen Ivy get really upset and angry in the past, usually with Julian and Rebecca, but this performance takes the cake. She was completely enraged at the fact that a girl whom she had trusted and loved her son would betray their trust in her. Ivy's demeanor went from mad to angry to crazed in a matter of a minute or two. Kim portrayed a mother who was not only heartbroken, but also wounded because of the pain her son had suffered. Shouting and screaming at the top of her lungs that "I'll make her pay!" was just the beginning.
We watched Kim become a completely different person once reading the news about her son, and in doing so, Kim transformed herself from the usually stuck-up, spoiled, rich wife – to the roll-up-her-sleeves and lets kick some ass woman we witnessed. From trying to jump out of the window to breaking down the bedroom door, all in the hopes of getting to the church in enough time to stop the wedding. Then after arriving at the church, we see another side of Kim, when we once again gave Ivy another dimension and made her act and look like she was literally out of her mind. The facial expressions, the darting eyes, all part of this wonderful character that has finally been given something new to work with. Kudos to Kim for a job more than well done.
Who would have thought that things would get so out of hand at the double wedding? (haha). All of Theresa's secrets came tumbling out, and Ethan was left standing there speechless about what he has just discovered.
Through it all, Pilar stood tall and stood her ground. It takes a strong person to be on the receiving end of the verbal attack she and her daughter had to suffer at the hands of Ivy and Gwen. It was almost like they had planned out this event, some sort of WWF tag-team main event. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and Pilar had to defend her daughter to her future mother-in-law, as well as Ethan's ex-fiancée.
Eva Tamargo Lemus hasn't been given all that much in the way of meaty dialogue, and when she does get it, it's when her character has finally had enough of the treatment she has had to endure at the expense of the Cranes. Well this time, it's no different when Pilar stood up to Ivy and went tongue-to-tongue with the mighty Crane lady. Eva got to flex those acting muscles she keeps hidden underneath her maid's uniform. It was a pleasure to watch her interact with so many people, especially Kim Johnston Ulrich, who is another powerhouse actress that doesn't get her due a lot of the time. Eva brought Pilar to a new level with her emotions and fear over her daughter's ruined happiness. To get to push Rebecca into the water fountain, as well as to get up into Gwen's face was wonderful. She proved once again that she can handle anything given to her as an actress, and when she gets something to really sink her teeth into, she does not disappoint the viewers.