Does anyone else feel like OLTL is becoming the Santi hour? The Santis are slowly taking over Llanview, leaving other characters with less screen time. I remember a few years ago that some people felt the same way when the Rappaports arrived in Llanivew. Eventually, most fans accepted and even grew to like the Rappaports. Will the same thing happen with the Santi family? I am not so sure. The Rappaports shook things up when they came to Llanview with several of the main characters at that time. Sam became a major character in Bo and Nora's storyline, which led to the demise of their marriage. Will got involved with Jessica, and Lindsay married and divorced Clint, and then she was just Lindsay.
Later Ben and Grace (Davidson) showed up and were placed in relationships with Viki and Kevin respectively. While the Rappaports and Davidsons were involved in practically every storyline, their presence made sense and made the show more interesting. Many people were anti-Rappaport at first but still continued to watch the show. The Santis have not achieved the same status, at least in my opinion. They are peripheral characters that do not interact with many other characters on the show. With the exception of a few conversations with Dorian, Antonio, and R.J., Tico and Sonia have largely kept to themselves.
These characters are connected to Antonio, Carlotta, Adriana, and Dorian. However, Carlotta and Adriana are is not around that much, and Dorian is busy with Kelly's situation. Dorian has no time for the Santis, and I am beginning to think neither do I. Every time a scene at Lion's Heart begins, I consider using the fast-forward button because it just drags too much. The storyline involving the Santis started out with many possibilities. There was 100 million dollars in an undisclosed location, and there was an unofficial race to find it. Now, that money has been forgotten; we are forced to watch Sonia and Tico repeatedly discuss their plans for Llanview. Is anyone else bored by this?
Since it doesn't look like the Santis will be leaving anytime soon, I have some suggestions for making them more interesting. First, Sonia and R.J. should become a couple. Several people suggested this a couple of weeks ago when I suggested pairing R.J. with Lindsay. Now that I think about, Sonia and R.J. seem to understand each other, and Sonia doesn't have a problem with R.J.'s past, which has cost him relationships before. Second, I think Tico needs to interact with other people in Llanview besides Jessica, Antonio, and Dorian. On Friday, he showed up on Kevin's doorstep with the plan of buying the Banner Sun, so maybe if he does buy the newspaper, my second suggestion will be accomplished. Third, give Sonia, Tico, and Angelina fewer scenes per show and per week. They were on so much last week, that if anyone had turned on the show after not watching for a while, they would have thought it was a different show. None of these characters have been established enough to merit being in every other scene on most days. Maybe the Santi storyline will become more interesting, and the characters will become a part of Llanview as the Rappaports did, but for now, I do want to see them less!
The Santi storyline isn't the only one that inundated Llanview with new people. The Love Project brought several new characters that, for the most part, have failed to hold my interest. Of all of the new characters, Mark is the only I can see staying on the show with any purpose. He has become friends with Marcie, and Jen and Riley seem to like him too. Mark's character hasn't been developed much, but that can come with time. The others, however, should not be shown again after the community center is completed. They are basically still one-dimensional, cardboard-cutout college students who have not become friends with Jen. Riley, or Marcie.
I thought perhaps this storyline would develop the character of Shannon McBain more, but so far, that has not happened. Shannon is still a character without a purpose, although I did like her scenes with John earlier in the week. Maybe if she spent more time with her relatives, she would be a better character. This is true for all of the new characters in the Love Project. They are isolated from everyone else in Llanview, and they lack purpose. Of course, they won't be isolated after the men of the project strip for all of Llanview to see, but watching all of these characters all summer has made the summer seem very long! Hopefully, when all of this is over, the new community center will actually be used, making the Love Project more than just a filler storyline.
I realize I have focused on the negative aspects, so I will now point out what I do like about the show. After all, it is a hard job writing for a soap, since the writers don't get time off like other television writers; coming up with good storylines all year 'round has to be an arduous task. So, in an effort to balance the bad with the good, here is the good:
1. John and Evangeline: It is great to see two people with a mutual attraction move forward with their relationship. They aren't playing games and are being honest with each other. Plus, they actually seem to be happy!
2. Bo and Nora: While their getting locked in the meat locker was somewhat contrived, I liked the things they said to each other. Bo is finally acknowledging that he still has feelings for Nora, and hopefully he acts on that. Their last scene together showed that their relationship had been elevated from just friendship. As just friends, they probably would have hugged, but they both felt so nervous, that all they could manage was a handshake! Hopefully this moved them closer to reuniting (without having to be trapped in any more random locations).
3. Jen and Riley: For a long time, I didn't think Jen would ever be in a good relationship, and I didn't think Riley would become an important character. Thankfully, I was wrong on both counts. They are cute together, and their becoming a couple could be the best thing to emerge from the Love Project!
Feel free to write me with your thoughts, and have a pleasant week.
Until next time,
Dawn
