After all of the excitement at the church during the double wedding ceremony, last week's events felt lackluster in comparison. I guess that's the problem with revealing so many secrets at once; after it has all been revealed, anything else just doesn't have the same impact. There were some good moments last week, but there was a lot of stupidity and denial to drown the good things out!
I have reached the conclusion that Joey is an idiot. He has always been idealistic and naïve, but marrying Aubrey like he did was stupid. It was clear she was desperate to get married right away, and he missed the cues. It didn't help that they got married in the same location where his sisters' lives were shattered that same day. Joey has been determined to ignore everyone's warnings about Aubrey, and now, I guess he will have to learn the hard way. Between marrying Aubrey in haste and asking Kelly to stay and watch, Joey proved he wasn't thinking at all last week.
Meanwhile, Charlie decided to forget about his woes by cheating on Viki with Echo. I hate that he did this to VIki. I liked Charlie and Viki's story of how they met and how Viki found happiness with him in an unexpected place: Paris, Texas. Even with Echo's meddling and Charlie's susceptibility to it, I still rooted for Charlie and Viki to make it. Now, I think he should move in with Echo at the Minute Man. While Charlie has every right to be upset after learning that Rex wasn't his son, Viki also went through a lot that day with her daughters, and Charlie completely bailed on her. It makes me sad to give up on this couple, but Charlie isn't even trying to be a good husband, and Viki deserves better.
While Charlie was cheating on Viki, John was seeking revenge on Natalie by sleeping with Kelly. I hope this wasn't foreshadowing of John and Kelly becoming a couple. I don't see anything between them, not even a good friendship. Kelly wasn't a good friend when she first saw John after the confrontation at the church. Without even asking what happened, she declared that her day was worse. I guess she gets points for getting John out of that ridiculous bar fight, but she acted very self-absorbed. At the same time, John used Kelly to deal with his anger at Natalie, so wasn't there for Kelly either. I hope that their one-night stand remains just that. I don't want to see a pregnancy or any other complication resulting from it.
Moving along to the teen scene, I honestly don't know why I am supposed to care about Nate and Dani's relationship. It seems like the writers are trying to turn them into the next Starr and Cole with their "love" being forbidden by Todd. Nate and Dani asked for trouble when they decided to have sex in Todd's house, so I had a difficult time feeling sorry for them. The other problem is that I still don't care about Nate as an individual. I still think Dani should have stayed with Matthew or been on her own for a while. She and Nate feel like a forced couple, and their story isn't compelling. I just hope they aren't the subject of a musical at Llanview High School this year.
I know I previously said that Starr and James had a spark between them, but it seems to be gone now. All they do is talk about nothing and share awkward pauses these days. I don't know how two characters can share so many scenes, say so many words, and still have nothing come from it. They either need to stop trying to deny what they want or move on with other people. Enough already!
Speaking of denial, Natalie still seems to be in denial about the lies she told. She knows she messed up, but her constant justifications of her actions need to stop. She claims she lied to protect Jessica, but she really lied to keep John. Jessica was right that Natalie did everything for herself. Natalie had ample opportunity to reveal the truth, long before things got as bad as they did, but she wanted to have the life she wanted, so she kept quiet. I wish Viki hadn't sugarcoated what Natalie did; I know she wanted to comfort her, but I think she was giving Natalie false hope when she speculated that John would understand someday and come back to her. Viki is a loving mother; she just needs to be tougher at times.
I bet Natalie will really wish she hadn't lied to "protect Jessica" once she finds out Tess has re-emerged. I think I could have gone for much longer without seeing Tess again. She was fun when she initially appeared, but her last stint was awful, and she wore out her welcome. I really don't want to see Robert and Tess become romantically involved. It's bad enough that Robert is allegedly the father of Jessica's baby. If this is an attempt to have a Tess/Nash redux, it's not going to work.
The only interesting thing that came from Robert and Tess's scenes last week was finding out that Tess re-emerged on prom night before Jessica left Robert. I know people wondered if that had happened, and now we know for sure! I am glad she didn't stick around at the time, though. I hope Tess's return is brief and that she doesn't try to kill anyone this time. Is that too much to ask?
People have been asking me what I think of Blair and Tomas, and I don't have a firm opinion yet. I like that they are getting to know each other slowly, and I love that Blair acknowledged she needs to be more careful with men. However, I haven't seen them enough to know if they could be a good couple. There is too much mystery surrounding Tomas right now, and mystery men rarely work out for Blair. We'll see what happens with them, but for now, I can't say much about them.
Finally, I am amazed that Clint took Aubrey's deal of making his legal issues disappear. Clint has the money to hire the best lawyers available, so why would he take Aubrey's deal? He doesn't want her in the family, he has damaging evidence against her (even if Joey refuses to entertain it), and he doesn't trust her. I hope this is part of a bigger plan to expose her. Otherwise, Clint is seriously losing his edge!
Until next time,
Dawn
