Soap Opera Update
December 5, 2000
Vol. XIII No. 49
LAST CHANCE? Has Viki Finally Given Up On Todd?
By: Sheila Steinbach
Family Ties: Why OLTL's Viki has
stood behind her brother Todd through good and bad…
From the time she found out
that Todd Manning was her half-brother in 1995, One Life To Live's Viki
Carpenter tried to see the good in him, even though others thought she was out
of her mind. Let's face it: They thought he was a lost cause. However, Viki has
never wavered, and there have been times that a lesser person would have tossed
him out and never looked back.
After being presumed dead from gunshot wounds in Ireland while he was trying
to help Patrick Thornhart, Todd returned to his wife Blair, involved with
Patrick. Todd managed to keep his return secret, except to Viki, who helped him
see his daughter Starr because she knew the one person who meant everything to
him was his little girl. Todd repaid Viki for her kindness by kidnapping his
daughter Starr, but still, Viki didn't give up on him. With Viki's help Todd and
Blair might have gotten back together, but she discovered that she was pregnant
with Patrick's child, and that drove Todd over the edge. Todd wanted custody of
Starr, so he entered into a business arrangement with Tea Delgado. She would
marry him to show that Starr had a stable home life and he would give her five
million dollars. It worked. However, after a while, Tea couldn't take anymore of
Todd's actions and wanted a divorce. Viki tried to convince Tea to give Todd
another chance, as did Sam Rappaport, Todd's lawyer and only friend from
Chicago. Todd finally told Tea that he loved her.
End of story? Not by a long shot. Once again, Todd found himself in trouble.
When Georgie Phillips was found murdered, Todd was a suspect. Paranoid that he
was being set up, he went a little overboard in his efforts to clear himself,
but he was able to accomplish his mission. Facing jail for his actions, Todd
came up with a brilliant defense. He kept his plan secret.
While Todd had spent the better part of his Llanview life causing problems,
Viki had problems of her own. In 1995, after Dorian told Viki that her father
Victor Lord had sexually abused her as a child, Viki's personality split into
several alter egos. It took quite a while for anyone to discover what was going
on, but when they did, Viki discovered that she was the one who killed her
father. Viki also learned that Todd was her half-brother.
Her personality disorder under control, Viki tried to help Todd, but he
couldn't be deterred from his evil ways. The last straw came when Viki learned
that Todd had faked DID (dissociative identity disorder) to avoid jail. With
that, she vowed to wash her hands of him.
When Todd recently returned to Llanview, Viki's life was in chaos. Jessica
had run off with Cristian and Will to keep Will out of jail. Viki herself was
going through a horrific time, having been diagnosed with breast cancer and
undergoing treatment. Todd being Todd, found Jessica, pretended to help Will and
also discovered that Nora hadn't died in the train wreck. Todd got Will out of
the country, but didn't really care if Will ever reached his destination or not.
He also rescued Nora, only to keep her at a convent for a month before bring her home. All the while, Todd thought his actions would endear him to both Sam and
Viki, but he was wrong. This time, Viki is ready to wash her hands of him
completely, but will she?
“I think she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. At the same time, she
had so convinced herself that because of this wonderful thing he did – bringing
Nora back – that he had decided there was value in being a better person,” says
Erika Slezak (Viki). “So she's surprised and bitterly disappointed in herself,
too!”
“I think it's a big flaw in her character that she refuses to see what's in
front of her face. She really wants to believe, through her own experience what
happened to her with her father, that there is hope for everybody. My own take
on this is that she does not have the power to take this person, who is not a
nice person, and make him want to be better. To a certain extent, you really
think you're getting through to somebody and think they're going to change, and
then, hello, nothing changes. It is disappointing. She doesn't want to give up
on Todd, because she does feel responsible and guilty – although she shouldn't –
because of his treatment by their father. She feels that she has to somehow make
it up to him for the childhood he didn't have, for the riches and things he
didn't have. So I think a lot of it is tied up in this guilt and I think at this
point, she has to write him off. She says she's going to, but she's Viki, so she
won't,” laughs Slezak.
