Soap Opera Weekly
November 6th, 2001
Vol. 12 Issue 45
Hit Or Miss:
The Mother Of All Reveals On OLTL
by Travis Kinsey
WHEN IT
COMES TO BIG SOAP REVEALS, One Life To Lives's Jessica not being
Clint and Viki's daughter was about as big as they come. Still, the
"I'm-your-real-daughter" twist has been so overdone that these scenes could
easily be have been ho-hum. But this revelation was anything but boring, thanks
to some brilliant ensemble acting.
Erika Slezak's Viki has always been
formidable, and she was here too. A person would be crazy to mess with this
woman when she's mad. But Slezak had a worthy adversary in soap newcomer Melissa
Archer. As Natalie, Archer gave as good as she got. Before the big reveal, Nat
toyed with Viki, warning her that she didn't know what she was in for. As
foolish as such a statement sounded in light of who Nat dealing with, Archer
made the words believable and ominous, getting right in Slezak's face, bringing
an intensity to the scenes that heightened the drama long before the actual
reveal.
When the secret finally did come out, Barbara Garrick's performance as
Allison, the plan mastermind, was chillingly calm. As simply as if she was
reading a grocery list, Allison recited how she took Nat as a baby and replaced
her with Jessica. Garrick's matter-of-fact tone demonstrated that Allison is as
deranged today as she was when she kidnapped newborn Natalie. Garrick let
Allison relish being in control, and the simple pleasure she exhibited was
positively scary. Interestingly, the person most affected by the reveal had the
least to say.
Erin Torpey held Jessica almost in suspended animation as these
scenes played out. The look on her face went from disgust to shock to a
surprising - though tentative - acceptance. As Viki fought valiantly against
what she was being told, Torpey played Jessica as someone who, while obviously
shocked, was entertaining the idea that what she was hearing could be true. Jess
said little, but we can't say enough about these electrifying scenes."
