Posted by RebeccaM and Ms.LibertyBlend on Sunday, October 4th

The blonde streaks, the carefully enunciated speech, the flippant persona, the extraordinary vocabulary . . . do any of these characteristics sound familiar? If you've been watching Gina on your television screen, then you are surely aware of these traits. We have seen Kristian Alfonso manifest these qualities on screen as she has gradually begun to cultivate the Gina personality. We've noticed a difference in her looks, her voice, her gestures, her airs . . . and in the words of William Shakespeare, "But this denoted a foregone conclusion."

Gina has become a significant presence on "Days of Our Lives" and in honor of this glorious character development, we have compiled a list of Gina's characteristics. Please keep in mind that this is a "working document." We will continually add, delete, and revise the finer points of analysis as Kristian Alfonso continues to explore her characters. Also, please note that we have only presented examples from what we have seen thus far on our screens. Since it appears that we will see two Ginas in the near future (the sharp, edgy, cold Gina who carried out Stefano's dirty deeds and the elegant, cultured Gina who lived the glamorous European life), this character analysis will ultimately require revision. So now, without further adieu, we present to you. . .

***RebeccaM and Ms.LibertyBlend's*** Practical Guide to Princess Gina

SEEING EVIL

~ Gina's appearance is the most obvious thing that distinguishes her from Hope: The "exquisite" (her word) gowns, the decadent jewelry, the bold streaks in her hair, and the fanciful hairstyles (complete with feathers on at least one occasion) are all Gina. Gina has style, she exudes confidence. All of this is obvious in the way she looks and carries herself. A specific example of this might be the way that she always holds up her hand to be kissed by the gentlemen . . . she does it in a way that demonstrates she knows her royal station. They showed a flashback of this on Thursday's show. And remember when she held up her hand to be kissed by Stefano on the Empress Express when she introduced herself to him as Princess Gina? THAT was a Gina moment!

~ Gina has distinct mannerisms. Observe the way she swivels her head around and looks out of the corner of her eye--and the cold stares she gives Bo. Also, noteworthy is the way she plays with her hair and jewelry by twisting it seductively around her fingers, and the way she plays with objects in her hands, splaying her fingers and twirling the objects around. Two good examples of this come to mind: The first was when she picked up the photo of herself with Bo and Shawn-D on Wednesday. For one thing, she was completely devoid of emotion as she looked at it, thus indicating it had to be Gina and not Hope. But in addition to that, as she held it in her hands, she seemed to be almost balancing it on her fingertips. The second instance came at the end of the show where she had the tiara in her hand and was telling Bo what a wonderful life Gina had led. She was twirling that tiara through her fingers very capriciously. Then she morphed back into Hope, and at that point she was holding it firmly in her hands--until it began to spook her and then she suddenly threw it down like it was a snake about to bite her.

~ At the same time, when agitated, Gina's anger is evident as she clenches her fists, etc. To illustrate, recall when Bo was hypothesizing about Stef's having stolen Hope's memories and given her the Gina identity. As she walked away from him, her body language was very telling. She was clenching her fists, and didn't seem to know what to do with herself, then she finally folded her arms in front of her. Could we be seeing the first signs of some impulsive violent streak peeking through? Hope so! In any event, Gina is always animated, much more so than Hope.

~ Gina makes direct eye contact--she will not be challenged. However, she gets shifty-eyed when she is switching back to Hope. Remember when Bo was first telling her about Greta's being in the cage. The minute he said "scarred", she started to look around nervously, then turned away from him, and when he said "I thought she was you," that was something that definitely disturbed her. It's not entirely clear what was going on there. Either she was trying to remember something, or Gina was hearing that and didn't like it because it presents difficulties she doesn't want to deal with. She clearly perceives Bo as a meddling pest. Then again she became shifty-eyed when she was in transition at the end of Wednesday's show. She went from looking daggars at Bo, to getting spooked by that tiara and throwing it down. It was at this point that she was shifting back to Hope. She looked at the tiara, somewhat alarmed, and said, "Our hell might not be over yet, Bo." Then she quickly threw it down, almost as though she was afraid of what it represented (she should be!), and then added, "In fact, I think it may just be beginning." Yikes!

SPEAKING EVIL

~ The vocal affectations (it's not an accent) when present are the most obvious indication that we're listening to Gina and not Hope. Even where it's less obvious than it was on the train, the long vowels and short, staccato consonants are still clear giveaways that Gina is speaking and not Hope.

~ Gina has an expansive vocabulary: Using words like exquisite, brilliant, beholden, astounding, fascinating, forge, pursuit, elude, subconscious, etc. These are words Hope would rarely, if ever, use. And certainly not a string of them all together. It's an upper-crust vocabulary. Here's a specific example . . . on Wednesday's show, right after she was telling Bo about her life (and they had the flashbacks) she said "That's why I must forge ahead and keep on with this pursuit . . ." (to discover more about her life as Gina, that is), "before she eludes my subconscious memory altogether." Even Bo was like, Huh?

HEARING EVIL

~ Gina sounds like royalty. Her voice is calm and quiet and confident. It almost sounds as if she whispers her lines. When she was telling Bo about her life on Thursday's show (and they showed the flashbacks of her on the Empress Express) and she talked about playing baccarat and practically breaking the bank . . . she said, "It was astounding" and then she added how she was "untouchable" -- she almost whispered those lines. Also, Gina's pitch is higher, her voice inflections go up rather than down at the end of sentences--it's almost sing-songy. A specific example of her voice being higher and the inflection rising at the end of a phrase is on Wednesday's episode, when she was telling Bo about her life as Gina and she mentioned all these things she did "just like Gina did" -- her voice was at a higher pitch and she used a different inflection.

~ However when challenged, Gina can be loud and confrontational. It seems apparent she doesn't care for Bo too much. Clearly it is Gina and not Hope who keeps insisting there is no future for them. It was Gina who initially snapped at Bo when he expressed his concern about her losing her own identity in this quest to find out more about Gina: "Why would I do that? I won't." She slipped back to Hope however when Bo said, "Good, because I won't let you. I'm not going to lose you, Hope. Not again." It was Hope who was moved by that, who took his hands in hers and promised him that she was right there and that she was never going anywhere--a far cry from Gina who doesn't even believe they have a future together. These inconsistencies are bound to cause some confusion and concern on Bo's part as they become more pronounced over the next several weeks/months.

~ When she's morphing back to Hope, however, her voice drops off, and she gets nervous and stumbles over her words. At times it appears a very abrupt transition. She stops for a moment and then suddenly she has shifted back.

In short, Gina is bold, and very sure of herself. She has this brash confidence about her. As she described her adventure on the Empress Express to Bo, she flat-out informed him, "I was brilliant!" It's this confidence, combined with the apparent absence of conscience and innate ruthlessness, that should serve to make her quite a package. Bo better watch his back because there seems to be little doubt that Gina views him as an obstacle to her and Stefano/Rudolpho's "plan", an obstacle easily taken care of permanently. Recall her indifference to the picture of the three of them, her obvious irritation whenever he would suggest that they have a future together. It shows how unemotional she is about others--Gina seems more self-absorbed. Also, she doesn't seem to appreciate his dismissing Gina's life as not "her" life, as though the only real person here is Hope and Gina is just a creation, existing only in her mind.

This is the first step in Bo's redemption: If he can stick by her, despite Gina's trying everything in her power to drive him away, he will be leaps and bounds closer to winning back Hope's heart. And that *IS* the ultimate destination in this journey!