Now that the status of Rafe’s humanly presence on earth has been resolved beyond the shadow of a doubt we are finally moving far, far away from that long and winding road we   traveled to get us and him to this point.   With the exception of Livvie lingering on and the status of her baby, which was dispatched in record time this week, thankfully there is very little left to remind us of the last two arcs.  This third week of NAKED EYES saw one important development, a situation I’ve commented on before and longed to see again, one that PC so desperately needs, family connections.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, without strong familial ties to ground them, at least in some way, characters flounder and bounce about in a vortex of everyday soapdom, never sticking to anything or each other for too long for that matter.  We’ve seen precious few moments of such family connections of late, the characters mainly preoccupied within themselves, the story for so long based on one plot taking center stage, interaction between the ensemble cast limited at best.  My fellow viewers, the times they are a changing (to borrow from Bob Dylan) you can smell it in the air, like the unmistakable scent of fall, winter  lurking just around the corner (ok so I’m faking it somewhat living by the beach in Southern  California but I did come from back East so I do remember and truly miss that smell, honest).

I realize that PORT CHARLES is never going to be able to fully explore generational continuity in its 20 minutes of drama sandwiched between commercials, and that’s fine for the most part.  Enough can be intimated and implied off screen, as long as that continuity remains, for us to have a sense of those family connections in our minds at any given time.  Case in point, the Scanlons.  They have pretty much been MIA these days but because enough history has been set up over time we feel their presence anyway.  Frank has been out there on his own for the most part but we can sense and feel his ties to his mother and brother without actually having them around. 

Yes, I hear you all now, soaps are about love and romance.  While I do agree, that’s what most viewers want to see most of the time,  eventually however with nothing backing up the romance it gets old and stale forcing the writers into their vicious circle of breaking up and reuniting couples ad nauseum.  If we could just also see those romantically linked couples’ relationships with and connections to other characters on the canvas it would add tremendous dimension to their personalities, add more interest and depth to their character traits, foster greater potential for exciting story lines alongside the romance.  A more satisfying experience for all. 

Enter Elizabeth Barrington.  Her chance meeting with Rafe somewhat contrived, but somehow it worked if you didn’t think about it too much and making her grand entrance to Alison in that fashion was pure soap set up at its finest.  Elizabeth Barrington is serving many interesting  purposes here, some obvious some yet to be revealed, but for now the most important of which is to flesh out the character of Alison Barrington and in so doing provide Rafe and Alison with their first real life challenge as an earthbound couple.  What a refreshing change from the constant Rafe/Alison angst we put up with for 6 months.  It’s been a long time since Alison has had something to preoccupy her time with aside from screaming at Livvie and saving Rafe’s soul.  We’re all well aware of the poor, sweet rich girl growing up alone and unloved by her globetrotting absentee parents.  It’s been a key component of Alison’s motivations since she appeared onscreen.   The introduction of her mother at this point in time to reinforce those motivations, to force Alison to grow up, to force her to face the abuse of her childhood was either a brilliant idea by one of the writers or one of those happy coincidences that occur despite the writers.  Because frankly, unless Rafe and Alison’s ties to their respective families are explored and built upon, their one dimensional personalities will prevail, forcing yet another break up to keep them fresh and interesting.

Seeing Erin Hershey Presley in scenes of substance is worth accepting the despicable side of Elizabeth’s character. She takes performer of the week, much to my surprise, for her most nuanced portrayal of Alison to date.  Her confidence as an actress all of a sudden so apparent, I’m officially impressed, never having been much so before.  No secret I always thought she was barely keeping up with Brian Gaskill and even Kelly Monaco for that matter.  Erin Hershey Presley  has matured the character very quietly, she’s even grown into her considerable beauty on screen.  She has a grace about her that is so fresh and appealing after all the vixens soaps are populated with.  She struck just the right balance this week between feeling sorry for herself, reconciling the loss of a father she never knew with the fantasy she always held of him, and expressing the pain of absentee parenthood and the lingering effects and insecurities that kind of abandonment carries, even into adulthood.  Kudos to her.   Finally character motivation behind the personality.  There is no doubt Elizabeth has her own agenda  which is carefully unfolding.   We can all guess that her main motivation is money, she cares not one iota for her daughter, but there’s definitely more going on, simmering beneath that cool privileged exterior.   Her link to the band is intriguing and has enormous possibilities, the set up for many questionable encounters with Rafe well established too.  Good piece of casting as well, the two look like they might actually be related, even sound alike, but what is really astonishing is how much Erin Hershey Presley and Anne Jeffries resemble each other. These three actresses together in the same room were believable, strong women and great to watch.  The potential for an explosive power struggle between the three generations is just laying itself out there for us.  I hope the writers capitalize on the opportunity it represents. 

Musing on about satisfying connections and experiences, Lynn Herring and Brian Gaskill have so much chemistry together that their scenes are always a treat to watch.  These two play off each other so naturally and effortlessly, its fun for the audience and it looks like its fun for the actors themselves.  Rafe needs Lucy now more than ever, and vice versa.  She understands him completely, she offers him a grounding he can’t find anywhere else.  It’s been roughly ten years since he’s lived on earth as mortal, he needs someone other than Alison to connect to in a real and lasting manner.  Someone with more experience than Alison to guide him through the murky waters of life’s endless decisions.  Someone he can turn to who won’t judge him or his actions.  And that someone is Lucy.  She represents the family he never had, she represents a past he can embrace, even if he had no participation in that past and going forward, her love and support will help him deal yet again with more evil, dark forces coming their way.  Lucy herself is at a crossroads too.  The presence of Rafe in her life provides a tie to family that she always desperately wanted.  With her manufactured family crumbling at her feet she will cling to Rafe and all he represents, grounding her in the process as well.  While we would be hard pressed to need any more character development of Lucy, she’ll do more for him than he will for her, this developing relationship is only going to make them both richer, opening up endless opportunities for interaction on all sorts of levels not just emotional ones.  Lucy and Rafe keeping PORT CHARLES free from evil, can’t you just see the juicy possibilities here. 

Hints have been dropped, and none to subtly at that of a Lucy connection to Elizabeth Barrington which I suppose just furthers the point to this musing.  As these characters become more entwined, more tied to each other through family lineage the stories can’t help but become more character driven as opposed to plot driven,  as we know the best stories always are.  We need to follow those characters, live the story through their feelings, thoughts, actions, motivations, base our understanding of the why’s of the plot on them, not the other way around.   We can accept and invest in the outlandish situations they find themselves in - vampires, angels, slayers of evil forces if those motivations are believable and truthful to the characters’  nature and if they can play off the multi-faceted personalities that will inevitably emerge as they insinuate themselves deeper into each others existence.  It’s a domino effect really this interaction and connection of and to each other, makes for successful plot lines, ones that’ll really hold your attention.  Ones that remind you this is why we watch PORT CHARLES.   

Well, if all this doesn’t strike you, the fabulous promo  ABC is running for this arc should be enough to pique the interest of anyone who sees it, old and new viewers alike.  If the writers follow up on the intricate weaving of characters done so beautifully in this promo, if they give us at least a small dose of their  ties to each other, the intrigue, mood, danger and excitement that we’re being teased with here,  NAKED EYES just might live up to its considerable hype.