With just two weeks left to go in the arc the pace has quickened as set ups unfold for whatever finale(s) are coming down the pipe.  One thing remains certain, at least to me, and since all this is basically self indulgent opinions, here goes.  Not a damn thing  is ending when the collective vision of Port Charles’s inhabitants clears and they are allowed to view their world with NAKED EYES.  There is more to this story, too much to resolve the mysterious goings on in the short time left. And I do believe that is the point.  Bleeding, pun intended, into the next arc is pretty much a sure bet.  But hey, then again, not only is this a soap, it’s Port Charles, anything can and does happen here, sometimes in record time, sometimes so excruciating slowly as to be painful, but in its own unique way, always exciting, surprising and  entertaining.  So place those bets folks, if you dare that is, your guess is as good as mine.  If this week was any indication, what lies ahead  is another 13 weeks of NAKED EYES in disguise.  Not entirely a bad thing… 

So…hmmm…let’s see. Major movement forward, almost as fast as it takes a vampire to move across a room.  Whoosh.

Rafe’s little romp into Alison’s dream backfiring so badly, rattling him so completely, blindly allowing his need to protect his “soulmate” overshadow who he really is. Heavy, deep sigh of resignation here, why Rafe has to prove his humanity to Alison by suppressing  and denying the very traits that make this character so special, so unique, so interesting is something I’ll never digest.  Rafe has more humanity in his those shorn locks than most of the other characters have in their entire being,  but I’m afraid I do understand where it’s going and frankly I don’t think any fans of the character are going to be too ecstatic about it, at least in the short term. But that’s for discussion at a later date my friends.

Normal being the new buzzword of the day, Rafe mistakenly believes changing the exterior will change the interior. Just exactly how do you change an ex-angel, vampire slayer into a normal guy? Good try, but in the end even he realizes it will take much more than a shave and haircut to get the job done. The jury’s still out on the new look, and I am not touching that one with a ten foot pole except to say I am mourning the locks and beard, but, I suppose in the interests of normalcy (by the way who wants “normal”, and whose definition of normal are we following here anyway) it was a plausible change. A rather jarring and quick change, but served its purpose.  Once again Lucy to the rescue, bankrolling the means for Rafe and Alison to build a normal, there’s that word again, life.  Rome may not have been built in a day but my guess is that gym will be, providing a much needed set refresher and new gathering spot.  Once again Lynn Herring and Brian Gaskill have shown us they can do it all together, comedy, drama and everything in between.  When two actors so clearly admire each other and so enjoy working together the fun practically leaps out from the screen.  And now that, thanks to Lucy, Rafe has a legitimate “normal” goal aside from slaying Caleb, and Alison feels comfortable enough to trust in him once more, romance ensued, a throw back to the old Rafe and Alison albeit in an abandoned warehouse instead of an abandoned barn, pushing them closer to that wedding that I wouldn’t take bets on actually happening either. 

Moving both forward and backward is Kevin’s return, or is it Ryan’s return, or is it Kevin, or is it Ryan….I didn’t realize I had missed Jon Robert Lindstrom until he returned so powerfully, and what a grand entrance it was, showing up in Lucy’s bed.  Frankly I was never much of a fan of Kevin, but this new and improved blend of a lucid (?) Kevin with Ryan’s edge has added such new dimension, added such new life to the character that I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Going backwards, beating up that prostitute is Ryan’s m.o., no doubts here but going forward, the outwardly dominant personality sure seems to be Kevin, though I’m not sure if he’s fooling anyone.  I was mesmerized by his little performance with Caleb (I’ve given up calling him Stephen Clay, if we’re all proven wrong then kudos to the writers). No one in town to date has managed to stand up to Caleb in this way, has managed to actually spark a fear of sorts into the vampire.  Hell I was frightened! Kevin always had such a self-righteous, holier than thou attitude, especially when preaching and lecturing to everyone from Lucy to Livvie, but this Kevin, is as sinister and menacing as Caleb.  This Kevin integrates the best of the bad from Ryan, his dark humour and sarcasm, his immorality. The  result is basically a third character that has completely re-energized an original character that had become boring and predictable.  Jon Robert Lindstrom’s and Michael Easton’s scenes together were electrifying, intense excellent drama – well written and extremely well acted.  Kevin’s got Caleb’s number and he’s not afraid to show it.  With our slayer otherwise engaged, Kevin could just prove to be a major contributor to Caleb’s undoing.

Coming full circle, moving forward, going backward, no story is more circuitous right now than Stephen Clay/Caleb.  Rafe said he would eventually start to slip up and make mistakes and he was right. Trouble is the slayer is too busy picking out china patterns and bowing to the will of his fiance to capitalize on these little mistakes, at least at this point.   Every day this week we were thrown more overt clues that this character is Caleb.  His obsession with Livvie daily eroding bits and pieces of his tightly crafted cover, threatening to explode full bore.  The stress of trying to keep it together is really taking its toll, even on the cold hearted vampire. When the desire completely takes over, and he’s very close to letting it do just that, whoa, stand back.  Michael Easton and Kelly Monaco are stronger together than they ever were.  Livvie knows what she thinks she knows and true to form uses her considerable assets to get what she thinks she wants.  Whose manipulations here will win in the end, Caleb’s or Livvie’s, right now I wouldn’t put anything past Livvie and her ability to turn a situation to her best advantage. 

Excellent use of flashbacks to Tainted Love really served to add validity to the obsession, reminded us of Livvie and Caleb’s history, taking the plot full circle, yet serving to move it forward as well.  With 13 week story arcs not providing much history for the show to call upon, making use of what little they have, whenever they can really takes the viewer deeper into the drama, rounds it out, explains its more fully, creating a much more satisfying view.  Contrast Caleb and Livvie then with Caleb and Livvie now.

And finally, no illusions left, much to her horror, Elizabeth revealed as a full fledged vampire, Rebecca Staab playing Caleb’s little hungry slave so perfectly campy.  One more irritation to upset the perfect little charade, to ruin the carefully devised plan and to move the ultimate revelation forward.  Port Charles is pushing the envelope farther and farther here, Elizabeth and Caleb feeding on each other, practically climaxing together, was more explicit and sexier than any soap love scene I’ve seen in quite some time.  Oh the implications and possibilities with all this is just so deliciously evil, ironic and sexy, with heartbreak, disbelief and shock thrown in for good measure. 

Can you just picture it, the arc ending with the Vampire walking the daughter down the aisle to the Slayer….