It may be too early into SURRENDER to actually be scoring a rate card just yet but so much has happened in these five weeks I’m having trouble sorting it all out.  Chapter one challenged the audience to stay awake and alert as it meandered through one plot development and strange twist to another, from one romantic pairing to another, at times straining even its own credulity.  And that’s quite a feat considering we who watch this little gem watch it on blind faith anyways, precisely because it is so far from reality.

Yet every now and then PORT CHARLES manages to match the ridiculous with the profound, successfully intertwines supernatural and surreal stories with humor, wit and camp, sends forth love and passion in a such a wonderful way that who really cares about its own credulity anyways. 

Did I just say all that?  Talk about meandering musings.  So here we go, my hit or miss parade on the drama and action that particularly floated my boat, or didn’t, this chapter. 

Rafe / Alison Hit and Miss. 
The sibling story – miss, but surprise, not for the reasons you may think.  I’ve come to expect couples being maddeningly kept apart by any number of over-the-top reasons or obstacles; I had no problem with keeping Rafe and Alison apart.  The wedding that wasn’t falls into my hit category.  My disappointment lies in that tptb chose to go a formula route with this anything but formula couple, chose to ignore facts and history that the audience was screaming about (remember that commercial for Jeopardy I think it was, with the characters screaming “Sputnik” at their TV sets – same thing).  Artificial contrivances and forced situations did not make for a compelling story line here.  I am still trying to figure out what the point was. 

The sibling story – hit.  Surprise, surprise again.  Mainly because it forced Alison out of her little fairy tale world of normalcy, PORT CHARLES is anything but normal after all, and moved Rafe out of having to comply with her view against his better judgment.  They both know who and what he is, Alison has finally accepted it and will support it instead of running in the other direction.  Romantic tension, basically ineffectual but all that pent up longing and angst did make for a nice little reunion in that hotel room. It falls half-way back into the miss category however, you can’t recreate the past or recapture that instant burst of chemistry that exploded from the screen so unexpectedly. We didn’t need a five week build up to remind us of their chemistry, it never left. 

The wedding – hit.  No need to expound here.  The wedding that wasn’t was fabulous.  Sure fans were sorry it didn’t happen but the scenes and acting was some of the best we’ve ever seen, no question there.  Enough said.

Lucy / Ian  Hit
Refer to last week’s column.  Not only did this pairing prove the break up of a “soul mate” couple, one every bit as entrenched as any we’ve ever seen, is possible, it worked beautifully.  Lucy’s slayer instincts and abilities are keeping Ian’s vampirism at bay and is setting up possible future applications shall we say for Lucy’s talents.  Great premise here.  Another thing this pairing has done is given Kevin some juicy drama to participate in rather than watch from the sidelines, relegated to a sputtering on again, off again back burner. 

Joshua / Elizabeth Hit
Big hit, huge hit.  Want more.  Joshua, the brash charmer with a dark soul who was so much fun to watch in all his engaging loathsomeness and Elizabeth, matching him in every false, flirting gesture, every ruse, every temperamental outburst, never flinching at his demands or insults.  Surprising chemisty in spades.

Missed opportunity in that these two should have gotten together sooner, but if Elizabeth’s sudden visions of Joshua today are any indication, the party is just getting started.

Tess / Caleb Miss.
All this talk of Tess saving Caleb, Tess healing Caleb, Tess being Caleb’s Achilles’ heel.  Who wants a kinder, gentler Caleb.  Not I.  The attraction the character has is his nasty, evil, dark, dangerous, obsessive sexiness.  I do not want him reduced to a vulnerable, quivering love sick fool awash in regret and self-recriminations for a childlike look alike Livvie all in the guise of figuring out a way of keeping the actor on the show.  Find another way. 

The viewers want Livvie and Caleb, not Tess and Caleb.  At this point the viewers want Livvie back, period.  Who ever thought that day would come. 

Casey  Hit and Miss
Hit. Like a jolt of caffeine from a triple shot cappuccino, Casey dropping from the sky to sweep away her annoying sister Marissa was perhaps the biggest hit of the day. Her spunk and attitude and references to heaven are just what the show needs right now.  The look on Ricky’s face when he saw her was priceless.  Given PORT CHARLES’ penchant for reincarnation and character doubles, it’s not really all that surprising that Casey made her return.   

Miss. Most of us are so grateful to be rid of Marissa that I suspect we are all willing to overlook, at least with one eye closed, that tptb are attempting to make lightning strike twice yet again here. (See above. I was hoping they learned that lesson with Rafe and Alison but I guess not.)   How many times do we have to be taken back to SECRETS to convince us how good this show is? I thought this arc was called SURRENDER.

Rafe / Caleb.  Hit and Miss.
Hit. Caleb’s manipulations of Rafe’s life are just what we’d expect from the vampire.  Plunging the symbolic knife into Rafe’s heart and twisting it, finding his vulnerabilities and pouncing on them.  Great. Compelling. Arousing. 

Miss.  Where was the return. We’ve had precious few moments of any return volley on Rafe’s part.  He can’t even take credit for striking the answering blow.  The action that has started the war we’ve all been waiting for, Joshua’s death, wasn’t of his doing at all. No matter, like most wars it’s never a direct shot that sets it off but an indirect, misunderstood turn of events that sparks it all in motion.

I’m confident that the exchange in the park between Rafe and Caleb and Rafe’s new resolve will even the score as this battle takes form.  I’m disappointed however that it is shaping up to be a team effort, since when is the vampire / slayer showdown a team sport.  I want all that chemisty between the two actors to take center stage in this, I don’t want it muddled by outside players.  But I am sure the final confrontation will be the slayer and the vampire in all their glory, a rematch to make us proud, whatever the outcome or arc it falls in. 

Ok, how would you rate Chapter one for Storytelling, Romance, Humor and Wit, Thrills and Chills, Suspense and Surprise.  Hovering somewhere in the middle range with a tip up or a tip down for individual situations I guess is where my fence sitting butt is right now.  Hard to commit to anything one way or the other as the myriad of story lines play out except to say the acting, as always, rates an A+, no matter what the writers try to do.   I like where it’s heading though, I think I really do.

So, no arrogant judgments from me today.  It’s Friday, it’s 80 degrees and I’m heading down the two blocks to the beach.