Though it was a short week for Port Charles, as for all soaps as ongoing coverage of the war preempts regular daytime programming, it’s safe to assume, judging from the Livvie greatest hits promo that’s been running, that Tess’s demise and Livvie’s return was a sure thing (I apologize to all those spoiler free viewers out there but this one was a given).

Did the promo, a great compilation of all Livvie’s bad deeds for those viewers who needed reminding (did anyone actually need to be reminded?) wet our appetite for her return?  It surely wet mine.  Who would have ever thought we’d be begging for Livvie again, but begging most of us are. 

Brilliant move by the writers, though who knows if they planned it that way. All this time I’ve been trying to figure out what purpose Tess served, aside from showcasing Kelly Monaco and her obvious talents that is. Speculating, ruminating, musing – will she “save” Caleb, will she redeem her alter ego, is Tess the way to keep Michael Easton on the show, was Tess an ironic twist to the Jack and Livvie history book, will Tess be the catalyst that puts an end to the vampires on Port Charles?  Weeks and weeks and weeks it went on, Tess’s character becoming less likeable and harder to take along the way. 

The novelty wore off. No offense to Kelly Monaco. Tess was such a refreshing change from Livvie at the time that she was fully embraced by viewers and characters alike. Her absolute pure innocence and goodness made us forget every bad deed, evil manipulation and betrayal her other half perpetrated.

And that was the point.

I’ll say it again, brilliant move by the writers, never mind the huge holes and actions that made no sense. Tess served to give us a break from Livvie, to give us some breathing room after months on end of her despicable, self-serving actions, to let us and the rest of the characters put some distance between the Livvie that was and the Livvie that is yet to come.  And oh yes, don’t forget Tess served as a tidy little excuse, justification, reason, call it what you will, for all the havoc that Livvie managed to wreck. 

Why Caleb felt the need to split his beloved Olivia into good and evil I’ll never know (except for reasons mentioned above). It was hardly referenced by him at all through the whole arc except for one comment. I believe he said he had to remove the good from Livvie to have her (or something like that, please correct me those of you remember it better). I suppose we are to assume it backfired and he found himself more drawn to the good than the evil. At least for a while. 

Caleb’s whole attraction, his whole raison d’etre, for me anyways, is as the powerful, sinister, evil, sexy vampire playing games and threatening mankind.  Michael Easton is so effective in this vein. His eyes flash, his lips curl, he growls and bites (both figuratively and literally). The perfect foil for Brian Gaskill’s slayer Rafe, his absolute moral opposite but his complete equal in every other way. (You’re all probably sick of me saying this but too bad, bring on that showdown already!)

Caleb’s little side trip into humanity with Tess, while understandable, who wouldn’t want a ride out of darkness every now and then, just wasn’t all that much fun.  At this juncture, a kinder, gentler vampire longing for warmth just didn’t fly.

And a kinder, gentler Livvie just didn’t fly either. Together, Tess and Caleb may have offered a glimmer of redemption for both characters but at this point in the story arc, it’s not yet time. Fans wanted to revisit the explosive chemistry between Michael Easton and Kelly Monaco as Caleb and Livvie, not as Caleb and Tess. 

Which brings me right back to my first musing, what purpose did the character of Tess serve?  She didn’t redeem Caleb, she didn’t redeem Livvie. She messed with poor Jack’s head, not that he didn’t have it coming, those who are set on forgetting history are doomed to repeat it, but again, what was the point (to drive Jack into the arms of Reese the vampire who will turn out to be Alison’s sib, I guess). She took whatever good the Livvie persona had, her fun and spunk and stomped it out quite effectively.  She proved that as Livvie, the passion and heat with Caleb was undeniable but as Tess…yawn. 

If the original intention was to have Tess redeem Caleb and have them merrily go on their way it a) didn’t work, you could hear the fans screaming clear across the nation, or  b) Michael Easton signed on for a short stay in PC but based on his enormous popularity kept agreeing to extensions forcing the story to change as they went along, or c) a combination of both. You figure it out. 

The only conclusion that makes any sense to me is that Tess was a way to dig Livvie out of the huge black hole she was thrust into when the character was written so one-dimensionally evil for so long. No let ups, no breaks, no balance.

Truth is a redeemed Livvie, as a redeemed Caleb just yet, would be no fun at all. Down the road some sort of resolution to their characters and personalities will have to manifest if Port Charles is truly serious about putting the vampires to rest.  Right now, at this moment in PC time, a reunion is desperately needed.  We’re ready, the story is ready, the arc is almost done and we need that passion and excitement to take us into the next.

There is still so much farther to go with these two, the surface has only been scratched. Tess allowed us to forget about Livvie for a while, let us process all the nastiness and let it fade into distant memory, teased us with visions of how it once was between the vixen and the vampire and of how it can be again. 

Now let’s see where it goes.

…until we muse again Port Charles Fans