Lily is grieving for her dead sister, at the expense of her children and husband.  I know everyone works through grief differently, but is Lily going over the edge?  Holden thinks so, and is keeping her from their children until she gets some help.  But this story is starting to edge towards boredom, and the viewers need some help!

Lily never knew she had a twin sister until she was an adult, and when she met Rose, the two were physically identical but totally different personalities.  Lily had been adopted and raised by Lucinda Walsh, in the comfort and luxury that millions can buy.  Rose, however, had been adopted by the D'Angelo family of New Jersey, and although they weren't poor, Rose had none of the perks that Lily had.  But when they finally met after communicating on the internet about a photo both of them had,  things were never the same for either one.  Rose eventually came to Oakdale, and after a few soapy adventures, settled in and opened her business, Rosey's Roller Palace, where she and her best friend Mitzi beautified the citizenry.

I have to salute Martha Byrne, the actress who played both Rose and Lily.  She pulled off both parts with finesse, switching between the refined Lily and the rough-edged Rose with comparative ease.  I have to believe that, even though it was stressful to play two parts, she had a great time letting her hair down as Rose after being Lily for so long.  Martha started playing Lily when she was 15 years old, in 1985, took a short break in 1989 and then returned in 1993 to stay.  So she has practically grown up on the show.  As Lily, she's been through marriages (her full name is Lily Walsh Mason Snyder Grimaldi Snyder), flings, adventures, danger, and still had time to give birth to three children.  Lily was finally settling down a bit and becoming a static character, when along came Rose.  Martha again had a chance to flex her acting muscles as Rose, who had a few flings, committed a few crimes, and had a heck of a good time along the way.  Her Jersey accent was fun, her sassiness was a definite change from Lily's modulated voice, and she was a perfect counterpoint to her other character.

But all good things seem to come to an end, whether we want to or not, and this winter Headwriter Hogan Sheffer nipped our Rose in the bud and right off the show.  It was a risky undertaking to kill off a popular character, but it started a murder mystery that ended with the discovery that she'd been accidentally poisoned by young Will Munson.  Rose had been involved in an on again, off again romance with Will's older brother Paul.  While they were engaged, she had a friendship with Paul's best friend Dusty, and when Paul thought she was cheating on him, he was heartbroken and decided to stage a wedding as a chance to publicly humiliate her.  Unfortunately, right after his rant in the church in front of all the guests, Rose collapsed and later died of poisoning.

Lily had encouraged her sister to reunite with Paul and stay away from Dusty.  After seeing her sister suffer Paul's accusations, then die tragically, Lily was crushed, and overwhelmed with guilt.  If she hadn't insisted that her sister go back to Paul, maybe she would still be alive.  Driven by guilt, Lily entered a depression so crippling that she fell prey to a supposed psychic who tried to bilk her out of money, had visions of her sister, and made a possible attempted suicide when she jumped into the river trying to reach her vision of Rose.  Her husband Holden tried to be supportive, give her some needed space, and overlook her weird actions.  But when she dragged the children into this wallowing self pity, Holden had enough.  He told her to get help, or else.

Last week Lily bid Holden and the children goodbye as she told them she would commit herself to a hospital for treatment, but instead traveled to Chicago to see Dusty.  When a furious Holden finally tracked her down, she assured him that she was now 'all better' but Holden wasn't buying it.  He refused to let her stay in the house, sending her instead to Lucinda's for the night.  When she returned, she found that he had removed the children and was demanding that she keep her promise to hospitalize herself.  Her panicked demands fell on deaf ears, and this week the two of them finally sat down and talked rationally about the situation.  Lily agreed to get help, Holden rounded up the kids, and they all went home.

First, let me say that the grief of losing a loved one is a terrible burden, and I speak from experience.  Losing a loved one and feeling guilty about it is even worse.  Realizing you need help and actually getting it is a hard admission to make.  However, since Sheffer announced a few months ago that the show's pace would be stepped up, this particular story seemed to drag on and on.  It only took 3 weeks or so to figure out who murdered Rose; but Lily's gloomy despair seemed to ebb and flow, usually when a day's episode seemed to have nothing better to show us.  I got tired of Lily seeming to make headway one week only to relapse the next.  I got tired of Holden lecturing her about her behavior then leaving her alone when she insisted she would be better.  Why would he walk away from her and expect her to be okay, when he had just spent a lot of time telling her she wasn't okay?  It seemed to be a broken record that played over and over and over. 

Yes, I realize that the writers were going for the long term effect of grief and suffering over the loss of a loved one.  Yes, I realize that some things cannot be resolved overnight.  And yes, I know Lily deserved a good storyline to wrap up the loss of her twin.  But compared to the pace of the rest of the show, Holden and Lily seemed to be racing snails and losing.  I was ready for Lily to begin therapy by the middle of February.  Lily's storyline does not have to end with her decision to seek professional help.  I want to see her in therapy with the good Dr. Michaels, delving into layers of her feelings about her twin, their relationship, Rose's shocking death, and Lily's inability to cope with that shock.  I think this would be beneficial to viewers who might be in similar circumstances and are hesitant to admit they need therapy.  I think it would continue to provide Martha Byrne with some excellent scenes as she deals with her problems.  I would even like to see her children involved, especially her son Luke.  Young Christopher Tavani plays Luke, and he should also be in therapy to deal with the loss of a favorite aunt. 

So writers, let's get this storyline moving again.  Get Lily into therapy, get Luke into therapy, heck the entire family should be involved in this, since they are all dealing in one way or another with loss.  It's time to show the next step in the grieving process. 

Til then,

I'm in an Oakdale State of Mind!

  CAROL


 

Photos courtesy of CBS Daytime