Someone, and I’m winking at you right now to let you know that I know and YOU know who that someone is, gifted Chris, Allison, Barbara, and Emily with tainted watches, bracelets, necklaces, and perfumes. When Emily realized that one of the perfumes was her mother’s favorite, she immediately re-gifted it to Susan, and Barbara loaned her necklace to Meg. Obviously, those items are laced with some kind of hallucinogenic that is causing these people to suffer emotional and physical trauma. Their symptoms have included paranoia, blackouts, visions, panic, despair, hysteria—all the soap staples. And just in case some viewer didn’t catch on that the jewelry and perfumes are causing the trouble, each of these items are getting tons of close ups. 

Chris reported to his father that he had received a new watch from his mother, while the two men were out golfing. I really enjoyed seeing them on the links, especially Bob, looking dapper out of his lab coat, and sporting sunglasses. As soon as Chris showed off his new watch, he started to faint, and they ended up back at the hospital. While Bob was running some tests, Chris started feeling hot and ended up stripping down to his very handsome skin. Of course Allison chose that minute to walk into the room, both of them were embarrassed, and Chris quickly got dressed.

Allison, meanwhile, received a bracelet from her father Larry McDermott, wore it for a while, then had to have it repaired. So she had no adverse effects at first. But when she retrieved it from the repair shop, she started doubting herself and her ability to succeed in nursing school. Panicky, she called Aaron to meet her at the Snyder Pond.  Chris, who had now lost his watch and was feeling fine, overheard her and followed her, arriving in time to see her march out into the pond and go under. He saved her life. 

Emily has been spritzing the heck out of the perfume that she received from some grateful clients; her mother, however, has not really used hers yet. But the stuff caused Emily to freak out when she saw Casey platonically hug Allison, and she screamed at them, and called Alli all kinds of names before storming off.

Meg has suffered the worst of all; she has been seeing visions of Sofie, who keeps harping that her death, and her baby’s death, was all Paul’s fault.  So Meg has been seen arguing to an empty chair, collapsing in the Fairwinds’ garden, and hearing eerie music.  Meg is on the brink of a nervous breakdown over these hallucinations. 

As a story, this isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly not the best. First of all, did Chris thank his mother, Kim, for the watch? It would have certainly been good manners to do so, and then he would have found out that Kim had no idea what was going on. Likewise with Allison; her father has no contact with her for years then sends a bracelet out of the blue, but she doesn’t attempt to contact him?  No phone call or thank you note? Apparently common courtesy is not Allison’s forte either. If Emily wanted her clients to know how much she appreciated their kindness, she would have at least called to let them know she had received the package. In each case, a simple act of thanking someone for an expensive, tasteful, or pleasing gift would have stopped this story in it’s tracks. Do the people of Oakdale not teach their children simple courtesy, that a gift should be answered with a thank you? My guess is that eventually Chris will figure out that his mother didn’t give him the watch, and things will start to fall in place from there.

Second, there’s no real mystery here; thanks to the camera shots, we all know what is causing these people to go bonkers. In fact, I think the jewelry and perfume got more close ups than most of the actors who appeared last week. Hey writers, I get it, there’s some kind of chemical on all these items, that enters the body through skin contact or by smelling it. I’m surprised that Casey Hughes hasn’t started going bonkers too, since Emily practically coats herself with that perfume, and Casey is closer to Emily than her own clothing. 

Third, since being obvious is the writers’ biggest talent, it is obvious who is behind all this. I won’t ruin it for you if you haven’t figured it out; however, it’s on every one of the 10 or so message boards I read.   

Finally, why is the show dragging out Sofie’s departure? She’s dead, she’s buried, her nasty boyfriend Cole killed her and their baby, case closed. Are we supposed to think that deep down Meg has misgivings about marrying Paul, and they are manifesting themselves in her haunting? There are other ways to convey that.

In any case, Chris said he has misplaced the watch, and Emily’s perfume fell on the floor of the plane she and Casey took to get married. (I hope no innocent stewardess finds it!) If/when Meg gives the necklace back to Babs, Meg will be better, while Barbara freaks out. Allison seems to be ruining her chances at nursing school, but she never was very good as a nursing student. So I hope this whole story wraps itself up quickly and quietly, and we move on to better things.

Speaking of better things, in last week’s poll I asked which couple should have more air time, Parker and Liberty, Henry and Vienna, or Luke and Noah.  Usually for my polls, I rarely get more than 200 votes.  This question, however, brought out over 1000 votes, with over 800 of them going to Luke and Noah.  While I’m flattered that more than 800 people took an interest in my little old poll, I am wondering where all these people came from?  Is there a way to vote more than once?  Did supporters of Luke and Noah spread the word hither and yon to come and vote?  I hope all those voters will become regulars at Oakdale After Dark and the weekly polls!  And just FYI, as of Saturday, Henry and Vienna scored over 100 votes, which is a lot, while Parker and Liberty got 24. 

Which brings me to an opinion.  In my humble opinion, I believe we will never see Luke and Noah together in bed in a romantic relationship. We can see Henry and Vienna, we can see Parker and Liberty, we can see Jack and Janet, but we will never see the boys. We may see them sitting down to Emma’s breakfast pancakes and making remarks that imply they spent the night together, but I believe TPTB will never, ever show them in bed together. If they were going to do it, they would have done it by now. 

Mary wrote in to say she “wasn't thrilled with all the storyline about teen age sex either, but as the mother (of 2 grown sons) who had her head in the sand, I think Janet was very very wise.  Believe me, thinking they are too young, they aren't that interested, they are too busy - well they do find time and being pro-active is a much better way to go. I think the writers both in the teenage storyline and in Luke and Noah's are trying to teach lessons rather than to entertain.  Safe sex for the teens - charitable practices for Luke - better to donate money you don't want in the first place than to use it for your own convenience.” 
ITA, Mary, with one exception. The story was fast, forced, and came out of nowhere.  The writers should have built it up more before actually having two recurring characters have sex. I have 2 grown children too, a daughter and a son, and while I was informative with them about options if they chose to have sex, making it clear to both of them that it would be better if they waited until they were adults, that unprotected sex can have serious consequences, and if they became parents they would have to devote the next 18 years of their lives raising the child. I did not run out and purchase condoms and get birth control pills for them. Parker and Liberty did not have sex because it was the next step in their relationship, they had sex because the writers could not think of anything else for them.

Joy said, “Your comments on the teen sex story were right on. I was so disappointed that the writers were going there, but seeing the aftermath of their actions was great. They are way too young, and seeing their confusion and regret (especially Liberty ’s reaction with her mom) hopefully, sent a message to every teen viewer out there.”  I have to add, if Liberty doesn’t turn up pregnant in the next few weeks, I’ll be surprised.