Deep Soap: Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Crystal Chappell and Peter Reckell Preview DOOL’s Fan Event

Earlier this week Days of Our Lives Crystal Chappell and Peter Reckell participated in a conference call to promote the free fan event at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles, this Saturday November 7 from 10AM to 5PM.

Has it been easy to get back into character or have you had to try to kind of work your way back in?

Peter Reckell: Now tell the truth.

Crystal Chappell: Tell the truth, it’s hard. You know what it is I wanted to come back but I wanted her to be different. I wanted her to be different so I sort of still finding my legs a little bit although I sort of feel now like I’m getting it. But everyone’s so nice and even just working my way back into this format has been kind of jarring because we were on hand-helds for a year and a half on Guiding Light so but everyone’s been great.

Peter, last time we talked - if I can ask this - about your guest stint on 30 Rock. Do you have any idea who you’re playing yet?

Peter Reckell: Oh yeah I’m playing Bo, you know. One of the characters on the show 30 Rock likes Days of Our Lives. And so that character turns on Days of Our Lives and they see Bo and Hope do one of their, you know, do a scene. It’s a scene that they wrote for the show. It’s kind of tongue in cheek. It’s really cute.

How would you characterize the differences between Bo’s relationship with Carly and Bo’s relationship with Hope?

Peter Reckell: Well the Bo Hope, that whole relationship started when we were both pretty young. And it’s kind of a first love - the depth and weight that that carries. And then the Carly relationship, it was more of adult relationship and, you know, it’s kind of really. I guess that’s it, you know, there’s the first love and then there’s the love that comes after that.

Crystal which fan base is harder core - the Days fans or the Otalia fans?

Crystal Chappell: Oh you’re not going to get me to answer that question. I will say this, I’m very aware of how passionate the Days fans are. And what better fan to have than a passionate fan; you want that fan base. The Otalia fans are incredibly loyal and supportive. And I’m just happy to have fans damn it.

Peter Reckell: And they seem to have all followed you over to this show which is cool.

Lawrence is played by your real life husband, Michael Sabatino. What was it like killing him on camera?

Crystal Chappell: Well, you know, dreams - no I’m not going to say that. It was weird. And, you know, it was one of those things where you go, oh, of course, you know, it’s nothing that ever crossed my mind but he was such a good sport about it because I completely stuck a plastic blade into his gut and totally missed the stunt pad. And I would never let my kids [watch]. If my kids saw that that would just scar them for life — mommy killing daddy. That’s terrible.

A Tale of Two Soaps

General Hospital and One Life To Live have been a study in contrasts this week.  One is the show of love.  The other is a portrayal of hate.   OLTL’s Big Gay Wedding episode made my heart swell.  How is it the show that allegedly has the smallest budget is the one that can create a plausibly big crowd?  It really looked like there were dozens of gay couples and a mass of protesters.    There were plenty of hokey moments – Marko and Cole pretending they were a couple to make a statement,  Fish’s Big Gay Over The Top Coming Out To The World Scenery Chewing, Roxie planting a kiss on the homophobic drugstore clerk.  If Dorian ends up winning the mayoral election due to her ridiculous stunt, I will call foul.  (I predict a win for the Republican candidate whose name was visible on the ballot during the election episodes, since Vicki is not a viable candidate either.)

But, at its heart, the event was classic soap opera. Kyle leaving Nick at the last possible second for his true love Fish was classic soap.  I am glad they did not join in the mass wedding festivities since, as Kyle later pointed out, they need to actually date before they make a commitment to each other.   The way OLTL paralleled their relationship with other couples reminded me of the finale of the film Love Actually.  There was Dorian going through with her sham marriage to Amelia as she realized she was still love with David.  Bo and Nora finally admitted they were still in love with each other – a moment a decade in the making.  Unfortunately, I am so angry at them for shipping Matthew off to England that I am momentarily unable to root for them.

OLTL has numerous characters risking it all for love.  Destiny spent her life savings on plane tickets to England to tell Matthew she sees him as more than a friend.  Natalie is on a quest to find Jared before the police do because she does not believe that the man she loves is capable of murder.  The entire show’s philosophy is that love brings out the best in people.  How refreshing. Even characters’ bad behavior – Bo and Nora’s Matthew-napping, Tea keeping Daniella away from Ross, is rooted in misguided love.

In contrast, General Hospital focused on teenage Michael murdering Claudia with an axe.  Yes, Claudia was about to kidnap his newborn baby sister.  Yes, she was responsible for Michael’s shooting  and subsequent coma and anger management issues.  But it was in no way self defense.  He would have been justified in grabbing or shoving her to get the baby out of her clutches.  There was no need to bring an axe into it.  That takes things into Stephen King territory.  The behavior of everyone involved left me with a queasy feeling.  GH is trying to have its cake and eat it with this storyline.  When Jason went to the wrong house and almost shot an innocent woman and child, for a few moments he seemed to grasp how horrific his profession was.  But Spinelli and Sam assured him that he would never make a mistake like that.  He is the Robin Hood of contract killers, murdering only those who deserve it – and he and Sonny have the Godlike qualities necessary to determine who is worthy of life.  When Sonny told Michael that he just, “did good” by killing Claudia, a chill went down my spine.  He’s 16.  Doing well should mean getting an A on a test or scoring the winning goal in a soccer game.   Sonny and Jason’s subsequent Sopranos rip-off burial in the woods didn’t make me admire the cool mobsters who were helping Michael avoid prosecution.  It made me feel bad for Johnny, who will not be able to give his sister a proper funeral.   I will admit that as repellent as I found this episode, I could not turn away.  GH does dark and twisted hatred well.   But I would rather spend an hour feeling the love.

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