| "Tempted": Allure and Menace in Port Charles' "Tempted,"An Analysis (c) by Alison Armstrong |
| An analysis of the "Tempted" episodes of the show "Port Charles," formerly of ABC-TV. This site will focus on the scenes featuring the vampire character Caleb Morley (portrayed by actor Michael Easton). The character of Caleb Morley and any other characters relating to Port Charles are the property of ABC and their creators. This is a fan-run site and is not an official site, nor is it affiliated in any way with ABC, Port Charles, or the actors portraying any of the Port Charles characters. No copyright infringement is intended. The writings on this site are copyrighted by the author, Alison Armstrong, and may not be reproduced without the author's express permission. |
| “"Tempted” Episodes 33-35
Nurturing the "seeds of doubt" and furthering Caleb's revenge, Livvie continues to ruin the lives of her friends and loved ones. After creating friction between Alison and Jamal, she deepens the rift between Eve and Ian by altering the message Ian leaves on his wife's answering machine, changing a declaration of undying love into a murderous threat and thereby causing Eve to issue a restraining order against her husband. But as Livvie does Caleb’s bidding, submitting to his control and turning against her friends, a part of her former self, a part of her vulnerable innocence, remains. She still craves the sense of family, security, and belonging she was denied most of her life. Despite being manipulated by Caleb into betraying Jack, she still yearns for Jack’s sheltering love to protect her from her dark impulses, and she fears that by giving herself to Caleb she has “sold [her] soul to the Devil.” The struggle between Livvie’s desire for Caleb and her emotional need for Jack is echoed in the struggles facing all of Caleb’s adversaries—the conflict between destructive obsessions and redemptive love. The struggle takes outward form in the battles between Caleb and Rafe. As Caleb, with Livvie's help, comes ever closer to achieving victory over his enemies, Rafe uses his heavenly magic to thwart Caleb's plans. While angel and vampire wage their never-ending cosmic struggle amidst the domestic battlefields of Port Charles, the hapless residents are entrapped in a war of dreams vs. doubts, naive optimism vs. disillusioned cynicism. Angered by the Slayer's Pollyannish philosophy and "greeting card" platitudes, Kevin blames Rafe for the problems in town. Even Rafe's cousin, Lucy, accuses him of making matters worse. As Rafe complains to his heavenly boss Ed about the worsening situation in Port Charles, he tries to find a way to give the estranged couples the strength and unity they need to resist Caleb's evil influence. "Even without his fangs, Caleb is ripping apart all the connections" between lovers, Rafe laments, "using their own love against them. . . . He's turned it into a scalpel, slicing them into bits" and draining "every drop of faith they have in each other." Deprived of his predatory prowess, Caleb has adapted by growing more scheming, deceptive, treacherous, and malevolent than ever, resorting to human tactics to survive in the human world he despises but paradoxically yearns to share. Not yet able to feed on blood, he sustains himself as a psychic vampire, sapping the hope and vitality of his enemies. However, as he gains power from their waning strength, he also acquires their human weaknesses--their pettiness, greed, and vulnerability to betrayal.ism. Caleb lashes out by trying to deprive his enemies of the very things he feels they (and others of their kind) have stolen from him—his soulmate and his family. He pits wife against husband, girlfriend against boyfriend, and when possible, attacks the parents (Eve and Ian, Lucy and Kevin) through their children. Eve’s fears over her newborn baby and Lucy’s sadness over losing her adopted child Christina are used by Caleb to create discord between Eve and Ian, Lucy and Kevin. As in Caleb’s other destructive scenarios, Livvie is the unwitting accomplice carrying out Caleb’s plans. By altering the message on Eve’s answering machine and assuming the guise of “Anne Marie,” Livvie intensifies Eve’s fear that Ian will jeopardize her child’s safety. By appearing to Lucy in the guise of “Christina,” Livvie causes Lucy to act even more irrationally than usual, thereby causing increased friction between Lucy and Kevin. When she sees "Christina" scampering through the hotel hallways and giggling with high-spirited glee, Lucy is overcome by joy and a desperate wish that Christina will be hers again. “Christina’ is a vision of taunting, tormenting hope. Clad in her little red raincoat and running elusively away, just out of reach, she is reminiscent of the phantom figure in the movie "Don't Look Now." In that film, based on the Daphne DuMaurier novel, a father, grieving his drowned daughter, keeps seeing visions of a small, red-clad figure darting through the twisting Venetian alleyways. He thinks it is his daughter and is obsessed with searching for her. His obsession, like Lucy's, leads to anguish, for in chasing an illusion, he is jeopardizing his life, forsaking his future for a vision of the past, a phantom which is not as it seems. Similarly, Lucy is risking her future with Kevin, endangering herself and their happiness together to chase after a destructive mirage. Caleb, the master of illusion, has transformed Kevin's grown-up daughter into Lucy's lost child, and has, as a result, wounded both parents through their children. He has created a deception so enticingly real that it injures while tempting hope. Rafe, like Caleb, uses illusion as a weapon, but in Rafe’s case, it is used to diminish Caleb’s influence and strengthen Caleb’s enemies. Instead of altering physical reality, as Caleb does, Rafe resorts to dream magic. Invading people’s minds through their dreams, Rafe acts as a kind of saccharine Freddy Krueger, bestowing visions that cause the dreamers to change their perceptions of “reality.” Of course, the angelic Rafe, unlike the demonic Freddy, only creates happy, hope-filled dreams. Under the spell of Rafe’s dream-dust, the estranged couples imagine blissful futures with their loved ones, thereby rekindling their faith and love. Watching the progression of his plan, Caleb pays a visit to Rafe, mocking Rafe’s optimistic efforts to dismantle Caleb’s vengeful schemes. “Touching, Rafe,” he smirks, placing his hand on his chest as if moved by emotion. “Really. Brought a tear to my eye. Well, nearly.” He shakes his finger theatrically. “You angels are . . . ” he pauses for dramatic emphasis. “You’re very heartwarming.” “What are you doing here, Caleb?” Rafe inquires, as the two archenemies stand together on the bridge, a place of transition, midpoint between two opposing forces, two possibilities. “You really should consider the greeting card business,” Caleb teases, ridiculing Rafe’s naïve, cliché-filled philosophy, just as Kevin had done earlier. “Now, I know you didn’t just slither out of your hole just to be annoying,” Rafe mutters. “No, that’s a bonus,” Caleb replies with a smug smile. “Actually, I . . . I came to congratulate you.” |
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| Snappies of "Tempted" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |