| "Naked Eyes" : Analysis of the "Naked Eyes" Arc of ABC-TV's Port Charles
(c) Alison Armstrong |
| An analysis of the "Naked Eyes" episodes of the show Port Charles, formerly of ABC-TV. This site will focus on the scenes featuring the vampire character Caleb Morley/Stephen Clay (portrayed by actor Michael Easton). The character of Caleb Morley/Stephen Clay 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. |
| "Naked Eyes" #3 (cont.) “We can’t go back there,” Jack tells her and then suggests that instead of going to the forest or the hospital, Tess come to his home. Although she is afraid of leaving the forest, he persuades her to go to his house and then convinces her that they will always be together. By taking her to his house, uprooting her from the only home she has ever known and making her emotionally dependent on him, Jack has permanently weakened her powerful connection with Nature and thereby destroyed part of her wildness. At Jack’s house, she will learn how to communicate with others, perform domestic duties and take care of her lover, but that feral spark will be forever dimmed. While Tess gradually becomes more civilized throughout “Naked Eyes,” Caleb, as Stephen Clay, acts more civilized than he was in “Tainted Love” and “Tempted,” but is merely masking his wildness in order to survive without persecution. Instead of living in a cave, as he did during much of “Tainted Love” and Tess has done before meeting Jack, or in an equally secluded but much more luxurious Villa, Caleb/Stephen Clay now resides in a rather ordinary looking condo and pretends to be a human rock star. However, whereas Tess seems to crave the rather humdrum, ordinary, unspectacular life of Jack and the other Port Charles residents, Caleb, even in his Stephen Clay guise, savors life as a rebel, an eccentric, an artist. Although he tries to pass himself off as human, he is not content to be ordinary, nor is he willing to forsake the sensory delights of vampire existence. He may have to curtail his biting and blood-drinking in order to avoid detection, but he never wishes to give it up, indulging on the sly whenever possible. Caleb, as Stephen Clay, is, in some respects, less of an outcast and fierce, otherworldly being than he was in earlier arcs, but he is still a dangerous, defiant, unpredictable, and unapologetic vampire. Just as Caleb/Stephen Clay retains his magical powers, Tess retains the legacy of her supernatural origins—her magical ability to heal the sick and injured. After healing Jack’s broken bones in the woods, she miraculously heals a comatose patient at the hospital and later shares her gift with others who need her curative touch. Although she strives to be “normal,” Tess’s healing abilities, as well as her childlike innocence and waifish appearance, set her apart from others, making her seem rather eerie, unearthly, and disquieting despite her gentle, benevolent behavior. Livvie, in fact, is terrified of her mysterious, fairy-like twin, seeing Tess as a freakish spectre of punishment and doom. Not until later does Livvie begin to acknowledge her kinship with Tess and understand the nature of their deep connection. The cause of their connection, Caleb, now masquerading as Stephen Clay, sits by himself, playing his guitar. As he strums chords and sips from his blue bottle, he remembers his conversation with Marissa about the drummer Ricky. Hearing a knock on the door, he pauses. “Time to get all my little duckies in a row,” he mutters, then tells the person at the door to come in. |
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| Snappies of "Naked Eyes" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |