| "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" Analysis #5 The masquerade is a maze of illusory identities, glimpses of those we may or may not know, brief caresses by strangers, lovers, and foes. In this labyrinth of enticement and deception, possibilities are tentatively embraced, while the past, clinging like a spider’s web, entangles us in our fate. The threads of love, family, and duty pull tight, filaments of karma binding our steps toward the wishes we crave. At Stephen Clay’s masquerade, these threads chafe against everyone drawn into the glittering tapestry; even Stephen himself feels their tug around his heart. As the guests fondle each other and indulge their desires, Rafe still refuses to release his inhibitions. The pull of duty prevents him from enjoying his time with Alison. He cannot forget his calling as vampire slayer even though logic tells him that with Livvie’s murder of Caleb a slayer’s skills are no longer needed. Conflicting with his desire to give Alison the “normal” human life she wants is his obsessive need to shelter her from any harm. Rafe’s love for Alison is stifling, suffocating both of them with its ever-vigilant protectiveness. Even as he and Alison kiss, he warily focuses on possible danger. Stephen Clay watches them kiss, and furtively approaches. “Great party, isn’t it?” he greets them. |
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| As Rafe squints suspiciously at Stephen, the perspective of the room seems to change. The camera angles are askew; creating a sense of vertigo, as if the walls, like the hedonistic partiers, are intoxicated. Lurching and teetering, they break free of geometrical dogmas. Secrets, tempting and subversive, hover in the tilted, darkened corners. Rafe fears these secrets and the irrational, disorderly realm they inhabit. To him, they are sinister. Alison, however, senses no threat. She is happy to finally be with the man she loves and thrilled to be at this festive gathering. She yields to the seductive mood infecting all the other couples and wishes Rafe would do the same. “Um, yes, we actually just got here, but, um, the place looks great,” Alison comments giddily in response to Stephen’s question. “Talk about a Stephen Clay experience. So do you know who he is? I’m sure you probably can’t tell us, right? Because of the whole mystery thing. Well, if I had to guess, I would think it was that guy right there.” She points at a man in the distance. “I’m sorry. I’m just a really big fan,” she gushes. “This is Alison,” Rafe introduces her with a scowl. “I’m Rafe Kovich. And you are?” “I’m pleased to meet you,” Stephen answers evasively, vanishing amidst a small gathering of people who walk between him and his grim-faced guest. Scowling more intently now that Stephen has suddenly and inexplicably disappeared, Rafe is so fixated on explaining Stephen’s mysterious behavior that he is oblivious to Alison’s flirtatious attempts. When Alison tries to get Rafe to notice the other couples (Frank and Karen, Chris and Doree) embracing romantically, Rafe turns the conversation again towards the masked man’s disappearance. Finally, Alison has to come right out and insist “enough with the masked man, OK?” She reminds Rafe that Halloween is “supposed to be creepy.” “And if you noticed,” she points out, “everyone is wearing a mask.” Despite Alison’s explanation that wearing masks is fun because “it’s sexier kissing a stranger,” Rafe refuses to take part in the masquerade mood. Lifting off her mask, he responds, “Nothing is sexier than kissing the woman I love,” and gives her a pristine, passionless kiss. This scene between Rafe and Alison, though brief, gives considerable insight into their sexual relationship. It implies that although Alison can be playful, spontaneous, and relatively adventurous in exploring sexual fantasies, Rafe is repressed, reluctant to engage in role-playing or other imaginative erotic activities. Rafe distrusts masks, the seductiveness, magic, and creative possibilities they represent. He also distrusts the subconscious, the darkness within himself, the darker manifestations of sexual expression. As a vampire slayer and former angel, he so rigidly identifies with everything that is “good,” “light,” virtuous, reflective of his judgmental, one-dimensional point of view that he tries to banish anything hinting of darkness and ambiguity. Like the hell-and-brimstone preachers of the Puritans and Fundamentalists, he seeks to eliminate anything that he feels threatens his tightly-clenched morality. Although Rafe does say he agrees with Alison’s suggestion that they “forget about this masked man,” her mother, “and the two Livvies” for this one night, he cannot put aside his vigilance. When she kisses him again, he is jumpy, seeming to sense Stephen’s furtive glances, unable to share Alison’s smiling confidence that as long as she and Rafe are together, “nothing in this whole world can touch” them. Realizing finally that her romantic diversions are not going to seduce away Rafe’s worries, Alison turns more serious and asks him to describe what he’s feeling. Rafe tells her his misgivings concerning Livvie’s “identical twin” and his sense that something sinister is going to happen. “Something’s changing in the atmosphere,” he says in a somber tone of voice. “There’s something happening, or about to happen. . . . Something is out there.” |
| Snappies of "Naked Eyes" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |