| "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" #6 (cont.) When we next see them, they are panting and groaning as they savor an explosive climax, perhaps one of many they have experienced together that night. They disengage, lying close to each other, their bodies half-draped with the tangled sheets that cover the mounds of knees, feet, and other jutting parts concealed underneath. “That was so amazing,” Elizabeth sighs. “It was just . . . just amazing.” “Amazing,” he echoes, smiling mischievously. |
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| “I can breathe, I can taste, I can smell,” Liz gasps. “This is like waking up from the dead. Do you know what I mean?”
“I think so,” he agrees, without elaborating any further. We who have known Caleb before his present incarnation as Stephen Clay understand the harrowing truth hidden behind his smiling assent, the literal deaths and rebirths he has endured in his vampire existence. “Mmm,” she moans, basking in the delicious afterglow and looking at him with eyes of rapture, then laughs as if in amazement. “Who are you?” “Does it really matter?” he elusively replies, characteristically responding to a question by asking another. “Oh, you have seen into my soul,” she sighs. “I don’t even know your name.” “I know your name,” he tells her, looking intently into her face. “You do?” she exclaims, startled. “Beauty, passion, pain,” he says, naming her metaphorically, as if addressing a tragic heroine whose suffering has mythically ennobled her. Although his voice and expression seem sincere, we who know Caleb from before may find it hard to believe what “Stephen” tells her because we know how well Caleb can manipulate others by telling them what they want to believe, especially women as lonely and vulnerable as Elizabeth. Having been betrayed by her adulterous husband when he was alive and even disrespected in his will, she desperately needs reassurance that she is desirable, worthy of love. “You can see that?” she asks, her loneliness and abandonment making her very susceptible to his poetic charm. Already falling in love with a man whose name she doesn’t even know, she hopes their relationship will be more than just a one-night stand. Although their first encounter was blatantly carnal, Elizabeth wants to believe that he sees her as more than just an easy lay. She wants to believe that he can look into her soul, understanding the feelings of sadness and rejection she has suffered for so long. “From the first moment I laid eyes on you, and it made me sad,” he replies, convincing her of his sensitivity and empathy. Perhaps, even though Caleb takes advantage of her pain, using it as a way to manipulate her, he does empathize with it to some degree, for he has also been betrayed by the one he loves. The relationship beginning to develop between Elizabeth and Stephen Clay is mutually parasitic, benefiting both in the short term but harming both in the long-term. Both have been wounded by love and are trying to rebuild their lives. Elizabeth benefits by gaining a companion and masterful lover, someone who strokes her fragile ego, making her feel attractive as well as releasing her long-suppressed libido. Stephen, in turn, benefits by gaining a sexual partner who is so desperate for affection that she will surrender her will and almost all her human ties to be with him. In Elizabeth, he sees someone who needs him to make her feel fulfilled as a woman. He has found a perfect addict, one who craves him, yearns for him to fill her emptiness with enslaving passion. He is her drug, and she is his antidote to Livvie. Unlike Livvie, Elizabeth is someone he can use for recreation and companionship without opening his heart or becoming vulnerable. However, as the relationship continues, it will bring ruin to them both, costing Elizabeth her soul and Caleb his true love, Livvie. Latching onto Stephen’s words of empathy, Elizabeth turns the conversation into a discussion of herself and her woeful rejection. She tells Stephen about the love she had for her recently deceased husband, Malcolm, describing how she gave him everything she had, including a baby daughter, but nothing she did seemed to please him. Then, becoming angrier the more she remembers his betrayals, she hisses, “That bastard got the final word. All those years of just sucking the life out of me, he dealt me one last slap in the face, cut me out of his will. He gave everything we had to my daughter and to an illegitimate child, which of course, I knew nothing about. So not only did he steal all those years of my life, my relationship with my daughter, my self-esteem; he took my security.” |
| Snappies of "Naked Eyes" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |