| "Surrender" : Analysis of the "Surrender" Arc of ABC-TV's Port Charles
(c) Alison Armstrong |
| An analysis of the "Surrender" 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. |
| "Surrender" Analysis #3 The thread uniting Caleb and Rafe in perpetual conflict tugs at Caleb, disrupting any hope for temporary solace. He leaves Elizabeth blanketed in the numbing euphoria of his opiate caress and, with eyes of flame, answers the threatening summons of his foe. |
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| Snappies of "Surrender" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |
| Since darkness, personified here by the vampire, is generally equated with Evil, whereas light, personified by the angel/Slayer, is usually equated with Good, the battle between Caleb and Rafe is often perceived as a war between evil and good. However, as Port Charles subtlely demonstrates, such an assumption is false. Darkness is not necessarily evil, nor is light necessarily good. One coexists with the other. Both are indispensable to life on earth, and both are embodied within each individual.
At times the darkness and the light seem to merge, the twilight and the pre-dawn shadows blending into misty gray. Similarly, the characters of Port Charles, including Caleb and Rafe, are shades of gray, sometimes darker, sometimes lighter. They enact the struggle between the forces of darkness and light in their battles with each other as well as the conflicts within themselves. Each is torn between opposing aspects, opposing desires. Elizabeth, as before, is torn between her love for her daughter and her addictive vampire urges. But now, having married Caleb on the day of her daughter’s cancelled wedding and having turned Ian into a vampire, her guilt and maternal love are even more divisive. When Alison, having found out from Rafe that Elizabeth is a vampire, goes to see her, Elizabeth evades Alison’s demands for “answers.” With a shocked, hysterical giggle, Elizabeth denies that Caleb has made her into a vampire and accuses Rafe of being delusional again. She also denies that Stephen is Caleb and scoffs at the suggestion that the elixir is anything other than vitamin-enriched designer water. In telling these lies, Elizabeth seems to be trying to persuade herself that she is just a normal, happy newlywed and “Stephen” is “just a warm-hearted, loving, caring man.” She seems so convinced of her wishful fantasy that she even urges Alison to live with her and “Stephen,” claiming that it will help Alison cope with her grief over the devastating break-up with Rafe. Although Elizabeth appears to be genuinely concerned about her daughter, listening sympathetically as Alison describes the photos indicating Rafe’s mother is Malcolm’s mistress, she makes use of the situation with Rafe and the suspicions of incest to try to win Alison’s support. “Stephen and I can be your family now,” she gleefully, almost triumphantly, explains, inviting Alison to stay without asking Caleb how he would feel about having the Slayer’s ex-fiancee live with them. Instead of worrying that Caleb might bite or otherwise harm Alison, Elizabeth seems hopeful that she can free Alison of Rafe’s influence and gain more emotional control over her. She needs, craves Alison’s love to boost her own fragile self-esteem. Ian, her victim, now faces a similar inner battle as he attempts to resist his vampire cravings and retain the remnants of his stolen humanity. Sweating, groaning, and lurching about like a drunken gorilla, he fights the savage hungers overtaking his soul. His histrionic, King Kongish displays, ironically, make him seem far more bestial than the vampires, such as Caleb, who gracefully embrace their animal nature. In Ian’s ravenous, lustful delirium, he fantasizes about Lucy, envisioning her seductively offering her body, her blood. When Lucy sees him, fierce and feverish, in the hospital workroom, she suspects the truth. Despite his growling, belligerent attempts to get her to leave and thereby spare her from his violent carnal impulses, she insists on staying with him. Ian’s conflict creates one within her also. Lucy is torn between her Slayer instincts and her love for Ian, as well as the remaining affection and sense of commitment she feels for her husband, Kevin. Although Lucy hates vampires, she finds Ian’s clumsy, bellowing, chest-beating struggles against his vampirism pathetically heroic, even, inexplicably, arousing. As Ian fights his inner vampire, Tess, harboring Livvie within, grapples with Caleb’s seductive magnetism. Kevin, having psychologically harbored within himself the soul of his psychotic twin Ryan, is, in turn, drawn into the schizoid struggles of Tess/Livvie. Holding Tess responsible for Livvie’s disappearance, he approaches her on the docks and accuses her of murder. When Tess explains that Livvie is safe, protected inside her, Kevin lashes out, calling Tess a “freak.” However, his anger begins succumbing to fear and awe when Tess touches his chest and uses her healing, empathic magic to see inside his soul. “When Livvie and I found each other, she was fearful like you,” she softly explains, her voice dreamlike, as Kevin, like Tess, begins falling into a trance. “Afraid, filled with terrible, terrible pain. But there was goodness inside. The light in her heart is still pure and untouched by evil things. There’s goodness in yours too. I can feel it. You’re hurt inside. You don’t want to hurt me. You don’t mean to hurt me. . . . Just feel. You’ll never forget this feeling. You don’t have to be angry anymore.” |