| "Tainted Love" Diary 54 (c) Alison Armstrong |
| An analysis of the "Tainted Love" 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. |
| ********************************** Livvie's decision to stay at the Villa for a week gives her an opportunity to peer beyond the veils of intoxicating illusion and see the vulnerability and sensitivity Caleb conceals from everyone else. With Livvie, the ruthless, vengeful aspect he presents to his enemies as well as his minions is replaced by a deeply hurting, passionate, and haunted soul forever scarred by guilt and loss. As in the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast," Livvie evokes the beautiful spirit within the monster everyone else perceives him to be. As the episode begins, Caleb and Livvie have begun to fill the emptiness in each other's lives. Caleb's magic has tapped into Livvie's need for family, comforting her with the illusion of her mother's return and miraculous recovery. Livvie, in exchange, has given Caleb the hope that he will have a second chance for happiness, a second chance to attain eternal love. "Having you stay is the most wonderful gift I could ever ask for," Caleb tells Livvie as the episode begins. "After everything you've done for me, I would have been crazy to say no," Livvie replies. Grateful yet curious, she then inquires how Caleb was able to give her back her mother. "I have special gifts most people don't. Ways they would never understand," Caleb cryptically answers. Confused, Livvie asks, "How could you make my mother appear like that? I mean--is this some kind of a dream? Who are you, Caleb? How do I even know you're real?" "Oh, I'm real," Caleb murmurs. "Let me show you how real." He kisses her slowly, gently, as if in slow motion. "Still afraid I'm a figment of your imagination?" "I'm not afraid of anything about you," Livvie says, entranced. "Anything you want. Anytime you want it. All you have to do is ask," Caleb vows. However, Livvie remains hesitant, not knowing how to ask Caleb to reveal more about himself and his magic. "You've been so generous," Livvie stalls, "But these powers of yours . . ." "They scare you," he replies in a soothing tone. |
| "Maybe they should, but they're just like you," she says, seeming to relax slightly as he senses her hesitation. "They're mysterious and magical." "You're the magic, Olivia. It's you that made the miracle happen," he explains, revisiting his painful past." You opened my heart again. A heart that was--that was closed to everything. I was lost. I was wandering alone without love, without light, without warmth. And then you gave me a reason to live again. You're the magic." "What happened to close your heart? Tell me, please," Livvie urges him. "A long time ago, there was another woman," Caleb begins. He turns away, his fingers at his mouth, as if struggling for words. Nervously, he swallows and hesitates. Livvie touches his shoulders lightly, gently coaxing him to look at her. |
| "And you loved her," she notes, sensing his pain. "One smile from her and my soul, it had wings," he replies. "But, you lost her," she adds. "I was very young," Caleb says sadly. "I had no patience. But I'm wiser now, and I've--I've learned how fragile the heart can be. I just learned this too late." "What happened?" Livvie asks tenderly. "The night before our wedding, before we were going to take our vows . . ." Caleb pauses, his hands at his mouth again. "Oh, God. She died, didn't she?" Livvie suddenly realizes. |
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| "That night I knew I was finished," Caleb relates in a grief-choked voice. "From the core of my being I knew I would never love again. I lived my life without feeling, thinking that's the way it would always be until . . ." "Until?" "I saw you, Olivia," Caleb continues, his eyes glistening, as if on the verge of tears. "And then my heart started beating again. And I knew I wanted to live forever. So you see, you are the magic. You are the magic." Caleb's brief account, wrenching yet poetic, conceals many mysteries even as it reveals his wounds. We are left wondering how Caleb managed to survive all those years after his first Olivia died. Did he live for a long time as Father Michael, suppressing his hunger and desire, torturing himself with guilt, masking his self-hatred and pain with his pious, penitential priestly aspect, denying his needs until they became so intense they erupted in ferocious, ravaging outbreaks of bloodlust? Did these cycles of starvation and gluttony, celibacy and debauchery, numb the gnawing pain of regret, anguish, and loneliness? These questions, like so many others in "Port Charles," were never answered. |
| Snappies of "Tainted Love" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |
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