| "Tainted Love" Diary 70 (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. |
| ****************************************************** The manipulative mind games continue, with Jack struggling to convince Livvie that she doesn't know her own feelings and Kevin engaging Caleb in a deadly battle of wits. Still carrying Livvie over his shoulders, Jack brings Livvie, against her will, to the Barrington jet. There, he, along with Lucy, attempt to persuade Livvie that she is not capable of making her own choices regarding her future happiness. Despite Livvie's pleas to let her return to Caleb, they hold her captive, imposing on her their view and decisions. "You don't know what you want. Caleb's got you under his spell," Jack patronizes her. Jack is so concerned with preventing Livvie's escape, keeping her "safe," and trying to deny her love for Caleb that he shows little concern for Kevin's safety. When Lucy voices her worries over leaving Kevin alone with Caleb, Jack ignores her feelings, emphasizing that Kevin wanted them to leave with Livvie and that they don't have time to rescue him. Here, as in the episode when Jack considered killing someone just so he could gain the strength to destroy Caleb, Jack seems indifferent to other people's lives and emotions. Fixated on Livvie and his future with her, he is just as obsessive and unscrupulous in many ways as he accuses Caleb of being. In his single-minded desire to possess Livvie's heart, he is willing to do whatever it takes to obtain his goal. Although he tries to convince himself and others that he is only acting in her best interests, no doubt seeing himself as a heroic man defending the woman he loves, Jack is no more moral than his his hated rival. Hypocritical and paternalistic, he tries to tell Livvie what to think and refuses to abide by her wishes, not caring who is hurt in his quest to keep her from Caleb. Lucy, like Kevin and Jack, attempts to persuade Livvie that Caleb is a "monster" incapable of love. Although Lucy is a fervent believer in magic, fantasy realms, a benevolent universe, and angelic redemption, she tries to destroy Livvie's belief in Caleb's magic and refuses to feel any empathy or compassion for Caleb as a fellow sentient being. She then tries to make Livvie feel guilty for loving Caleb. "Don't you give a damn about that monster maybe hurting your father?" Lucy snaps at Livvie, implying that Livvie will be partly to blame for whatever happens to her father. "None of this is Caleb's fault," Livvie argues, begging Lucy to stop interfering. When Lucy persists in demonizing Caleb, vowing that she won't let Livvie "become some bride of Dracula; that is final," Livvie replies that if anything happens to her father, she will hold the two of them, Jack and Lucy, responsible, thereby placing the guilt on them instead of Caleb and herself. Finally, after wasting time arguing about responsibility and blame, Lucy decides that she will try to rescue Kevin on her own, despite Jack's warning that going after Caleb by herself will be "suicide." When Livvie begs to go back to the Villa with Lucy, Jack again prevents her escape. "No, you're not going to see that freak again," Jack scolds. "Oh, you're calling him a freak because he's a vampire?" Livvie asks. "Yes," Jack answers. "So, Jack, what does that make you?" Livvie points out, exposing Jack's hypocrisy. "Desperate," Jack replies, showing once again his lack of scruples, his willingness to do whatever it takes to keep Livvie from Caleb. "I hate you for doing this to me," Livvie hisses. "Then hate me. Because all that matters is saving your life. . . . Some day you'll understand. . . . You just have to trust me again," Jack tells her condescendingly, confining her to his protective custody as if she were a child. "How can I trust you when you kidnapped me?" Livvie points out. "You took me away from the man I love on my wedding day." |
| Insisting that Caleb has just put these feelings into Livvie's head, Jack asks Livvie to remember the love they shared before Caleb appeared. Against Livvie's wishes, Jack continues to focus on the past. "The woman I love is lost inside you," he rationalizes, "and she's waiting for me to find her . . . It's just like when we first met. You were scared. It's like you were sleeping. And then when we kissed for the first time, you came to life." Casting himself as a fairytale prince awakening his Snow White from her deathlike slumber, Jack, like Caleb, believes his kiss, his masculine potency, can awaken her, revive her, make her complete. Claiming he is only holding her captive because he loves her, Jack prevents Livvie from exploring her own desires. Like a princess imprisoned in her tower, Livvie is guarded and restricted, denied the freedom to make her own choices. As Jack and Livvie are confined together on the plane, Jack has flashbacks which remind him of his vampire kinship with Caleb-- meeting Caleb at the river and finding out he, too, could be immortal if he joins Caleb's family; seeing his fangs for the first time; drinking the blood Jamal brought him--as well as flashbacks reminding him of Livvie's rejection, her decision to be with Caleb instead of Jack. Desperate to reclaim Livvie and repudiate the bond he shares with Caleb, Jack can only succeed by persuading Livvie to doubt her love for Caleb. Meanwhile, back at the Villa, Caleb tries to control his seething anger by using sarcasm to unbalance and unnerve his opponent, Kevin. "What?" Caleb sneers, as Kevin stares in hatred and disgust at his daughter's husband. "You're looking at me like you expect my head to be spinning or something. I'm just a guy in love." |
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| "I know what you are.and you'll never get my daughter," Kevin growls. "I already got her," Caleb laughs, confident, and seemingly secure in his claims to Livvie. Informed that Livvie is "getting on a plane back to Port Charles," Caleb acts unmoved. "She'll come back to me on her own," he remarks. "My daughter would never willingly be with you," Kevin argues. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't approve of this marriage?" Caleb jokes. |
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| "You didn't count on me showing up, did you?" Kevin asks, hoping to cut through Caleb's sarcastic demeanor. |
| Snappies of "Tainted Love" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |