| "Tainted Love" Diary 79 (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. |
| After admitting that he endangered them by bringing Caleb into their lives, Michael agrees to leave town. As he prepares to depart, he sadly watches Eve and Ian embrace, seeing them joyfully anticipate a life he can never share. |
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| Livvie and Jack, meanwhile, are tapping into the dark, primal
impulses awakened by Caleb, but whereas Jack attempts to resist
them, Livvie ecstatically yields to them. "I want to know what it
feels like to be you. Touch me. Drink from me, " she swoons,
kissing Jack's stomach. Although Jack tries again to persuade her
that she doesn't know what's she's saying, he begins to succumb to
his urgent need. In her delirium of lust she treats Jack as a sex object, a means to satisfy her desire, attain vampire powers, and try to banish her thoughts of Caleb. "You have the power to erase Caleb's touch on my skin," she purrs seductively, "his words in my head. Jack, don't think. I know how much you want me . . . And you can have me completely. We'll both get what we want. Do it, Jack. Make me one with you. . . . Do it Jack. Do it. It'll be so good." She bares her neck, tempting Jack with her eager surrender. "I want to taste you," Jack sighs as his resistance weakens. "Please, Jack, please. Make me forget Caleb, please," she begs. But with the mention of his rival's name and the reminder of the vampire bond he and Caleb share, Jack pulls away from her, shouting, "I'm not Caleb. I'll never be Caleb." Although Livvie pleads with him to not stop, Jack persists in his refusal. "Livvie, don't you see? If I do this, I will be worse than he is," he tells her, thereby hinting that perhaps he has begun to have some empathy with Caleb's plight as the intensifying vampire desires deepen the bond Jack tries so hard to deny. |
| "How can you say that you're going to give me everything and then
take it away, Jack?" Livvie demands, desperately craving the magic
and power Caleb's world promises. However, Jack continues to
insist he is keeping her "safe" and "free" from the "curse," "the
strange instincts" that separate him from the rest of the world. When Livvie replies, "it's mysterious. And it's powerful and it's all I can think about," Jack again attempts to convince her that she is "still under Caleb's spell." "Caleb's evil," he emphasizes. "And you can't believe a thing he says. He used his power to put messed-up things in your head. But I know you--you can fight him." Pretending to be convinced, Livvie fakes a coughing fit, and as Jack goes to get her some water, she makes her escape. "If you won't give me what I want, Jack, Caleb will," she says to herself and rushes up to the roof to try to summon Caleb. As in later arcs, Livvie shows here the fickleness of her heart; if one man isn't available or won't give her what she wants, she will use another to attain her selfish needs. Finding her in the midst of her invocations to Caleb, Jack vows that he will never let Caleb take her again." I'm going to fight for you because right now, you can't fight for yourself," he says, justifying his possessiveness by claiming he's only trying to keep her safe. "Oh, don't you see, Jack?" Livvie exclaims. "I can't go back to the way I was. I don't even know who that person is anymore." "That person is the woman I love," Jack replies. "And I'm going to help you find her. . . . Livvie, when everything around you seems dark, I . . . I want to be that light for you. I want to be that person you turn to. Lean on me. Now, let's go back inside where it's safe." Emphasizing, as always, safety and home, Jack tries to persuade Livvie that these are also the things she holds dear, He is treating Livvie here as he treated Tess in the "Naked Eyes" arc, attempting to shape her to fit his needs, protectively and possessively preventing her from making her own decisions and experiencing the world beyond his restricted borders. "No, Jack, don't touch me," Livvie hisses. "Don't you come near me. I don't want to be safe. I want to be with Caleb. God, Caleb, please. Come for me, Caleb. Please come for me. I'm waiting for you, Caleb. Please." She stretches out her hands towards the heavens, calling for her seductive, otherworldly lover to rescue her from the boredom and mediocrity she desperately strives to escape. Like a sorceress summoning the ancient gods, she tries to pierce the veils separating the ordinary and the magical. |
| ********************************************* Livvie continues to vacillate between Jack and Caleb, pulled between the past and the future, while Michael struggles to bury all traces of his blood-drenched legacy. After having experienced Caleb's passion, sensuality, and magic, Livvie finds herself growing further and further away from the person she was before she met Caleb. Although she still feels love for Jack, she craves more than he is willing to provide. The aspects of him she now seems to desires most are his vampire traits, the dark, dangerous parts of himself he is frightened to share. "Look, I meant what I said, Jack. I can't go back to the way I was," Livvie exclaims as she stands on the roof, ready to forsake her familiar world and plunge into the void of unknown perils and possibilities. "All my life I've had this fear inside . . . and you helped me forget that for awhile. But then you pushed me away. . . .Caleb will make sure that I never hurt again. . . . Caleb will take the pain away." Ignoring Jack's pleas to be careful and return to safety, Livvie falls off the railing, but before she hits the ground, Jack leaps down and catches her. Amazed that he was somehow able to save her, she asks if he can fly and then tries to persuade him that vampire powers, such as this, are wonderful. "Can you blame me for wanting to taste all that power?" she says, in awe of the gifts he condemns and seeks to discard. |
| Snappies of "Tainted Love" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |