Good women, bad women, which is which? It used to be so easy to tell the difference. Back in 1999 Sheridan and Gwen were the sweethearts of Harmony. Pilar was a decent, moral, caring woman. Grace and Charity were practically angels. Theresa, Kay, and Ivy played the scheming vixen intent on landing the man she wanted. But now the tables have turned and there seems there isn't an innocent soul in Harmony. Gwen is enjoying the benefits of blackmail and Sheridan has turned so rotten I don't even recognize her. Even Pilar lives for hatred and revenge. Not exactly nice ladies are they?
The men are worse. Disloyal, untrue to the love they proclaim is eternal, they seem pawns at the hands of the women's schemes. Scheming to a gullible dolt of a man [insert lie here.] Manipulating for the children [insert the child's name here.] Paloma seems to be the only one with any sense. Love is not enough. Not when it is mixed with suspicion, mistrust, and lies. In my mind, true love doesn't allow for those thoughts.
Gwen should be ashamed of herself, using the children as pawns to reel Ethan into married life. She didn't like it very much when Theresa used the same ploy as Gwen lie dying during Sarah's birth. I give her no credit for waiting until Theresa was dead. The "I'll raise your child with you" ploy is cheap and common and leaves everyone with a touch of guilt. The supposed happy married life cannot be built on heartache and death. For once I do not side with Gwen because she is the wife. I chastise her for being a poor one. Wrapped up in her own feelings she has neglected her husband's feelings. Isn't it said that you must love your spouse as you love yourself?
Sheridan and Fancy are after Luis without a care that he loves Fancy. Much as I've hoped for Sheridan and Luis to reunite I just cannot endorse a relationship where Sheridan puts her own love over Luis' feelings of love. It is as if they are incapable of understanding that their pain is his pain if she loses Fancy. How can you inflict that on a person you love?
Speaking of love, now I have to choke down Ethan's incredible declaration that he loves Gwen. What?! He trampled on the woman's heart, cheated in their marriage, and just told her he'll always love Theresa. His ideal of love is seriously warped if he thinks he's treated either Gwen or Theresa in a loving manner. For years he spat on Theresa's overtures of love and now it's Gwen's turn. Enjoy it Gwen. You'll soon see (just as Theresa did) that chasing down the man you want doesn't lead to happiness.
All of this is pretty standard for Harmony, so what was the twist of fate for this week? Surprise, surprise, Theresa isn't dead after all. So what if we saw her ghost rising into the light? It seems heaven up-chucked her just like hell did eight years ago. Or as Rebecca asked, "I wonder what sharks do for indigestion?" Worse yet was her reaction to awakening. Told that contacting her family would cause their immediate deaths, she picked up the phone less than two minutes later chanting her mantra, "A life without Ethan isn't worth living." Death be damned (for every relative she has) if she can't be with Ethan or even wait a day to understand the consequences. It was this wretched thinking that put her in the position she is in today. I wondered at Little Ethan's grief when he said his mother wouldn't leave him. What will he feel when he is old enough to understand that she did just that, knowing full well the danger to her and others? What if he could see her now, reaching for the phone to call Ethan even though it would mean his death? I doubt there is another woman in Soaps so self involved. Either that or I cannot fathom a married woman who would serve her son up on a platter for lust of a married man.
Theresa's memorial service and its mix of mourners really showed the kind of complex character Theresa is; a kind of heroine/villainess who loves not wisely but too well. She'd do Othello proud. A woman who will give her love and then poison, stab, steal, defraud and serve her only son up on a platter for a roll on the closet floor with her Ethan; the same Ethan that reunited with his wife 10 minutes after her memorial service, her great love.
Memoriam at the service:
Ethan: "Loved by so many."
Ivy: "And despised by many more."
Ethan: "What can I say about Theresa that hasn't already been said?"
Rebecca: "That we all lived happily ever after."
Enjoy next week fans, it should be a doozie.
