Great Scenes on ATWT, Stunt Kissing on Passions

As I wrote in my last post, As the World Turns is in serious need of some fresh talent in the Headwriter's chair. The show is seriously boring these days, and where has Luke been for the last six months? It's truly become Must-Fast-Forward-TV

But just when I'm seriously starting to despair, along come a few great scenes that remind me of why I love the character of Luke so much and of all the potential that exists with him. Last month, it was the scenes between Luke & his grandmother, Lucinda, in one episode that kept hope alive. Things have more or less been quiet since then, though, and I was beginning to get restless again.

But then today they really hit it out of the park, if you'll forgive the baseball metaphor, with some fantastic scenes between Luke and his father Holden. During the coming out storyline, the scenes between Jon Hensley as Holden and Van Hansis as Luke were some of the best I'd ever seen, and these two continue to have something special onscreen as father & son when they're given something to do.

In today's show, Holden & Luke were working together to fix Emma's tractor (Emma being Luke's other grandmother) and the conversation turned to spring break. Luke had been looking forward to the Senior spring break trip to Florida since he was a freshman, so when he told Holden that he wasn't going it came as something of a shock to him. When pressed for a reason why, Luke finally admited that he's tired of pretending to be having a good time when he's not. Not surprisingly, Holden's first worry was that Luke isn't being accepted by his friends at school.

Luke assured his father that his friends are okay with him, and those that aren't, well, it's their loss, not Luke's. Holden couldn't see what the problem was, then, and Luke finally came out with it:

Luke: No, look, I'm not trying to cut you out, dad. It's just -- spring break. Okay? It's all about hooking up. I mean, it's already started. Everyone's -- everyone's checking everybody else out. Figuring out who is going to get with who. And I don't have anyone. The idea of spending a week in Florida while everybody else is hooking up is not exactly my idea of a good time.

Holden: I get it. It's okay. You don't want to go.

Luke: No dad, I do want to go, it's just --

Holden: Luke, I get it. I just don't want you to think that you can't talk to me about what you're going through.

Luke: Did you talk to your parents about your sex life?

Holden: No.

Luke: No.

Holden: No, not exactly. But the point is, I don't want you to think that I'm second-guessing your choices. This is not easy. It's a small town.....

The balance between Holden trying to reach out to his son and let him know that he was okay with talking about these things, and Luke feeling the natural embarrassment that any teenager would have in talking about sex with a parent was beautifully done. The interaction between father and son was at once both awkward and touching.

Luke went on to admit that there was another gay guy in his high school, but that he wasn't Luke's type, which is an interesting point to make. I think too many people still tend to assume that two single gay guys would of course be together (especially in the soap world, where there tends to only be two gay characters at the most!). The scene reminded me very much of my own high school experience, in fact, because the only openly gay guy in my school (I wasn't nearly as brave as Luke, I was still in the closet) wasn't someone that I found attractive at all. Somehow, that made me even more lonely than I would have been if I'd thought I was the only gay guy around.

Holden tried to make his son see that there was no hurry to find love:

Holden: No, look, I just don't want you to think that you have anything to prove to yourself. You're young. I mean, you may not even be ready for a relationship yet.

Luke: Were you ready when you were my age? You were already with mom. And from what I've heard, she wasn't your first. Dad, I'm just like you. I want the same thing. I do know what I'm missing.

Van Hansis delivered that last line perfectly. He conveyed Luke's sense of loneliness, something that most gay teens have to deal with whether they're out or not, so believably that it made my heart ache for Luke. Pointing out that Luke is just like Holden, or like any other straight person, was important, too. He wants someone in his life just like everyone else, and hopefully these scenes opened the eyes of those who think that the coming out story is all there is to tell with a gay character.

Luke is a character that the audience really came to root for while he was coming out, and that's very important when it comes to any character on a soap. The audience is ready to root for Luke to find love, too, and if they weren't before today, I can't help but feeling that Van must have convinced them in these scenes, when he made Luke's loneliness and his longing for someone to love so tangible.

Holden continued to try and get across that Luke could talk to him about how he was feeling, reaching out in a way that too many fathers seem unable to do with gay sons. In fact, it seemed that Luke was the one who was most uncomfortable with the conversation, mostly because he assumed that the very idea of him being with a guy would make his father uncomfortable, no matter how accepting he was in theory of Luke being gay.

Holden: You know, I raised you to be the best that you can be, and you are. I just had to admit that I never expected you to want to spend the rest of your life with a man.

Luke: Let me get a date first, okay?

Holden: What I'm trying to say here is, -- you know, when you get the opportunity -- you know, you're a terrific person and anyone would be proud to know you -- what? Why are you laughing?

Luke: I'm laughing at you. I am laughing at you, dad.

Holden: What for?

Luke: Because I'm making you feel so damned uncomfortable.

Holden: No, I'm not uncomfortable. I'm just trying to find my way here.

Luke: Well, it's okay. It's okay. There's no hurry.

Holden: That's exactly what I'm trying to say here. There's no hurry. And I would be saying the same thing if you were trying to hook up with a girlfriend.

Luke: No, you wouldn't.

Holden: I would. I would. And Luke, I get it. I know what you're going through. I know the feelings. I know the desires. And I'm your father. I want what's best for you. I want what's best for all my kids.

Luke: Okay, dad. Whatever you say.

Holden: It's true.

Luke: And it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable? You know, thinking about me and another guy?

Holden: One, I don't think about it. It's not my business. And two, I would have just as hard a time if your sisters were with some boy. Maybe even harder. They could get pregnant. And all the rest of that stuff.

It was so incredibly refreshing to see a scene like this, where it is taken for granted that a gay teenager is just like any other teenager, hoping to find someone to be with. Even better, to see a parent dealing with the reality that their child is even thinking about having sex, while trying to show acceptance of their child's sexuality at the same time. It's a difficult balancing act, and I loved that As the World Turns didn't shy away from this topic and didn't write Holden as being completely confident in what he was doing. He was well meaning but awkward, as probably even the most understanding father would be. This whole situation is as new to Holden as it is to Luke, after all, and that was underscored later in the episode when he confided in his sister Meg:

Holden: It's just -- I don't know. Luke's life isn't exactly carefree right now. And I can't help him fix it. I don't even know what to say.

Meg: Did you guys have a fight?

Holden: No, no. It was nothing like that. We were just outside, we were working on the tractor, talking. I asked him about spring break. And he said that he wasn't going with the rest of his class.

Meg: Why not?

Holden: Because it's all about hooking up. Having someone special. And he doesn't.

Meg: So, it will happen.

Holden: That's what I tried to tell him.

Meg: So, what's the problem?

Holden: Well, the problem is, it was a disaster. I couldn't find the right words. I was starting to have this conversation with my son, I didn't know what to say. But there he was, taking it all in stride.

Meg: He was taking it all in stride because he knows it's unfamiliar territory for you. And he forgives you for it. He loves you, Holden.

All of these scenes were just so beautifully done today. Once again, they showed what potential this show has, potential they're usually wasting. These scenes especially stand out amid the wasteland of everything else going on right now. Which writer, I wonder, is responsible for writing these Luke scenes? Can we make that person head writer for the show and send Passanante packing, please? We need someone who can bring the depth and meaning of these scenes to the show as a whole, or there won't be a show much longer!

After months and months of doing nothing with Luke, it really seems like they're starting to build up to Luke finding someone. Why else would there suddenly be conversations about his lack of a love life? The scene with Jade might have been a throw away reference, but there can be no doubt after today that they're starting to head in that direction. But will they actually get there? And if they do, how long do we have to wait? And, while we're waiting, can we please have more scenes like today's?

All sorts of rumors are flying online about Luke's future boyfriend, but no casting announcement has been made yet. Given that the show tapes about a month in advance, that means we've still got awhile to wait before that story gets under way.

Now that I've talked about the good, I'll mention the bad. I'm talking, of course, about Passions. It's very sad that a show that knows it has been canceled, a show that has nothing left to lose, still isn't brave enough to actually show two male lovers kissing.

I cringed this week as I watched the sex scenes between Chad & Vincent, with the worst stunt kissing I've ever seen. By that I mean, the scene clearly called for the two men to kiss, so they pretended like they did. Very obviously pretended. We never saw their mouths actually come into contact and it was clear that they were just moving their heads together in a way that would make it look from behind or from the side like they were kissing. They can't show a real kiss, but they will show Chad reaching for the condoms on the bed side table and let us hear Vincent's voice saying "Oh, yeah, give it to me?"

What they hell kind of message is that, then? Kissing is too intimate, but that's not? Why, because that's sex and kissing is love? Reilly seems determined to show, one way or another, that two men can have sex but not love.

So, we have All My Children, which only shows a completely non-sexual man to man kiss through the viewer of a cell phone, and we have Passions which is supposedly telling a cutting edge story about two men on the down low, and they back away and give us some very obvious stunt kissing.

How pathetic! Daytime is still in the stone age when it comes to this. Prime time is making pretty steady leaps forward in showing gay men kissing as naturally as straight couples do (as any fan of Brothers & Sisters can tell you), but even though Daytime seems relatively fine with lesbian kisses, they act like showing two men locking lips will bring about the Apocalypse.

Well, it still leaves room for Luke to be the first. But will CBS and As the World Turns have any more guts than the other two networks and soaps? Or will Luke and this future boyfriend we're anticipating so much just hug a lot and maybe hold hands once in awhile?