Kish: That's a Wrap

The week is off to a very eventful start on One Life to Live. I didn't write up yesterday's Fish scenes because he really didn't have a great deal to do overall, so this will be about the last two episodes.

If you'll recall, we left Oliver, Schuyler, and Rex looking on in horror as Gigi and baby Sierra Rose were stranded on the cracking ice in the middle of a frozen lake. Yesterday's show picked up in the same spot and found Rex and Schuyler being more or less useless, though Rex did try and find a tree branch long enough to reach Gigi.

Schuyler, the supposedly smart med student, had been staring at Gigi and the baby for at least two scenes but it took Gigi yelling that the baby needed medical help before he finally realized that "Oh, my God, Stacy had the baby!" If I were Fish, I think I might have been tempted to push Schuyler out onto the ice then and there. Survival of the fittest and all, you know.

At any rate, it was Oliver who managed to find a rope to anchor to a tree, tied one end in a loop, and threw it out to Gigi so that she could step into it and pull it up around her body. Our hero to the rescue again!

Of course, it wasn't that simple. When Gigi tried to move towards the rope, the ice gave way under her. She managed to keep her upper body and arms (complete with baby Sierra) above water long enough for Oliver and Schuyler to tie a coat to the end of the rope so that she could put the baby on it and they could pull Sierra to safety. Once that had been accomplished, Gigi sank beneath the water.

Schuyler and Rex worked together to pull Gigi from the lake while Oliver held his baby girl for the first time, kissed her, and promised her that it was going to be all right. I've never really understood the whole thing about guys with babies being more attractive. I figured it was something that must just appeal to straight women, because it doesn't do anything for me. Still, Oliver holding baby Sierra completely made me melt, so maybe there's something to it after all!

That's how yesterday's show ended, with Schuyler performing CPR on Gigi while Rex tried to talk her around and Oliver held his daughter.

Today, they managed to revive Gigi just in time for Stacy to come along. At the end of yesterday's show, Kim had discovered that Stacy (who'd been talking about going to the hospital to be with her daughter) had slipped out of Viki's cabin while Kim was upstairs getting her another blanket.

Unlike the first days of this story, when there were several people wandering the mountain not finding each other, they all seem to now be able to zero in on each other with little problem. Stacy, like Rex before her, went straight from the cabin to the lake.

As Gigi, Rex, Schuyler, and Oliver yelled for her to stop and tried to warn her about the danger, Stacy only seemed to see her baby daughter and charged forward across the ice, which quickly gave out underneath her.

She surfaced, calling her daughter's name and asking if she was okay. Schuyler told Gigi that they had to get the baby medical attention immediately and when Gigi didn't want to leave until her sister was safe, Stacy yelled for her to get Sierra to the hospital. Gigi promised Stacy that she'd make sure nothing happened to the baby and she, Schuyler, and Sierra departed, leaving Oliver and Rex to save Stacy.

Rex tried throwing Stacy the rope, but she wasn't able to reach it before submerging again. She surfaced, though, begging Rex not to let her die. I'm still trying to decide if the complete lack of any emotion on Rex's face during all of this was intentional, a direction that actor John Paul Lavoisier was given, or if he just couldn't be bothered to emote.

Whatever the reasons behind Rex's reaction, Scott Evans did a fantastic job as Oliver during all this, looking terrified as Rex tried again to throw Stacy the rope and she wasn't able to reach it. When Rex went out onto the ice himself in an attempt to reach her, it began to crack underneath him and he had to back away.

Stacy asked Rex to take care of the baby, saying she needed her father (which probably wasn't further manipulation on Stacy's part; in her post-delivery haze, she'd managed to convince herself that because the baby had arrived early, it must actually be Rex's child, the one she'd miscarried. She even shared this belief with Kim), and then told him that there was something she had to tell him about Sierra. Rex cut her off, saying the baby needed her mother, and the last thing that Stacy said before going under for the final time was that she was sorry.

Rex dove in after her, despite Fish urging him to think about his son Shane and not risk his life. Fish was looking pretty terrified as he waited, no doubt convinced that Rex and Stacy were both dead. When Rex finally surfaced without Stacy and wanted to go back under and look for her again, Fish grabbed Rex, telling him that doing so would be certain death and that if he fought Oliver on that, they'd both end up dead.

Fish pulled Rex out of the water and shortly thereafter the emergency personnel finally arrived. Oliver and Rex stared at the hole in the ice that marked Stacy's watery grave and Fish tried to assure Rex that he'd done everything he could, but that it had just been impossible. Oliver said that he couldn't believe Stacy was gone and asked if Rex knew what she'd been trying to tell him about the baby.

Now, Rex and Oliver both think that Schuyler is the father and that should be the logical assumption on both their parts about what Stacy might have been trying to confess, so having Fish ask Rex that seemed really out of place and not very believable.

At any rate, Rex replied that the only thing he knew was that the little girl no longer had a mother. Which of course means that, sooner or later, Oliver will be the one raising his daughter! I wished, not that long ago, that this exact situation would happen: Stacy dead and Oliver (with Kyle, eventually) raising the baby.

I'm sure I'll be very glad in the long run but since they managed, against all odds, to make me like Stacy somewhat at the end, today was actually rather sad. Still, it's going to make for some great story for Oliver and Kyle, not to mention Kim, Schuyler, Gigi, and Rex.

Gigi and Schuyler did manage to get baby Sierra safely down the mountain and to the hospital, by the way, and no doubt the story will continue there as the week progresses.

For the record, our Oliver has now saved (or helped to save) the lives of Brody, Gigi, baby Sierra, and Rex. He's been very heroic, but I find myself really hoping that we get a scene where he just kind of falls apart in Kyle's arms for a little while. Fish has had a very traumatic time up on Llantano mountain and for all his heroism, he's very human. Even the strongest person needs someone they can be vulnerable with. It would be great to see Kyle comfort him and help him through what he's feeling!