Catching up with Luke

Well, I've at long last caught up with my backlog of As the World Turns episodes. I have to admit that I came away not only pleasantly surprised, but actually looking forward to watching future (Luke related) episodes! I can't even remember how long it has been since I felt that way about ATWT.

The last time I'd tuned in to the show, I was annoyed that they were sending Dr. Reid Oliver, with whom Luke had such great chemistry, into Katie's orbit. Katie is pretty much the Bermuda Triangle when it comes to straight, single men who aren't related to her. If they get anywhere near her storyline, they won't escape again until they've been married to her.

Since the show seemed to be throwing away the incredible chemistry between Van Hansis and Eric Sheffer Stevens, I tuned out and let the episodes pile up on my Tivo.

I'm sure you can imagine, then, how happy I was to discover that Reid is in fact a gay character and that the show does seem to be proceeding with a pairing between him and Luke. Luke himself discovered that Dr. Oliver was gay after he'd accused him of homophobia for not treating him, as Noah's boyfriend, the same way he'd treat a straight patient's loved one.

As you'll recall, Reid was ordered to stick around Oakdale and work at the hospital while awaiting a court case for taking Luke's car and getting into a fender bender with Kim Hughes. He took on Noah's case to while away the time.

Eventually, Reid had his day in court (and Luke even spoke on his behalf, after Reid had helped him by proving to the police that Holden couldn't have murdered Damian, but let's not bother with all that!) and was free to leave town. He was taking Noah back to Dallas with him, to do the surgery there.

Thanks to his new roommate Katie's connections, Memorial got a hefty donation to build a state of the art Neurosurgery wing that would make them the go to place for brain surgery, and Reid agreed to stay on and run it.

Luke was thrilled that Noah wasn't leaving town, but Noah made it clear that even though he was staying in Oakdale, he still needed to be independent and wanted to be 'just friends' with Luke for now. When Noah couldn't give him any guarantees about their future, Luke ended things between them.

Luke and Noah, thanks to endlessly awful writing, had become so unrecognizable as the couple they once were that it was almost hard to remember why I had ever rooted for them, especially when compared to the way that every scene between Luke & Reid crackles with sexual tension. Those are just the normal scenes, by the way. Don't even get me started on how hot the scenes were where Luke got a bit physical with the egotistical doctor after losing his patience!

Still, watching Luke & Noah actually break up did bring a tear to my eye, mostly because of the way Van Hansis played the scene. I could feel Luke's heart breaking!

After Reid had agreed to stay on and run the new wing, Dr. Bob Hughes informed him of several cuts that would have to be made from Dr. Oliver's list of requirements, for budgetary reasons. The egotistical Reid tried to humble himself (which was very funny to watch!) and ask the richest person he knew for a grant to further fund the wing. That, of course, was our very own Luciano, who couldn't resist pointing out how Reid had snarked at him from day one for being a poor little rich boy, until he needed some money himself!

In the end, Luke had his foundation supply the necessary funds, in exchange for a seat on the board. He & Reid are now working on the planning of the new wing together, which lead to that pivotal moment in their relationship where they were stuck in an elevator together and Luke finally saw another, more vulnerable, side of Reid.

That brings us up to today's show, where Luke ran into the man who is suing Dr. Oliver for malpractice over his daughter's death, and tried to use his fortune to make the lawsuit disappear. Luke expected Reid to be angry with him when he happened upon the scene, but instead Dr. Oliver was actually impressed (and, I would say, moved, not that he wanted to show it!) that Luke would go to bat for him like that.

Reid seemed pretty disappointed when Luke told him that he'd actually done it for Noah, so that Reid could focus on his surgery instead of a lawsuit. But how honest is Luke being with himself about that, I wonder?

That's where things stand at the moment, and as I said, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's scenes. Part of me wonders why, of course, since Luke & Noah never got, in years of dating, the sort of love scene they deserved (the sort that Oliver & Kyle did get on One Life to Live), so what chances are there of Luke & Reid getting one between now and September, when the show ends?

Even knowing that there isn't much chance for a big payoff, I find myself feeling foolishly hopeful, yet again! I blame Van Hansis for this, since watching him as Luke somehow manages to get me invested in a way that the writing rarely deserves!