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With the news that Tuc Watkins is returning to One Life to Live as the
unscrupulous David Vickers (for only five days, some magazines say; other Internet
rumors indicate he may have changed his mind about the whole thing), it is a good
time to reflect on Watkins's other daytime drama role, that of General Hospital's
nefarious Dr. Pierce Dorman.
Ah, Dorman--arguably GH's last great villain.
How can I make such a claim, you may ask? What about those baddies who have
come after "our Pierce," as Monica so sarcastically called him when
she had him trussed up and nearly under the knife in that seedy hotel room? What
about Helena? Sorel? The oh-too-brief return of Cesar Faison? Stavros? We'll get
to them in a second, but first we should provide a little of Dorman's background.
Dr. Dorman debuted in 1995, played by the bearded Bradley White, as a bigoted
GH doctor who refused to treat Stone Cates for HIV. Not much to write home about,
just a creep in the middle of one of the biggest (and most depressing) storylines
in the show's history. Dorman also lent Damian Smith his winter cabin, which Damian
used to frame Katherine Bell for his murder and skip town.
Early 1996, Rob Youngblood took over the role, and Pierce was placed in Alan
and Monica's circle as Alan's doctor, to repair Alan's hand so that the male Dr.
Quartermaine could return to life as a surgeon. (This would set up Alan's drug
addiction to the pain medication hydrocodone.) He also began to flirt with Monica,
still depressed after her battle with breast cancer, and was revealed to be her
secret admirer. Dorman's attentions succeeded where Alan's did not, and Pierce
and Monica entered into an affair. It was also hinted, but never really followed
up on, that Pierce was in cahoots with Stefan Cassadine to close General Hospital.
Dorman bailed out on GH to work at rival Mercy Hospital, and then returned after
Stefan "saved" the day.
It was announced in September 1996 that two big names were hitting GH:
Nancy Lee Grahn (ex-Julia Capwell, Santa Barbara), as attorney Alexis Davis,
and Watkins, to replace Youngblood. He took over the role just as Monica broke
off the affair, and the storyline took off from there. Where White had never really
made an impact on the screen, and Youngblood was blond and bland, Watkins was
a firebrand. In possibly the best recast in soap history, the worst character
on the GH canvas quickly became the reason to watch.
Under Watkins, Dorman developed many new and exciting facets. His anger at
being dumped held more than a hint of rage, and Dorman vowed revenge, which he
took by suing Monica for sexual harassment. Dorman got a hold of Emily's diary
and used it to his own advantage, forcing Ned to admit on the stand that he and
Monica had had an affair (years ago, when she thought he was tennis pro Ward),
effectively destroying Ned's already crumbling marriage to Lois.
Dorman's involvement with the Qs won him an enemy in their sons, AJ and Jason.
AJ made more than a few threats to Dorman, who wasn't impressed, and he had more
than a few snide "brain dead" comments for the amnesiac Quartermaine/mob
henchman, although Jason began investigating Dorman after Monica lost the trial.
Around the same time, it was uncovered that Dorman was a drug dealer in cahoots
with Harry Silver, Sonny Corinthos's former henchman, driven insane by the accidental
bombing of Lily Rivera Corinthos (Sonny was the intended target). Dorman was supplying
the Port Charles children with drugs, including Emily's friend Matt Reynolds.
Matt overdosed, and Emily nearly took a swan dive off the Quartermaine mansion's
roof. She was rescued by Ned, Jax and Jason, and rushed to GH to the only doctor
on call--Dorman.
Monica learned of Dorman's drug connections, as well as his abuse of her daughter's
dairy. She stabbed him with a hypodermic full of sodium pentothal and prepared
to give him a lobotomy as punishment for his crimes after a makeshift trial of
her own in a seedy hotel room. Jason stopped her before the "surgery"
could go underway, and then Mac Scorpio burst in--to arrest Dorman! The incredulous
Dr. Feelgood's protests were met with only an idle shrug from the commissioner:
"I'm going to do it your way, Dorman. I'm going to lie."
Out on bail thanks to a smitten nurse who had fallen into his clutches, the
nervous Dorman made plans to skip town as his mob connections began to surface
(Jax's ex-wife Miranda tipped off Sonny, while a couple of Dorman's associates
began to show up and make less-than-idle threats, since Harry's death had left
Pierce without a channel to sell his goods).
It was in the hospital morgue that Dorman met his maker. (Or did he?) With
nary a Quartermaine in sight (Amy Vining: "Where'd the whole family go?")
during a blackout, the scene cut to Dorman talking to himself ("You'll never
amount to a hill of beans, Pierce.") and then singing the eeriest rendition
of "Que Sera Sera" ever. Then he spotted someone behind him, whirled
around, and GH viewers were treated to the grisly, but oh-so-satisfying,
shot of blood gushing from the bad doc's mouth and him collapsing to the floor.
Fade to black. Friday show over. Dr. Pierce Dorman is dead, long live Pierce Dorman.
Of course, the writers would start off strong with the implication that any
member of the Qs was the murderer (especially Emily), but ultimately fizzle out
by revealing that a cartoonish out-of-left-field contract killer called "The
Tin Man" (so named for his fondness for sticks of chewing gum, and leaving
the wrappers behind) did the dastardly deed under orders from a not-so-dead Hernando
Rivera, who wanted vengeance on Sonny and Brenda for Lily's death.... But why
go any further into that lame-o plot than need be?
Now that we've taken that long trip down memory lane, the question still remains:
Why was Pierce Dorman the last great GH villain?
The answer is simple: Because he was allowed to be a villain in the entirety
of Tuc Watkins's run, and he was a bonafide villain with connections all throughout
town. Look who has come after him. The Tin Man and Rivera were brief pit stops,
wrapping up a storyline that desperately needed wrapping up.
Helena Cassadine resurfaced, but, because of Constance Towers's fine portrayal
(no doubt a reason Helena has not suffered a similar fate) and willingness to
stay, not to mention a further exploration into the Cassadine family psyche, until
recent cartoonish overtones took over she has not been able to be a true villain.
Sure, she has had the opportunity to do evil things, but what has she really done?
Torment Alexis, Stefan, and the Spencers with her mere presence? She did try to
kill Chloe and Stefan, hold Lucky hostage, and resurrect Stavros, but true evil?
Not really--with the exception of Stavros and maybe Lucky, her plans never really
came to fruition. They might now, but somehow I don't think so.
And Faison? How the mighty fell when GH's first best villain came back
to town. He started off so well, chasing the Ice Princess as Krieg to an unsuspecting
Luke, leaving Lucky presumed dead, and diminished into a further cartoon, smuggling
diamonds and "falling for" Felicia. Where'd he leave his brain? Loving?
Sorel was never really a threat to Sonny, because Sonny is apparently the God
of the show now, and anyone who opposes him is either going to look like a fool
or get rubbed out.
Stavros, like Helena, has potential. But he's turning into a second-hand Faison,
cartoonishly plotting with Helena while possibly going behind her back, and lurking
in the shadows for the most part. At the time of this writing, he was about to
be unmasked by Laura, it appeared, so who knows where the story will go from there?
It had better go somewhere quick.
Dorman was never a cartoon. He was bad, magnificent in his malevolence, and
hilarious to boot. But there was always the underlying sense of danger with him,
and the sense that anything could happen. Not only that, but he had a strong effect
on the whole GH canvas: the Qs, the hospital, the Cassadines--he was Katherine's
surly doctor after Stefan shot her--Sonny, Brenda, the cops. Faison affected only
Luke, Mac, and Felicia when the entire town should have been running scared from
the man who killed Robert and Anna Scorpio. (He was the reason Edward was presumed
dead, for heaven's sakes!) Helena is a joke. Stavros might be. Sorel is dead,
but who cares?
Watkins was talented enough to get The Powers That Be to expand upon Dorman's
story, and if they could have gotten him to stay, they probably would have. So
in a way, as much as I miss him, it's probably better that Dorman did bite the
scalpel. If Watkins had stuck around, who knows what rings the show might have
put him through to--shudder--redeem him, make him likable enough to stick around,
or give Dorman an "evil" twin (Snierce, maybe?). As it was with the
short stint, Dorman had bite, and he had edge, and anything could happen with
him.
Still, I wouldn't mind it if ABC were able to convince Watkins to come back
for like a three month stint or something, and have it be revealed that Dorman,
as a Soap Opera Weekly reader suggested so long ago in 1997, figured his
number was just about up and hired a certain down-on-his-luck con man from Llanview
to take his place. David Vickers is only sweeping through OLTL for five
days, so it shouldn't be too hard for Pierce to pass himself off as someone else
by now. Just imagine that scene where Monica, Alan or, best of all, Emily come
face to face with their worst enemy, grinning one more time. Goosebumps....
I'd like to end by pointing you to Tuc Watkins's fan website, Tuc-Watkins.com
(thanks to them for the photo above), with great info and even better pictures
(too bad you can't right click 'em), and by sharing with you, once again, the
last few lines of Pierce Dorman:
"When I was just a little boy, I asked my mother, 'What will I be?
Will I be handsome? Will I be rich?' Here's what she said to me:
'Que sera sera. Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera sera. What will be, will be."
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