Volume I, Issue vi

February 1999

A Study in Character: In Defense of Kevin by T 'n' T

Kevin's been catching a lot of flack lately for his rejection of Lucy and romping with Eve. Accusations have flown about the size of his head and the size of his libido. We just want to give our take on the character and show why we don't think he's behaving any more stupidly than any other character in the geometric figure.

First a quick little recap of Kevin's history. He came to town the day/night Serena Baldwin was born. Aside from the initial brilliant Ryan interactions, Kevin was there to put a little friction between Mac and Felicia, who were about to be married. Kevin was a complicated guy, smart and uptight and yet constantly advising Felicia to be more free-spirited. Kevin was very touchy and introverted until Lucy entered his life like a whirlwind. His life took a back seat to hers, which was constantly in crisis (after Scott had left with the newborn Serena, Lucy had unwisely gotten involved with Damian Smith and the infamous Bet), but romance nevertheless bloomed (in breathtaking scenes that are part of the reason we can't take Eve/Kevin very seriously). And she helped him remember that he hadn't killed Grace, his previous serious passionate relationship.

Ryan's escape and death apparently threw Kevin for a loop, but he repressed his reaction, while another of Lucy's problems was handled. Finally Kevin's problems couldn't be ignored, as his very clever, and technologically brilliant, subconscious began stalking Felicia, who just happens to look like Kevin and Ryan's mother. When Kevin was caught (mostly through clues he left for Lucy to find), Lucy stuck by him through all the consequences, and she even offered to marry him. (We are puzzled why she seems to think this would increase his acceptability to the community, but she's always offering to marry him for that reason.)

Eventually Felicia dropped the charges, but Kevin had lost his career as a psychiatrist (which seems to mean people still consult him, but he can't charge). Lucy continued to worry about his mental health as it became apparent that he was keeping some big secret about his supposedly dead father. Lucy and Felicia sniffed it out and the secret was that Victor was still alive, but non-compis mentis. Kevin didn't want folks to know that his entire family was a few knives short of a set.

Which brings us to PC. Kevin and Lucy were emerging from a very difficult Kevin year on GH. But things had settled down, they were happy, she suspected she was pregnant. That lasted all of two minutes. Because of Kevin, Scott refused to allow Serena to visit. Serena was kidnapped and Scott assumed Lucy was responsible. Not an auspicious beginning for the Scott/Kevin relationship. In Kevin's view Scott was being cruel to Lucy, and still seeing her as the de-evolved creature she'd been before Serena's birth. We don't know what Scott's view was, but he must have thought that Kevin was pretty button-downed and uptight (for a psycho stalker) and a strange match for the wild free spirited Lucy he knew.

Immediately TPTB had put the triangle in place. This was the geometric figure they'd advertised before the series had started. This was the hook to get GH fans over to watch. Whom will Lucy choose? But they immediately abandoned that and put Lucy's choice on hold. Nevertheless Kevin knew that choice was there. He recognized the pull Scott had on Lucy, and that pull was named Serena. Serena was retrieved, but Lucy lost her and Kevin's baby. We think this was the beginning of the deterioration of Kevin and Lucy's relationship. Serena became more overwhelmingly important to Lucy as the only child she might ever bear.

Kevin, never very good at reaching out, watched Lucy take a step away from him and towards Scott and Serena, and while he could protest, he couldn't do anything without denying Lucy's much needed connection to Serena. But still the triangle choice was delayed as Lucy's plan to get close to Rex took precedence. But it did further damage to Kevin's relationship with Lucy as he helplessly watched as she put herself in danger and refused to listen to any of his advice. But the relationship survived as Kevin accepted what he couldn't change.

Rex problem solved (or so they say), the time was again ripe for Lucy/Kevin/Scott to enter the triangle. "Hey?" you might ask, "What about Eve?" Well, Eve does serve a purpose here. While Lucy was not quite ready to enter that triangle, Eve kept the popular character Scott occupied with a hot romance. Couldn't leave him unattached, could they? But again the triangle was delayed. New writers had been brought aboard who understandably wanted a shot at their own plot line before dealing with the leftovers of the Culliton reign. Hence General Homicide was introduced. And yet, they very slowly continued the disintegration of Lucy and Kevin.

The General Homicide mystery was very definitely connected with Kevin; this was his problem, his past, his darn book. He had written it in a cathartic rush when Lucy was off dealing with Rex. (We think in part it may have been a way for him to deal with the grief over his child's death, something he and Lucy never dealt with together.) Okay, fine, Kevin's problem. His turn. Following the pattern of his relationship with Lucy, his crisis, her crisis, his crisis, her crisis, his crisis.... But Lucy broke the pattern. She made this about herself, Scott and Serena, instead of making it about Kevin. She devoted her time and energy to taking down Eve.

Eve came to him and told him what Lucy had done regarding the gas siphoning. (Yes, she did prior to the wedding. She didn't have the photographic proof for him, but she'd seen it, and informed him and Scott in a timely manner.) Kevin confronted Lucy, who denied everything. He couldn't have been so sure of her denial, but he accepted her word because he wanted to believe. He wanted to believe that she had not completely shut him out and disregarded him again.

The photographic proof killed something inside him. We think he was prevaricating about his reasons for calling off the wedding. Because Lucy lied to him? *Pshaw.* She lied to him plenty, and he'd lied to her his share. So how could that have been the issue? To him this was the final proof. Serena and Scott were more important to her than he was. Lucy didn't trust him, wouldn't confide in him. He left her at the altar for that.

Okay, but why didn't he get over it? Forgive her? Considering her protestations of Love. Well, we think his low self-esteem kicked in. He was still having his hallucination problems even thinking he might be Marcia's killer. Low self-esteem told him that Lucy should be with Scott and Serena. Heck, as far as Kevin knew, she was safer that way. Kevin wasn't thinking, and hasn't been since, with his head or his heart. He's been thinking with his pain and his fear, and pushing Lucy away with it.

Back to Eve, at loose ends, as Scott's love proved nowhere near strong enough to withstand the pressures brought to bear by Lucy and circumstance. As his relationship with Lucy fell apart, Kevin focused more on his friendship with Eve. He took Eve to Jasmine Island to keep her away from the GHK (well, really it was just Psycho Frank, but they thought it was the killer) and to help him work out what had happened at the Picnic. In essence he was using Eve as a substitute, someone to protect and someone to help him as Lucy had before. Unfortunately looking to Eve for help was like leaning on a reed instead of an Oak. This, along with the revelation that he had not killed Marcia and hence could offer Lucy more, made him realize he still loved Lucy and wanted her back.

Then Kevin was hit with yet another blow, finding Lucy and Scott in bed together. *Wham, bang.* More proof that it wasn't Kevin that Lucy wanted. It was Scott, and the life he could offer her with Serena. Promptly Kevin went back into his low self-esteem spiral and pushed Lucy away again.

So why, on top of this hellish thing his relationship to Lucy has turned into, does he want to intensify his relationship with Eve? It's complicated. Eve offers a simple relationship, based on mutual attraction. She doesn't require anything from Kevin, not even trust. She doesn't have the power to hurt him that Lucy does. And Eve usually does what he tells her to. So more and more Kevin turned to Eve. But there are deeper reasons, especially after his "final good-bye" to Lucy.

Despite wanting Lucy to be with Serena and Scott, to have the happiness Kevin feels he can't offer to her, Kevin still loves Lucy, is deeply attached to her and knows he's consigning himself to have no lifetime commitment without her. Subconsciously a connection is necessary, and that connection is Eve. Eve is the person with whom Lucy was obsessed for almost a year. Lucy was jealous of Eve. Now, Kevin is going out with that person, establishing her as his significant other. What better way to keep Lucy's attention, to trigger her jealousy, to keep himself in the running for her affection.

This does make Kevin look a little irrational as he keeps pushing away with one hand and reeling her back in with the other. Lucy must feel like a yo-yo these past few months. But Kevin isn't purposely doing it to hurt her. He honestly has two different and conflicting motivations. It's a similar struggle to Lucy's as she finds her love for Scott and Serena in direct conflict with her love for Kevin. For her it's not a choice she was able to make. She let Kevin (she thinks) make the choice for her, while Kevin thinks Lucy make the choice for him.

Kevin is a very complex character. A lot of times people see just one side of that character: the uptight, controlling psychiatrist, or the vulnerable, sensitive artist, or the frightened, badly damaged little boy, or the...you get the point. If you just look at one aspect his motives don't make sense. If you look at them all a picture begins to emerge.