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Each of the 45 or so minutes of daily episodes we see contains numerous choices
made by writers, directors, actors, and others--the people we refer to as "they"
or "TPTB" (the powers that be). We're typically not aware of these moments
as individual moments unless they stand out for reasons ranging from beauty and
elegance to stupidity and clumsiness. The beautiful and elegant moments enhance
the scenes and even the episodes they are in. Conversely, entire scenes and episodes
may be marred by awkward and inept moments. Frequently, these stupid moments are
easily preventable and lead me to mutter, "they ought to know better."
One such awkward moment occurred when Lucky recently returned to the boxcar.
Elizabeth's trompe l'oeil murals had been covered over by new paint. Lucky took
a couple of pictures of Elizabeth out of his pocket and, using what looked like
pushpins or thumbtacks, put the pictures up on a wall in the box car. I liked
the symbolism of Lucky re-claiming the boxcar space as his and Elizabeth's, but
as I watched him put up the pictures, I had an uncomfortable thought. Did I just
see Lucky take the pushpins out of his pocket? I double checked the scene and
confirmed that the pushpins indeed came from Lucky's pocket. Now I don't have
a problem with Lucky carrying pictures of Elizabeth in his pocket. But pushpins?
And if he does habitually carry pushpins in his pockets wouldn't they be in a
small box or pouch or tool kit? I was briefly distracted by the thought of pushpins
poking Lucky and then realized that my distraction could have been easily prevented
by other simpler solutions. For example, why couldn't the pushpins have already
been on the wall? Or why couldn't Lucky have looked around and found a couple
of thumbtacks on the floor?
Another clumsy moment occurred in a recent cliffhanger scene where Emily came
to Alexis's penthouse looking for Zander. Emily, who had broken up with Zander
in order to keep Edward from pressing charges against Zander for mugging him,
had just found out that Edward had faked his own mugging and therefore the deal
she had made with Edward was immaterial. In the meantime, Zander, heart-broken
over Emily's decision to end their relationship, had told Alexis and Sonny that
he intended to leave town, and had gone up to his room to get ready to leave.
When Emily arrived, Alexis went upstairs to look for Zander in his room and came
back to tell Emily that Zander had left. I was surprised to hear that Zander had
already left very simply because we had not seen him leave. In Act IV, Sonny,
Alexis, and Zander were in the living room when Zander went upstairs to prepare
to leave town. In Act V, Sonny and Alexis continued their conversation from Act
IV. In Act VI, Sonny and Alexis completed their conversation and Sonny left through
the front door. Seconds later there was a knock at the door. Alexis (assuming
it was Sonny) opened the door and found Emily. The question is: when did Zander
leave? We (and Alexis and Sonny) would have seen him leave if he left before Emily
arrived, and if Alexis somehow missed him while she was upstairs looking for him,
Emily would have noticed him leaving. Since we didn't see Zander leave through
the front door, I began to wonder if there was a back or side door. I couldn't
remember such a door, nor would it make much sense for a split-level penthouse
apartment to have another exit door. I suppose there might be a door to the roof
or to a balcony, but why would Zander not leave through the front door in the
first place? He had already told Alexis and Sonny of his plans to leave, and neither
Alexis nor Sonny attempted to dissuade him. I assume TPTB were trying to create
a climax where we, along with Emily and Alexis, would be shocked to find out that
Zander had already disappeared. But instead of being shocked, I was left annoyed
and wondering if there would be an explanation. The explanation did come in the
next episode--Alexis told Emily that Zander must have left through the back door.
But I was still annoyed since the back door struck me as a convenient invention.
And the entire situation of Alexis being surprised by Zander's absence and the
invented back door struck me as "much ado about nothing." The episode
could have been arranged so that we had the scene with Sonny leaving in Act V,
then Emily could have arrived in Act VI, to find out that Zander had left town.
The lapse in time would have made it easier for the audience to assume that Zander
left through the front door between acts. In addition, there really was no need
for Alexis to be surprised that Zander had already left. He had already told her
that he intended to leave. By simply having Sonny leave in Act V, we would have
had an illusion of time elapsed and we wouldn't have the annoyance of trying to
figure out how Zander slipped out without being noticed.
I recognize that the existence of a back door and the origin of Lucky's pushpins
are insignificant details in the context of the story, but it is their very insignificance
that exacerbates my irritation. By having Zander leave out of a non-existent back
door, and by having Lucky pull pushpins out of his pocket, TPTB diverted my attention
from the story and caused me to spend several moments perplexed and annoyed by
what I saw. What's even more frustrating is that these annoying moments are easily
prevented. Elegant solutions are available that are at least as simple if not
simpler to execute. I love a story that makes me think, but I don't want to figure
out apartment floor plans and I don't want to ponder pushpins in pockets.
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