My first review! Thanks to Kim for letting me in on some of the Todd review action.
It's interesting hearing the famed "Todd" music again in this clip as C.J. and Sarah are telling Ali about their "secret hiding place." Not too long ago we'd seen Todd manipulate the sweet and naive Rebecca into helping him, and the writers wanted us to think he was now going that route with these kids. The contrast between the most dangerous man in Llanview and the innocent ones he interacts with has always been absolutely fascinating to me. You naturally suspect Todd would destroy such vulnerable people, but it's the exact opposite. The gentle side of the "beast" comes out when he's around people he sees as vulnerable and innocent (though of course, he is still capable of hurting said people unintentionally).
Clever writing with Todd offering the kids candy as you see and hear Todd with a sly demeanor with "The Music" playing. I'm sure we all remember the 90's taking-candy-from-a-stranger scares. Our first thought is meant to be, "Oh No!" But after weeks of this supposedly "purely evil" man exposing his soul to Rebecca, I never believed for a second he was ever going to hurt these kids. Besides, I don't think the show could have gotten away with it.
Todd and the kids arrive at the garden shed...and so it begins! Classic, timeless scenes are on their way (there have already been a lot of them, but these are among the most legendary in the show's history). Todd has already transformed right before our very eyes. Now he's about to begin months of a sort of spiritual redemption as C.J. and Sarah essentially serve as his therapists.
Todd, C.J., and Sarah take a "blood oath" without real blood. Todd knows he can trust them, just like he did at one time with Rebecca. Manipulative? Sure. But at the same time, Todd values them and their opinions. He doesn't think less of them just because he knows they're either too naive or too young to understand what he's doing. In fact, he actually thinks much more highly of them.
Todd doing some stalking again as Rebecca reads to the kids, LOL. But here comes something to spoil Todd's view...Mr. Pet Poodle, Powell-the-Pure.
There's the enchanted, magical "Todd/garden shed" theme music. Obviously, it would continue to be used in many Todd scenes for several years after this, but whenever I hear it, this is all I can think of. C.J. and Sarah bring their genie some food. Now it shifts into the Todd/Rebecca theme, almost as if to signal to the viewers that Todd's not going to hurt them.
Man, you really take this genie stuff seriously, don'tcha Todd? LOL. I could so hear Zach saying this line if he were present.
Todd tells the kids his "genie" name...absolutely love the cross-reference to Muhammad Ali. How could you not like the character at this point? At this point, you've almost completely forgotten he ever raped someone. That, in and of itself, is one of the best compliments one can pay Roger Howarth. He quickly and seamlessly took one of the coldest, most despicable characters on TV and transformed him into a sympathetic, three-dimensional character with such powerful appeal that viewers such as me were pulling for him with all our might. Many of us had quite a bit invested in this character and his eventual redemption...the term "redemption" being somewhat ambiguous, be that as it may.
Todd eating his chicken and talking about his "evil master" (this will be crucial for his "therapy" scenes with the kids later on)...LOL, I love how he's making it up as he goes along. "To earn my freedom...yeah, right, to earn my freedom..." Todd's amazing himself with his brilliance, lol.
Towards the end of the scene, Rebecca would be giving her aunt and uncle heart attacks with her daring attire (LOL) we get a look at the Sappy Poetic Forces that could hurt Rebecca. Blech.
Fail: That right there...Powell and his sappy poetry are enough to make anyone queasy. Must be that cafeteria food! LOL. This guy goes from as dark a place as you can go to...cheesy love poems? Powell needed therapy every bit as badly as Todd, but he wasn't provided with it until it was too late. Todd, meanwhile, essentially got therapy from Rebecca AND the kids before he even started his prison therapy with Ray. I think that was critical in the outcome being the way it was.
TM9394 is a part-time worker and full-time Todd fan from St. Louis, MO.
OMG, you did a GREAT GREAT JOB HERE!
ReplyDeleteI love the whole concept that he could "possibly" hurt the kids but we all know he won't. This whole relationship with them leads to the "redemption," in a way, of this man. I feel exactly the same way. When watching this unfold, you almost totally forget he raped someone. Until that someone constantly reminds you in the other scenes. LOL.
First, Roger was almost at his most beautiful here in appearance. Second, his rawness as an open wound surely helped. Third, his tenderness added another whole dimension. He's manipulating them, sure, but he's also entertaining them, sort of how he justified it, most likely.
Again, everyone fell in love with Roger Howarth's Todd at a different point. I clearly remember mine, which was initially in the motel, when he struggles with the make-up, and shortly after, the cabin pushed me into adoration. I wonder how many of us fell for him when he donned this purple cape and made friends with these children?
Powell. Poop. 'Nuff said.
Some of my favorite Todd moments ever are Roger with those kids. He was just so good with them. And that's not easy, or so I'm told by an actor friend of mine. Kids and animals--best avoided, if possible. And yet, Roger makes it look effortless and really CONNECTS with those kids--both in the moment as an actor and as Todd. Love it.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of sad that there aren't really any good child actors on OL today. They've soras'd all the kids except Sam, Bree, and Hope (and the babies, obviously) and we never really see them. And even when we do, they're mostly part of the scenery.
It's an interesting juxtaposition: Todd the monster on one side, and Todd the magician on the other. He really had a knack for telling stories. Here we have the beginnings of those scenes down the road when Todd started telling his version of fairytales for the sick kids in the hospital during Starr Wars I. And all the kids loved him. I really can't imagine TSJ's Todd doing that.
I think a lot of that ability to connect with kids so easily and so well, was Roger's choice to play Todd, in many respects, as a kid in a man's body. He got older, but he didn't really "grow up." He didn't know how to grow up on his own and he had no one to teach him how to do it or how to be a man, a decent man. So, everything he did was like a boy playing at manhood. He was clumsy at it in a lot of ways. He didn't know how to be a husband, because he never saw any good examples of that. There was never any doubt that he loved Starr, but his parenting style when she was little was really to treat her more like a friend than a daughter. I think he even said it once, "She's my best friend."
I just think that, yes, he was lying to and manipulating CJ and Sarah, but once again, it was like he was more of himself--his true self--with them than at any other time. It was like the little boy in him got to come out and play when CJ and Sarah were around, and he just became so. easy. to. love. I really do think this is it. This is where I went over the hump and just decided that I was going to forgive him and that I just didn't care anymore that he was a rapist. Here is where I succumbed.
Fail: Powell, of course. Ugh. I can't wait 'til he goes crazy. Because a sane Powell makes me feel like the crazy one. I really think this is the root of Todd's hatred of "Poetry Boy" Patrick. He probably had constant flashbacks to Powell's hideous recitations. I know I do.
TM9394: Great commentary! I think you're right about Powell never getting the therapy that HE really needed. I'd never really thought of that before, but it's true. You're right. Todd got some real emotional therapy from Rebecca, CJ, and Sarah. And Powell, who was clearly weaker to begin with, didn't get much help at all. Crap. Now I feel bad for the little punkass.
Eh, it will pass.