| "Tempted": Allure and Menace in Port Charles' "Tempted,"An Analysis (c) by Alison Armstrong |
| An analysis of the "Tempted" episodes of the show "Port Charles," formerly of ABC-TV. This site will focus on the scenes featuring the vampire character Caleb Morley (portrayed by actor Michael Easton). The character of Caleb Morley and any other characters relating to Port Charles are the property of ABC and their creators. This is a fan-run site and is not an official site, nor is it affiliated in any way with ABC, Port Charles, or the actors portraying any of the Port Charles characters. No copyright infringement is intended. The writings on this site are copyrighted by the author, Alison Armstrong, and may not be reproduced without the author's express permission. |
| "Tempted" Episodes 37-39 (cont.) “No, Livive,” Rafe pleads, turning her around to face him. “Look at me. We’ll fight him together. We’ll bring him down together. I’ll tell you what’s really happening here. You . . . “ Rafe looks up into the hovering skies. “No!” he screams as he vanishes, swept up by his heavenly supervisor. “Rafe!” Livvie yells, frightened by his sudden disappearance. “What, Sweetheart?” Caleb says calmly, nurturingly. “Caleb, where did he go? What happened to him?” she exclaims. “Oh, him.” He smirks, looking up at the sky. “Well, he broke the rules. You know we should never break the rules. Right?” He shakes his head like a parent trying to teach a child an important moral lesson; however, unlike most parents, Caleb is obviously aware of the hypocrisy of his statement. Caleb, an outlaw and rule-breaker, follows no moral code, no set of rules except his own. “Never,” she solemnly agrees. |
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| “That’s a good girl,” he murmurs approvingly, smiling and stroking her hair. “You’ll never remember any of this. You won’t remember until it’s too late.” He kisses her softly, slowly, savoring the touch of her lips against his, feeling himself again on the verge of surrender. But resisting his need for her, his vulnerability to her, he disappears, leaving her alone on the bridge, on the threshold between two worlds, two dueling forces in unending battle. |
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| This battle, as waged by Rafe and Caleb, is equated throughout Port Charles as a kind of formal game with different rules and sets of limitations ascribed to each team. Whereas Rafe cannot break his rules by telling anyone what Caleb is doing or manipulating them into a course of action, Caleb does not, according to the guidelines set up in the game, have to follow this set of rules. However, he does have his limitations. He cannot kill an angel, cannot wish away his vampire condition, and cannot father a child. The rules and limitations change somewhat in subsequent arcs. For example, in the last arc, “The Gift,” it is hinted that under certain conditions Caleb might be able to father a child, and when Caleb comes back from the dead in “Naked Eyes,” there is a new rule stipulating that neither Caleb nor Rafe can kill each other because the balance between good and evil must always be maintained. Though incorporating elements and symbols from Christianity, the Port Charles universe is akin to paganism in some ways. As in pagan traditions and ancient Greek myths, it is inhabited by supernatural beings, gods above and below that observe and interfere in human events. Good and evil are not absolute, nor can either side ultimately dominate the other. Instead, there is a fluctuation between opposing forces, with humans poised in the center, the pawns and trophies in an endless cosmic game. |
| Snappies of "Tempted" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |