| "Naked Eyes" : Analysis of the "Naked Eyes" Arc of ABC-TV's Port Charles
(c) Alison Armstrong |
| An analysis of the "Naked Eyes" episodes of the show Port Charles, formerly of ABC-TV. This site will focus on the scenes featuring the vampire character Caleb Morley/Stephen Clay (portrayed by actor Michael Easton). The character of Caleb Morley/Stephen Clay 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. |
| "Naked Eyes" #1 (cont.) When Stephen Clay makes his first appearance in “Naked Eyes,” it is in the secluded, womb-like interior of a limousine. As in the cave and monastery basement, Caleb is once again enclosed in the darkness of his sanctum. Marissa unknowingly enters his twilight world after angrily announcing to Joshua that she no longer wants to be involved in writing songs for Stephen Clay unless her drummer friend, Ricky, can be a part of the band. Joshua tries to get her to change her mind, urging her to become what she’s destined to be, to be true to herself as an artist and not settle for the conventional, uninspired dreams of average people. However, she resists his pleas and is on the verge of walking out the door when Joshua suggests that she let the limousine driver give her a ride home. As she gets inside the limousine, she ventures beyond the threshold of mundane existence and steps into the unpredictable, transgressive world of the artist, the outcast, the vampire, those who refuse to unquestioningly abide by society’s moral standards. In the limousine she meets the man who, calling himself “Stephen Clay,” has returned, strengthened and defiant, from Hell to claim the hearts and souls of the mortals who heed his summons. A deep, sensual, velvety soft voice issues from the darkness. “So, Marissa,” the voice murmurs. “We meet at last.” Crystal blue eyes glittering in the dark, the man we have known as Caleb gazes seductively at the startled woman on the back seat next to him. “I’m Stephen Clay,” he tells her. Although she at first stubbornly refuses to believe he is who he claims to be, the words he speaks in their shared darkness, the words arising from the lonely anguish in his heart, will pierce her resistant armor and she, like many others, will be captured by his spell. |
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| Snappies of "Naked Eyes" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |
| "Naked Eyes" Analysis #2 In a world of blurring identities, Caleb/Stephen Clay is the mirror; through interaction with him, the Port Charles characters see hidden, unacknowledged aspects of themselves. He seduces them with their hidden desires. But the mirror of Caleb is two-way; he sees inside them also, assuming the masks they fear and crave while indulging his own need to entice, manipulate, and destroy. As discussed in my “Caleb Morley: Dangerous and Seductive Stranger" essay , Caleb/Stephen Clay is the stranger luring us into realms of danger and allure. Marissa’s first glimpse of him, fittingly, is in the secluded darkness, the darkness of the subconscious and its urges we may flailingly try to resist. Even though Marissa has insisted to Joshua that she no longer wants to be Stephen Clay’s lyricist, a part of her must secretly wonder about the world of fame and riches she has rejected. By saying no to this offer and to her own artistic impulse, she has stifled a yearning within her soul. He represents our insatiable need to experience what has been denied. He is the Serpent luring with forbidden fruit, the Wolf coaxing Little Red Riding Hood to stray off her predictable path of virtue. Smiling cryptically and somewhat lewdly, he tempts her with knowledge, the knowledge locked inside her, the buried treasure of her creativity, the unquiet ghosts of her imagination. He knows what she longs to explore if only she has the courage to take a ride with him into the perilous yet tantalizing shadows. “Can I offer you a lift?” he asks, staring into her eyes and caressing her hands. He knows that he can soothe away her resistance by offering her a glimpse of the creative gift they share, a “lift” onto the untravelled destinations tempting from afar. Although Marissa, refusing to believe he is Stephen Clay, tells him she will not go with him until he tells her who he really is, he insists that he is who he claims. She then replies that “this whole thing is just another stupid trick” he and Joshua concocted to get her to be a part of the band. “Is it?” he smiles mysteriously, his ambiguous response neither affirming nor denying her accusation that the whole thing is a trick, an illusion. “Take a little ride with me,” he persuades. “I’ll prove to you who I really am. Come on, I won’t bite.” With this remark, Stephen Clay offers another glimpse of his true nature, his other identity, unknown to newcomer Marissa, as the vampire Caleb Morley. Although he jokingly tells her he “won’t bite,” we who remember his previous incarnation as Caleb suspect that he may not be telling her the complete truth. |