| "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" #6 (cont.) Meanwhile, Livvie ponders the disappearance of the man who had been so sensually dancing with her. “Where did you come from?” she asks accusingly, pointing at Joshua. “I wasn’t dancing with you. I . . . I was dancing with. . . ” She leaves her sentence unfinished, as if afraid to reveal the name scarring her heart. “Who? Who, Livvie? Who did you think it was?” Rafe badgers her, sharing her unspoken intuition. “God, that feeling,” she sighs, still dizzy from the man’s intoxicating embrace. When Alison, bewildered by the conspiratorial glances between Rafe and Livvie, asks what is going on, Joshua introduces himself. But despite Joshua’s condescending advice to “lighten up” and “enjoy the party,” neither Rafe nor Livvie can dismiss their chilling intuitions that Joshua is not the man Livvie with dancing with before the unmasking. To divert attention from herself and the masked man, Livvie lashes out at Rafe, accusing him of sprinkling his “little fairy magic dust” to create her “Grimms fairytale” double, Tess. Even though Jack’s love for Livvie had died before Tess even showed up, Livvie believes Rafe is ultimately responsible for Jack’s obsession with Tess. Livvie claims that Rafe conjured up “this gross new bundle of goodness” in order to take away everything that she holds dear, including the remnants of her relationship with Jack. “You should see him with her,” she hisses, referring to Jack, “He thinks she is just as cute as a bucket of puppies.” She sneers in disgust. Livvie’s show of disgust and disdain conceals her fear. She is afraid of this waifish, sweet-faced version of herself who has the power to charm Jack and others into loving and trusting her. In addition, she senses something uncanny in Tess, something magical that makes Livvie bleed where Tess bleeds. She doesn’t yet know Tess’s other magic powers, her ability to heal, which Tess is now using to bring the mortally wounded Ian back from the brink of death. Livvie, who has helped to ruin the lives of others, does not know that Tess is her healing counterpart. Rafe, of course, denies wanting to destroy Livvie but warns that “someone else might want to.” When she asks what he means by this warning, he badgers her again. “What were you feeling when you were dancing with that man, huh?” he interrogates her. “What were you thinking? Come on, Livvie. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me.” He frightens her with questions to which she and Rafe both know the answer but resist saying aloud, as if leaving his name unuttered would keep Caleb buried in the earth, locked away in Hell, accessible only in memories and nightmares. Rafe pressures Livvie to say the name but is reluctant to say it himself. Refusing to tell him anything, Livvie runs off to be alone with her troubling thoughts. As she recalls the dance, the music drifting from Stephen Clay’s party echoes like Gregorian chants resonating through an empty cathedral. The sacred and the sensual, spirit and flesh embrace in the ethereal eroticism of music and dance. |
 |
 |
| “I swear, it felt so much like him,” she murmurs to herself. “No, come on, Livvie. It wasn’t Caleb. He’s dead and gone. I made sure of that a long time ago.” Having whispered his name, she hastily puts him back to rest, pronouncing him “dead and gone” and thus out of her life. She turns to a less troubling scapegoat, Tess, for even though she fears Tess, she at least doesn’t fear her own reactions to her double. Her heart is not at risk. Vowing to find out who Tess is and where she came from, Livvie decides to visit her father, currently a patient at a psychiatric hospital. She calls the doctor treating her father and informs him that although her father is not allowed visitors she is taking the next flight to the hospital. “I’m his daughter, and this is a matter of life and death. I need to speak to him, so I will see him,” she says in an imperious tone of voice, then hangs up the phone. As Livvie tries to sort out her disturbing encounters with her double and her murdered lover, Alison goes to the hotel where her mother and Stephen continue to kiss and caress. Alison knocks on the door, interrupting their pleasure. In a reversal of usual mother-daughter roles, Alison acts like a stern parent and Elizabeth like a rebellious child who has locked herself in her room to get away from prying grown-ups. Shouting “I know you’re in there” and “If you think I’m leaving, then you obviously don’t know me very well,” Alison demands to be let in. Unable to follow Stephen’s suggestion to ignore her daughter, Elizabeth tells Stephen to wait while she gets rid of their unwelcome guest. She reluctantly breaks away from Stephen’s tantalizing caresses. |
| Snappies of "Naked Eyes" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |