| "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" #8 (cont.) “Did you just call me a vampire? A vampire?” Stephen laughs, once again mocking his grim-faced opponent. “Yeah, let’s see you fly, boss,” Reese adds, joining in on the joke. “Yeah, want to see my wings? How about these, right here?” Stephen taunts, turning his back to the crowd and patting his buttocks, as if he were saying “kiss my ass.” The gesture could be interpreted as an insult or even perhaps a lewd proposition. In either case it serves to humiliate and discredit Rafe. |
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| Snappies of "Naked Eyes" scenes taken by A. Armstrong |
| “See my teeth?” Stephen continues, pointing to his mouth, which appears perfectly normal, since his fangs, retractable, are hidden when not in use. “Maybe we should work you in the show full-time, man. The crazy guy who jumps out of the crowd and starts talking stuff about vampires.” The spectators laugh at the deluded heckler who has finally been put in his place, ridiculed and demeaned, reduced to the status of a disturbed yet rather pathetic buffoon. As they cackle in scorn, Rafe is hauled off by security.
Informing the crowd that the band is going to take a short break, then “come back and party,” Stephen goes backstage , where Rafe, flanked by security, meets with Lucy, Ian, and Joshua. “What am I going to do with you?” Stephen asks Rafe in a tired, disgusted tone of voice. “You haven’t figured that out, yet, Caleb? You’ve orchestrated everything else,” Rafe replies, obstinately refusing to give up his attacks. “This Caleb guy must be some piece of work,” Stephen observes. “Now, I gather I look like him?” After Lucy and Ian both affirm that Stephen does indeed share Caleb’s likeness, Stephen remarks that they must be “friends of this nut job.” He points out that the only thing Rafe has succeeded in doing “is ruin a good time for a lot of people.” Once again, Rafe’s rash, ill-conceived antics have backfired. Since his hysterical rants have now caused the concert to stop, Rafe has made himself even more despised by the audience. Rafe and Stephen each accuse the other of malicious intent. Rafe believes that Caleb (hiding under the pseudonym Stephen Clay) is “toying” with the people of Port Charles, planning the lavish Halloween party and taunting Rafe at the gym, all the while hatching some ungodly scheme of vengeance and mayhem. Although Stephen knows there are valid reasons for suspecting his motives, he passes himself off as a victim of a stalker’s obsessive paranoia. “OK. Now I have, what, a master plan?” he asks in a sarcastic tone. Then when Rafe tells him his suspicions regarding the Halloween party and the sauna encounter, Stephen sneers incredulously. “What are you, some kind of stalker?” he exclaims in disgust. “You’re exactly the kind of person I’ve tried to avoid my entire career. You’re the reason why I haven’t shown my face all this time.” Blaming his reclusiveness on people such as Rafe, Stephen echoes the feelings of many celebrities harassed, sometimes threatened, by crazed fans and greedy paparazzi. When the police, contacted by Joshua, arrive, Joshua tells them to arrest Rafe. But Lucy, using her friendship with members of the police force as a means of manipulating the officers, manages to persuade them not to arrest her cousin. Claiming that this “horrible mistake” is “just a little misunderstanding,” she quickly fabricates a preposterous story involving Rafe’s “over-caffeinated” state and a case of mistaken identity. According to Lucy, Rafe thought the Stephen Clay Experience was a band he liked called the Vampires, which had a lead singer named Caleb Morley. In lying to explain Rafe’s actions, she implies that Rafe merely confused one “bunch of scary freaky looking musicians dressed in black” for another such group (the Stephen Clay Experience). “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Stephen remarks, not pleased with Lucy’s description of his band, then turning to Rafe as if pretending to believe Lucy’s story, he asks Rafe to confirm its truth. “Is that it, Bro? You just got a little buzz and thought we were this other band?” “Yeah, that must have been it,” Rafe mumbles, neither apologizing nor elaborating. |