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Otalia - Guiding Light
Topic Started: Mar 29 2009, 06:54 PM (21,266 Views)
solitasolano
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abzug
 
As I've been rewatching scenes post-wedding, I'm not enjoying Nat's hot-and-cold. She's been the straight girl all along, changing her mind, pulling back, jumping in, then pulling back again, flirting, yet never actually doing anything. For the writers to really complete the story (and I think they know this, because they wrote Nat a certain way, intentionally), they have to have Nat come back and be committed to her feelings for Olivia. Not just in words but in actions and behavior.

marymartin
 
...it makes sense that poor Nat has to bear the brunt of the question of just how committed she will be to actually living as part of a couple with another woman. All along she's been written as indecisive…

ekny
 
Straight until proven otherwise. Thus far.


So totally agree with you all here. Natalia has said all the right things (and wrong things too if you ask me) but she really really hasn’t made a move “towards” the relationship. Remember the operative word that Father Fay (did I say that?) says when he was advising her to split town was not to think of it as running away, rather running “towards” something. In rewatching post spa episodes the rejections begin. Natalia starts pulling back and the rest of May is nothing but disappointments for Olivia and the relationship: she wants to move back to the farmhouse but Father Fay figuring the situation out puts doubt back into Nat; then they get the news Rafe is coming home; then Rafe has to settle in; Nat is not sure, and Rafe rejects the dinner gathering Olivia setup after his hearing. Olivia has to back off.
My advice to Natalia, do whatever you need to right all your wrongs because Olivia is so worth it…Do it fast and now.

ekny
 
I got an email from jeanna which was speculative … & just have to say, I really do not (not not not) wanna have to see Olivia get right with Jesus before she can get laid kissed by reconciled with Nat.


I’ve been thinking and thinking what issues TPTB will to resolve with the Otalia s/l. From the start, the two major themes were family and God (Nat’s faith/religion). Resolving the family thing is easy. I know Emma will play a role. She’s been catalyst and glue for the relationship over and over again (see clip below, has some examples). Someone else can surmise how the new bambino will be folded into the s/l. So family resolution is an easy call. But then I was thinking about this God thing. How were the writer’s going to bring closure to this constant theme? I must say, you all have given me a scare with this Olivia gets religion crap. It never occurred to me. I say, no way Jose. Olivia made one sharp comment to Nat in one of the God talks (I can’t find it right now) about her soul, basically how she wasn’t going there…to god that is. But you all scared me for a moment because I never considered this turn of character. I’m in the not gonna happen camp. (Although, this still newbie knows nothing of the mother thing you referred to cagey.

CC LOOKS HOT IN ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!!!!! Cleavage otwithstanding, a face to die for. :crazy

Reposting link. Still my favorite clips. Freeze frame 2:34 and what in hell is CC doing with her lips after the “Do you (suggestive pause) want to come in” line and reaction shot of Natalia. OMG I'm gonna faint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOY3_NhCX2Q
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solitasolano
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Double posting, but this is OT about various production values/considerations and what they add to the show and the story.

Hair and makeup.
I love how Olivia Spencer's hairdos are all over the place. Watching the show in truncated form it's like all of a sudden she's there with a head full of curls. Where'd the curly hair come from? Or her hair is full of blond highlights, or pulled back starkly from her face. It's great for a character who can be all over the place emotionally. It's also a nod to the fact that CC is the star and this is especially Olivia's story.
It seems really obvious to me that Olivia was wearing alot less makeup for the bbq episode and for the road trip. At first I thought it was because the actor had so much crying to do and they didn't want to deal with it, take the time to fix it up take to take. But then in this last episode, Olivia is back to flow blown makeup and crying away several times. I can only assume that the choice of less makeup for the bbq and road trip was a tip to the vulnerability Olivia was experiencing.

Camera and editing.
I'm not a big fan of multi-camera productions, it often seems to flatten the show and emotional impact. But in this case, the three-camera shoot used in GL helps move the show along. Matched-action edits (you'll notice amble edits from WS to CU or visa versa during a hand gesture or head turn) helps otherwise static shots flow and moves the dialog along. They have it down pat.
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Jeanna
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I said SIT IN THAT CHAIR
cagey
Jul 18 2009, 08:36 PM
I could talk you back up if you like.

I fully expect Olivia to make some sort of *spiritual* journey to get back with Natalia. This is not to imply that she's going to start lighting candles in church but one of the things early on (as expressed to Sister Anne) is Olivia's awe of the strength Natalia derives from her relationship with god.

Since we are fairly certain Nat isn't coming back a card carrying atheist, she's going to still have her personal relationship with god.

More importantly, assuming I recall this correctly, Olivia's issues around religion are really her issues around her mother. If she clears up her feelings about Mom then she won't need to stiff arm jesus.

And, if, as she searches for her soul, she ends up in AA or therapy - that Higher Power is just around the corner. Didn't she pray once before - like when she was dying?

So I'll make another daring prediction: Olivia will come to terms with god before the end of the show. :eek

I tend to think there will be something. And, personally, I wouldn't mind seeing her light one of Natalia's favorite votive candles in church since it has a larger symbolic significance than mere catholicism. And the show's name is...*booming announcer's voice* The Guiding Light. There would be something poignant, not desperate about her lighting that candle too.

And, yes, she did pray a few times when she was dying for want of a heart.

And, yes, once a catholic, always a catholic, I admit it, tho I'm pretty much in the atheist camp, 12 yrs. of parochial school can do that to you.
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cagey
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jeanna
 
And, yes, she did pray a few times when she was dying for want of a heart.


That is just beautiful as a sentence Just wanted to mention that.

jeanna
 
And the show's name is...*booming announcer's voice* The Guiding Light. There would be something poignant, not desperate about her lighting that candle too.


You date yourself and me too (perhaps we should have a coffee at the diner - oh what was that one in Silver Spring?) with the booming announcer but yes, this is the moral purpose of the show. I remember watching AMC when it premiered and thinking that flipping bible with the pages flipping had nothing to do with the story I was watching.

Does anyone know when they switched from Voice of God Guiding Light to the Love will Save the World interpretation of what light is doing the guiding?

solitasolano
 
I love how Olivia Spencer's hairdos are all over the place. Watching the show in truncated form it's like all of a sudden she's there with a head full of curls.


Soap hair? A PhD topic right there. I was thinking they lightened up Olivia's hair throughout the heart transplant just to make her look sicker. But they do that to all the characters and I wish I knew why. Marina's hair got the quick curl this week - in a finger in the light socket sort of way. Maybe someone could do a matrix on hair styles with emotional states. Frank - post non-wedding with the longer and messier look (and the creeping baldness) - would this accentuate his new nihlist persona?

Editing - from which I know nothing from a practical stand point. Much has been blogged about how long it took the GL people to figure out how to shoot the show in the new style. I really like it - aside from the new "sets" being the Pond, the Park Bench and the Swing set, the outdoor lighting and the spontaneity of the performances are really something to savor.
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abzug
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Hair lightening: when you get highlights, when the roots grow out, you have to put new highlights in. Which means if you keep highlighting, more and more chunks of hair become the lighter color, and fewer are the darker color. Unless you also add lowlights back in, you're in the situation CC was in, which is she got blonder and blonder over the course of 3-4 months, and then went back to the reddish brown (which I much prefer, personally.
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solitasolano
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cagey
Jul 19 2009, 06:17 PM
But they do that to all the characters

Wait? You mean there are other characters on the show beside Olivia Spencer???!!! :rofl
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cagey
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Quote:
 
Wait? You mean there are other characters on the show beside Olivia Spencer???!!!


One does need two to tango so Natalia must be there somewhere.

Quote:
 
Hair lightening: when you get highlights, when the roots grow out, you have to put new highlights in. Which means if you keep highlighting, more and more chunks of hair become the lighter color, and fewer are the darker color. Unless you also add lowlights back in, you're in the situation CC was in, which is she got blonder and blonder over the course of 3-4 months, and then went back to the reddish brown (which I much prefer, personally.


You seem to have some experience in this area. :) I have been most attentive to the CC hair as it went through the various color changes and the apparent lack of a good haircutter in Springfield.

We have Olivia next week , yes? That was just for those not reading spoilers.

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abzug
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Yes, we have Liv this week. She will be on Mon, Wed & Fri, and possibly Thu. Regardless, even if she's not on Thu, it should be an interesting ep for Otalia fans.

And I actually have NO personal experience with highlights. I haven't colored my hair since college, although I've become so grey in the past year (I'd like to blame my gf having cancer, but I think it's just genetic) that I'm getting ready to start again. But I was getting SO annoyed with how blonde CC was getting that I asked some blonde-ish friends about it, and this was what I learned.
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ekny
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Thanks for the non-spoilery update abt what days are Olivia-relevant, Abzug. The hair thing: one way or another, I think it's mainly genetic. Mine's been going gray since I was 26 or so. Then again, I've known women who barely have visible gray and are in their mid-50s. Blondes, of course. ;p
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abzug
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Yes, us curly-haired brunettes of Eastern European Jewish descent are not lucky when it comes to grey hair. Although my older sister, who is 10 1/2 years older than me, has about half the amount of grey hair that I do. And she just started getting it in the last couple years, while I've had grey hairs since my late 20s. My twin sister is the greyest of all of us. If I were her, I'd have been dyeing my hair for the last few years, but she has this thing about wanting to look older, so....
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abzug
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I was absolutely the first person to watch today's Olivia clips on YouTube. The video I watched, which was the first one posted, had zero views. Sad but true.

This was maybe the most tragic episode so far. I mean, they've been doing a lot of boundary-pushing things with Olivia, but to have her drive drunk and then attempt to pick up Emma...wow. I thought that scene with Christina was actually really well done. It felt very real to me. And it shows just how stupid those spoiler-writers are. It's like they just read the script and don't think about what's actually going on in the scene. Which was: Christina was worried that Olivia would drive drunk, get in a crash, and kill/hurt herself and Emma. That's why she volunteered to take Emma, and that's why she got Olivia to tell her she wouldn't be driving. It had nothing to do with her seeing that Olivia was upset (although it was typical kind-Christina to ask how Liv was doing).

That scene with Josh at the end was also killer. I mean, Olivia talking about what a wreck she was, her failure to do even what she could always do well (ie be a mother) felt so painful to me. Her comment about not pulling back was really interesting. It definitely fits in with her personality over the last 10 years, and with her behavior over the last two weeks. And starts leading into her recklessness on Wednesday. But I didn't get the feeling she was saying that if she didn't continue to push for what she wanted that she herself would lose her desire for it (was that a spoiler that I just made up in my head?). I thought she was saying that she doesn't have the ability to wait for things to come to her, to trust that they will turn out right, if she doesn't actively fight for them. (Not that I have any personal experience of this personality trait or anything.)

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solitasolano
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abzug
 
Which was: Christina was worried that Olivia would drive drunk, get in a crash, and kill/hurt herself and Emma. That's why she volunteered to take Emma, and that's why she got Olivia to tell her she wouldn't be driving. It had nothing to do with her seeing that Olivia was upset

That scene was just a lead up to what you mentioned, that Olivia says she can't even do the one thing she does well anymore...Otherwise that scene was pure soap to me...well not the scene so much but that fact that Olivia said she was going to walk home. Ho HO Ho. Who's going to worry about details in soap land? I mean it's pouring rain; those are one pair of stiletto heels she's sportin; no umbrella; and what is she going to do, come back latter for her car?
LOL. Lose ends on a soap, just a reminder that it is one.

abzug
 
I thought she was saying that she doesn't have the ability to wait for things to come to her, to trust that they will turn out right, if she doesn't actively fight for them.


Buzz comments, "Olivia was here. Looks like she lost her best friend." Oh yeah she did. Well that is her worry isn't it...that's what I get from her comment to Josh about giving a person/relationship some space which is what Josh said he did with Reva. Olivia says, "I wish I could do that. I'm afraid if I step back, it's all going to go away." I think Olivia is just plain afraid about losing what she had with Natalia. That's how I read this line. I've said this before about the Olivia side of the "I'm scared" comments. Olivia isn't scared of the relationship, she's afraid she's going to lose it. So I have a different take than the notion that what she is saying is that she has to go out and fight for what she wants (well, that may be operating also, but not the prime fear hear.)

Question, what did Olivia say in the scene at the table with Josh, right before she says, "...person you love is gone." Too weepy for a one time viewing.
This line mirrors what Olivia said earlier to Christine, "The only person who would make me fell better is gone."

Speaking about Natalia being gone, why hasn't any other character mentioned that she's gone? Oh that's right, it's a soap opera. That's ok, I'm still enjoying the ride no matter how it turns out there will always be Jan, Feb and late April epis. :)

Loved the bits of business of CC as Olivia picking away at the foil around the beer bottle while figgeting at the table with Josh.

Can't find the youtube yet to find out the line in question above. Will keep looking.
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ekny
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This ep just confused me. Maybe the clips I saw were incomplete & the scene with Josh will continue tomorrow but it felt totally unfinished, like it literally just ended in the middle of the scene.

Uh... Abzug: Wednesday? Just sayin. Don't tell me, please.


That was *some* reaction shot to Don't flatter yourself.


And... wtf did Olivia *say* here?!

"You're not showing up with casseroles trying to" -- huh???

I'm just kinda scratching my head. Guess I'll see where it goes Wed. Presumably--I heard CC isn't in Thurs's episode but it should be Watched anyway?--so I am speculating it's either the funeral, or possibly Rafe finally notices his mother's not in town. Whatevs. I felt kinda meh about the whole thing.

Didn't see any scene where Buzz says Olivia looks like she just lost her best friend. Anyone have a time-stamp, please?

Wanders off, scratching head some more.
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solitasolano
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Maybe the clips I saw were incomplete & the scene with Josh will continue tomorrow but it felt totally unfinished, like it literally just ended in the middle of the scene.
Didn't it finish right after the Olivia line, "...person you love is gone"? I still don't know what she said before hand... The episode didn't seem any more confusing than a daytime soap would have. Even tho I "watch" the whole episode, I don't "listen" (as in the mute is my friend) to the whole epi so that's my disclaimer.

Quote:
 
Didn't see any scene where Buzz says Olivia looks like she just lost her best friend. Anyone have a time-stamp, please?
It was a scene with just Buzz and Cyrus in the cementery. Unless you have access to the whole epi, it's not likely to be in a Otalia clip.

Has ANYONE noticed that Natalia is gone?
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abzug
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solitasolano
 
Otherwise that scene was pure soap to me...well not the scene so much but that fact that Olivia said she was going to walk home.

That's so funny. To me, this scene was like the least soapy I've seen in ages. Because when Liv said she was going to walk home, she didn't mean it literally. She just meant "Christina, don't worry, I won't get behind the wheel while I'm drunk." And so it was one of those rare scenes (rare these days, as opposed to Feb-March 09) where the actual dialogue has very little to do with what the characters mean. Although it does seem Olivia walked off in those stillettos, went to the cemetary, and then made it to the bar, so she's a good hiker in the rain.

solitasolano
 
Olivia isn't scared of the relationship, she's afraid she's going to lose it. So I have a different take than the notion that what she is saying is that she has to go out and fight for what she wants (well, that may be operating also, but not the prime fear hear.)

I think you're right--both those things are operating simultaneously. I don't think either impulse excludes the other at all.

solitasolano
 
Loved the bits of business of CC as Olivia picking away at the foil around the beer bottle while figgeting at the table with Josh.

Yeah, this was great. Small details. That and the tears in her eyes when she looked up right after the bottle foil stuff. Again, CC with the multitude of crying styles. Unbelievable.

ekny
 
And... wtf did Olivia *say* here?!

"You're not showing up with casseroles trying to" -- huh???

Trying to get her in the sack.

ekny
 
Maybe the clips I saw were incomplete & the scene with Josh will continue tomorrow but it felt totally unfinished, like it literally just ended in the middle of the scene.

Uh... Abzug: Wednesday? Just sayin. Don't tell me, please.

I have no idea if that scene will continue on Wednesday. It didn't feel unfinished to me. It felt, like, well, here were two unhappy people, talking about their relationships and their unhappiness. And at some point there isn't really more you can say, there's just continuing to go over it in more excruciating detail. But I do like her bonding with Josh, and not in a sexual way, which we haven't seen in a long time between these two. Since Liv and Nat played pool with Josh and Jeffrey? Anyway, it's nice, these two as friends.
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