Obstacle after obstacle. That’s what I keep seeing. And it’s beginning to get really, really old!
Okay, the truth is that it’s been pretty old from the beginning. Initially we were presented with a John McBain who surprised himself by being swept headlong into an unexpected love affair with the beautiful and accomplished Evangeline Williamson. It was unexpected for us, too, but then, as soon as we saw it happen, we all said the same thing.
Of course!
For the first time in a very long time, this longtime soap viewer found herself back watching a show she’d sworn off of years before. Suddenly there was a story that had fired my imagination – a story I never got tired of watching. Suddenly I found myself hooked once again, hanging out at ABC some time between All My Children and General Hospital, with not even a passing interest in either because it was One Life to Live that I wanted to see. And why?
Because of Williamson and McBain, that’s why!
There was no small spark between these two characters. It came out of the gate as a raging inferno – one that connected on so many different levels, only one of which was physical. And as their love story began to take its baby steps, growing and slowly taking shape, the only question that raced through my mind was how could these two NOT be together? How could these two characters NOT be in love?
Only now their story seems to have hit a snag - again. It looks like that long anticipated bumpy road is upon us once more with the same old obstacle sitting squarely in their path – and ours. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. It’s irritating. It’s certainly repetitive. But it’s there nonetheless. I’m not happy about it – not one bit happy about it. But after watching scene after scene loaded with so much feeling this past week - so much longing and so much emotion portrayed with so few actual words – after watching scenes where John was with Evangeline and she with him whether they were actually together onscreen or not, I’m in. You bet. I’m all the way in with this story. Can’t help myself. And why?
Because of Williamson and McBain, that’s why!
So I’ll wring my hands and I’ll fret and I’ll cuss and I’ll seethe. When I see John and Evangeline onscreen together, saying so much with just a word here or a glance there, I’ll sigh and want more – as always. I’ll write snail mail letters, email letters, send postcards, and call comment lines. I’ll vote in polls. I’ll write to the soap mags. But I will hang in because this story’s worth fighting for.
Nothing and no one even comes close to the magic of Evangeline and John. Nothing and no one even comes close to the magic of the story that Renee Elise Goldsberry and Michael Easton have so carefully, so thoughtfully, so skillfully, so tenderly gifted us with over these past months – a story that is so compelling, so completely worth holding onto, a story where the surface has only been skimmed ever-so-slightly in the telling thus far.
Like I said, I’m all the way in here. Can you blame me?
So let’s get all of these obstacles out of the way – whatever they may be. Let’s get down to it – down to the real and undivided telling of the tender adult love story of Llanview attorney Evangeline Williamson and Llanview Police Department Chief of Detectives John McBain, with no side agendas, no machinations, no unnecessary additions, no ill-advised omissions. It's time for the completely unadulterated love story of John McBain and Evangeline Williamson to be told. It is not only THE story.
For me, it's the ONLY story!
Oh and, by the way, I STILL love Renee Elise Goldsberry and Michael Easton - more than ever!