It’s been rough for supporters of John McBain and Evangeline Williamson. For the last few months, we’ve watched with much concern and dissatisfaction as our favorite police detective drifted deeper and deeper into the abyss of this relationship with the always needy Natalie Vega. The frustration caused many supporters to jump ship, taking this as a sign that the days of One Life to Live being the show not to be missed were over. Other supporters began various boycotts of One Life to Live, too brokenhearted to even deal with seeing Johnny Mac by the side of someone other than Evangeline. Splinter groups began to spring up, quickly polling each other for the names of other characters Evangeline could be paired with, feeling that John was no longer “worthy” of her and would have to “prove” himself before they would want the couple of the new millennium back together. Even worse, some of these splinter groups began blaming not only the character of John McBain for the current state between he and Evangeline Williamson, which is bad enough since he’s a fictional character being scripted by others. Some began to blame the actor Michael Easton for it as well. When storyline dissatisfaction begins to morph into completely irrational and illogical assaults on the performer or performers involved, it’s time to re-examine.
Too many of us are running around, chasing our respective tails. And while we’re doing this – while we’re busy fighting and arguing and counteracting ourselves, there are other more consistent and persistent agendas that are being heard by the powers that be in our silence. Neither gimmicks nor cutesy campaigns nor attention-grabbing stunts will help to get things back to where we all believe they should be. What each of us needs to do is to ask ourselves one basic question: In a perfect television world, do we want to see John McBain and Evangeline Williamson back together again? That’s it – period. That’s the question.
If you’re in the ‘he must prove himself first’ camp, so be it. I don’t happen to share your opinion but that’s how life goes. In my opinion, if John McBain must prove his worth to anyone, it’s to himself. If you’re in the ‘Evangeline must be paired with another character’ camp, so be that as well. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly disagree with that one, too. I know what I saw on my television screen for an entire year. I saw sparks flying. I saw magic happening. I saw a love story developing between two characters, each with a tendency to keep their true feelings locked inside and hidden from the rest of the world. That’s what I saw between John McBain and Evangeline Williamson. And it was wonderful watching their respective layers being slowly revealed through the course of their growing feelings for each other. First it was ‘day by day – no commitments’. Then it was ‘one string at a time’. Then it was ‘I’m falling in love with you’. And each of these moments was pivotal and kept my eyes glued to my TV screen. And after what I witnessed happen between these two imperfect characters as portrayed by the magnificent Renee Elise Goldsberry and the equally magnificent Michael Easton, I’m not willing to settle for less just because things have gotten off track in the past few months.
Clearly we can’t all agree on everything. When does that ever happen? But if we all agree on the answer to the basic question – “Do we want to see John McBain and Evangeline Williamson back together again?” – then what must be done next should be clear as crystal.
We cannot bicker and snipe at each other out of frustration. We cannot allow ourselves to be swayed just because the writers have let us down these past few months. We cannot turn our backs or close our eyes. And we cannot waste time worrying about what other folks are doing. If we do all that we can do, what other folks do becomes irrelevant.
Yes, the gimmicks and cutesy campaigns and attention-grabbing stunts do grab their share of attention. But gimmicks are only needed when there’s no substance to the argument and the attention paid to things like that passes quickly. But communication is a mighty tool – rational, well thought out communication. What is it that makes the story of John and Evangeline so special to you and why? Letter after letter, email after email, comment line call after comment line call – all saying the same thing is how we will prevail. Now, if you don’t happen to want John and Evangeline together anymore, by all means, that’s your prerogative. If you truly want to see Evangeline Williamson paired with another male character, then that is also your prerogative. By all means, be true to your convictions.
But if you still believe that John and Evangeline are the most inspired pairing that’s come along in years, if you still believe that there’s more magic for them to weave, more wonder for us to behold, and more special moments yet to be witnessed between these two special characters, if you still believe that an onscreen partnership like Goldsberry and Easton doesn’t come along everyday and must be allowed to flourish while it’s here, then please communicate that message to ABC/One Life to Live - loudly, consistently, and at length.
No other pairing can measure up to what we’ve all seen with our own eyes. We all know that. The powers that be know it, too – otherwise there would never have been a year of story like the one we watched between Evangeline and John. It wasn’t planned. But when it happened, the decision made was to let it continue and see where it would lead. Well, the path it took was jaw-droppingly captivating – every step of the way. And where it led was extraordinary.
Want to witness more of the journey? Then bombard Renee, Michael, and the powers that be with that one message – that we are still faithful and still focused on the best that soaps have had to offer in far too many years, which is the love story of Evangeline Williamson and John McBain. Let Renee and Michael know how much we appreciate what they’ve given us so far by seeing to it that they get the chance to give us even more.
One message is all it takes.