|
|
 Editor's Choice- A
Tall Order (SOD 7/3/2001): AMC scribes faced a formidable job
when the decision was made to reunite GH transplant Anna with daughter
Robin. After all, the storyline has drawn fire: There are GH fans who
are irate that Anna was resurrected on another show, and some AMC
viewers don't like having a lot of airtime go to a stranger from Port
Charles.
The
writers' first priority was to make the reunion good viewing for their
own audience, yet they had to keep GH watchers in mind, too. Under
intense pressure, they rose to the task. Regardless of where you think
the event should have taken place, can we all agree that it was
poignant, riveting, boffo?
 AMC set
the stage perfectly with a misty-eyed Anna stroking a childhood photo of
Robin when the Wildwind doorbell rang. Anna heard a woman inquiring
about Edmund and bolted upright. AMC got us ready to start crying with a
vintage GH clip of a very little Robin running slow-motion into her
overjoyed mom's arms. You didn't have to have seen the original episode
or even know the context to get goose bumps. Eyes glistening, Anna stood
with a look of puzzled wonder. We knew the amnesiac had total
recall.
The scene
picked up the next day with Anna rushing to the door just after Robin
turned to leave. Anna called out Robin's name and the young woman froze,
bemused. Of course, she knew the voice, but didn't Anna and Robin's dad,
Robert, perish in a 1992 boat explosion? When Anna called her name
again, Robin warily turned to face her mum.
 "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," was all Anna could
think to say.
"Stop it! You're not real... You're not," Robin uttered before
she collapsed into Anna's arms. In a nice use of synergy, this, too, was
done in slow motion and accompanied by the haunting tune played during
the flashback.
Because
some dunderhead in the news department interrupted the broadcast with a
nonurgent update on the fate of bomber Timothy McVeigh, viewers in the
East missed the scenes in which Anna explained about her memory loss,
Anna and Robin discussed the possibility that Robert is alive and Robin
met her mom's twin sister, Alex.
The four
days were a melange of acting, writing and technical skills. Finola
Hughes (Anna) and Kimberly McCullough (Robin), who are real-life pals,
worked their chemistry and played many beats: joy, pain, anger
("Why did you even have me if your whole life is going to be about
leaving me?" asked Robin) and guilt. ("Not a little girl
anymore. You're a grown woman. I missed it. I wasn't there. I'm
sorry," lamented Anna in the wake of discovering that her daughter
is HIV-positive).
 There
were wise stylistic choices, as well. After promising to join Robin in
Paris once it's safe, the lens showed a close-up of Anna's stricken face
and pulled back as she paced, then sank in a chair. There was another
tight shot as Anna flung her arms over her face and sobbed. Then, the
scene dissolved into an overhead view, as Anna wept alone in the corner.
Funny,
considering the raging debate, you'd think a second GHer might not help
things, but somehow it did. Until now, Anna has seemed out of place, but
this link from her past makes Wildwind seem a bit more like home.
Back
to the Performers of the Week
|
