First off, if I'm ever in a soap accident, do not, I repeat, do not let them take me to Genoa City Memorial. If I must go to a soap hospital, then fly me to General Hospital in Port Charles, where people come back from the dead, even when DNA from a look-alike corpse tests positive. So, obviously, all things are possible there. Not so much in Genoa City, where, with few exceptions, dead means dead. And Hilary is dead!
How about you other Mishael Morgan/Hilary Curtis fans out there? Did you cry as many tears at the wedding and during the almost-dead-but-not-yet scenes as I did? As send-offs go, I thought this was a good one for the actress to play and wrench the last drop of emotion out of us sentimental suckers -- those of us who rooted for Hilary to grow and change and have seen that happen. Her heartfelt scenes with Mariah, Neil, Lily, Cane, et al., held so much promise of continued character development as well as the opportunity for backsliding -- if Hilary had lived. However, if she had to die, I did appreciate the uplifting closure of Hilary's storyline.
I thought that, in the long term, Hilary would become the kinder, gentler Jill, who was just as mean and hurtful in her youth as Hilary was. But, alas, that was not to be. However, on the bright side, we did get closure for everyone and a new story kicking off about Lily's traffic accident. I don't think it will be long before Charlie and Shauna are forced to tell what they know about which driver -- read, Lily -- ran the red light. I hope Cane doesn't try to convince the teens to lie about it to keep Lily out of jail. Regardless, the fallout is bound to tear apart the momentarily united Winters family.
Before I tackle some alternate scenarios for Hilary's send-off, let's talk about Hilary's terminal patient care. Where were the ICU nurses, the monitors, the pain meds, the induced coma? What exactly was killing Hilary? What couldn't be fixed? I looked up Hilary's supposedly incurable disease, "disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)," which, according to research I Googled, is successfully treated 50-80% of the time. It seems to me that Dr. Nate gave up a little too easily and way too soon. Also, the most common cause of DIC is cancer, and DIC is progressive, so the auto accident had nothing to do with it.
Two more things: 1) What ICU lets any Tom, Dick, or Mary wander in at will; and 2) What happened to patient-doctor confidentiality? Shouldn't the doctor have told Hilary about her condition first and then asked Hilary's permission to tell Devon? As a female, I feel disrespected, but the winning answer -- ding, ding, ding -- is: "It's only a soap!"
I can get behind the soap opera tradition of giving a send-off that includes a bravura performance by the departing actor, which is a kind of encore for his or her fans. I did love the last days of Hevon, especially Hilary's dream about walking down the stairs at Devon's penthouse (before it turned into a nightmare!) and the flashbacks. I am really going to miss both Hilary and Mishael Morgan, whom I will be on the lookout for in other projects.
So, finally, I get to the question, Why, oh, why didn't they send Hilary away to recover from the loss of her baby and bring back a different actress in the role, one that we might also "love to hate"? One reason I can think of is that it would be very difficult, though not entirely impossible, to find an actress with the necessary skill set to replace Mishael Morgan. I thought that she did a great job of enhancing the nuanced responses from low-key Devon, which made them even more powerful. Hevon was fire and ice. I thought they were a great couple.
In a scenario where a Hilary recast did not connect with the fans, she could have run off with Nate or decided to go to New York to work with Mark. Then a few years down the road, if Mishael Morgan ever wanted to come back, a door would still be open for Hilary. I would have preferred that, but I have an open mind for what comes next.
The writers might also have had the recast die, but I think that would have been anticlimactic and less emotional, and we would not have felt the loss as deeply. If Hilary had to die, then letting her die as played by Mishael Morgan is a better tribute to the actress and to the character.
I would have preferred that the character had lived and that her baby with Devon had lived. I was struck by something simple that made me question my own life when Devon pointed out that Hilary dared to dream. I wondered how many people, including myself, have not accomplished something we might have wanted to accomplish because we did not dare to dream we could accomplish it.
Hilary started out with a lot of flaws and warts, but she managed to find a soul mate who loved her, warts and all. As a result of that love, Hilary grew, and as her insecurities receded, her inner kindness shone through. If Hilary taught us nothing else, she taught us that we could dare to dream.
Hevon had their fairy tale ending -- except for that whole losing the baby and dying thing -- even if it lasted only a few hours. Some people never even get that, so I think that once I became reconciled to Hilary being killed off, this was the best possible way for her to go -- on a high note with love and closure for all.
It will be interesting to see if there is a new girl on the block soon, one that Dr. Nate and Devon can vie for, not to mention Neil, who still has some good years left! Meanwhile, I hope Mariah keeps her job, and GC Buzz continues to report on the residents of Genoa City.
On another topic, I've been Team Shick for the past several years. However, after last week's tête-à-tête between Phyllis and Nick, I think I could easily switch to Team Phylick (or perhaps, Team Nyll?) Sharon is clueless now, but Nick got all territorial about Phyllis in a confrontation with Billy at the Athletic Club, so I don't think it will be long before Nick and Phyllis have a repeat performance or someone figures out what is going on between the ex-spouses. Though Billy started the fisticuffs, Kyle snapped a photo of Nick's blow back on Billy.
I do like the new business teams that are forming: Victor, Nikki, and Victoria; Nick, Abby, Jack -- and maybe Lauren and Phyllis -- and on Team Jabot, Billy, Kyle, and Summer. Nick, who pulled off a major coup against Victor to found Dark Horse, was off to a good start until he heard half of what Nikki said and then rushed off half-cocked, headlong into a very reckless Billy, an encounter that ended in a physical altercation in a public place. Nick may now have to wage war on two fronts -- a situation that may not end well for the budding mogul.
Billy and Nick are acting like younger versions of Jack and Victor, continuing the family feud to the next generation, similar to the Hatfield and McCoy feud in the early 20th century, but -- so far -- without the guns and killing. I don't think that Billy will ever work with Victor, but he's an addict who hasn't hit rock bottom yet, so it might be different when he does. I could see Billy and Victor forming an alliance to take down Nick. (The interview with Jason Thompson -- elsewhere on this site -- about Billy's journey was interesting. I recommend it to fans.)
As Mariah was planning to sneak away with Tessa, without an explanation to her family, I kept hearing a snatch from an old song, "The things we do for love." It made me think of what Mariah was doing for love and if leaving all her friends and family was worth it. I was glad to see it wasn't. Next week's previews make me believe that Tessa will be back, so maybe Tessa does love Mariah as much as Mariah loves Tessa.
Before closing out Hevon, there were a few things I thought were "cute," like Devon referring to "Hevon's babies," which I took as a sly wink at the couple's fan name. When Hilary said, "You're the one I want, You're the one I need," I flashed to teenagers dancing, the girls in pink poodle skirts and the boys in leather jackets. I wondered if I was channeling Grease! I also realized, after reading elsewhere on this site, that Mishael Morgan is pregnant for the second time in real life during her second soap opera wedding! The first time Hilary wed Devon, a gigantic bouquet and good camera angles hid her enormous baby bump. Shortly after the wedding, Hilary fell off a cliff, and Mishael took maternity leave. Dr. Neville saved Hilary that time. Too bad he couldn't repeat his performance.
I've lingered overlong, so there's no time for me to tell you about my transgender cat who is in an interspecies S&M relationship with a lesbian dog. Who says we can't all get along?
Thanks again for letting me share my thoughts with you and, hopefully, a few laughs. As always, fellow fans, I welcome feedback about this column in the section provided below. I enjoy all your comments, even when you don't agree with me, so non-Hilary fans, feel free to weigh in and leave your opinion. Please return in two weeks for another edition of Two Scoops.
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