Since I’m a little pressed for time this week, I thought I would just post a scene I referenced last time that I think is well worth seeing. It’s part of how the show slowly builds our sympathy for Steve, basically by kicking him around for a few weeks. Steve finally gets back from Italy and he’s trying to get to Kayla, so he goes to the house. He is very surprised to find Jack there instead:
(I’ve also included the setup scene, where Steve firmly rejects Marina and the hospital in favor of getting home to Kayla.)
When Steve stumbles up to the house and then finds the door opened by Jack of all people, Stephen plays Steve’s utter shock perfectly. I love how it’s clear that seeing Jack at his house amps up Steve’s worry about Kayla. When Jack says “She’s gone,” Steve pauses for a minute and we can see all the possible interpretations of that phrase run over his face. And then when he decides Jack must have done something to her, it really does seem like the most logical explanation.
Matt Ashford does a beautiful job playing Jack’s sympathy for Steve here too. He looks sympathetic but helpless about it, knowing he can’t help (because he doesn’t know where Kayla is) or will probably even be allowed to try. But the best moment is as Steve is doing his usual lapels-grabbing thing, and he just falls apart. First he accuses Jack of preying on them when they are having problems and trying to make things worse, and then he just starts to cry, pleading with Jack to help him find Kayla. The fact that Steve is breaking down in front of Jack shows how low he’s sunk. It’s so heartbreaking. And then when he collapses I love how Jack catches him.
April 17, 2009 at 10:49 am
They had to do something for us to feel sorry for Steve because honestly his actions before losing his eye I wasn’t happy with him at all. Once he lost his eye and lost Kayla too because she left him then I felt the real Steve coming back. For me Steve without the patch was like somebody else that I really didn’t like.
April 17, 2009 at 11:45 am
This is a great scene. Steve is trying so hard to be tough and menacing, and ends up being so pathetic, and Jack is trying to be comforting and helpful with so little success. This wasn’t actually the scene I was thinking of earlier. Isn’t there a scene on the docks where Steve (wearing that ginormous bandage) grabs Jack by the lapels screaming “Where’s Kayla? Where’s Kayla?” I tried to find it on YouTube but no luck. I can’t check the DVDs because the Mac (where I watch them) isn’t available. Steve spends a lot of time being hurt and angry, yelling at Jack. I think your scene is better anyway. I love the way Steve just falls apart at the end. You really feel like he can’t go any farther.
April 17, 2009 at 5:44 pm
>For me Steve without the patch was like somebody else that I really didn’t like.
Me either… but I know I’ve posted before that I kind of love that dynamic. After all that time we saw Steve yearning to be “whole,” we then get to see how having the patch probably made him into a better man in the end. It’s a wonderful irony, and it feels like Steve acknowledges it too, a little later.
In general, I’m not sure how well it works for a soap to have scenes that are difficult to appreciate until after the fact, when Steve starts to pull himself together again. But I do appreciate the whole arc… from the perspective of 20 years later, wow. LOL.
April 17, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I have seen scenes awhile ago after Kayla sees Steve in the hospital after leaving him that he gets Marcus to get his patch. He said the nicest things like the patch was like a badge and when he was with Kayla she made feel okay and everybody thought he was okay because he was with her.
Steve without the patch was like seeing 2 different people. I see him with Kayla and he would tell her loved her and all that. Then I see him with Marina and he acted so drawn to her or something. I didn’t like it. When he lost his eye he was the Steve that wanted Kayla and only Kayla and that was made clear to the audience and to Marina.
April 17, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Actually, there were scenes before Steve lost the eye again that made it clear he wanted Kayla and only Kayla. I’ve always felt that was very important to make it clear that it was not the loss of the eye that suddenly made Steve only want to be with Kayla. That injury made him more focused on Kayla (as traumatic events tend to do), but it was clear before that where Steve’s heart and soul was.
I never felt like Steve was a different person without the patch. There are a lot of scenes in the Daniel Lucas storyline (after he’s been outed more or less) where he is totally and completely Steve, even if he doesn’t have the patch. To the extent there was a change in Steve, for me it was not the patch, it was caused by his difficulty dealing with Shane’s death and Marina’s re-emergence.
In any case, I love this scen so much. I just love how desperate Steve is and how that causes him to break down with Jack in a way we’ve never seen before. And MA plays Jack’s reactions perfectly.
April 17, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I have to say that watching this particular scene makes me miss that Steve and Jack dynamic even more. I loved that with time, they eventually became true “brothers.” Steve still had quite a few doubts where Jack was concerned, but they worked through them…and it didn’t happen overnight as in the current storylines. There was so much time taken to set up the story, reach it’s peak, and finally payoff for the fans. I miss those “Days.”
April 17, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Before he lost his eye I did see that he wanted Kayla and to get home. I just never liked Steve without the patch. To me that was a big part of who he was. It just felt weird. Then he had the chance to get it fixed again and he didn’t want to do that. I remember Marcus more than once trying to get him to have surgery.
April 18, 2009 at 12:09 am
[...] Click here to read marypickfords latest blog about them. She’s got clips! [...]
April 18, 2009 at 7:01 am
I think the show was really pretty good about making it clear that Steve was sure he wanted Kayla and only her, before he lost his eye, and losing his eye only intensified that desire. Every time there was a scene where he seemed drawn to Marina there was usually something to balance it out. It’s not easy to watch him be drawn to her, but for the most part I can accept it because they show him dealing with it and getting past it. And then paying for it.
I like how they use the fact that Steve loses his eye again (obviously a response to fan reaction) to enrich the arc of the plot. But I think I’ll save that to talk about in a future entry.
Flaco, I do kindof remember a scene with Steve on the pier grabbing Jack and asking about Kayla, but I don’t remember exactly.
April 18, 2009 at 3:09 pm
By the way, thanks for thinking of us even though you were pressed for time!
April 18, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Thank you, Flaco, I appreciate that. I try never to go more than a week without posting. If I had my way it would be more like twice a week, but real life has an annoying tendency to get in the way.
July 5, 2009 at 8:48 pm
okay, I’m getting caught up again and I realize that scene I was talking about was the scene where Steve finds out Kayla’s pregnant.
I’ve also realized that one of my major problems with this storyline is Marina. She’s very beautiful, but I don’t know if it’s the way she’s written or her acting, but she’s so boring. She’s got basically three notes: I must make Steve help me find the key, I must make Steve want me again, I must be devious. And I don’t really beleive any of them. Yah! My only comfort is that she’ll be dead soon (but not soon enough.)
Watching the DVDs and not the clips has let me really enjoy Steve’s frustration with Jack. He’s not quite as crazy as he was when Adrienne showed up, but he’s so suspicious. I also love the way Steve and Jack interact. Steve grabs Jack and shakes him like a dead fish and Jack grimaces — it’s a great bit. I love the time Jack drove Kayla home. Steve emerges as they walk up to the house and Jack throws Kayla her purse and runs.
July 12, 2009 at 6:05 am
Oh yes, Steve is pretty desperate in that scene as well.
I too love watching the Steve and Jack interactions during this storyline. I love how they set it up so Steve’s suspicions are understandable, even as we see Jack really trying to make amends. And the way SN and MA play the physicality of it is great.
I dearly wish MBE had been around for that scene at the EC where she’s just found out she’s pregnant and she and Jack have that talk (right before the scene you’re talking about). I can just imagine how well MBE would have played the moment where she accepts Jack’s help, and lets him put his arm around her. And you’re right, that moment when they get home and Jack throws the purse and runs away is comedy gold.