Why This Story Hooked Me, 2001

From Cynthia ("Packrat"):
In 1989, I was a twelve-year-old girl desperately searching for images of funny, assertive, sophisticated women. I found the lead female characters of the late 1930's screwball comedies--and I found Maureen Garrett's Holly. They shared a competence, an intelligence, a way with a quick insult (Holly to Roger: "You're more yen than Zen."), and a subversive quality. I was "hooked."

Although I enjoyed the sparks that flew when Holly and Roger sparred, I did not begin to understand Roger until the Acapulco scenes, when they discussed their memories of their honeymoon. (Roger: "Do you remember what you said when I asked if you loved me?" Holly: "That was a kind of crazy question to ask when we were on our honeymoon." Roger: "But do you remember what you said?" Holly: "No." Roger: "You said, 'I can't look at it that way'"). Michael Zaslow's portrayal of Roger allowed me to sympathize with Roger's pain without forgetting his great guilt. Suddenly Roger, as well as Holly, had me "hooked."

I adored Zaslow and Garrett's work together -- the comedy and the drama, the chemistry and the elegance. Most importantly, I enjoyed watching them build on the history of their characters. That's why, after seeing the Christmas 1994 episodes, I watched only about five and a half episodes of Guiding Light in as many years. I instantly knew, when I saw Holly "on the desk," that I was looking at someone I had never known, that the writers had altered her in a fundamental way.

I have only recently come back to watching the show, and when I think of Roger and Holly now, I remember the William Butler Yeats poem, "A Deep-Sworn Vow":

Others because you did not keep
That deep-sworn vow have been friends of mine;
Yet always when I look death in the face,
When I clamber to the heights of sleep,
Or when I grow excited with wine,
Suddenly I meet your face.