Taking A Chance Again
Marty And Dylan Make Love On OLTL
Soap Opera Weekly
By Irene S. Keene
Marty and Dylan (Marty and Christopher Douglas) - Click to
enlargeAfter two years of self-imposed celibacy, rape survivor Marty is
ready to be intimate with Dylan this week on One Life to Live. The
love-making takes place in a barn where she and Dylan have sought
shelter on their way to Max and Luna's Mountain Sunset Lodge.
They embark on the journey after getting word that Luna, Dylan's
sister, has gone into labor. (Luna convinced Max to take her to the
lodge after a reading of the tarot cards indicated it was the perfect
place for her to give birth to the twins.) But thanks to a
thunderstorm, Dylan and Marty's car gets stuck in the mud.
While waiting for the storm to clear, Marty takes the opportunity to
ask Dylan about his past, a topic he's usually too reticent to discuss.
"He tells her that a woman he once loved betrayed him," explains Susan
Haskell (Marty). "He caught her cheating on him on his birthday," adds
Christopher Douglas (Dylan). "That's when he ran off and joined the
merchant marine." What Dylan doesn't reveal to Marty - but the audience
already knows - is that the woman in question is his ex-wife.
Meanwhile, Marty calls Max on her cellular phone and finds out that
Luna has given birth to a boy and a girl.
After visiting with the happy family, Marty and Dylan go back to the
barn, where Marty left the cellular phone. She sees a double rainbow in
the sky, which reminds her of the twins. Reflecting on the miracle of
birth and new beginnings in general, Marty comments that it's been two
years since she was gang-raped at the fraternity house. Looking at
Dylan she remarks that she never thought she'd be in love again. She
never thought she could trust a man again. Dylan wonders: Does Marty
trust him? Marty replies with a tender kiss, as the couple slowly sink
back into the hay.
During Marty's two-year journey from being victim of a heinous crime to
having become a survivor who's regained her self-esteem, Haskell has
been in constant touch with rape survivors and counselors. To prepare
for the love-making scene (which at the time of this interview had not
been taped), "I had talked to people who had been raped, and they said
[they couldn't be intimate] until they felt they could trust someone.
And even then, they said it's like the first time all over again,"
Haskell explains. "That's pretty much the feeling. Something new,
something a little bit scary. Once they found a person whom they could
share that with it really helped them get back their own self-worth, to
feel loved by a man and touched by a man in a loving way."
The actress compares Marty's feelings to those of someone who
survives
a major car accident. "It would be like a reflex reaction. Afterward,
every time your car swerves there's that instant where you think: Oh,
my god, am I going to hit something again? Even though you're
physically feeling like you want to be with this person, mentally
you're thinking, 'Should I be doing this?'"
For his part, Douglas relies on common sense in terms of preparing for
the scene. "When somebody is in a position like that I guess it could
be uncomfortable for both parties, but at the same time I know that in
a loving relationship, there needs to be that support," he notes.
During the early, tentative stages of Dylan and Marty's relationship,
Marty came close to making love with Andrew, with whom she's shared a
long-standing sexual attraction. In retrospect, Haskell believes "that
as much as she felt like she wanted to do that with Andrew, perhaps at
this point she's realized that it wasn't right, and she's thankful that
it didn't happen, and that she's with someone who can be with her in
all the right situations."
Is the actress concerned, however, that by having Marty and Dylan
consummate their love on a haystack, viewers will home in on the
obvious clichés ("a roll in the hay," makin' hay," etc.) and not on the
true significance of the scene? Haskell says when she first read the
script, "Chris and I just looked at each other like; OK, here it is.
They have to come up with something. Here we are, we're in a barn.
Plus, they painted his character to be such a farm boy, that kind of
thing. Michael (Malone, the head writer) always has symbolism in his
things. You never know what religious connotation he's trying to bring
up. The whole idea of a barn and being pure - like Christ's birth. I
wouldn't be surprised if that didn't factor into it. It's not a ritzy
hotel, it's very pure and basic."
As for future storyline plans, Haskell is pretty sure Dylan's ex will arrive in Llanview. "We're going to be happy for a while and then either Marty's got a problem or Dylan's got one," Haskell adds.
Marty and Suede (Susan and David Ledingham)
POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL
A brief history of Marty Saybrooke
Viewers first see wealthy orphan Martha (sic) "Marty" Saybrooke, a lupus patient at the hospital where Meagan Harrison is being treated for the same condition.
Marty and Jason Webb have a few make-out sessions in his room, but they eventually become platonic friends.
Jealous that Andrew won't reciprocate her romantic feelings for him, Marty starts a rumor about him and Billy Douglas, a gay teen-ager. The scandal tears Llanview apart.
Marty gets to know Suede Pruitt, who flips out when he realizes she's a snoop.
Billy catches Marty shoplifting; Vicki stops Maty from wrecking Andrew and Cassie's wedding.
Marty is brutally raped by fraternity brothers Todd, Zach and Powell at the "Spring Fling" bash.
Marty and Andrew (Susan and Wortham Krimmer)
The rape trial begins but ends in a mistrial. * Marty tricks Todd into confessing that he raped her, and he, Zach and Powell are sentenced to prison; Marty holds back when she and Suede make attempts at intimacy.
Todd escapes from prison and stalks Marty.
Suede dies in Marty's arms after he is mortally wounded by Todd.
Todd passes up a chance to escape in order to save Marty's life.
Although she's had a few dates with Dylan, Marty's sexual feelings for Andrew resurface.
Marty and Andrew are falsely accused of being lovers.
Andrew and Marty make peace with their past while her relationship with Dylan continues to deepen.
Dylan and Marty make love for the first time.