Soap Opera Digest
August 28, 2001
Performer of the Week

Frustrating, manipulative, consistently inconsistent, paranoid, mean-spirited (often), unintentionally hilarious--OLTL's Lindsay is enough to drive a person to drink. Thank goodness, Catherine Hickland's at the helm, or she could be insufferable.

There's something to be said about a character who always sees the glass as half-empty. When recently confronted with Jennifer's prescription for birth control, did she applaud her grown daughter's mature decision to take responsibility for her sexuality? Nah. Lindsay first lit into her sis (who'd prescribed the pills), and then went into high gear to intervene in any potential, er, penetration between Jen and Cristian. "Get your hands off me, you--bartender," she spat at Cristian when he tried ushering her out of his apartment. Yet Hickland, glaring out with perfectly made-up eyes from under her shaggy crown of blonde hair, made the whole tantrum somehow adorably empowering, rather than pathetic.

Like what she does or not, it's hard not to admire her dogged insistence. Don't confuse Lindsay with the facts: in any battle of wits, you'll be half-prepared against her. "She has diabetes!" Lindsay lied about Jen off the top of her head to obtain access to Cristian's place. Turning away from someone that outrageous is like ignoring a car accident--impossible. Still, more than the usual share of credit goes to the actress playing her. It isn't easy being that bull-headed. Over and over, Hickland makes viewers with they could reach in and shake Lindsay until her fillings rattled. Playing likable heroes or outsized baddies is child's play. Portraying a mixed-up control freak? That's talent. Now, where's our cocktail?