Soap Opera Weekly
February 21, 2006
Applause Applause

Catherine Hickland
Lindsay, One Life to Live
Outstanding performer for the week of Jan. 23

The best actors are the ones who can make something out of nothing, and One Life to Live’s Catherine Hickland (Lindsay) is one of them. Her buoyant, joyful performance on Jan. 26 was absolutely enchanting – until it collapsed under the weight of bitter disappointment.

Lindsay appeared at the hospital just in time to hear RJ tell a comatose Nora: “I’m going to ask Lindsay to marry me.” She froze. Her grin melted into shock, as if she had just been hit between the eyes. “You look like you just got punched,” Michael observed.

Later, at a restaurant, Lindsay slathered on makeup and ordered a double vodka. “RJ, I had no idea,” she practiced, miming admiring glances at a rock on her finger.

Rex appeared, and she was so wired she almost leaped from her seat. As she told him the news she put a hand on his thigh and locked his gaze. “RJ and me – married!” she swooned, bursting into a smile and casting her shining eyes heavenward. When Rex mentioned being lonely himself, she tenderly took his hand. “Better now?” she asked.

Then, when RJ sat down, a glowing Hickland fidgeted in her seat. She sighed, hugged her shoulders and bit her lip. She even feigned concern at Nora’s name. “I have a little something for you,” RJ said. “You do?” Lindsay giggled, leaning toward him. “What is it?” Then she cut him off with a frazzled wave. “I just want you to know that my answer is yes,” she beamed. “I would be proud to marry you.” As Lindsay recounted overhearing his “pronouncement,” Hickland tilted her head and her voice grew steadily louder. “If you wanna marry me, damnit, I wanna marry you,” she crowed, slapping the table for emphasis.

But he didn’t. RJ had merely been trying to shock Nora out of her coma. Hickland looked down, deflated to see the trinket he had brought her. “Wow, silly me,” she whispered, chocking back tears like a…real person! “Don’t touch me.”

He didn’t. And no one could touch this performance, either.