I have complained about the propping of Todd and Tea individually, but most glaringly has been the propping of the two of them as each other’s true love. It appears that Ron Carlivati’s premier couple are not as successful as he thought they would be, so Ron has pulled out all of the stops to make both Todd and Tea look sympathetic. This cannot work because this premise is purely the antithesis of their true nature. These two have left carnage wherever they go. Todd does whatever he wants to, to anybody he wants to and Tea comes along and cleans up his messes, well unless he messes over her and then it’s, “Poor Me! Todd has hurt ME more than he’s hurt anyone”. Todd is the same way. He can hurt others without any remorse, but have someone do something to him and he cries like little a bitch.
It was bad enough that Ron utterly gutted Blair as he threw her in the middle of what he called a triangle. He made Blair needy and pathetic as she went after Todd who gave her no reason to care about him. Months prior to Blair’s re-newed feelings of love for Todd, he had raped Marty, in what infamously came to be called a, “rapemance”(called that because of the insensitive bastards who think women really do have rape fantasies and long to be raped.) Todd had plotted to steal their daughter’s child upon her birth. He then planned to desert his children and run off with his rape victim.
Blair was appalled by his actions. It should have been Blair holding Todd off at a distance, but Ron wrote it the other way, and that just does not work. Then there is Tea who mopped, wiped and cleaned up all of Todd’s messes. All the while looking down her nose at Blair, holding her in distain because of her place in Todd’s life and judging her abilities as a mother.
The revelation that Todd and Tea had a child together has been built with the fanfare of the Second Coming; however there have been several glitches in the storytelling. One was the fact that the audience had been told over and over again that Todd left Tea on the island seven years ago to return to Blair, Starr and Jack, then suddenly, we are introduced to a fourteen year old girl who was conceived on the island seven years ago. For viewers who have watched the show for years, they know this is ALL wrong because this sorased child is older than Jack, Todd’s second child.
Once the reveal was set up, Ross “Moon-Doggy” Rayburn, surfer dude, one of the main characters in this sad tale became a raging lunatic, but viewers know that Ross Rayburn, the non-biological father of Tea’s daughter, has been made to be the fall guy to prop Todd and Tea. When the writers are through with him, Todd Manning will look like a choir boy.
Viewers are not as stupid as Ron thinks they are, and they are letting their feelings be known. They are outraged over the ridiculously dark turn Ross has taken.
Here are some of the things being said about Ron’s sacrificing Ross in order to justify Tea’s actions and to make Todd Manning appear to be “Father of the Year”.
-“Todd is just so - ugh, I can't think of the fitting word. He figures out Dani is his bio-child and it becomes all about what he wants. Who cares that Dani isn't ready to hear the truth. Todd is about to lay claim to yet another kid.
I'm supposed to root for Todd and Tea in this?
Nope.
I'm rooting for Ross. And I'm rooting for Dani.”
-“I'm with you on this one. Given the choice of fathers and a mother who has done practically nothing but lie to that child from the moment Dani was introduced, I would rather see Dani with Ross eventually, after he has had some help with anger issues. But people seem to forget that Todd hit Tea once. He cracked her across the face and knocked her unconscious and as I recall the circumstances were similar, with Tea screaming in his face.”
-“As for Tea. In my opinion she handled things in the worst way possible with her deception. Also, she has certainly shown that she could live without her daughter for the time she had her locked up in boarding school, an ocean away, without explanation. She may well have scarred that child for life! Some mother!”
-“You make good points about Ross and his behavior. This may be a case where the actor is bringing a great deal of depth to a role that the writers never expected or wanted. Because when I look at Ross, I see a man who has been manipulated from before he came to Llanview, had his child stolen from him, and during the last argument with Tea, he was physically abused. Yes, HE was physically abused."
-“I wanted to smack Tea silly today. It didn't take Tea long to twist the knife in Ross' heart. She is bragging that Dani is with her real father. I don't believe for a minute that Tea sincerely believed that Ross was Dani's father. The Tea I know and hate would never give up a chance to find out if Todd was the father. She can cry all she wants, but the way she is treating Ross now proves that she is not going to be reasonable with visitation etc. Tea the barracuda will really allow Ross visitation? Does she really believe that once she tells Todd that Dani is his daughter he will allow Ross anywhere near her? What a heartless witch. My heart was breaking for Ross today.”
-“You know, I like Tea - well, I liked Tea up until today. Ross is abusive? How about Tea made every wrong choice in the book and that drove Ross over the edge. I'm not saying Tea deserves to be beat up or raped. No one brings that upon themselves. But her actions fed a fire that could have been tamped out.”
-“What we get is "Tea as victim" and Todd will come to her rescue. GMAFB.”
-“So they'll destroy the father Dani knows and then she can find out he bio dad is a gang rapist who has physically abused her mother. She should definitely become emancipated and never speak to any of them again”.
-“Todd is a sperm doner where as Ross is the one who has raised her for 15 years of her life.”
-“Watching the Todd/Tea mess today it occurred to me how excellent Michael Lowry's performance has been, and how there was natural tension in the big scenes these last couple days, even amidst the UCG with Tea gagging and making those hilarious noises and faces. The biggest problem with all this is Todd's character, and the treatment of Tea vs. Blair and Ross (and Ross vs. Todd).”
-:As to the Todd/Tea/Ross mess, thank you Lord for the fast forward button. Even Danielle, who's only been around a couple of weeks, grates my nerves. Must be because of who her parents are”.
-“Not as funny as Rachel's claim that Todd wasn't a threat. "You gotta be shittin' me!" Todd is the same sociopath who not only physically attacked Rachel herself, he terrorized her mother Nora while she was blind, punched her best friend in the face, traumatized his other bio daughter and tried to steal his own grandchild-and that's just a few of Todd's crimes.”
-“I dont care, I dont care... The only person that I like in this story is Ross. Tea, Todd and Danny can sail back off to the time wrap island never to heard from again. The freaking mentioned the whole Jack thing again with Danny standing in the room. Its all so stupid!!!”
-“TnT really know how to make a workday go longer. This Todd propping is really fucked up and quite hilarious. Todd's the only man who can save Tea from herself? Hilarious! That was the funniest line today.”
-“I don't know what annoys me more, the way Ross was thrown under the bus or the fact I still sympathize with his character despite seeing his brutal struggle with Tea. A man physically assaulting a woman is not something I think should be played ambiguously. I'm really hating on that bitch and her "all the marbles" attitude to her child. Who else thinks it's ok to pull that kind of shit and consider it good parenting? Oh that's right, TODD!!!! And by the way, jackass, the man who raised that girl for 15 years certainly is her "Dad" , at this point you are nothing more than a sperm-donor.”
-“Tea being choked didn't touch me one bit.All I kept thinking was poor Ross.Something is wrong with that.”
-“Yeah, being Rossed is basically getting the fast track to villainy. Ross got transformed over night despite all interactions being the opposite of what our "heroine" was saying and then they decided 'rut-roh... we can't make a liar out of Tea!'”
-“If viewers hate it, then I don't see how it gets the job done. The entire point of this story is to push Todd/Tea and their spawn as the ideal family. If a lot of people spend more time slackjawed at blatantly plot-driven, schizo writing and being disgusted at just what a lunatic the show's beloved Tea is, then it takes away from any of the supposed rooting value in this mess.”
