One Life To Live Discussion Group

Topic: Wow...now a Todd-hater

I'm a little late (been busy with work) but thanks to YouTube I've finally caught up on the night Todd beat the tar out of Cole, and Cole's confrontation with Todd. I mean, I guess its a good thing Todd's love for his daughter supercedes any guilt he has over beating the son of THE WOMAN HE RAPED, but...doesn't for me. I've always heard, and, well, have seen, that Todd was a coward and a bully, but his reaction to Cole (talking about the April 14th ep), how he was itching to kill this CHILD, well...I've never seen him do that to another MAN before. Howorth OR St. John. So its not the actor's portrayal, its the character. He only finds his balls with raping women or harassing children it seems. Grown men, he'll use sneak tactics, blackmail, anything short of actually getting physical. Probably cause, you know, grown men can fight back. For instance, although I hate John McBain, would he have just took Todd grabbing his head and threatening him in his ear? Or would Todd have bought himself the worse beating he thought was ever possible?

About Cole being stupid/a moron (I've read some posts to that effect), lol...well, yeah, but he's a kid trying desperately to be a man, and therefore winging it and failing miserably. Still, if I was Cole, Todd's anger at me would be superceded by a repeating thought in my head: "This dude raped my mother. This dude, RAPED my mother, and he's still breathing. This dude raped my mother and has the nerve to threaten me about anything?" But no, he's trying to be a man and trying diplomacy first (diplomacy doesn't work on Todd, strong arm tactics and blackmail does). But since Todd knows Cole is a child and won't be one for long, he's trying to find a way to either wipe him out of existance or make his existance right now miserable. Again, Todd doesn't get rough with grown men so he's got a good two years to do something to Cole.

Now any father walking in on his daughter having sex, yeah, I EXPECT them to get ballistic, but to throw the kid out and threaten him with bullets if he returns. Marty's rape is such an ingrained part of what and who Todd is that its tantamount to self-torture. My theory on Todd is that it haunts him so much he wishes he could commit suicide, but he has such a strong sense of self-preservation that those two ideals conflict, and thus we got the villain we're all used to today. At the same time, though, he does wish he had some sort escape, some sort of mental "out" to this way of thinking. Cole bedding Starr presented him with this. Karma/life can punish him all it wants, but not in THIS way.

I mean its a theory I'm sticking to, but it doesn't absolve Todd in any way. It makes me think he actually does need to be destroyed. All his shots at redemption (Tea, Vicki, his children) are all destined to fail cause of who and what he is, what he's allowed himself to be. The inner conflict and turmoil, that's one thing, but the coward and bully, that's all him. He truly is the scorpion in the scorpion and the frog legend. And like the frog everyone will all realize this too late.

I guess I'll put a SPOILER warning and some space here in case its true, but...

Supposedly Marty is returning, and I guess she's the only one who can calm Todd down and make him see reason, but all that shouldn't be necessary. Todd's dangerous for the simple fact you don't know what his new trigger will be, and also perhaps especially cause he's a coward: if you're not a woman or a child he'll come at you some way other than directly for whatever slight his brain has decided you've done to him. Scorpion and the frog indeed.

I was really bothered by that whole scenerio with Todd beating Marko and Cole.  Those kids are underage and that was child abuse, plain and simple.  Not to mention the way he pushed Langston around on more than one occasion, and verbally abusing her.  I wish CPS would come for a surprise visit when he is pulling those stunts.

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Actually, the may be exactly it, and Marty will have to be the one to spell it out for Todd. That Cole isn't Todd and unlike her and Todd, Star and Cole ARE in love. This coming from Marty might be the only way to get it through to Todd. Still, why hasn't any of the men in Llanview used this golden opportunity to beat the stew out of Todd? At least a blanket party. I mean, John is practically a father figure to Cole, why didn't he do anything? Or is that what that big body guard is for?

First - Todd hating Cole. Totally manufactured. Todd and Marty had made peace. So, Todd hating Cole has more to do with a need to create story. The best justification is that Todd sees himself in Cole, especially after Cole hesitated on taking no for an answer and scared Starr when Cole was using steroids (another SPD, IMO). As for Todd and Marty before the rape, there was a definite push-me-pull-you going on with attraction. Todd and Marty slept together before the rape. She wanted him to stay; he was in a hurry to go. Then she tutored him and that push/pull thing continued. One of the reasons Todd led the rape was because he thought Marty had set him up (he failed the class she tutored him in) and said some nasty things. RH played it like it wasn't just the class that bothered Todd; he was hurt by Marty's rejection. There was great writing and great acting going on then because the story and characters had so many layers. Wanda Wolek

I had no idea that Todd and Marty slept together before the gang rape. That puts a somewhat different ''take'' on my perception of the storyline. Did Todd care for Marty before the rape and vise versa since they did, indeed, sleep together willingly? Luna

Thinking about it, maybe deep within Todd is is the thought that because HE committed rape, every male has this within him and that's why he has the hatred for Cole - he might believe that Cole is like him, thus being capable of raping Starr. Luna

Todd thinks he's just like HIS father & was always afraid he'd turn out just like him. What he thinks of Cole doesn't make any sense except he may think that he's a jerkish jock like he used to be. Todd thinking Cole raped Starr is so far feched because Todd knows how smart Starr is & that she would never put up with being forced to do ANYTHING....G

Luna, as I said in my post above, it was a push-me/pull-you sort of relationship. Both Todd and Marty were wounded souls at that time. Marty was labeled a ''party girl'' because she had a wild reputation when she first came to Llanview. She was always searching for love and acceptance. She could get pretty mean when she was rejected. Just ask Andrew Carpenter. She nearly ruined his career as a minister when she accused him of having an affair with Billy Douglas. That night after Todd and Marty had sex, she needed to be held. He didn't get that and just wanted to get away from this needy person. But he was definitely drawn to her. But by that time, Marty was mad at Todd because he walked out on her. To her, that was a sign of rejection. They sparred back and forth quite a bit. Then she agreed to tutor him, and the relationship seemed to mellow a bit. But then Todd flunked his test and blamed Marty for purposely teaching him wrong. I always felt that if the rape hadn't happened, they might have ended up together. There were all the earmarks of a tortured couple fighting past their insecurities to fall in love in that story. And maybe Michael Malone intended them to end up together; rumor has it he did. But the gang rape pretty much ruined any chance for Todd and Marty to be together. Wanda

Marty was the party girl who was insecure & wanted everyone to like her. She made up lies when people didn't treat her the way she wanted them too. Todd was a jock who came on to women ever chance he had, thinking he was all that because he was the star football player. He slept with Marty & then left her when she asked him to spend the night. They were no different than the typical kids their age. I believe they both had feelings for each other at the time, but Todd was a jerkish jock who was better at being vicious than he was at being Mr. Nice. But when Todd was about to fail a subject,the fratboys asked Marty to tutor Todd, & she did. But Todd failed the test & thought that Marty had set him up to fail. That's when he put the whole gang rape into motion. After the rape the writers were insinuating that Todd was in love with Marty & that's when RH left. He came back only when Malone (the HW) was gone...G

Marty picked up Todd at Rodi's. After the deed was done she asked him to stay for awhile. He told her to go brush her hair. Marty was very hurt. Now Marty was going to go home with someone that night, Todd was the one. Kev, Zach, and Powell were there too. Later Todd tried to hook up again but Marty was so hurt by his rejection that they just got snarky with each other. Marty did tutor Todd but he just plain choked. At the infamous Spring Fling Kevin took a drunk Marty up to his room to sleep it off, Todd thought he was sleeping with her so took Powel and Zach up after Kev came back down and the 3 raped her.eom jane

Kevin was found innocent. //SqueezeMe

That's because Kevin was innocent. ;-) Wanda

Well yeah. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. //SqueezeMe

Thanks for the explanation of the Todd and Marty relationship. If I remember correctly, Blair really hates Marty which I couldn't understand since Todd had raped her but was it because Blair knows they had an attraction? Luna

Not really. Initially, it was more about Blair being jealous of Marty because she was rich and beloved by many in the town, while Blair had to scrape and scheme to get by and everyone hated her. FF to years later when Todd took it into his head to run off to Ireland and rescue Marty, even though Blair begged him not to go. Todd ended up getting ''killed,'' and Blair blamed Marty for his death. Since that time, Blair has developed what I can only call irrational feelings about Todd raping Marty, and she always acts as if Marty, and not Todd, is the one to blame. Basically, I think it stems from the fact that Blair knows Todd carries tremendous guilt about Marty, and nothing Blair does can ever touch it. It's a part of Todd's life that Blair always has and always will be shut out of, and she resents it. //SqueezeMe

Thanks SM for this clear explanation. I do realize that Blair knows she can never be a part of this particular ''happening'' in Todd's life and, yes, she does resent it. Reaching back in my memory, I now recall when Todd went to help Marty in Ireland and Blair was helpless to stop him from going. It should be interesting when Marty emerges from her place in Ramsey's house. I wonder if she's in a sort of coma like Laura because she doesn't talk - or she doesn't talk when Ramsey is speaking in the room. Luna

Could Marty have suffered memory loss?

ITA Squeeze. Todd's ''relationship'' with Marty is the ONLY thing in Todd's life that she can't control and that drives the B crazy. eom jane

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