One Life to Live storylines (2000–2013)
One Life to Live is an American soap opera that was broadcast on the ABC network from July 1968 to January 2012, and online from April to August 2013. The series starts with One Life to Live storylines (1968–79). The plot continues in One Life to Live storylines (1980–89). The plot in the next decade is outlined in One Life to Live storylines (1990–1999) and the story concludes in One Life to Live storylines (2000–2013).
One Life to Live (2000-2013)
2000
Into the new millennium, more new characters were introduced, including Lindsay's (
2001 and 2002
Jill Farren Phelps and Megan McTavish left in early 2001, and they were respectively replaced by new
2003
In early 2003, Malone and Josh Griffith were rehired as head writers with Frank Valentini taking over as executive producer. A new major storyline involved Mitch kidnapping sisters, Natalie and Jessica, to figure out which one's heart was a match for their grandfather. Victor had been faking his death. He was too ill to have major confrontations with his children and died a few weeks into the story. Dorian then showed up as Mitch's new bride, and she became enmeshed in a storyline involving a jewel hunt as well as a "curse" that blinded Mitch. Mitch was later killed by Jessica. Another story involved the return of Cord and Tina's daughter, Sarah Roberts, as rock singer Flash (Shanelle Workman). Flash dated, and even kissed, Joey Buchanan (Bruce Michael Hall), her cousin. Joey, who was a minister at the time, then married Jen Rappaport, but the marriage did not last due to her affair with former husband Rex Balsom. Joey was then sent back to London to live with Clint.
Roger Howarth had come and gone several times but quit for good in early 2003. Mitch had him kidnapped. When the character returned several months later, he was posing as Mitch's brother Walker and was played by Trevor St. John. Apparently Todd had been so badly beaten that he had to get extensive plastic surgery. In spite of much fear that viewers would never accept any other actor as Todd, the talented St. John became popular and Todd, for the first time in a decade, had love scenes as well as a semi-functional relationship with Blair.
In April 2003, Dorian Lord returned with plans to strike it rich. She married Mitch Laurence, claiming she "loved him". It was later found out that she married him to pay him back for the harm he did to the Cramer and Buchanan families. Viki developed heart trouble and was saved by a heart transplant from her comatose husband, Ben. One of the most appreciated storylines of the second Malone/Griffith era was
2004
Writers Malone and Griffith chose to leave and were replaced by
2005
A storyline played out in 2005 in which Nora's (
During this time,
Nora's health took a downturn after she suffered a massive stroke during an argument with Bo about
Jessica, meanwhile, had developed a
2006
May 2006 was a month with both tragedies and happier times for Llanview. Duke Buchanan, son of Kevin Buchanan, was injured after a tornado wreaked havoc on the town during Michael McBain and Marcie Walsh's wedding. Kevin was heartbroken as he was forced to choose who would get a life-saving surgery and chose Kelly over Duke. Kelly survived but Duke died. Kelly became pregnant with Duke's baby and later gave birth to a premature baby,
It turned out that
Meanwhile, the police talked to Margaret about what happened. She did not remember anything of what happened but later regained her memory during transport to jail. Unfortunately, the van she was in was involved in an accident and she was killed.
Later, Blair realized that Spencer was indeed behind the framing of Todd. She helped the Llanview police by getting proof that Spencer may have killed John's father, not David, as had previously been thought. He was arrested and put on trial.
In August 2006, Dorian's daughter,
Cristian's return from the dead didn't thrill the art world, so Cris became a boxer. New arrival
Spencer was deemed unfit to stand trial and was to be sent to Wingdale. Todd abducted Spencer and tortured him for information on the whereabouts of his missing son with Margaret. In a freak accident, Todd, Spencer, and Blair ended up on the roof of a warehouse from which Blair and Spencer fell. Both survived, and Blair revealed to Todd that she was pregnant with his child. Blair soon miscarried, and was diagnosed with a heart disease, but survived. Spencer killed his attorney, Marc Casey, and nearly raped Blair, until an unknown assailant stabbed him repeatedly from behind. Michael, Rex, David, and Marty were each arrested for the murder but Lindsay turned out to be the true culprit. Her motive was to silence Spencer, in order to keep the truth from Marcie that Tommy (her adoptive son with Michael) was really Todd's son. Rex (who knew the truth about Tommy) gave Todd a phony death certificate, but Todd soon got a lead on his son, which took him to
Lindsay faked a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized. Nora suspected that Lindsay faked her condition but never gained proof. Lindsay was released into the custody of Bo, and the two began to fall in love once more. Lindsay received a letter from R.J. that soon got mixed up in Nora's paperwork. Lindsay got her hands on the letter, burning it, but not realizing that Nora's assistant had made copies of all of the papers. Nora read the letter, ending Bo and Lindsay's marriage before it began. Lindsay was arrested and plead guilty to murder during her trial.
Clint fell in love with Dorian, but his returning feelings for Viki weren't as strong, and he chose Dorian. After the death of Asa Buchanan, Dorian learned that
Breaking up with Evangeline for kissing Todd, Cristian began to suspect that Jessica and Nash were fooling around behind Antonio's back. Jess convinced Cris that this wasn't the case. Antonio asked Jess to adopt Jamie and become her mother, but Jess ran out of the courtroom during the adoption hearing. She ended up in the arms of Nash, and they made love for the first time. However, Jessica collapsed in Antonio's arms as she was about to tell the truth. But before the truth could come out, Jess was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and liver cancer as a result of Tess sharing heroin needles. The truth came out, and Antonio left Jess and the country, only to then be revealed as a match for a liver transplant. The transplant was successful, but after their divorce hearing, Jess was back in the hospital, where her body rejected Antonio's liver. David was also found as a match, and just before surgery, Nash married Jessica. The transplant was successful, but David wanted $10,000,000 before he agreed to the transplant. Viki learned the truth, and in an attempt to regain their friendship, David gave the money back to Clint, and Viki forgave David.
2007
Viki Davidson wound up on an adventure of her own when she left Llanview for Paris, Texas, in 2007. She began working at a diner as a waitress and fell in love with Charlie Banks, Jared's father. Viki then realized that Charlie was an alcoholic. He turned back to the bottle after failing to reconnect with his son. Viki helped him recover and then she was stunned to see that Marcie Walsh was in Texas and on the run with Tommy/Sam, Todd Manning's son.
2008
Marcie was running out of options and took Viki hostage as 2008 rolled in. Viki and Sam were rescued and Marcie was finally captured. Viki returned home, Charlie soon followed, and they reunited. However, they were not happy for long, as Charlie lied that he was Rex's father, and then Dorian Lord set it up to make it look as if Charlie was drinking again, resulting in the breakup of Viki and Charlie. In July 2008, Viki and Dorian were in a horrible car accident where Viki dies as a result of the crash. Dorian briefly thinks about not saving Viki. However, Dorian ultimately comes to her archenemy's aid, and with a shot of adrenaline straight to Viki's heart, Dorian, with David and Mel's spirit by her side, is able to revive Viki. After re-examining her life Viki and Charlie reunite in December 2008, after Charlie rebuilt Carlotta's diner to resemble the same Paris Texas diner where they fell in love.
After being cleared of Spencer's murder and annulling her marriage to Miles, Marty began a relationship with John. But, during the search for Marcie, Marty was abducted by an Irish terrorist and was reunited with Cole in Ireland. John and Ramsey arrived on the scene, forcing terrorist Simon to take Marty and Cole in a van. Ramsey shot the van's tires, causing the van to go over a cliff. Cole was thrown from the vehicle and survived. Marty did not. However, Ramsey was nursing a mystery woman back to health. This woman turned out to be Marty. After Ramsey's murder, Todd discovered an amnesiac Marty and began taking care of her, failing to share their history. This sparked a very controversial plot where Marty fell in love with Todd and they eventually had sex. John discovered that Todd had Marty captive and raced to rescue her. Marty then felt cornered as John and Todd began to argue that she held them both at gunpoint and then learned everything that Todd did to her and she shot him! These events sent Marty on a months long wild streak until she eventually began to regain her memory and reunited with her son Cole.
Dorian was very angry with the Buchanans when she discovered that
Meanwhile, the love story of Rex and Gigi Morasco (Farah Fath) began as Rex was set to wed Dorian's daughter Adriana (May 2008). Gigi and her 10-year-old son, Shane Morasco (Austin Williams), arrived in Llanview. Gigi and Rex had had a teen romance. She lost her virginity to Rex and wound up pregnant, but he left town and never knew about his son, who was raised by war hero, Brody Lovett (Mark Lawson). Gigi interrupted Rex and Adriana's wedding to tell Rex she loves him, only to end up punched by Adriana. Gigi then gets the shock of her life when, thanks to Adriana's schemes, Brody arrives alive and well. Shane thinks that Brody is his father, so Gigi keeps mum about Shane's paternity. Rex leaves Adriana, who then leaves town for Paris, France. Rex and Gigi fall back in love, but when Bo and Rex are in a horse riding accident that leaves them knocked out during a storm, they are taken back in time—to 1968, the year One Life to Live began. This storyline was part of OLTL's 40th anniversary. Gigi subsequently travels back in time and rescues them. Gigi and Rex tell Shane that Rex, not Brody, is his father. This sets Brody off and he kidnaps Shane. It is then revealed that Brody had a traumatic experience in Iraq, in which he shot a 10-year-old boy by accident. Rex, Gigi, and Bo set out to rescue Shane, and in the standoff, Rex is shot. Brody is sent to a mental institution and Rex soon recovers.
Jessica and Brody meet at St. Anne's, where they are recovering from their traumas and begin to fall in love.
Jared and Natalie realize that Chloe isn't Jessica and Nash's baby, but in fact Starr and Cole's. They agree to keep quiet for Jess's safety but, in May, Bess returns and having run out of options, kidnaps baby Chloe and goes on the run. Viki poses as her alter, Jean Randolph, to convince Bess to back down and return the baby. Jessica accepts what she has done and reunites with Brody.
2009
In the aftermath of their daughter's "death," Starr and Cole begin to fall apart. She falls for one of her teachers, Schuyler. This angers Cole, who gets high, then gets behind the wheel with Matthew in the car. A crash results in Matthew becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Cole is sent to rehab and then gets out, soon reunited with his mother. He then learns that his baby with Starr is alive. Starr and Cole are reunited with their daughter, but have already agreed to give the baby up to Michael and Marcie, since Starr didn't have the heart to break her promise to Marcie. Marcie realizes how much the baby means to Starr and returns the baby to her. Starr and Cole reunite in time and bond with their daughter who they have named Hope.
Jessica, Brody, Natalie, and Jared realize that someone is stalking them. When Wayne Landers and Pamela Stewart end up murdered, and Jared is the prime suspect, he goes on the run but Natalie has faith that her husband is innocent. Brody is lured to Michigan by his sister, and when Natalie turns to Rex for help, he is also lured to Michigan by his aunt. While Jessica and Natalie are lured to Napa Valley, where they find Jared and are held hostage by a still-alive Mitch Laurence, who has dug up Nash's corpse. John and Brody team up to rescue the women, and Viki and Charlie arrive to help them. Jared is shot by Mitch and dies in Natalie's arms. Natalie becomes unhinged and Charlie turns back to the bottle. Natalie stabs Mitch at the LPD, but John covers up the crime. Natalie begins to fall in love with John, but when Marty gets pregnant, John's love goes to Natalie, Someone pushes Marty down the stairs, and Todd and Natalie are the main suspects.
Viki runs in the next campaign to become Llanview's mayor following her and Charlie's double wedding with Clint and Nora, putting her against the villainous Mayor Lowell and Dorian Lord, who has agreed to become his campaign manager in order to assure that he wins. Meanwhile, John and Cole have teamed up to expose Llanview's drug ring in the middle of which, Starr and Hope are kidnapped by mobsters. This results in Shaun being shot and falling into a coma, and Brody being shot as he tries to rescue mother and daughter. John then arrests ringleader Mayor Lowell during a campaign rally for the election, where Lowell had called Viki out on all of her past. With Lowell in prison for his many crimes, Dorian decides to campaign in the election and uses gay-marriage rights to do just that. Dorian announces that she is in love with her gay campaign manager, Amelia, and they plan to tie the knot along with 21 other same-sex couples, which includes Nick and Kyle. Viki ends up winning the election. but when the Lord family matters have become far too serious, Viki steps down as mayor and Dorian becomes Llanview's next mayor. Unfortunately for her, Mitch is back in Llanview. He blackmails Dorian into firing Bo Buchanan as the police commissioner and Nora Hanen as the District Attorney at the Mayor's Ball on New Year's Eve.
Matthew's paralysis brings Nora and Bo closer together. They fall back in love and have an affair, despite that Clint and Nora had just tied the knot in August. Clint learns about the affair and kicks them out of the Buchanan Mansion.
Gigi's sister,
In 2009, a very convoluted story arc began as Todd, Tea, Blair, Starr, and many others surrounding Todd were targeted by a killer known as the KAD. Talia, Wes, and Lee Halpern are all killed, and Blair is attacked in the shower in a scene that echoes the film,
2010
Jessica has memory loss and remembers only high school. She goes back to high school and sets her eyes on Cris (her ex from high school, who's now teaching there) thinking they're still together. Brody loses hope for a reunion with Jessica but doesn't give up.
Viki Davidson and Charlie Banks tie the knot in a double ceremony with Clint and Nora, despite the fact that Nora is really in love with Bo. Dorian Lord and Blair Cramer crash the nuptials in a drunken fit.
Markko's teacher,
When Gigi is kidnapped by Schuyler, Bo and Rex unite to stop him and save her. In the ensuing struggle, Bo is shot by Schuyler. Though he is in critical condition, he pulls through and following the incident, asks Nora to marry him. Scuyler later ends up in prison for shooting Bo. It is also revealed that Schuyler is the long-lost son of Roxy Balsom and former evil cult leader Mitch Laurence.
Matthew begins to date Tea and Todd's newly discovered long-lost daughter,
David Vickers blackmails Clint's wife Kim out of Llanview and out of her marriage to Clint by threatening to expose a mysterious secret about her to Clint. Kim then tells Clint she is leaving town and breaking up with him because she is legally married to someone else. After Kim leaves town, Clint hires private investigators to search for Kim, but her whereabouts are still unknown.
Cristian and Layla become engaged but then learn that Evangeline's condition has worsened and she will never recover from her accident. Layla faces the tough choice to taking her sister off life support after clashing with her mother she takes Evangeline off life support, leaving her, her mother and Cristian devastated. Layla later moves to Paris to resume her fashion career and ends her engagement to Cristian.
As the year drew to a close, the Ford Brothers are reunited with their abusive father, Eddie Ford, (
2011
Natalie sleeps with Brody after Jessica gets tortured by Mitch Lawerence and gets amnesia, thinking she's still in high school and dating Cristian, and John is still with Marty. Jessica has sex with Ford and has no idea if Ford or Brody is the father of her baby. Natalie has no idea if Brody or John is the father of her baby. It is later revealed that
Matthew and
Cutter later ends up in the Minute Man Motel sharing a motel room with his now ex-girlfriend Aubrey (they broke up after Cutter found out that she fell in love with her mark Joey, but later got back together after he was kicked out of the Buchanan Mansion and lost his share of the Buchanan fortune) and Rama (Rama and her husband Vimal Patel (Nick Choksi) were Cutter's houseguests when he owned The Buchanan Mansion). David is rescued from a Morocco prison by Bo and Rex, and after being held hostage at St. Blaze's island by
Langston leaves Llanview after she receives an offer to write a script for David's autobiographical film in
Rex and Gigi become engaged but focus more on Shane being the target of bully, Jack Manning. As Blair tells Jack to stop he refuses to relent, even after his actions nearly cause Shane to commit
Kim also reunited with her estranged older brother Cutter, which led to the discovery that Kim was the real Aubrey Wentworth and got plastic surgery to improve her looks. Cutter later betrayed her sister by framing her for his murderous crime that he committed at The Spotted Pony (which was the secret that Rama had on Cutter!) so that he could use Stacy to pose as Gigi for leverage to scam the Buchanans for their fortune again after Aubrey dumped him for the second time for lying about hiding Rex's gun that was a piece of evidence against Rex for Victor Jr.'s murder case (despite Cutter trying to reform himself by getting a legit job as the front desk clerk at The Minute Man Motel). Cutter then told Rex to hand over the entire fortune to him in exchange for getting his wife back when he tried to show him a picture of Gigi on his cell phone. Rex didn't believe him, and got into a fight with him! After Stacy woke up from her coma, she reluctantly agreed to take part in Cutter's scam after she found out that she remembered that she was Stacy, but later changed her mind and wanted to reverse her plastic surgery to look like her old self again. Cutter agreed to her decision and accompanied her to
Rex then went back to Paris, TX with Shane to attend a "pie-off" contest where Gigi's old co-worker Noelle Stubbs entered a pie named in Gigi's honor. Gigi then spotted Rex at the diner, and Cutter helped her hide from him before he could spot her working at the diner. Rex then found "Stacy" and confronted her for getting plastic surgery to look like Gigi. Cutter then showed up at the diner and told Rex that "Stacy" was really Gigi, but Rex didn't believe him and had him finally arrested for his old crime at The Spotted Pony, thanks to a tip from his sister Kim, who was exonerated from prison in exchange for telling Rex the truth and whereabouts of "Stacy". Professor Delfina Jr., whose father helped Rex and Gigi return to the present day from 1968 when they both time travelled to the past, helped convince Rex that "Stacy" was really Gigi by showing him the events that led to Stacy's death thanks to the professor's time travelling TV device! Rex then finally learned the truth, and Rex brought Gigi back home to Llanview where everyone found out that she was still alive. Rex also broke the news about Gigi to Aubrey, and they broke up with each other before Aubrey left town heartbroken about the end of their potential relationship. After Kim tried unsuccessfully to get back together with Clint after he admitted to her that he was back in love with his ex-wife Viki, Kim got a call from Cutter in prison to get help from her to break him out of prison. Kim refused to help his brother after he betrayed her and framed her for his crime despite the fact that he told her the truth about Stacy/Gigi, and that he found their now wealthy mother back in Rio. Cutter then decides to call Alex to help him get out of prison. Rex and Gigi finally married each other in front of their friends and family at Llanfair on New Year's Eve 2011.
2012
In the series' final weeks, there is a massive breakout at Statesville Prison. Many of Llanview's old enemies return to wreak havoc on those that put them behind bars. Nora is kidnapped by Troy MacIver and taken to his cabin on Llantano Mountain. Troy desperately wants Nora to return his love, and leave Bo for him. She plays along with him in order for Bo to come to her rescue. Bo is aided in saving Nora by Lindsay Rappaport who helps Bo initially subdue Troy and save Nora. The two women then end their feud after Lindsay helps save Nora's life. However, Bo is shot by Troy, who after an emotional plea by Nora tries to revive Bo. Bo awakens in heaven and is greeted by Gabrielle Medina who tells him it is time to cross over so they can be together. Though tempted, Bo declares Nora is the love of his life and is miraculously revived. Meanwhile, Mitch Laurence kidnaps Natalie and holds her hostage until Jessica surrenders herself to him. Though Clint tries to stop him, he is knocked unconscious. Cole (now played by Van Hughes) comes running to see Starr and Hope, and though James warns Starr that hiding Cole is dangerous, she does so anyway, while the past romance is reignited as Hannah O'Connor comes after them, still hellbent on Cole being with her. In the ensuing chaos Cole takes a bullet for Starr.
Jessica attempts to trade herself for Natalie, but Ford intervenes and a chandelier falls on top of him. John tried to fend off Mitch, but after Mitch nearly kills John, Natalie shoots him fatally and Mitch is killed at long last. Allison Perkins then confronts Viki and Clint at Llanfair where she reveals she orchestrated the entire breakout and is no longer under Mitch's spell. She reveals that Jessica is actually Clint's daughter and that she lied to Mitch all those years ago and altered the DNA test done back in 2001. However, she still shoots Viki in cold blood and as Clint tries to call 911, he suffers another heart attack. While Viki awakens in heaven, Clint awakens in hell. Cole too awakens in heaven and is greeted by Luna Moody, who encourages him to fight for his life. While the doctors give up on Cole, Starr declares she still loves him, which causes James to end their romance (even though James believes Cole to be dead). Ford awakens in hell and despite his changed ways and pleas to live, he dies of his injuries. Viki is greeted by her daughter Megan and Clint is greeted by Stacy Morasco whose heart he now has. While Stacy condemns Clint to hell, and Megan encourages her mother to rest and cross over into heaven, Clint escapes Stacy's clutches and races to find Viki where he declares his undying love. The two choose to give life another chance and are revived by paramedics.
In the finale, Allison Perkins is reading a script she wrote about the people of Llanview. Over the course of the episode, it becomes clear that she is reading the script to another person, who does not respond to Allison (it is implied that the person is probably being held captive by Allison). A new DNA test proves Jessica is biologically Clint's daughter. Rex, Gigi, and Shane move to London. Natalie and John resume their romance. Starr and Hope go to California (for Starr to pursue her music career) where they re-connect with Markko and Langston. Blair and Todd continue to grow closer since New Year's Eve, now bonding over missing Starr. They agree to trust one another, and they make love for the first time in years. Langston and Markko are grieving over Cole's reported death; Starr reveals to them that Cole survived and that Todd (because Cole had taken a bullet for Starr) helped Cole reunite with Marty and Patrick (who is revealed to be alive and living in hiding somewhere). An associate of Todd's shows up at the L.A. apartment to introduce Starr to her new bodyguard: it turns out to be Cole. Cole and Starr reunite.
Jessica is visited by Brody and he apologizes for his actions and reveals he is reenlisting with the SEALS. It is hinted that the pair will eventually reconcile as a spark of their old love surfaces. Destiny gives birth to her and Matthew's son at home, with her parents, Bo, and Nora in attendance. Mathew realizes he wants to be with her and their child, so he arrives to talk with her only to find that she is in labor. He reconciles with Destiny moments before the birth. They name the baby Drew, after Bo's dead son and Mathew's brother. New grandparents Bo and Nora declare their love for each other one more time in a touching scene.
In the final moments: After sorting through their emotions, Clint again declares how Viki has always been the one. He drops to his knee and asks her to marry him for a third time. While Tea and Tomas Delgado wait at John McBain's apartment, John bursts into Blair's bedroom with Llanview Police backup, interrupting Todd and Blair lying blissfully in bed. John announces to Todd that he's under arrest for the murder of Victor Lord, Jr.[1] In the final scene, it is revealed that the person to whom Allison Perkins is reading her script titled "One Life To Live" is none other than Victor Lord Jr. who is alive and tied up to a bed in her hotel room.
2013
References
- ^ Byrne, Suzy (13 January 2012). "This is How One Life to Live Ended Its 43-Year Run (with Photos of the Final Moments)". Retrieved 25 October 2022.