I think we all paint our pictures, in our imaginations, which is why half of our discussions are speculation based, so when something fails to live up to whatever picture you've already created in your head, who is to blame for that? You the viewer, or TPTB? I guess they both share the blame. I do think Guiding Light dropped the ball in a certain respect, in that it could have and should have been much better publicized (and well Manny should be better publicized, period) and since it was such a culmination of so many months of story it should have gotten more airtime, with just a little more payoff.

But can we say that there was no attention paid to these scenes? After all those elaborate camera shots, and sets, direction, even lighting (I almost wrote a whole post, based simply on that one backlight when Manny first walks into the wooded area, how real did that daylight look, thought that was fabulous), must have been very time consuming. So someone, somewhere amongst TPTB thought about it, a great deal. Unfortunately I think GL just falls down, in general in follow-through, at times, and that's a general problem, not Manny specific.

All that said, and after making our complaints known (which I think is generally a good idea, constructive criticism is the only way to really know how to fix something), I think it boils down to what we were handed, regardless of what we *should* have been given, or *wanted* to be given. If you didn't like what you saw, specifically, well then, more power to you, that's up to the viewer's tastes. If you did, and could appreciate it for what it was then again more power to you. I'm not out to change anyone's mind. I just think there's a distinct difference between being upset about what was not shown, as opposed to being upset about what actually wound up on screen.

And what did wind up on screen, honestly was not something I could complain about. I even re-watched the scenes to look for the complaints people had about Joie Lenz and Paul Anthony Stewart feeling or looking awkward, and couldn't find it (in either the bed, dancing, or any other scenes people mentioned), or Stewart about to burst into laughter at the sight of the bed, maybe he did, but he covered it well, and I didn't notice, and thought it was just Danny smiling. I've heard all about the chimes, and honestly it was so non-distinct, I can't even conjure up the sound in my head any longer. I thoroughly enjoyed the pure romance for romance sake. After all, isn't Manny at least worthy of a couple of days of pure unadulterated, uninterrupted love? Does it have to be angst and drama, at all costs?

What are they fighting to be together for, if not moments like this, to treasure and remember? Is the fight worth it, if all they're fighting for is heartache in the end? I happen to think not, and I just appreciated the slight break, to catch my breath and remind me once again, why I love this couple and why I want to see them together, instead of fighting one another, or with anyone else.

I never thought of "magic" in terms of Manny, in fact, actually said it outloud, once a while back, but for the time in the last few days, I've felt "magic." But hell, maybe it's the fairy dust from the chimes in my eyes, for all I know.

Tracee