From the moment Claudia Zacchara arrived in Port Charles she was an enigma, a mystery. No one knew exactly what she was after or just how far she would go to get it. She was the character that you hated to love and loved to hate. From viewers, she commanded a range of emotions from empathy to disgust and then back again, often within the same scene. This set her apart from typical soap villains, making her a tragic figure of sorts, which of course makes her death seem all the more tragic. Claudia's death left many questions unanswered. One could always assume that her actions were the direct, and in some cases, the indirect result of her upbringing, even though this was never fully addressed. Growing up she wasn't just surrounded by violence, but appeared to be the target of it on many occasions, often the result of her own father's actions. In many ways this made her an ideal partner for Sonny, capable of understanding the emptiness that comes with feeling unloved. And it is kind of a shame that this relationship was never explored outside the shadow of Michael's shooting.
Aside from Claudia's relationship with Sonny, I have often felt that this character had many more stories left to tell, which is why I had hoped for a less final ending for her. For instance, when Claudia first arrived in Port Charles it was stated that this character would always be wearing one red item, the significance of which would be revealed as the character unfolded. Unfortunately no explanation was ever offered for Claudia accentuating her wardrobe with this color, even though I noticed her wearing it on number of occasions.
Another avenue left unexplored was the relationship Claudia had with her father. I always felt that her reasons for resenting him went much deeper than the fact that she felt unloved and unwanted. There just always seemed to be some dark family secret there that was never disclosed, although certainly implied. And ultimately I thought that this was all a part of what made Claudia so complex and helped explain some of the behavior that was so reprehensible. In a way though it seems kind of fitting that no one ever truly knew who Claudia was, as is the case with many tragic figures. She was introduced to viewers as someone with a mystifying quality, a trait she retains even in death.
After I watched yesterday's episode, first off, I noticed a few things that could lead to Claudia coming back from the dead in true Soap Opera form:
ReplyDelete1. The descrepancy between the scene where Michael, for lack of a better word, "whacks" Claudia. I noticed the weapon looked like a stick but then later on in the episode there was a reference to an ax.
2. The scene where Claudia's hand is lying outside the blanket. Sure it didn't move, but this can be easily changed later to moving fingers.
3. Such a shallow grave - and in a rainstorm. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
I'm not saying this could happen right away but it makes you think, eh?
I just hope that they explore the fact that Claudia did help Carly have her baby and the conflicting emotions of Carly over telling the truth.
Peggy
Hi Peggy!
ReplyDeleteNice observations! Your brain works like mine does! Immediately after yesterday's episode I started trying to come up with a way that they could bring Claudia back because as we all know in the world of soaps deaths are never really final.
I too hope that they explore the fact that Claudia helped Carly have a safer delivery, not to mention the fact that Carly's baby now shares the same birthday as Claudia! There is definitely the potential for a lot of storyline to come out of all of this.
I did notice the shot of the hand, too. I kept going going back on my DVR and trying to see if I was missing something. For some reason I feel like at a later time that shots going to be important.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicki!
ReplyDeleteI agree, they seemed to be trying to emphasize her hand with that close up shot. And I think it is certainly possible that they could go back to that shot at a later time and show her fingers twitching, should SJB ever decide to return to the show. Can you imagine what an explosive return that would be if it turned out later on that Claudia actually survived? They could write it in like whoever is watching Jason (most likely James Franco's character)digs up Claudia's body and discovers that she is alive. Then of course Claudia goes into hiding for several yrs. until she decides to return to Port Charles. :)
Oh, ladies, I so agree with Claudia's hand -- they shot it like a clue of some kind. I kept expecting her hand to move and for her to come back "Carrie" style. If Greenlee can come back over and over again on "All My Children," surely Claudia can make a comeback.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, there were many things about Claudia that were never exposed. They sort of dropped the ball on the red shoes and don't you want to know more about Uncle Rudy?
Lots of mystery here, lots of mystery ...
A comeback for Claudia would definitely not be beyond the realm of possibilities. They have killed off almost every character on Days and have brought them back at least twice!lol! And I definitely would like to know more about Uncle Rudy. They kept referring to him on the show and I always expected that they would bring him on or develop his character more at some point, but they never did. In fact when I first heard that Sarah Brown was leaving I assumed that she would leave town and go under her Uncle Rudy's protection. There were just so many unaswered questions about Claudia and so many possibilites for her storyline, its a shame to have to let all that go now.
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