One Life To Live-Dorian Goes To Set Viki Straight 1994

[@BSted-lm3mx]

Classic! These two were always mesmerizing to watch together, especially in this golden period of oltl.

[@southwestjohnny7767]

I always loved the relationship between Dorian and Viki. Usually a soap's long-term enemies have hatred that's based on fighting over a man in the romantic sense, but with these two the history was unique, showing viewers over the course of many years why these two grew to hate each other, so you really got invested in their relationship as time went on. This is the sensational storytelling that you don't see on soaps anymore, or television in general. There are too many network executives and marketing experts putting in their 'contribution' to shows instead of letting talented storytellers be allowed to simply do what they do best, which is why soaps are fading away. I miss the good old days of All My Children and One Life To Live so bad.

[@natalieps2387]

So true ! The germ of it before they made victor a monster he was a very good man according to Erika. Then he married a woman her age Dorian someone viki just didnt see what her dad saw in this woman I'm guessing a doctor who was young & beautiful & the original victor wasnt some sleaze bag banging teenagers as the first assault on the character did in 85. I think victor was single & raising his 2 daughters ( why was meredith never mentioned as being in the house too at this time it was like it was only viki & victor. Todd even asks how many siblings their are & the says tony & Tina but never says meredith my full sibling ! I think when they did the incest story they didnt want any questions of where was meredith as the abuse started & went on for 10 years & if meredith long deceased may have been abused too. Yes so Dorian was a character that viki probably had a possessive thing w/ her dad & Dorian kept viki from saying goodbye to her father & viki never got over that.

[@Coryraisa]

@@natalieps2387: You mean it was _Viki_ who made Victor out to be daddy of the year. Yes, though, Erica did do a marvelous job depicting old money Viki's denial and Viki's snobbish disdain for new money Dorian. I think the story is that Viki was probably in college with her dad footing her entire bill when he fell ill and Dorian came along and took over Victor's care. Viki wanted to have her cake and eat it too. She wanted the "college girl" party life of sororities, boyfriends, dates and hanging around other old-moneyed friends, yet she resented that Victor had fallen ill and needed care. I suspect that Viki was a cheerleader in high school and college also. 🤣🤣🤣 Then she saw it as an opportunity to play the devoted daughter caring for her daddy probably to impress Joe Riley who she was dating at the time. Viki came back to Llanfair on a school break only to find Dr. Dorian Cramer there already caring for Victor. And yes, that the very brunette, dark-eyed, small-boned Dorian was a looker and probably a bit exotic in the Anglo boring-as-stale-toast Llanfair world. I suspect that Dorian's exotic beauty mesmerized a bored Victor. I suspect that perhaps Victor mentioned that a Dr. Cramer was caring for him and Viki was expecting a man in the sexist 1970s. I imagine that it flabbergasted a young, spoiled, pampered Viki to see that Dr. Cramer was a _woman_ and a rather young one at that. So, I think that is what planted the seed of Viki's seething hatred of Dorian. Perceptive Dorian sensed Viki's simmering resentment and fighter that Dorian is and still scarred from her own mother's beatings, Dorian began to dislike Viki back. Dorian falling in love with a charming Victor complicated things further...I'm sure Victor turned the charm on Dorian and love-bombed her to facilitate her falling in love with him. They married, much to Viki's disgust. But then Victor didn't treat Dorian very well, which added to Dorian's anger in addition to dealing with Viki's snobbish, jealous disdain of her. It was indicated that Victor, like many incestuous fathers, didn't approve of his daughter marrying hence their estrangement over Joe Riley. But Viki, not being very mature, just blamed Dorian for "keeping" her away from her daddy. Viki also was furious at having to share her daddy's fortune with her stepmum. And probably Dorian saw and knew about Victor's penchant for molesting young girls, so she may have tried to protect her young stepdaughter by keeping her away from Victor. But then, as we find out, Viki as one of her alters, killed Victor in the hospital room. I say Dorian was a real hero of the story, even though the protagonists the Buchanons see her as the "villian." Complicating things further is that Dorian, a new money street fighter among the country club serpents, has unresolved emotional issues of her own, a fiery temper that she has difficulty controlling, is often ruled by her emotions and is often vindictive when crossed. Although Dorian has a complicated relationship with her own daughter, Dorian does love her daughter very much and is a fierce mother lion to Cassie. Dorian has her faults and has done bad things, but her heart is in the right place and she's the one who cuts through the elite country club BS, secrets and lies, often with a fiery temper and sharp tongue. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@nothingbutsoaps2674]

​@Coryraisa wow I've been going through these comments and I see ALOT of them coming from you! You must have had ALOT of time on your hands

[@Coryraisa]

Yep! 😃😃😃

[@natalieps2387]

What an excellent scene that literally covers 20 years of history perfectly. These 2 are putting on a clinic of acting & what real dueling divas are all about !

[@Coryraisa]

Gosh, Dorian has the beautiful face of an angel. And that face was so animated, revealing and vivid that even now it's a joy to watch her face in action. Robin did a great job with the emotional, hot-tempered, fiery, intelligent Dorian.

[@Pinkranger87]

I love how Dorian kept dropping Bread crumbs but she never said it out loud. She was protecting Victor's secret and she thought viki new about the abuse

[@gabelogan5877]

Yes she foreshadowed the abuse. This is such amazing writing.

[@MRLouieRS]

My mom was hooked at this time. She had me set up the VCR to record from 12 PM - 2 PM. She loved it and I admit, it was fascinating television.

[@MKD825]

This is so good, God, I miss these days.

[@HelloooThere]

This is when Vicki was juuuust beginning to change personalities again.

[@Coryraisa]

And again and again and again and again for years on end. And by the mid and late 1990s, she was in and out of mental hospitals because she discontinued treatment too soon even after being arrested.

[@CamilleNadia]

When Dorian mentions the "terrible things" Victor did, I wonder if Michael Malone was already planning the "DID as a result of incest" story.

[@RhaegarTargaryen1st]

Yup, the story was planned more than 2 years in advance when Robin Strasser suggested the DID storyline. The story was brilliantly planned out- step by step; and it wasn't just Victor Lord's death. It was Dorian's affair with Joey, Sloane's death, Tina's return, all of that weakened Viki's psyche and then-- BOOM -- the big reveal by Dorian that Victor abused Viki and one of the greatest soap storylines ever was born. Today's writers should take note.

[@aph1976]

@@RhaegarTargaryen1st Plus i also wonder if Megan's death affected Viki more than we realized because if i remember correctly it was like 6 months or so after her Megan's death when Viki and Clint started having problems in their marriage and she started falling for Sloan.

[@RhaegarTargaryen1st]

@@aph1976 It probably did. Viki is normally a very strong woman and it takes a lot to truly shake her. The build up to her shattering was one devastating emotional blow after another after another with no cooling off period for her to regain her strength and composure.

[@IndependentConversations]

Michael Malone in the 90s was so brilliant because he knew he had to finally figure out the true reason Viki had a dual personality Niki Smith. Like slezak said, it was something in the background they never addressed But also in early 95 there was rumors they were out of ideas for Dorian and Viki that's when they decided they had to launch what really happened and Malone included the director and erika slezak with Robin Strasser in brainstorming. The DID in the only story an actor had any real input with the writers. And they trusted only Robin Strasser and Erika Slezak both daytime legends in their own rights.

[@baconbap]

Vicki was always so sanctimonious.

[@Coryraisa]

So true!!!! I was so glad to see Viki's hypocrisy come back to bite her on the butt by December 1995 and was so glad to see Dorian vindicated.

[@Pinkranger87]

I remember watching this storyline when i was little girl with my mom

[@jay1hi547]

Two Legends! I hated the new opening it was such a terrible idea I always loved the old opening.

[@markheskin7154]

But remember what a slap in the face it was when some stupid writers revealed that Mitch Lawrance had VICTOR alive 20 years later?

[@Coryraisa]

Yeh...in my fanfictions, I just ignore that part. Some of the plotlines were too silly and unrealistic. In my headcanon, Victor stays dead.

[@nothingbutsoaps2674]

And Unfortunately it turned out to be the very same headwriter that created the powerful and most talked about storylines Marty's gang rape and Viki's DID. I remember being in shock. What made him do such a 180?

[@pinabriganti7934]

I miss so one life to live so much can you guys bring it back.😡😠🥺😭

[@Coryraisa]

Dorian was too smart for the self-righteous Vicki. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@orionwesley]

I love how Dorian weasles out of it

[@Coryraisa]

Because she's far smarter than Viki, Clint and Sloan put together.

[@dsteinmetz1]

Thank your for preserving so many episodes of OLTL. Now that the show is cancelled I can go back and catch up on all the episodes I missed. Any chance you number or put your videos in chronological order?

[@miriamjewett5438]

Boy, was Victoria really wrong about Dorian killing her father. 😄 Loved this storyline. Loved these 2 characters. Never liked Sloan. Joe Riley and Clint Buchanan, now they were the best husbands.. I remember this episode.😨

[@tjames9698]

Dorian admitted to killing him years later.

[@bubblezzxxd15]

@@tjames9698 no she didn't, Victor died of heart disease in 2003 after he tried to kill Natalie and steal her heart for himself

[@EyeOnSciFiPod]

OLTL retconned history a lot regarding Victor's death. Originally, Dorian DID withhold his medication so he could die - which is why I always dispised her character. However, years later, the writers changed history to give Viki's DID storyline a foundation. Still, it was all fascinating television from two powerhouse actors.

[@bubblezzxxd15]

@@EyeOnSciFiPod and then she did it again to Clint! That's two hearts that needed replacing because of her, Dorian never learned

[@fwdthinker]

@@EyeOnSciFiPod I heard the original Dorian (Nancy Pinkerton) was mean as hell and tried to kill Victor on screen a few times. It's too bad those scenes aren't still in existence. So there was no question she did it. With Robin Strasser in the role they made it questionable; especially after Tori claimed to do it.

[@marcelparker6755]

"If it were not for this man droning away..." Is that where everyone started calling him "Sloan the Drone?" 😂

[@Coryraisa]

I love that little slight frown, tight mouth with droopy lip corners expression fighter Dorian had throughout the 1990s. She was a street fighter among the spoiled country club elites and knew that she had to keep her guard up around Llanview, especially around the Buchanons.

[@billnye3919]

Strong female characters over 40? You won’t find too much of that nowadays

[@Coryraisa]

Does anyone notice that Dorian often sounds vaguely British when she speaks? It's fascinating because unlike the old-money Buchanons and Viki's background, Dorian is new money. I never hear Viki, Sloan or anyone in the Buchanon clan speak so eloquently despite the airs they usually put on. Dorian was not raised in luxury and wealth, yet her speaking patterns and vocabulary are just so classy and elegant. This is remarkable...it shows how highly intelligent and highly perceptive Dorian is.

[@MKD825]

Viki certainly sounds more vaguely English than Dorian. What you are hearing is Standard American Speech for the stage that was developed by teachers like Edith Skinner. It's what's taught in virtually every acting training program in the U.S. and that's what Robin was trained in at Yale. Erika trained at RADA so she was learning British English pronunciation which she modified upon returning to the states, playing a Philadelphia main line character like Victoria.

[@Coryraisa]

@@MKD825: True about the _actresses,_ both of who are extremely talented and who played their characters well. But with the _characters,_ Dorian had a vague hint of British from time to time. Despite Viki growing up in great wealth and Dorian growing up in poverty, Dorian was actually more sophisticated than Viki. Dorian also was fluent in Italian and proficient in Spanish. These are the characters I'm mentioning, not the actresses.

[@ericwilliams8136]

OLTL ‘94 era was the greatest beside the mid eighties oltl

[@nothingbutsoaps2674]

I always thought 95 was? I hear so much about it

[@ericwilliams8136]

@@nothingbutsoaps2674 95 was also the second greatest yrs of OLTL as a whole. My favorite years were 84, 85, 86, 94, and 95

[@Coryraisa]

LOL, I just love how Dorian's dark brows briefly shoot upward and her forehead wrinkles when she tells whoever is on the other end, _I'm in deep trouble._

[@Coryraisa]

4:34-4:50...Viki's carrying on judging Dorian for having a penthouse, furs and expensive jewelry, yet Viki has the same sort of expensive homes and jewelry. The pot calling the kettle black, LOL. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@HelloooThere]

Vicki was family and Dorian was not

[@Coryraisa]

@@HelloooThere: No, Dorian was family also...she was married to Victor and was Viki's stepmother, not just a live-in lover. And anyway, as the series went on, we see that Dorian also had a family she cared about deeply also. Viki also was often judgmental with her own family, including Tina. No, Viki was not about "morals," she just was resentful about sharing her father's wealth. Viki was full of smokescreens and hidden agendas. Viki's sharp stepmother saw through Viki's phony acts and called her on it, which Viki hated.

[@nattyps3160]

Just b/c dorian didn't want to hire lawyers wasting life & time when she's got money means Shea guilty for not suing. Man is viki nuts. I love dorian for many reasons like becoming a dr on her own dime while viki went to Radcliffe on victirs dime & she just copied being a journalist. No goals of her own then moved into the carriage house instead of her own place w/ Joe than clint. Dorian constantly reinvented herself all the way to senator I loved that viki asked her for favors. Even nora said how much she missed dorian & bo agreed. Lastly what made me adore dorian was even when fighting for her life facing death row she never blew up victor molesting viki

[@Coryraisa]

@@nattyps3160 So true!!! Yes, thank you!!!

[@robertgreen1282]

Oh this is so good! OLTL was so great during that time and General Hospital was committing suicide at the time with endless Sonny and the mob. I would love to see episodes from back when Dorian married Victor. Victor Lord was already dead in 1984 when I started watching.

[@andysmith8655]

robert green GH was still good back then too. The "endless Sonny and the mob" era doesn't start until late 1999/early 2000.

[@btchnotme1587]

robert green I have to say GH was having another “golden age” from 93 to 96 when Claire Labine was writing and Wendy Riche was the EP, much like the OLTL “golden age” when Linda Gottlieb and Michael Malone were at the helm. GH didn’t get super heavy with the mob stuff until Jill Farren Phelps took over in 2001.

[@phatgirl1359]

Me too

[@darellgrant8753]

GH wasn't all about the mob at this time

[@isaiahhill2104]

@@btchnotme1587 The mob focus climaxed in late 2002 throughout the rest of the 2000s. It amped up for sure in 2001 but wasn’t the only major storyline happening at that time.

[@talkingducksrgreat]

wow look at dorian on her celly 16 years ago!

[@Coryraisa]

I know!!!! The shoebox cells!!! I love how a nervous Dorian grips the phone so tightly in her slightly shaking hands also. I also love Dorian's big brown eyes and sharp tongue. 🤎❤️‍🔥🤎❤️‍🔥🤎❤️‍🔥🤎❤️‍🔥 Dorian Cramer Lord truly was a treasure. I love how she so often risked the Buchanans' self-righteous wrath by ripping the lid off Viki's hypocrisy and the country club elite's BS and phoniness. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@KRstar78]

At one point I really started to believe that Dorian really killed victor.

[@crisvanfan]

Most definitely especially when she tried to destroy his remains

[@Coryraisa]

@Draper Scott: Me either.

[@ThorneAstor]

When Viki was talking about how Dorian weaseled here way into Dorian's life, how come she didn't mention Tony and how he was kept apart from Victor by Dorian?

[@Coryraisa]

Because Dorian never kept them apart...that was just another of Viki's lies.

[@TrinityTwo]

Actually it wasn’t. When it was revealed that Tony was Victor’s son and stood to inherit a lot of money, she drove a wedge between father and son.

[@Coryraisa]

@@TrinityTwo: No, that was Viki's lie...not anything Dorian did. And Victor was dangerous and toxic, so even if there was any truth to Viki's tales, Dorian probably had good reason for keeping Tony safe from Victor.

[@aph1976]

@@Coryraisa So if Doran had good reason for keeping Tony safe from Victor shouldn't she also have tried to keep Viki safe too?Plus if Dorian knew Victor was sexually abusing Viki why didn't she step in and say something back then or was she afraid that if she said something Victor would cut her out of his will?

[@Coryraisa]

@@aph1976 No because Dorian was thirty and Viki was in her twenties already and was no longer being sexually abused when Dorian met and married Victor. Dorian sensed that something was amiss in the father-daughter relationship and that something was off about Viki herself, but no one, not even Dorian knew about the incest until _after_ Victor died. In any case, Victor had been abusive toward Dorian as well and once raped her, so Dorian feared more abuse from Victor and perhaps feared being raped again. Remember that Dorian was a very petite, short woman who was not physically fit, so she could not exactly fight Victor. Ideally, Dorian should have left Victor after the first abuse incident, but Dorian also was frightened. And in a small backwards town like Llanview, Dorian perhaps feared being slandered.

[@nyc78]

I couldn’t stand Sloan! His condescending attitude and monotonous, buzzing sound voice were so annoying. My sister always called him “Sloan the Drone”! Pairing Viki with Sloan was very stupid. To go from Clint to Sloan?! My sister and I were glad when the character Sloan died! 😂

[@Coryraisa]

Me too!!!! Sloan was a self-righteous prick.

[@nataliestack9330]

Malone said he always intended this story that Victor molested viki he said their were clues he slept with viki s teenage roommate her did which usually is b c of sexual abuse as a child . also he was controlling of viki . and what a strike of luck Irene's last name was manning like todd Malone s epic creation Todd was never created to be Victor's son but it shows u how that day player character was written in the stars.

[@kornmaze]

I didn't like their opening, then. I'm glad they changed it.

[@darellgrant8753]

Wasn't it terrible

[@nothingbutsoaps2674]

Loved the music though. Plus it's nostalgic. Always takes me back.

[@fwdthinker]

Does anyone know if the "Ethel Crawford" character existed when Nancy Pinkerton played Dorian? From what I have read, that Dorian was REALLY mean and calculating. I can't see her being careless enough to do anything in front of witnesses.

[@Coryraisa]

Me either...because Dorian actually was innocent. It was really Viki-as-Tori who killed Victor by suffocating her own father with a pillow. Ethyl died, which facilitated Dorian's vindication, not that Ethyl could truthfully say anything incriminating against Dorian anyway. I also have the feeling that while Dorian was in prison that spring of 1994, she had help from a few people besides David Vickers, people outside of Llanview that Sloan, Viki and her Buke clique didn't know about.

[@ThorneAstor]

Plus, you can wish someone to have a painful death without having anything to do with the death itself.

[@Coryraisa]

True...I knew Dorian was *not* "confessing" to anything.

[@nothingbutsoaps2674]

So that's Sloane Carpenter. I've heard alot about him.

[@Coryraisa]

Sloan the Drone. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@MKD825]

Just for fun, imagine Beverlee McKinsey as Viki and Marj Dusay as Dorian.

[@Coryraisa]

Beverlee as Viki, maybe. But not Marj as Dorian. Marj had light green eyes and a fair complexion and red hair while Dorian had dark, dark brown eyes, a swarthy complexion and dark hair. I like Erika as Viki and Elaine Princi and Robin Strausser as Dorian. That's why I've never liked most remakes of shows and films.

[@anonymerbenutzer4167]

LOL Dorian’s hair

[@Coryraisa]

@Draper Scott: No matter...her face is beautiful.

[@Coryraisa]

Funny how even though Dorian permed, feathered and fluffed her normally straight hair and dyed it red, you can see that Dorian is a true brunette through and through. Those dark, dark brown eyes and slightly swarthy complexion give her away. Also something about her features clearly mark her as a brunette...darling, funny lady. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣