Saturday Soapy Flashback: Antonio Vega and Keri Reynolds

 

Keri (Sherri Saum) and Antonio (the late Kamar de los Reyes) had the makings of super couple status.

“I'm just worried about her. I mean, what if she gets sucked into his world? What's going to happen to her? I mean, when that day finally comes and he gets into some serious trouble? Or worse?”— Hank Gannon’s disclosing fears to ex-wife Nora Buchanan in regards to Keri’s desire to know her biological father. Foreshadowing galore. 

The new sociology of crime professor Keri Reynolds came to Llanview, Pennsylvania believing her father was District Attorney Hank Gannon— ex-wife to Keri’s old Chicago mentor / friend Nora Buchanan, a criminal defense lawyer. It turned out Hank’s shady brother Randall James “R. J.” Gannon would be Keri’s true maker. Simultaneously, the beautiful, bookwormy Keri didn’t initially favor the handsome, charismatic, hot-tempered Antonio Vega— R. J.’s sworn enemy— either.

Yet, after several months, Keri soon fell hard for the former inmate turned police officer, helping Antonio earn his required credit and embark on a positive path that included an award-winning paper and detective status. 

Before Antonio leaves for New York City, the gorgeous professor dotes on her former student on December 17, 2001 around the holidays.

Unbeknownst to them, their main antagonist is outside watching, desperate to keep them apart. By the end, R. J. will be victorious. 

As Keri and Antonio’s pure romance blossomed, R. J. kept standing in the way, stalking Keri, ensuring that he always interrupted Keri and Antonio’s intimate moments. Antonio’s mother Carlotta wasn’t a fan of Keri either— insulting Keri’s homemade dinner, purposely spicing up her food at the diner. The doomed couple tried to live apart due to their warring families— a regular ole Romeo and Juliet situation complete with their own signature music. And if a couple has a signature music on a soap opera, you know that it’s bound to be epic! 

Cutesy moments: Antonio, Keri, and little Matthew going upstairs together holding hands on New Year’s Eve, Antonio calls Keri and later comes over to wish her a goodnight, and Antonio bringing Keri an apple for a second time and enjoying it with her on campus. 

Eventually, Keri and Antonio reunited and Carlotta accepted them as a bonafide match. 

R. J. continued scheming including Shawna’s bogus charges as an attempt to get Keri fired from Llanview University, not considering the repercussions of this colossal lie. It’s understandable that the man hates Antonio with every fiber of his soul. R. J. has to understand that the allegations were to follow Keri even to Stanford— a position she was offered in Palo Alto, California, home to Antonio’s ex-wife Andy. R. J. was not demonstrating fatherly love and care. He desired to control a daughter, to break her heart and spirit and one up Antonio. Animosity and rage blinded him to the fact that Antonio and Keri were soulmates. 

Thankfully, Antonio makes things right for his love— he gifts Keri with a gem his grandmother gave him for good luck and uses every resource to counteract Shawna and her friends’ false testimonies. He also shows his own award-winning paper’s progression— from four drafts to the completed version. They have a party afterward at the diner, Carlotta even ending it early to give Antonio and Keri the swoony kind of alone time. 

The angst and yearning stage: Antonio and Keri had difficulty trying to maintain distance during their brief breakup (after the R. J. reveal). When Antonio wins the MacKenzie Award, the tension is real. Keri’s green bug breaks down and Antonio fixes it. Unfortunately, R. J. (the stalker) interrupts them, gleefully rubbing it in that Keri is moving in with him. 

R. J. continued manipulating and gaslighting Keri, hoping to destroy not only her and Antonio, but herself too. Yet, one of Keri’s bravest moments was during “live week” (the first ever done on a soap opera). She told R. J. that his tricks were tiring and that “if he forced her to choose, he would not like the results!”  She then cancels his surprise birthday party in spite. 

From there, Keri and Antonio’s relationship strengthened. 

Irony alert: Jennifer Rappaport (Jessica Morris) tells Keri (Sherri Saum) about Cristian’s unsettling connection to Natalie Buchanan. A year later, Antonio will fall for Natalie’s sister, damsel-in-constant-distress Jessica. Jessica was also Cristian’s ex-girlfriend and a student in Keri’s class.

Dr. Rae Cummings (Linda Dano) gives Keri an old camera that has old film in it— upstarting Keri’s desire to find the man in the photo. Investigative mode Keri (similar to Sunset Beach’s reporter Vanessa Hart) is grateful to have her boo Antonio’s aid. 

As a celebration for publishing her first book, Keri treats Antonio to French cuisine and then flan at his mother’s restaurant. Carlotta tells Antonio about Keri’s $50,000 debt (planted by R. J.). Weeks later, Antonio plans a hot tub interlude, whispering Spanish anecdotes to his love, eventually revealing a surprise to an island getaway. 

Antonio and Keri’s 2002 summer Hawaii trip had everything— romance, mystery adventure, and fun times! After they follow an intriguing trail, they end the trip with surfing, bike riding, and a marriage proposal. Lots of wonderful moments between them showcasing back when soap operas had budgets for these kinds of location stories. 

Keri is mysteriously ill and Antonio takes care of her. After Antonio leaves for work, R. J. takes advantage of Keri’s condition— using her as his alibi when he helps Allison Perkins and Lindsay Rappaport escape prison. He resets all the clocks and records Keri’s TV program on brides/weddings while she’s asleep. When she awakes, Keri truly believes that she’s watching her show at its real intended time. 

Keri breaks up with Antonio because she felt he didn’t trust her. 

Antonio doesn’t want to accept the engagement ring back, still persistent that his gut is right about R. J.— who once again comes between Antonio and Keri’s beautiful thing. Keri never learns about her father’s crimes.

You wished that Antonio and Keri stayed in Hawaii rather than return to a running gag— a blind, clueless Keri remaining steadfast in her belief of R. J.’s innocence. There’s a moment when Keri doesn’t spot the yearbooks Antonio placed in their Maui hotel room and he says, “you’re not an observant detective.” This behavior is enhanced in Llanview. Keri studies crime as a profession, not as a life like Antonio. So when Lindsay Rappaport calls thinking R. J. was answering, saying “everything is set for tomorrow,” Keri does not recognize Lindsay’s voice despite attending Lindsay’s trial in support of Nora months prior. Plus, Keri’s newfound sickness worsens and she’s knocked out the next day— which oddly enough is the night Lindsay breaks free from prison. The money clip Keri also gave R. J. as a gift is at the crime scene. The clues were right in Keri’s face. When Antonio blames R. J. for the crime— rightfully so— Keri chooses her father yet again over their relationship, refusing to even think about the little pieces that could have tied it altogether. 

In fact, Keri could have singlehandedly put her father in prison if she paid attention. 

Well, Keri and Antonio have another breakup. 

A hurt, inconsolable Antonio gets into a fight with R. J., shoots Ben Davidson, and has a one night stand with Liz— Keri’s mother. Any hope for Antonio and Keri’s reconciliation has vanished. There’s no coming back from the latter. Antonio once told Shawna he didn’t do one-night-stands yet here we are. Plus, it doesn’t help that he keeps flashing back to that night and feeling grateful for Liz bringing him off the ledge. Keep in mind that Antonio and Keri have only had one major love scene— a short shot at that. 

After Keri pens Antonio a letter that he finds in her office (gawd soooooo romantic), they get back together in her Chicago hometown without discussing why they broke up, why R. J. will still be a problem for them. Instead, Keri and Antonio revert into habitual “ignorance is bliss.” Antonio does tell Keri that he had a one night stand during their break. It remains the beginning of the end anyway. You would think that as close as these two were, Keri would have shared photos containing the woman who raised her. Thus, this messy, strangely incestuous quad ties Antonio and R. J. together— being that they both created “children” with Liz. When Liz realizes she cannot carry a child to term, Keri is to be surrogate. That’s soap opera logic. 

Nothing ever makes complete sense. 

So we’re strapped in for an awful baby storyline when Antonio and Keri deserve better material. Earlier that year, they weren’t ready for children and now a little girl is on the way. It turns out the baby is not Liz and Antonio’s— Keri’s and Antonio’s likely conceived during their Hawaii vacation. Yet, we are robbed of celebrating this fortunate news since a crushed Keri decides to leave town with the baby in tow. Grossly enough, Keri names her daughter Jamie after R. J.— a man who plotted Keri and Antonio’s demise since the beginning. 

This third and final breakup—again initiated by Keri—put the nail on them. 

Keri’s 2003 surprise birthday party had foreshadowing galore. Her saying she couldn’t wait to celebrate many birthdays with Antonio when this would be her last. Antonio is crashing due to learning that the baby Keri is carrying may be his and Liz’s. Except fate did Antonio and Keri a bittersweet favor— meaning she had been pregnant before their first breakup. What a heartbreaking discovery. 

A step from being similar to Sunset Beach’s deranged Virginia Harrison, Keri began to suffer the same writing pipeline as Julia Lindsay on As the World Turns— the good girl transforming into a completely different character in order to make her competition look better. Keri (who cruelly faked her and Jamie’s deaths) returns from hiding in Toronto. She centers Antonio as the object of her desires as opposed to her child and professional career. You miss her sweet friendships with Rae and Nora, her sweet disposition altogether. Perhaps it’s a mere development of postpartum resulting in Keri’s painful discovery of her mother and Antonio (which caused Keri’s early labor in the first place) and the aftermath of Jamie’s maternity. Thus, Keri’s constant lies— lashing out at Antonio, pretending that he was physically abusing her, and harming Jessica’s kitten was such a severe opposite of an honest, smart, sweet-natured woman. This is the same person who had Antonio searching all over Hawaii for “Mark?” The same who joked about her financial situation? The same who wrote thoughtful cards and letters? 

The writers did not want this couple to thrive, to have any longevity. They did not have any soap opera magazine cover stories and were almost a background in their own on-location storyline. It had to become as ugly as possible. The optics were terrible— the comparison to Jessica (who Antonio would later have try to replace Keri as Jamie’s mother). Keri ultimately was a shadow of her former self, completely unrecognizable. You would almost believe that this was an evil twin masquerade. Her last months onscreen seemed a requirement to strengthen the foundation for Antonio and Jessica— who were already sharing scenes during Keri’s final trimester— aka chem testing. 

Furthermore, R. J. hides Keri’s suicide note addressed to Antonio. Instead of doing right by honoring his daughter’s final wishes, R. J. frames Antonio for her murder while trying to gain custody of Jamie— another little girl he would have potentially undermined and ruined. Such a sick man. 

The most hurtful part is that there was no funeral for Keri, no final goodbye for Keri and Antonio with their daughter. 

Keri and Antonio were the only people of color pairing nominated and one of the newer relationships for the Daytime Emmys America’s Favorite Couple Award in 2002, especially huge considering that Todd and Blair and Bo and Nora are still the most known on One Life to Live.   

It is undeniable that Keri and Antonio’s chemistry was off the charts— smoldering, intense, and oh so addictive. It seemed truly believable that these two struck their first foray into love and that nothing could get in their way, especially late 2001- summer 2002. Yet most remember Antonio’s later pairings more so and not the incredible woman Jamie’s mother was. If only Keri realized the extent of R. J.’s villainy, if only Antonio’s one night stand never happened (he once told Shawna that they weren’t his thing)… Keri and Antonio would have had the storybook soap wedding of their dreams and raised Jamie surrounded in that love. Secrets are always revealed in soap opera, but somehow R. J. got away with destroying Keri’s life. 

Antonio and Keri. 

Still, is it any wonder that portrayers Sherri Saum and Kamar de los Reyes fell for each other offscreen too? Our hearts go out to Sherri as Kamar passed away from cancer on Christmas Eve last year. They had been married seventeen years and share twins, last starring together in former costar Michael Easton’s 2017 short film, First Strike Butcher Knife. 

The Keri and Antonio clips were made possible with the incredible archival channels of OG Soap Fan, AMC & OLTL Fans, and the Wild Hearts Loser Club OLTL playlists exception of December 17, 2001 from Cheap83x21 on YouTube. I highly recommend binging them for the weekend, stopping before the second breakup. Their tragic enthrallment reminds me of why I loved soap operas growing up and why constant changing writing regimes can ruin what could have been exceptional super couple history. Their later months give sabotage, ensuring a tainted legacy for Keri’s character, a woman who said, “I thought that my gift was helping people to open their minds and see things in a new way— and I thought I was going to do that forever.” 

So beautiful. 

Props to Sherri and Kamar for gifting viewers the treasure that was Keri and Antonio. May an old pairing from twenty plus years ago continue to flourish in the minds of those who will forever fan them. 

edited* May 6, 2024

‘A Different Image’ Breaks Down The Stigmatized Roles Ingrained In Our Mindsets

 

A Different Image promo image.

Alile Sharon Larkin’s A Different Image addresses the theory that some men will set women up to believe in a false friendship— a scheme that has existed since the dawning of time. They disguise their true intentions in order to become closer to another goal altogether.

That’s the unfortunate case between Alana and Vincent. 

Alana (Margòt Saxton-Federella) at rest. DP: Charles Burnett.
  

Alana draws a neighborhood boy (who later shockingly disrespects her). DP: Charles Burnett.

The stylish Alana, a talented visual artist and office receptionist, lives faraway from her family, enjoying her secluded, mix-patterned space decorated in vintage photographs of Black people and an eclectic array of objects relating to African diaspora. Her independent vibe is carefree and spiritual, the wonderful traits creatives usually exhibit. 

Alana also enjoys a camaraderie with Vincent, a young man in her class. They eat lunch together, do yoga, and read books— platonic activities. Diane, a nosy co-worker, believes that Alana and Vincent are bound to become an item soon. When dismissing the notion, no guile is in Alana’s response. No mischievous eyes or blushing smile that suggests anything more than stern disinterest. Alana buys into her friendship with Vincent one hundred percent because that is all that she hopes to obtain from him. She even requests that he give her an African name, instilling trust in such a meaningful task. 

Yet, this brings up the paradoxical question— can men and women be just that? 

What if the other falls in love and wants more? 

Vincent (Adisa Anderson) scopes out a woman (Bella Dilworth). DP: Charles Burnett. 

Ralph (Michael Bruce) encourages Vincent to act on his desires. DP: Charles Burnett.

Vincent is already seduced by societal’s masculine expectations. He often stares at the billboards and adult magazines featuring fit, beautiful women, a natural part of patriarchal conditioning that has men viewing women’s bodies as lust objects. A crude young boy who objectifies Alana while she’s drawing him signifies how early this misconduct starts. 

Although Vincent seems to want to stay on the right track, he is bitten hard by societal expectations, drawn not to seeing women beyond sexual relief. It’s displayed in how he looks at them once they past him by, his body language is suspect. Plus, his hands begin lingering too long on Alana, computing how much she lets him get away with. 

It also doesn’t help that testosterone heavy friend Ralph eggs Vincent to “do something” with Alana. Ralph— the scandalous devil on Vincent’s shoulder— believes Alana is leading Vincent on, that her friendship is only a facade that must be preyed on. Ralph presents a problematic advisor, pushing the agenda even further, conflicting Vincent’s already troubling mindset.  

Ralph is too busy with Alicia (Mandisa Oliver) to help Vincent move— again a demonstration of his deplorable character. DP: Charles Burnett.

Alana crashes on Vincent’s floor. DP: Charles Burnett.

At the climax, Alana’s trusting nature becomes her downfall to Vincent’s compromised mental state. The fault is not hers. Alana did not cause Vincent’s predatory nature to unveil itself. He is a manifestation of both his environment and the constant voice in his head (Ralph) promoting destructive behavior, unleashing the need to assert dominance. When Alana realizes that she cannot be vulnerable around Vincent, that he does not comprehend a women’s multifaceted personhood, let alone their emotional integrity and consent, the perceived friendship is tainted and unsafe. Vincent does give Alana an African name, but the bond between them has been severed, especially since he doesn’t offer a genuine explanation for his violation. She can forgive him. 

Yet, forgetting what he did…

Furthermore, Alana lives alone in an unfamiliar place, isolated with little friends. If anything, it’s easier to believe that she will eventually cut ties with Vincent. She may find another who respects her boundaries or searches for positive girlfriends. At least she has art to express her innermost emotions in the meantime— the best form of therapy and happiness. 

A conflicted Vincent tries to play cards. Does he understand that what did to Alana was wrong? Is that what guilt looks like? DP: Charles Burnett.

A guarded Alana in deep thought, perhaps unsettled by both the burden of her own naivety and trying to move past Vincent’s corrupt behavior. DP: Charles Burnett. 

Images are the first things we understand before words and definitions. Beneath certain pronounced cues delivering outdated gender norms, subliminal messages can have lasting effects as demonstrated in Vincent’s character. 

A Different Image harbors between short film and feature-length, containing the moralistic edge apparent in most L. A. Rebellion works. A few renowned members provided aid to writer, producer, and director Alile Sharon Larkin— Charles Burnett as cinematographer and Julie Dash on continuity. The actors played their roles well— Margòt Saxton-Federella in her only part and Adisa Anderson (Daughters of the Dust) present a conflict that still exists today. It’s a familiar story about society’s mental interference, women’s roles in a limited man’s imagination, and that women must still have to be careful about “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” 

Happy Birthday, Lorraine Touissaint: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

 

Lorraine Touissaint’s headshot, 1992.

You know a film or television series will be especially wonderful if among the cast includes brilliant Lorraine Touissaint, a Trinidadian-born, Juilliard School graduate. It’s been high time to give her flowers. 

Ten years ago, Joe Reid wrote this Atlantic article, Five Essential Performances By ‘Orange is the New Black’ Standout Lorraine Touissaint, highlighting Touissaint’s contributions to the silver and big screen. Touissaint spent ten years on the New York theater stages before obtaining her first television role as Vera Williams on the soap opera One Life To Live. Her warm presence calls to mind that of the late Mary Alice mixed with the regal elegance of Cicely Tyson. She has the power to brew beneath her characters and come out sharp and strong, delivering her words with esteemed clarity.

However, Touissaint has yet to lead a big grand picture and definitely deserves that. She should be in rooms, talked about and given cover opportunities showcasing her distinctive smile. 

Then again, history continues to repeat itself— Black women actresses remain relegated to supporting roles, as crutches to primary white counterparts. Fortunately, Touissaint will always eat up her screen time. Her presence is meaningful and memorable no matter how many minutes she’s allotted. She could be the most insensitive mother in Middle of Nowhere or the most gentle grandmother in Fast Color. Even her short moments in RZA’s Love Beats Rhymes as Azealia Banks’s character Coco’s restaurant running mama Nichelle are divine perfection. She lit up a whole murky screenplay. The unique sound of her voice is part of her craft, her signature, able to wield soft sincerity and wisdom while also forcing us to take two steps backward, fear her wrath and fury. 

Nancy Miller and Deborah Joy DeVine’s Lifetime drama series Any Day Now stars Lorraine Touissaint and Annie Potts. Touissaint and Potts grace the cover of Philadelphia Inquirer’s TV Week, August 23-29, 1998.

Inside contents: Lorraine Touissaint as adult Rene and Annie Potts as adult Elizabeth on the left, Shari Dyon Perry as young Rene and Mae Middleton as young Elizabeth on the right. 

Touissaint bloomed on the Lifetime series Any Day Now co-starring with Annie Potts. Her lucrative television résumé eventually stretched into various different dramas— Frasier, Crossing Jordan, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Forever, Friday Night Lights, Orange Is the New Black, Rosewood, and Young and the Restless. Her voice has been heard in animated series such as Static Shock, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Summer Camp Island. She’s starred in two TV movie adaptations co-starring Oscar winner Halle Berry— Queen based on the 1993 novel by Alex Haley and David Stevens loosely based on Haley’s grandmother and Darnell Martin’s Their Eyes Were Watching God based on Zora Neale Hurston’s powerful 1937 novel.

Lorraine Touissaint and Allison Jones star in the 1996 film Nightjohn directed by Charles Burnett (To Sleep With Anger, Killer Sheep), DP: Elliot Davis (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Get On the Bus, and Out of Sight). The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Over the years, on the film side of life, Touissaint has worked with prominent women directors such as Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere and Selma), Julia Hart (Fast Color), and Maggie Greenfield (Sophie and the Rising Sun), and Dianne Houston (Runaway Island), the first and only Black woman to be nominated for a filmmaker Oscar (Tuesday Morning Ride, short film). Another favorite Touissaint performance was Grandma Marley from Jenn Shaw’s 2023 short film Gaps, highlighted here in my essay at Carefree Mag. Hopefully it becomes a full-length feature. Touissaint has also received accolades from the Black Reel, Black Film Critics Circle, Critics Choice, the Chlotrudis, Screen Actors Guild, and Essence Black Women in Hollywood and nominations from the NAACP Image (six so far), Independent Spirit, and the EwWy (renamed Poppy) Awards. 

Touissaint in Oscar winning film Selma. DP: Bradford Young. 

Of Selma, Touissaint shared in Collider that her small role as the late civil rights activist Amelia Boynton was meant to be bigger:

“Pivotal scenes of mine were cut, that would have helped explain her in a better way. We don’t really know that she’s the character that invited Martin to Selma, and that she is the one that almost single-handedly had been prepping this community for years. She was relentlessly registering people to vote, and holding secret night classes to tutor the voters. She was prepping this community and building up the pressure in it, very quietly. By the time you meet her, she had been arrested countless times.”

Currently, Touissaint stars in the Equalizer TV series alongside Queen Latifah and will be in Todd Strauss-Schulson’s Silent Retreat co-starring with Dennis Haysbert and Larry Owens (Zach on Abbott Elementary). 

Touissaint plays Aunt Viola “Vi” Marsette to Queen Latifah’s Robyn McCall in the CBS series Equalizer. Maybe a future essay would compare Touissaint’s Aunt Vi with Tina Lifford’s Aunt “Vi” Violet Bordelon-Desonier on Queen Sugar, 2016-2022.

Other profound Lorraine Touissaint Quotes:

"Often times, the business is designed to make us feel powerless. I learned early on the power of [saying] 'no.' And as difficult as it has been, especially early on in your career, I knew that there was power in it. There are just some things that I just say no to." (BUILD Series, 2019)

“ I had an extraordinary mother who at 10, I said—I didn’t grow up with a TV—at 10, I said I want to be an actress. When everyone else in my family laughed, my mother did not. She’s the one who taught to live and ultimately taught me how to die.” (Essence, 2020)

“I don't take those kinds of compliments for granted, because there aren't a lot of roles being offered to African American women, especially age forty and above. I don't think there are enough roles in the media like Rene Jackson. But, I'm hopeful because the fact that our show exists is testament that things are changing, and I believe the networks are paying very close attention to our little show on cable.” (answer to a CNN.com transcript response regarding her “intelligent Black female portrayal” in Any Day Now, 2001)