Saturday Soapy Flashback: Evangeline and Laylah Williamson, The Sistahs of Llanview

 

No other sisters could top this duo. 

Hotshot lawyer Evangeline “Vange” Williamson and her younger actress hopeful sister Layla painted the town of Llanview red on One Life to Live. Evangeline first arrived as dating RJ Gannon and representing for his daughter Keri Reynolds in the custody case, a storyline that tragically ended. Layla arrived two years later just as Evangeline’s in the midst of a terrifying stalking ordeal. Interestingly, Layla acquires a job as a waitress at Antonio’s owned Capricorn, RJ’s old place originally named after Keri’s zodiac sign where so many of his scheming lies took root. 

Layla (Tika Sumpter) almost gets shot by John McBain’s police force when Evangeline (Renée Elise Goldsberry) rescues her. After Evangeline chastises Layla for coming, she allows sis to move in. The friendship between Evangeline, Antonio (Kamar de los Reyes), and Layla grows delightful.

After bringing Layla’s belongings to Evangeline’s tastefully decorated apartment at 345 Fuller Street, Apt. 42, the girls go clubbing at RJ and Rex’s co-owned spot, Ultraviolet. Unfortunately, at the same time, the stalker trashes Evangeline’s home, leaving her so shaken up that she buys Layla a oneway ticket back to Los Angeles. Layla adamantly refuses, gung ho on offering her support by staying put. Ex cop Antonio becomes the next best idea. The trio’s beautiful friendship lends itself to short yet poignant conversations between Antonio and the sisters, at times separate one on ones or all three simultaneously. Highlights include Layla sharing a candid monologue on beauty to Antonio and Antonio confiding with Evangeline what he would give to again see his presumed dead brother Cristian.  

Absolutely adorable how Vange always pulls Layla into a squishy side embrace. The big smiles on their faces light up scenes. Now Layla planting a sour if the moment kiss on a taken Antonio— a big no no. Haha. 

Once the stalker mess ends, Evangeline lets Layla move in. All the sister fun fluff ensues, showing an engaging other side to Evangeline, a girlish, humorous, fiercely protective sibling. Yes, Evangeline shared many scenes with Nora Buchanan (as did Nora’s daughter Rachel and Keri), but the moments between Evangeline and Layla delivers what the audience needed, a break away from Evangeline’s love woes, courtroom drama, and danger constantly finding her. 

The girls sing Aretha Franklin’s Ain’t No Way over a pint of ice cream, Evangeline reminiscing about her failed relationship with John. The girls fall asleep on the couch together, showing that they’re each other’s safe haven.

Unlike other sibling relationships, either estranged (i.e. RJ and Hank Gannon) or the frosty sister enemies to cordial respect angle (Jessica and Natalie Buchanan), the refreshing dynamic of Evangeline and Layla hits the right notes, sweet and entertaining. The little tidbits on their upbringing— Layla stealing Evangeline’s jeans when the latter was fourteen or Evangeline constantly bossing Layla around— sounds typical, familiar. Sometimes we never forget the things a sibling does to/for us. The good and the bad occurrences holds our memories captive, especially if growing up together, seeing each other everyday for what seems a forever permanence. Evangeline exclaiming, “we’ll have each other’s backs!” to Layla conveys an authentic expression of reciprocal, unconditional love— the very promise lacking in her failed romantic relationships. 

RJ (Timothy Stickney) calling Evangeline (Renée Elise Goldsberry) a “self hater” in front of Layla (Tika Sumpter) when he’s mostly been with white women— pot meet kettle. 

Layla’s acting aspirations soon inspire Antonio to use her as an instrument for the upcoming custody battle between him and RJ. Evangeline—who’s representing Antonio— has chooses not to support this fallacy. Antonio qualifies as a gray character, dangling between the fence of leading by his heart and letting his anger blind rationale, partly why his romance with Keri failed. Evangeline knows he has a terrible temper and doesn’t want to see her sister hurt. Plus, she may often be hired by some of the most unsavory felons, Evangeline prefers obeying the law. Although Layla amps up the feign act, Antonio is not as convincing. This arrangement doesn’t depict him in a good light. 

Laylah and Antonio let Evangeline on a plan of them being a fake couple for Jamie’s custody hearing. The funniest part was Evangeline bopping her sister on the head mid-fake kiss.

The revolving door of women of color in One Life to Live kept being on the receiving stick of silly lopsided triangles— Antonio choosing a younger Jessica over Keri and John McBain’s preference of Natalie over Evangeline. The writers recycled smart, sharp women versus the spoiled rich girls repeatedly. It’s a running gag that the Buchanan sisters always wind up kidnapped or missing and that the other woman winds up finding them. Evangeline and Layla offer help to John and Antonio respectively find Natalie, the kidnapped victim, and Jessica, trapped in her mind mentally and physically by her split personality alter ego Tess.

Evangeline goes blind after being struck by glass during the Llanview twister. Layla cheers her big sis up with a cute stuffed Nala from The Lion King.

Soaps are mainly watched for high stakes stories, wildly entertaining villains, and streamy slow burning romances, potential super couples that people rush home for. With Evangeline and Layla, two gorgeous sisters searching for love in the wrong places, we had a terrific charismatic representation. In Llanview together for two years— two years of constant mayhem and drama— the Williamson sisterhood foundation was the best part of their entire presence. Their connection felt too real, too loving, far too luminous and magical for the soap world. We loved the banter, the sass, and the confidence among their reflections at either Evangeline’s apartment, the club, or the Vega diner. 

Even if their foolish lovers didn’t put them above, the sisters always chose each other. What’s more heartfelt than that?

The Williamson sisters in real life— Renée Elise Goldsberry (Evangeline) and Tika Sumpter (Laylah).

Evangeline and Layla’s portrayers have been pretty accomplished post One Life to Live.  

Well-known for Broadway smash Hamilton, Renée Elise Goldsberry is a noted Tony, Grammy, and Soap Opera Digest actress/singer with nominations for two NAACP Image Awards, three Black Reels, three Emmys (two for Daytime, one for Primetime), Critics Choice, Astra, etc. Films include leading roles in Christine Swanson’s Albany Road and All About You. Among television cult hit Girls4eva, The Good Wife, and Altered Carbon. 

Former model, children’s book author, and actress/producer Tika Sumpter starred as Michelle Robinson in indie darling Southside With You, Bessie’s lover Lucille in dee rees’s award-winning Bessie, Delores in Whitney Houston produced Sparkle, and the voice of Maddy in the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Television roles include Watson, The Game (her Jenna Rice arc was a highlight), and Gossip Girl. Sumpter has been nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, a Gotham Award, and a Women’s Image Award. 

Not to mention having THE Julliard trained dancer/actress Janet Hubert aka the original Vivian Banks playing their mother Lisa Williamson. All that supreme talent on one soap in the middle of the afternoon. 

Twenty years later, it would be amazing to see Goldsberry and Sumpter unite on a future project—a film, television series, or even a web show. Their strongly believable sisterly chemistry made the soap bearable. The days they weren’t on was a simple waste of turning on the TV. 

Renée and Tika beautified the opening credits.

Nonetheless, One Life to Live fumbled hard on these two phenomenal Black women, their ends showing a continuous trend of callously mistreating Black and brown characters. Evangeline’s slow coma death by racism and Layla leaving town for Paris lacked the genuine care afforded to the prioritized characters. This also includes Keri’s madness descent before suicide, RJ and his brother Hank disappearing in the background, Rachel Gannon’s story, the list goes on. 

At least there are YouTube channels (Evangeline’s Heart and Wild Hearts Losers Club OLTL) with old episodes to look forward to rewatching the feel-good Evangeline and Layla content from beginning to end. The Williamson sisters were everything! 

Saturday Soapy Flashback: NAACP Image Award For Outstanding Acting in a Daytime Drama

If Victoria Rowell aka The Young and the Restless’s Drucilla Barber was nominated, the other soap opera actress nominees had no chance against her at the NAACP Image Awards. She played the role on/off from 1990-2007.

Last night, the 51st Daytime Emmys aired, the last sole honor for talented soap opera actors to grasp an accolade for their proficient ability to act out three-hundred page scripts on the daily. Some are very, very good at it. Others are obvious models who believe they have what it takes beyond looking beautiful. Unfortunately, actors of color— rarely preferred over the predominantly white nominees— felt a disappointing absence when the NAACP Image Awards stopped awarding the Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2015. The category was introduced post-Generations in January 1994– with The Young and the Restless’s Victoria Rowell and the late Kristoff St. John not having competition for the first two years of its inception. 

The Young and the Restless has eighteen wins out of twenty-one victories for actors and nineteen of twenty-two for actresses. No male actor was nominated in 1995. 

Years after One Life to Live’s Al Freeman Jr. won the first ever acting Daytime Emmy Award for a Black actor in 1979, All My Children’s Debbi Morgan was next in line. Her 1989 win, however, was shared. She won Image Awards in 2009 and 2010.

Yes, it would be fair to criticize the Image Awards for its obvious preference— Rowell has a whopping eleven wins including a few consecutive runs, St. John has ten, Shemar Moore has six, and Tatyana Ali has four. All My Children received love in the Best Actor category circa 2010, 2011, and 2012– likely because St. John wasn’t competing. Passions scored a win in 2007 for Tracey Ross (Eve Russell) and All My Children held back to back wins for Debbi Morgan’s return as Angie Baxter. 

The late Kristoff St. John won the first (1994) and the last (2014) honor in the category for portraying Neil Winters on The Young and the Restless (1991-2019).

There are only these categories per year. No supporting because quite frankly, that is the role most minorities are granted onscreen anyway— props to the leads. Still, plentiful performances were robbed of receiving recognition from that time forward including those who kept being nominated, favored for the aforementioned repeat winners. It’s on the same tier as so and so having five Best Lead trophies at the Daytime Emmys.

Currently, four soap operas are airing (Days of Our Lives is behind a paywall streaming service Peacock) until The Gates— the first primarily cast Black soap opera to air since Generations— will perhaps help boost up this dwindling genre. Although there’s no chance in heaven that the NAACP will resurrect this category, let’s look back on some who were nominated and never won versus the others coming up behind post removal.


Memorable Past Nominees

The late Kamar de los Reyes (featured in the In Memoriam segment) was nominated once for playing Antonio Vega on One Life to Live (1995-2009) and won an Alma Award in 2008. He guest starred on SEAL Team, Sleepy Hollow, The Rookie, and The Passage and films Love & Suicide and First Strike Butcher Knife. His last appearance was Coach Montes on All American and the upcoming Washington Black. 

Renee Elise Goldsberry was twice nominated for playing Evangeline Williamson on One Life to Life (2004-2007) and won a Soap Opera Digest Award for being in a lopsided love triangle. Since Goldsberry’s controversial end to the role, she’s won a Tony and Grammy and received nominations for a Critics Choice, Black Reel, and Primetime Emmy (a win here would make her an Oscar win away from EGOT status).

Retired actress Renée Jones was nominated five times for playing Stefano DiMera’s reformed daughter Lexie Carter on Days of Our Lives (1993-2012). She also played an earlier character, Nikki Wade on the soap in 1982.

Amelia Marshall was nominated three times for playing Belinda Jeffries on All My Children (1996-1999). She later moved onto the villainous Liz on Passions (2001-2004) only receiving a Soap Opera Digest nod. 

Karla Mosley was nominated once for playing Maya Avant Forester— the center of the most powerful Black story ever told on Bold and the Beautiful (2013-2019). Mosley has since starred and produced short films including the Wed-locked web series with Bold and the Beautiful and Guiding Light co-star Lawrence St. Victor.  

Peter Parros was nominated twice for playing Dr. Benjamin Harris on As the World Turns (1997-2009). Prior to, he held roles on One Life to Live and The Young and the Restless. He continues to guest star on various television series.   

Nathan Purdee— the original Nate Hastings on The Young and the Restless (1986-1993)— was nominated seven times as the District Attorney Hank Gannon on One Life to Live (1992-2009).

Timothy Stickney—a gifted thespian— was twice nominated for playing villain R. J. Gannon (Hank’s younger brother) on One Life to Live (1994-2009) and won a Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain. Stickney has guest starred on various television series including Evil and Elementary and is a theatre practitioner.

Theatre actress Tamara Tunie was nominated twice for playing Attorney Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns (1987-1999). Tunie also played medical examiner Melinda Warner for twenty-one years on Law & Order SVU, worked with the phenomenal Denzel Washington twice (co-starred with him in Flight and co-starred in his directed Journal for Jordan). She has been received the Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award in 2017.

 

The trophy. 

The Never Will Be Nominated

Tabyana Ali currently plays the third Trina Robinson on General Hospital (2022-present) and there’s a lot of promise when the writers give Trina stories. Ali— a comedian— has guest starred on New Girl and the Horror Noire anthology. She wrote a short film screenplay Before it’s Too Late. 

Sean Blakemore, Daytime Emmy Award winner played Shawn Butler on General Hospital (2003-2022), first starting out as another character Chase Wright. Blackmore has since starred in many shows All Rise, Greenleaf, and Quad. He also co-starred with Shemar Moore in the scandalous x-rated drama Motives and the sequel in addition to S.W.A.T.

Tanya Boyd played Celeste Perrault, the sensuous oracle and sidekick to Stefano DiMera on Days of Our Lives (1994-2007). Boyd never fully received her props for bringing a Grace Jones like vibe to Salem. Meanwhile, she guest starred on many classic shows such as What’s Happening!!, Good Times, A Different World. She also directed two short films, Supremacy (2011) and Hold Up (2004). 

The late Sonya Eddy played the wise, scene-stealing Nurse Epiphany Johnson on General Hospital (2006-2022). Eddy guest-starred in various shows— Everybody Hates Chris, Black Jesus, The Black Lady Sketch Show, etc. She won a Daytime Emmy posthumously— from her first nomination. 

Jason George played the lovable doofus lifeguard Michael Bourne on Sunset Beach (1997-1999) and received a Daytime Emmy nomination. George has been seen on Girlfriends (Toe Sucking Charles is unforgettable, sorry), Eve, Roswell, and Half & Half. Currently, he stars on the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Station 19. 

Even though most characters listed here are “goodie types,” Dominique Jennings deserved some recognition for playing the kooky Virginia Harrison on Sunset Beach (1997-1999). 

Napiera Groves as adult Bonnie McKechnie #1 on As the World Turns (2001-2004). Groves had a small part in Jordan Peale’s Us and directed/produced the full Kickstarter backed short film Aisle 2. 

Lauren B. Martin played breast cancer survivor Camille Bennett on As the World Turns (1998-2001). Martin also starred in other soaps: Another World, All My Children, and Guiding Light. Currently, she is an award-winning producer behind Anacostia, Asunder, and Reality Sets In and has several independent projects on the works. 

Sidney Mikaela, two-time Daytime Emmy nominee, played the second Trina Robinson on General Hospital (2019-2022). Mikaela is mostly remembered for playing a young Gabby Douglas in The Gabby Douglas Story and has lent her voice to animated series: Dew Drop Diaries, Fright Krewe, and Hailey’s On It! 

Mishael Morgan— first Black woman to win a leading actress in a Daytime Series Emmy and a femfilmrogue favorite— played Hilary Curtis and twin Amanda Sinclair on Young and the Restless (2013-2018 and 2019-2024 respectively). Morgan has starred in a few films and produced award nominated Sway. 

Sherri Saum played Vanessa Hart, the nosy, resourceful reporter on Sunset Beach (1997-1999) and the criminal sociology professor Keri Reynolds on One Life to Live (2001-2003). Saum starred in the hit ABC Family drama The Fosters and recently directed an episode of the spinoff Good Trouble. She also made appearances in How To Get Away With Murder, Girlfriends, and  Mrs. Davis.

Veronica Redd played the fabulous Mamie Johnson #2 off/on Young and the Restless (1990-1995, 1999-2004, 2023-present)— Jill Abbott’s best other nemesis next to the late Jeanne Cooper’s Katherine Chancellor. The first Black actor to receive a contract from The Young and the Restless, Redd also guest starred in various shows— Living Single, 227, The Jeffersons, and The Women of Brewster Place and films: The Five Heartbeats and Bluehill Avenue. 

‘Love & Suicide,’ A Painful Depiction of Past Catching Up to Choke the Present

 

Love & Suicide film poster. 

“Being in Cuba has allowed me to live in a society that is not at war with itself. There is a sense of community. It’s a given in Cuba that, if you fall down, the person next to you is going to help you get up.”—Assata Shakur

Sometimes film has the ability to remind a person not to deny the authenticity of their truest selves, their purposes among life’s heaviest burdens.

Lisa France’s history making Love & Suicide left me strangled by the threads of challenging inner turmoils partially steeped by an upbringing damaged by parental absence. I remember once wanting to flee America and drown in Ghana’s people, disappear into a country no one knew me. Furthermore, there are family members drifting away, permanently living off grid. Thus, when the New Yorker character of Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage Tomas (calling himself Tom) seeks a real death in Cuba, the place where his absentee father was born. The fictional parallels spoke an alarmingly unexpected kinship to my reality. 

Tomas (Kamar de los Reyes) is in a dilemma. DP: Demian Lichtenstein. 

Path of self-destruction. DP: Demian Lichtenstein. 

An isolated Tomas descends into disparity, an unkempt man drinking and smoking cigarettes heavily, popping pills, and wielding a gun to his temple, wandering without purpose against Havana’s impoverished landscape, leaving desperate, sporadic voicemails to the unknown caller on the receiving end. The dreary, depressing scenes are extremely sensitive content to those conflicted by the very thoughts Tomas struggles to come to terms with.

Yet, two unconventional strangers pull Tomas out of his misery, revealing a whole beautiful, honest side of him— Alberto, the man with a heart of a gold and the other central figure and Nina, a Los Angeles woman wandering about in a culture that is not her own. 

Tomas is a grouchy grouch to sweet, sensible Alberto who demonstrates diligent patience with his passenger. DP: Demian Lichtenstein.  

The first American film made in Cuba post Fidel Castro’s revolution and without permission by both the United States and Cuban governments, Love & Suicide also symbolizes the film industry in a nutshell, one of many not listed on Letterboxd because so few no of existence, or think it of worthwhile note. It’s as though for all its effortless craft in storytelling— screenplay, acting, and direction— that it deserves burial beneath millions of other works, that it’s not valid enough to be archived, operating surely in a Tomas circumstance. 

Tomas is in a New York State of mind. DP: Demian Lichtenstein. 

Lisa Prince directed a timeless city that looked caught up in the past, a place that seemed outdated yet held a fierce vitality due to its diligent community that thrives in more heartfelt ways. It’s low budget and looks it. At the same time, this grainy abstract piece is effective, poignant, and sentimental. The late Kamar de los Reyes portrayed such a commendable, capable lead, an incredible actor whom I only saw for several years, a few minutes per day, playing a supporting role in the long gone One Life to Live— once my favorite soap opera. As Tomas, de los Reyes provides a strong, multifaceted range into the complexities of a character desiring escape despite having success— achieving the American dream with blood tied to two specific realms tainted by the very country. Luis Moro— producer and co-writer of the script— stars as the humble cab driver Alberto, the beneficial aid who deeply loves his heritage, giving respect, decency, and kindness to Tomas.

Alberto receives a thoughtful parting gift. DP: Demian Lichtenstein. 

The Capital Building holds similarity to the U. S. version yet you cannot help see it’s against the ravaged circumstances of the people. DP: Demian Lichtenstein. 

After Love & Suicide ended, Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave came to mind mainly because of the similar triggered emotions. It’s a different cinematic picture and whole other genre, but the deeper story dissects a meaningful predicament for the foreigner overwhelmed by complicated moral sensibilities. The tragic Seo-rae has ancestral ties to Korea, eventually chooses an explicit way out of the messes she causes. Although we know how her story concludes, Tomas leaves us on an ambiguous note, confessing to Alberto rather significant truths that seem both heartbreaking, reflective, and optimistic. 

Thus, Love & Suicide encourages profound reflection on what flows in our blood, the undeniable traits we set to diminish or forget entirely. Sometimes, many can mirror Tomas’s outlook, wanting to drown out certain truths impacted by shame or an unnamed grief. Family and friends can go astray, losing themselves to the jarring temptations that loneliness brings. The harder parts of life’s journey deals with the consequences, those fragile feelings of abandonment, of not being properly loved— especially detrimental if by a parent. Yet, an effervescent light can arise in the darkest hours, often by compassionate strangers who would rather see golden blessings than people haunted by shadows. 

Love & Suicide is available here on YouTube. 

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