GL......Cassie Gets Off Track

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Cassie Gets Off Track We have seen this character through so much, but I think she might be past her prime. After watching this week’s episodes of Guiding Light, which featured Cassie a great deal, I had to ask myself a question: am I over Cassie Winslow? Before I let you in on the answer to my self-imposed question, I want to dish about the former stripper, former princess, former hotel owner, current stalker of Springfield. I still remember the big deal this character was when she first showed up. For months I read about former “The City” actress Laura Wright coming on to Guiding Light to play Reva’s long-lost sister Cassie. I thought Laura Wright was a good choice to match wits with Kim Zimmer and I looked forward to her arrival. Cassie arrived in a great way, brought to Springfield by Annie Dutton and Alan Spaulding (the same character that brought Reva to town). She was thrown right into heavy story and soon became a character that GL focused on. She was Reva’s sparring partner at first, and then became Reva’s right hand in all of her schemes. They hooked her up with Hart, and she became a mortal enemy of Dinah. As the years passed Cassie became a junior Reva, and had some great and not so great material come her way. Now, as an actress, I thought Laura Wright was a great addition to the cast. I thought she was wonderful in the early stages of her romance with Richard (which will go down in history as one of Guiding Light’s greatest love stories) and even better when she hit rock bottom after Richard died. Towards the end of Laura Wright’s tenure, I feel Cassie’s story had been told. Through all the heartache and joy, we had seen Cassie go through so much that we just wanted her to be happy. Unfortunately GL had other ideas. Cassie was recast with Nicole Forester and, from the first day of her performance, Cassie started to not only be portrayed differently, but also started being written differently. Soon Cassie became wishy-washy and unsure of all her actions. They stranded Cassie and the actress in a terrible story with Jeffrey. Now I know a lot of viewers liked Cassie and Jeffrey together, but I wasn’t one of them. First, Bradley Cole and Nicole didn’t share the same spark as he and Laura Wright did. In fact, when they share scenes together now, I see Jeffrey’s feelings for Cassie in Bradley Cole’s performance, but I never see Cassie’s feelings for Jeffrey in Nicole Forester’s. It’s like the actress forgot that this character she is playing opposite has the same face as Cassie’s dearly beloved and that the two characters also share a history. Second, GL wrote a godawful situation for this couple and it tarnished any chemistry that could have developed. Then Guiding Light did the unthinkable and paired Cassie with Josh. These characters could have worked in any other situation, but now with all the years that had passed as family, this story screamed of a desperate plot twist. The only reason these two characters are together is for conflict, nothing else. I know conflict and obstacles are a soap opera romance story staple, but so are passion and a desire for the audience to root for them. This pairing has no rooting value. Even if you hate Reva with Josh, you have to hate Cassie with Josh even more. Now the character of Cassie is mourning her daughter one minute and then mooning over Josh the next. The character is so hot and cold. She is hot when she is wondering what happened to Tammy and going after the Spaulding's, but cold when she interacts with Josh and with Reva. Her confrontation with Reva this past week was very weak. Did Cassie get mad? Did she throw a fit? Did she want to hurl a Beacon vase at her sister? Sadly, Cassie did none of this. She told Reva she wasn’t invited to her wedding (ouch, Cassie, can we the viewers also get uninvited?) then invited Reva to Josh’s welcome home party. What a dumb woman. Cassie is being written like a dope. We see no shades of the character that she once was. I thought Cassie would finally have changed after Tammy died and become sort of a woman on the edge. Sometimes we do see this, but mostly we are treated to the watered down version that the writers have created with the recast. I don’t think Nicole Forester is a bad actress at all. She did some great work after Tammy died, and I think she was great when she is confronting Alan, confronting Beth, and telling Rick to open his eyes. But these scenes are few and far between. In scenes with Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer, she is fighting to get a hold of a poorly written character. I think the actress, like the viewer, is trying to find some justifications for Cassie’s actions. They’re so muddled and undefined, that Cassie gets lost in all the murk. Cassie Winslow has overstayed her welcome in Springfield. I really hope Cassie gets back on track and realizes that maybe she should take her little boy R.J. (the most annoying kid in GL history) and leave town. Stick a fork in her, she is done!