In Print
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Above: On the cover of the June 26, 2007 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
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A Daily Dose
Kendall begins a secret mission to destroy her ex-best friend!
Soaps In Depth
by Kimberly Root, Published September 25, 2007
Kendall Hart Slater isn’t one to swallow her emotions, especially when they burn as brightly as her passion for her husband and children. But this week on ALL MY CHILDREN, Spike’s second near-death experience causes Kendall to plot an under-the-radar campaign to get the justice her family deserves! When Zach sees his normally vengeful wife seemingly put aside her anger, will he be able to figure out Kendall’s plan before she does something she may later regret?
A Very Close Call
The week begins on a hopeful note for Kendall, who believes that
Spike’s
crying is a sign that he has regained his hearing. But she soon
realizes
that something’s really wrong: It turns out that the boy was allergic
to
the vitamins Dr. Hilliard prescribed, and they almost kill him! Doctors
almost save him, but portrayer Alicia Minshew says they can’t do
anything
to alleviate Kendall’s guilt.
“She’s thinking, “‘Oh my God, this is my fault,’” she says, frowning. “‘The accident was my fault, and now this is my fault. It’s all my fault!’” As Ryan angrily tells Hilliard that he will no longer treat spike, Erica gives important information of another sort to her beleaguered daughter when she reveals that Greenlee was the person who pointed Hilliard Kendall’s way.
Thorsten Kaye (Zach) says that while his character can understand why Kendall followed the alternative doctor’s advice, he cuts her interfering stepsister no slack. “Any mother, given that call, would follow up on it. And if this doctor says that vitamins are the way to heal your kid, why not give it a try? What I’m concerned with,” he says, in character, “is where they doctor found out about Spike, and who called the doctor, because that’s where the real problem lies.”
That problematic person Greenlee, unloads on Aidan when she thinks he told Jack about her connection to Hilliard. But the P.I. reminds her that she told her dad everything at the hospital while under the influence of some serious pain medication! Greens’ day gets worse when Ryan informs her that he’s having her every move watched until she agrees to skip town!
Faking It
Back at Camp Slater, Zach can’t believe that his hot-blooded wife
doesn’t
want to gouge out Greens’ eyes with the nearest sharp object. “He’s
trying
to understand it,” Kaye muses. “I don’t think Zach buys it, because
Kendall
is a tough cookie. She’s not just going to forgive somebody because
it’s
Tuesday. So Zach thinks the other shoe’s still going to drop.”
To that end, the casino boss runs interference when Greenlee comes upon Kendall bonding with Ian. But the plucky blonde informs him that she’ll eventually make things right with Kendall. Little does she know that Kendall has decided to end the drama once and for all, and later ends up at her Fusion co-founder’s front door! Though she suggests a truce – an option Greenlee hungrily accepts along with Kendall’s provision that they keep the new arrangement secret from Ryan and Zach – it becomes clear that Mama Slater is merely laying the groundwork for an elaborate take-down plan!
“She feels like she’s got to do it on her own for the good of her family,” Minshew says of her character, acknowledging that Kendall has a tendency to act screwy in the name of love. “It’s almost irrational, but in her mind, it’s very rational,” she adds. “She always rationalizes things when she does it for her family. So the only way to get Greenlee out of the picture is to do it on her own.”
In the week that follows, Kendall returns to Fusion, where the co-founders carry on an awkward peace. When Greens votes to keep Ava as spokesperson despite her recent dalliances with the paparazzi, Kendall concurs. Encouraged, Greens gives Kendall a toy for her sons – which she secretly trashes!
Mrs. Slater’s ruthlessness when dealing with Greenlee is matched only by her adoration of the family she’s fighting to protect. Minshew says, “She’s the old Kendall times 100 in terms of her strength and her drive. And now it’s for all the right reasons. ‘It’s not for revenge, it’s for my kids,’” she adds with a laugh. “She’s the ultimate mama bear – a petite mama bear, you know?”
Change of Heart
But don’t for a minute think that Erica, the original mama bear, isn’t
working behind the scenes to help her girl. La Kane gets Kendall to
come
to NEW BEGINNINGS, where she interacts with a boy named Jason. Kendall
enjoys talking to the seemingly normal boy and is thrown when she later
finds out he’s a guest on Erica’s chatfest – and he’s deaf! JQ DePaiva,
son of ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Kassie DePaiva (Blair) and James DePaiva
(ex-Max)
plays the boy, Jason, who has cochlear implants. It’s then, Minshew
says,
that Kendall starts to come around. “When she meets this beautiful,
great
boy who just makes her melt, she realizes Spike can have a normal
life.”
And with the twin fires of hope for her son and hatred toward Greenlee
burning brightly inside her, you know it’s not going to be long before
Kendall’s spark of a revenge plan turns into an all-out blaze!