| Jake's Dilemma :: AW |
| SOD EDITOR'S CHOICE (1995) |
What's a show to do when it loses one of its most popular stars? If you're ANOTHER WORLD, you craft an ingenious exit story that plausibly explains the character's departure, and at the same time, leaves the door wide open for his return. Fan favorite Jake McKinnon is one of AW's most pivotal characters. Writing him out was no piece of cake-Jake had just married the love of his life. Tom Eplin and Judi Evans Luciano have done an effective job making us believe that Jake and Paulina are so crazy about each other that we' d never believe anything short of death could keep them apart. And killing off Jake wasn't practical, since Eplin has made it clear that if the grass isn't greener in Hollywood, he could be back in Bay City before the year ends. Instead of coming up with a half-baked explanation out of the blue, the writers cleverly piggy-backed Jake's departure onto the existing baby-switch storyline and capitalized on Jake' s long-established financial troubles. They even managed to make Jake leave a hero (at least, for Jake). Determined to do the right thing, Jake took Paulina to San Francisco to search for baby Mark' s parents. If they had gotten a room at Motel 6 and eaten at McDonald's, things might have worked out. But that's not Jake's style. The McKinnons stayed at a four-star hotel; when it came time to pay the bill, Jake scammed 50 grand from a loan shark and split town with an oblivious Paulina. But the loan shark dispatched a henchman to track down the welsher. The hitwoman was Eberhardt, a beautiful blonde with a thing for Jake. We assumed Jake would be able to charm his way out of the mess, but we were in for a surprise: Eberhardt wasn't about to let Jake off the hook. "I'm really going to hate killing him," the hitwoman chuckled. The story ricocheted between high camp and heartbreaking drama. In a lighter moment, Jake tried to prove to Eberhardt that Donna was his true love so Paulina would be protected. He lured Donna to a room at a romantic inn, letting her assume that the invitation had come from her fiance, Matt. When Donna arrived, she stripped--only to find Jake standing there. "It's nothing I haven't seen," he quipped. It wasn't so funny when Eberhardt kidnapped Paulina and held a gun to her head. After Jake rescued his wife, he was forced to confess the whole sordid tale. And guess what? Paulina forgave him, and Eberhardt was apprehended. Unfortunately, Svenson (the assistant hitman) popped up in Jake's backseat; After surrendering his wedding ring and wallet, Jake figured he was a dead man anyway, so he intentionally crashed his car, which exploded. Everyone in Bay City assumed that Jake died in the crash, but we saw that he hadn't. # |
