One Life To Live Discussion Group

Topic: Elijah deserves to be tasered! And spend an eternity with whiny Téa.

What a frivolous, vindictive thing to do to Oliver, and for what? It's not going to change the facts of the case: Ross is a dumb criminal and there are witnesses. Elijah is a loser who has nothing better to do than throw his weight around. Police officers have to deal with so much verbal abuse and stomach-turning situations, and risk assault and injury just to do their jobs every day, and Oliver was by-the-book and courteous the whole time. It takes a special kind of selfishness to take a good cop off the streets, force everyone at the LPD to cover more shifts, and waste Internal Affairs' resources on a silly investigation. Elijah is on his way to becoming a full-time malevolent busybody like Kenneth Starr.

Anyway, Oliver didn't give Elijah the satisfaction of Oliver hiding at home and feeling sorry for himself. He took his mind off Elijah's petty grudge against him by thinking of people with real problems, and looking for another way to serve and interface with his community. A good cop is more than a gun and a badge; he has instincts and pride that no one can take away.

Replies: (list all replies)

A police officer's duty isn't to prove his strength or endurance in a fair fight, it's to subdue the person who is under arrest by whatever means necessary. If anyone strong enough to beat up a police officer were allowed to go free, what kind of law enforcement would that be? Oliver did the right thing with an unruly criminal who had already assaulted him.

Haven't you ever watched the show 'Cops'? They tackle criminals all the time trying to escape and not use taser gun. They're real policeman. Maybe Fish can be a secretary?-Miss.Bear

Miss.Bear, you little devil! You are right--tasers have only been used since the 1990s and before that, I guess they just couldn't apprehend bad buys. eom/sea

Is there something wrong with using a modern invention, sea? Or anything good about getting punched and elbowed by a criminal when it can be avoided? No matter what you see on reality TV, real police work isn't the WWF, it's about minimizing harm to innocent people, including police officers. Of course there were criminals who overpowered cops and got away in the past, who could have been stopped with a taser.

I didn't see how it was neccisary to use the taser gun on Ross. Cops are supposed to be physicaly fit and if they only rely on that taser gun they need not be there. I've seen plenty of Cops episodes where they tackle the criminal to the ground after chasing them. Maybe Fish can wipe tables at the Diner? That shouldn't be too physicaly demanding.

You think Oliver should have chased Ross through a hospital? How silly.

What is silly is how personally some take this. What is silly is that Oliver keeps trying to apprehend criminals by himself. Do you think that really happens much? I like Oliver, but wish he weren't involved in these stupid plot devices. eom/sea

Fish is being shoved down our throats. All of sudden his super cop. The writing is weak for Fish and it doesn't help that the actor is bad. This storyline was better when Fish was in the closet.

''Super cop?'' LOL, hardly. When Oliver goes into a hostage situation unarmed, like John, or recovers from a stab wound to the gut while the blood bank's dry, like Brody, then he'll deserve the same kind of ridicule. The writers are doing a fine job of presenting Officer Fish as very human, with believable failings and frustrations. He's handling all kinds of stress the best way he knows how, and I can see it taking its toll. When he stood up to Elijah, when he defended his actions to John, and when he questioned Kyle, the dialogue was masterful and Mr. Evans made it resonate.

No using a taser in a hospital is much better (sarcasim). He should have called for backup.

I'm starting to think BA is working for the writers on OLTL. Her messages are very strange JMO

---

Posted by: Rhonda
Date posted: Tue Oct 20 23:17:13 2009
Message:
Oh come now. It's for IA to decide if Oliver used excessive force or not. In my opinion, tasering someone twice seems excessive. To me, it showed that Fish is still a little wet behind the ears. Oliver did his job as he saw fit and he'll have to stand or fall by his own actions. Elijah is doing his job as he sees fit. What's the big deal?

Replies: (list all replies)

Im just wondering why Fish never called for back-up or anything. Never understood what was going on with Fish and Ross at the hospital

The big deal is that Oliver is being prevented from doing his job because Elijah made a bogus complaint to obfuscate his client's crimes. Elijah knows that Ross can't be defended, so he's going on the offensive, trying to smear Oliver. It's not Oliver's fault that Ross is dumb enough to resist arrest after being tasered once.

Fish didn't call for backup because he didn't need it. He knew that he could subdue Ross on his own, and he was right.

I'll say Elijah is good lawyer/brother. Isn't that what lawyers are for. CLIENT FIRST.

---

Posted by: Ice Cream Soldier
Date posted: Tue Oct 20 22:24:50 2009
Message:
I really don't like Elijah. He has a smugness and slimyness about him that annoys me. He went too far with what he did to Fish. Fish did nothing wrong- he had to subdue a criminal who was resisting arrest. A long time ago I lost a job because I had a coworker who hated me and she spread lies about me that got me fired. It sucked. I can understand what Fish is going through.

Replies: (list all replies)

He's a lawyer what do you expect?

I think you are reading too much into it. Fish tasered Ross, who may or may not have deserved it, but Elijah is not only his attorney, but his brother, who appears to me to be pretty ''family loyal''. Fish screwed up his brother's plans, and he got even. I think it's just that. No more, no less. I certainly don't think he cares enough to make long term plans to mess with Fish's life. I do feel sorry for Fish, but I don't think there is any more to it than that.

---

Posted by: mary
Date posted: Tue Oct 20 22:15:05 2009
Message:
You are taking Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too serious!!! JMO

---

Posted by: ladfan
Date posted: Tue Oct 20 21:14:46 2009
Message:
Oliver did everything by the book, no doubt.  But Elijah is a lawyer and this is what they do.  But let us not make more of Oliver's or Elijah's actions.  I am sure Elijah wasn't expecting Oliver to run home and hide.  It is not as if Oliver is curing cancer, he is just out doing volunteer work.

Replies: (list all replies)

The way Elijah was talking about Oliver, and to him, it was obvious that Elijah feels inadequate and needs to prove himself a big man by making fun of the ''kid'' in a position of authority, and trying to bully him. I'm sure he wanted Oliver to feel bad and lose his confidence. Oliver, on the other hand, just wants to do something worthwhile. There's no such thing as ''just volunteer work'' in my mind - plenty of people would never think of lending a hand unless they can score leadership points. By the way, I've met quite a few different scientists who are working on clever approaches to cure cancer, and they don't think like heroes on a mission. They're just decent, brilliant, inquisitive, hard-working professionals like many others I know.

I didn't read ALL THAT into Elijah's scene with Oliver. Like I said, I don't think he expected him to stay home and cry. Oliver is doing volunteer work, which I am not diminishing. But it is not as if Elijah prevented him form doing that anyway. ladfan

---

---