Performer of the Week

from Soap Opera Digest, April 3rd, 2007 issue

Jason Morgan had been estranged from the Quartermaines for more than a decade when Alan suffered a heart attack. Brain damage from a car accident had left Jason, the one-time golden boy, devoid of emotion for his family. But when he got word that Alan was dying in the hospital, Jason dropped everything to rush to his father's bedside. He was too late, and the down to the bone regret that Jason felt was hauntingly played by Steve Burton.

Jason knew his father had deeply mourned the son he'd lost, and the frustration Jason had felt for so log about not being able to return Alan's love turned to guilt for not trying hard enough. "We didn't even talk," he told Sam. "I used to avoid him. I never even tried to listen to him. On his deathbed, Alan asked for me. He waited for me. And I failed him."

Burton's performance was searing, yet spare as he revealed a chink in the armor of this stoic character. His numb facial expressions conveyed desolation; his eyes, usually steely and determined, were alarmingly vacant. In spartan tones, Burton communicated a bottomless source of loss. Suddenly, the agreement that he'd made with Elizabeth to keep silent about their baby seemed like a violation of his father's legacy, complicating an already impossible situation.

Until now, Jason's code of honor meant doing what ever he had to in order to keep his word. Burton made us understand why Jason may have a different perspective on honor and where that will lead him is anyone's guess.

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