Soap Opera Digest
Performer of the Week - 10/18/05
Steve Burton
A car wreck transformed buff-but-bland medical student Jason Quartermaine into an alluringly aloof mobster. Now, after injecting an experimental drug, Jason has morphed once more, and it's a credit to Steve Burton that this third incarnation is as intriguing as the last
Horrified by his trigger-happy response after stumbling on a mob hit, Jason covered his tracks with robotic precision. "Self-defense?" he barked when Sam justified his violent reaction to the situation. "The cops would call it murder and they'd be right." The toughness turned to tenderness when he realized that in his haste to get Sam to safety, he'd bruised her arm. The sudden sensitivity was just as unnerving to him as the violence.
Burton is a pro at minimalism, but this character shift has allowed the actor to peel away layers that had been submerged, especially in the scenes when he rediscovered his love for Sam. Deciding to leave Sam in order to keep her safe, Burton's voice trembled as he said, "I'm not sure why, but I do want to live." His face was the mirror of shock when Sam didn't fight him on the choice, and in a rare display of emotion, he couldn't hide the lump in his throat, when she thanked him for loving her. Burton's wandering eyes, unable to hold her gaze, conveyed the "lost" thing in Jason's gut. Those steely blue eyes were never so soft and warm.
Kudos to Burton for proving that kinder and gentler actually equals stronger.