Part 2: Or given that it's Selena, maybe lie down?

by Fiona

Cheap shot *g*

And so to Plague Sower. It's been argued that Lucas sent Selena to the hospital snooping when she first meets Billy. There's some logic to this, as how else would she have found that he "stuck it to the Sheriff" so quickly? Did she like what she saw enough to pull her away from Lucas? Or was there a push as well as a pull. It can't be co-incidence that in the same episode that Lucas consummates his relationship with Gail, Selena starts to build her relationship with Billy. When she goes to warn him about Lucas, how much is she motivated by her attraction to Billy and how much by desire for revenge on Lucas? If Selena did go to the hospital at Lucas's command this is the last example we see of her doing what he wants. From this point on she and Lucas are effectively estranged, more by her choice than his. Her sidekick days are over.

In Dr Death her flirting with Billy continues but he shows some resistance to her come-ons, which must be a novel experience for Selena, possibly enhancing Billy's attraction. Lucas tries to sabotage the budding romance first in her car (he can show me his thermometer any time he wants g) then in his office. Both times he fails and the romance deepens. I still question how much Selena is really committed to Billy, convinced that she's trying to use him to make Lucas jealous. Not a wise move as she finds out later.

Learning to Crawl is a classic Lucas and Selena episode. He can't resist teasing her about the concert, deliberately misleading her and luring her to the cabin. How much of this is mischief and how much a real attempt to stop Selena and Billy getting together? I'll leave that until the Lucas discussion! Lucas at least thinks that Selena is in 'lurve' with Billy, but I'm not so sure. I still think that she's using him. I will never look at a tuna sandwich in the same way again.Interestingly Selena does try to stop Caleb falling further under Lucas's influence in this episode. Why? It would be guaranteed to alienate Lucas further. Maybe by now all that passion for Lucas is starting to turn to hatred and this is the first sign of her resistance. Views?

In Echo we see Selena apparently more and more in love with Billy. His rose is enough to distract her from tackling a serious case of bullying going on under her nose. This is the first time we see Selena failing to take her teacher duties seriously. In all previous views of this part of her life, she seems to have done a reasonably good job. Maybe Billy is beginning to work his way under her skin?

In Triangle Lucas tries to win her back (missing his sidekick? Missing his friend?) but she again resists. But if she is really through with Lucas why doesn't she go with Billy when he offers to take her away. She has little to keep her in Trinity but she stands him up and stays. What keeps her from leaving? Despite everything I think deep down she's still in love with Lucas and hasn't given up hope that he'll dump Gail and come back to her. And she certainly does her best to undermine the Lucas and Gail relationship in her scene with Gail in the bar.

Lucas's punishment almost reinforces her belief that he still wants her. Why would he punish her if he didn't? Her submission to Lucas when she recovers is apparently complete, but we are left with the possibility that her subservience is no more genuine than Lucas's affection. Maybe she saw what we saw at the end, where he wipes his mouth after kissing her. And did she see what Lucas was watching on the TV? Maybe that's how she finds out that Gail is pregnant, or maybe Billy tells her (gross breach of patient confidentiality if he did!) but she certainly knows about the pregnancy around this time.

The next time we see Selena in The Buck Stops Here she's plotting to kill Lucas while making love to Billy in Lucas's bed. By now Selena appears out of control, willing to take any risks to attract Lucas's attention. And she succeeds in getting him to react, but his warning to her is again loud and clear. She denies that she's jealous of Gail but it doesn't ring true. Her jealousy is driving her to more and more extreme behaviour until even Billy has enough and tells her that she's insane. This seems to be the end of the Selena and Billy show, as they seem to totally lose interest in each other from this point on. Seems a pretty quick ending if there was any true feeling there. Does she love or hate Lucas at this point? I doubt if she knows herself. She cries at the side of his coffin and kisses his dead body while cursing him and his child.

And so to Requiem where a whole new Selena emerges from the ashes. Lucas is gone so the force dominating her life is removed. Do we now see the true Selena at last? If so, it's not a pretty picture. She watches unmoved when Caleb spits on his father's grave, then she moves in on Caleb, trying to manoeuvre herself into a position of power with him. She plots with him to murder Gail's child, and one assumes at this point that she wouldn't mind if Gail were taken out at the same time. There is a ruthlessness showing here which we haven't really seen before. Maybe not all of the Rage ended up in Caleb? Maybe some of it landed in Selena, Lucas's closest ally. Whatever the cause, her behaviour takes her one step too far and her breach with Lucas is complete. But this time he rejects her. All her previous pretence of not wanting him is shown to be just that, pretence. The scene in the station shows us how much she still wants Lucas. But in the light of her previous behaviour one perhaps starts to wonder what it is in Lucas that she wants?

It's easy to see (for most of us anyway) the physical attraction and the charm that would draw her to him. But how much does she want the power too? That desire for power seems to have been her main motivation as soon as Lucas was off the scene. Perhaps she didn't just want his body (although...*g*) or his money, but she wanted to share in his power.

So who is Selena?

Schoolteacher - yes, but it's just a job.
Siren, seductress - maybe not as much as we're led to believe.
Slave, sidekick - again yes, but perhaps her reasons for playing this role are more complex than we might think.
Suffering soul - perhaps not. Damaged certainly, and there is a thread of loneliness and vulnerability there for all to see

But perhaps at the end of the day what Selena is really seeking from the sexy Sheriff isn't so much solace as strength and supremacy. Just like Lucas she's a power and control freak.

Hope you can have some fun with this.

1. August 2002