All the bad things that happen in ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Llanview seem to lead back to the ubiquitous Dr. Spencer Truman, surgeon and charmer extraordinaire. But do they really? Let's review the files with his portrayer, Paul Satterfield....

1. Margaret's death in a car crash — "That doesn't mean I had anything to do with it, but how fortuitous," winks Satterfield. "I think it's a matter of luck and really, really careful planning."

2. Kevin's sterility — Satterfield admits that "one of the most unredeemable things Spencer has actually done was poke Kevin in the neck with that needle." Yet, Satterfield quickly adds, "The story's not over yet, so we don't know what really did happen. We didn't really explore that enough to flush it out to see yet. It's not something Spencer's worried about being able to prove or disprove. He can justify everything. He's like, 'Listen, Kelly, I'm the only reason you were able to conceive a child in the first place. What are you mad at me for? Was it my fault that you were sleeping with your stepson? It wasn't my fault that the church collapsed.' Everything bad that happens seems to be Spencer's fault — guilt by association [is] a lot of it.

So why the recent screw-ups? "We can't have an untouchable bad guy who gets away with everything all the time," Satterfield notes. "That's not as interesting. He has a couple of soft spots we didn't know about. No. 1, Blair. She's his Achilles heel, which makes him become careless and do things that probably weren't very well-thought out. I try not to play the character with too much anxiety. ”

Spencer may be temporarily down, but he's not out. "If something really bad happened to a Buchanan he wouldn't shed any tears over it," smiles Satterfield. Translation: Watch your backs, cowboys!