Olivia tightened her grip around the neck of the champagne bottle. She held on for a second, fondly, then jerked away. "What am I thinking," she asked herself. "No," she said decidedly, then walked away. But something made her stop. She turned. Slowly, carefully, her hand trembling with fear, excitement, and the knowledge that this could wreck her life all over again, she reached for the bottle.

As soon as her fingers touched it, she snatched it up, eagerly ripping the paper off like a child with a Christmas gift and crumpling it in her hand with triumphant glee. The soundtrack thumped as did her pulse. She slowly caressed the wire lid over the cork. Untwisting it, she reminded herself, "If I do this...I lose everything that I love." A pause, as she thought of what that would cost her. "No," she defied the bottle. "You have no power over me... I own you. She looked at the bottle, the demon under glass, with a look of pure disgust and determination, and thumped it down on the table and stalked away. But the bottle had something to say.

The cork popped off by itself, and up shot a geyser of champagne. Olivia stopped dead and slowly twirled on one heel. She stared intently, a glazed look in her eyes, as a whole bottle of champagne--perfectly good champagne--spewed up into the air and fell to the floor, wasted. Perfectly good champagne... Good champagne... All that alcohol.......

So began Olivia's unfortunately steep uphill (and soon-to-be downhill) second battle with liquor. This will not be good, for any "Sunset Beach" viewer knows at least something about the many, many years Olivia Richards spent in a drunken haze. A serious alcoholic, boozy Olivia had no better friend (or escape) than a bottle of vodka. The reasoning behind this was slightly possible to understand, as her husband Gregory was (and unbeknownst to her, still is) a cold, ruthless tyrant. But "for better or worse" finally got about as bad as it possibly could have and she and Gregory divorced, Olivia decided to gracefully hop off the wagon and turn her life around. One would think, however, that that hop would have been a long fall for our Livvy. But she made it, proving how strong a person she was and is.

But, every now and then, when things get rough and life gets a little too hard, it seems like water isn't enough for her. After an incredibly hard day, or weathering a trying ordeal, Olivia will pass the drink cart, and she'll stop. She'll look. And she'll get that glazed look in her eyes... But in extreme situations when she doesn't catch herself, there's always an interruption to stop her.

Most recently was back in the summer. Gregory, discovered to be the murderer of Francesca Vargas, was chased on foot by Cole across the pier and up the lifeguard tower. There, high above the ocean, they fought, ran through the railing, and dropped beneath the waves. Gregory, after an extensive search, was declared dead. (He's not.) Olivia, near a nervous breakdown or possibly even suicide, had to be yanked away from the drink cart by best friend Bette. But, Olivia recovered. That is, to the disdain of Annie.

Annie Douglas Richards, to be exact, Gregory's widow and Olivia's archenemy. Annie, through the help of everyone's favorite voodoo priestess, Mrs. Moreau, obtained a potion very special potion for the purpose of destroying Olivia's life. The best way to do that, of course, would be to trigger that one vice that would do her in for good. That vice? You've already guessed it--her thirst for alcohol.

At the Liberty Corporation board meeting, Annie took advantage of a quick moment alone to spike to Olivia's water with the potion. To seal the deal, Annie brought in a bottle of champagne. And after everyone else had gone, leaving Olivia alone in the office, that champagne started to look very good...

Almost involuntarily, Olivia walked back to the table where the champagne bottle had erupted. It was still about one-thrd full. Every fiber of her being told her that this was wrong. Her brain knew it. Her heart knew it. But she just couldn't stop herself. "Please don't let me do this," she repeated, slowly sliding her hand around the bottle's smooth green surface. She asked herself why she wanted this so badly; it didn't make any sense to her. Another pause. Without her even realizing it, "I won't" had become "I can't." And after a longing thought accompanied by a shudder like that of a smoker having a nicotine fit, "I can't" became "One little drink won't hurt."

Practically able to taste it already, she giddily hoisted the bottle up to a glass and couldn't pour fast enough to suit her liking. Lucky for her, though, boyfriend AJ and Uncle Tobias walked in, catching her red-handed. "What are you doing," AJ asked with a raised eyebrow. Even luckier for her, she was able to pawn off on the two a very shoddy excuse that she was pouring it for Tobias. This was good, though; as long as they were with her, she was safely out of the reach of the spirits. But the battle wasn't over yet. The cravings would get stronger...much stronger.

As a woman desperately torn between everything that she loves and an irresistible force bigger than herself, Lesley-Anne Down has been nothing short of brilliant. That glazed look, the way she fondly touched the bottle, these actions that seem so little, are really the ones that dominate the scene and make it what it is. They are what makes the whole thing believable, real. And Down knows that. With so few words and yet so much screen time in this episode, she breathed magic into every second and commanded the viewer's attention.

It has always been my opinion that these moments of temptation, when the world becomes too much for Olivia and she stares weakly at the nearest bottle, are when Down shines brightest, and this is the greatest example of that. In her finest hour, she dazzled, and no one could steal that spotlight from her.

When Friday's episode faded out, Olivia's shaking hands were raising a glass to her lips. Will she? Won't she? By now, we all know that she will. When that cork popped out, it opened a Pandora's bottle that even Livvy may never be able to close. In the weeks to come, the special effect that is Down's acting will no doubt be amazing to watch. And I won't miss a second.

MOMENT OF THE WEEK HOSTED BY: Duante