Interview with stars Max Thieriot, Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr and Jordan Calloway; and Executive producers Tia Napolitano and Tony Phelan of “Fire Country” on CBS by Suzanne 9/16/22
This was a TCA panel, so there were a lot of journalists there, and we’re only allowed one question (more or less). I’m not allowed to give you a transcript or video, so below is my summary of the panel. I really enjoyed the first episode, so I’m adding this show to my watch list. It’s a unique idea and very well done.
CBS 2022 FALL TCA PRESS TOUR
FIRE COUNTRY
Max Thieriot, Creator/Star/Executive Producer
Billy Burke
Kevin Alejandro
Diane Farr
Jordan Calloway
Tia Napolitano, Showrunner/Executive Producer
Tony Phelan, Executive Producer
This was the first panel of the day, so we heard a general CBS introduction from Phil Gonzales, Senior Vice President, Communications, CBS Entertainment, and he played a promo for their shows. Then we heard from another executive, Mallor Mason. She told us, “We’d like to welcome you to the “Fire Country” panel. The drama inspired by series star Max Thieriot’s experiences growing up in northern California fire country premieres Friday, October 7th on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.” That’s right, the star of the show, Max Thieriot, is also the creator of the show, and it’s based on his own experiences! Also, he’s an executive producer (of course).
Then showrunner Tia Napolitano said, “We are so excited to bring you “Fire Country.” We’ve got a fun show that is about redemption and family. It’s a character driven thrill ride. We have had so much fun making it. I got excited just watching the sizzle reel again. It is inspired by the reality of the fires in California, and our characters are the heroes that are custodians of a community deep in fire country in California. Let’s get this started. We’re so excited to be here.”
Most of the press asked Max questions, but I really love Billy Burke (ever since I saw him in the “Twilight” movies! And he’s been great in many shows I love, such as “Revolution” and “Major Crimes”), and Diane Farr (who plays Sharon) is also great. They play spouses in this show. There’s a bit of familial reveal at the end of the first episode, too. I asked them if they could speak a little bit about their characters’ relationship, and their relationship with the main character, Bode (Max).
Diane was very funny but really didn’t answer my question. She spoke more about working with Billy than about the characters. That’s fine – it was very entertaining. She revealed that it was fun to work with Billy because he’s “really not a morning person.” She made a funny noise and said that’s the noise he makes when he works. Then she compares him to Max, who comes in very bright, cheery and friendly. She said that he’s “Jesus, who was born in the manger” and then added, “And the juxtaposition of those two men is where I live.” She did say that she was just joking. She went on to speak more seriously about how she and Billy worked well together because they both have strong personalities, are veteran actors, “we negotiate our scenes. I usually want more emotional stuff, and he wants a little more action, and we literally negotiate, “Okay, if you kiss me here, I’ll do that thing you asked for.” Like, we barter for who’s going to give what.” I found that to be very interesting. She also praised Max for being such a great guy and full of heart.
Billy replied, “I’m going to go ahead and let you guess who wins most of those negotiations”. Then he praised Diane for making the acting easy and interesting. He’s very happy, he said, as long as he “feels like there’s something happening there.” He then went on to praise the entire cast, saying that they’re the best cast he’s worked with in a long time. He conceded that he does sometimes arrive in the mornings grumpy (or as he put it, “I’m all grumbly”) but working with them all makes things “a whole lot better.” They joked around a bit more. It was very fun to watch them play together.
The rest of the press had their own questions. The first one asked about how Max had to negotiate (there’s that word again!) his work on this show with his work on “SEAL Team,” where he’s also a part of the cast. Max admitted that it was a little difficult to “juggle,” but what helped is that they were already shooting season 6 of “SEAL team” before they started on “Fire Country” in earnest. He was able to make it work during breaks in the shows. He explained, “It’s been crazy, but, you know, life’s crazy, and I got a couple kids to throw in there, and I’m moving around, up to Vancouver to shoot a TV show…but I’m young, and I can keep up, and … I like staying busy, so it works for me.”
He added that when he started working writing this show, it was the start of COVID, and he didn’t know “how long this process would be.” He’d never tried to pitch an idea to a studio, and he’d never finished writing anything. He joked about being “a little bit of a hummingbird where, like, I’ll start on something and then I’m off to, like, another idea.” This started like that, but then he felt “locked into it.” He theorized that this is “just because it was personal.” He wasn’t sure whether he would play Bode, but then the producers convinced him that he needed to.
Max was also asked where he grew up in Northern California, and why he thought it would make a good TV show setting. The reporter also wanted to know whether the show will have self-contained episodes or be more serialized. Max answered that he grew up in Occidental, although he was born in Los Altos because his family was staying in a friend’s garage unit at that time. He told us that Occidental, which is in Sonoma County, only has about 1,000 people in it. He left there to work in the big cities, so he didn’t value how interesting the small town could be. He looked back on his life there and realized how different it is. He described it as “the comfort that you have and the familiarity you have with everybody and how close this community is. You know, in times of struggle and when everybody needs to come together, they really do, and they all support each other.” He felt that this would be a good “core foundation for the show.” Diane chimed to say that this is why she calls him Jesus Christ, because he was born in a manger.
Tony answered the other question, saying that it’s somewhat serialized, but he believes that it will be easy for the audience to catch up if they miss some episodes. He conceded, “There are obviously fire events, rescue events. Our firefighters battle wildfires from the Oregon border all the way down to Mexico..they also do water rescue, they do search and rescue. So there’s all sorts of stories to tell.” Their personal lives, and the mysteries involving them, will be the more serialized parts.
Billy was asked whether playing a fire captain on “911: Lone Star” helped him prepare for this role. Billy replied that he did a movie called “Ladder 49” (2004). He joked that maybe he’s a “closet pyro” because he loves fire. Then he thought about it and said that it’s really the characters he cares about, more than the world they’re in. His character on 911 was “just this despicable yet somehow likable guy,” which is completely opposite his character here of Vince. He’s not sure that he’s ever played a character like this one before.
The same reporter asked Kevin (who plays Manny) about his role. He’s played a lot of cops, but here he’s more of a “fire cop.” Kevin is very honored to have played by many cops, but he’s new to the world of fire fighters. He shared that they, as actors, “dive as deep as we can to kind of figure out and respect not only the script but respect the job that’s put in front of us.” He’s really enjoying playing the role, but he feels that “it’s still a mystery to me. He just wants to do his best to represent firefighters on the show. He praised their “fire consultants” that show them how to do things. They have to stick close to the real firefighting but within the boundaries of entertainment. He agrees with Max about the small-town aspects of their show. He enjoys that aspect of “community and understanding that heart.”
The cast was asked whether anyone is afraid of fire in real life. No one thought that anyone there was. I mean, even if an actor had that kind of fear, I would think they wouldn’t want to admit it because they might lose their job (as long as they were able to conquer it and not let it interfere with the role). Max responded by talking about great their visual effects team is. Sometimes they have real fires in front of them, and sometimes it’s just visual effects, and their team “makes that look much scarier than it is.”
Max was asked about whether he’d experienced any great fire storms when he was living in Sonoma County; specifically whether his family ever had to be evacuated. Max revealed that there was one that happened when he was two, but he doesn’t remember. It. Most of his writing was based on the fires of the past few years, where a lot of Santa Rosa was destroyed by the fires. That one affected him the most emotionally because of all the damage and lives lost. He described to us that it came very fast, so the firefighters only had time to try to save lives and nothing else. He was texting with his friends who work as firefighters in that area and some of their stories were “pretty horrific.” He lives by the beach, but his mom lives up there, as well as friends. She had to be evacuated. How scary! She has horses and other animals on their faimly farm, so he had to go up and help them get the animals out and go to a safer area, like the dairy land in the southern part of the county.
Diane was asked about her past fire experiences on the movie “SuperFire” and in “Rescue Me” – specifically comparing real fire with CGI fire, and how it’s less risky now. She did agree that they’re much safer now.
She told a great story (she really should be on a podcast or writing) about her jobs. In the movie, she “had to learn how to fly a Cessna.” Then, with the series, “I had to learn everything because nobody thought I could be a firefighter. I trained with three ladies in three states. It was super hard.” She said that didn’t know anything before this series about Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) or about the different types of fires. She alluded to climate change making the world hotter and creating more fires, and how scary that is. She went back to the original point, saying that she doesn’t get to do too many dangerous things as an actor. However, she does “ride a motorcycle in real life,” which they wrote into the show. She thinks it’s probably too dangerous, but when a large stunt man tried to take it away, she didn’t let him, so we will see her riding that.
Actor Jordan Calloway (Jake) is most known for playing Khalil/Painkiller on “Black Lightning.” He was asked how “the physicality of that role” helped to prepare him to play a firefighter. Jordan said, “I’m still laughing after Diane. She’s hilarious. That’s mama bear on set.” He went on to explain that the two roles are very different. With the earlier show, “there was a heavy martial arts, heavy weaponry work.” He mentioned that Max probably has that on “SEAL Team” as well. He praised the real life firefighters for what they do, such as carrying around a heavy oxygen tank all day, as they had to do in one episode, as well as having to run around, check their surroundings, and deal with forest fires. He said admiringly that those are long days they have to stay fit and focused. He has some firefighter friends that deal with the fires in California because he’s from the Altadena area, which is in the mountains north of Pasadena. He remembers a big fire they had in 1996 where they had to evacuate. He laughed, telling us a story where his mom was up on the roof, watering it to make sure it wouldn’t catch fire. She also had “12 gauge shotgun” to keep looters away. However, they found out later that it wasn’t even loaded.
He went back to talking about how tough it is physically for the real firefighters, who spend long hours fighting the fires that can change very quickly. The stunt guys have it much easier, since the fire is fake, but he praised them for how great they are. He said they’re “crushing it.”
The journalist replied that he’s “been evacuated three times,” so he knows what it’s like for the real firefighters. He asked Max how he handles his heavy workload and whether it’s ever scared him. Max doesn’t think he’s ever been scared of the amount of work. He likes to “give a hundred percent” at whatever job he gets. He said that it may seem like his time is very “divided,” but compared to his “grandpa who farmed corn for 72 years,” it’s no big deal. His grandpa said, “Make hay while the sun shines.” He doesn’t shy away from the hard work. He enjoys “the sense of accomplishment in completing things.” He revealed that, “I have my work jeans on right now underneath my fancy shirt because I’m going to go out and finish my chicken coop that’s in the back as soon as we get off this call.” Whether he’s filming or working at home, it’s no different for him. He just has a bit more work than he’s used to, and he’s getting “a lot more emails” than he’s used to from his “Fire Country” co-workers, so he has a hard time keeping up on that, but he enjoys the work.
Actor/comedian Richard Kind, who was on the next panel for “East New York,” arrived early, so Diane Farr said, “I just want to welcome Richard Kind to our Zoom meeting. Richard, I’m so glad you can join ‘Fire Country.'” He didn’t seem to know where he was, so he asked, “Is that true? Am I with all you guys?” So she told him that he was. He replied, without missing a beat, “Well, I look forward to putting on my suit and wearing a big hat. Really big. How do I do that?” It was pretty hilarious.
Then they let Max give some closing remarks. He talked about how much he loves everyone on the show and how great they are. He’s excited to share the stories of the heroic firefighters.
MAX THIERIOT STARS AS BODE, A YOUNG CONVICT SEEKING REDEMPTION BY JOINING A PRISON RELEASE FIREFIGHTING PROGRAM WHERE HE AND OTHER INMATES ARE PARTNERED WITH ELITE FIREFIGHTERS TO EXTINGUISH MASSIVE, UNPREDICTABLE WILDFIRES, ON THE SERIES PREMIERE OF “FIRE COUNTRY,” FRIDAY, OCT. 7
Inspired by Series Star Max Thieriot’s Experiences Growing Up in Northern California Fire Country
Series Also Stars Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer
“Pilot” – Max Thieriot stars as Bode Donovan, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began. Five years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire, on the series premiere of FIRE COUNTRY, Friday, Oct. 7 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+*. Series also stars Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer.
REGULAR CAST:
Max Thieriot
(Bode)
Billy Burke
(Vince)
Kevin Alejandro
(Manny)
Diane Farr
(Sharon)
Stephanie Arcila
(Gabriela)
Jordan Calloway
(Jake)
Jules Latimer
(Eve)
GUEST CAST:
Marcelo Arroyo
(Julio)
Michelle Choi-Lee
(Ana)
W. Tre Davis
(Freddy)
Aleita Northey
(Lindsey)
Ty Olsson
(Cory)
Kaylah Zander
(Aydan)
STORY BY: Joan Rater, Tony Phelan and Max Thieriot
TELEPLAY BY: Joan Rater and Tony Phelan
DIRECTED BY: James Strong
GENRE: Drama
*Paramount+ Premium subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service as well as on demand. Essential-tier subscribers will have access to on-demand the day after the episode airs.
Abby tells Chance that she doesn’t want Tucker anywhere near Dominic because Tucker could hurt him. Chance thinks Abby is overreacting and tells her she should focus on the present not the past. Abby is upset because she feels Chance is dismissing her concerns. Chance has to leave for work and Abby feels like he is putting his work ahead of his family. Abby later talks to Devon who tells her that he would like to have a relationship with Tucker but he doesn’t trust him yet because he feels Tucker returned to Genoa City with an agenda.
Johnny tells Billy that he doesn’t want anything to change in his life and he doesn’t want to talk about Chelsea being his biological mother again. Billy later talks to Victoria about his conversation with Johnny and she tells Billy they should all stay away from Chelsea until she gets her act together and stops using Johnny as a crutch.
Chance sees Chelsea in the park and invites her for coffee at Crimson Lights. Chelsea arrives at Crimson Lights with Chance and when she sees Adam there she gets upset because she thinks that Chance brought her there for an intervention since Sharon told her she needs to get back into therapy.
Noah tells Nikki that his former girlfriend Audra Charles is in town and she used to work for the company Wild Beauty when he met her in London
Interview with Jaime Ray Newman of the movie “MK Ultra” by Suzanne 10/4/22
It was really great to speak with Jaime about her part in this movie, and about “General Hospital” (where she played Kristina, Alexis’ sister) and more. I had a lot of fun. The movie comes out today, Oct. 7, in theaters and On Demand. I highly recommend it because it’s a good psychological horror thriller. Anson Mount (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) stars in it, and Jaime plays his wife. It’s a fairly small role, but she’s great in it.
Oh, one little correction. The actress in the movie that I referred to (Jen Richards) is not the same actress as the one that guest-starred on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” That’s what I get for talking off the top of my head, rather than looking it up to make sure. That actress is Jesse James Keitel. They look very similar, but they are not the same. Maybe they could play sisters in some future movie or TV show!
Starring Anson Mount, Jaime Ray Newman, Jason Patric, Jen Richards, Alon Aboutboul and David Jensen
Written and Directed by Ex-Intelligence Officer Joseph Sorrentino
Based on the infamous CIA drug experiments from the early 1960s, this psychological thriller follows a brilliant psychiatrist (Anson Mount) who unknowingly becomes entangled with a dangerous government entity fixated on mind control.
Under Project MKUltra, the CIA ran an illegal human experimentation program intended to develop procedures and identify drugs such as LSD that could be used in interrogations to weaken individuals and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.
Jaime Ray Newman (born April 2, 1978) is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera General Hospital, Mindy O’Dell in the drama series Veronica Mars, Kat Gardener in the fantasy series Eastwick, Lt. Laura Cadman in the science-fiction series Stargate Atlantis, Tess Fontana in the science-fiction series Eureka, Kat Petrova in the drama-thriller series Red Widow, Sam Gordon in the comedy-drama series Mind Games, Allison Roth in the crime drama series Wicked City, and Sarah Lieberman in the Marvel series The Punisher.
Along with her husband Guy Nattiv, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2019 for producing the drama Skin (2018).
Interview with actors Miia Harris, Ceci Balagot, Nayah Damasen, and Case Walker and EP’s Todd Holland, Adam Bonnett and Phil Breman on Paramount+/Nickelodeon by Suzanne 9/21/22
This TCA panel was for a new Halloween special movie based on the popular animated series and children’s dolls, “Monster High.” It airs Thursday, 10/7. It was fun seeing how excited everyone was.
First we had an introduction from Todd Holland, and he played us a musical clip from the show.
I had researched the cast, and the only one that I knew very well at all was Nayah, who was on “Grey’s Anatomy.” I asked her how working this fantasy setting was different from working in her past projects, which were mostly set in the real world.
She agreed that this movie was the most extensive fantasy experience that she’s had. She maintained, “it’s not every day you are painted pink and waking up at 3:00 in the morning,” but she enjoyed it. Getting to play a monster is very different from real life. However, these monsters do “go through very real human experiences.” Of course that’s true because otherwise it wouldn’t be very relatable for viewers. She went on to say that her character, Draculaura, is “trying to find her place
in the monster world.” Similar to the other characters she’s played, they’re young kids growing up and trying to figure out who they are. She compared Draculaura to her character, Kimmie Park, in Grey’s. They both love to sing but are prevented from doing that, so they have “that same predicament.”
There were many other reporters there asking questions. The first one asked the cast what it was that they made them want to do the movie. Miia grew up loving “Monster High,” and she would “pretend to be Clawdeen Wolf and howl at the moon very
proudly in public.” She remembers that the show had a big impact on her, and it was great to identify with such a “cool character,” especially being “a person of color.” She’s glad to have the opportunity to do that for other children and to create “that safe space for kids everywhere.”
Ceci admitted that she was a “really weird kid” and liked spooky and creepy things. She also grew up “singing
and dancing.” The movie gave her an opportunity to sing, dance and be spooky on screen, so she loves it.
Nayah is another one who grew up watching old musicals, and being in a movie musical is her dream job. She’s also happy to be part of the MH franchise “with fashionable dolls and a really cool cartoon,” which she loved as a little girl.
Case is another one who loves live-action musicals, and it was a dream for him to do this.
Another reporter spoke touchingly about her daughter, who’s autistic and loves these characters. She had some questions from her little girl that she asked. She asked what the cast and producers there think about “old friends of the series” and how they’re “reacting to the new characters.” I think everyone here assumed that by “friends” she meant “fans” because that’s how they answered it.
Todd explained that they love the fans and value them. They made the movie because of how popular the series is. However, he knows that some people have complained about changes, but he believes that inclusion is important. He explained that Mattel decided that it was time to “change the body types and broaden some of the character histories to include more people.” He hopes that original fans will see how beautiful that message is and will enjoy the new dolls they come out with. The message is the same as it’s always been: “”All monsters welcome,” or as he said, “Be unique, be a monster, be yourself, and you
are invited.” EP Phil added in his own opinion that they love how passionate the fans are. He said, “We like to consider them our alumni.” He confided that he has to pre-teen daughters who are part of that group. He explained that “The
core tenants of the brand are still there from the inclusion and diversity and community, but most of all a sense of friendship.” He ended by saying, “We are excited about introducing this new world to a whole new group of kids.”
Miia was asked to discuss her musical background and whether she was surprised that she was able to get the chance to do a musical on TV. Miia told us that she grew up “in the musical theater world” and has been training her singing and dancing talents since she was 8. Once she hit high school, developed a “deep passion for songwriting,” which led to her singing publicly for money in her hometown. Professionally, she’s mostly done acting, but she’s always wanted to include music as well, so to do both things she loves is “a dream come true.” She said that she’s “a very happy monster.”
The same reporter asked if Todd or Adam wanted to add about the fun of creating the new music. Adam told us that the music mixes “many different genres,” with all of them having something creepy in them, thanks to Todd’s guidance. They tried to give all of their songs “their own really unique MONSTER HIGH personality.” He praised the cast members for being so talented in acting, singing and dancing. Also, they had to do all of their casting over Zoom. The cast blew them away with their auditions in spite of the limitations.
Todd spoke about how crazy it was to do try to get the songs and have them performed in such a short amount of time, which he had never done before. Musicals are new to him. He has 12-year-old daughters who are triplets, so they helped him choose the songs to use. Some of the songs they didn’t choose for the final cut were used in the background of the movie. He also mentioned that Nayah performs “with her Nickelodeon band Good News Girls.”
Phil chimed in again to praise the production, the music and the performers.
Next, the cast were asked which was most difficult: Singing, dancing or something else?
Miia piped up to say that she loves dancing, but having to do them in very tall monster boots, with little “peripheral vision” (because of the monster contact lenses) was challenging.
Todd concurred, saying that whenever Miia stumbled, she would say, “I’m okay!” and they were always asking, “Are you all right?”
Adam pointed out that they had to always hide her human ears under the wig (since she has costume wolf ears), but she was always concerned about her eyes popping out during the musical numbers. He said that the actors had a lot of those type of things to worry about while also singing and dancing.
Case gave his point-of-view that “keeping it all together at the end of the day” could be tough because of the long days, but he said that when it all came together through all the hard work, it was worth it. He also added that being all together in it “was the best part.”
Ceci said that what was tough for her was dancing with a big wig. She’s used to ballet dancing, where your hair is usually slicked back. She noted that all of their “amazing dancers” had to do the same thing, but with really big shoes. She thinks it looks “effortless” on screen, so she’s excited for everyone to see it. She thinks the filmed version looks more “relaxed” that how “stressed and diligent” they were during filming.
The next press person asked about how tough it was to take an animated show and make it a live-action musical and whether anyone had any criticism about it.
Todd admitted that it’s difficult to take a cartoon character or doll and translate that into a regular teen. They had to adapt and change things that didn’t work. There were a lot of conversations between them and Nickelodeon and Mattel to try to find the right look of the characters. That was difficult, and then how to make the live action people look realistic, like making “Frankie” blue and look real, not like “Halloween makeup.” He praised their “brilliant department heads in hair, makeup, and costumes that worked very hard” to make it all work.
Adam and Phil complimented Todd for his vision in wanting the “monster world” to be fun but also more believable. They didn’t want it to look like a cartoon. They hired “a brilliant production designer named Fred Andrews, who was just so smart and brought a level of sophistication to creating this world in Vancouver.” He had to create this scary school that doesn’t really exist, from scratch.
Phil noted that the main point of the show is friendship and being your “authentic self.” He credits the actors for bringing these characters to life in that way.
The actors were asked if they were big fans of Halloween and how they celebrate it.
Ceci reiterated that she loves anything “spooky and scary.” She and her brother have a “Halloween movie marathon” of scary or fun-scary movies for a month. She mentioned “Heathers,” “Hocus Pocus” and the Peanuts Halloween special. She hopes that others that love watching these movies will add “Monster High” to their list.
Nayah told us that she loves the scary mazes at places like Universal and Knott’s Berry Farm (in Southern California). She plans to go to the maze that has “OG monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein.” She joked that she plans to go there and take a picture with Dracula, her father (in the movie). She loves to dress up in costume as well. During the filming of the movie, Halloween occurred, so they all dressed up like scary characters from “The Wizard of Oz.”
Miia said that going to work on this movie was like “Halloween every single day,” which to her was “really cool.” She loves Halloween and dressing up. She plans to dress up this year “as the plant in ‘Léon: The Professional.'”
Case also said that he loves Halloween and dressing up, but he’s looking forward to next year when there are people dressing up as the characters from “Monster High: The Movie.”
MONSTER HIGH: THE MOVIE premieres Thursday, October 6th, on Paramount+ and that same evening at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
MATTEL, NICKELODEON AND PARAMOUNT+ DEBUT TRAILER FOR MONSTER HIGH: THE MOVIE, LIVE-ACTION MUSICAL PREMIERING THURSDAY, OCT. 6
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and HOLLYWOOD, Calif., June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT), Nickelodeon and Paramount+ today revealed the premiere date and trailer for Monster High: The Movie, a live-action movie musical based on the iconic Monster High franchise about the children of famous monsters and creatures. Monster High: The Movie premieres Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon and streams that same day on Paramount+. The movie will encore on Nickelodeon on Friday, Oct.7, and Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT). Internationally, the movie will premiere on Nickelodeon and Paramount+, beginning Oct. 6.
Monster High: The Movie
Monster High: The Movie follows Clawdeen Wolf (Miia Harris, Just Beyond), who was born half human and half werewolf, after she arrives at her new school, Monster High. She quickly makes friends with her classmates Frankie Stein (Ceci Balagot, Dispatches from Elsewhere) and Draculaura (Nayah Damasen, Grey’s Anatomy), and for the first time in her life, Clawdeen feels like she has finally found a place where she fits in and can truly be herself, despite keeping her human half a secret. When a devious plan to destroy Monster High threatens to reveal her real identity, Clawdeen must learn to embrace her true monster heart and find a way to save the day alongside her new friends.
Monster High: The Movie also stars: Case Walker (The Other Two) as Deuce Gorgon; Kyle Selig (Mean Girls on Broadway) as Mr. Komos; Marci T. House (Day of the Dead) as Headmistress Bloodgood; Scotch Ellis Loring (Firehouse Dog) as Clawdeen’s dad, Apollo; Steve Valentine (Mom) as Draculaura’s dad, Dracula; Jy Prishkulnik (Just Beyond) as Cleo de Nile; Lina Lecompte (Death Pursuit) as Lagoona; Justin Derickson (When the Streetlights Go On) as Heath Burns; Lilah Fitzgerald (Honey Girls) as Ghoulia; and Nasiv Sall (Descendants 2) as Abbey Bominable. Additional fan-favorite characters from the Monster High universe will also be seen throughout the movie.
In addition to Monster High: The Movie, an animated series based off the beloved Mattel franchise is slated to premiere later this year on Nickelodeon. Both projects join other Mattel Television content in production, including series and specials based on Barbie, Masters of the Universe, Thomas & Friends, Polly Pocket, Pictionary and Fireman Sam, to name a few. Mattel first introduced Monster High in 2010, and it quickly became one of the most successful and beloved kids’ properties of all time. The franchise seeks to foster a more accepting world where everyone is proud to be their authentic self, which is more relevant than ever. Today, Monster High is back with a reimagined set of fangtastic characters, inspired by the original ghouls, for a new generation that embraces what makes them unique and rallies people everywhere to express themselves.
Monster High: The Movie is directed and executive produced by Todd Holland (The Real O’Neals, Malcolm in the Middle, Firehouse Dog). The story is by Jenny Jaffe (Big Hero 6: The Series, Rugrats), Greg Erb, and Jason Oremland (Princess and the Frog, Playmobil: The Movie), and the teleplay is by Jaffe and Billy & Matt Eddy (Zapped, Teen Beach Movie). Adam Bonnett (Descendants franchise, Masters of the Universe: Revelation) serves as executive producer. Frederic Soulie, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Mattel Television and Phil Breman, Vice President of Live Action Development, oversee the movie for Mattel and serve as executive producers. Production on Monster High: The Movie for Nickelodeon is overseen by Zack Olin and Shauna Phelan, Co-Heads of Nickelodeon & Awesomeness Live-Action, along with executives Lee Rosenthal, Linda Halder and Jules Kovisars.
About Mattel Mattel is a leading global toy company and owner of one of the strongest catalogs of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play. We engage consumers through our portfolio of iconic brands, including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends®, UNO®, Masters of the Universe®, Monster High® and MEGA®, as well as other popular intellectual properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include film and television content, gaming, music, and live events. We operate in 35 locations and our products are available in more than 150 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering children to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Visit us online at mattel.com.
About Nickelodeon Nickelodeon, now in its 43rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon is a part of Paramount’s (Nasdaq: PARA, PARAA) global portfolio of multimedia entertainment brands.
About Paramount+ Paramount+, a direct-to-consumer digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, combines live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment. The premium streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel. The service is also the streaming home to unmatched sports programming, including every CBS Sports event, from golf to football to basketball and more, plus exclusive streaming rights for major sports properties, including some of the world’s biggest and most popular soccer leagues. Paramount+ also enables subscribers to stream local CBS stations live across the U.S. in addition to the ability to stream CBS News Streaming Network for 24/7 news, CBS Sports HQ for sports news and analysis and ET Live for entertainment coverage.
For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com and follow @ParamountPlus on social platforms.
PARAMOUNT+ PEAK SCREAMING RETURNS WITH MORE THAN DOUBLE THE SCARES
The Horror and Thriller Film Collection Includes the Highly Anticipated Premiere of “Significant Other” and Popular Horror Franchises Such as “A Quiet Place,” “Scream,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Paranormal Activity” and “The Descent”
Family Fright Night Favorites Include the Debut of “Monster High the Movie,” Plus Halloween Episodes from “Big Nate,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “PAW Patrol” and More
NEW YORK – Sept. 22, 2022 – The Paramount+ Peak Screaming collection returns to the service today with an expanded screaming and streaming collection just in time for Halloween. The collection features more than double the programming from last year, including highly anticipated new originals, fan-favorite horror movies and iconic Halloween episodes from beloved series. This year’s seasonal collection will include the debut of MONSTER HIGH THE MOVIE (Thursday, Oct. 6), a brand-new live-action musical from Nickelodeon; the exclusive premiere of new thriller movies such as SIGNIFICANT OTHER (Friday, Oct. 7); the release of an all-new special Halloween episode of GHOSTS (Thursday, Oct. 27) and more. The Halloween-themed content on Paramount+ can be found here.
The thematic library, which includes entertainment for everyone in the household, is thoughtfully curated into subgenres to enhance discovery. Carousels within the Peak Screaming collection include:
Big Screen’s Big Screams: Blockbuster hits such as A QUIET PLACE, THE RING, THE DESCENT, WORLD WAR Z and 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE.
Buried Gems: Chilling thrillers such as THE BABYSITTER, as well as horror films like SPELL and SAINT MAUD.
Slash Hits: Spine-chilling films such as ORPHAN: FIRST KILL, SCREAM, CANDYMAN and THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN.
Suspenseful Series: Edge of your seat shows such as EVIL, PAROT, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and CRIMINAL MINDS.
Family Fright Night: Family favorites such as SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK.
Nickelodeon Monster Fest!: Beloved Halloween episodes from popular Nickelodeon series such as BIG NATE, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, PAW PATROL and BLUE’S CLUES.
Spooktacular CBS: Iconic Halloween episodes from some of the most popular CBS series, including BEVERLY HILLS, 90210, BLUE BLOODS, CHEERS, FRASIER and GHOSTS, which returns for its second season on Thursday, Sept. 29. The frightfully funny series will also debut a special Halloween episode, “Halloween 2: The Ghosts of Hetty’s Past,” on Thursday, Oct. 27.
Chilling Classics: Timeless films such as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, PROPHECY, DEMENTIA 13 and ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES.
Teen Wolf: The Beginning: The complete original series of TEEN WOLF, including popular episodes such as “Wolf Moon,” “Second Chance at First Line,” “Lunatic” and “Code Breaker.”
In October, the movie collection will grow again to include even more genre-defining hits and cult classics such as THE GRUDGE, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, SHUTTER ISLAND, JENNIFER’S BODY, ANNIHILATION and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, among others.
Paramount+ with SHOWTIME® bundle subscribers can stream the SHOWTIME Bloody Good collection of series and movies, including the Showtime Original Series premiere of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN on Friday, Oct. 7, plus other killer series like DEXTER®: NEW BLOOD and Emmy-nominated YELLOWJACKETS. Fright fans can also watch the latest installment of the legendary franchise SCREAM (2022), horror hits from A24 like X, MIDSOMMAR and HEREDITARY, and other perennial Halloween favorites including THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and ROSEMARY’S BABY. The bundle is currently offered at a special introductory pricing of $7.99 per month for the Essential Plan and $12.99 per month for the Premium Plan through Oct. 2.
The Peak Screaming collection is available to stream now. To view the Peak Screaming trailer, click here.
For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com and follow @ParamountPlus on social platforms.
Audra: A business acquaintance recommended it. He said it was going to be the new hot spot in town. And then I did some research and discovered it was your club. So I had to check it out.
Noah: Did you?
Audra: Yes. I wouldn’t miss your opening night.
Noah: That’s a real change of attitude on your part.
Allie: Hi. I’m allie.
Audra: Oh. Aren’t you adorable.
Allie: Okay. So, how do you guys know each other?
Audra: Well, I met noah —
Noah: Audra’s just someone I used to know.
Nick: Alright, let’s get into it. What’s going on with us?
Sally: [ Chuckles ] You tell me.
Nick: I think we both really enjoy each other’s company. Maybe we have been too focused on the now, not really thinking about the consequences.
Sally: [ Chuckles ]
Nick: Is that what you want to talk about, the ramifications?
Sally: [ Sighs ] To be completely honest, I’m not sure I even want to have a conversation about it. In fact, I’m not even sure what it is. I don’t even know what to call what we have, other than A… situation.
Nick: [ Chuckles ]
Sally: But I just feel like i need to know where your head is at, ’cause, honestly, I don’t even know where my head is at. And I’m just worried that we might be driving blindly off of a cliff.
Sharon: Chelsea? How’s it going?
[ Liquid pouring ] Here’s your tea.
Chelsea: Sharon… I’m sorry, I, um — I was so lost in my — in my thoughts, I don’t remember ordering this.
Sharon: You didn’T. You just looked like you needed it.
Chelsea: Oh. Thank you.
Sharon: So, what’s going on?
Chelsea: [ Sighs ]
Billy: [ Sighs ]
Billy: [ Thinking ] At society. Meet me. Hell of a night.
[ Footsteps approaching ]
Abby: Hey.
Billy: Hi.
Abby: How was the vow renewal?
Billy: It was great. It was really lovely. Yeah, there was a lot of love in the air. I had to take off a little early for a family issue, but, um, the happy couple seemed very happy.
Abby: Oh, well, I hope everything’s okay.
Billy: I hope so. I think everybody’s gonna be alright. Uh, listen, how’s dom? I know you, uh, couldn’t make it ’cause he wasn’t feeling well.
Abby: Yes. The fever is gone. He’s just a little cranky now.
Billy: Poor little guy.
Abby: Yeah.
Billy: Glad he’s better.
Abby: I was sad to miss the festivities, but I didn’t want to leave his side. He’s at home, resting comfortably, and we [Sighs] Are short-staffed. So here I am. I want to know all the details. How did summer look? Were there cake and flowers?Ah there was all of that and more. There was an actual helicopter.
Abby: A what?
Billy: We had a party crasher drop into the backyard from his helicopter.
Abby: Who was it?
Billy: Oh. You’re not gonna like this.
Abby: Tell me.
Billy: Tucker mccall.
Lily: Well, [Sighs] That should do it.
Devon: Yeah. You put in a lot of hours. You want to get some dinner?
Lily: Um, yes, I am famished. You?
Devon: Yeah. Absolutely.
Lily: Oh, billy’s at society. Do you want to join him there?
Devon: That sounds really good.
Lily: Yeah, he can tell us all about kyle and summer’s vow renewal. I want to hear everything about it.
Devon: I’m sure it was a lovely afternoon.
Tucker: Yes, you’re right. It was lovely. I was there. Hello, son.
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Abby: Tucker is back in town?
Billy: That’s right.
Abby: And he showed up at the house?
Billy: Yes, he did. You’re glossing over the whole helicopter part.
Abby: I haven’t even gotten to that part yet. I mean, this is a lot to process. Did he know that summer and kyle we renewing their vows?
Billy: Of course he did. We wanted to make an entrance, make sure everybody knew that he was back in town. He gave kyle and summer a vintage bentley like my father used to drive.
Abby: What is wrong with this guy? Who does that? “Hey, I know I wasn’t invited to your wedding, but here’s an absurdly expensive car. Enjoy.”
Billy: Tucker does. You know? Wants to make an impression.
Abby: I mean, he had to have known that no one wanted him there.
Billy: [ Sighs ]
Abby: So, what is he doing? What is tucker trying to prove?
Billy: I think it was pretty clear that the whole thing was for an audience of one.
Abby: Who?
Billy: Someone that is stuck in paris.
Abby: My mom? So, you think that tucker put on this whole show trying to impress my mother?
[ Scoffs ] Well, he better give up on that dream fast, because if he wants to get near my mom, he’s gonna have to go through me first. And I am not gonna let that happen.
Devon: So, what are you doing here? When did you get to town?
Tucker: Just a few hours ago. Wanted to surprise you and maybe take you out to dinner.
Devon: I wish you would have told me you were coming.
Tucker: Well, that would have given you time to come up with an excuse to avoid me.
[ Chuckles ] No way.
Devon: I-I don’t have any reason to avoid you. We could have made plans. It’s good to see you, though, after all this time.
Tucker: Yeah. Yeah, it’s been a while.
Devon: Yeah, I know. Well, when was the last time? At that ashram in thailand?
Tucker: That’s right. So it’s been years. We have a lot to catch up on. You have a son?
Devon: Yeah, I do. Yeah. His name’s dominic.
Tucker: Wow. That’s terrific. Of course, that makes me a grandfather.
[ Laughs ] Grandpa tucker. Boy, if I could… and look at this — this newly merged company the two of you run.
Lily: Yeah.
Tucker: And, lily, would you like to join us for dinner? The three of us could compare notes.
Lily: Um, well, thank you for the offer. I’m actually — I’m meeting billy at society, so I think, in this way, four would be a crowd. But… [ Chuckles ]
Devon: That’s a good point. Yeah.
Tucker: It’s just you and I, then. You in?
Devon: Uh, sure. Yeah, why not?
Noah: Enjoy your time here. I’m sorry we can’t hang out, but it’s opening night. There’s lots to do. It was nice to see you. Excuse us.
[ Speaking indistinctly ]
Audra: [ Sighs ]
Nick: What makes you think we’re headed off a cliff?
Sally: Experience. Whenever I’ve been in a situation like this, it has always crashed and burned, and I’m talking incredibly painful. I won’t go into gory details, but just know that I tend to fall hard and take others with me. And then I [Chuckles] Behave in ways that I regret, and it always makes things worse. And then there’s the shadow of adam.
Nick: Is there something going on with the two of you I don’t know about?
Sally: No. I have been completely honest with you. I loved him. Or I thought I did.
Nick: But you still have feelings for him.
Sally: What I mean is that I saw what your brother and I had was the real thing. But once again, I did not see the end coming. I was blindsided, which is exactly why I am convinced that this situation [Inhales deeply] Will end, too, because everything does. So then the question becomes, what will we do? How will we feel when it’s over? You know, what will the fallout be? That’s what I’m afraid of. This is john.
Nick: I’ve had my fair share of failed relationships. Sometimes it was my fault. Sometimes it just wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes it was a combination of the two. So I understand your fears. It’s never fun when things end.
Sally: But the beginning part — you know, where we’re at — that’s fun.
Nick: Yeah.
Sally: We just have to determine if that’s all this is.
Nick: Okay, so, if that’s what we do — we determine that this is just fun — we could, uh, put an end to it, stop the fun?
Sally: Possibly. I mean, we’re at a turning point. You know, we can keep doing what we’re doing and not focus on the future, only on the now, which would most definitely probably end in [Sighs] Hurt feelings and some sort of pain and possibly a fiery crash.
[ Chuckles ] Or we can just put the brakes on, you know, and go back to being strictly professional, and we just end things before it gets messy. Agreed?
Lily: Uh, enjoy your dinner.
Devon: Yeah. Head in there.
Lily: Hello.
Billy: Hi.
Lily: How are you?
Billy: Better now. How are you?
Lily: Good. Um, what did you mean when you texted that you had one hell of a day?
Billy: Well, there were a few big events. One of them, you just walked through the door with.
Lily: Oh, tucker?
Billy: Yeah.
Lily: Yeah, he walked into our office out of the blue and said, “hello, son,” like he had come to town to visit devon.
Billy: And devon’s okay with that?
Lily: I mean, it was awkward, and they seem a little unsure on how to reconnect, but they’ll have to figure it out. Anyway, what happened to you after the ceremony? I thought you were going back to the office.
Billy: I planned on it. Then, I got an urgent call from chelsea.
Lily: What happened?
Billy: She had a bit of a breakdown. She told connor that she’s johnny’s biological mother, and he wasn’t any happier about it than johnny.
Lily: Wow. That’s a lot.
Billy: Yeah. She’s overwhelmed. You know, and I get it. I mean, I tried to stay with her and try and calm her down a little bit. I don’t know if it did any good. Told her that she needs to talk to someone about this — someone to help her navigate through this, and the boys, as well. Like an adoption specialist. Someone.
Lily: Yeah. I hope she’s feeling better.
Billy: Not so sure about that.
Chelsea: I’m always so amazed when you’re kind to me, sharon.
Sharon: Well, that’s an odd thing to say.
Chelsea: Well, it’s true. You’ve been good to me. And you know, you don’t have to be, considering her history.
Sharon: Oh, I feel like we’ve gotten past all that now. And I credit rey. He really saw the good in you. And that allowed me to do the same.
Chelsea: Hmm. Rey’s forgiving nature was a real turning point for me. He saw the good, even when I couldn’T. When he died, I just — I haven’t had much hope since. It’s like, anytime I try to do the right thing, it blows up in my face.
Sharon: Well, what specifically are you referring to?
Chelsea: [ Sighs ] I convinced billy and victoria to tell johnny the truth, that I’m his biological mother.
Sharon: And that didn’t go so well?
Chelsea: Completely backfired. Johnny doesn’t want anything to do with me. Then, I told connor, thinking it would make him happy to discover he has a brother in johnny. But that didn’t go well either. I was just trying to be honest. I was trying to protect the boys from eventually having to find out that some of their history had been hidden from them. But now they’re angry. They’re upset, and they don’t want anything to do with me.
[ Sighs ] Why can’t I do anything right?
Noah: Just ignore her. Allie: Yeah, sure, I can do that right now. But, you know, it’s looks like it’s gonna get harder and harder. She seems pretty determined to get your attention.
Noah: I’m not gonna let her get to me.
Allie: Noah, how do you know her?
Noah: It’s from before i moved to genoa city.
Allie: Ah. Could you be less specific?
Noah: She’s from my past. How is that?
Allie: Not very helpful, to be honest. Where do you know her from? Did you guys go to kindergarten together? Were you in a band?
Noah: I don’t really want to get into it, okay? I haven’t talked to in a long time.
Allie: Um, if seeing her wasn’t such a big deal, why are you being so evasive? You’ve been acting weird ever since we —
Noah: Look, I got a lot going on tonight, so if we can just not get into this…
Allie: You know, it doesn’t say a lot about our relationship when you can’t talk about something as simple as a woman from your past.
Noah: You’re right. I’m sor– I’m sorry. Okay? You’re right. I just — I wasn’t expecting to see her. I’m not really sure how to handle this.
Allie: [ Sighs ] Who is she? And please be honest.
Noah: Audra is the woman that I was seeing in london.
Allie: The one who broke your heart.
Noah: [ Sighs ] Hi, my name is reggie
Noah: Audra didn’t break my heart. Felt that way at the time, but looking back on it, I realize we just weren’t meant to be. It took getting away from her to realize how toxic our relationship was.
Allie: Okay, I — I can understand that. But why is she here, noah? I-I-I don’t mean to be direct, but is she trying to rekindle things with you?
Noah: No, that’s doubtful. Things got pretty bad towards the end. It was a lot of yelling, slamming doors, saying we didn’t want to see each other anymore, which is why it’s so weird that she’s here pretending to be all excited for me. You know, if she’s trying to get my attention, she’s too late. I only have eyes for you.
Audra: Thank you.
Nick: Way I see it, sally, is we got two options. We can put an end to this right now, go on living our lives, avoid any chance of heartbreak or pain.
Sally: Sounds pretty grim.
[ Chuckles ]
Nick: Does, doesn’t it?
Sally: [ Chuckles ]
Nick: It’s my experience that when I live like that, too safe, I’m not happy. Get this bad attitude. I really like the good stuff. You know?
Sally: So, what’s the second option?
Nick: Maybe it’s because I just came from summer and kyle’s vow renewal… but I’m hopeful. I’m not cynical.
Sally: [ Chuckles ] So, the second option is we just see where this takes us?
Nick: Yeah, we don’t second-guess this, we don’t overthink it. Just jump right into the deep end, start swimming.
Tucker: Hey, do you have a photo of dominic? I’d love to see him.
Devon: Yeah, I have a thousand photos of dominic. Yeah. Here’s one from his first birthday party, just a few weeks ago.
Tucker: Oh, man! Oh!
Devon: [ Chuckles ]
Tucker: Very nice. Devon, you must be so proud.
Devon: Yeah, of course I am.
Tucker: And he’s a handsome tyke, isn’t he?
Devon: Mm-hmm.
Tucker: [ Chuckles ]
Devon: Yeah.
Tucker: I’d love to meet him.
Devon: Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think we can arrange for that to happen.
Tucker: Good.
Devon: I share custody with abby and chance. So we’ll find a day soon…
Tucker: Okay.
Devon: …And make it work.
[ Footsteps approaching ]
Tucker: Oh.
Devon: Hey.
Tucker: Speak of the devil. Hey, abby, how are you? We were just actually looking at photos of dominic.
Abby: Don’t try to ingratiate yourself with me. Nobody wants you here.
Devon: Abby, we’re just having dinner.
Abby: And don’t get near my mom. She wants nothing to do with you.
Tucker: Right. Uh, well, you’re — you’re probably right about that point for now, but I think if I am able to have a face-to-face with ashley, she’ll understand that things have changed.
Abby: Well, if you came to town to make inroads with my mother, you’re wasting your time.
Tucker: There are other reasons I’m — not least of which is to reconnect with my son and — and meet my grandson.
Abby: The only thing I hate more than the idea of you face-to-face with my mother is you anywhere near my son. I brought in ensure max protein
“The young and the restless”
will continue. This isn’t charmin! No wonder I don’t feel as clean.
Lily: You know, I think i just realized why you always want to help chelsea.
Billy: [ Chuckles ]
Lily: I think it’s because you two are cut from the same cloth.
Billy: What is that supposed to mean?
Lily: Well, I mean, she’s — you know, she’s smart, she’s ambitious, she’s attractive. And even with all of her talent, you know, you’d think that she would be on top of the world, but she always seems to get in her own way.
Billy: And that’s what you think about me?
Lily: I think that’s what you think about you. I’m — all I’m doing is I’m pointing out what you two have in common and why I think you’re always team chelsea.
Billy: I wouldn’t go that far. I mean, I feel like I’ve been strong with her, you know, making sure that she respects johnny and victoria’s boundaries and trying to stop her from working her way into my son’s life.
Lily: Yeah, but you were sympathetic to her wanting to tell johnny that she’s his biological mother. And even though it upset him, you’re not angry with her.
Billy: No, I’m not. I’m genuinely worried about her.
Sharon: You know, it might not be as bad as you think. The news is fresh for the boys right now. You’re just seeing their initial reaction. After some time, they may feel very differently.
Chelsea: That’s a possibility. Or they could go further down this path and both end up hating me.
Sharon: How were you hoping johnny would take this news?
Chelsea: Well, I was hoping he wouldn’t recoil at the mention of my name. I mean, I would have even settled on him just — [Sighs] Just being willing to talk to me.
Sharon: I mean, if he were here right now or, I don’t know, you run into him at the park later today, what would you say?
Chelsea: That I’m not trying to replace victoria as this mom, that I just want to be there for him. If he gets into trouble, if you ever need someone, that — that I’m here, that I’ll always have his back.
Sharon: Sounds good.
Chelsea: [ Sniffles ] You’re acting like my therapist again.
Sharon: No, no, I promise, I am not trying to do that. I just thought you needed someone to listen.
Chelsea: Do you remember when you tried to help me after my stroke?
Sharon: I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
Chelsea: I hated you. I was paranoid, not myself. It drove me to do dangerous things. I nearly killed rey. I framed adam. I — I was so destructive. But you helped me back then, and now — now here you are, helping me now.
Sharon: Why are you bringing that up now?
Chelsea: Because anytime I try to be a better person, I mess it up. But you — you’re a natural. So, how do you do it? What’s your secret?
[ Breathing heavily ]
Audra: Hello again.
Noah: What are you doing in genoa city, audra?
Audra: Look, I swear I didn’t know you were here. I was recruited by jill abbott to do some consulting on some financial strategy for chancellor-winters. That’s why I’m in town. Look, I didn’t come looking for you. I’m not trying to win you back or anything of the sort.
Noah: I’m sorry if I was rude earlier. I was just — you know, I was little caught off guard, seeing after all this time.
Audra: I’m glad to see you. And I like that you seem happy. Your friend is so cute. Your club is amazing. I’m impressed.
Noah: Thank you. I’m proud of it.
Audra: You should be.
Noah: And I’m glad to be back home. So, allie — she’s a big part ofha she’s helped me see what I’m missing. And now I can see this place through her eyes.
Audra: That’s wonderful. I’m genuinely pleased for you. Truly.
Nick: Listen, if you tell me you have more chapters in your story with adam, then I will back off.
Sally: You would do that?
Nick: I’ll do it for you. It’s something else I’ve learned over the years — that if this isn’t what we both want and need, then it’s — yeah, it’s not good.
Sally: Okay. So, then maybe… defining it will ruin it.
Nick: It is a possibility.
Sally: [ Chuckles ]
Nick: If you label something, you tend to change your behavior to fit the label. That doesn’t work.
Sally: Okay, so, then let’s not define it.
Nick: Works for me.
Sally: Okay, so we have decided to do nothing.
Nick: Which is great, ’cause I’m really good at doing nothing.
Sally: [ Laughs ]
Nick: There’s something I have learned from this conversation.
Sally: What’s that?
Nick: Whatever this is, I like it. I don’t want it to end.
Tucker: No, don’t worry about abby. I’ve — I’ve had a lot of worse things said to me.
[ Both chuckle ]Tucker: [ Chuckles ] I always enjoyed abby anyway. You know, she, uh — does she still ride horseback naked?
Devon: [ Chuckles ] Uh, no, I don’t think so. I think that was a one-time deal.
Tucker: Hmm. Maybe if I moved back to genoa city, she and I will become friends.
Devon: How long are you planning to stay in town?
Tucker: Um, long enough to get back under ashley’s radar, which includes abby, of course, and my new grandson.
[ Sighs ]
Devon: Hmm.
Tucker: I’m not here to cause any trouble.
Devon: So, why are you here after all this time away?
Tucker: I don’t know, I just — I love this town. It’S… [ Chuckles ] It’s as good a reason as any, as far as I’m concerned.
Devon: Alright, well, let’s try this. What have you been doing since the last time we saw each other in thailand?
Tucker: Well, back then, I was on a journey of, um,
[Chuckles] Introspection.
Devon: Hmm.
Tucker: And, uh, I was looking for… I don’t know what. A — a more meaningful life or [Inhales deeply] A deeper level of understanding. Whatever it was, I didn’t find it.
Devon: Mm-hmm.
Tucker: So I took the route of, um, thrill-seeking…
Devon: Huh?
Tucker: …And taking bigger and bigger risks, not only in business but having adventures. You know, I was skydiving and paragliding and deep-sea fishing. And then I started racing. I guess I was chasing that next level of understanding racing the back roads of the riviera, between cannes and san remo.
Devon: Wow. Well, did you find what you were looking for?
Tucker: Yes, I did, but not where I expected it. I found it when I woke up in a hospital bed in monte carlo. Once upon a time, before jill said yes.
Devon: So, those rumors about you being injured in that car accident were true?
Tucker: That’s right. I downplayed it when you reached out to me, made it seem like the injuries were minor, because I didn’t want to worry you. But, yeah, I nearly died.
Devon: And why wouldn’t you be honest with me about something like that?
Tucker: Man, you just — you’ve had enough loss in your life, and I did not want to add to any of your pain.
[ Sighs ] So, yeah, I was in that hospital for weeks. And ironically, after all the years of searching for answers, this was my epiphany. There is nothing bigger out there. There’s nothing more to find. There’s no — there’s no bigger thrill than — than just living every day. Every day to its fullest, in the present moment. ‘Cause this is it, man. This is the only life we got. There are no second chances. And you just got to make the most of the time you have. And I vowed to myself, “if I recover, that’s precisely what I’m gonna do.”
Devon: Well, we’ve — we’ve all heard reformation stories from you before.
Tucker: Yeah.
Devon: An avalanche.
Tucker: Yeah, I know, but this is different. And this is…
[ Sighs ] This made me reevaluate who I really am, fundamentally, what I want and — and what really matters to me. And I got to tell you, devon, that reconnecting with you is at the top of that list.
Audra: So, I-I haven’t been here long, but I love it.
Noah: Excuse me. I actually got to take care of something. But in case I-I don’t see you before you leave, I hope you have a good night. And thank you for checking the place out.
Audra: Hmm. Of course.
Noah: What were you doing with sally spectra for so long?
Nick: She is the ceo of newman media. We just had a lot of things to discuss.
Noah: That didn’t really look like a work meeting. So, what’s the situation?
Nick: It’s a situation with no name.
Noah: Alright, I hope you know what you’re doing.
Nick: I do.
Noah: I bet summer would have a lot to say about this. She and kyle — they were supposed to be here tonight, but they canceled last minute. You dodged a bullet there. How do you think she’d react, seeing you and sally after she almost sabotaged their whole relationship?
Sharon: You know, from where I sit, I have to say, I’m impressed that you’ve worked so hard to become a better person, with success.
Chelsea: I don’t know about that.
Sharon: Well, it’s true. You’re a concerned and attentive mother to connor. And just because the boys are having a hard time accepting this news right now, that you’re johnny’s biological mother, doesn’t mean you should jump to the conclusion that nothing in your life is working.
Chelsea: You know, it’s — it’s no wonder rey was so in love with you. You two were made for each other. Both so forgiving, even when you have every reason not to be.
Sharon: Chelsea… I think you need help. I mean, not from me, but you do need to see a professional. And I can recommend some people. I can even make some phone calls tonight if you want, but the sooner the better.
Chelsea: What? You think I need help tonight?
Music (“I swear”) plays
Chelsea: Is that why you got me to open up — so you can imply I’m unstable and pathetic?
Sharon: Chelsea, calm down.
Chelsea: You think I need help right now?!
Sharon: It was a suggestion.
Chelsea: I know what you’re doing, sharon. You’re trying to make yourself look good, so you want to insinuate that I’m some lunatic!
Sharon: Not at all. Will you please sit down so we can talk about this?
Chelsea: I will absolutely not sit down. I should have never said anything. I should have never trusted you. You know, everybody in this town wants to assume the worst about me. You are no different!
Sharon: Chelsea! Don’t go!
Nick: Listen, I think the bad blood between sally and her sister is in the past. Summer is on top of the world right now. Let’s not create problems where there are none.
Noah: Alright, man, I trust you know what you’re doing.
Nick: I got this. Proud of you. Let’s talk tomorrow.
Noah: [ Sighs ]
Allie: Everything okay with your dad?
Noah: Yeah, yeah, I hope so. Are you good?
Allie: Yeah. Great night.
Noah: You know, it’s not a completely great night yet.
Allie: Oh? Why is that?
Noah: I’ve only had one dance with you.
Billy: Are you worried about devon?
Lily: No, no, no, he can handle himself. No, I’m just curious. I mean, tucker has been gone for years, and all of a sudden he shows up out of the blue, when chancellor-winters is about to go public. I just think the timing is suspect.
Billy: Let’s go.
Tucker: So, I hope you can tell that I’m serious. Son… I’m proud of you.
[ Chuckles ] Uh… I’m proud of the work you’ve done, uh, in business. Proud of what you’ve accomplished in your private life. I mean, uh… my grandson. And this merger of your business, that’s a big deal.
Devon: Well, I appreciate you saying that very much. Um… do you have business in town, or is this more just a personal visit for you?
Tucker: Well, when you get to my position, there’s always a little bit of both.
Devon: Right. Right. There was a time when you were trying to take over every major corporation in town. You remember that? Has your new outlook made you reconsider your goal of world domination?
Tucker: When I look back at those power plays, I think it was just an excuse to stay in genoa city. And now I’ve got better excuses. Got you and dominic and ashley. I hope, ashley. And I know that us reconnecting is not gonna be easy, because we’ve got a lot of lost time between us.
Devon: Yeah. Yeah, we do. And it’s, uh — it’s definitely not gonna happen over one dinner.
Tucker: No. [ Chuckles ] So, shall we have lunch?
[ Both laugh ] Are you free tomorrow?
Devon: [ Chuckles ]
Tucker: Am I being too pushy?
Devon: No, no, you’re not being too pushy at all. You’re fine. I’m sure we can figure out a day or two, but, uh, I would like you to do me a favor if you can. I don’t want you to interfere with the abbotts.
Tucker: I know.
Devon: I don’t want you to try and insert yourself into ashley’s life or abby’s life if they don’t want to talk to you. Okay? Because I would really appreciate if you just let me orchestrate your meeting dominic.
Tucker: Of course. And I have no interest whatsoever in forcing myself where I’m not welcome.
Devon: Good.
Tucker: I’m gonna take my best shot [Inhales deeply] And accept defeat… if it comes to that.
“The young and the restless”
will continue.
Chelsea: Johnny, of course not. I’m not your mother. Victoria is your mom, and i would never try to force anything on you.
Johnny: Good.
Chelsea: I just… you know, um, I just thought since we were already in each other’s lives, I didn’t want you to find out from somebody else and end up resenting us for keeping this secret from you. I didn’t want you to wonder about me.
Johnny: So, it was you. You are why my parents decided to force this on me now?
Chelsea: No. I mean, it was — it was something we decided together.
Johnny: But it was your idea in the first place. You are why my world feels like it was just flipped upside down.
Chelsea: Johnny, I’m sorry. That was not my intention. That was not my intention. I just — I wanted you to know that your birth mother cared about you. I always have, and I always will.
[ Sighs ]& And, you know, I mean, this wasn’t just about me. I thought — I thought you and connor could have a deeper connection as brothers.
Johnny: We’re cousins, okay?! And we know each other plenty. What about connor? Does he know the truth now, too?
Sharon: Adam.
Adam: Hmm?
Sharon: Please don’t repeat this to anyone, but after talking with chelsea, I get the feeling that she’s adrift. She’s looking for answers anywhere she can find them. She’s looking for someone or something just to make her feel whole.
Adam: Well, based on what I’ve seen, that rings true.
Sharon: I imagine that connor has been a focal point for her. Ever since he was born, he helps her feel grounded. But people and things outside of ourselves can only help us for so long if we don’t fix what’s going on inside. And the more and more that chelsea gets goes adrift, she looks around for someone to make her feel anchored. And right now, that anchor is johnny, and she’s clinging to that desperately.
Adam: Yeah, but, sharon, that’s not fair to johnny.
Sharon: No, it is not.
Adam: And it’s just as unfair for her to use connor to draw johnny in closer.
Sharon: Well, I don’t think that chelsea’s intentionally being malicious or trying to be harmful. I think she just doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She’s trying to stay emotionally afloat.
Adam: Well, then I guess i can’t hold her fully responsible if she doesn’t even comprehend what she’s doing is wrong. But as much as I’m concerned about her, my primary focus has to be shielding my son because i refuse to let this hurt connor.
Chelsea: Yes. Connor knows who you are. I told him shortly after billy and victoria told you about me.
Johnny: Mm. And how’d he take it? That well? Huh! Guess that just proves my point. Having this conversation was a bad idea all around. Neither connor nor I want anything to change. So, why don’t we just pretend that we never had this conversation and bring things back to the way they’re supposed to be?
[ Cellphone pings ] Sorry. I got to go. I’m in the wrong place.
[ Sighs ]
Devon: Abby.
Abby: Hey.
Devon: Hey. Is everything alright with you?
Abby: Yes, of course.
Devon: Yeah?
Abby: How did things go with tucker last night? Did he take my hint and just leave town?
Devon: Oh, that was a hint?
[ Both laugh ]
Abby: I guess I didn’t really hide my feelings that I truly detest the man.
Devon: Mm, you were far from subtle.
Adam: Mm-hmm. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know he is your biological father, and that makes him technically dominic’s grandfather. Ugh.
Devon: Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?
[ Both laugh ] I’d hate to see your full-out warnings and threats to people.
Abby: So, when I walked away, was he shaking with fear?
Devon: No. Not at all. Not at all. The rest of our dinner actually went really well. We just talked a lot, talked about family, talked about him coming to town to reconnect with people.
Abby: Hmm.
Devon: Least that’s what he says he’s doing. I don’t know what to make of him showing up like this. It’s so random. It’s kind of thrown me for a loop.
Abby: Yeah, it was a shock to everyone.
Devon: And from what he said, he’s planning on sticking around for a while and putting down roots.
Abby: And how do you really feel about that?
Devon: Mnh. When you can’t sleep…
[ Knock on door ]
Billy: Got a minute?
Victoria: Sure. Come on in.
Billy: I wanted to fill you in on my morning with johnny. I feel like we’re making some progress.
Victoria: How so?
Billy: Well, his sarcasm is back and in full effect. That’s for sure.
Victoria: That’s a good sign.
Billy: Yeah, it is. He was critiquing the similarities in our parenting skills. I guess we’re both using food as a coping mechanism. I was questioning why he wasn’t finishing his muffin, and he informed me that you already force-fed him a massive breakfast this morning.
Victoria: Oops. Sorry about that. I forgot that you were meeting him at the coffeehouse.
Billy: It’s all good. He feels less confused and less angry. And I’m hoping that this is him coming to terms with the news.
Victoria: I’m really relieved to hear that.
Billy: But don’t get me wrong. He definitely does not want anything to change. And I made him a promise that nothing would.
Victoria: Absolutely. And I told him the same thing. I do, however, have one concern. How is chelsea gonna react when she finds out that this little scenario of hers isn’t going her way?
Chance: Look how happy and simple things are for these kids. They’re just playing, enjoying the day, having fun. Oh, the carefree lifestyle of youth. Mm. It’s hard not to miss those days sometimes.
Chelsea: It’s us adults who inevitably yank all that innocence and free spirit away.
Chance: Hey, is something wrong?
Chelsea: The world is a cruel and unforgiving place. What’s the point in trying to make it any less horrible? Why bother trying to make things better?
Chance: Hey, I was gonna hit crimson lights and have a coffee. I know I could sure use the company, if you want to join me.
Nikki: [ Clears throat ] Sorry to interrupt you two.
Noah: Hey. It’s always good to see you, grandma.
Allie: Hi, mrs. Newman.
Nikki: Noah, this is beautiful. What a fabulous job you’ve done.
Noah: Thank you.
Nikki: Mm.
Noah: Well, I’m glad you like it. Anytime you want to come, vip section with your name on it, overflowing with sparkling cider on the house.
Nikki: Well, now, darling, i must tell you that if you keep comping everybody, you’re not gonna make a profit.
Noah: I am quite aware of that now. And judging by last night’s numbers, your warning is pretty justified.
Nikki: Oh, don’t worry about that. That was just the first night. All businesses need a little time to become successful.
Allie: That’s what I keep telling him. This place gonna blow up, noah.
Noah: Well, thank you for the encouragement.
Nikki: Um, I have something I’d like to discuss with you if you have a moment.
Noah: Oh, yeah? What’s that?
Nikki: It has to do with your time in london.
Allie: You know what? I should get going, or else I’m gonna be late. It was lovely to see you again, mrs. Newman.
Nikki: You too.
Noah: Bye, babe.
Allie: Bye.
Noah: [ Sighs ]
Nikki: Allie’s lovely. It’s nice to see the two of you getting so close.
Noah: Yeah, she’s pretty great. Please. So, what did you want to know about london?
Nikki: Well, um, I was wondering if you came across any artist funds while you were there.
Noah: I reached out to a couple, but I had really limited experience.
Nikki: Have you ever heard of a company called private image limited?
Noah: No, that name doesn’t ring a bell.
Nikki: Well, actually, the fund is called wild beauty, incorporated.
Noah: Why do you ask?
Nikki: It’s related to some questions I have about diane’s time in los angeles. You didn’t live this strong, this long to get put
Noah: Okay, this is all sounding a little odd to me. Why would diane have anything to do with the art fund? She was supposedly living this quiet life in L.A. Wild beauty — they were throwing a lot of money around.
Nikki: Oh, so, you have heard of it?
Noah: Yeah, I knew someone who worked there.
Nikki: Really? Was this person a friend of yours?
Noah: Not exactly. It was the, uh — the woman i was seeing in london.
Nikki: [ Gasps ] Oh. The one who —
Noah: Yeah. Yeah, that one. Her name’s audra charles.
Nikki: Well, can you tell me a little bit about what she did there, who she worked for? I mean, it could be very important, but I-I don’t want to dredge up any bad memories for you.
Noah: Oh, no, no, it’s — it’s fine. Audra was actually already on my mind.
Nikki: Well, I just saw how happy you and allie are. So, why on earth would you be thinking of your ex?
Noah: Well, because suddenly she’s impossible to avoid.
Nikki: What do you mean?
Noah: Okay, I hadn’t seen audra since I came back from london, and then last night she shows up out of nowhere. And not only was she in genoa city, but she was right here at the club.
Nikki: She came all the way from london to attend your opening night?
Noah: She said she was here for other reasons, but — and she found out I opened up this place and wanted to check it out. Yeah, but now you’re talking about wild beauty, and this all just seems kind of weird to me.
Nikki: Yes. Very weird. And very interesting.
Devon: Honestly, abby, i don’t — I don’t really know how I feel about tucker coming back to town, whether it’s for a short period of time or permanently. You know, there’s nothing bad between us. There’s no tension. If anything, there’s just been more distance between us over the years, which is another reason why it’s so surprising that he just showed up like this.
Abby: Do you ever wish you had a closer relationship with him?
Devon: I mean, yeah, of course I do. He’s my biological father, so i would — I would love to have a tighter bond with him, especially with neil being gone. But at the same time, it’s hard to always trust his intentions, given his past. And with chancellor-winters doing so well right now, his timing is a little suspicious.
Abby: Do you think that’s why he turned up so suddenly?
Devon: I don’t want to think that, but, you know, it’s tucker. And he always has another card to play. So I can’t help but wonder what’s really going on and what his real agenda is.
Billy: I don’t want to speculate on how chelsea is going to react, but I will say that she seems a lot more fragile than I have seen her in a while.
Victoria: Come on, billy. We both know what chelsea’s capable of when she’s in a bad place, and it’s not our responsibility to temper that. The best thing that we can do is try to keep johnny as far away from her as possible. And in the meantime, I think that’s probably the safest bet for all of us.
Billy: [ Sighs ]
Victoria: Billy, johnny has got to be our main priority right now.
Billy: I understand that.
Victoria: He can’t deal with this kind of turmoil on his own. We’ve got to be there for him.
Billy: I agree 100%. But I can’t help but be a little worried about chelsea.
Victoria: Well, then be worried about her from afar. Chelsea needs to pull herself together and stop using our son as her crutch.
Adam: Chelsea. Hi.
Chelsea: Is sharon here?
Adam: Uh, she just stepped back in the back room.
Chelsea: What’s going on here?
Adam: What do you mean?
Chelsea: Are you and sharon conspiring against me, discussing all the things that are wrong with me?
Adam: What? No. Of course not.
Chelsea: Are you all — what, you’re all working together, trying to fix me? Is that why you brought me here?
Chance: No.
Adam: Chelsea, calm down. Nobody is conspiring against you or trying to fix you. Um, we’re just — we’re concerned about you.
Chelsea: I don’t need your concern. And I don’t need your pity. And I don’t need your judgments. All I am trying to do is spend some time with my other son. I want to be a part of his life. And I want him to be a part of mine!
[ Exhaling heavily ]
Next week on
“the young and the restless”…
Nate: I haven’t been operating in good faith.
Lily: Why would you do something like that?
Devon: This is about you and me, isn’t it?
Chelsea: It was such a beautiful day. I had to —
Billy: You had to what? Camp out here and wait for your moment to ambush my son?
Tucker: I’ve dreamt of this day for a long time.
Ashley: Please spare me the compliments and the pretty speeches. Why are you really here, tucker? Coverage, care, get it all. <
Well, no. Ahh! I’m so sorry I’m late. You know I can never get out of the hospital on time. Mwah! Well, joss just left, so I wasn’t waiting long. Milkshakes? Mom, you’re treating me like a child. Oh, I didn’t know that milkshakes were only for children. I’m trying to make a point here, mom. You don’t see me as an adult. Okay, then I’ll have one just for myself. Well, then, make that two. And, yes, to the whipped cream. Well, I’m glad you’re not too grown up for whipped cream. What I’m too grown up for is the lecture that you’re about to give me about forgiving curtis, and that’s never going to happen. Well, it is nice to see you all. I’m sure chase will appreciate the cheering section. We can’t wait.
[ Laughter ] Well, I hope you enjoy a wonderful evening. Thank you, curtis. Thanks. Thanks. I’m so happy we’re finally doing this. Finn and I have been talking about how we needed to get together with the two of you. We were? Yes, we — we were. I was just saying it’s long, long overdue. We’re excited to hear chase perform. Yuri’s a big fan of male singers. Harry styles. Ed sheeran. “Weird al” yankovic. Oh, didn’t you say he was belarusian, too? Serbian. Oh, is that what brought the two of you together, a love of slavic singers? We have a lot more than that in common. We are both very good at kissing. Ah. Selina: Very prompt, mr. Bell. I hope your card-counting talents are as finely honed as your timing. You know, with all due respect,ms. Wu, uh, do you even need me? It looks like you got a pretty good operation going on here. You’re not trying to break our agreement, are you? This could be a significant problem for both of us.
The role of brook lynn quartermaine is temporarily being played by briana lane. Ah, thanks for coming. I could use all the fans I could get. Aw, man, are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. In case I make a complete fool of myself?
[ Cellphone chimes ] Not a chance. You’re ready for this. Ooh, is that work? Uh, no, I-it’s sam. She sends her apologies for not being able to be here, but, uh, danny’s got a cold. Aw, tell danny to feel better, and tell sam we’ll miss her. I will do that. Any updates on the hook attacks? Chase, please, no shoptalk tonight. I’m free for a consult if you need me. Alright. Did you hear what I just said? No. Uh, chase, do you have a moment to go over some details before your performance tonight? Of course he does. Go. You heard my manager. Lead the way.
[ Sighs ] He misses the job. Well, that’s good. I might have a — might have a fix for that. We’ve been operating under a misapprehension. Learning our perp is a woman has changed the course of the investigation. Well, you’re hardly back to square one. I mean, your department’s done a great job of profiling the killer. I mean, we circulate this information, and, um, it’ll narrow the field. The faster the better.
[ Knock on door ] Come in. Evening, commissioner, D.A. Scorpio. You look fully recovered from your drug overdose, mr. Haggerty. No thanks to that psychopath esme prince. Have you found her yet? You, uh, look surprised to see me, daddy. I am. ‘Cause I’m in here after visiting hours? Because I thought you were dead. Oh, well, you forgot that I’m my father’s daughter. Impossible to get rid of and ready to seek revenge on anyone who tries.
You are same kind of doctor as terry? Uh, no, yuri, I’m a — I’m an infectious disease specialist. You would’ve appreciated the conference I recently attended. Yeah? Valuable? Yeah. It made me realize that G.H. Is way ahead of the curve when it comes to new cancer protocols. Mm-hmm. Feels so good to know I can offer my patients the best care possible. Well, my department’s certainly benefited from your department’s breakthroughs with cell therapy. There’s a lot of overlap in our specialties. Especially my original specialty, which was hematology. Wait. I had no idea. What made you switch to infectious diseases? I, uh — I lost someone close to me. I’m so sorry. Mm. May I ask what happened? Uh, at the time, I lacked the knowledge and resources to save their life, and that haunted me. I guess I became kind of obsessed with the obscure and the unknowable. Is there any part of you that regrets making that switch? No, I feel just as challenged by infectious diseases. And we have excellent doctors leading the charge in oncology. What’s everyone drinking tonight? First round’s on me. Um, something nonalcoholic would be wonderful. Thank you. Sure. Does this place serve, uh, krambambulia? But, finn, if you hadn’t experience that loss, then the entire trajectory of your life could’ve been different. Everything happens for a reason, biz. Well, people say that, but finn made a choice, and then life intervened. I mean, can you honestly say you’re better off with the life that chose you? How did you get past security? Well, I mean, I may be banned from spring ridge, but I am resourceful.
[ Chuckles ] And before spring ridge? I was biding my time in a canadian hostel paid for by a sympathetic fisherman who pulled me from a lake after I went off a parapet at wyndemere. Ava paid me a visit. She said that you… missed your step. One moment I was wrestling with the object of your affection, and the next moment she got to resume her life as mistress of the manor while I fought to keep air in my lungs. Did she push you? Let me put it this way. I never heard a siren or saw a search light. She left me for dead. And you decided to get even by butchering her with a hook. Miss prince is still wanted for questioning. I’m sure arresting some rich girl for nearly killing a bartender is a top priority for you, huh? Finding esme prince is a priority for the pcpd. However, as I’m sure you may know, we can’t discuss details of an ongoing investigation with you. But once your attorney arrives, we can review the immunity deal negotiated in hospital, you get an executed copy, you walk out of here a free man. You’ll be dealing with me and me alone. It should be fairly simple. After all, you people owe me. Mmm. Mmm, my favorite. I know. Strawberry milkshake has always been your favorite ever since you were a little girl. I’m not a little girl anymore. I know that. But you will always be
my little girl. And I’m always gonna protect you. Always. I get that, mom. I do. But you and dad are my parents. Curtis isn’T. I have adjusted the sound system. So that reverb you heard during the mic check — no longer an issue. Thank you. Yeah. Can I get a water? Sure. N’neka, would you get some water for our star? Oh, I’m hardly that. Oh, I understand the nerves, but, uh, you’ll be fine. Hey, curtis? Jordan said you used to work in law enforcement. Yeah, once upon a time. Do you miss it? So, what’s your idea? Well, uh, jordan has some influence with the civilian complaint review board now that we’re dealing with a serial attacker, so she thinks she can get chase reinstated.
[ Sighs ] That’s such a relief. Mm-hmm. I was convinced that I cost him his job. It’s good for chase, too, yeah? Oh, no, of course it is.
[ Chuckles ] He’ll be thrilled to hear about it. And in a few months, when chase is able to establish his singing career, he’ll be able to work out a schedule that allows him to do both. If — if this works out, it’s — it’s gonna happen a lot sooner than a few months. How soon? Couple weeks. That’s not enough time. I’m not trying to cause any problems. And [Chuckles] I definitely need cash, just like any other guy, but, uh, I really want to play legitimately and not cheat. Do as I ask, and you can secure your buy-in. Until then, you owe me. In all fairness, I mean, you did take back the money that I won last time. Left me with 50 bucks while your associate tenderized my torso. What li did to you in the alley was merely a love tap. He’ll really show you what he’s capable of if you let me down.
I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re asking. I don’t either. Biz, the waitstaff seems swamped. Let’s get drinks at the bar. But I’m really — now. Fine. Excuse us, gentlemen. Of course.
[ Sighs ] So, besides weird al, what else are you into? Doctors. Are you okay? Yeah, why? What was that? What was what? You were interrogating finn’s entire existence back there. What’s bothering you?
[ Sighs ] Reiko. A japanese name meaning “beautiful” and “wise”? Reiko was finn’s wife, and now she’s dead. And I think my family could be responsible. You weren’t holed up in a hostel somewhere all that time, were you? You were getting even with your enemies with the sharp end of a hook. I barely knew brando corbin. Well, thank you very much for not pretending you weren’t aware of these attacks. How could I not be? It was all over the internet. I can’t blame you for relishing the publicity. By the way, I know how much you hate sonny corinthos. You’re welcome to target anyone around him except for one. Your precious ava? Ava is mine. I determine her fate. You had no right. I had nothing to do with it. And I’m not sure I believe you. Revenge is fine, esme. Trust me. I know. But yet again, you’re getting distracted from our original goal. Goals change. I hate repeating myself, esme. Yeah? Well, so do I! I am done talking about that hook. And so are you. Mr. Haggerty, you were gonna be charged for criminal redistribution of stolen property and felony theft by extortion. Extortion? How did ms. Prince get the opportunity to slip something into your drink if you two weren’t meeting to discuss a payoff? Robert: I mean, this is a generous deal. How do you figure that we owe you? The exculpatory evidence I laid out to the judge and jury exonerated trina robinson. Good thing I woke up from my medically induced coma right in time to testify, huh? When I marry curtis, he will be your de facto parent. Of an adult woman who can protect herself. I seem to remember curtis doing a lot to protect you. He’s the one who realized that you and i had been taken hostage by cyrus renault. Do you remember that? And if he hadn’t tracked down oz haggerty and brought him back for your trial…
[Sighs] Things could’ve gone very differently. And I will always be grateful to curtis. But just because he looked out for me in the past doesn’t give him license to interfere with my life now. Like having ava fire me? Curtis knows. He knows he overstepped.
[ Scoffs ] But there’s something that you need to realize. As awful as these past few months have been for you, I don’t know if I could’ve made it through without curtis. Yeah, sometimes, uh, I do miss law enforcement, but my situation was kind of complicated, and I took away from it a lot of hard lessons. Are you happy where you are now? Oh, man. Nightclub, you know? Owning a nightclub seems to be meant for me. See? That’s the thing. I don’t — I don’t feel like I’m meant to be a singer. Hey, man, it’s early. Give it some time. Oh, now you sound like brook lynn.
[ Chuckles ] Look, we agree that you have mad talent, okay? So why don’t you see where it goes? I am, but mainly because I don’t have a choice. Look, I know fame and fortune would appeal to most. But not you? Don’t tell brook lynn, but if I could be a cop again tomorrow, I would drop this singing business in a second. I mean, can you really reinstate chase in just a few weeks? Won’t there be interviews and weeks of paperwork? Lots and lots of paperwork? Hm, you see, it doesn’t work that way. With the commissioner involved, it can really speed up the process. Plus, the ccrb takes into account letters of support. So seeing as you were with chase on both instances where he threw his fists, which got him suspended… my account could make a difference. Right. But — but it’s not a done deal, so don’t say anything to him yet, okay? I won’t breathe a word. Excuse me, cody. What are you up to?
[ Chuckles ]
I’m not sure what you’re driving at, mr. Haggerty. The doctors at G.H. Brought you out of your coma. I had nothing to do with the timing. I’m just saying your department and the da’s office would have some serious egg on your faces if you’d convicted an innocent person. Now that I’ve had more time to think, I realize the mutyeal you obl he very leastyou could offer me. Ma now, you leave here and you put a foot wrong, we’re gonna haul you in. I mean, come on. You’re just a lowlife fence and a two-bit hood. I’ll also be representing myself. I graduated at the top of my class in law school. In the hospital, I was promised full immunity from criminal prosecution in exchange for my testimony. And if any document you care to show me falls short of that, I will sue you into oblivion. Hell, maybe trina robinson will want to jump on a class-action suit for false arrest and malicious prosecution. Your father, curtis, marshall — they all called in favors to track down evidence to get you exonerated. But at the end of the day, it was curtis who held me when I cried. It was curtis who tracked down oz and waited outside his hospital room day and night, waiting for him to wake up. And he even considered mortgaging the savoy in case you were convicted and we needed money for the appeal. Curtis was willing to do that? Curtis might not have raised you, but, honey, that man loves you. What makes you think I’m up to something? I know trouble when I see it. Been hanging out with your uncle mac too long. Speaking of mac, have you given any more thought to taking that dna test? Uh, no, I have other things on my mind. Chase’s music career is not — it’s gonna be nonexistent unless… like avoiding your good friend detective falconeri? I’m not avoiding anyone. Oh, really? Oh, okay, then go say hi. I — you know, I’d love to, but nature calls.
[ Sighs ]
[ Cellphone chimes ] Everything okay? Uh, my friend want to know how much to feed svetlana. Your…cat? Sveta is a bearded collie. No kidding? I have a bearded dragon. Uh… two beards. Yeah.
[ Laughs ] Ah. Name? Roxie. Wow. Yeah.
[ Chuckles ] Okay, so when I saw the picture on finn’s phone, I realized that’s the woman I sketched. That’s the woman in my recovered memory. And you’re sure you haven’t seen a picture of reiko before and just transposed the image of her into the memory? Finn never even talks about her, and I only saw her picture after I had already drawn the sketch. It can’t be a coincidence that we were both on the mariana islands at the same time. I know reiko’s face because I knew her. And so did my father. Drink and then answer. You think reiko died after a fall and you or your dad were there when it happened or caused it? I don’t know. Why not ask finn? Ryan: Well, well, well. What was in that water you fell into? When you’ve been through hell, nothing scares you. Not even your father. You just missed ava, by the way. Clearly, she doesn’t know that you’re back. Can I assume that extends to the cassadine men, as well? You were my first stop, but wyndemere hasn’t seen the last of me. Mm-hmm. But will you complete your mission, or is the old plan beneath the new esme? Adaptation is necessary for survival. Are you pitching me a new strategy? I now have a powerful weapon in my arsenal, one guaranteed to ensure mass destruction of the cassadine family and drive ava into your arms. Well, do you intend to share this? Thank god you’re already sitting down.
Oh, my gosh! This is so exciting, isn’t it?! Yeah, I mean, I th– I think chase is pretty nervous. Which is totally normal. He’s gonna be fine. He’s gonna be great. Mm. Better than great. Chase is gonna be legendary. I’m gonna get a beer. Can I get you ladies a drink? Yes. Surprise me. Alright. Double vodka on the rocks. Oh. Alright. Are you sure you don’t want to make that a ginger ale? You look like you might lose your dinner. For good reason. Dante just told me there might be a path back for chase to rejoin the pcpd. Really? That’s fabulous. Right? No, it’s the worst. Well, I’m sure brook lynn knows how passionate you are about being a cop. She does. But what she doesn’t know is I’m doing this whole singing thing for her. She worked like crazy to promote me, and…I guess I just didn’t want to disappoint her. I’m sure she doesn’t want to disappoint you, either. Look, chase, uh, I know you didn’t ask, but a word of advice — do not hold back in a relationship. It is the beginning of the end. Does it meet with your satisfaction, counselor? No need to be nasty. It’s all in order.
[ Sighs ] Sign here and here. Both documents. Okay. Always happy to write a civil wrong. Hey. And you’re welcome. True, you’re shrewd. And sharp. It’s too bad you use your intellect to break the law. In a perfect world, this would serve as your wake-up call. But something tells me you’ll continue to ignore your potential in favor of illegal profit. I’m a victim here, remember? Esme prince tried to kill me. In a perfect world, you’d be out there trying to catch her and that maniac with a hook instead of harassing the little guy.
[ Door closes ] What a waste. Well, what do you think? It’s genius.
[ Chuckles ] Even though it wasn’t part of our original plan? Plans evolve. My world-traveled and wise daughter taught me that.
[ Chuckles ]
[ Chuckles ] Why burden finn with speculation? It’s bad enough that losing reiko derailed his life. I’d hardly say finn is off track. He saves lives practically every day. All but the one he couldn’T. Which is probably why he’s so determined to save me. Finn loves you. He says he does, but he tends to equate loving someone with needing to rescue them. All doctors have a savior complex, biz, myself included. Yeah, I-I’m not his patient. I’m supposed to be his partner. Has he been like this in any of his other relationships?
[ Chuckles ] Well, um, with my sister hayden, she happened to be dying of the same disease that killed his wife, so, yeah, he moved heaven and earth to save her. And maybe his engagement to anna fall apart because she didn’t need to be saved. But neither do I. I can’t have all of my personal problems cast in the shadow of the woman he couldn’t save, a woman who, if she were still alive, he’d probably be with today. I need to know what happened to reiko. Finn deserves the truth. And you’ll tell him once you know? Mm-hmm. Then I’m here to help. My daughter, violet, has full conversations with roxie, and she’s sure that roxie can understand everything she’s saying. Sveta understand every single word I say, both in belarusian and in english. Fascinating. Okay, I’m sorry to — I’m sorry to interrupt. You’re not — you’re not interrupting. Great pants. I was wondering what happened to my shower curtain. Do you know yuri? Yeah.
Dobri dzien, yuri. You remember “hello” in my language? Of course. Um, it’s great to see you. And you, mr. Chase. Uh, I think the two brothers wish for some privacy. Excuse me. Hey, have a seat, bro.
[ Sighs ]
[ Chuckles ] You nervous? You have to ask? Look, I know dad is watching violet and told you to record this on his phone. Please don’T. Okay. Yeah. Uh, you’re not really nervous, are you? You’re the most prepared person I know. No, I’m sorry. I’m all nerves. Okay. Understandable. Little ironic, though, right, when you think about it. I mean, just think. You used to make your living in the line of fire, and now the thought of singing in front of a bunch of hipsters is breaking you out in a cold sweat. Not helping. Okay. I… I don’t know that this is for me, finn. The things we do for love, bro. I am so glad you both could make it. It should be a wonderful evening. I’m sure it will be. But, um, that’s not why I’m here. Look, trina, I know things between us have been tense since I spoke to ava about your job at the gallery. I would like to explain. My mom helped me figure out a few things. And I understand why you did what you did. And I can appreciate the instincts. You are very important to your mother, and even if I didn’t know you, that makes you important to me. But I do know you, and I care a whole lot about you. It’s hard to apologize for that. And I won’t ask you to. But I will ask you to never go behind my back again.
[ Sighs ] Until I can put our plan into motion, I’m gonna need some essentials, like… I don’t know, food and a roof over my head. Can you access your trust fund? I could, but I am wanted for questioning by the pcpd, and I can’t risk the money being traced. Could you help me? I managed to squirrel away some money when I was pretending to be my brother, but without kevin’s credentials, I can’t get to it. That’s okay. I’ll figure something out. You’ve managed to come this far under the radar. It’s impressive. Oh, believe me, nobody ever sees me coming. I only have one ask. Oh, don’t bother. Ava will pay for what she did to me. But I have other scores to settle first. For now, your beloved is safe from me. But are you safe from her?
Hi. Thank you. Yeah. No drink for me? You need to explain it to the bartender. He doesn’t know krambambulia?
[ Laughter ] Why do I get the distinct impression that terry is giving us some space? Because I asked her to. Ah. I wanted to apologize for interrogating you earlier. You don’t have to apologize. You can ask me anything. Okay? Why the questions about my change of specialty? Well, you mentioned that it was because of a loss, but you never elaborate. Ah. Well, it’s not really, um… it’s not really a secret. I, um… I had a really good friend once. Good doctor. We served together in doctors without borders. His name was garrett. One day in the field, he got bit by a snake. I — I tried to save him, but I couldn’T. Oh. I kind of assumed you… was talking about reiko. Mm-hmm. I understand that you asked my dad about her. And I think I know why. Are you worried about me, daddy? When ava insinuated that you might’ve been in an accident, I was worried that I’d lost you forever. How inconvenient. You would’ve needed a new foot soldier. You mean so much more to me than that. Do I? You’re my legacy. You’re the best of your mother and me. And there’s no limit to what we can achieve, especially with this new development. Now we’re closer than ever to getting what we want. But there is one obstacle that needs my immediate attention. So what are you waiting for? Esme. Welcome back.
[ Door beeps ]
[ Door closes ] You know, you had the same strange look on your face when haggerty mentioned waking up to testify. Is there a story here? Guys like oz haggerty frustrate me. They’re always getting away with their crimes. Well, get used to it. Plenty of haggertys out there. Thanks, robert. That’s comforting. This is my life, and I have to try to direct it the best I can. And while I respect that marrying my mom will make you my stepdad — you don’t need another one. What do you say? Can we be friends again? I’d like that a lot.
[ Sighs ] Chase seems like a guy more comfortable chasing down bad guys than being a rock star. Aren’t you happy for him that he might get his old job back? Whatever chase wants, I want for him. But? Mm, sounds like he could be reinstated pretty quickly, so what happens to all the plans we made? Hey, brook lynn, can you come here? Hey. Go. We’ll talk later. Thank you. Another one, please. I got a tab running.
[ Clears throat ] Are you okay? One more of these, and I will be. May I suggest something? Can I stop you? If the way you’re living life requires liquid courage, you’re going about it wrong. You ready? Almost, but I need something from you. Anything. Kiss me. Hmm. It’s unusual encouragement from a manager, but whatever works.
You’re welcome. Guess it’s kind of strange that I never talk about reiko. If you want, we can talk about this later. No, it’s good, it’s good. I shut down after she died. I closed myself off to other people. But you’ve unlocked parts of me that I thought… we’re gone forever. And I just want you to know there’s no part of me I wouldn’t share with you. Curtis: Thank you all for coming out tonight. Are we ready for tonight’s performer?
[ Cheers and applause ] Go get them, tiger.
[ Cheers and applause continue ] Now, this is his first time right here on this stage, okay? And I know that you’re gonna love him as much as I do. So please help the savoy welcome the one and only harrison chase.
[ Cheers and applause ] How’s everyone doing?
[ Cheering ] So good!
I was two minutes late
I stood and watched it fly away
in the days sitting next to you
you said that you would miss yours, too
oh, whoa
feels like the sky is falling
shattered like a vase
I’m starting to think I’m falling into place
feels like the sky is crashing
crashing over me
I’m starting to think I’m falling into place see? Chase chose a new path. You can, too, if that’s what you want.
I’m falling into place
two steps forward
and then I rewind 10
I guess no one ever crossed an ocean
without being up against the wind
whoa, whoa
feels like the sky is falling
shattered like a vase
I’m starting to think I’m falling into place
feels like the sky is crashing
crashing over me
I’m starting to think I’m falling into place
if I’d never seen the stars align
oh, I’d watch them shining in your eyes
so I’d smile and watchthe world go by at night
[ Cheers and applause ]
Feels like the sky is falling
shattered like a vase
I’m starting to think I’m falling into place
feels like the sky is crashing
crashing over me
I’m starting to think I’m falling into place
oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh
oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh
I’m falling into place
[ Cheers and applause ] Well, I got to hand it to you, brook lynn. You know how to spot talent. Ahh. H-he’s almost as good a singer as he is a cop. Uh, I’m gonna reach out to you about that statement. Looking forward to getting my partner back. Ah. You’re a good commissioner, commissioner, but remember something. You worked hard, and you earned it. I used to do almost anything to achieve a result. Then I overcorrected by refusing to bend the rules. Neither strategy has served me well. Trying to figure out what line not to cross is tough in our business. How do you manage? I straddle the line. Well…just enough to administer justice to the good people of port charles, uh, and I sleep well at night. And when you slip? When you’re party to something that may be for the greater good but is an ethical gray area? Remember something, jordan. We’re only human. The real criminals, they’re out there, running around, committing violent crime without mercy. We bring them in — whatever it takes. I’m in the clear. Yeah. Am I good to go back to work at the highsider? Great. Oh, but not full time. I decided to study for the bar.
[ Chuckles ] Guess who’s got a future as a lawyer? That’s right. Alright.
Wow. What restraint? My phone goes off. It’s in my hand and in my face before the ding’s over. Yeah. Well, I know who it is. Don’t wanna deal. Oh, come on now you have to tell me. EJ made me an offer, Uhoh, and you’re gonna refuse you. You want a horse head in your bed? Okay. What’s the offer? He wants me to move back into his house.
Like through the hour class, so are.
Quitting time. Detective. I’m just trying to catch up. Won’t be long Jada. The whistle has blown time to go. Besides you have plans tonight? I do. You do with me. Hope that’s not gonna make your boyfriend jealous.
I understand yet.
Thanks. Thanks for
praying.
Eric.
What is it? What’s, What’s wrong?
I knew Allie shouldn’t have jumped the gun and kicked you out of the apartment when you had no place to go. Chanel sleeping on the street, Johnny, No, this is not okay. And Allie wouldn’t be okay with it either. I’m gonna talk to her. Trust me this, we’re gonna fix it, okay? I Chanel No, no. Chanel. Will you let me speak, please?
I’m not homeless. Okay. That woman just ruin a perfectly good cup of coffee. I’m fine. Really. In fact, I have two offers on places to live. I’m just, uh, Undecided. I, I can’t believe you’re even considering moving back into that nuthouse easier, tried to take away your shares. He tried to make you out as some mentally unstable ghost whisper.
Yeah, he, he actually apologized for that. He conceded that I wasn’t actually hallucinating, but I was seeing Stephan, not Jake. And you accepted his apology. He seemed very sincere. Oh, no one faked sincerity like he did Amara. He I, You cannot trust that psychopath. You are smarter than that. And if you’re still undecided, you know what I’m gonna answer for you?
Oh, hey, great to see you too. Sorry. Um, come in. I just, I, I thought you were Chanel and she forgot her key. Oh. Um, well, I hope you’re even more disappointed when you hear my news. Why, what’s going on? Um, I’m leaving going back to LA for work. What? You’re leaving? Mm-hmm. with, with both Grandma Kate and Grandma Marla.
Sick in the hospital. Yeah. And Sunny’s just getting out too. I, I know the timing’s the worst, but I, I don’t have really many options. I have meetings to go to. I have to be there in person I writing and, um, we’re going in pre-production on this project on direct, so, Mr. Big Shot. All right, we get it. But son can’t go with you to la I mean, he can recover there.
Um, I wish, but no, uh, he’s staying and I’m not thrilled about the long distance thing, but we talked about it and our relationship can withstand it. Wish I had that kind of confidence.
Ah, what’s your deal? Walked in here half expecting you to be brimming with confidence. Seeing as we’re so close to achieving our goals for the company, not close enough. Getting your shares back from Gabby was a coup, but we’re still a crucial vote. Short they was, Voting rights have been restored, so we need Ava or Johnny, or ideally both on our side, which is why I went outta my way to deliver such sincere apologies and invite them both to move back here.
So what’s the problem where? They’re thinking about it and I haven’t responded yet to my texts. Not a good sign, brother. Well, they haven’t said no, so I remain optimistic, and even if they do refuse my offer, I’ll just come up with more incentives for them to move in and tell ’em to reconsider. Whatever it takes.
They need to remain close in proximity so I can massage their votes and then we can finally kick Gabby’s ass out of the CEO’s chair. Very perfect and sexy.
I will make my own decisions. Thank you. Ava, you just got your voting rights back. Do you know how hard it was for Lee and I to to convince his father that your hallucinations of Jake were just a case of mistaken identity? Don’t throw that away. Okay? If you move back into that creepy, depressing place, you’re gonna be under constant pressure to vote e j’s way i e against me.
And once I’m. You’ll be fooling yourself if you don’t think that you’re next on that list. Oh, you think that I’m gonna be that easily manipulated that I’m just gonna crack under pressure. I know. I know you’re savvy. I know you’re strong, But EJ Savier and stronger . Okay, so now I wanna move back in. Just to prove you wrong, you know, even if you were to convince me to stay away, your job is still at risk.
What does that mean? What it means is you’re forgetting that other voting board member that e j’s presently court. He invited Johnny to move back into, Oh, well why? Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place? Grab your phone and tell either you’re moving back in. Now
you’re joking, right? I mean, you have to know that Eric would not be jealous if you and I grabbed a tea or whatever. Yes, I was joking. I do know that. Right, right. Uh, so what are these plans referring to? Well, you know what, why don’t we call it a reward? Right. Because now there are two dangerous perps that are off the streets and behind bars because of you, your hard work and incredible detective skills.
I was just doing my job. I mean, I was just one of many people who’ve helped, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Look, the press isn’t here. All right. Just take the compliment. . Okay. Okay. Thank you, boss. Okay, good. So what do you say? You wanna break bread with me or what I’m buying? Of course. No, unless you have plans with Eric tonight.
Uh, nope. We don’t. He’s burning the midnight oil as new go, right? Yeah. Really? Hell’s that going? Nicole hasn’t brought it up to you. Well, she just said that, uh, she’s thankful to be able to give him the opportunity, uh, that he can be back doing something he loves. And by that I mean photography. Yeah. Yeah.
He’s he’s very talented. Yeah. Yeah, he is. You know what, Ashley, I have an idea. Why don’t we go over there, Right? We can go over there. We’ll bring him some food. We can surprise him. Huh? What do you say? Sure. Sounds good. Okay. Yeah, let’s do it. Come on. So this mysterious disease that your mom and Kate and Kayla have, it’s similar to the one that your dad suffered from.
Yeah. Which was years ago, and it’s all tied to Orff fees. Oh my God. Eric, I am so sorry. But your dad was cured, obviously. Yeah, I mean it’s, it’s just for a rare orchid, which apparently is extinct. Oh no. So what else can be done this point? No one knows re came in last night to see if he could be some help, and he and John, they went to go visit Dr.
Roth as the last resort. I mean, he was involved in RUS care the first time around, so, But he just told him at this time, there’s nothing he can do to
Eric. Are, are you saying that Mar and, and Kate and Kayla, they, they might not make it.
What are you doing here? You need to go be with your mom and I should go with you. You shouldn’t be alone.
Nicole, believe me, that’s where I want to be. I want to be with my mom and dad and all of them, but John, he’s just said it’s best that everyone just stay home tonight. My mom hasn’t been sleeping. Mom. She needs rest. I can’t imagine what she must be going through, but all of them. Are going through. But you know, I, I think this problem with the extinct Ford, I, I’m, I’m sure they can solve it.
I mean, they, they must be able to synthesize it or something. I, I’m sure there’s just a, a cure around the corner
here. That’s what I’m praying for. Hey, thank you for telling me what I needed to hear.
Well, there’s one thing I know for sure you being there for your mom and for the others, it’s, it’s a really big help. And I, I know that I’ve said this to you money many times before, but Damnit bears repeating.
You have a gift, Eric, Her comforting people. For giving them strength and giving them hope just by being you and because of your, your big, generous heart.
Ready for some takeout.
Allie, something going on with you and Chanel. ? Well, yes. I don’t know. We’ve had a couple of fights, and the last fight that we had was about Johnny, because he planted himself on our couch for two full days. I don’t know. Supposedly right now he’s house challenged and I don’t know. He’s gone now, but the fight kind of continues.
Why? Why is that? Well, it’s because she and Johnny, they have this connection, you know? Yeah. But she rejected him to be with. Yeah. Right. She chose you. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Maybe I overreacted. Okay. . All right. Well, I mean, just, just tell Chanel that and make up We did. Okay. Then I’m, I’m, Then I can, I’m kinda lost.
What is the, what’s the problem?
Allie’s, This says she’s glad that you made up. Yeah. As of. It’s like an afterthought. It’s like, see ya. Oh, and by the way, I’m glad we made up. Okay, cool. Bye. I, I, I have to say, um, Allie, how do I say that? Oh my God. You’re taking her side. No, I’m not. I’m no, I’m, I’m no sides. I’m just, I’m just saying that you’re coming off as little insecure.
That’s all. Okay. Well, maybe I am a little. I’m obviously very new to this bisexual thing and I know that I’m still attracted to men. So I know Chanel is definitely still attracted to men and I don’t know, admit it worries me. I feel like maybe Chanel wants something that I can’t give her. So Eva asked you to room with her at the Salem in Yes, but she said that it would be strictly platonic anyway.
Before I even had a chance to answer, my dad came crashing in and invited us both to live back in the mansion. And yet you’re sitting here on a park bench with coins in your coffee cup, . Well, like I said, I am undecided, so I was able Why? You’re gonna turn down, going back to live in a mansion with a servant and a chef and a whole movie theater.
Like, how would you do that? I, I mean, I, I can’t speak for Ava, but I, I don’t, I don’t want to go back. Unless she does,
You think I’m a fool?
No, I, I get it. You wanna keep your options open, but you’re not giving up on Ava. That’s right. I’m not giving up on her.
Now you’re saying that I should move back in with that. I believe psychopath is the word that you used. Johnny has a huge crush on you. If he takes his dad’s offer and moves in and you don’t, he’s gonna feel rejected. I already rejected him. We are wrong for each other, for all the reasons I’ve already explained to you.
All right. Why are you having such a hard time deciding if you’re gonna move in with. I’m not moving in with him. I’m moving in at the same time as him. And you know what? Why wouldn’t I be tempted? You lived in that castle, right? I mean, not only is it enormous, it has every amenity under the sun. Like you said, what cooks, servants a movie theater.
Don’t forget that. Why am I debating this? Not a clue. I mean, it really does have everything including ej, Meaning what? Well, you know, maybe. Interested in the sun because you’d prefer the sins of the father.
Oh, Ra j um, I didn’t know that you were, Hey, let me explain please. No, she’s very sick. And so is is Kate and Kayla and, and Nicole. She was trying to call me down because I can’t be with my mom tonight and. Thanks to you. I’m, I’m feeling better. Oh, well I am so sorry. Wrong with your mom. Listen, and I, I get into it right now.
I just kind of got control of my, my emotions thanks to Nicole. So, Yeah, of course. We understand. We, uh, no, we should have called. We just wanna surprise you. Oh, we appreciate it. Yeah. And look, if you don’t mind, I kinda lost my appetite, so I’m just, I’m gonna get outta here. I’ll go with you. Um, unless you’d rather be alone.
No, yeah, sure. Please. I’d like that. Thank you. Yeah, no problem. Goodnight later. You too, detective.
Oh, you look so, uh, depressed. It’s a good thing you were here for. Yeah. And he is lucky to have Jah and she’s right. He shouldn’t be alone tonight. Yeah.
So, Okay. Is this like Chanel missing guys in general, or one guy specifically? Because like I told you, she chose you. No, I know, I know, I know, I know. It took her long enough, didn’t it? And her and Johnny were married, like literally married, remember like three seconds. Yeah. Right. Uh, I, I don’t know. Look, I know that I’m all over the place right now.
I’m just really confused. Okay. All am maybe are, are like, Are you missing guys too?
Maybe. I don’t know. I mean, I think about trips sometimes and how great that was for a while anyway, but I love Chanel and Chanel’s who I wanna be with, and I just, I wanna make her happy and satisfied, which, Is why I’ve been thinking more and more about something that Alex Cki mentioned. What? Okay. What was that?
Well, he and Chanel and myself were hanging out at small bar and he just kind of threw it out there that we should, um, have a threesome,
threesome. You’re shocked. No, I mean, yeah. I mean, I’m, I’m, I’m surprised. Yeah, certainly. But I’m sorry. Sorry. Go on. Okay. How did, how did Chanel react? How did you react actually to that suggestion? Yeah. Well, um, honestly, I was kind of appalled. Mm-hmm. , but I could tell Chan was interested. She didn’t say that she was interested, but she didn’t need to.
I could tell, and I don’t know will, I don’t want her feel like she’s missing out on anything. Okay. Missing out because she’s still interested in guys, Is that what you mean? Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. And so maybe what Alex suggested, maybe that’s exactly what she needs, you know, it’d be something that we would be still doing together as a couple.
Mm-hmm. , but she’d be able to be with a guy. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I mean, there, there’s, there’s logic in there somewhere. Uh, well, if you don’t mind me asking, have you and Sonny ever had a threesome?
First, you’re pushing me to be with Johnny, and now you are asking me about ej. Honestly, this is starting to sound like some bad late night cable movie. Sins of the father. Sorry. I have a damara. The son’s a hot, but the father’s so naughty. . My God. Would you stop? Come on. I mean, we’ve talked about EJ and you before.
No, you’ve talked about us before. Well, that’s because I have an amazing sexual tension meter. It’s kind of like a superpower. Yeah. Or maybe you’re just projecting out of frustration. What is that supposed to mean? Oh, come on. It can’t be easy getting engaged to a guy and then all of a sudden out of nowhere, the real love of your life comes back and says to you that he cannot stay on the side of you.
Gotta say, I’m a little surprised by your comment about Gabby, about wanting her out of the company. How can you be surprised by that? No, it was more so. Your comment about her physical appearance? Oh, her perfect sexy, you mean that’s the one was more so the look on your face when you said it almost as if you were challenging me to agree with you,
How could you not look? Some things just aren’t up for debate. You never took philosophy. Not aware of the concept of the platonic ideal. Look, I may despise the woman, but even Plato sword, thousands of years before Gabby was even born. Oh, come on, Ste. You can’t tell me that you don’t think Gabby is a stunningly beautiful woman with eight killer ball.
Is Gavi a beautiful woman? Yes. That’s hard to miss. Am I attracted to her? Absolutely not. Quite frankly, when I think about being with her now, I’m physically repulsed, almost nauseous, strange, not to me. See, to me, what’s strange is the fact that I ever could have been in love with her, let alone married to her.
Let me ask you this.
If you are so disgusted by. Why are you still wearing your ring?
Actually, I don’t know.
After I spent, well, four years on ice, I woke up and there it was, and here it still is. You know, it’s quite an adjustment being resurrected after four years. So I haven’t given much thought as to why the ring is there, let alone whether I’m gonna keep it on or.
Right. Well, I, I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot. I’m only curious, but if I may, perhaps there are some subconscious, unresolved feelings at play there. I mean, you say you are over completely over Gabby. But the general consensus was before you died, the two of you were madly in love soul lands. In fact, I would say that my personal vote owns a hell of a lot more weight than the general consensus.
Fine. Five, believe you. But do you believe you? How’s that supposed to mean? You don’t need to convince me Step. But why not? If you’re so completely over Gabby or disgusted by her, In fact, why not take off that ring?
Was that really necessary? Throwing Stephan in my face like. Well, you’re the one who’s throwing my personal life around, like it’s a volleyball already to spike in e j’s face. Also, you can keep your top spot here at Damara. It’s not the same and you know it. How is it not the same? You’re talking about the person I thought I was gonna spend the rest of my life with my husband, my soulmate, and now he’s back and he tells me that I discussed him, You and John.
I don’t know what you and Johnny have going on, but it, it does not compare. Not even close. Okay. All right. You’re right. Okay. I’m sorry. It must be very painful for you for stuff in the B cycle. No, it’s not just painful. It’s does not make any sense unless the Dr. Wolf, Dr. Wolf, must have done something to his brain, to his heart, and I can’t find that bastar to beat the truth outta him.
Why’s the truth so important to you? Hmm. You are engaged to another man. Yeah. No. Yes, yes, you’re right. I, and I really love Lee. I really do.
But now that Stephen’s back, it just feels unresolved. It feels incomplete. I don’t know how to move on without. Want closure? Yes. Okay. I hate that word, but Yes. Right. And, and in moving back to the matter at hand, I, I need to focus on my future, my future here at Damara. You know, after everything I have done for you, I think I deserve at least an answer to what we really have to ask.
Are you gonna move into the mansion or not?
Uh, I couldn’t, but notice that things got a little weird when the topic turned to a. Well, probably because it’s none of my business. . None of your business. Chanel, I think we both know everything under the sun is your business. Okay. True. But come on, Chanel, I’m a big boy. Give it to me straight. Whatever you’re holding back, just say it.
Well it’s, it seems like, well, the universe put you and Ava in a room together, right? Yeah. And there was already spark there. Yes. And. , the two of you could have lept at the chance and let hormones and nature take its course, but, but well, she didn’t. And sometimes when the universe gives you that shot and you don’t take it well, Johnny, I think you already have your answer.
I just. Maybe it’s not the one you want.
It’s a simple question. Will have you and Sunny ever had a threesome? You, you know what, I’m, I’m sorry. I’m not comfortable, um, discussing that without, without Sunny present it cuz it would not, it just wouldn’t feel right. Well, I’m talking about it without Chanel present. Okay. But that, that is your choice.
Maybe, maybe I’m just more private than you are. Okay. Yeah, I think you are. Well, if you’re not gonna answer my question, can you at least tell me if you think it’s wrong, like immoral or whatever? Oh, yeah. No, of course not. I mean, as long as everyone’s consenting, you know, and fine with it. But I mean, the, the, the important thing though is that if you do this, you’re not just doing it for Chanel, Right?
It has to be something that, that you want. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I think just right now, I don’t know what I. Okay. Well, I mean, just give yourself some time and figure it out. Yeah. And I gotta go. Sorry, I’m gonna, otherwise I’m gonna miss my flights. You gonna be okay? Yeah. Honestly talking, you really helped a lot.
I, um, I’m gonna keep you updated on Grandma Marlena and grandma. She, I’m gonna try and see them tomorrow and I’ll check in on Sunny. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. I love you. I love you too. Have a safe flight. Thanks. Bye.
You are so sweet bringing this food over. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Well, it turns out it wasn’t a great night for a party though, was it? Yeah. Whatever. I prefer to be alone with you anyway. Mm mm.
And you know what? Here we are. My back, where it all started. That is true. No, I think this might in fact be the very same table.
Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm.
What you saw when you walked in, Eric, it’s, it’s okay. Really. I’m just glad that Nicole could be there for you when you needed someone to, to comfort you. Calm me down.
But, um, I will admit that I like to be that person. I want you to be able to confide in me. Count on me.
I’m here for,
I know that.
I do know that.
Here we go.
Head home.
You waiting for me to take you up on your offer? No, I do have another option. So do you, ah, so has your father been texting you all day? Like He has me. My phone’s been blown up a bit. Yeah. And, and I was just about to call my dad, let him know I made a decision. I’m gonna move back in to the mans. No more, uh, sleeping on the floor, getting thrown out, hopefully.
And had you make this decision? Yeah, I was talking to a friend of mine. She gave me some good advice about sizing up my options and I decided to take that advice. Well that’s funny cuz I was talking to, well, someone too and I didn’t get advice as much as I got Hared. , but, uh, I guess she helped me decide too, and
I am tired of excuses. Where are you on finding Dr. Willem Wolf? What? No. Well, I need to know his whereabouts asap. You hear me? This is top priority. Bastar did something to seven. I’m gonna figure out what.
I was just thinking about you. Why are you here?
Well,
Stephen, what, um, what are you doing?
I was reminded again tonight that I’m still wearing this, the ring you gave me. I can see.
Should have it back. I don’t want any more reminders of our marriage or of you.
Hey babe. You get my notes? Yeah. That’s why I thought you were coming right back. Oh, yeah. I ran into Johnny at the square. Oh, so you two hung out? We just talked for a bit. At first I thought he had no place to go, but it turns out that he has options. He’s just trying to figure out how to play. I dunno if that means that boy is all about Ava can’t get her off the brain.
He asked, so I told him that I think that he can do better, but um, I mean, she’s an ex mafia princess for one thing and then there’s a whole age difference. I mean, it just doesn’t make sense. You agree, don’t you? That doesn’t make sense. Well, Tell me what you think, Gordon.
I think we should have a threesome without.
And you are 100% positive
I was starting to wonder if you’d ever come through, but I am very grateful. This is exactly what I needed. I have to go,
Hey Pops. Wow. Yeah. I thought about your, uh, your apology. And your offer and, uh, yeah, I decided this is where I belong. Well, I couldn’t be happiest, son. Please come in. We’ll get you sorted back in, straight away. Oh. Um, okay. I’m curious. Have you, have you heard from, uh, from Ava? I was just about to tell you it was coming too.
Ava, this is a surprise why you invited us both to move back in. Yeah. This is the problem, aj, aren’t you excited to welcome your son and your sister-in-law back?
Hi. I just wanted to make sure you made your flight on time. Okay, good. And just so you know, okay. As soon as Sarah gives me the green light, I’m gonna come visit you. Okay? And you and me and a we can video chat tonight. Come miss you already
a few more. Okay, bye.
So Will is headed back to LA huh? Uh, no, Alex, he’s headed to Minnesota to judge St. OL’s annual Yodeling contest. . So now you’re channeling the Golden Girls to make fun of me. Hmm. Good. So that means you’re on the fast track to recovery and also means that our tru. Over. Okay.
And send. How are you liking your first day at sjr? Watching you work is exhausting. Oh, come on. You did a lot. We sent out email blasts to everyone on the distribution list. We came up with a strategy for undecided voters confirmed that those freaking mailers were finally sent out, and we set up a major press conference for Paulina.
Yep, you right. Very impressive. And I couldn’t have done it without your help. Put her there. Partner
Are you leaving? No, I’m just, I’m just checking to make sure I didn’t walk into the wrong apartment by a mistake. Okay. Shut the door. No.
Did you really just say that you think we should have a threesome with Alexus? Yeah, I did.
Ridge: I heard spencer was selling his house. I thought I’d come check it out.
Taylor: Right. What are you really doing here?
Ridge: Came to see you.
Steffy: Mom’s having a really hard time. She’s reevaluating her life. Her identity.
Thomas: I thought mom went to aspen to get her mind off of things.
Steffy: I’m trying. But she says dad going back to brooke, it’s breaking her heart.
Thomas: Yeah, no kidding.
Steffy: I think she’s giving up, thomas. And I’m starting to as well.
[ Car door slamming ]
Brooke: He’s home.
[ Knocking ] Ridge, door’s unlocked! You can open it. Bill?
Bill: Yes. I’m bill.
Donna: Lucky me. I get to look at two of you.
Eric: Yeah?
Donna: Mm-hmm.
Eric: You know, I think I prefer the– the airbrushed version.
Donna: Absolutely not. Nothing is more handsome than the real you, eric.
[ Chuckling ]
Eric: I can’t believe you actually pulled this off. Such a thoughtful gift.
Donna: Well, it’s your home, you deserve to be up on the wall of fame.
Eric: Yeah.
Donna: Yeah.
Eric: Except that this… this is your home now, too. You and me together. Here. I haven’t thanked you properly for this gift.
Donna: Well, more of that will do, huh?
Eric: Let’s get out of here. Come on. Let’s take the jet someplace tropical. To a nice getaway weekend. What do you say?
Brooke: Oh bill, what are you thinking? You can’t keep stopping by unannounced like this.
Bill: Well, my instincts told me that forrester wasn’t here, and from what I can tell, he isn’T. So I guess I was right.
Brooke: Okay. You’re right. He’s not here. But hopefully he’ll be home very soon.
Thomas: Yeah, aspen’s amazing. It feels like a million miles away. You’d think it’d be great for mom to clear her head.
Steffy: Yeah, I thought so, too. But she’s been super stressed since she’s been here. Like, more stressed than I’ve ever seen her.
Thomas: Okay, well, maybe you could put mom on with me. You know, I could talk to her.
Steffy: No, she said she was heading out for a walk.
[ Jaunty harp music ] Oh, my– oh, my god. Thomas!
Thomas: What?
Steffy: You are not going to believe this.
Thomas: What? Is it mom? Is she okay?
Steffy: She’s more than okay. She’s with dad.
Thomas: With dad? In aspen?
Steffy: Yes!
Thomas: No way.
Steffy: Yes, way. I’m staring at him right now. He’s literally standing with mom.
Taylor: I, um, I wasn’t expecting this. Steffy didn’t mention anything.
Ridge: I’m sorry for crashing your girls trip.
Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ridge: I didn’t tell anyone I was coming. I just jumped on the jet and came to see you. You… look good in the mountains.
Taylor: Really? You know, I came to the mountains to– to get away from everything.
Ridge: Get away from me, you mean.
[ Dramatic music ] (Dog barking)
Eric: I’m not sure exactly, somewhere in the caribbean? Yes, we’ll decide in the next half hour or so. I just wanted to be sure the plane was available. It’s not? Why? Ridge? I see. All right. Thank you. No, I’ll– I’ll speak to ridge. Yeah. Thank you. Bad news. Ridge took the plane to aspen.
Donna: Oh. To aspen.
Eric: Yeah. Business trip, I guess.
Donna: Uh, no. Pam and I schedule all the business meetings. I would have heard about it.
Eric: Well, in any case, we’re going to have to postpone our trip, won’t we? We’ll go as soon as he comes back.
Donna: Okay.
Eric: I can’t imagine he’d be gone very long. I can’t imagine why he’s got a business trip in aspen either.
Donna: And he was on the jet by himself?
Eric: Yeah. Nobody else on the manifest. No.On: , My sister wasn’t with him?
Eric: No. Brooke was not on the plane.
Bill: I won’t stay long. Trust me, I don’t want to see forrester’s ugly mug any more than he wants to see this– this work of art right here.
Brooke: Bill. Of course. I want to be supportive of you with katie. It’s just–
Bill: But you don’t want me to keep popping over.
Brooke: Right. No. You can’t keep stopping by like this. I mean, ridge and I are finally just settling in, and I don’t– I don’t want him to have to worry unnecessarily.
Bill: But why is he always looking for the worst? Something to be upset about.
Brooke: He is my husband.
Bill: Yeah. I know. That’ll never make sense to me. Of course, there are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me right now. That’s why I’m letting go of some things.
Brooke: You’re letting go?
Bill: I’m selling the aspen house.
Brooke: What? You love it there.
Bill: Yeah, I do. But I haven’t been spending as much time there as I should. But those mountains will always hold a special place in my heart. I think you know why. It’s a great house. Steffy and taylor are there right now.
Steffy: Mom and dad are together at this very moment.
Thomas: What are they doing?
Steffy: They’re talking.
Thomas: What are they saying?
Steffy: I can’t hear them. They’re outside.
Thomas: Steffy, this is huge. Dad didn’t tell anyone he was going to aspen. He’s obviously there for mom. Maybe dad has finally reached his breaking point with brooke.
Steffy: But why now?
Thomas: Doesn’t matter. Mom and dad could finally be getting together.
Steffy: You and I want that more than anything. But remember what I told you. Mom said, if dad wants her back. She’s going to–
Thomas: Yeah, she would say no, but… right now, it could actually be happening.
Steffy: I don’t know. She was pretty adamant. She’s talking about having more self-respect. Oh, I think they’re coming back inside.
Thomas: Yeah I know. Mom is a strong, independent woman, and she has every right to be cautious where dad’s concerned. But this time could be different.
Steffy: From your lips to god’s ears.
Thomas: Today could be our family’s lucky day. Dad might actually be able to convince mom to say yes.
Taylor: Ridge. Come on, we can’t be doing this. Okay? One of us should go. You! You should go.
Ridge: I should go? Just got here.
Taylor: Okay fine. You know what? You stay. I’ll go.
Ridge: Doesn’t help me either. I came to see you.
Taylor: Why?
Ridge: Why? Because, um– because I miss you. I miss our life together. I’m jonathan lawson
Thomas: Steffy, this is huge! Dad didn’t mention to anyone he was heading to aspen. He’s obviously there for mom. Maybe dad’s finally reached his breaking point with brooke.
Steffy: But why now?
Walter: You have to promise me you won’t say a word to anyone about any of this, especially the person who made the phone call.
Thomas: I promise.
Ridge: No one’s ever going to know.
Walter: There is a voice recording of the phone call attached.
Ridge: Play it.
Cps operator: Child protective services.
Brooke: Hello. I’d like to report a child in danger. His name is douglas forrester. Please get there as soon as possible. His father, thomas forrester, is unstable. He has a knife.
Cps operator: And your name, ma’am?
Brooke: Brooke logan.
Thomas: You see brooke? What did she say?
Ridge: No.
Thomas: No, you didn’t see her or she didn’t admit to calling cps?
Ridge: She didn’t admit to anything. She lied to me again.
Thomas: Brooke lied? To your face? I’m sorry, dad. I know what this must be doing to you. I haven’t had the warmest or fuzziest feelings about brooke, you know that. But she is your wife. Still, though. I mean, for her not to confess? We literally heard her voice. She said her name–
Ridge: I know! I know.
Donna: So ridge booked the jet?
Eric: Yeah, I’m afraid so. I mean, normally we talk to each other when one of us is going to use the plane, which is why I think this was probably unplanned.
Donna: I just think it’s kind of strange that he went to aspen, by himself.
Eric: Yeah, I do, too. Well, it’s not a long flight. He’s probably there already.
Donna: I just wish, you know, my sister would have gone with him.
Eric: She must have been busy, I guess.
Donna: No, I can’t really imagine brooke giving up the opportunity to get away with ridge. Could you?
Eric: I can’t either.
Donna: No.
Eric: Aspen. It’s a wonderful place for two people to reconnect.
Donna: Yeah. You know, even though ridge has moved back in with her, I don’t think things have been as smooth as she’d like them to be.
Eric: They’ll get there.
Donna: Yeah. Of course. Yeah. They will. I just wonder why he went to aspen.
Brooke: Steffy and taylor are at your place?
Bill: Yeah, they are. You know, I wanted to offer it to steffy first. Of course, I guess that does mean the whole family would be using it. Anyway, she’s there right now checking it out.
Brooke: Well, that’s very nice of you.
Bill: Well, you know, I sell to her, and then no brokerage fees for me. So nice for everyone.
Brooke: Hmm. And maybe taylor will love it so much, she will leave town for good.
Bill: We’ll see. I’m asking an arm and a leg.
Brooke: Well, good luck. Now, I think you’d better go before my husband comes home. Because–
Bill: See, now I’d just forgotten about him.
Brooke: I haven’T.
Bill: Big plans tonight?
Brooke: Well, maybe a little something special.
Bill: Lucky man, lucky man. Bet ridge is never going to take you on a hot air balloon ride or a– a camel ride in dubai. I can be pretty romantic when I want to be.
Brooke: Yeah. You can. Goodbye, bill.
Taylor: No, I know what this is. You’re getting swept up in memories–
Ridge: Swept up in memories? No, I’m here now. I’m here.
Taylor: And what about tomorrow?
Ridge: It’s not a house. But if you want me to stay, I’ll be here tomorrow.
Taylor: Ridge, I know what this is about. This is your– the kids are guilt tripping you, and you don’t want–
Ridge: This has nothing to do with the kids!
Taylor: Well, then what is it about?
Ridge: It’s about you. It’s about the woman that you are to me.
Taylor: Wow. The woman that I am to you.
Ridge: Yeah.
Taylor: I should write that down. That’s deep. Where do you even get that from? This isn’t funny, ridge.
Ridge: I know, I know it’s not funny. It’s the opposite of funny.
Taylor: Right. It’s sad.
Ridge: Where did you go to school that you sad is the opposite of funny? Serious is the opposite of funny and I’m here because I’m serious. I’m here because I– I want to spend the rest of my life with you. What happens to your body language
[ Birds twittering ]
Taylor: Okay. So you want to– you want to spend the rest of your life with me. Just like that. Okay. So you and brooke must have gotten into a doozy of a fight, right? Because– no, ridge, I’m going to pass. Okay? I’m going to pass on being second choice, because I would rather be alone than be your consolation prize.
Ridge: It’s not what you are. I’m not saying–
Taylor: That’s exactly what I am. It’s what it feels like. What is it? What happened with brooke?
Ridge: Nothing happened with brooke. This is not about brooke. It’s about me, finally, for the first time in a long time, seeing things clearly.
Taylor: Oh, but ridge that’s what you do. You see things clearly until you don’T. And that’s– that’s what you do. Ridge, I came here to get away from you! I wanted to get away from you. I don’t want to do this anymore. But here you are. Here you are. You show up and you say all these romantic things, and you make me get anxiety and feel like this. And I don’t– just get out of my life. Don’t– don’t get all the way out. Like you can be over there and we can, we can– we can love our kids and we can, we can share grandkids together. But don’t come here with these promises to me, ridge, please. Because I’ve heard them all before. And now you say that it’s not about brooke, so it must be about our kids–
Ridge: It’s not about brooke. And no, it’s not about the kids. Can you stop talking, please? Just stop talking for one second.
Taylor: But–
Ridge: Please! Okay. Mm– I’m here because… I love you. And I want to be with you for always.
[ Taylor sighing ]
Taylor: Don’T. Do not follow me!
[ Phone ringing ]
Brooke: Donna, hi! Are you and eric on the plane? I was so happy when I got your text. You’re heading to the caribbean?
Donna: Um, no, our trip got canceled.
Brooke: What? Why? What happened?
Donna: Apparently someone’s using the jet.
Brooke: Who was using the jet?
Donna: Ridge.
Brooke: Ridge? What are you talking about?
Donne: He’s going to aspen.
Brooke: Aspen?
Donna: Yeah, I don’t know. I was confused. I thought maybe you’d be on the jet, but he’s the only one on the manifest.
Brooke: Oh, my god.
Donna: What?
Brooke: Steffy and taylor are in aspen.
Ridge: Taylor. Taylor!
[ Gravel crunching ] Can you stop? Taylor. Taylor. Stop! Can you– stop!
Taylor: What? Ridge, leave me alone. Please. Please don’t do this to me. I’m not letting you in again.
Ridge: I know I’ve let you down in the past. I’m not going to do that again. I meant what I said. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
Interview with actors Katherine McNamara, Matt Barr, Greg Hovanessian, Lawrence Kao, Philemon Chambers, Gabriela Quezada, Katie Findlay, Justin Johnson Cortez; and Executive Producers Jared Padalecki, Seamus Fahey and Anna Fricke on The CW by Krista 9/22/22
This was an interesting panel for this new show, which is a spin-off of the hit series “Walker” on The CW. Both shows air Thursdays starting Oct. 6. Unfortunately, they had a lot of press there, with a big cast who liked to chat, so I was not called on to ask a question. I enjoyed it, though. NOTE: This transcript below was provided by The CW. There are some mistakes in it.
THE CW NETWORK
Walker Independence
Seamus Fahey, Anna Fricke, Jared Padalecki, Lawrence Kao, Greg Hovanessian, Philemon Chambers, Gabriela Quezada, Katie Findlay, Katherine McNamara, Matt Barr, Justin Johnson Cortez
HOST: Good morning, y’all! Welcome to the virtual press panel for Walker Independence, our brand new series and origin story to our hit series, Walker. Walker independence is from CBS television studios and premieres on Thursday, October 6th, at 9:00 PM on The CW. Our executive producers like to call this a remix of a Western, and we’re thrilled to be bringing this genre to the CW. Set in the late 1800s, Walker Independence follows Abby Walker, an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes, while on their journey out West.
After crossing paths with Calian and a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets, including Kate Carver, an idiosyncratic burlesque dancer with perhaps too keen an interest in Abby’s origins. And Kai, a soulful Chinese immigrant who runs a local restaurant/laundry and offers Abbey friendship without agenda.
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Abby also literally runs into Hoyt Rawlins, a slippery rogue thief and con artist with a dented heart of gold, who quickly eyes Abby as a mark until she turns the tables on him. In seeking justice for her husband, Abby encounters Independence’s noble deputy sheriff Augustus, and his new boss, Sheriff Tom Davidson, who she has reason to believe is a very bad man, indeed. Abby and Hoyt soon find themselves precariously aligned, both seeking to uncover the truth about the identity of her husband’s killer as they navigate the dusty roads of Independence, a frontier boom town, where nothing is what it seems. Old West, new rules.
Now we’ve had our premier episode available for everyone to view since June, and have just added two episodes, 2 and 3, to the press site this week. So we hope you’re all very familiar now with Walker independence. So please welcome the cast and executive producers of Walker Independence and starting here on the back row, in the left, we have Lawrence Kao as Kai. Greg Hovanessian as Tom Davidson. Philemon Chambers as Augustus, or Gus. Gabriela Quezada as Lucia Reyes.
And then moving up to our front row on the left. We have Katie Findlay as Kate Carver, Katherine McNamara as Abby Walker, Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins. And Justin Johnson Cortez as Calian. Also say hello to our executive producers. Show runner and executive producer, Seamus Kevin Fahey. And executive producers, Anna Fricke and Walker himself, executive producer Jared Padalecki.
We’re so excited to have you all with us this morning. Thank you so much. And as a reminder to the press, if you’d like to ask a question, please click the “raise your hand” button, and we will put you in the queue and call on you when it’s your turn. If You have a two part question or follow-up, please let us know that this, please let us know this at the top of the question. And no photography or screen grabs or anything from this event on social media. Thank you so much. And first up, we have Jamie Ruby with Rick Bentley on standby. Jamie to you.
JAMIE: Hi, thanks so much for talking to us this morning. So this is for the cast. Can you talk about sort of how these costumes inform your character and maybe some of the difficulties you’ve had with them?
KATHERINE: Well, I’ll, I’ll speak.
PHILEMON: You start, you start. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
KATHERINE: Shall I start?
MATT: Yeah. Ladies have fun with this one.
KATHERINE: Ladies first, and it is the 1870s. You know, we have the most amazing wardrobe department. Marian Toy is our brilliant costume designer and she has taken such care to make sure everything is as historically- accurate as possible. And that comes down to us wearing corset. And a lot of these dresses, this one in particular, that is actually vintage from some year, I’m not, I don’t think it’s from 1870, but it is as historically accurate as possible.
And it really does change how you move, and how you walk and how you just exist in space. And you know, we have such an amazing cast of characters that has such a diverse wardrobe. But I will say that our women’s shoes in the 1870s were not made for function.
(audio problem here)
KATIE: Not, everything in the 1870s was built to keep women from running and carrying things. Not good.
KATHERINE: Keep us in our place. And getting on horses.
KATIE: And getting on horses, [UNINTELLIGIBLE] with any goods of any kind. (It’s true) Not a [INAUDIBLE].
KATHERINE: Although, they do give us pockets.
KATIE: They give you pockets.
PHILEMON: They give you pockets.
KATIE: But the reason here, the reason I don’t have pockets is because, so like, Kat was saying, Marion Toy is maybe one of the smartest people I’ve ever met in my life. A lot of my stuff, cause Kate’s a bit of a fashion plate is, is borrowed from vintage collections as opposed to made. So I don’t get pockets, but then I’m also wearing things that are so beautiful, I’m terrified to sit down because if I rip, like they’re so old. And if I have one tiny rip, I feel like I’ve let history down. So… Hey, does anybody else wanna talk about [OVERLAPPING]
GREG: The corset stance too, to make it more comfortable.
KATIE: So you prop yourself up on your own bones a lot when you get tired.
GREG: The squat move.
(Overlapping chatter)
Send you guys a photo. I’ll send you…
JARED PADALECK: I’ll post it.
JUSTIN: Yeah please do Jared, Jared has it.
KATIE: You’re so charming.
JUSTIN: Yeah, I wore it for about seven minutes and uh, it wasn’t fun at all. So…
GABRIELA: I think all the men on set should wear corsets.
(Overlapping chatter)
SEAMUS: I thought we talked about no spoilers, but we’ll embrace them.
KATHERINE: Already, first question, spoilers.
KATIE: Justin, you have interesting costume stuff though.
JUSTIN: I do, I do I, I mean, I, I love my costume.
MATT: It’s a little breezy in there.
Show us the back, Justin.
GABRIELA: We need to see your thigh.
Yeah, I want to see the back.
Do you have a runway?
JUSTIN: But, I asked for legit leggings. That way I could have some breathing…
KATHERINE: It’s up to your imagination.
PHILEMON: We will not go further into that.
GREG: But every, every once in a while we’ll I, I’ll go to set for a rehearsal and I’ll be in my street clothes. And we do the blocking and it’s weird. It’s so weird because you’re not in costume and the costume is just everything. When you put that gun belt on, with the weight of the revolver and the bullets and the badge. It changes everything.
KATIE: Greg’s got a cool hat too.
PHILEMON: I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this gun belt now. Okay, look, when you’re running in a gun belt, it don’t work.
It bounces around.
PHILEMON: It bounces around.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE: I have so many videos of Philly trying to run in a gun belt. I say that like it’s a joke, maybe five or six, honestly.
Ten-pound pound thing around your waist.
(Overlapping chatter)
JUSTIN: Nobody answered that in a good way.
MATT: Here’s a red light. I was like, is that good or bad?
JAMIE: Well, okay. How about this? I will ask a follow up then. Um, can you guys talk about sort of how the, like the, I guess the seed of the idea to go from the other show to this as being the prequel, like sort of how that came about?
SEAMUS: Sure. Um, Anna and I were working on Walker, and basically there was a beloved character named Hoyt Rawlins that we decided to kill off. And we kind of regretted it, to be honest. And, and so we started to think about what did we do wrong with our lives, but also with that creative choice. And so it kinda started with just a text to Anna saying like, well, what if we went back to the first generation Walkers and, and Hoyt Rawlins was part of the, part of the ride. And a couple texts later and all of a sudden Jared’s on the hook and studio’s excited and it kind of just went from there, and we just built momentum and developed the pitch. And, and so there’s a lot of Easter eggs with Walker that we’re gonna do more and more. But, you know, we wanted it to kind of stand on its own and be its own thing, be the first generation and figure out like, what are all the expectations people might have. And how do we, how do we subvert them? How do we kind of have a fresh approach, new take to, to the proceedings and kind of just kept building with that in mind and that approach.
MATT: I remember when, when Seamus was like, Hey, you know what, what if we went back in time? And I’m like, what, like two years before? He’s like, he’s like, he’s like maybe like 150. Love it.
KATIE: So really what you’re saying is that Matt Barr just caused an existential crisis for you, like he does for the rest of us.
KATHERINE: It makes perfect sense.
KATIE: I don’t know what waking up every morning looking like that is like, I can’t, I can’t relate.
GREG: Oh, terrible.
HOST: So next up, thank you so much, Jamie. Next we have Rick Bentley and on deck is going to be Vlada Gelman.
RICK: Thank you. Can you hear me? Hey, Katherine, two-part question. First off, following up on that previous question, how do you see Abby as sort of setting the, the bar or for the legacy of Walker to follow her? And secondly, you seem to be always attracted to roles that aren’t set in just a modern-day person. I mean, they’re, they’re costume roles, they’re different time per-, those sort of thing. Is that something you’re attracted to or, or are casting people just see you in those roles?
KATHERINE: You know, it’s interesting you say that because for years when they ask an actor the question, you know, what’s your dream role? I would always say, a period piece, you know, put me in a corset and a hoop skirt and I’m a, I’m a happy girl. And I guess manifestation works cause here I am. But no it’s, it really is an honor to kind of do something entirely different. And some, I love that somewhere in the CW verse, I’m Stephen Amell’s daughter 20 years in the future, but also Jared Padalecki’s great, great, great, great grandmother. Works for me. [LAUGHS] But somebody out that timeline and I’m, I’m very, very much can’t wait to hear.
But no, when it came to this character and this role in particular, it’s not necessarily something I look for it, it just sort of happened to be what fell into my lap. You know, I’m always attracted to characters that are challenging and that have interesting stories to tell. And this was that. You know, we read the pilot and Seamus had created such a wonderful world of characters that still felt as though it was akin to the world of Walker, but something new and something fresh in a genre that held so much nostalgia and so much familiarity for so many people.
So it’s a new opportunity kind of give a new look at a part of history that a lot of people feel they know. Also, I do have big boots to fill with the Walker legacy that our lovely Mr. Padalecki has set out for us.
RICK: Thank you.
JARED: She just meant literally bigger, I have big feet. That’s all she meant by it.
HOST: Next up we have Vlada Gelman and on deck is Damian Holbrook. Go ahead Vlada.
VLADA: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for doing this. I wanted to ask a little bit more about Hoyt, because obviously we saw a version Hoyt on the original Walker series. So can you talk about how this Hoyt differs or compares to that Hoyt. And Matt, how did that kind of inform your performance?
MATT: Yeah, you know, I always thought of the modern day Hoyt as like a golden retriever with an unloaded gun. And 1800’s Hoyt is maybe like a, like a German shepherd, you know, he’s, he’s nice until you cross him. And then he is, he’s gonna bite. 1800’s Hoyt’s more dangerous. I think in the wild west you kind of had to be to survive. So I wanted to see that sort of DNA in him. But I also liked the idea that you can’t really outrun your fate. And so, there was that consistent kind of recklessness in the Rawlins’ DNA that just, you know, as we meet Hoyt 150 years later, they’re still, you know, still trying to figure things out and get in his own way. Um, and they’re equally charming, aren’t they? I mean, they have to be right? (Very charming)
KATHERINE: It’s true. It’s hard to compare. There’s no comparison. That Rawlins’ charm is genetic, that’s for sure.
PHILEMON: It’s, it’s a thing.
MATT: Yeah. I wanted to, I want to differentiate them, but also, you know, feel very much that same kind of core bloodline there.
VLADA: Thank you.
HOST: Thanks, Vlada. So next up will be Damian Holbrook. And then on deck we have Josiah Soto. Damian, go ahead.
DAMIAN: Hey everybody. Um, so it’s good to see everyone. And I want to know about cowboy camp. And did the producers go and participate as well?
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON: They were there in spirit.
KATIE: I’m the only one now.
PHILEMON: Cowboy camp was fun.
GREG: I’m waiting to do it with Katie Finley and she hasn’t kind of responded back.
KATIE: You and I have a, have a talk to have. I, so just, just to put this out in the open, I told Seamus that if I didn’t ride a horse by Episode 5, I was walking off the show. I am now the only person who was not ridden a horse. And I think I’m gonna trade it for a pony, cause I didn’t know we had ponies until a week ago and I love them.
KATHERINE: They are adorable. But they’re twins, aren’t they?
KATIE: Talk to a real person. Don’t talk to me.
DAMIAN: So how was, how was cowboy camp? Who excelled?
PHILEMON: Uh, we all did.
LAWRENCE: I was gonna walk off the show yesterday, but then I decided not to, because they finally allowed me to go to cowboy camp. They finally did.
KATIE: I lost my only ally.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE: You were my only person.
LAWRENCE: We’ll go, we’ll go riding next week.
KATHERINE: Also did enjoy cowboy camp with Justin.
MATT: I think our first day at cowboy camp, we’re all like saddling up. And then everyone’s like, where’s Justin and he’s like hauling ass, you know, just loping with this horse [OVERLAPPING].
He’s already on top of a mountain.
MATT: In your element.
JUSTIN: This is when the hair grew. It just grew.
MATT: That’s right. That’s right.
KATHERINE: No, cowboy camp was a lot of fun. You know, we all had, I had a very different experience than most the other guys. I had to learn how to ride with Justin, with Matt, backwards on a horse with Matt, for the pilot. And then now, Abby has her own horse. And that whole arc has been a really interesting relationship getting to watch all of these guys do such amazing things and then joining the team myself.
MATT: It’s kind of bonding for us too. You know, we all, we all were getting to know each other, you know, as we’re starting this journey together, hopefully for many years. And getting out there, riding together just was pretty special.
KATHERINE: And there’s nothing like it. I mean the office that we have, being our town is just the most beautiful place in the world.
MATT: Yeah.
PHILEMON: And there are some beautiful shots on those horses. And I gotta give a shout out to Rainman. Thank you so much.
(Overlapping chatter)
GEORGE: And T for being a butthead for trying to buck me off all the time.
KATIE: I would too. Any of us would.
MATT: You know, Philly… Nicholas… Philly, Nicholas Cage said Rainman tried to kill him in one movie.
GREG: Oh!
MATT: You, you love him, so… Oh, Rainman loves
(Overlapping chatter)
GREG: That’s A true story.
PHILEMON: Nicholas, if you are listening, Rainman is great.
MATT: He is good.
PHILEMON: Okay? Thank you.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE: My horse is also great.
GREG: What horse?
KATHERINE: Thank you.
HOST: So thank you very much, Damian, I appreciate it. Next up is Josiah and on deck is Luaine Lee. Go ahead Josiah.
MATT: Josiah, you around.
JUSTIN: Thank you, Josiah. I’ll take that question. Uh, so I think when we start…
(Overlapping chatter)
JOSIAH: I’m so sorry. Can you hear me? I’m so sorry, I don’t know why it was glitching like that, but thank you so much for letting me ask a question. Um, I just kind of wanted to ask more like of a general question to, like I guess, like the entire cast there’s a lot of like, I guess, conversation about method acting or just different methods actors take to, I guess prepare for their certain roles. I guess just like how different was it for each of you to, I guess just prepare and also like what steps did you take, I guess, to like, just in advance, if that makes sense.
JUSTIN: As you can see I’m in my wardrobe.
(Overlapping chatter)
KATHERINE: Jokes aside, for us as a, as a group, at least, what I’ve felt is such a comradery. You know, we really have built this community together personally and among our characters. And I, I think you see that on screen. You know, all of us genuinely enjoy working together and genuinely enjoy finding these character relationships and bringing them to life and seeing how they grow and change. And that’s been the most fun for me is, you know, diving into a time that’s so foreign to all of us.
MATT: I think sometimes you work from the inside out. And I think with our show too, like we were talking about earlier, the wardrobe, you walk onto our set, which is like this Western town, you know, in New Mexico. It’s beautiful and you’re, there’s horses and there’s goats and there’s, you know, all these, these beautiful background actors. And it’s like, you’ve time-traveled back in time. So it’s very easy to just walk right into that character and, it’s, or maybe it’s a crutch. I don’t know.
PHILEMON: No, I found the wardrobe and the setting…
KATHERINE: Special group of people.
JUSTIN: Yeah. The wardrobe and the setting definitely informs, you know, I think how we’re working in this show in particular. Like Greg said earlier, and Matt just said. It’s like, if we’re doing it in our daily clothes, it’s just not really gonna work. It’s kind of hard to get in the head space. Um, but for me personally, what I’ve loved about this cast is, if I come to them and want to talk about our relationships in the show, or whatever it is, and everyone’s extremely open, you don’t always get that. Some people are very closed off and, or maybe they don’t make time. But everyone’s been amazing when it comes to, you know, meeting up. “Let’s talk about, you know, where are we coming from? How do you feel about this?” And, and it’s extremely valuable and I appreciate it.
PHILEMON: Agreed, agreed. I mean, you know, it’s, I count it as a joy really to just work off of all of you. Because it is so nice and everybody’s just so good at their job, you know? I mean, no words, no words.
KATIE: I think that we also, I don’t know if anybody’s deep enough into the internet to know what a head canon is. It, our head cannons for each other on this show, are we could write a whole extra show about how excited we all are to hang out. And when, like we realized uh… before Justin and I had ever met on the show, we were taking one prom photo per official photo shoot, until we met on the show. Like, we’re all so excited to be here together. And we write little storylines for each other, with each other constantly, and poor Seamus is like, “All right, guys, come on, like I’m writing an actual television program, can you calm down.”
MATT: You know, for years I’ve been trying to find excuses, not to shower as much. So…
PHILEMON: That is, that is very true. No, that is very true.
MATT: I’m a method actor now.
PHILEMON: Yeah, you are, yeah you are.
Can we go back to the fact that… I don’t know if anyone noticed…
GREG: The bond that we all had from day one is a very special relationship that we’ve all developed. And it just creates this, this really safe space where there’s a lot of trust where we can all be really vulnerable and kind of experiment and go the distance. And just this support of all of it really allows for a, you know, very experimental-type safe space, which helps a lot. Especially, you know, playing evil where I, I kind of have to turn it on and off. Here comes the hand…
PHILEMON: I was gonna say, I’m gonna cover your mouth.
KATIE: Greg’s evil in real life. So it helps.
GREG: I’M, I’m nothing like the character, so there’s gotta be, completely the opposite. I’m like a, a boy, like four-year-old goofy…
KATIE: Greg’s a Great Dane puppy.
PHILEMON: Me and Katie can actually, you know, prove that Greg is nothing like his character.
KATIE: Yeah. I have, I have a bunch of blackmail materials.
GREG: So that, that you know, safe space to be able to turn on and off like that and, and completely go outta my skin around all these beautiful people is, is very special. Yeah. It’s just so… Way too much love here.
GREG: It’s such a joy, it’s, it’s such a joy to be working with everyone here.
KATHERINE: No, but it’s true. The world of the west is not always the most happy place to be, for lack of a better word. And to have this group of people just sort of carry each other through emotionally on those days where we have several emotional scenes stacked together and, and these things that we, we feed off of each other’s energy and, and the commitment to the character and the commitment to the story. And it’s really a beautiful, wonderful place to work.
KATIE: It is, she’s right.
LAWRENCE: I also think like character-wise for all of our characters, we’re all going through like the same kind of thing. Like everyone’s trying to find themselves in this town, like, we’re all trying to find our identity. We’re all like starting off, like on a fresh start, like having new beginnings, like every single character. And I think that’s what, like brings us together too.
PHILEMON: Agreed, community.
GREG: It’s evolving. It’s evolving.
PHILEMON: Community.
HOST: Next up we have Luaine Lee and on deck will be Bruce Miller. Go ahead, Luaine.
LUAINE: Yes, it’s actually Lou-Ane. Uh, I’d like to ask Seamus and then Jared, there is a Renaissance of westerns. Where do you think that started and why?
SEAMUS: You want to go first Texan? Or do you want, you want the…
JARED: Uh, I’ll defer to the boss and then I’ll chime in.
SEAMUS: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I, I, I grew up, my dad loved westerns, so I, I watched westerns with him, and it was more interesting of like, which ones did my mom like? And just like, come at it more than like just the ones that dad liked. So I always had like a little bit of like, instead of just Butch Cassidy, what’s like McCabe and Mrs. Miller. What’s the little Western that’s a little off? And so I always loved them, the, the, the popular ones and the, you know, the obscure ones, One-Eyed Jacks, I think is one of the best westerns ever made, not many people talk about. So I think it always stayed with me. And I think it stayed with a lot of, a lot of folks, like creators and just people who, you know, rewatched ones. And I don’t know why it went dormant. Um, but obviously there’s Deadwood and gentleman by the name Taylor Sheridan, who kind of helped the revival. But, at the time, I think, I think there wasn’t a fresh take.
SEAMUS: It’s kinda what we were talking about earlier. I think part of the reason was we’d seen a lot of the same things like over and over again. So I, I think the revival kind of started. I mean, it, it was funny cause when Anna and I were talking about it and we looped in Jared, it was, there was a little bit of like, they’re never gonna bite. No one’s gonna do a Western. Um, and then a couple shows came out and just changed the landscape. Um, and, you know, The Harder They Fall came out and, and kind of just was a big splash. So I think, to me, I think it went dormant because no one had figured out, how do we come at it from a different way? And that’s why we say remix. It’s not a remix of history at all. We’re shining a light at history with, that was there, voices that are there. Margins of history that just wasn’t told.
It’s a remix of how it’s told – the filmmaking, the storytelling, how, how we cast the show. So, I think that’s, that’s what kind of helped the resurgence for this show. And I think that’s what’s helping the resurgence of, not just TV, but film, is like everyone’s coming at like, what haven’t we seen before? What are different voices we haven’t highlighted, and storylines, we, we kind of, haven’t seen before? And maybe starting with the expectation, the tropes, and then like, I was talking about earlier, figuring out ways to subvert it or twist it, or go for the unexpected, or go for something that’s a little uncomfortable and being patient with the storytelling to get someplace that we haven’t, haven’t seen. I think fundamentally that, that was the biggest thing.
JARED: Yeah. I think yeah, I, too kind of echo and, and go off on a bit of a tangent possibly. Well, first and foremost, I want to say
(Overlapping chatter)
SEAMUS: Jared, a tangent?
JARED: Seamus, I also love One-Eyed Jacks. I know you you’re upset that people don’t talk about it. Uh, we can talk about it. But I think you know, Seamus obviously, Seamus and Anna had the Western idea. And Seamus really spearheaded that. And I think, not just westerns, but I think genre stories in general. You know, I came from a, a show for 15 years, that was a sci-fi genre. And I think there’s a bit more freedom in telling a genre show. You know, you see this resurgence of superhero shows, and thrillers and sci-fi, and now westerns. And I think there’s some freedom that the, the actors and the writers are afforded. Because if you were to write some scenes like we have in Wendy that take place in 2022, people would be like, “Nah, this is BS,” and change the channel.
And so I think another part of it and kind of touch on what Kat was talking about earlier, Katherine, you know, the, the Old West wasn’t necessarily comfortable. And I guess I would say, you know, a version of that is it, it wasn’t conducive to comfort. And so there’s something about seeing characters in, in an unfamiliar situation, persevere and, and work to, to keep finding who they are, like Lawrence is talking about, and I think a lot of the, the cast has talked about. And I think that was something that really struck me during the casting process. You know, the, the writers, not only do they, do they create the road trip, you know, they say, Hey, you need to go from point A to point B, but they create the roadmap that it’s on in the first place.
And so you get some actors and actresses that come in and they get from point A to point B. May see somebody else come in and they go in a direction that you weren’t really expecting and get to point B faster, or more efficiently or better, or more emotionally. And so I think to, to a person, our cast, they came in and they were the character. And I think it was, I’ve never heard of a show that got every number-one pick. Always somebody has a conflict or, you know, they’re still tied into another show, they’re guest-starring on or something. But each and every single person, once we were watching all the videos, were like, oh, that person is already that person. I didn’t even see that.
And I think Seamus and Anna and the rest of the gang felt the same. But going back kind of closing the loop. Genre shows, specifically have a broader palette with which to play from. And so the Western, you know, it is making a resurgence and I think that’s wonderful.
LUAINE: Thank you.
HOST: Thank you, Luaine. And thanks for, thanks for correcting me. Next up is Bruce Miller, and then on deck is Bryan Cairns.
BRUCE: This is for the minority actors. What kind of responsibility do you feel in giving a new kind of performance, or a new kind of portrayal of minorities in the Old West? And you know, how, how do you deal with that? It must be very difficult. And then I have a follow-up for Matt. So if I could.
PHILEMON: Okay. Um… it is a heavy responsibility, because, not all the time have our characters been showcased properly in westerns. And nine times outta 10, we do get the shorter end of the stick. And it’s unfortunate, but with Seamus and Jared, our writers, everybody’s doing a great job at showcasing us fully. And I’ll tell a little story and then I’ll let you go. Um, it was a, a young black kid on set, he was one of the extras for the day, and his name was Elijah. And he was just so excited to be there. He was just like, “I watched Walker and I, I watched Walker, Texas Ranger, and I’m a big thing of westerns.” And I just saw the excitement in his eyes. And that’s the reason why I do it. Because I want a little boy to see themselves and say, I can be that. Cause when I was growing up, I didn’t see that in westerns. I didn’t see that in a lot of media. So for me it is a very rewarding feeling to be here and to do this with these amazing people. That’s it.
LAWRENCE: Yeah. And the fact that we can even just flesh out these kinds of characters, like back in the 1870s, like in, in a Western is like we, we never had the opportunity to do that. Just, just showing that we exist is already something in itself. And, yeah. You know, like I, I just feel like people normally would see a character that looks like me in a Western and, and you know, you would, it’s just, it’s just natural to look down upon a character like that. You know, we were never perceived in a, I guess in a cool light. And so just to, to exist in a way. Like even for Kai to be like, you know what, I’m gonna embrace this accent. I’m gonna make this accent cool. Like I’m gonna make this like character like soulful. You know, it’s a, it’s a, it’s just a cool opportunity. And it’s like a, it’s a huge responsibility, but um, it’s so much fun and I’m just so excited to be here.
PHILEMON: Wow, don’t cry.
GREG: Don’t cry.
JUSTIN: No, I could echo a lot of what they just said. Um, Native people obviously have always kind of been around the Western genre, and I think, I think people have come to expect them in that genre. And I, and I, I think they need, they deserve to have a place in there. So for me, it’s, it’s that I just wanna make sure we’re doing it in a way that is respectful, authentic, that makes this character feel like a complex human that people could relate to, and not just there to serve plot or serve another character. And a big part of the responsibility for me is to treat the Apache language and the Apache culture, with the respect it deserves. It’s, it’s one of the few times we’ve seen this language on screen.
JUSTIN: So the responsibility to do that right is, is heavy. And you know, I’m, I’m always doing my best, and I’m always nervous, you know, that, that people will, will kind of just not see the weight of that. So I hope people see how important it is that we’re hearing this, this language and people are gonna hear it all across the country, and maybe across the world and be incredible. And it’s, it’s a blessing. So I’m just thankful and, and I’m thankful to everyone behind it and, and everyone that’s supportive here, and, it’s exciting. It’s exciting. So I’ll rise to it., hopefully, and I’ll do my best.
PHILEMON: Oh, not hopefully. You’re doing, you’re doing it.
LAWRENCE: A quick one for Matt.
(Overlapping chatter)
GABRIELA: I just want to add that, the US, at the end of the day, is made up of different cultures. That’s what we are. And the fact that there’s so many stories that have never really been told is interesting. So, I think that’s what’s so exciting about the show, is that we’re able to show so many different cultures that existed during that time, and everyone’s stories, and you know, that’s what makes the US the US. So why, why not show it?
SEAMUS: I, I wanna hear what Katie has to say, if, she was about to say something too. But I wanted to give a shout out to Larry Teng really quick. (Yes, yes) You know, when we, we pitched it and you know, you go through the process, and when the pilot goes, you’re obviously looking for a director. And I had worked with Larry before, and back of my brain, I, I knew, I knew he was kind of a perfect match, not just because he’s a great filmmaker, he’s, he’s just a solid human being, and he’s a logistical genius, which we needed to pull off. But, you know, it, it was, it was a tough thing again, at that time, like when we were pitching in getting into the pilot, it was very tough to kind of sell a Western. And, and Larry was onboard right away, And he was very excited when, when we met and talked about it.
And I hope he doesn’t kill me if he ever hears this or whatever, but he got the vision and he just knew how to like sharpen the vision and expand the vision. Uh, but I remember asking him, I was like, when we were out there in New Mexico and filming, I was like, “I never asked, like, why, why did you really want to do it?” And, and it was tough for him to even answer, based on everything that like Philly and Lawrence is saying, just like, “I haven’t seen a Western like this and I’ve been waiting.” And, and he couldn’t even finish his sentence. And it just meant a lot. And, and kind of like, you know, Justin’s saying, just that, almost burden of responsibility of, we know we’re not gonna get everything right, but we’re gonna, we’re gonna try, we’re gonna fucking try.
And we’re gonna leave it all on the field and, and do our best. But that was kind of like, that moment was like a little bit of a rallying call. And it just kind of spread between like how we talked to crew, how we were putting together the crew, how, how we talked to cast, we were putting, to how we approach the story, everything. But it was, it was a huge moment in realizing like what, what we we’re about to embark upon, no doubt.
KATHERINE: We were so lucky to have Larry, because whenever you’re starting a series, you have to have that person who has the vision and who can be there to connect what’s on the page to what we’re all doing emotionally to what’s visually happening with the camera. And that was Larry, from the music to the camera, I mean, he had paintings on his vision board. He had all of these things that brought all of the elements of what the West is, all that nostalgia, but also added color and depth and interest and intrigue and all of this complexity, both in the way it was shot, to the way it was designed, to the way we played all of the moments. And it really added so much to make the pilot special. And that has kind of spurred us on, for lack of a better word, to continue on that. Thank you. I love puns. To continue on that, on that journey and on the trail with all these lovely folks.
GREG: Also his leadership as well, was what really set the tone and set the bar. And yeah, Larry left us with something to, to carry on forward. Um, and we miss him. We miss him a lot.
(Overlapping chatter)
SEAMUS: He’ll be back.
GREG: What, what he, what he started, he catalyzed something that was…
MATT: Justin just goes, “he’s not dead, you guys.”
KATHERINE: He’s alive
(Overlapping chatter)
GREG: He touched all of us. So, you know, and we all miss him. We all miss him. Thank you for that question, that was a great question.
LAWRENCE: Who’s Larry?
KATIE: You’re the worst person I’ve ever met in my life, and I want you to know that in front of all these people.
GREG: Come on, Lawrence.
HOST: You have a follow-up for Matt as well?
BRUCE: Yeah. I just have a quick one for Matt. And Matt, is there something that a viewer should look for that they would see that would connect the two characters?
MATT: Oh my gosh. They’re, I mean, like I said, I think they’re, they’re 90% of the… [JUSTIN POINTS TO BEARD]
KATIE: Have you seen this? Have you seen this? (The beard)
GREG: You woke up like that.
BRUCE: There’s not a gesture or anything that you would say, oh yeah, that’s something he would do?
MATT: Yeah. There’s a, there’s a, a wink. I think Hoyt has this sort of, he, he’s so amused by
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON: Do it, do it.
Make him do it.
MATT: Ready? [WINKS]
Perfectly executed.
GREG: It got hot in here.
MATT: I think there’s a, I think there’s this little, there’s a little swagger, the way that Hoyt walks
(Overlapping chatter)
KATIE: It’s a walk that I can’t do cause
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON: You’ll see it on behind the scenes stuff.
JARED: There are also some pretty great Easter eggs as part of the dialogue that Seamus threw in there that we can’t wait for the audience to see as they air, especially our crossover audience. Um, so yeah, I think, I think Matt is doing a great job of gingerly dancing around it, but there’s certainly a nod to the OG Hoyt. Or the, I guess it would be the new gangster. The old gangster.
MATT: Who’s the OG, Jared?
JARED: I guess you’re the OG now.
MATT: That’s right. That’s right.
KATHERINE: Matt Barr is the OG. That’s, that’s, end of story.
BRUCE: Thank you so much.
HOST: Thank you, Bruce. Next up is Bryan Cairns and on deck is Terrell Royster.
BRYAN CAIRNS: Hey guys, this question is for Katherine. Abby could have shot sheriff Davidson, but didn’t. Can you talk about what her sense of justice is? And in what ways is she redefining it as things are thrown at her?
KATHERINE: You know, with Abby, I think she’s a woman who’s a bit out of her time. You know, she is very well educated, very intelligent, but still somehow finds her in a world where she knows nothing. She has to completely start over her entire life, literally, you know, is gone in the first 15 minutes of our show, and stumbles into this town that is also finding itself. And it’s, it’s such an interesting opportunity to see a woman in this time period have such agency, and to be able to start over on a life that is for her, and to create her own destiny, while also trying to take revenge for the death of the love of her life. And try and find some sense of justice in a world where justice is always a shade of gray.
But that is one thing I love about all of these characters is that I think everyone has their own sense of justice, and their own drive, and their own way of moving through the world that they think is right, and something that they’re striving for, and something that they’re hiding. So, you know, as the series unfolds, we get to see the different kinds of justice that happen in the West and the different ways in which these characters can go about accomplishing that.
BRYAN: Thank you.
HOST: Thanks Bryan. Next up is Terrell Royster and on deck is Jennifer Griffin.
TARA: Hey guys, can you hear me? (Yes, loud and clear) All right, cool. This question goes out to the executive producers, obviously watching the pilot episode of Walker independence and, you know as Katherine said earlier, The CW verse at this point. Obviously there are actors in this show that have been in other shows. Are we in surprise for other, other actors, referring to Mark Shepherd that have been in other shows that we’re gonna see as the show goes on? Either this, either regular Walker, or Walker independence?
SEAMUS: Yes.
JARED: If they say yes, then I can say yes. So yes.
TARA: So those will be surprise guest stars.
SEAMUS: Yeah. Come on. You don’t want me to give away, right?
PHILEMON: No, no.
JARED: There are some people that there, there are some people from shows that also were on CW or WB back in the day, that are just perfect for certain roles. And I know that with Seamus and Anna’s knowledge of kind of the CW/WB lexicon, they probably have a few different actors in mind, they’re writing a few different things, and we’ll be sure to, to try and reach out to them, continue to reach out to them if, if the opportunity arises.
TARA: Cool. Thanks.
HOST: Next up is Jennifer Griffin and on deck is Briar. Go ahead, Jennifer.
JENNIFER: Hi guys. Uh, thanks for being here today. Uh, my question is for Anna and Katherine. And I have a quick follow-up then for anyone who wants to answer it. Um, but basically we don’t often see westerns that are told from a female perspective. And I was wondering if you could talk to that a little bit.
ANNA: I think just, just to jump in, I think first and foremost, when Seamus and I were talking about this, it’s as, as Seamus was saying, like watching the westerns with his dad and, and paying attention to what his mom also liked, I think is a big part of it. It’s like, we know we had this great world in Walker, and wanting to move forward and telling, you know, a remix with this spin on it. And what’s, what’s another point of view. And Walker is such a legacy story, obviously this is as well. And so, you know, we wanted to, to go back and tell it from that, from that origin essentially.
KATHERINE: I’ll follow up on that. You know, my, my favorite thing about my job is that I get to be a storyteller. And I think, you know, there are a few story tropes that are told over and over again. But, what makes stories interesting is when you find a new perspective, and a part of that story, or her perspective on that story that has not yet been told. Or has not yet been told in a certain way. And that’s what we get to do with, with Walker Independence. It starts with Abby. It starts with this woman who has to rebuild her life from the ashes of her expectations.
And then it brings in all of these other characters in this town that’s building itself up as well. And it allows for us to show what we hope is a more historically accurate version of the west than perhaps we’ve been able to see before on screen.
JENNIFER: That’s great. Thank you, and I have a follow-up question. I don’t know who wants to answer this question, but what are you guys most excited for fans to see this season?
KATHERINE: These people.
PHILEMON: This right here.
KATHERINE: All of this, all of these characters, all of the relationships, there’s so much, and so many layers that I think there’s, as Katie said, there’s so many head canons and things that we all want to explore even more, so hopefully we’ll be able to do so for the next several years.
MATT: I think, I think a lot of the, the magic in the show is the interactions between these characters and how, I mean, story in general is about change and how people, you know, how characters reinvent themselves. And so, it’s fun to see how we ping-pong off each other. And, and the, the chemistry is so different between each of our, you know, our, our cocktails, I guess if you will.
PHILEMON: Yeah. And finish each other sandwiches.
KATIE: I’m sorry. I’ll give you space.
KATHERINE: But sometimes we do finishes other’s (sandwiches) sandwiches.
MATT: So westerns are, are just badass. There’s horses, horse chases, bank robberies, gunfights, romance.
PHILEMON: Oh, why’d you say romance like that?
(Overlapping chatter)
MATT: I love romance.
KATIE: Let, it be known today, there is romance, that’s true.
MATT: I’m a lover, not a fighter. You know?
KATIE: That’s the first thing I tell people about you.
PHILEMON: That’s true.
KATIE: So tell people to stop asking me about you.
GREG: We’re all, we’re all learning it as we go along too. So…
EVERYONE PUTS THEIR MICS IN GREG’S FACE
GREG: But, but every, every time we get these scripts for each episode, it’s like, we’re so blown away about how all the plot points shift. And we, we, you know, we’ve discussed the, the direction of each… What are you guys doing? Get outta here. The direction of each character and, and we’ve, you know, want to get some insight on it, to try and hone it all out. And then there’s shifts in the way it’s presented by the writers. I think we need a shout-out to the writers and how incredible they present all of these plot twists and these, you know, evolution of each character.
GREG: So if I, I mean, if I’m blown away every time I read the script, I can’t imagine what viewers are gonna think. Cause it’s like Christmas morning every time you get a script, a new episode.
KATHERINE: And I think too, we’re also proud of this community that we’ve built, both on camera and behind the lens. Every single person on this set is so passionate about telling the story and about the detail and every element of bringing this show to life. And I’m looking at a photo of our town right now, and thinking about the costumes, to the sets, to the props, to every single element. It really brings it together and creates this sort of visceral magic for all of us.
JARED: Yeah. I think the interplay, what I’m excited about, the interplay between the cast, for sure. The storylines are incredible. And as a lot of the journalists and a lot of the cast and other producers that are here know already, TV is a giant machine. Making a TV episode is hundreds of people over weeks and/or months, long days and long nights to bring you 42 minutes every week, if we can. And so, sometimes you have to just have somebody there to get the job done. You know, somebody who might go, “they went that way.”
Here on this show, every single character could have their own show. No, one’s there just to progress the storyline. They’re all exciting and intriguing and kind of touch on what Matt touched on. Their interplay with each other is different. They’re not just this person every single time. If they’re talking to this character from the town, they have this relationship. And then it’s very obvious what the relationship is with that person, and so on and so forth. Um, and so I’ve, I’ve really enjoyed, you know, I see the scripts obviously before they get filmed, but getting to watch some dailies and, some of the earlier cuts of the episodes. I’ve been like, I didn’t even, I didn’t think of that. Like how did they figure that out? So I’m just, you know, bravo all around from top to bottom.
JENNIFER: That’s fantastic. Thanks so much, guys.
HOST: Thank you, Jennifer. We’ll get to Briar in just a second, but I also wanted to find out what Gabriela thinks about, you know, women in westerns. And I mean, she plays this really unique character also and would love to hear her, her thoughts on that.
GABRIELA: Yeah. I mean, as Kat said, I feel like you never get to see the perspective of women. And I think what’s interesting is that all three of our characters seem to be very modern-day women in, in a western. My character Lucia is, I think trying to find herself, and she comes from a very traditional Mexican family. And gender roles in Hispanic families, there’s the machismo and there’s the marianismo. And women are often taught to self-deny, and it’s family, it’s family first, which I love, I love family. But I think that there’s a cool journey of her trying to find herself and her independence and where she fits in this world. And that’s different than what you, I think would normally see in a Western. And it’s also very modern. It’s a cool, modern twist on, I guess what would be traditional.
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON: Well said, I love Gabby too.
HOST: Next up is Briar. And then on deck is Margie Barron. Go ahead, Briar.
BRIAR: Hi. Um, my question is for everybody. I want to know, what is a historical event or moment, or even something that you’ve seen in westerns before that you loved, what you love to see explored in Independence?
PHILEMON: Heavy question.
(Overlapping chatter)
PHILEMON: Okay, put me on the spot. Um, you know, for me, I, I really loved The Harder They Fall, and I’m glad that Seamus brought that up. Like everybody can tell you, I watch it probably six times a day. But I just loved that. They brought characters to life that didn’t have light, that were played by different races, and now they’re being more authentic. So I, I love that, and I would love for that to continue. But I have to go, because I gotta go to set and I gotta film.
JARED: Love you, Philly!
(Overlapping chatter)
KATHERINE: Mine is a bit of a lighter version. I grew up in the Midwest. I’ve always loved, you know, I grew up playing the Oregon Trail computer game. I’ve always loved this idea of putting your entire life on a wagon and going out west. But there’s such a romanticized idea of it. In the pilot, we actually had a historically accurate-sized covered wagon for part of it, and put in, you know, a piano, and a bunch of stuff that would’ve been their life: a bed, a bunch of clothing, books. It was tiny.
You put myself and one other actor in there, you couldn’t even fit the camera inside. We had to find creative ways to go from the outside. And it really just puts perspective to what people went through in that time, just to even get around.
KATIE: I have one. I haven’t, I haven’t done a very good job. I’ve just been sitting here cracking wise. And I feel like everybody’s been waiting for me to do this. The west was queer. It was queer. It was all kinds of people, all kinds of gender presentation, all kinds of… And, and I think that’s something we see so rarely. Cowboys lived together in domestic marriages that were sometimes romantic and weren’t. People ran away to the frontiers so that queer women could marry their wives and masquerade as men, because women couldn’t own property. So they bound and bought a damn ranch.
And I, I am so looking forward to the opportunity to explore it, both through my own queerness and, and the queerness of others, which sounds like a hilarious thing to say. But, but I think that, yeah, it’s something that’s not often touched on, sort of the, the wildness of frontier self-discovery and the kind of refuge that was available for people. I mean, not only of different sexualities and genders, but of, of cultures. To find peace or adventure or acceptance or escape or respite from the societal norm of the time.
And obviously in westerns that are a bunch of old, straight, white guys, you’re, you’re not gonna see that. So, I’m really delighted to have been given the opportunity to, to get in there and wiggle around a little bit. I’m using weird verbs this morning, and I’m not sorry about it at all.
JUSTIN: Wiggle, wiggle.
KATIE: Everybody hates me.
KATHERINE: I can’t wiggle in the corset, I’m sorry.
KATIE: You can wiggle like a paper doll. Justin, go.
JUSTIN: Keep wiggling. I think for, for me, the historical part of it, that would be really interesting to see, is the reservation system at this time in history for native people, a lot of land is getting taken away and they were getting forced into, either smaller parts of their own land or getting moved to completely new places that they know nothing about. They know nothing about the, the land, what grows there, what food’s there, and they were expected to thrive. Um, so that could be a really interesting to get thing to get into Seamus.
SEAMUS: We will.
JUSTIN: And, you know, I, I think, I think Calian’s character and his relationship with the town right now is, is a really cool thing that we’re exploring, because the landscape was changing so much at this time. And, and native people did interact as people came west. So, it’s, it’s been really fun to find these relationships and find truth in them, and it’s stuff we haven’t really seen in the past. So, you know, a lot of times what we, what we write, we have really clear examples of. And so I, I almost feel like we’re on a new frontier right now with this show, and exploring these relationships that I’ve never seen shown in TV and film. And I’m sure they’re out there somewhere, but I never had the opportunity to see that. So that’s been a really interesting part of this journey for me.
MATT: Just real quick, like when, as the railroad moved west and these little towns sort of popped up, cause the railroad started to splinter, I always loved the idea of what they represented. Which was that American dream of like, you, you can make what you want in this world. You know, you can build your own life. And it is, it is what you make it. And people fought and died for it. And yet they still kept coming west, still came because of what that meant to people, to have the freedom, to define your own life. And so that sounds romantic and it’s… we, we’re still doing it today, I guess, you know?
KATHERINE: Well, that’s exactly it. To follow onto what you were saying, you know, this story is such a, a classic story of a western, of people who are building their own lives and choosing their own independence. But it’s such an allegory for today. We’re at this point in the world where we have a chance to, in some ways, start over and in some ways reset. And I think getting to see a town go through that on such a small scale, on a network like The CW can be an example and an interesting allegory for our world today.
KATIE: Well, because it also is the intersection of other people’s freedoms, right? Because you can hold a personal freedom, like sure, we’re going west. I want my own life. You get there, and suddenly your freedom is intersecting with the freedom of everybody who was already there. And there is, there is potential for, for damage and for harm, and watching how humans try, fail, try again to live peacefully with one another under various systems that sometimes, let’s be real, really don’t work, and sometimes do. Like there’s a lot of tension, and often tenderness involved in those interactions.
And I think that’s one of the, thematically, what a gigantic idea to then fold up in, you know, this little town full of people in the absolute middle of nowhere, who are all, like, many of them are experiencing each other, people like each other for, like literally the first time in their lives. There’s no YouTube, you know, you’re walking out in the middle of the desert all by yourself. So I think that, yeah, I, I agree with Kat that it is, it is sort of a, a microcosm of, of quite a, quite a, a contentious and broad thing about the world that we live in.
LAWRENCE: I think another fun thing to explore, history-wise would be the Chinese exclusion act. And you know, at that time, like they just stopped allowing Chinese people to come to America and, and, you know, not even own any businesses. So like to, to experience that, to actually explore that, if we get there would be pretty awesome.
SEAMUS: Yeah, just to piggyback off of everybody. I mean, we’re all saying the word change a lot, and we’re all saying the word identity. And, and, and I think, from day zero, day one onward, the idea of taking moments from history, you know, the railroad’s coming, we know, you know, Chinese Exclusion Act, different Native American tribes being forced into reservations. All these historical events are happening. And I always thought it was interesting to be like, what were the very small conversations in a town in the middle of nowhere that were happening before these huge events that we just read about in history books. And just kind of reducing it down to characters, and like focusing on like the emotional impact of that, and moments that we don’t necessarily think about when we’re in a history class.
Cause it’s called Independence for a reason, too. So it’s like, everyone’s trying to figure out like, who they are on their own while these massive events are happening and there’s this huge turning point of what the country was, what Texas was, what this town could be, and who these people are and how they’re gonna adapt. I think it’s just combining that, the historical backdrop of that, while being excited about building the characters in a way where they’re heading toward a certain direction, and then you, you flip it. You flip the script, you, you know, pull the rug out from under people and, and have some unexpected turn.
in the marriage of character and history, I always think that’s another thing, going back to what Jared was saying earlier. I think westerns can do that better than any other genre, you know, for all the obvious reasons. But I think the potential of that, we haven’t even tapped into yet.
HOST: Thank you, Briar. And I do wanna get to Margie, if you’re still there. Margie, you’ll have to be our last question for today. If you didn’t get to get to your question, please feel free to email me, and we will do our best to get you answers. But Margie, go ahead and we will wrap up for today.
JARED: And blame Katie.
MARGIE: Thank you. I’m really excited about this. I love westerns. Uh, grew up on the, you know, the great TV era of, of TV westerns, Maverick, you know, Rifleman, A Man From Black Hawk, a little treasure in there. Anyway, Seamus talk about watching classic westerns with his dad. I, I want to tap into a few other people, Justin and, and Matt and anyone else who wants to chime in. Can you relate Walker independence with any of the classic westerns, whether, and you can combine them like, Dodge City with a touch of Lone Ranger, or High Noon with a touch of Maverick. What, is there any classic old Western that just has a wink and a nod that you see there in Independence?
MATT: I see it more, I see it more with characters, you know? What was kind of cool about when Wyatt Earp and, and his brothers went to Tombstone, you know, what, what was cool was that these were like, they were kind of anti-law. If you remember, they were like gunslingers that became lawmen. And I think we have some of that DNA in our show. Um, I can’t talk too much about that maybe, but we will, we will see about how, you know, these, these towns were… What’s funny is that these sheriffs and these lawmen were actually, you know, outlaws at one point in time. Um, and we see that in a lot of those classical westerns, like, you know, Tombstone, to mention one.
JUSTIN: I just love Chavez from Young Guns. Like I, that’s the one Western I watch. I was like, yeah, him. The rest of ’em, you know, it’s like, you wanna be, you wanna be the guys from Tombstone, because they’re taking care of business. (Right). But for me, you know, I, I think we’re doing something different. Again, like I’ve said, if I, I don’t think I would relate to doing this character, or even agree to, if I thought there was something out there that I’d already seen before. Um, and I think that’s why we’re doing it.
MATT: I do see a, I see a lot of Matt Dillon in, in Augustus’ character that, that nobility, you know, his moral compass is right on target.
KATHERINE: I mean, I would hazard to say, no. I think that’s our whole goal here, is to make something new. And to take a genre that yes, there’s elements of it. There’s characters, there’s the warm nostalgia of seeing, you know, a horse walking down a western street and women in these grand dresses, and a cow in Congress in the middle of town for no reason. Spoiler alert. But, [OVERLAPPING] a cow. But that’s what our goal is here, is to create a new perspective on this genre, and to create something that you haven’t seen before, and to shed light on things that are very uncommon in this genre. And, and, you know, yes, we will have homages to things throughout, but hopefully we can accomplish that.
KATIE: I, I’m gonna say that Kate’s Blazing Saddles all by themselves. But other than that, yeah, that’s something I do find refreshing is that, you know, you can look back into a lot of classic westerns, but there are gonna be people who are misrepresented, insulted, left out completely. Um, so, you know, you can say that the, the spirit of High Noon walks around in everyone handling their problems without giving it away, holding the weight of the world on their shoulders, without, you know, joining in community, refusing to join in community until it’s a desperate situation.
But I, I see us as a Western about community, rather than separation or isolation or violence, per se. Even though, you know, lots of people ride horses through barns and do cool stuff, I’m not allowed to swear. Um, but, but yeah, I think, I think there is sort of a… a unique communal support and an emotional side to Walker Independence that that just sort of shifts it slightly away from most, most of the classic westerns that I’ve seen, which is a reasonable amount, I think. Don’t look at me like that.
JUSTIN: Love you so much.
HOST: Thank you, Margie. Thank you so much. And thank you to everyone. Thanks to all the press who joined us today. Thanks to everyone at The CW. Thank you for everyone behind the scenes who made this happen today. It was three different time zones and lots of people, we appreciate it. Also big thanks, not only to our cast and executive producers here, but also to Dan Linn, Lindsey Liberatore, Laura Terry, and Larry Teng. Also to Lawrence and Greg, and big shout-out to Philly who’s out there working already, to Gabriela and Katie and Katherine and Matt and Justin. Jared, thank you for being here. Anna, thank you for being here. Seamus, thank you so much. Once again, we will premiere on Thursday, October 6th on The CW at 9:00 PM. Hope everybody gets to finish watching all the episodes, if you didn’t get to. And wishing you a wonderful day. Thanks.
Walker: Independence is an upcoming American television series developed by Anna Fricke for The CW. It is a prequel to the television series Walker, which also airs on The CW. The series stars Katherine McNamara in the lead role, along with Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins, with Greg Hovanessian, Lawrence Kao, Justin Johnson Cortez, Philemon Chambers, Katie Findlay, and Gabriela Quezada also starring.[1]
The series was ordered in May 2022[2] for a fall premiere, paired with its parent series in a Thursday time slot on October 6, 2022.
Pilot
SeasonS.1 Episode 101
Airdate:
SERIES PREMIERE – In the late 1800s, Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian, embarks on a journey out west with her husband Liam (guest star Brandon Sklenar), when her husband is murdered before her eyes. After crossing paths with Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez), a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets, including Kate Carver (Katie
Johnny sits in the town square holding a coffee cup. Someone walks by with the wrong idea and drops some change in to his cup right as Chanel walks by, causing her to question if Johnny is now homeless.
EJ has a drink at home while sending Ava text messages, asking if she has thought any more about his offer to move back in.
Ava and Gabi work at the DiMera Enterprises office. Ava’s phone goes off but she ignores it. Gabi comments on how quickly she checks when her phone goes off. Ava responds that she knows who it is and she doesn’t want to deal with it. Gabi says now she has to tell her. Ava then informs Gabi that EJ made her an offer. Gabi tells Ava to refuse and asks what the offer is.. Ava then reveals that EJ wants her to move back in.
Jada works at the police station until Rafe interrupts and tells her it’s time to go home because she has plans tonight with him. Rafe jokes that he hopes that’s not going to make her boyfriend jealous.
Eric is at Basic Black, finishing a phone call with Roman and says he’ll be praying for them as he hangs up. Nicole comes over and asks Eric what’s wrong. Eric responds that it’s his mom.
Chanel complains about Allie kicking Johnny out before he had a place and questions him sleeping on the street. Chanel says she’s not okay with this and Allie wouldn’t be either, so she’s going to talk to her about it and they will fix this. Johnny stops her and assures that he’s not homeless and that the woman just mistakenly ruined his coffee. Johnny informs Chanel that he has two offers on places to live but he’s just undecided.
Gabi can’t believe Ava would even consider moving back in to the DiMera Mansion. Gabi talks about how EJ tried to steal Ava’s shares and make her out to be a mentally unstable ghost whisperer. Ava informs her that EJ actually apologized for that and acknowledged that she wasn’t hallucinating, but just seeing Stefan instead of Jake. Gabi questions Ava accepting EJ’s apology. Ava says he seemed very sincere. Gabi argues that no one can fake sincerity like EJ and calls him a psychopath. Gabi decides that if Ava is still undecided then she’s going to answer for her as she then grabs Ava’s phone.
Will goes to see Allie. Will notes Allie’s disappointment so she says she just thought he was Chanel. Will says she’s about to be even more disappointed as he informs her that he’s leaving town and going back to LA. Allie questions him leaving with Marlena and Kate both sick in the hospital. Will adds that Sonny is just getting out too and he knows the timing is the worst but he doesn’t have many options as he has to go to meetings and a project is going in to pre production. Allie questions Sonny not going with him. Will wishes but says Sonny is staying and he’s not thrilled about being long distance but they know their relationship can withstand it. Allie wishes she had that kind of confidence.
Stefan enters the living room of the DiMera Mansion and questions him not brimming with confidence when they are so close to achieving their goals with the company. EJ complains that they are not close enough as they are still a crucial vote short. EJ says they need either Ava or Johnny or ideally both on their side, so he went out of his way to offer them sincere apologies and invite them back to the mansion. Stefan asks where they are then. EJ says they are thinking about it but they haven’t responded to his texts. Stefan worries that’s not a good sign. EJ points out that they haven’t said no, so he’s remaining optimistic. EJ adds that if they refuse his offer, he’ll come up with more incentives for them to move back in. EJ declares that he will do whatever it takes as he needs their votes and then they can finally kick Gabi’s ass out of the CEO’s chair. EJ then remarks that it would be kicking Gabi’s perfect, sexy ass.
Ava takes her phone back and tells Gabi that she will make her own decisions. Gabi argues about how hard it was to get Ava her voting rights back. Gabi says if Ava moves back in to the DiMera Mansion, she’ll be under constant pressure to vote EJ’s way. Gabi adds that if she gets voted out, Ava will be next. Ava questions Gabi thinking that she’s that easily manipulated and that she’ll just crack under pressure. Gabi knows she’s savvy and strong but not as much as EJ. Ava declares that now she wants to move back in just to prove Gabi wrong. Ava warns that Gabi’s job is still at risk since EJ is also courting Johnny and invited him to move back in too. Gabi questions why she didn’t tell her that in the first place and orders Ava to tell EJ that she’s moving back in now.
Jada asks Rafe if he’s joking since he has to know that Eric wouldn’t be jealous of them grabbing a bite to eat or whatever. Rafe confirms that he was joking. Jada asks what their plans are. Rafe calls it a reward because now they have two dangerous perps off the streets and behind bars thanks to Jada’s hard work and incredible detective skills. Rafe invites her to eat with him unless she has plans with Eric. Jada says she does not as Eric is burning the midnight oil at his new job. Rafe asks how that’s going. Jada questions if Nicole hasn’t brought it up to him at all. Rafe says that Nicole just said she was thankful to be able to give Eric the opportunity and that he can be back doing something he loves. Jada calls Eric a very talented photographer. Rafe then suggests they surprise Eric and Nicole by bringing food over to Basic Black which Jada agrees to.
Eric tells Nicole about the mysterious disease that Marlena, Kate, and Kayla have being similar to what Roman had 25 years ago and it’s all tied to Orpheus. Nicole says she’s so sorry but points out that Roman was cured. Eric explains that there was a serum from a rare orchid that is apparently extinct now. Nicole asks what else can be done. Eric says at this point, no one knows. Eric informs her that Rex came in to town, so he and John went to see Dr. Rolf as a last resort but he told them that there’s nothing he can do. Nicole questions if Eric is saying that Marlena, Kate, and Kayla might not make it. Eric admits they don’t know. Nicole questions what Eric is doing here then and tells him that he should be with his mom. Nicole adds that she should be with him because he shouldn’t be alone. Eric assures that’s where he wants to be but John said it’s best that everyone stay home tonight since Marlena needs her rest. Nicole can’t imagine what they must be going through. Nicole encourages that they can solve the problem with the orchid and have a cure around the corner. Eric says that’s what he’s praying for. Eric thanks her for telling him what he needed to hear. Nicole says one thing she knows for sure is that Eric being there for them is a big help. Nicole tells Eric that he has a gift for comforting people and giving them strength and hope just by being himself. Eric then hugs Nicole as Rafe and Jada walk in with food.
Will asks Allie if something is going on with her and Chanel. Allie says she doesn’t know but they had a couple of fights and the last one was about Johnny sleeping on their couch for two days. Allie notes that Johnny is gone now but the fight kind of continues. Allie talks about Chanel and Johnny having this connection. Will points out that Chanel rejected Johnny and chose Allie. Allie admits maybe she overreacted. Will encourages Allie to tell Chanel that and make up. Allie says they did so Will questions what the problem is. Allie shows Will the note that Chanel left and complains about how she only wrote that she’s glad they made up as a “PS”. Will worries that Allie is just a little insecure. Allie admits maybe she is as she’s very new to being bisexual. Allie knows she’s still attracted to men, so she knows Chanel definitely is, so she worries that Chanel wants something that she can’t give her.
Johnny tells Chanel that Ava invited him to live with her platonically at the Salem Inn but before he could answer, EJ barged in and invited them both to live back at the DiMera Mansion. Chanel questions what Johnny is doing here on the bench. Johnny repeats that he’s undecided and so is Ava. Chanel questions turning down going back to a mansion. Johnny says he can’t speak for Ava but he doesn’t want to go back unless she does. Chanel gets that he wants to keep his options open but he’s not giving up on Ava which Johnny confirms.
Ava questions Gabi telling her that she should move back in with EJ now. Gabi points out that Johnny has a huge crush on Ava so if he moves back in without her, he will feel rejected. Ava points out that she already rejected him as they are wrong for each other for all the reasons she already explained. Gabi questions why she’s having such a hard time deciding whether to move in with him then. Ava talks about all the positives of the DiMera Mansion and then wonders why she’s debating this. Gabi then wonders if Ava isn’t interested in Johnny because she’d prefer EJ.
Nicole says she didn’t know Rafe and Jada were coming. Eric and Nicole explain that Marlena, Kate, and Kayla are very sick. Eric adds that Nicole was trying to calm him down because he can’t be with his mom tonight and now he’s feeling better. Rafe says he’s sorry. Jada asks Eric what’s wrong with his mom. Eric doesn’t want to get in to it and says he’s gotten control of his emotions thanks to Nicole. Rafe assures that they understand and should’ve called, but they wanted to surprise them. Nicole says they appreciate it. Eric says he’s lost his appetite so he’s going to get out of here. Jada offers to go with him. Eric thanks her and accepts as they then exit together. Rafe comments that Eric looked so depressed and that it’s a good thing Nicole was there for him. Nicole responds that Eric is lucky to have Jada as he shouldn’t be alone tonight.
Will asks Allie if this is about Chanel missing guys in general or just one guy in specific, reminding her that she chose her. Allie complains that it took Chanel long enough and she used to be married to Johnny. Allie knows she’s all over the place but she’s really confused. Will then asks if Allie is missing being with guys too. Allie says maybe and she doesn’t know. Allie admits she thinks about Tripp sometimes and how great that was for awhile. Allie assures that she loves Chanel and that’s who she wants to be with, so she wants to make her happy and satisfied. Allie says that’s why she has been thinking more and more about something Alex Kiriakis mentioned which Will questions. Allie informs Will that they were hanging out and Alex threw it out there that they should have a threesome. Will is surprised but asks how they reacted to the suggestion. Allie talks about how she could tell that Chanel was interested, so she doesn’t want her to feel like she’s missing out on something. Allie wonders if the threesome is exactly what Chanel needs since they’d still be doing it together as a couple but Chanel could be with a guy. Will admits there’s logic in there somewhere. Allie then asks Will if he and Sonny ever had a threesome.
Ava questions Gabi pushing her to be with Johnny and then asking her about EJ. Gabi says they have talked about her and EJ before. Gabi talks about having an amazing sexual tension meter. Ava suggests she’s just projecting out of frustration which Gabi questions. Ava talks about Gabi getting engaged to a guy and then suddenly the real love of her life comes back and says he can’t stand the sight of her.
Stefan tells EJ that he’s a little surprised by his comment about Gabi’s physical appearance. Stefan feels the look on EJ’s face was as if he was challenging him to agree with him. EJ asks how he couldn’t and says some things are not up for debate even if he despises Gabi. EJ argues that Stefan can’t tell him that he doesn’t think Gabi is a stunning woman with a killer body. Stefan acknowledges that Gabi is a beautiful woman but says he is absolutely not attracted to her and he’s physically repulsed by the idea of being with her. EJ calls that strange. Stefan says not to him and he finds it strange that he ever could have been in love with Gabi or married to her. EJ then questions why Stefan is still wearing his wedding ring if he’s so disgusted by her. Stefan admits he doesn’t know. Stefan says after spending four years on ice, he woke up and it was there so it still is. Stefan calls it quite an adjustment to being resurrected after four years, so he hadn’t given much thought to the ring. EJ says he wasn’t trying to put him on the spot and was just curious. EJ questions if there’s some subconscious, unresolved feelings there. EJ notes that Stefan says he’s completely over Gabi, but before he died, the general consensus was they were soulmates madly in love. EJ questions if Stefan believes himself. EJ then suggests Stefan take off his ring if he’s so disgusted by Gabi.
Gabi asks Ava if it was really necessary to throw Stefan in her face like that. Ava complains that Gabi is throwing her personal life around just to keep her top spot at DiMera. Gabi argues that Stefan was the person she thought she would spend her life with and now he’s back and she disgusts him. Gabi complains that whatever Ava and Johnny have does not compare to what she and Stefan had. Ava agrees and apologizes. Gabi states that it doesn’t make sense and then suggests that Dr. Rolf must have done something to Stefan’s brain and heart, but she can’t find Dr. Rolf to beat the truth out of him. Ava questions why the truth is so important to her since she’s engaged to another man now. Gabi says she really does love Li, but now that Stefan’s back, it just feels unresolved and incomplete. Gabi doesn’t know how to move on without closure. Gabi says she needs to focus on her future at DiMera. Gabi thinks she deserves an answer after everything she’s done for Ava, so she asks if Ava is going to move in to the DiMera Mansion or not.
Johnny tells Chanel that he couldn’t help but notice that things got weird when the topic turned to Ava. Chanel calls it none of her business. Johnny tells her to say whatever she’s holding back. Chanel says it seems like the universe put he and Ava in a room together and they could’ve leapt at the chance and hormones, but she didn’t. Chanel thinks Johnny already has his answer but it’s not the one he wants.
Allie asks Will again if he and Sonny ever had a threesome. Will says he’s not comfortable discussing that without Sonny present because it wouldn’t feel right. Allie asks if he can at least tell her if he thinks threesomes are wrong. Will says no as long as everyone is consenting. Will adds that he doesn’t think she should do it just for Chanel and it has to be something she wants too. Allie admits she doesn’t know what she wants. Will encourages her to give herself some time to figure it out. Will says he has to go or else he’ll miss his flight. Allie says talking to him helped a lot. Allie adds that she’ll keep him updated on Marlena, Kate, and Sonny. They say I love you to each other as Will then exits.
Rafe and Nicole eat together at Basic Black. Nicole thanks him for bringing the food. Rafe says it turned out not to be a great night for a party but he prefers to be alone with her anyway as he then kisses her. Rafe points out that they are back at the Basic Black table where it all started.
Jada sits with Eric in his room. Eric brings up what she saw when she walked in. Jada assures that it’s okay and she’s glad that Nicole could be there to comfort him and calm him down. Jada admits that she’d like to be that person and she wants Eric to be able to confide in her and count on her. Jada assures that she’s here for him. Eric thanks her and insists that he knows that as they kiss.
Ava goes to the Salem Inn where Johnny greets her outside. Ava asks if EJ has been texting Johnny all day like he has with her. Johnny confirms that and announces he’s decided to move back in to the DiMera Mansion. Ava asks how he made that decision. Johnny says a friend gave him some good advice. Ava responds that she did the same and a friend helped her decide too.
Gabi talks on the phone about trying to find Dr. Rolf, complaining that she needs to find him ASAP. Gabi hangs up and declares that Dr. Rolf did something to Stefan so she’s going to figure out what. Stefan then walks in to the office. Gabi tells him that she was just thinking about him and asks why he’s here. Stefan informs her that he was reminded again that he’s still wearing his wedding ring and he decided that she should have it back because he doesn’t want any more reminders of their marriage or her. Stefan leaves the ring on her desk and walks out.
Chanel goes home and tells Allie that she ran in to Johnny at the town square. Allie questions if they hung out. Chanel says they talked a bit and says Johnny is all about Ava. Chanel adds that she told Johnny that she thinks he can do better. Allie looks on annoyed as Chanel continues on. Chanel then asks Allie if she agrees and asks what she thinks. Allie responds by announcing that she thinks they should have a threesome with Alex Kiriakis which catches Chanel by surprise.
EJ finishes a phone call, saying he’s very grateful as this is exactly what he needed. EJ hangs up as the doorbell rings and Johnny arrives. Johnny tells EJ that he thought about his apology and his offer, so he’s decided this is where he belongs. EJ says he couldn’t be happier and invites him in. EJ asks if Johnny has heard from Ava. Ava then walks up with Johnny so Johnny confirms to him that Ava is moving in too.
Portia tells Trina that Curtis was willing to mortgage the Savoy in case they needed to appeal her case. Portia tells Trina that Curtis loves her and that is why he wanted to keep her safe. Trina forgives Curtis but, asks him not to do anything regarding her without asking if she wants his help.
Elizabeth tells Terry that she thinks that she and her father were present when Finn’s wife Reiko died but she doesn’t want to talk to Finn about it until she can figure out what happened. Finn tells Elizabeth that he changed his medical specialty when his best friend Garrett was bitten by a snake and he was unable to, save him.
Dante tells Brook Lynn that there may be a chance that Chase may get his job back at the police department, but she should not tell him in case it doesn’t work out.
Esme tells Ryan she survived her fall from the parapet because she fell in the water and was saved by a Canadian fisherman. The fisherman paid for her to stay in a hostel until she recovered. Esme tells Ryan she has a new plan to destroy the Cassidine family. Esme tells Ryan she isn’t the hook attacker, but he doesn’t believe her.
Chase does a great job singing at the Savoy, although, he is nervous and tells Curtis he would rather be a cop. The bartender who testified to exonerate Trina at her trial signs his immunity deal but, while he is walking and taking on the phone he is attacked by the hook attacker.
Nick and Sally decide not to label their relationship and just keep enjoying wherever the relationship takes them. Noah asks Nick if he has considered how Summer will feel when she finds out he is dating Sally. Noah doesn’t want to tell Allie how he knows.
Allie asks Noah how he knows Audra Charles but after they talk more he tells Allie she was the woman he dated in London that was a toxic relationship for him.
Billy tells Abby that Tucker crashed Kyle and Summer’s vow renewal, and that Tucker wants to make amends with Ashley. Abby tells Billy that Tucker, will have to go through her first he wants to get to Ashley. Tucker goes to Chancellor-Winters to invite Devon to lunch so they can talk. Devon and Tucker have lunch at Society where Tucker tells Devon that after a lot of soul searching he has realized that he needs to live his life to the fullest and reconnect with family. Tucker wants to meet Dominic and Devon tells him that can be arranged, but he has to talk to Abby and Chance since he shares custody of Dominic with them. Abby sees Devon and Tucker talking and tells Tucker to stay away from Ashley and Dominic.
Chelsea talks to Sharon about the situation with Connor and Johnny, and Sharon tells her she needs help right away.
Nancy is surprised and excited to run in to Mike Horton in the town square. Mike is less enthused as Nancy says it’s nice to see him again. Mike then questions if she wants to pretend that she didn’t do the things that she did. Mike tells Nancy that he’s here for Jennifer and doesn’t have time for old enemies.
Jack and Jennifer sit at home waiting for Mike. Jennifer talks about wanting to get to rehab and start over again. Jack understands and says he’s packed all of their things for her. Jack tells Jennifer that he’s going with her but she says she doesn’t want him to.
Leo tells Gwen on the phone that he gets now that Jack is nobody’s sugar daddy. Leo complains about having nobody to pay for his pesky legal bills as Craig then approaches. Leo hangs up and tells Craig that he’s glad he ran in to him because he owes him an apology.
Brady brings Rachel in to Chloe’s room at the Salem Inn where Chloe has set up a tea party for her. Chloe says she made her favorites but Rachel says she hates it and throws a piece of food at Chloe.
Rex and John talk at the hospital. John talks about Marlena losing her appetite. Rex talks about how there hasn’t been one case of the disease that Roman had 25 years ago since then. They talk about how the only cure was from the orchid in the amazon jungle. John then announces that he and Steve are flying down there this afternoon but Rex tells him to cancel that flight.
Kristen visits Marlena in the hospital.
Leo apologizes to Craig for accusing him of murder. Leo offers to buy him a beer. Craig recalls Leo always ordering champagne when he was paying the bill. Leo insists on Craig having a beer with him which he agrees to.
Nancy apologizes to Mike if he still thinks of her as his enemy. Mike responds that he hasn’t thought of her in years, but she did pop in his head about 30 minutes ago because he was looking at Abigail’s grave and thinking about the man that put her there which led to thinking of Nancy. Mike brings up how Nancy was Craig’s partner in crime. Mike asks if Nancy and Clyde were in on this together.
Brady tells Rachel that she was way out of line. Rachel doesn’t care and doesn’t want to have a tea party with Chloe. Rachel complains that she hates Chloe because she’s the reason she can’t see her mom.
Marlena questions what Kristen is doing here. Kristen responds that she came to see how she was doing since John blurted out in court that she might be dying. Kristen claims she was concerned. Marlena says it was thoughtful of her to come by but she’s fine and alive. Kristen says it boggles her mind that Orpheus did this to her with the illness that Roman had 25 years ago. Marlena questions how she knew about that.
John asks Rex why they would cancel their flight and insists he and Steve are going to get the orchid in person. Rex is afraid he has some bad news. John argues that it cured Roman. Rex then reveals that the orchid no longer exists.
Jack questions Jennifer not wanting him to go with her. Jennifer doesn’t think he should come now since she’ll be in the early stages of treatment and they won’t get to see each other much. Jennifer says she wants him to come eventually, depending on how long she has to be there. Jennifer reminds Jack that he has Gwen and she needs him. Jack tells Jennifer that he loves her and hugs her. Jack says even if he won’t be on the plane with her today, he will always be in her heart.
Brady tells Rachel that the judge said Kristen needs some time away before taking care of her again. Rachel complains that she can’t even see her and she knows why. Rachel then reveals a note that was in her lunchbox that says “It’s Chloe’s fault, your mommy can’t see you.”
Marlena tells Kristen that no one knows the details of this illness and the doctors are still trying to figure it out. Marlena questions how Kristen found out. Kristen thinks back to Dr. Rolf telling her but then claims that she just overheard doctors at the nurse’s station. Kristen doesn’t understand why it’s such a secret. Kristen remarks that it must be a relief to know what’s wrong so now they can cure her. Marlena responds that’s as long as they can find the orchid.
John tells Rex that if the orchid is gone, he knows Dr. Rolf doesn’t throw anything away especially a life saving cure. John believes if they find Dr. Rolf, they can get the cure from him. Rex mentions that Dr. Rolf was pardoned but they have no idea where he could be. John responds that he can think of someone who does.
Jennifer wonders what’s keeping Mike. Jack encourages that there is still time. Jennifer thinks that she should’ve gone to rehab the first time she started taking pills. Jack points out that she did get off of them. Jennifer said she was going to meetings then and she had her mom, who was her rock and always there for her, but now she’s gone. Jennifer cries that she doesn’t want to let Abigail down. Jack feels too much has been asked of her. Jack says that Gwen put Jennifer and Abigail through Hell and then when they thought it was over and things would be normal, they lost Abigail. Jack doesn’t think Jennifer should judge herself for things she did when her world fell apart. Jack declares that now they are going to put that world back together because that’s what they always do. Jack hugs her as she cries.
Kristen tells Marlena that it’s too bad John and Steve have to go all the way to South America to find another orchid. Kristen then thinks back to Dr. Rolf showing her that he has the cure. Marlena says she has faith in John and Steve finding the flower to make the medicine that cures them all. Kristen calls it good that she sounds confident. Marlena tells her that she’s tired. Kristen claims she just wanted to come by to wish her well. Marlena calls that new. Kristen knows they’ve had their differences. Marlena says that would be a colossal understatement. Marlena reminds Kristen that she was leaving. Kristen hoped that Marlena could do her a favor before she leaves.
Rex and John talk about Kristen getting Dr. Rolf pardoned so she must know where he is. John notes that Kristen won’t tell him anything but someone else might. John brings up that Stefan DiMera has been going around town telling everyone that Dr. Rolf brought him back from the dead which Rex questions. John explains that Dr. Rolf apparently kept Stefan on ice in one of his labs, so he bet he could tell them where to find him. Rex decides that he will go track down Stefan to see what he can tell them.
Nancy says she can’t expect to have Mike change how he feels about her, but she swears that she had no idea that Clyde did the things that he did. Nancy talks about not being in great shape when she first met Clyde and only saw what she wanted to see despite people telling her exactly who Clyde was. Nancy admits that she was a fool. Mike thanks her for sharing. Nancy assures Mike that she has paid and is paying for the things she’s done. Nancy cries that her entire life has been nothing but a lie.
Craig sits with Leo in the Brady Pub and asks about his apology. Leo explains that he really did believe Craig framed him and he was desperate to pin the crime on someone else. Craig laughs off Leo actually thinking he did it. Leo admits he may have been indulging himself and that he convinced himself that Craig was so desperate over losing him that he had a psychotic break. Craig reminds him that he dumped him. Leo says he’s trying to apologize and then says he’s sorry for doubting the man he loves and for thinking he was capable of doing this. Leo tells Craig that he still loves him and he doesn’t think Craig would have come in with him if he didn’t still have feelings for him too. Craig then admits that he does. Craig acknowledges that Leo is the first man he ever fell in love with, so what they had will always be special to him in a way. Craig then reveals he was outside and heard what he said to Gwen on the phone.
Mike sits with Nancy and tells her that he had no idea that she and Craig split because of Craig being gay. Mike reveals that there was a time as a teenager, he thought he might be gay but he’s not. Mike admits that back then, he was terrified of the thought but he’s thankful times have changed. Mike notes that they were together a long time so it must have been a pretty rough break up. Mike asks how she’s doing. Nancy admits at first she was angry and just looking to make Craig pay for what he did to her, but now their whole relationship has change and she just wants him to be happy as she knows he wants the same for her. Mike says that’s what they all deserve. Mike mentions having to get to Jennifer’s. Nancy asks how long he’s staying in town. Mike reveals that he’s not staying as he’s heading back to New York this afternoon. Nancy mentions that she’s going back to New York too if he needs anything. Mike tells Nancy to give him her number and they’ll make a date. Nancy says she will look forward to it. Mike says it was good talking to her. Nancy says the same as Mike then gets up and walks away.
Brady asks Rachel who put the note in her lunchbox. Rachel responds that she doesn’t know but she knows it’s true. Brady tries to explain but Rachel refuses to listen and runs in to the bathroom. Chloe realizes that Kristen is not going to stop. Brady complains that Kristen has no regard for what she’s doing to her own daughter and putting her through. Brady is sorry that Chloe is in the middle of it and that Rachel talked to her like that. Chloe understands and relates to when she was young, angry, and lost. Chloe thinks they just have to face the fact that Rachel hates her and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Marlena laughs at the idea of Kristen asking her for a favor and calls her self-absorbed. Kristen argues that she’s just thinking of Rachel and she doesn’t think it’s a good idea for her to be completely cut off from her mother which is what Brady is doing. Kristen asks Marlena to talk to Brady because he would listen to her. Marlena argues that Brady has full custody, so he will decide what’s best for that child. Kristen questions her not helping her then. Marlena says she thought this was about Rachel. Kristen decides to leave her be then and wishes her luck with the orchid because it would be a shame to the people she loves if she died. Kristen then exits the room.
Leo questions Craig hearing what he said to Gwen. Craig goes over that he heard him say something about legal feels and Jack being a sugar daddy. Leo says he can explain but Craig doesn’t want to hear it. Leo admits that he is drowning in legal fees and tried to blackmail Jack but it blew up in his face. Craig then asks if Leo is wanting him to be his sugar daddy now.
Mike goes to see Jennifer, who tells him that he didn’t have to come all this way as they hug. Mike says she’s his sister so of course he did. Jack thanks Mike for everything. Mike encourages Jennifer about the work the rehab facility does. Jennifer notes that the real work is up to her. Mike says he has all the faith in the world in her. Mike points out that she admitted to needing help which is the hardest part.
Brady encourages Chloe that Rachel doesn’t hate her and that she’s just going through a hard time and taking it out on her. Chloe says they have to do what Kristen is not doing which is think about what Rachel is going through. Brady doesn’t want to let Kristen use Rachel to drive a wedge between them. Chloe points out that he can’t stop Kristen from trying and it’s only going to be more difficult for Rachel. Brady decides he should take Rachel to a friend’s house and asks if Chloe is sure she’s okay. Chloe assures that she is and calls him an amazing dad. Brady insists they will get through this and kisses her.
Rex calls Stefan and asks if he can help him track down Dr. Rolf as it’s a matter of life and death. Kristen overhears him nearby and exits the hospital.
John sits with Marlena in her hospital room and asks how she’s doing. Marlena says she’s better now that he’s here. Marlena informs John that Kristen just visited her which he questions. Marlena explains that Kristen wanted her to talk to Brady about Rachel’s custody. John calls Kristen a bitch. Marlena doesn’t think that was the only reason Kristen was there as she thinks Kristen wanted to make sure she was at death’s door. John argues that she’s nowhere near that and assures that he and Steve are working on a cure and nothing will stop them. John adds that he was just talking to Rex outside, but Marlena then passes out.
Leo questions Craig thinking he wants to get back together because he’s broke. Craig confirms that’s exactly what he thinks. Craig says Leo would use his money to pay his bills off so he wouldn’t have to get a job or make money. Craig mocks the idea of just cleaning up all of Leo’s messes but admits he could be more fun than anyone he’s ever met but that’s not enough. Craig states that Nancy was his safety while Leo is like standing on the edge of a cliff, but he needs more. Craig needs someone who is right in the middle. Craig says he can’t expect Leo to understand that. Leo responds that he actually kind of does.
Nancy goes to Chloe’s room and brings her a late birthday present. Nancy comes in and sees the tea party set up and asks if she should go. Chloe tells her the tea party is over so Nancy asks what happened. Chloe tells her that Kristen doesn’t even have to be in the room to blow everything up. Nancy asks what she did now. Chloe explains that Kristen freaked out over Brady getting full custody and started full on guerilla warfare. Nancy decides that she was going back to New York but obviously she can’t go now, because Chloe needs her here.
Brady visits Marlena in her hospital room and asks where John is. Marlena informs him that John and Steve are trying to track down the cure. Brady asks if he should leave if she’s tired but Marlena says no. Marlena informs Brady that Kristen came to see her as she wanted to talk to her about Rachel’s custody. Brady knows it would be best if he tried to work something out with her but not right now. Marlena assures him that she told her no. Brady is glad because he feels like he needs to keep Rachel away from Kristen more than ever. Marlena questions what has she done now.
John and Rex arrive at Dr. Rolf’s lab. Dr. Rolf asks what he can do for them. John responds that they need his help.
Leo asks Craig if he can look him up if he ever makes it back to New York. Craig says sure. Leo adds that social media is the best way to keep in touch which Craig agrees with. Leo jokes that maybe one day when he’s rich and famous, he’ll sweep Craig off his feet. Craig then pays for their drinks. Leo promises to get him next time. Craig tells Leo to take care of himself, hugs him, and then exits the Pub.
Jennifer returns to Jack in the living room, crying about how hard it was to say goodbye to Doug and Julie. Jack promises to take care of them while she’s gone. Jack assures that this isn’t goodbye, just see you soon as they hug. Jennifer then exits for rehab with her brother, Mike.
Nancy gives Chloe a bracelet for her birthday. Chloe thanks her but tells her that she has to go back to New York. Nancy says she can’t do that with Kristen out to get her. Chloe points out there’s nothing Nancy can do about that and she doesn’t want her to be worried about her. Chloe encourages Nancy to go back to her life in New York. Chloe says it would mean the world to her if all the bad things that happened don’t stop her. Nancy then agrees to go but wants Chloe to come see her soon. Chloe agrees to as they hug. Nancy jokes that Chloe better call first because she just might have plans.
Marlena tells Brady to document everything that Kristen does and keep a journal just to be safe. Brady doesn’t want Marlena worrying about him or Rachel. Brady tells Marlena to just take care of herself. Brady knows John will get her whatever she needs. Marlena says she has no doubt in her mind.
Dr. Rolf comments on John seeming so stressed and brings up Marlena, Kayla, and Kate being on death’s door. Dr. Rolf wonders how Orpheus got access to those rare pathogens. Rex says they are only interested in finding a cure. Dr. Rolf recalls something about an orchid. Rex tells him that orchid is now extinct which makes Dr. Rolf their only hope. Dr. Rolf laughs at that and calls it a miserable position to find themselves in. Rex asks if he has access to the orchid and offers to pay for it. Dr. Rolf thinks back to having it but then claims to them that he doesn’t think he can help them.
Kristen is now watering the orchid in her apartment.
Nick: Yeah. Looked it up online. Apparently it’s short for “what’s up?”
Sally: Oh. That — that’s what that means?
Nick: Mm-hmm. I really just wanted to come by and congratulate you for the latest research reports.
Sally: Thanks.
Nick: Well done.
Sally: Well, that is just step one. I am going to build on the momentum.
Nick: Alright. Well, carry on, then.
Sally: [ Chuckles ]
Chloe: I just saw nick leaving. So, I assume that’s the reason for that look on your face.
Sally: He just popped his head in to say that he liked the research reports, which was very sweet of him. But then I remembered the data was about a website rebranding that adam and I launched back when we were in perfect sync.
Chloe: I know. It can get confusing.
Sally: A little bit.
Chloe: But you’re doing it. You know? You are. You’re doing all the right things. You laid down the law with adam, told him that you were moving on. You even admitted that something happened with nick. So you need to just keep on doing that, girl. But if you crack open that adam door again, you’re just gonna be looking for trouble.
Sally: You think I’m gonna get sucked back in?
Chloe: [ Sighs ] Maybe. But now that adam knows the truth, I mean, things could get really ugly.
Sally: [ Sighs ]
Chelsea: [ Sighs ] Hey. So, listen —
Adam: No. You listen to me. What the hell were you thinking?
Noah: So, we want everyone to feel welcome and taken care of. So that means the drinks — they should come out quickly but still be made with care. So, if at any point you’re feeling overwhelmed or anything, just let me know and I’ll find someone to back you up.
Allie: Could I speak to the manager, please?
Noah: How can I help you, miss?
Allie: Oh, just wanted to tell you that this club is incredible.
Noah: That’s what I like to hear.
Allie: Mm. Is that the way that you greet all your customers?
Noah: No. Just you.
Allie: Good. Let’s keep it that way.
Noah: Well, I’m glad you could make it to the opening night.
Allie: Well, where else would I be?
Noah: I don’t know why. I feel kind of anxious. I didn’t expect this to be so nerve-racking.
Allie: It’s gonna be great. Not only is this club your baby, but it’s also already the hottest place in town.
Noah: Okay, I don’t know if we can go that far, considering we just opened tonight. You know, the other night — that was just a private party. This is the real test.
[ Sighs ]
Phyllis: Oh, come on. Don’t leave me waiting. My head’s gonna explode. What information do you have on diane?
Nikki: Well, it has to do with the car that she was tooling around L.A. In. Now, I couldn’t tell the exact model from the photo that deacon gave me, but victor’s investigators could. And guess what.
Phyllis: What?
Nikki: The bentley that tucker gave summer and kyle today is the exact same make and model as the car that deacon saw her in.
Diane: Don’t answer it.
Tucker: I don’t think that’s gonna work.
[ Knock on door ]
Victor: Mccall, you’re beginning to piss me off. I know you’re in there.
Tucker: Just a minute!
Diane: Victor cannot know that we’re together. He cannot find us. He can’t know that we have any connection whatsoever.
Tucker: He won’T. Come on.
Diane: Please, please don’t make a game out of this. I am pleading with you.
Tucker: Just get in there and keep quiet.
Diane: Tucker —
Tucker: I’ll handle it.
Diane: [ Sighs ] What makes the l’oréal vitamin c serum different?
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Phyllis: Identical bentleys. Okay, well, that’s not a coincidence. What does this mean? I mean, were diane and tucker hooking up in los angeles? Did they rekindle some sort of romance or something?
Nikki: I don’t know. Maybe. But I’ve been thinking about this. The time leading up to diane’s “death,” tucker had completely abandoned her, so I — I can’t imagine her ever reaching out to him.
Phyllis: Yeah, but diane’s desperate. She is so desperate. And she’ll do anything, no matter how unpleasant, how despicable.
Nikki: Yeah, god knows that’s true. Alright, let’s say she did reach out to him. Why on earth would he fall for her charms again?
Phyllis: Ugh. Her “charms.” Who could ever find diane appealing? Seriously. Tucker can do so much better than her.
Diane: Get rid of him quickly.
Tucker: You’re really not in a position to tell me what to do right now.
Diane: [ Sighs ]
Tucker: Okay, okay. Hey, victor. Long time. Oh, you’re looking good, man. You been hitting the heavy bag?
Victor: You know what they say. Strong body, strong mind.
Tucker: Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. It’s important if you want to stay on top of the competition. I see it didn’t take you long to seek out yours.
[ Both laugh ] Yeah.
Victor: I see your ego hasn’t taken a hit.
Tucker: Oh. Come on in. Sorry. Please. I’d offer you a drink, but i don’t have any of your top-shelf tequila in my minibar. But, uh, make yourself comfortable. I’d love to catch up with you.
Chelsea: You’re mad that i talked to connor.
Adam: He called me. Really upset, chelsea.
Chelsea: [ Sighs ] The conversation didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.
Adam: Why did it even happen at all? Why would you tell connor that johnny is his half-brother without me being there? What were you thinking?
Chelsea: Hey, can you calm down, please? I already feel bad enough as it is.
Adam: Whose fault is that, chelsea?
Chelsea: Well, adam, i actually waited for you at the park so we could tell him together, and you never showed up because you were stuck in a meeting.
Adam: Okay.
Chelsea: This monumental moment in our son’s life, and you chose business.
Adam: Okay, that is not fair. I assumed that you would wait for me until you dropped a bomb like this on him. It never even crossed my mind that you would tell him without me being there. I mean, we discuss everything — his school trips, vacations, dentist appointments. But when it comes to something this monumental in his young life, what do you do? You just go solo?
Chelsea: It couldn’t wait any longer, okay? The clock was ticking. Johnny already knew the truth. So I was scared he was gonna accidentally tell connor, bumping into him at school, sending him a text.
Adam: Then you tell the school what is going on. Or you take away his phone. You don’t take away my right to be there for my son when he needs me.
Chelsea: I’m sorry, okay? It was something I felt I had to do.
Adam: Why? Because things went so poorly with johnny?
Chelsea: [ Scoffs ] I can’t believe you would just throw that in my face. I did what I thought was right for johnny and connor. I am just trying to be a good mom to both boys.
Adam: Really, chelsea? Because it seems like the only person you have been concerned with lately is yourself. Neither one of those boys had any question about their family history. There was no reason to tell them anything.
Chelsea: Why are you talking like I went completely rogue here? I spoke to victoria and billy about this way beforehand, extensively. They agreed to it.
Adam: But it was your idea.
Chelsea: So, what are you saying? I forced them into it? I persuaded them to do it? It was my influence?
Adam: How would I know that? How would I know that when i wasn’t able to be included in any of these conversations that impacted my son?
Chelsea: Okay, maybe you should have been part of the conversation, but at the time, my concern was johnny because he is the person discovering that I’m his mom.
Adam: [ Sighs ] Chelsea, you really have to stop calling yourself johnny’s mom.
Chelsea: I am technically johnny’s mom. I gave birth to him.
Adam: From that moment onward, victoria was his mom, and that was a decision that you made.
Chelsea: Because that was the best decision at the time, adam, but things have changed.
Adam: Yes, things have changed. You have a son of your own, and he should have been the focus through this whole thing.
Chelsea: [ Breathes deeply ]
Nick: What is going on here? Hi, my name’s steve.
Sally: I would never underestimate adam. And I know things are different now that he knows something went down between me and nick, but i refuse to live in fear of what he might do. You know, I have to let it go and just put him out of my mind.
Chloe: Mm. So, you’re gonna focus on nick now?
Sally: [ Scoffs ] I wouldn’t say that I’m focusing on him. I’m just trying to live in the present moment, enjoy it, you know?
[ Stammers ] Things are fun and maybe progressing, and I have no idea where it’ll go.
Chloe: Well, if it’s a choice between adam and nick, I mean, you know who I would vote for.
Sally: It’s just wild how completely opposite the brothers are from one another. I mean, nick — he has such a sweet soul.
Chloe: And adam is evil.
Sally: I was going to say he has a more dangerous edge, but, no, he’s not all bad. And underneath what seems to be a tough exterior, he actually has a softer side. He’s actually very sensitive.
Chloe: Okay. So, we’re defending adam now?
Sally: [ Sighs ] Sorry. No. I — I don’t even know I brought his name back up.
Chloe: Because you’re right in the middle between both brothers. And that is not a good place to be.
Adam: Look, stay out of this, nick. We are discussing a private family issue.
Nick: It seems like chelsea’s upset. I’m not leaving this alone until I know she’s okay.
Chelsea: Thank you, nick. I’ll be alright. What’s done is done.
Adam: Look, chelsea, just promise me you will not make any more unilateral decisions regarding our son.
Chelsea: Connor will be just fine.
Nick: You know, if you wanted to have a private conversation like that, maybe you should have picked someplace other than the coffeehouse to do it.
Adam: Hey, you’re not getting off that easy, nick.
Nick: Look, you need to take some things out on someone, that’s fine. It’s not gonna be me. Pick someone else.
Adam: Look, I just have one question. Why is it suddenly your mission in life to interfere in every aspect of my life?
Tucker: You don’t mind if i pour myself a drink, do you?
Victor: No, no. Go ahead. So, what are you doing in genoa city?
Tucker: Well, uh, my late mother used to live here, and, um, I have a general fondness for the town, you know.
Victor: You’ve been gone for a long time. So, why now?
Tucker: Well, actually, I’m here to visit someone we have in common, someone we both care about — dominic. I want to meet my first grandson. And I want to spend some time with devon.
Victor: [ Chuckles ] You don’t give a damn about your family relations, do you, tucker? Otherwise, you’d have visited devon first of all, right? Instead of crashing one of jack abbott’s pathetically boring parties. In a helicopter, no less.
[ Laughs ] So, what’s your real agenda? My husband and I have never been more active.
Nikki: According to victor’s investigators, private image financed young artists in the U.K., And their main benefactor drew funds for that through a bank in los angeles.
Phyllis: Okay. So, you think the main benefactor could be tucker.
Nikki: Well, I don’t know for sure, but the name of the fund is wild beauty, incorporated.
Phyllis: “Beauty”? Yeah. The nickname that john abbott had for ashley.
Nikki: Uh-huh, and she is supposedly the reason why tucker crashed the vow renewal.
Phyllis: Wow. Okay, so, we have tucker and diane. I mean, what does this mean? Were they — were they together in los angeles and then he wants to fund up-and-coming artists? I mean…
Nikki: Well, I don’t know. I mean, his business interests have always been international.
Phyllis: Is there any evidence, beyond the name, connecting tucker to this?
Nikki: His name is not on the investor list, but that doesn’t mean anything.
Phyllis: Yeah, but it does — because you know tucker. He’s a braggart. I mean, he would want to be connected to funding young artists.
Nikki: Well, that is true, but modesty has never been one of his strong suits, so that just makes me think he definitely has a secret agenda.
Phyllis: Yeah. I mean, there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. We just have to put them together. I mean, there’s tucker, there’s diane, tucker’s obsession with ashley, and broke british artists.
Nikki: Oh, my god. I know who might be able to help us — noah. I mean, he was a young artist in london. Maybe he has heard of this charity and can give us some clues.
Noah: Hey. Sorry I’ve been running around. You doing okay?
Allie: Yeah, I’m doing totally fine. Don’t worry about me. Tonight is your big night. And I found the perfect little spot to people-watch.
Noah: People seem like they’re having a good time, huh?
Allie: Yeah. No, absolutely. How does it look from your perspective?
Noah: It’s pretty smooth, honestly. Actually, I think I have time for a break. Do you want to dance?
Allie: Oh, yeah? Are you sure you have time?
Noah: If my staff needs me, they know where to find me.
Allie: Well, only if I’m not keeping you from anything important.
Noah: The only thing I’m worried about right now is dancing with my beautiful girlfriend. Oh, thank you.
Allie: I have to say, hearing that never gets old.
Noah: [ Chuckles ]
Tucker: Eh, I’m spending a lot less time on hidden agendas these days, since I went on my spiritual journey.
Victor: [ Chuckles ] Pariahs like you never change, tucker.
Tucker: You’re still so cynical, victor. I think some enlightenment could do wonders for you.
Victor: Oh, yeah. I bet you have some ashram in mind, right?
Tucker: Sure.
Victor: Oh, yeah, yeah, some faraway place in tibet or wherever.
Tucker: I know the exact address.
Victor: Well, you know… I know who the hell I am.
Tucker: I know that. And I know better than to try to change your mind.
Victor: Right.
Tucker: [ Chuckles ]
Victor: You know, you’re not the only one who decided to make this week home week in genoa city. Diane jenkins showed up.
Tucker: Ah, yeah.
Victor: Yes. She said she was on the straight and narrow now. But I believe her transformation about as much as I believe yours.
Tucker: Yeah, I actually saw diane at the abbotts. She looked well, but I’m in no position to say one way or another whether her, uh — her turnaround is legit. I don’t know anything about it — or her, for that matter — anymore. But what is important is that you know there’s nothing for you or your family to worry about from me.
Victor: And you think I’ll take your word for it?
Tucker: Uh, I don’t know. Would you believe anything i told you at this point?
Victor: [ Laughs ] Tucker mccall. My god. That time at the ashram or wherever the hell you were did you lot of good. You have a sense of humor, actually.
Tucker: Yeah.
Victor: I like that.
Tucker: You have to.
Victor: Right.
Tucker: Well, I’ll tell you the truth, and you can believe me or not.
Victor: Ah.
Tucker: Um…I’m here because I want to reconnect with my son. And the reason I haven’t approached devon is because, well, I’m not really sure how to go about it, truthfully. Um, we’ve grown apart over the years. There’s no real animus or anything like that, at least not on my end. But there’s definitely some distance that will need to be bridged, and so when I do approach him, I want to make sure I do it the most respectful way possible.
Victor: May I make a suggestion?
Tucker: Please.
Victor: Don’t do it in a damn helicopter.
Tucker: [ Laughs ] Yeah, that’s good advice. I knew you were gonna give me good advice, victor. Well, hell, you know better than anyone how tricky things can get between a father and son.
Victor: Uh-huh.
Adam: I’m not interfering in anything, adam. I try to keep a healthy distance from all aspects of your life. For you to assume otherwise is pretty damn arrogant, but not surprising.
Adam: [ Chuckles ] You know what? You’re right.
Nick: What do you mean, I’m right? What is that?
Adam: No. I’m being real. Me thinking that you would care enough about my life to meddle in it was very arrogant of me. Look, no more accusations. I actually wanted to talk to you about some things that have been going on, you know, like we were able to do for a little while after faith’s transplant.
Nick: Alright. Sit down.
Adam: What you walked in on was not just some casual blow-up between me and chelsea. It was about her telling connor about johnny without me being there.
Nick: [ Sighs ] She shouldn’t have done that. I’m surprised she did. I can understand why you’re so worked up.
Adam: Yeah. Connor is confused, and he’s upset. I’d be with him right now, but he insisted on going to a sleepover that had already been planned. So, I don’t know. Maybe I should go pick him up.
Nick: No. No. Just give him some space if that’s what he wants. Talk to him in the morning.
Adam: Well, the situation is complicated for all of us, but for johnny and connor, it has to be extremely overwhelming.
Nick: Yeah, it’s a difficult thing to navigate.
Adam: Mm-hmm. I know you can understand the dynamics at play.
Nick: I’m sure chelsea’s doing the best she can. I know when I talked to her about johnny, she got pretty emotional. But I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions that you were in the wrong.
Adam: Well, I would like to think that chelsea meant well, but I just saw connor so distressed and I lost it, so…
Nick: It’s tough. My heart goes out to him. He’s a great kid.
Adam: Yes, he is. Look, there has been a lot of conflict between us lately, and I think it would be good if we got to the root cause of it.
Nick: [ Sighs ] Look, if you’re gonna bring up sally, just don’T.
Adam: We need to talk about it, nick.
Nick: Why?
Adam: Because I’m still in love with sally. If you’re on medicare, remember,
“The young and the restless”
will continue. Coverage, care, get it all.
Adam: Look, my feelings for sally haven’t changed just because she’s hurt and trying to push me away. I know that I’m the reason that she’s hurting, yes, and I take blame for that. I have a lot of regrets about what I did. But I still love her. And when we were together, i could envision a future with her, and I can still see that. The bottom line is I miss her and I want her back. And I don’t think her feelings for me have just evaporated. I see the way she looks at me. Something is still there.
Nick: I think you need to listen to what she’s been telling you. I think she’s made herself pretty clear.
Adam: Yeah, I heard what she said. But you know as well as I do people don’t always say what’s in their hearts. I’m an example of that. I told her that I thought moving on was the best thing for us, but I didn’t mean a word of it.
Nick: Well, to be fair, i think, uh, most people are a lot more straightforward than you are.
Adam: True. But, look, I’m trying to be open and honest now with you. So I have to ask — do you think you could ever love sally? Have you ever considered a future with her? Or even thought past the now? Because if you haven’t, I’m asking you — back off. Let me and sally work this out, okay? I want to give her everything because that’s what she deserves. Just…think about it.
[ Door closes ]
Chloe: I know you don’t want to admit that you still have feelings for adam, but from where I’m standing, it seems like your heart is being pulled in two different directions.
Sally: Whatever feelings i have left for adam are just lingering remnants of a relationship that never would have worked.
Chloe: And I hope that’s true, that you’re over him. But my advice about nick stands. I still believe that you should think really long and hard about continuing down the road with him. I mean, he is our boss.
Sally: It might be a little late for thinking. Those feelings are already setting in.
Chloe: Okay. Then, you know, you really need to figure out where things are headed.
Sally: I mean, why do they have to be headed anywhere?
Chloe: Ahh. The thrill of a new attraction. Oh, god, it’s so exhilarating and fun, the rose-colored glasses.
[ Sighs ] I remember it. You know, kevin and I — we used to be lovestruck dummies once.
Sally: Okay, I’m not that bad.
Chloe: I get that a fling with nick is a welcome escape from the pain and anguish that comes with adam, but I have heard you say more than once that you don’t really even know what’s happening between you and nick. So, while you probably haven’t been able to, you know, fully examine or ask the hard questions, you know, now is definitely the time.
[ Cellphone ringing ]
Sally: [ Sighs ] Speak of the devil.
Chloe: The devil? Or the devil’s brother?
Sally: Hey. ‘Sup?
Nick: ‘Sup? Uh, I know it’s last-minute. You free tonight?
Victor: Well, now, tucker, this was a real waste of time. There’s no way you’re gonna tell me why you’re really here.
Tucker: You’re right. I haven’t been completely honest. My, uh — my shaman would be very disappointed.
Victor: Your shaman?
Tucker: Yeah.
Victor: [ Laughs ]
Tucker: No, there is someone else I need to see.
Victor: Really? Who?
Tucker: I want to make amends with ashley.
Victor: Oh, you do?
Tucker: Mm.
Victor: Uh-huh. I want to be there when you try that.
Tucker: [ Laughs ]
Victor: How many times have you cheated on her?
Tucker: I made mistakes.
Victor: Mm.
Tucker: But I want to own those mistakes, and I want to acknowledge them. And I plan on apologizing to her and trying to find a way to make it up to her.
Victor: Huh. Wow. Let me make a suggestion. Go back to where you came from. Okay? Ashley does not need your B.S.
Tucker: So, as protective of her as ever, eh? Which I’m sure you’d call chivalry, yes?
Victor: Yeah. Remember that, okay?
Tucker: I will.
Victor: And take what I said seriously.
Tucker: Always.
Victor: Good.
[ Door opens ]
Diane: What is wrong with you? First you provoke the entire abbott family.
Tucker: [ Laughing ]
Diane: What? And now you’re goading victor? Wha– why are you playing with fire?
Tucker: I haven’t had this much fun in so long.
Diane: [ Sighing heavily ]
You never know
what opportunities
Nick: Hi.
Noah: Hey, dad.
Nick: Hey, bud.
Allie: Hi, mr. Newman.
Nick: Allie, nice to see you. This is amazing. The place is hopping.
Noah: Yeah, I was hoping for a bigger turnout, but it’s still early.
Nick: Yeah, it’s just the old people like me who show up early. The young kids are gonna come in any minute.
Noah: Well, thank you for showing up solo to support.
Nick: Yeah. Um… not solo, actually. I’m, uh, expecting someone.
Noah: Oh, yeah? Who’s that?
Nick: There she is now. Excuse us.
Allie: Whoa. Your dad and sally? What’s up with those two?
Noah: Yeah, I had the same question. I’m really hoping this is just work-related. I’m also hoping that they don’t cross paths with summer.
Allie: Aren’t summer and kyle on their way?
Noah: Yep.
Nick: You look beautiful.
Sally: You are the most handsome man here.
Did you already scan the room?
Sally: I don’t have to.
Nick: [ Chuckles ] How was the rest of your workday?
Sally: Uh, good. I closed the deal that we were talking about earlier.
Nick: Not surprised by that at all.
Sally: [ Chuckles ] I never got a chance to ask you earlier — how was summer and kyle’s vow renewal?
Nick: It was, uh…perfect. You know, romantic and beautiful, just the way you want things like that to be.
Sally: Well, I’m truly happy for summer. Despite everything that happened between us, I hold no ill will towards her. As far as I see, it’s just water way, way under the bridge.
Nick: I’m glad to hear you say that. My daughter is everything to me. I will defend and protect her to the ends of the earth. And I believe you when you say that. I see you’ve made a lot of changes.
Sally: Well, thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt. It means a lot.
Phyllis: Wow, I cannot wait to hear what noah has to say about this. Okay, I’m gonna do some online research, and when I say “online research,” I mean hacking ’cause there’s more here than what meets the eye. Hi! Um, alright, well, this is my cue to go.
Nikki: Okay. Good — good to see you.
Phyllis: Yeah. You too. Excuse me.
Nikki: Hi, darling.
Victor: What the hell is she doing here? I don’t like you working with her. Although you may have a common enemy.
Nikki: I can handle phyllis. And we are honing in on a connection between tucker and diane in los angeles.
Victor: I want to hear about that, okay? Because tucker mccall needs to be taken care of. So does she — diane. Meaning we can kill two birds with one stone.
Diane: I’m so glad you find this all amusing.
Tucker: I’m enjoying my life. We all should. You should. None of us know how much time we have left. You know as well as anyone.
Diane: You know, that is not funny, and this is not a game.
Tucker: Everything’s a game.
Diane: No, not to me. I have worked long and hard to gain back some footing in this town, and I will not have it destroyed because you like to go around taunting the big dogs.
Tessa: “The big dogs.” Look, the big dogs like to be challenged, or they get bored.
Diane: No. Leave it alone. You’re putting us both in danger.
Tucker: You’re not in any danger.
Diane: Victor could have found me hiding in your bathroom.
Tucker: He didn’t!
Diane: Yeah, but he’s fishing for information about us!
Tucker: So what? I didn’t give him anything.
Diane: Yeah, but — but you were cheeky and brazen.
Tucker: Was I cheeky?
[ Laughs ] I like that.
Diane: Listen to me. Victor is suspicious — and even more so now.
Tucker: Of course he’s suspicious. He’s victor. Diane, he doesn’t know anything about our connection. I guarantee it.
Diane: Not yet. But he has the money and power to find things out. Stop it.
Tucker: I have the money and power to hide things.
Diane: Well, I don’t! And my life is hanging by a thread here!
Tucker: We’re being a little dramatic, aren’t we?
Diane: [ Scoffs ]
Tucker: You say I’m the one who lacks subtlety.
Diane: I came back here to be with my son, and I cannot be associated with you. I will not lose the progress that I’ve made with kyle and with harrison.
Tucker: Hold on. Wait a second. Why don’t we make a deal? The abcs of ckd
Chelsea: [ Exhales heavily ]
[ Sighs ] Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
[ Exhaling sharply ]
Diane: I’m regretting our first deal, and you want me to make another one?
Tucker: Well, let’s just call it an amendment to the first deal then. You would just have to let me know when ashley returns from paris, and then you’d be off the hook as far as my eyes and ears in the abbott realm.
Diane: And if I do that, do you promise we’re over?
Tucker: You would have fulfilled your end of the agreement and you’d be free.
Victor: My conversation with tucker mccall didn’t go anywhere. However, he did reveal that he wants to make amends with ashley.
Nikki: Oh, yeah. I mean, he clearly made his grand entrance at the vow renewal to impress her.
Victor: Yeah, well, I’m afraid he’s gonna make her life a living hell.
Nikki: [ Sighs ] Yeah, he’ll try. But ashley can handle herself. I am going to focus completely on diane.
Noah: I was gonna text summer and try to divert her from coming tonight, but as luck would have it, she texted me saying she and kyle are gonna have a quiet night in.
Allie: Oh, good. That is one less thing for us to worry about.
Noah: Yeah. That kind of frees me up. And you were right. This place is filling up. Things are running smoothly. I’m starting to feel the magic a little. You want to go for another spin?
Nick: I love that scent.
Sally: [ Chuckles ]
Nick: May I?
Sally: [ Chuckles ]
[ Sighs ] Look, as much as I am enjoying this — and believe me, I am — I think maybe we should just take a moment and look at exactly what’s going on between us.
Noah: Thank you for believing in me.
Allie: Oh, of course. It’s not hard to do. And I love seeing you in your element.
Noah: Maybe I should come spend a day in the lab at jabot.
Allie: It’s — it’s a different kind of magic. But I appreciate the gesture.
Noah: You know, as much as i hate to break this up, there is something I need to check on.
hiwo seasons of ” this cemetery has been here for over 100 years, and the idea of uprooting this kind of history, it’s a violation. And the only reason the beautification guild is targeting this cemetery is that the citizens that have family here are primarily working-class. None of those families have the financial resources to fight this injustice. Unlike you, accompanied by your friend, who happens to be the ceo of aurora media.
[ Sighs ] If you’re asking if carly has my support, that is a yes, without a doubt. But this issue was up for public debate 10 months ago, so where were you to make your arguments then? And tell us why the residents should listen to you now. Tj: Willow. Everything okay? Yeah, sure. Everything’s good. Good. Actually, no. Things aren’t so good. I am…looking at my latest bloodwork, and the numbers just keep moving in the wrong direction. I’m sorry, but not surprised. What are you gonna do about it? Wyndemere isn’t always a safe place. In fact, it can be downright treacherous if you don’t watch your step. And esme… she failed to watch hers. Yes. You know, I seriously doubt that anybody will ever lay eyes on esme prince again. What do you know? For somebody who can only communicate by blinking, you — you certainly have a lot of rage in your face right now. Or is that just my imagination? No, you do — you do seem genuinely upset about this esme news. Well, one can never be too careful. So I will speak with your brother about another neuro exam for you. Just to be sure that there’s no change.
[ Door closes ] Oh, ava, my love, what have you done to my daughter?
[ Indistinct conversations ] Hey, ava, it’s trina. I just got a table outside of kelly’S. I’ll order you a coffee. Hey, see you soon. Well, hey! Nina, hi.
[ Laughs ]
[ Chuckles ] Nice to see you. How are you? Good. I was just headed to the 10th floor to fill out paperwork confirming that the metro court will be the location for next year’s nurses’ ball. Oh! You know, I just left there. Stealing away precious time with my lovely fiancéE. Aww. Well, the metro court is also a fantastic place for weddings, just in case you and portia haven’t locked down a location yet.
[ Chuckles ] Running the metro court clearly agrees with you.
[ Sighs ] Thank you. I’m getting a handle on it — I think — despite the constant pushback from carly and her army of supporters. Hey, dad, look what we found in your freezer. These three were threatening to call the cops. Dante would want to be a part of this. I’m calling him. Michael: Wait. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Sonny may deserve it, but it’s not fair to put dante in a position where he has to arrest his own father. Dante would do it in a heartbeat if he knew that sonny had ordered this freak to torture dex with knives.
I didn’t pay for my mother’s cemetery plot or pay the maintenance fee. That was all done by my best friend, jason morgan, who’s no longer with us. Jason was my brother, and in the process of settling his estate, the notice that the city had the intention of moving virginia benson’s grave wasn’t forwarded to her daughter. Well, that makes sense. Um, had you been paying regular visits to your mother’s grave site, you probably would’ve found out about the guild’s plans. Just because I’m late to the battle doesn’t mean my cause is any less valid. The only reason the city wants to move this cemetery, because it wants to protect other areas from commercial development. It’s the same old sad story of the haves protecting what’s theirs at the expense of the have-nots. Thank you for your time. And that’s a wrap. We have enough. Um, I want to thank you both, though, for bringing this to my attention, because it’s going to make for a very compelling segment. Do you know when it’s gonna air? Because the sooner it does, the more pressure the city is going to face. You’ll be happy to know it will air on tonight’s newscast. However, I feel like I need to warn you, there are many influential people who are invested in this project, and I don’t think they’re going to take your pushback very lightly. I don’t know where sonny found this sicko, but there’s a bag of knives laid out in the freezer. Okay? So this so-called “chef” was gonna use them to torture dex. Michael: So that’s how you were, uh, claiming to protect our family? You’ve already lost josslyn and — and — and me. So, uh, what about the rest of your family? Yeah, sure, avery and donna are too young to understand torture. But what do you think dante and kristina would think? You think they’d, uh — they’d thank you? Sonny: Josslyn and dex were on their way out. Michael, you should go, too. By the way, diane woke up, and she identified her attacker as a woman. Josslyn: Well, I still think that we should call dante and let him know what sonny did to dex. Hey, this happened to me, okay? I already said I don’t want the cops involved, so can we just get out of here, please? Not feeling so hot.
[ Scoffs ] Sorry. Your boss was gonna torture you, perhaps even have you killed, and you’re sticking beside him?
[ Scoffs ] Ridiculous.
[ Door slams ] What happened to you?
[ Door closes ]
[ Door closes ] What’s with the knives? You know, I’m not naive, curtis. And I knew by keeping carly’s half of the hotel, olivia was gonna be against me, and there was gonna be resistance from the staff. Okay. So what
weren’t you ready for? I wasn’t ready for sonny’s children, specifically josslyn. I know she is sonny’s stepdaughter, but she sets the emotional tone for avery and donna. And she’s made it very clear that she cannot stand me. Yeah, I get that. I know how tough it is to fight against a — a determined young woman who’s decided that you’re in the wrong. Uh-oh. What’s going on with you? I thought things were great between you and trina. They were.
[ Sighs ] Until I tried to help. Joss, it’s me. Just checking in. Did you have any luck finding dex? I’m at kelly’S. Hit me back. Ava: Hiya, trina. Hi, ava. Oh. Hi. I got you a coffee. Oh, good. Thanks. I’m sorry I’m late. I was at spring ridge, and I lost track of time. What were you doing there? I went to see ryan chamberlain. Why would you put yourself through that when you just got out of the hospital? Well…there was a time not that long ago that ryan was stalking me. And he — he once used a hook to kill somebody — just like the one that was used to attack me, and so I needed to see him for myself, to see that he is still immobile, that he isn’t faking it. I needed to be sure that ryan wasn’t my attacker all along. And? What did you find? It’s only a few more weeks until I’m in my second trimester, and then the baby will be developed enough for me to safely begin my treatment for leukemia. Right. And in the meantime, you’re putting a huge strain on yourself by acting like nothing is wrong. Your schedule, it would exhaust anyone, well, let alone a pregnant woman with leukemia. Thank you for your opinion, dr. Ashford. That’s just it. I’m not — I’m not speaking to you as your doctor. I’m speaking to you as your friend. And to be perfectly honest with you, the choices that my friend is making are scaring the hell out of me.
Ryan was in his wheelchair, unable to move except to blink “yes” or “no.” His condition is unchanged. I get why you wanted to chat. But now that you have, can you please take it easy? You nearly died. And honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Oh, trina. You know, all my doctors say that I’m healing very well, and I have no intention of going anywhere.
[ Cellphone ringing ] Oh, it’s the police. I have to take this. This is ava jerome. Hey. Oh, good! You got me message. Did you find dex? Oh, I found him all right. Wait. What? What d– what does that mean?
[ Sighs ] Ava. Yeah? What did the police say? Um… diane miller woke up, and she — she told the cops that her attacker was a woman. Josslyn: Yeah. Yeah, I was just with sonny. He said the same thing. You know, it’s lucky that diane remembered her attacker was a woman because sonny blamed dex. And we all know what can happen if he thinks someone’s guilty. Wait. Dex — the dex — the young man that helped you save my life? Yes. Not that it mattered to sonny. Oh. Hey, trina, thanks so much for the coffee. I have to run. There — there’s something that I need to take care of, and, um… looks like your — your friend joss could use some time with you alone. I’ll see you soon. Why are you so upset? What happened? Sonny is even worse than I thought. After ava and brando were attacked, I didn’t think it was safe for trina to work at the gallery, especially in the evenings after classes at the pcu. So I suggested that trina get an internship at the chuck. It’s a great facility with a — with a strong security unit. Ava agreed, and she made the arrangements. Now, silly me, I thought that because the chuck was so prestigious that trina would be — she would be thrilled, right? Mm-hmm. Well, instead, it all blew up in my face. Well, I think trina is very lucky to have such a loving, supportive future stepfather who is willing to step in and maybe save her from herself. And there’s no chance you’re just a little bit biased? No. No chance at all. We never talked about using knives on dex. When you hired me, you knew I was an experienced professional. I use knives because I’ve found that they make people talk faster than any other method. And you wanted a confession. No, I wanted the truth. I didn’t want a — a — a made-up confession from dex ’cause he wanted to get you to stop cutting him. Now, the third victim, diane miller, told the police that it was a woman who attacked her. That makes dex innocent. Lucky for dex. No, lucky for you! Now, you were gonna cut dex in my name, but without my knowledge. I have a problem with that! And I don’t like problems.
[ Knock on door ] Michael, what are you doing here? Can I come in? You’re the boss. Kind of surprised you’d show up in person. Not exactly the best way to hide that I’m working for you. Oh, uh… no, that’S… that’s over. You don’t work for me anymore. All I want is to give this baby the best chance of being born 100% healthy. The whole reason I am keeping the truth from michael is because I don’t have the strength to fight with him about it, because I know he’d insist on me getting treatment for the leukemia right away. I don’t want to fight with you, either. Okay. Okay. Hey, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I am sorry for pressuring you. I told you that I would support you. Okay? And that’s what I’m gonna do. Thank you, tj.
‘Seven worse than you thought?
[ Scoffs ] Sonny decided that dex was responsible for all of the attacks and was holding him in his restaurant. What? I had my phone. I could have video’d what I saw, but in that moment, it was just more important to rescue dex. What I should’ve done is called dante. I mean, I was witnessing a crime in progress. I had the perfect opportunity to get dante there and arrest sonny. Well, why didn’t you? Michael. He was there, and he didn’t want to get our brother involved. What’s even stranger, dex, the victim, he didn’t want to get the cops involved, either. Ah! Aha! I knew it was too good to be true…
[ Door closes ] …That you were still a motionless vegetable. I saw it! You can move! Well, look at that! I can talk, too! Aah! And you are gonna walk me out of here as my hostage. This whole time! You’ve been faking it the whole time! I was just waiting for the right opportunity. And now that you’ve killed my daughter, I’d say that time is now. What? Wha– what — what daughter? Esme prince. My flesh and blood. Oh, my god, of course. That makes perfect sense. She was just as sick and twisted as you are! You killed my daughter. My little girl. No! No, you murdered my daughter, kiki! Your daughter, she just tripped off the parapet, which seems more than fair! Fair?! I don’t care about fair! I want revenge. But I’ll get that after. After what? After I love you one more time. I called selina wu. I totoit’s up to you. Ody kands fwe — we speak on a regular basis, so if you disappoint her, I will know about it.
[ Scoffs lightly ] Excuse me. Sure. He was in a hurry to leave. What are you doing here? Uh, well, I’m here to put in a good word for an employee of yours — dex heller. He’s the — the young man who saved my life. Well, well, well… who are the cheaters now? Again, I’m sorry for coming down so hard on you. I hope you know it’S…
[ Breathes deeply ] …It’s only because I care about you so much. I know that. And it means…a lot. And I can’t disagree with anything you said. But there’s just… no other choice I can make. I know what it’s like to lose a baby. I still go and visit jonah’s grave on a regular basis. I cannot lose another child. I just can’T. Hey. Hey, hey. Willow… you’re a fighter. Huh? You’re a fighter. I have total faith that you are going to beat this, and I am going to be here, by your side, all the way. Thank you, tj. That means everything to me. Okay.
[ Chuckles ] Okay. Willow. Did you get some good news? $50,000? Yeah, that’s severance, along with a bonus for hazard pay. The job’s not done. I didn’t get you what you wanted. Look, I hired you to take sonny down. It was never my intention for you to die in the process. Look, I knew the risks. Okay? I-I’m infiltrating a criminal organization. I know that’s a dangerous proposition. Sounds like you were more realistic to who sonny is than I was.
[ Sighs ] I don’t know. For as many times as I’ve been angry, been disappointed, wanted to take him down… I guess I was naive to who he really was. I thought he lived by some code. I mean, never in my wildest dreams did I think he was capable of having somebody tortured with a knife. I mean, that is just beyond the realm. So, look, I…
[ Sighs ] I didn’t understand the risks I was asking you to take. But now that I do, look, the job’s over. No, I can’t accept that. Did I get lucky today? Of course. But we can use that to our advantage. First time I saw this place was the day of virginia’s funeral.
[ Birds chirping ] I was a mess. Jason handled all the arrangements. And when I realized he picked a spot this close to the ocean, I…
[ Sighs ] I mean, you can still feel the ocean breeze, can’t you? I can, yeah, absolutely. It’s the perfect spot for my mother’s resting place. But I should have done more. Like what? Well, for starters, I should’ve been on the paperwork. Then I would have known about the potential move. I could’ve been a part of the original fight against this change. Carly, it is not often I get to use your own words against you…
[ Sighs ] …But what did you just say to tara? That even though you’re starting late, it doesn’t make your cause any less valid. Virginia was a good woman. Terrible taste in men.
[ Chuckles ] But she was kind and loving and… way more forgiving than me. Gosh, she deserved so much more than life gave her. You know, she deserved an attentive daughter. And I know I can’t change the mistakes I made as a teenager, but as an adult, I can make sure that her grave isn’t dug up and moved. She deserves that, right? She damn sure deserved a better husband than frank benson.
I appreciate your two cents, ava, but I-I make up my own mind on who I work with. It’s a little more than my two cents, sonny. And all my doctors at G.H. Agree that dex heller saved my life. I mean, yeah, it was — it was josslyn that — that found me, and she called 911, but it was dex that realized I was bleeding out. And if he hadn’t acted when he did, I would have died. Josslyn told me the same thing, and, you know, as — for avery’s sake, I’m happy that he — that he was the one that helped you out. So then you can see why I’M… concerned about the young man’s welfare. I can tell you right now that dex is in no danger from me. That’s good. But I have to wonder, is that because you actually trust him or because diane I.D.’D her attacker as a woman? So you’re giving up on giving evidence against your father? Of course not. Look, I’m more determined than ever, but it can’t be for something like assault where, you know, he can work the system and remain free. No, I have to get him on organized-crime charges. Look, if I could find evidence of rico violations, then there’s no way out for him. I just need to find another way to get that proof. No, starting over with something new is just a waste of time. I’m already inside sonny’s organization. He almost had you killed. Right, because he thought I was behind the attacks. But now sonny knows I’m innocent. Even better, he knows he was wrong about me. The look sonny gave me when he admitted the attacker was a woman, that is my opening. Okay? Sonny’s feeling guilty he so badly misjudged me. He’s gonna want to make up for what almost happened to me. That is how I can get close enough to get you what you need. Sonny has brought nothing but misery to dex’s life. Dex has to realize how close he came to being seriously injured, if not killed. I mean, why not call the cops, press charges, send sonny to prison where he belongs? Well, maybe dex just doesn’t hate sonny like you want him to. Uncle. Hey, T. Thanks for meeting me. Yeah, I got your message. Good thing I was already here, visiting portia. Okay. So, what’s going on? I can’t really go into specific details, but a friend of mine is going through something, and she’s choosing a very risky path. Now, I tried to intervene and was told to back off in no uncertain terms. Seems to be a lot of that going around. Carly: I could never understand why virginia kept the last name benson. I mean, frank walked out on their marriage, never paid her a dime of alimony or child support. So why not go back to her maiden name? Wow. I could ask myself the same question, right? Why? Why am I keeping sonny’s last name? I mean, we’re over. I’m not going back. I don’t want anything from him. We’ve already established our divorce settlement. Why am I still carly corinthos? Maybe it’s because you want the same last name as donna, or maybe because so much of your career is tied to that name. Keeping sonny’s last name means I’m holding on to something, and I’m not. Maybe it’s time I stop being carly corinthos and I became somebody else.
Yeah, you’re right. Until diane said that the attacker was a woman, all the circumstantial evidence pointed towards dex. Um, he was second on the scene after you were attacked. He was present right before or after the attacks on brando and diane. And then t-there was the — the dog tags, which fits perfectly with the metal noise that brando and josslyn heard. Well, did diane have another explanation for that sound? Well, diane said that the attacker was wearing — she was wearing a — a bracelet. Ah. So then that circumstantial evidence that pointed toward dex was misleading. That’s right. But when you thought that he was the guilty party, sonny, what were you gonna do to get him to confess? I wasn’t gonna condemn dex without proof, but I also wasn’t gonna let him wander around free if I thought he was a threat to my friends and my family. You made the right call. Michael: Sonny just provedhow far he’ll go. I don’t want your death on my conscience. The security firm you hired me from has been sending me into combat situations. I’m used to risking my life. That’s how I earn my living, and it pays well. Hey, there’s incentive in that. But I don’t see the honor in fighting as some corporation soldier for hire — I do see the honor in stopping sonny. Enough to justify the chance you’d be taking? After what sonny just did to me, hanging me from a meat hook overnight, deciding he was my judge, jury, and executior? Yeah. Sonny definitely has this coming. I mean, think about what would have happened if you and joss hadn’t shown up. Yeah, I like to think I’m tough, but I am no match for that psycho’s bag of knives. I could’ve been killed or — or at least cut to ribbons by the time sonny realized I was innocent. The next guy might not be that lucky. That’s why I want to see this through. Are you absolutely sure? I am. Okay. In that case… …keep the check…
[ Sighs ] …And you still deserve the bonus for hazard pay. Thank you, michael. That’s very generous of you. Well, there is one additional condition of employment. Stay away from josslyn. It’s just work stuff. And my shift just ended. Time for me to go home. Well, willow, I have to give you a lot of credit for continuing to work with everything you have to do — you know, taking care of wiley and now with another baby on the way. Lots of women continue to work while they are pregnant. That is true. But then again, a lot of women aren’t pregnant with the next quartermaine heir. I worked hard to get my nursing degree. I love coming to work. Yeah, but money is no object for michael. I’m sure he’d be thrilled if you decided to stay home and take it easy during your pregnancy. Because, willow, I have to say… you look pale — no offense. Are you — are you just taking on too much? And then I have to wonder, what’s here at the hospital that’s so compelling you can’t seem to tear yourself away from it? If you drop the name corinthos, what name would you go by? I — I don’t know. I mean, back in the day, when I first came to town, I was carly roberts, but that was an alias. I stole that name from reese. I’ve been carly quartermaine, carly jacks, but just like corinthos, it was my married name. I don’t think I’m legally allowed to use those names again. Plus, monica would lose her mind if I started calling myself carly quartermaine again.
[ Laughs ] Yeah. Yep, I bet she would. Wait a minute. What about you? I mean, you’ve been faced with this question. Were you ever tempted to use the quartermaine name? Even ava admitted that her security at the gallery is nothing compared to the security at the chuck. Plus, the murphy-katz foundation fellowship is a big honor. It would look awesome on trina’s résumé. Sure would. That’s what I was thinking. So I was talking with ava. She told me that trina is more than qualified for that offer. Problem is, trina’s not trying to hear it because she’s so mad at me for interfering in her life. Mm. So it’s like everything we’ve built, all the progress that her and I have made has just evaporated. And now I’m back at square one. I disagree. I don’t think trina would be able to stay mad at you for long.
Yeah, I’ve thought about taking on the name quartermaine. I mean, for good or bad, they are family, and… mm. [ Laughs ] Yeah, sometimes it’s a bit of a bumpy ride, but I… I feel like I’m one of them. Yeah, but you never took on the family name. No. Because I’m also a former navy seal, chief andrew cain, and I’m very proud of that part of my history and the tours that I served and the — the people that I served them with. And I don’t want to distance myself from that part of my life just for a family brand. I feel the opposite. I want to distance myself from sonny, but I don’t want to do that by taking back the name benson.
interview will air tonight. I am here with carly right now. You’re on speaker. Hi, tara. Hi, carly. I just told drew that your interview will air tonight, but, unfortunately, someone beat us to the punch, and I’m texting drew a link to a story that’s already aired on a rival station. I’m sorry I can’t give you better news. I appreciate the heads-up. Yeah. Thanks, tara.
[ Cellphone beeps ] “The woman behind the last-minute effort to stop the development of the new parkway not only has ties to madam and sex-trafficker ruby anderson, carly corinthos has a history of violent and erratic behavior, has been institutionalized, and, as a teenager, was rumored to be responsible for an auto accident in jacksonville, which left two teenagers dead and one in a coma.” Yeah. They’re coming after me. I don’t know what kind of drama you’re trying to start this time, but the simplest answer is, G.H. Needs nurses. Like I said, I worked hard to get my degree, and it’s important to me that I use it. Not that it is any of your business, whether I work or not. Oh, oh, I completely disagree with that, willow, because you and michael’s justification for banishing me from my grandson’s life is that I’m somehow a threat to his safe and secure happy home life, a home life with two loving parents who are completely committed to each other and wiley. Michael and i
are committed. Oh, I really do hope that that is true because rumors and gossip spread like wildfire. And while I have no intention of telling people about that incredibly intimate embrace between you and dr. Ashford, other people might not be as considerate. So you came here, uh, to defend dex. Now you’re saying I have a right to suspect him? I’m saying you were right to be cautious. To do whatever you deem necessary to protect your family. And what if I hadn’t figured that out in time? But you did. Yeah. Right? Right. Dex is unharmed? Relatively.
[ Chuckles ] Mm. Well, the way I see it, you have an opportunity here. And you’ve — you’ve proven to dex that you don’t rush to judgment, that you’re dangerous — but inherently fair. I might even consider it, like, a test. Ah. Yeah. One that he passed?
[ Breathes deeply ] That remains to be seen. I — I just think you may have found a keeper in dex. He’s smart and capable, and I think he could be trained to be a trustworthy and valuable associate. And I like that. ‘Cause you’re avery’s father, and I want our daughter to have both of her parents for a very long time. You want me to stay away from your sister? Look, I hate lying to josslyn, but, yeah, she can’t know that you work for me. Why not? She certainly seems open to the idea of taking sonny down. Yeah, she’d be all over it. But, look, when sonny goes down, it’s gonna hurt my other siblings, people that josslyn loves, especially our youngest sisters, avery and donna. Look, I’m — I’m willing to be the, uh — the bad guy, okay? Because in the long term, I believe that my siblings will be better off without sonny in their lives. But in the short term, I don’t expect them to agree with me. So those little girls are gonna need their big sister josslyn more than ever. So she has to be clear of my plans, and that means she has to be clear of you. Okay. You’re the boss. But I don’t like the idea of lying to joss every time I see her. So I just won’t see her. Well, I think maybe you’re being a little too optimistic, nephew. It’s one thing for her to forgive me. It’s quite another thing for her to see me as her stepfather. I hear you. I do. But again, I disagree. Look, even if trina hasn’t come to say the words just yet, I think she’s grown to love you. And by the time you and portia get married, I’m confident she will be there, cheering you both on. I hope that even though dex didn’t press charges that this is a huge wake-up call for him. And now he’ll be more appreciative of his life. And hopefully, he’ll take off, and he’ll go… far, far away from port charles. That would definitely be for the best, not only for dex but also for you. Me? I’ve been where you are, or at least something similar. Think about all the times that spencer has brought trouble into my life. Think about all the excuses that I kept making for him. Getting involved with someone like dex or spencer, it can cost you a lot. Hello, daddy. Did you miss me?
Oh my God. Mike. Mike Carton. Yeah. Yeah, it’s me. All right. Oh, you’re back in Salem. Always did have a keen grasp, the obvious, Nancy. Oh, um, well, um, I’m nice to see you again. Really? Do you have amnesia or. No, I, I just meant that you just meant that you want me to pretend that you didn’t do the things you did.
Is that it? Well, don’t you worry, I’m here for Jennifer. I really don’t have time for old enemies.
You’re drumming your fingers again. Oh, sorry. I just wish Mike would get here. Now that I’ve decided to go to rehab, I just wanna get there and just wanna go start all over again. I understand. I do like, I I, I packed up all of our, our books and tablets and everything and maybe you want to just check everything that I packed for you, make sure that I, I got it all.
You, you packed up our books. Well, yes, cuz we’re. Start all over again together. I’m going with you. No, Jack, I I don’t want you to. I get it now. Okay. Jack Dev is nobody’s sugar daddy. Now I’m left with all these pesky legal bills. I’ve got nobody to pay them.
I’ve gotta go. Go.
Yeah, Craig. Glad I ran into you. Really drives that. I guess I sort of owe you an apology.
Oh my look. Oh my gosh. It looks like sage is here for a high tea. He wants pocket right there. A lady. Go ahead. This is nice.
Wow. And look, we have some nice hot crumpets. Oh, crumpets are my favorite. And I remember your favorite flavor is strawberry. Mm-hmm. no one isn’t. I hate it and I don’t want that one either.
Hey, I’m, uh, I’m glad you went out. Got some fresh air docs losing her appetite. I thought maybe I could try to tempt her with a shake from buddies. Have you come up with anything yet? I thought there might be some medical advances made in the past 25 years. Has my dad had this, but, Talk about a rare disease.
There hasn’t been one single case since then and the only known treatment is the one that saved my dad. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The serum that Dr. Roth made from the very rare organ in the Amazon jungle. That’s why Steve and I are flying down there this afternoon. Yeah. I um, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I would cancel your flight.
Hello, Marlena.
Like sand through the hour. So are the days of
I look for an appropriate greeting card, but there were none for, Sorry, I accused you of murder. It’s funny. I thought they were right next to the, Sorry. I’m a gold Digging big in MIS card. I had that coming. Mm. Did least summing buy you a beer? What I, I just remembered when I was footing the bill, you’d always order champagne.
Lots and lots of champagne. Well, I’ve embraced the beer and ramen lifestyle. It’s very freeing. Come have a beer with me. What’s the. Sure. I’m about to find out.
Um, I am sorry, Mike, that you still think of me as, as your enemy. Actually, I haven’t thought anything about you in years. Thank God. You know, it’s funny just now, maybe 30 minutes ago you kind of popped into my head and now here we are face to face. Freaky, Huh? You thought about me? Yeah. I was looking at Abigail’s grave, thinking about the man who put her there, which led of course, to thinking about you.
And then I was reminded about something from the past, how you were Craig Wesley’s partner in Crown, his lady Mcbe. This. What about it, Nancy, you and Clyde West and on this together,
Rachel, that was way out of line and you know it. I don’t care. I don’t wanna have a tea party. Not with her, her sweetie. Her name is Chloe. Okay. You will apologize to her right now. No, I won’t. She’s the mommy.
What are you doing here? Well, I came to see how you were doing. John said you might be dying. With, He didn’t tell me directly. He blurted it out in court and I was concerned, obviously thoughtful of you to come by, but I’m, I’m fine. I’m alive anyway. You’re looking as lovely as ever. Ah, you know, it boggles my mind that Oria did this to.
Gave you this terrible illness Roman suffered from 25 years ago. How did you know about that?
Why the hell would we want to cancel our flight? Steve and I are going down to the Amazon to find that. Or we could. Im Percy. I, I’m afraid I have some bad news. What could be bad news? You said yourself to serum cured your dad. He had the same disease that Doc has now. Yes, the orchid can produce secure, however, That orchid no longer exists.
You don’t want me to go with you? No, I mean, I just, I I’m just saying that you shouldn’t come now because I’ll be in the early stages of, of treatment and, you know, we wouldn’t really get to see much of each other. And of course I want you to come eventually, depending on how, how long I have to be there.
And if you have, when. You have Quinn and she needs you.
I love you. I love you. I know, I know. Do know. I mean, I, I couldn’t, I couldn’t do this if I didn’t know that,
even though I won’t be on that plane with you today. And we’ll be with you
right to here. Always.
Honey, we’ve talked about this. The judge said that your mommy needs to take some time away before she takes care of you again, but I can’t even see her and I know. This was my lunch box.
It’s Chloe’s fault. Your mommy can’t see you.
No one knows details of this illness except the doctors and our family. How did you find out? You’re saying that these women have the same illness that Roman did 25 years ago? That is precisely what I am saying, and if anything happens to them, I could be blamed. Since obvious stores are toxin from me.
Well, I overheard some of the doctors talking at the nurses station. I really don’t understand why it’s such a state secret. Must be a relief to know what’s wrong with you. Hmm. At least now they can cure you. Right? As long as they can still find the achi.
Okay. Maybe that orchid is gone is 16, but I know for a fact that Dr. Roth is not the kind of person that ever throws anything away, let alone a life saving Kiel. If we can find him, it’s possible that we could get the cure from him. Right. Okay. Well, Dr. Ralph was pardoned, but we have no idea where he could be.
No, no, no. But I could think of someone who does.
I wonder what’s giving Mike. There’s still plenty of time. You know what I think? I think I should have gone to rehab the first time I started taking these damn. You did get off them. Yeah, but I was going to meetings then and, and I had my mom, she was a rock, you know, She was always there for me.
Now she’s gone and
I don’t wanna let Akale Town. Damn Jennifer sweetheart. Too much has been asked of you.
Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but Gwen put you and Abigail through hell and then when we thought it was over, finally, finally everything was gonna be normal. We,
we lost our precious score.
I don’t think you should judge yourself for things you did when your world fell apart
and now we’re gonna put that world back together together.
Because that’s what we always do.
Well, it’s too bad John and Steve have to go all the way to South America to find another orchid.
What is that? It is the key to bringing three women from the Bri of death, Kate Roberts, Kayla Johnson, and Elena Evans. This can save their lives. I have faith in them. I know they’ll, I find the flower and grapes will be able to, to make the medicine that will carry us all. You sound confident. That’s good.
Kristen, I’m tired. Oh, yes, of course. I just wanted to come by. I wish she will. Wow, that’s new. Okay. I know we had our differences. , just to say that’s an understatement. Would. Would be a colossal understate. I, I know, I know. Kristen, where you leaving? Yes, but I was hoping, hoping, hoping what I always ing You could give me a favorite before I.
Kristen. Kristen got Ralph. Pardon? She knows where he is. Yeah, I’m sure she does. She’s not gonna tell me anything, but I’m thinking of someone else who may though Stephan Damir has been going around town telling everybody that Dr has brought him back from the dead. Come again. Apparently Dr. Roth kept Stephan on ice in one of his labs and I’ll betcha.
He’s got information that we can go on. Okay? Okay. Take Marlena, her shake. I’m gonna track down step and see what he can tell us.
Mike, I, um, can expect to have you change how you feel about me, but I swear I had no idea that Clyde did the things that he did when I, um, first met him. I wasn’t in great shape. I only saw what I wanted to see and I didn’t listen to the chorus of voices who were telling me exactly who he was and, um, I was, and not for the first time in my life.
Fool, thanks for sharing. Look, if you want me to pay for the things that I’ve. Rest assured I have paid and I am paying it. It’s not every day that you wake up and get punched in the face with the fact that your entire life has, has been nothing but life. So this apology, Hmm. Well, in the first place, I really did believe you were the one who framed me.
And at the same time, I was so desperate to pin the crime on someone else. So, um, this justifies you actually accusing me of a murder I didn’t commit. Well, you actually thought I did it. Well, sometimes I think outside the box and in retrospect I see that I may have indulged. Yes. I gotta hear. I convinced myself you were so devastated, shattered, really over losing me that you had a psychotic break.
Losing you. Leo, I dumped you. Well, don’t nitpick over everything I’m saying. I’m trying to apologize. Yes. Well, I see you are not familiar with the concept, but an apology for the record usually contains the words. I’m sorry. Okay.
I’m sorry. That I doubted the man I loved love. I’m sorry, I thought you were capable of doing this.
Did you hear what I said? I still love you, and I don’t think you would’ve come in here and talked to me if you didn’t. I still have feelings for me too.
You.
Yeah, he was the first man I ever fell in love with and what we had together will always be special to me in its way. The thing is, oh, I always hate what comes after. The thing is, I was outside and heard you on the phone with Gwen. I know what you said to her.
Wow.
I had no idea. That’s why you and Craig split because he is gay. You can say the word Mike. I, I know. I can fact, when I was a teenager, there was a time when I thought maybe I was gay, but I’m not that, uh, Fact, then I was terrified of the thought of it. I think God times have changed. Amen. Did that you two were together a long time.
Must have been a pretty rough breakup. Huh? How you doing? Well, at first, um, it was pretty angry. I was only just looking for a way to make Craig pay for what he had done to me. . But, um, you know, now our whole relationship has, uh, has changed. I just want him to be happy and I know that he wants the same for me.
That’s good. It’s what we all serve. Yes, we do.
Well, uh, I better be getting over to Jennifer’s. Oh. How long are you staying? I’m not, um, heading back to New York this afternoon. I thought you lived in Boston. New job, New City. I’m still. What a feel my way out there. Oh, well I’m going back to New York too, so, Um, Well, if you need to find a bookstore or good coffee place, uh, dry cleaners.
Oh, and Bulgogi. I love Bo Gogi. Oh, well, Mike, do I have a place for use? Well, let’s do it then. Huh?
Let’s now. That’s a contraction for let us, isn’t it? Yes, it is. Yeah. Staff put your number in. We’ll make a date.
I look forward to it like.
Was good talking to you, Nancy. It was good talking to you too, Mike.
Okay. Uh, who put this in your lunchbox, honey? I don’t know, but I know it’s true. No, listen, listen to me. Clo Chloe here. It’s nothing to Rachel. Come here.
Wow. . Kristen is not gonna stop. Is she, That, that note’s just a shot over the bow. She has no regard for, for, for what she’s doing to her own daughter, what she’s putting her through. No, she doesn’t. And you’re right in the middle of it. I am. So She should not have talked to you. I’m sorry she spoke to you that way.
It’s okay. Listen, I understand there was a long time where I talked to everyone like that because I was young. Was angry and lost, but I think we just, we have to face the fact that Rachel hates me and there’s nothing we can do about it.
I didn’t think that anything or anyone could make me laugh. Right. Well, but you were thinking that maybe I could do you a favor. I’m glad I could cheer you up. My Lena. You know, to say that you were self-absorbed would be like, I don’t know, saying the Titanic had taken on a little bit of water. Okay. I am not self-absorbed.
I’m just thinking of Rachel. And I don’t think it’s good idea for her to be totally cut off from her own mother. That is exactly what Brady is doing, and he would listen to you. So if you please tell him Brady has full custody, and Brady will decide what is best for that child. So you won’t help me help you.
I thought this was about Rachel.
Hmm. Well, I will leave you be good luck with the orchid hunting. It would be a shame to the people you love if you were to die.
You heard what I said to Gwen? Yeah. Something about needing to pay your legal fees and Jack Deo being a sure. Daddy, I, I can explain. No, no, no, no. I don’t wanna hear it. I don’t wanna tell it, but I will. I’m drowning in legal fees and I tried to blackmail Jack Male. Mm-hmm. over. Why? Uh, it’s a personal matter all sort of blew up in my face.
Oh my God, you, so you still need to pay off your bills. And you, I’m looking for your sugar. Daddy, you, you want me to be your sugar daddy now? Is that it?
You didn’t have to come all this way. Hey, you’re my sister. Of course I did. Hey Mike. Thanks for everything. Oh, it’s fine. Jen. I checked out this place. Everybody I talked to says they do really didn work. Oh, that’s good. The works really though up to me, isn’t it? Yeah. And I have all the faith in the world in you.
Lucky, you’ve admitted you need help. That’s the hardest part. It’s all that help from here,
Chloe. Rachel. I hate you. She’s just going through a hard time and she’s ticking it out on you. I know. I’m not, I’m not worried about me. It’s, listen us the both of us, We have to do what Kristen’s not doing, which is thinking about what Rachel’s going through from her point of view. I al, I know that I said that I wasn’t gonna let Kristen use Rachel as a wedge between us.
I know, but you cannot stop her from trying and it’s only gonna be difficult for Rachel. I think I should take her to Nora James. Yeah, I think that might be a good idea. Yeah. Are you sure you’re okay? Yes, of course. Yes. I’m okay. I, I love that you’re such an amazing dad, so please don’t worry about me. Go take care of your little girl again.
We’re gonna get through this. I know.
Stephen, thank you for taking my call. Look, I’m wondering if you could help me. I’m trying to track down Dr. It’s a matter of life and death.
Oh. Oh. I must have do off. I’m sorry. No, no, no, no. That’s a good thing, sweetheart. How you doing honey? I’m better now that you’re here. Hey. Hey.
Does a coffee milkshake sound good to you right now?
Maybe a little later. Okay. So I had a visitor, Kristen Damara, she. Why she, um, wanted a favor. She wanted me to talk to Brady about Rachel’s custody. Oh, what a bitch. I don’t think that was the only, the only reason she was here. I think she wanted to make sure that I was a death store. Knowing your doc. In fact, Steve and I were, we’re working on a cure right now, and nothing’s gonna stop us.
In fact, I was just, I was just talking to Rex outside of,
Hmm. This is just so disheartening. You think I wanna get back together with you because I’m broke? Yes. That’s exactly what I think. You know. Oh my. You use my wealth to pay your bills off so you don’t have to, Oh, I don’t know. Get a job. It work. Save money. Stop taking Cosmos in the middle of the morning.
Oh, you hate me. No. Oh, please. That. It might be so much easier. You own personal Pied Piper. I just wanna follow you everywhere you go and clean up your messes and pay your bills because you can be more fun than anyone I’ve ever met.
That’s not enough. No, I mean, Nancy was my safety. You, you’re like this. I just dance the edge of a.
But I need more and I need someone who’s right in the middle.
I can’t expect you to understand that.
Actually, I kind of do.
Oh, hi. Is this a bad time? Uh, not if you’re in the mood for tea. Oh. Oh, What’s that? Oh, it’s your birthday present. I’m so sorry. With everything going on, it sort of got away from me. Don’t worry about it. Come in. Oh, this is a, a tea party for three. Uh, should I, uh, go? Yeah, I should have called first. No, uh, it’s okay.
The, the tea party’s over. Oh, well, what happened? Well, let’s just say that, um, Kristen doesn’t even have to be in the same room to just blow everything up. What’d she do now? She freaked out that Brady got full of custody of Rachel and she started a full on gorilla warfare. Well, that decides it then.
Besides what? Well, obviously I was going back to New York, but I can’t go now. I mean, you need me here?
I brought you a sc. Hmm. Oh darling. Yeah. Maybe later. Where’s that? He and Steve are trying to track down the cure.
Should I leave? I mean, I You must be tired. No, not, I don’t wanna honey up. I wanna tell you something.
Kristen came to see me. What? What she wanted to talk to me about. Well, outrageous custody.
Talk to Mylan. I, I know that it would probably be best if I tried to work something out with her, but right now, I, I, I told her no. Good, good. Because more than ever right now, I feel like I need to keep Rachel away from our, What has she done now?
So, hello, Dr. Roth, Mr. Black and Dr. Brady, my former protege. What can I do for you, gentlemen? We need your help.
Craig. Hmm. Would it be okay if I look you up? If I ever make it back to New York? Sure. Why not? And if I un unfollow you on social media, it is the best way to keep in touch. Mm-hmm. , I, um, yeah, sure. Find him. I’d like to see what you’re up to and who knows, Maybe someday when I’m rich and famous in my own.
I’ll sweep you off your feet, but in the meantime,
get your wallet.
I’ll get you next time, I promise. Oh, I’m sure you will. All right, Leo.
Take care. Mm.
Okay. That was really hard. Julie was trying. So hard not to cry, and Doug was squeezing her hand, Oh sweetheart, I’ll take good care of them while you’re gone. As hard as it as it was to say goodbye to them, check, Hey, hey,
this isn’t goodbye. We both know that
this is, See you.
Okay. Okay. Ready? Mike? Okay. Okay.
Oh mom, I love this. Thank you. You’re welcome. I found it at this little boutique. I’ll have to take you. They have the cutest things that are what? You have to go back to New York. No, sweetheart, I can’t do that. Not with Kristen out to get you, Mom. There’s nothing you can do to help me with Kristen. The only thing you’ll do here is worry about me, and I hate that.
So you gotta go back to New York, to your city, to your life with me and the world to me. If all the bad things that have happened recently won’t stop you, because my mother’s always been an unstoppable force of nature. And I want that mom back. Are you sure? I’m sure. Okay. Mike darling, girl, I’ll go then, but I want you to come see me real soon, okay?
Of course I will. I love, But you know what? You better call first. Just might have plans.
honey, just to be on the safe side. I want you to document everything that Kristen does. I mean, keep a journal just in case she tries to take you back to bed. I don’t want you worrying about me right now. I don’t want you worrying about Rachel. I want you worrying about one thing and. That’s, that’s you. I want you to take care of yourself, and I know dad is gonna get you whatever the heck it is that you need.
There’s not a doubt in my mind, Navon, you seemed so stressed when you came in, talked to Evans, Dr. Johnson and Ms. Roberts all at this store, and you save us Orpheus, who gave him the toxin? That’s a. I wonder guy who could have gotten access to those rare pathogens. I know what a mystery. Look, we’re not interested in how he got them.
We’re just interested in finding a cure. I seem to report something about an oil kid. That’s right. That’s what you used last time. Unfortunately, that species of orchid is now extinct, which makes you our only hope. I am your only hope
but a miserable position to find yourself in. No. You think this? Okay. Look, do you have access to the orchid or the drug you developed will pay handsomely for it. I know your research isn’t cheap.
No, I’m sorry. As much as I’d like to, I don’t think I can help you.
Ridge: My destiny. I don’t even know what the hell that means anymore.
Steffy: So, coming to aspen was a good idea?
Taylor: Yes. Yes. I don’t know if it’s just the altitude, but I’m feeling lighter already.
Steffy: Good. I mean, maybe we should buy bill’s house. And we could turn it into, like, a family retreat.
Taylor: Not just your mom’s temporary hideaway.
Steffy: It’s not a hideaway, mom. You’re just getting away to figure things out.
Taylor: Yeah. With the help of my very supportive daughter.
Steffy: Sometimes you just need to step away from things to really take a better look at it.
Taylor: You’re right. You’re right. And I just want to find a new path forward. That’s it. And just– just feel like myself again.
Steffy: As long as that path doesn’t take you away from us and lead you right back to dad.
Brooke: Did hope get back to you?
Liam: No, nothing. I- I’ll text her again, though.
Brooke: She’s probably still tied up in that meeting.
Liam: [ Chuckling ] Please, let’s– let’s avoid the phrase ‘tied up’ when talking about thomas.
Brooke: I’m really frustrated, too. I really hate the fact that he’s monopolizing her time.
Liam: Time at work, her time after work or time on weekends. If she wants to see her son, she has to see him. And I’m sorry. We are not being paranoid and thinking that’s exactly how thomas wants it.
Hope: I’m so sorry, thomas. That must have been a pretty stressful situation for you.
Thomas: Yeah, I mean, it was. Uh, I– I held it together for douglas, though. I don’t think getting upset with, um, two cps officials would have been the best look.
Hope: [ Chuckling ] Uh, well, did they tell douglas why they were there? That they were with child protective services?
Thomas: Uh, not– I mean, not really. They– they kind of just asked him a few questions, made sure he was okay, and– and then left.
Hope: It’s– it’s over now. And, uh, the important thing is that you and douglas are alright. But I do want you to know that you can call me for backup.
Thomas: You would have been there for me?
Hope: Well, I– you would be there for me, wouldn’t you?
Thomas: Yeah, of course. In a heartbeat. It’s just I, um, I didn’t realize you had that much faith in me.
Hope: I, uh, told liam I wanted to stop by and see douglas later, if that’s all right.
Thomas: You’re always welcome. Beth too. Uh, you now, douglas loves seeing you.
Hope: Thank you.
Thomas: I don’t want my house to seem like a place that you’re not invited to. You are always welcome there.
Hope: I appreciate that. Look, I get that you probably feel like you’re having to walk on eggshells right now. But I want you to know that you do not have to do that with me.
Thomas: I know that you’re not exactly the most happy with douglas continually wanting to stay at my place.
Hope: I miss him. I miss singing him to sleep and hearing his laughter in the cabin.
Thomas: That’s a great sound.
Hope: Yeah. It is.
Hope: I wasn’t exactly open to this in the beginning. I had my concerns, but it’s clear that douglas is enjoying his time with you. And let’s face it, before we know it, he’s going to be a teenager.
Thomas: No, no, no, no, no. I’m not ready for that. I’m not.
Hope: Oh, you will be. You’re good with him. And I’ve never seen douglas as happy as he is right now.
Steffy: Do you want me to call othello and get some reservations going?
Taylor: Oh, no. No. I think I’m just gonna– I just wanna stay in. I have so much to sort through.
Steffy: Okay. I’ll order in.
Taylor: Okay.
Steffy: What goes with self-reflection? Sushi? Thai.
Taylor: [ Chuckling ]
Steffy: Food for thought.
Taylor: Yeah, well, for me, something off the kids’ menu, maybe? The way I’ve been behaving.
Steffy: Like a woman in love.
Taylor: Like a teenager in love. Impulsive. Not thinking things through. Uh, flirting with your dad and kissing him. Just– oh, god, steffy, coming back to L.A. Inspired some very questionable choices for me.
Steffy: No, mom. No, no, no, no, no. Coming back to L.A. Gave you another chance. Just please, please, please do not give up on dad. Read my eyes.
Thomas: You know, I– I don’t want you to ever wonder if douglas is actually safe with me.
Hope: I know, but I also don’t want you to be afraid to talk to me about things like what happened with cps. You know, we’re– we’re a team. And we need to be able to communicate, just [ Chuckling ] Like we do here at the office.
Thomas: We do that prettywell.
Hope: Collaboration and trusting each other to do their best.
Thomas: I’m trying.
Hope: Oh, I know you are. But I also get that you’re going to do things in your own way. But just like here at work, we do have a common goal.
Thomas: Uh, speaking of a common goal, um, not to change the subject but I got those details from our new supplier and I put ’em into the latest projections.
Holly: I got that email, and they look great.
Thomas: Yeah, they’re better than we expected.
Holly: I know. I am pretty proud to call our line a success.
Thomas: Our line?
Holly: I mean, hope for the future is a team effort. You’ve been there from the beginning, and you knew what I wanted to do. And you managed to bring that vision to life. And without your artistry and your dedication, I don’t know where we’d be right now.
Thomas: Well, you can count on me, hope. I will always give my best to you and hope for the future.
Hope: Well, uh, speaking of work, I think maybe we should get back to it.
Thomas: Yeah. Yeah.
Hope: Um, so I saw you were sketching.
Thomas: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hope: Can I see what you got?
Thomas: Sure. It’s this and the next page.
Liam: Well, here’s an idea. How about you postpone your dinner plans and we all just go marching over to eric’s right now?
Brooke: No, no, no. Okay. Ridge and I are going to share a romantic dinner overlooking the ocean.
[ Liam chuckling ]
Liam: Yeah, I can’t say I blame you. You could use a win.
Brooke: It’s going to be nice. You know, gives us a moment. We can just push aside all of this tension and enjoy reconnecting with each other.
Taylor: Steffy, you– your dad and I will always be important in each other’s lives, but– but I don’t want to stay stuck in the cycle anymore.
Steffy: He loves you.
Taylor: And I love him so much, but I just– I– I– I can’t let those feelings impair my judgment anymore.
Steffy: You have to hold on. There is something so amazing between you two. He adores you. I see it in dad’s eyes every time he looks at you.
Taylor: I see it, too, steffy. I do. And that’s– that’s why I need to stay away. I have to. Because when I’m with your dad, all I can think about is “what if?” You know, “what if now is finally our time?” You know? And I hang on to these little glimmers of hope that, you know, that your dad is gonna finally come to his senses and choose happiness over obligation and tell me that brooke is his past, and I am his future. It’s not going to happen.
Steffy: You don’t know that.
Taylor: Oh, god.
Steffy: Brooke is going to break his trust. She always does.
Taylor: Okay, fine. If she does, she does. But we don’t need to wish for it. It’s not right.
Steffy: It’s who she is.
Taylor: But it’s not who I am. It’s not who I want to be. Sweetie, I need you– I need you to just stop. Stop encouraging this thing between your dad and me, please. Because I don’t want it like this. I don’T. Please. It’s just gonna cause a lot of heartbreak and a lot of disappointment for me. For all of us.
When a cold comes
on strong,
Liam: Well, thank you for the tea.
Brooke: Of course.
Liam: And, uh, yeah, I hope you and ridge have a really nice time tonight.
Brooke: We’re going to have an amazing night. Just like you and hope will.
Liam: Yeah. Yeah. Um, if she comes home in time.
[ Brooke sighing ]
Liam: Okay. Look, there’s– there’s another piece to this. Uh, and I’m so sorry. I ju- I really didn’t wanna burden you with it. I really didn’t wanna fan any flames, especially when it comes to you and ridge. But, um–
Brooke: What?
Liam: There have been a few nights th– that hope has brought beth over to eric’s, um, and she’s been spending the night there, too.
Brooke: What? Hope never told me that.
Liam: I really want her to be careful, you know? I really– I want her to be aware.
Brooke: Now I’m actually really worried.
Liam: Well, that means a lot to me. You having my back.
Brooke: You need to be there for my daughter, liam. You guys are so good together. You have a future with her. Just like I do with ridge.
Hope: I know this might be a bit of a crazy idea, but what if we actually did a slit up the side?
Thomas: Uh, to where?
Hope: I don’t know, maybe here?
Hope: It’s just a thought.
Thomas: No, it’s a– it’s a great thought. I’ll work on it for sure.
Hope: Yeah. Well, I’ll let you do that, and– oop! I should go check on zende.
Thomas: Okay. I’ll, uh– I’ll– I’ll see you back at the house.
Hope: I am looking forward to it. Bye.
Thomas: Bye.
Steffy: Mom, dad loves you. And you know that.
Taylor: Yeah, but he’s, uh, he’s with brooke. And he’s committed to her. So why wouldn’t I respect that?
Steffy: Brooke don’t even know what that word means. It’s only a matter of time before that marriage implodes. Always does.
Taylor: I don’t want him to be with me because brooke let him down again or because, you know, he got mad at her again or– I want him to choose me because I am his first choice. Steffy, that’s what he’s been to me this whole time. And I deserve the same thing. That I want all of him or nothing. It’s very simple. But he can’t give that to me. I deserve so much more. And I– I’m not gonna do this to you and thomas and to my grandkids.
Steffy: Mom, thomas and I, we want you two together and we’ll do whatever we can to help, but–
Taylor: Good. Then focus on your own happiness and your own lives.
Steffy: Mom, you can be happy, too. Just give dad a little more time.
Taylor: Just a little more time? Steffy, do you hear yourself? How much more time can I give? I’m not doing it anymore, steffy. I’m not. It’s– it’s not fair. I just– I– I keep thinking, like, you know how this story ends. I mean, I do. Your dad finally comes to his senses, and he– he leaves brooke, and he comes to me, and I– and I welcome him with open arms. And we all get really excited because we think he’s gonna stay. But it’s just temporary. You know why? Because his heart is divided between two women. And he goes back to brooke, and I am left brokenhearted. I can’t do this anymore, steffy. I’m done. I have to let him go. I have to. With everything inside of me, it’s so hard. But I- I am going to, okay? Because I gotta give that love and support to myself. I’ve been giving it away. And, honey? It’s breaking me. It’s breaking my heart and my soul. And I can’t do it anymore. And I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. But I need you to understand.
Steffy: No, mom, I get it. I get it.
Taylor: [ Crying ] Okay?
Steffy: I understand.
Taylor: You understand?
Steffy: I understand. I’m sorry. I understand. A fragrance this alluring
[ Phone ringing ]
Thomas: Hey. I was wondering when I’d hear from you. Are you and, uh, mom in aspen?
Steffy: Yeah, but it’s not off to a great start.
Thomas: What do you mean? What’s wrong?
Steffy: Mom’s having a really hard time. All this back and forth with dad and brooke. It’s starting to take a toll on her. I mean, you knew it, but to actually see it?
Thomas: To see what? Her frustration with dad?
Steffy: Yeah. Pain. Frustration. It’s like she’s questioning everything. Their relationship, her behavior, her judgment, all of it.
Thomas: Ah, so much for getting away from it all, right?
Steffy: So, what’s going on with you? Where’s dad?
Thomas: Wait, you haven’t heard from him?
Steffy: No, that’s why I’m calling you. I texted him before we landed. I thought he might be in a meeting.
Thomas: Well, I don’t think he’s in the building. Uh, I mean, last we were speaking we were– we were talking about brooke, but I haven’t seen him since.
Steffy: Huh.
Brooke: Hi, ridge. Still trying to reach you. Just let me know when you’ll be home, okay? That way I can order the car. ‘Cause after the day we’ve had, I just want tonight to be…
[ Sighing ] Well, I just can’t wait to see you.
[ Sighing ]
[ Car arriving outside ]
[ Birds chirping ]
Ridge: You’ve been our strength through this whole ordeal.
[ Indistinct ] And the only true thing in all of this. I’ve never been so proud to have had kids with you.
They played a great preview of the show for us. The hosts, Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell, performed the theme song. They are certainly multi-talented. They also reminded us that “The Real Love Boat” premieres Wednesday, October 5th, on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Executive Producer Jay Bienstock addressed us with these opening remarks:
So when you hear “The Love Boat” theme song like we just did, you cannot underestimate the power of nostalgia. You can hum that theme all day long, and it will make you smile. So our new series “The Real Love Boat” caps into that nostalgia. So when you hear the theme song and when you see Ted Lange show up dressed up in that famous red bartender’s outfit that he wore when he played Isaac, when we see Jill Whelan, who played Captain Stubing’s daughter, Vicki, arrive on the ship, I mean, you feel like you are in the middle of a mist of friends. It feels like you are coming home. “The Real Love Boat” has this great sense of adventure. Now, the ship, the Regal Princess — which, by the way had 3,200 paying customers on board when we were shooting, no less. The ship visits these beautiful ports around the Mediterranean Marseille and Santorini and Crete it’s really magical, and it’s the perfect environment to fall in love. It’s fun to imagine that, at any port, at any given time, our singles may find the love of their life. And our singles, these are regular people who have great stories, have been in love and fallen out of love. We have a firefighter and a nurse, a youth basketball coach, real people looking for real love. So not only do we have the real ship and real singles and we have a real married couple as our hosts, Rebecca and Jerry, all we needed was the secret sauce. So, like the original series, we needed real crewmembers to be our matchmakers. So we have our captain. We have our bartender. We have our cruise director. And they are the real deal. I mean, those roles are their day jobs. They are not TV people. They are ship people, and over the years, they have made matches for many people on their cruises, and they did so on ours. It was sort of this interesting combining of roles of television and real life. So you take these real singles, take the real Princess Cruise Line, take real crewmembers, and you add them all together, and you throw in one of the most iconic theme songs ever, and — you heard Rebecca and Jerry — it’s amazing. I can listen to that all day long. It’s so fun the way they sing it together. You put that all together, and we have a really, really fun show, and that is “The Real Love Boat.”
I don’t normally watch any kind of unscripted or non-fiction TV shows. I would rather watch great acting and writing. However, I was very happy to speak with Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn, my favorite celebrity husband-and-wife team. At first it was just these two, and they brought out the crew later.
I’m not embarrassed to say I had a huge crush on Jerry from when he starred in “Sliders” on FOX back in 1995-2000. He was a child actor who got his start in the movie “Stand by Me” when he was only 12. Both he and Rebecca are now in different “Star Trek” series, which I love because I’m a long-time Trekkie. She stars as Number One in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and he does the voice of Commander Ransom in “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” I told them that I think they’re “amazing actors” and asked them what made them want to do this project. Rebecca answers that they “love watching reality television” and “watching love stories,” so they’re very excited to do it in person rather than from their sofa. They also enjoyed the “beautiful locations.” Jerry agreed, saying, “We as a couple consume an unhealthy amount of unscripted television.” They joked for a few minutes about how they shouldn’t be admitting that. They should, instead, say that they only watch “premium streaming shows” with “people with accents who live in manors.” They love the CBS competition shows and jumped at the opportunity to host this show. Rebecca had previously hosted “Skin Wars,” but he hadn’t hostead before. Since they’re actors, “This is a muscle we had not flexed before,” Rebecca said.
Jerry talked about how the show drew him in emotionally. Someone got eliminated in their first episode. He started to say something, but Rebecca interjected that he “cried.” He denied that, saying he was just “emotional,” but she repeated that he “cried.” It was a very funny moment. They have a great rapport that’s fun to watch. Jerry said that his “superiors” let him know that he can’t be so invested in what’s going on with the “singles” on the show. Rebecca agreed that being neutral is hard for Jerry. He gets “very caught up in the emotion” because he’s an actor. He added that when he watches at home, he definitely takes sides and shares his strong opinions on social media. Jay jumped in to say that this all proves how real the show is, that the singles wnat to find love and how real it is for them. He thinks that watching them do this is great TV. Jerry shared that he was shocked at how “emotionally attached I became to our couples and how much I was rooting for them.” When they’re acting, they know it’s pretend, but with this, it’s real.
Other members of the press asked their questions as well. They asked if the singles on the show remember the original “Love Boat,” since they’re so young? Rebecca assumed that they probably didn’t know about it. She thinks that the one of the show’s strengths is the nostalgia for people who grew up in the 80’s. Jerry wonders if some do have awareness of the show because of the Princess cruises, where there is a “Love Boat channel” and you can watch all of the episodes there.
This reminded him that he had asked Jay and their other boss, Eden, what he should do to prepare for the show. They just told him to watch the original “Love Boat” because it was all about people trying to find love. Rebecca agreed that both the old and new shows are about “people whose hearts have been broken, who are looking for a second chance at love.” Jerry hopes that people will watch the new show and get that same “warm, fuzzy feeling.”
Jay reminded Jerry that he’s not his boss. He talked about scouting to find the people for the show, and he met the ship’s captain, Captain Paolo. He explained how it worked to film on the ship. He impressed them all with how charming, good-looking, and well-mannered he was, so they decided they wanted him to be their captain on the show. They had to find someone else to actually drive the ship instead of him. He related that the Captain and others are the “matchmakers” on the ship. They “bring people together,” along with Jerry and Rebecca. At that point, they brought out their crewmembers and introduced them.
Captain Paolo was asked if he’d had any acting experience, but he hadn’t. He said he was just playing himself in the show, so he doesn’t consider this acting experience, but he said it was “incredible.” He was asked whether the singls on the show really talk to the captain about how much they want love and whether he believes their stories, and how did he help them. He confirmed that the cruise director, Matt, and the bartender, Ezra, gathered info about the singles and what happened with them, and they all worked to help them out, “to either fortify or strengthen their bond or maybe try to open themselves up to other opportunities out there with other singles until they find the real love.”
Jerry and Rebecca were asked if they’re good matchmakers in real life. Jerry claimed that he was responsible for two couples getting married. Jerry went on to talk about how the setting for “The Real Love Boat” is made for couples to get together and find romance because it’s in the Mediterranean and other beautiful locations. Jerry mentioned that he and Rebecca have been together 15 years. He also admitted that he’d never been on a cruise before. He thinks it’s a very romantic place. Rebecca added that “Water is sexy” while Jerry went on to say that “time stands still.” He understands it now. He compared it to other traveling, like by airplane, which is stressful and not romantic. Rebecca also admitted that she’d never been on a cruise before, either. She said she loved sleeping on the boat, “I have never slept better in my life, like, rocked like a little, gentle baby, oh, so beautiful.”
Bartender Ezra was asked how long it took her “perfect the iconic Isaac finger point to your liking” and what it was like to meet Ted Lange (who played Isaac, the bartender, on the original “Love Boat’). Ezra replied that the finger point is a lot harder than it looks and Ted helped her with it. You have to tuck the thumbs in but point the fingers out. She said that it was “amazing” working with Ted. She was already a huge fan of the original show because of working on the Princess cruise line. She had always joked “that it should be required viewing for crewmembers to watch Season 1.” So she was very excited about the show and to meet Ted. In fact, she said, “Jay told me to stay away from him until we got the cameras rolling because I was so excited to see him and work with him.” She gushed about great he’s been to her. Jay also shared with us that Ted is working behind the bar in some scenes.
Jay was asked whether their partnership with the Princess line was to help promote it and get the cruise industry to be popular again, since it took quite a hit during COVID and via several revealing documentaries. Jay denied that and said that it was just about being “The Love Boat” and nothing else. Jay was also asked whether anyone else besides Ted and Jill (Whelen, who played Vicki on the original series) were going to be on the show. He let Captain Paolo talk about Jill. He had meet Jill on a previous cruise. He used to watch the show with his grandfather who was on the original as an executive chef. They were discussing this before they show the new show, and “all of these nostalgic things.” It was a great conversation for both of them.
Rebecca said a few closing words about how much they love the show and enjoyed traveling to the various beautiful locations. “We are very proud to be a part of it, and we hope everybody enjoys it as well.”
MORE INFO:
REBECCA ROMIJN AND JERRY O’CONNELL COME ABOARD AS CO-HOSTS OF “THE REAL LOVE BOAT”
The Dating Adventure Series Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 5, as Part of
CBS’ All-Reality Wednesday
CBS announced today Rebecca Romijn (Paramount+’ STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS) and Jerry O’Connell (CBS’ THE TALK) as co-hosts of THE REAL LOVE BOAT. The husband-and-wife team will take the helm guiding viewers through the dating adventure series inspired by “The Love Boat,” the hit scripted series in the ‘70s that used Princess Cruises ships as its setting. The series sets sail Wednesday, Oct. 5 (9:00-10:00 PM, PT/ET), following SURVIVOR (8:00 PM PT/ET) and leading into THE AMAZING RACE (10:00 PM, PT), to create the Network’s all-reality night.
“After years of consuming, arguing about and dissecting unscripted television, hosting a reality series where a group of singles look for love while aboard a Princess Cruise ship, seemed like a dream come true,” said Romijn and O’Connell. “When we heard it was aboard THE REAL LOVE BOAT, that dream got an iconic theme song – ‘we promise something for everyone.’”
Rebecca Romijn continues to maintain her leading lady status in Hollywood since famously starring as Mystique in the FOX X-Men franchise. Currently, Romijn stars in the Paramount+ series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, reprising her role as the iconic character Number One, whom she also portrayed in STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. As co-host of THE REAL LOVE BOAT, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model returns to familiar territory – she served as the host of MTV’s iconic “House of Style” and as host and executive producer of the GSN bodypainting competition series “Skin Wars.”
Actor, director and television personality Jerry O’Connell serves as host of THE TALK, CBS’ Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show that examines topical events and contemporary issues. O’Connell began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in “Stand by Me,” spawning a career of roles in critically acclaimed films and televisions series. O’Connell currently voices Commander Jack Ransom in STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS for Paramount+ and he can now be seen in the thriller “Endangered Species” opposite his wife, Romijn, and Philip Winchester.
THE REAL LOVE BOAT brings singles together to sail the Mediterranean on a luxury cruise ship while looking for love. Destination dates, challenges and surprise singles will test the couples’ compatibility and chemistry. Like the beloved original scripted series, the indispensable crew members, including captain and cruise director, will play pivotal roles in the matchmaking and navigation of the romantic (and sometimes turbulent) waters ahead.
After nearly one month at sea, one winning couple will dock in the final port and take home a cash prize plus a once-in-a-lifetime trip courtesy of Princess Cruises, the series’ exclusive cruise line partner.
THE REAL LOVE BOAT is produced by Eureka Productions in association with Buster Productions. Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Wes Dening and Jay Bienstock serve as executive producers for Eureka.
Biography
Jerry O’Connell is an actor, director and television personality. He serves as host of The Talk, CBS’ Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show.
O’Connell began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in Stand By Me. Born and raised in New York City, O’Connell graduated from New York University with a BFA before returning to feature films. He received critical acclaim for his role as quarterback Frank Cushman in Jerry Maguire.
Most recently he appeared in the film Endangered Species, with additional credits including Scream 2, Can’t Hardly Wait, Mission to Mars, Tomcats, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedy Kangaroo Jack, Yours, Mine and Ours, Man About Town, Obsessed, Piranha 3-D, The Lookalike, Deep Murder, and The Secret: Dare to Dream. O’Connell was also seen in the big screen follow-up to the cult hit television series Veronica Mars. In addition to his film work, he has been seen in multiple hit television series, including Scream Queens (FOX), Mistresses (ABC), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Billions (SHOWTIME), The Mysteries of Laura (NBC), Carter (OWN) and currently voices Commander Jack Ransom in Star Trek: LowerDecks (PARAMOUNT+.)
Additionally, O’Connell hosted his own daytime talk show Jerry O in 2019 and starred in the Broadway play A Soldier’s Play in early 2020.
O’Connell resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Rebecca Romijn, and twin daughters. His birthday is Feb. 17. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @mrjerryoc.
Rebecca Alie Romijn was born on November 6, 1972 in Berkeley, California. Her father was Dutch-born and worked as a custom-furniture maker. Her mother was American-born, with Dutch and English ancestry, and was a teacher of English. Rebecca attended Berkeley High School where her nickname was the “Jolly Blond Giant”, then she attended the University of California at Santa Cruz where she majored in Music, but left in 1995.
She was a natural for modeling, and has posed for Sports Illustrated, Christian Dior and Victoria’s Secret, to name but a few. Rebecca first met John Stamos in 1994, at a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and had her first date with him at Disneyland. They married in September 1998, but have since gotten divorced.
Rebecca’s favorite foods are fillet mignon, tuna sashimi and Häagen-Dazs Cappuccino Commotion ice cream. But to keep her weight at a svelte 130 pounds, she stays fit with a rigorous stretching and strengthening routine (her firm body tone is evident when compared to photos of her earlier modeling, where she was very slim but not toned). Rebecca’s most famous movie role, so far, was as the shapeshifting Mystique in X-Men (2000), based on the long-running comic book series about teenage mutant superheroes (that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created in 1962). To play Mystique every day, Rebecca had to start out nude, and then two female makeup artists would apply blue body paint and other stick-on parts for 8 hours a day. Rebecca told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) that things like tissue paper would stick to her hips; and, one day, the long hours of wearing sticky paint makeup made her so upset that director Bryan Singer told her to have a glass of white wine and relax. Notwithstanding those technical difficulties, X-Men (2000) was a box-office bonanza, and Rebecca’s future in films was assured.
Carly and Drew give an interview to the local news in Jacksonville to make peop aware that the cemetery where her adoptive mother Virginia is buried is going to be turned into an access road to the beach. The reporter later calls Drew and Carly to tell them that a rival tv station also has the story. Carly considers changing her last name and not using the name Corinthos anymore.
Michael doesn’t want Dex involved in his plan to take down Sonny because Sonny almost had him killed. Dex persuades Michael to let him finish the job but Dex has to stay away from Josslyn. Michael tells Dex he doesn’t want Josslyn caught in the middle of his plan so Dex agrees not to see Jocelyn anymore.
Nina sees TJ and Willow hugging after she found out that her leukemia is getting worse. Nina tells Willow she saw her hugging TJ and the hospital rumor mill could start talking.
Esme continued to hide in the bushes outside Kelly’s and finds out Diane identified her attacker as a woman. Esme later goes to Spring Ridge to see Ryan who has been worried about her.
Adam is upset with Chelsea because she told Connor that Johnny is his biological half-brother, by herself, when they had agreed that they would both be with Connor when they told him. Adam also wonders why Chelsea felt she had to tell the boys the truth now when Johnny hadn’t been asking questions about his biological mother. Adam asks Chelsea to please not make any important decisions about Connor without letting him know.
Nick walks into Crimson Lights and tells Adam and Chelsea they shouldn’t be arguing about such personal issues in a public place. Adam tells Nick he regrets breaking up with Sally because he loves her and wants her back in his life. Adam asks Nick to let Sally go and give him a chance to work things out with her. Nick meets Sally at the grand opening of the Glam club and it doesn’t look like he has any intention of letting Sally go so she and Adam can work things out between them.
Diane hides in the bathroom while Victor and Tucker have a talk and catch up on things. Tucker tells Victor he wants to build a relationship with Devon and meet his grandson Dominic. Tucker also wants to make amends with Ashley and show her that he has changed. Victor tells Tucker to stay away from Ashley because she doesn’t need him in her life. Tucker tells Diane that the only thing she has to do is tell him when Ashley returns from Paris and she won’t have to be his spy anymore.
Nikki tells Phyllis that Victor’s investigators confirmed that the Bentley Tucker gave Kyle and Summer is the same Bentley Diane was being Chauffeured around in when she lived in Los Angeles. Nikki also tells Phyllis that the Bentley is registered to a foundation called Wild Beauty which helps up and coming young artists in the UK. Nikki and Phyllis think Tucker funds the foundation since beauty was the nickname John Abbott called Ashley since she was little. Nikki decides to ask Noah if he knows anything about the foundation since he worked in London as an artist and has contacts in the art world.
Audra Charles arrives to the grand opening of the Glam club and tells Noah it has been a long time since she has seen him.
SHOW INTRODUCTION: Hello, and welcome to our panel for the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire.” The hour long series, which stars Jacob Batalon as the title character, will premiere on SYFY on Wednesday, October 5th at 10:00 p.m., following the Season 2 premiere of “Chucky.” Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit, and vain vampires. Reginald Andres tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle: the girl he loves, but can’t be with, a bully manager at work, and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers just a few unrecognized powers of his own. A new show with a lot of heart and just enough blood, “Reginald the Vampire” prove the end of life is just as complicated as life itself.
This was a great TCA panel about the show. I really enjoyed the episodes I watched, and you will, too. I told them this and jokingly thanked them for getting a certain earworm song they used in the show stuck in my head. Peyton replied that it’s stuck in all of their heads, too.
Savannah Basley plays the “evil” ancient vampire, Angela. Mandela Van Peebles (son of Mario Van Peebles!) plays Maurice, the vampire who turns Reginald. There is a very sexy scene in the show between them, so I asked them about what they had to go through as actors to do that scene, which was sexy but involved lots of blood. Savannah had already mentioned that there was lots of “stickiness.”
Savannah explained that it was fun and that she loves the horror genre. She loves being hands-on and said that being covered in blood and having it “squirting” was fun. She admitted that while there is a vain part of you that worries about how your hair and makeup look, you can let go of all that and have the freedom to wallow in the fake blood and just concentrate on acting in the scene. She did add that the stickiness was kind of annoying, but the rest was “a lot of fun.”
Mandela also answered that having EP Jeremiah Chechik and the other “great people behind the camera and being able to trust their vision” was the best part for him. He wants to look good in a sex scene and can be critical of himself. He also spoke at length about how the romance between Maurice and Angela spans many years, so the earlier sex scenes have more innocence, whereas the later ones have more confidence and “the strength of someone who has grown up a bit since the first time.” He agrees with Savannah that it’s fun and figures that when you’re immortal (like the vampires are), it would be difficult to keep holding a grudge (as Angela and Maurice do against each other). He enjoyed playing their relationship and is looking forward to seeing it on screen. Jeremiah also chimed in to compare these type of scenes with others he’s done in the past. He admits that “they can be very disquieting, can be very tense, and can be very uncomfortable.” However, they weren’t for these actors. He works hard to make sure that all of the actors “feel very comfortable and relaxed” and not “self conscious.”
He praised the actors for how they made the scenes fun. Savannah also replied that there was “safety on set.” They made sure that she and Mandela were comfortable, ready and feeling okay. They worked with an “intimacy coordinators,” which made them feel less vulnerable. She felt it was important to show Angela’s softer side, since she’s seen as angry or evil, so that we can see why Maurice fell in love with her. She might have put a wall up due to things that have happened in her 400-year lifetime.
Showrunner Harley joked, “She might pull your heart out of your chest, but other than that, she’s very, very soft inside.” Everyone laughed at that. There was quite a lot of laughing and joking around during the whole panel, which was very fun.
Most of the press questions were for Jacob, who’s not only the star of the show but famous for his role as Ned in the Spider-Man movies. He was asked about having to play a vampire. He praised Harley and the others for making the show as realistic as possible and turning the usual vampire “tropes” on their heads – especially the ones about vampires only being thin and beautiful. He jokingly added that the vampire blood gets everywhere, including in some “bad crevices.” He enjoys being the hero of the story, even though he’s not tall, thin or has “long, flowing hair.” He did have a hard time speaking, at first, because of the fangs, and tried to speak without a lisp on the first day of shooting.
He was also asked about how different it is being the lead in a TV show (after playing Spider-Man’s best friend). He answered that he just tries to make sure that everyone gets along well and enjoys their time on the set. He feels very fortunate that everyone he works with is “so great and so amazing and talented and sweet and willing to work.” He added that it shocked him how much you have to come to work prepared (he may have been joking here, but I’m not sure). He feels that working on the movies led to this way of thinking.
Harley praised Jacob because he wasn’t used to shooting 8 or 9 pages per day, and he was worried that he might burn out, but he is a “superstar.” He said that everyone in the cast is like that. He thinks they’re very lucky to have such a great cast and that is “such a key thing to a successful show.” He mentioned that Jacob is a real leader in the cast and that he never remembers him even having a bad day. Jeremiah added that Jacob was always completely prepared and ready; he set the tone for everyone else. Jacob modestly thanked them for being there for him. Then he joked, “but I am, like, on the title of the show, but whatever. It’s fine” which provoked more laughter.
Jacob was also asked about the trials his character is forced to go through, but he wasn’t sure what he could say without giving away any spoilers. Harley mentioned some difficult arcade games. Jacob said that the “vampire karaoke” was difficult for him (there is a great karaoke scene in the show, although it’s not part of his trials). This is where Savannah said that working with the sticky blood was difficult and got everywhere, which Jacob agreed with. Jeremiah concurred that they did use an awful lot of red liquid, but the cast “all kind of sublimated to that and drank deeply.”
Harley and the other producers were asked whether any particular vampire show or movie from the past inspired them. He acknowledged that it’s hard to forget about “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” but they mostly used the “Fat Vampire” books in which the series is based. They made many changes to that and “ended up with a kind of rom com workplace comedy drama.” Jeremiah also weighed in on how past vampire shows and movies inspired them, along with the book, to overturn all of the normal vampire clichés.
The cast were all asked about their favorite things about their characters. Savannah loves how Angela is strong, powerful smart and “claims this full autonomy over herself.” Em pointed out that Sarah is very real, since she isn’t playing a vampire. Sarah is “the grounded center” and she feels that she was able to grow along with the character as she tried to “find her place in the world.” Mandela enjoyed getting to do new things, such as playing a vampire. He tried to channel his granddad and great-grandad, since he was playing someone that’s lived a long time. He tried to bring “different generational traits to a modern character.” It was fun for him to do that as well as playing in a more diverse vampire universe. Jacob described how Reginald is very “thoughtful” and “enigmatic,” and he’s “uncertain about life” and yet aware of how people see him now in this situation (as a “fat vampire”). He used this big change in his life to become a better person. He also thinks that the other characters really affect Reginald’s life deeply. He really loves playing with all of that.
Everyone was asked what other creatures they would like to see on the show. Harley said in a mysterious way that they all would love to see “an angel with a flaming sword.” Jacob likes dragons, and Em agreed, but Harley said that he doesn’t think they could afford dragons. Jacob would also love to see a “vampire battle.” Jeremiah said that they could have just about any type of fantastical creature, since they have vampires. Savannah loves mythology and would love to see a wendigo. Someone else mentioned a Chupacabra. Em joked that she’d like to see a jackalope. Harley agreed that it would be “more appropriate” for their show and “that’s definitely affordable for our special effects.” Savannah asked if Angela could have a pet jackalope. Harley said that he had really wanted to have Mandela and Nikki holding puppies, but they weren’t able to make it happen (that may have been a joke). Em talked about how much fun their show is, that they can be absurd. She commented, “I love that. I love that shit.”
They were asked how their show will stand out from all of the other vampire series currently on the air or coming up. Harley pointed out that most of the shows are not humorous (aside from “What We Do in the Shadows”). He thinks that their source material created a certain type of tone where they have an “interesting dichotomy between the vampire world, where vampires are really vapid, vain, runway models” and they use that to address the issues of “body shaming and body positivity” where Reginald doesn’t fit into that same type, which is different from other shows. They get into how the vampires “love bureaucracy” and are very vain. He discussed the conflict in the vampires between what they see when they look in the mirror (which they do a lot) and whether their inner beauty matches up.
Jeremiah said eloquently that their show is “very rooted in real emotional dynamics. That is the rock solid foundation, and it’s based on how we fit in, how we present ourselves, what we think of ourselves, how we relate to others, what is expected of us, our sexual orientation…the color of our skin. All of these things are really social dynamics which we explore within the wrapping of a vampire show.” Their show is more about those aspects rather than sucking people’s blood. It’s about how you can improve your life after you die. He also mentioned that their show stands out both “tonally and visually” from other vampire shows. It’s not as dark. Lindsay put in her two cents that their show has a different heart than the other shows. It’s really more of “an underdog story” with a “positive message that’s baked into all the entertainment and comedy. So it’s very aspirational, and it’s just so much fun.” She also said that the other shows don’t have their talented cast. Jacob agreed that their show is more about “the human condition” and the journey of self that Reginald goes through, and “the connections he has through death.” He concluded that Reginald “learns life through death, and that’s a very poignant and deeper sort of meaning than just, like, wanting to kill people and look super hot.” Jeremiah informed us that Syfy ordered the show because it’s original; there is nothing else like it on TV.
Mandela was asked to comment on a story his father (Mario Van Peebles) told about how his grandfather (Melvin Van Peebles) wouldn’t help him when he wanted to become an actor because he wanted him to do it on his own. He asked if that’s the way it was with him as well. Mandela answered that he went to college, and then when he tried to get a “real job,” it didn’t work out. He found it very hard. He remembered how much fun it was when he was a kid, traveling all over the world with his dad to different places (for filming). He figured that working on a set was a lot more comfortable for him than working in an office. Once he decided to go for that, it worked out. He’s very excited to be doing the show. He didn’t really answer the question, but that’s fine.
Jeremiah joked, “I’d stick with this for a while.” The reporter asked Mandela what type of regular job he had been looking for, so Mandela answered that he made smoothies at a health food store, “Simply Wholesome.” I thought he was joking at the time (since Reginald and his friends make smoothies), but maybe he wasn’t. It was hard to tell in this panel because there was a lot of deadpan joking.
MORE INFO:
Reginald the Vampire
Premieres Wednesday, October 5, at 10 PM ET/PT on SYFY
Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires. Reginald Andres tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle – the girl he loves but can’t be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own. A new show with a lot of heart and just enough blood, “Reginald the Vampire” proves the undead life is just as complicated as life itself.
“Reginald the Vampire” is produced by Great Pacific Media Inc., Modern Story Company, December Films and Cineflix Studios and executive produced by Harley Peyton, Jeremiah Chechik, Todd Berger, Lindsay Macadam, Brett Burlock and Peter Emerson. The series is based on the book series by Johnny B. Truant.
Jacob Batalon
Reginald Andres, “Reginald the Vampire”
Jacob Batalon plays Reginald Andres in the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Batalon is best known for his role as Peter Parker’s charming best friend Ned Leeds in the “Spider-Man” films starring Tom Holland, including the most recent box office smash “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” He’s also appeared in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” as well as several indie films.
Upcoming projects include the films “Horrorscope” as well as Netflix’s “Lift,” alongside Kevin Hart.
Born and raised in Honolulu to Filipino parents, Batalon attended a two-year acting program at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. While working through his last year in the program, he sent in a self-tape submission for a vague supporting role in a Marvel movie, his first audition ever, which led to being cast in the “Spider-Man” films.
Savannah Basley
Angela Hibbert, “Reginald the Vampire”
Savannah Basley plays Angela Hibbert in the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Basley’s first TV role was in “The Art of More and she has subsequently appeared in multiple series, including “Tales from the Hood,” “Coroner,” “Utopia Falls” and “Wynonna Earp.” She’ll soon return for the second season of “SurrealEstate.”
Her first film role was in the 2015 short “White Lock,” which won the Special Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival.
Basley is a dual Canadian-US citizen, the daughter of a Canadian mom and an American military veteran.
Em Haine
Sarah Kinney, “Reginald the Vampire”
Em Haine plays Sarah Kinney in the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Haine is the only child of an Austrian father and French-Canadian mother. They eventually moved to London to study the Meisner technique at the Actors Temple. While in both New York and Los Angeles, Haine took up Improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade.
Haine’s first break came with the role of oddball Noreen Vanderslice in the critically acclaimed miniseries “Fargo.” Other TV credits include “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.”
On the film side, Haine has appeared in “Deadpool,” “Tully” and the indie “Gregoire.”
Mandela Van Peebles
Maurice Miller, “Reginald the Vampire”
Mandela Van Peebles will play Maurice Miller on the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Van Peebles most recently recurred on Taylor Sheridan’s drama series “The Mayor of Kingstown.” He recently guest starred on season 2 of “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” and appeared in the biopic “Salt N Pepa.”
Past film work includes a starring role in “Jigsaw,” the latest installment of the “Saw” franchise, and USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage.”
Other television work includes the 2016 Emmy Award-nominated miniseries “Roots.”
Harley Peyton
Executive Producer, “Reginald the Vampire”
Harley Peyton is an executive producer and showrunner on the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Peyton was born and raised in Spokane, Wash., and attended Harvard and Stanford universities as well as the California Institute of the Arts.
On the TV front, Peyton has served as a writer and/or producer on “Twin Peaks,” “Moon Over Miami,” “Route 66,” “Dracula,” “Wedding Band,” “Reign,” “Dominion,” “Channel Zero” “Project Blue Book” and, most recently, “Chucky.”
On the film side, his credits include “Less Than Zero,” “Gold Coast,” “Heaven’s Prisoners,” “Bandits” and “Friends With Benefits.”
Jeremiah Chechik
Executive Producer/Director, “Reginald the Vampire”
Jeremiah Chechik is an executive producer and director for the new SYFY series “Reginald the Vampire,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Chechik is an award-winning director who has worked in commercials, studio and independent film and domestic and international television for three decades. Among his several feature credits are “Christmas Vacation” and “Benny and Joon.”
In television, he has worked for all the major studios and/or networks and has directed pilots, produced miniseries and worked in every possible genre. Among his credits are “The Bronx Is Burning,” “Gossip Girl,” “Burn Notice,” “Helix,” “Criminal Minds,” “Chuck,” “Shadowhunters,” “Rogue,” “The Gifted” and many others.
Summer: Oh, no. See, that is a trick question because you know I have more than one.
Kyle: Mm. You have to choose.
Summer: Okay, if I have to choose, I’d say my top moment would be harrison holding my hand as he walked me down the aisle to you.
Kyle: [ Chuckles ] That was mine, too.
Summer: And what about mariah and tessa and noah all officiating together? You know, if somebody had told me five years ago that mariah and I would be something close to friends, I…
[ Sighs ] But there she was, saying the most romantic words.
Kyle: The way things have changed for us, even in the past year, made today that much more special. And all of the people who couldn’t be in milan…
Summer: They were here today. I mean, our wedding in italy was so sweet. It was so intimate.
Kyle: But there is nothing like home.
Summer: [ Sighs ] I’m so glad we recommitted to each other.
Kyle: Mm.
Summer: You know, they say that the most difficult year of marriage is the first. And we did everything to the extreme. Harrison came into our life, and I went to work in italy.
Kyle: And I chased you halfway around the globe. And that was even before we said “I do.”
Summer: But here we are. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kyle: Mm. You know, years from now, when i look back on today, how beautiful you look in this dress and how happy we are, i will conveniently forget that tucker mccall crashed our party in a helicopter.
Summer: Yeah. Positive thoughts only. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if that bentley he tried to gift us is cursed.
[ Sighs ]
[ Glasses clink ]
Nikki: I just can’t shake the feeling that tucker and diane were involved while she was playing dead.
Phyllis: Well, with those two, anything’s possible.
Nikki: I’m gonna see if victor’s people can find a connection between those two during the time she was being chauffeured around L.A. In that bentley.
[ Knocking on door ]
[ Pounding on door ]
Tucker: Yes! Geez.
Diane: [ Exhales sharply ]
Tucker: Ah, come on in. Make yourself at home.
Diane: Just what the hell was that insanity? A helicopter on the abbott lawn? What were you thinking?
Tucker: Well, I was in a hurry. I didn’t want to miss the festivities.
[ Chuckles ] And I do enjoy making an entrance.
Diane: This isn’t just about you.
Nate: Hey.
Elena: Hey.
Nate: Um…how are you settling in at the grand phoenix?
Elena: Uh, thank you for asking.
[ Chuckles ] I am feeling decidedly unsettled.
Nate: You’re the one who said you wanted some distance to think about things.
Elena: And you ended up agreeing with me. In fact, you fully supported the idea.
Nate: Did you want me to demand that you stay, try to talk things out? Emotions were running high. I didn’t want us to say things we’d end up regretting.
Elena: Yeah. I think it was the best decision for both of us. It’s healthy to take a step back and reevaluate the situation.
Nate: I agree. So, um, how’s your introspection coming along? Has your time alone allowed you to see things from my perspective, understand where I’m coming from?
Elena: It’s only been one night, nate. But I have done nothing but think about it.
Nate: And?
Elena: And I have realized that something in you has changed. And I don’t like it.
Victoria: Well, hello there, daddy. I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.
Victor: Hey, you two. So, how was my granddaughter’s vow renewal?
Nick: Even better than the wedding in milan.
Victor: Really?
Victoria: Wish you could have been there.
Victor: Yeah.
Nick: Summer understands, though. In this family, sometimes business comes first.
Victoria: So, tell us about your trip. Was it worth skipping the ceremony for?
Victor: Well, I secured the financing, so as soon as chancellor-winters goes public, we shall pounce.
Victoria: Yes. That’s wonderful.
Victor: So, what else happened? I’m sure jack abbott cast aspersions about me because I didn’t show up, right?
Nick: Jack is not the only person you need to be concerned about right now. Another one of genoa city’s corporate elites showed up and made a surprise appearance, caused quite the stir.
Victor: Who?
Nick: Tucker mccall.
Victor: Huh. I’ll be damned. Your spirit is stronger
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Phyllis: I feel very positive about this. I’m certain that victor’s people are gonna find some connection between tucker and the company that owns the bentley that diane was being chauffeured around L.A. In. I mean, it is so suspicious that the two of them — they show up in town at the same time? Seriously?
Nikki: Especially since deacon told me that sometimes he would see a man in the back seat with her. Too bad he didn’t get a good look at his face.
Phyllis: We’re getting closer, nikki. We’re getting closer to the truth.
Nikki: Oh, yes. We are going to prove that she has been lying about being a changed woman.
Phyllis: Oh, yeah, we are. That is the million-dollar question.
Nikki: I’ll get back to you when I know more.
Summer: You like puzzles. I have one for you. We keep seeing my mother and my grandmother with their heads together. What are they up to?
Kyle: Secretly plotting to make you happy, just like I am. Eyes here on the handsome guy you just pledged your troth to.
Summer: Okay, I got to be honest. I-I don’t know what a troth is, so I might want to keep it for myself.
Kyle: Mm-hmm. Mm.
Summer: Okay. You convinced me. I’ll share it.
[ Both laugh ]
Kyle: Just like we will share everything else for the rest of our lives. To my beautiful bride, my hardworking wife, the journey we’ve taken, the people we’re becoming, and the adventures yet to come. I love you.
Summer: Forever.
[ Glasses clink ]
Diane: You told me to trust you, to relax, and then you pull a stunt like that without any warning?
Tucker: Yeah. Do I need to explain the concept of a surprise entrance to you?
Diane: [ Scoffs ] Oh, do not be condescending to me.
Tucker: Diane, you didn’t want anyone to find out that we were in contact while you were away, right? So, for all intents and purposes, your shock and your outrage when I showed up were real.
Diane: [ Scoffs ]
Tucker: You were just another horrified guest. Hell, I gave you the perfect cover, if you want to think about it. You should be thanking me.
Diane: Oh, don’t even try and spin this! You choreographed that grand entrance for ashley alone, and she wasn’t even there. If you had told me about your ridiculous plan, I would have let you know that you got stuck in paris. I could have saved you the cost of the helicopter and — and all the energy you took picking out the perfect fancy suit.
Tucker: You know, it was absolutely worth it just to see all those friendly faces. And as for ashley, all in good time.
Victor: Well, I’ll be damned. Tucker mccall back in genoa city. He must have been keeping a low profile.
Victoria: Well, it makes you wonder what he’s been up to.
Victor: Mm, I remember hearing that he had divested himself of all of his worldly goods some time ago and went to some ashram in the far east to find himself.
Nick: [ Sighs ] Devon told me the same thing. Said he tracked him down in thailand and he was playing the role of the humble spiritual seeker to the hilt.
Victoria: Which doesn’t mean it was real.
Victor: Of course it wasn’t real. He has never let go of mccall unlimited. He won’t until the day he dies.
Nick: He’s had a few close calls.
Victor: Oh, come on, man. That’s a bunch of bull. He talked about having an accident in monte carlo that almost killed him. He did that for P.R. Purposes, only to impress someone he did a real estate deal with.
Nick: We can question tucker’s sudden appearance later. Right now, I’m far more interested in, what is our next move? Are we still seriously considering making a play for chancellor-winters?
Victor: Tucker mccall. Give me a break. Wait a minute. What if they’re connected?
Nate: What precisely do you think is changing in me?
Elena: This job has brought up a side of you that is power-hungry, destructive, and has the potential to hurt a lot of people.
Nate: Hurt people? Elena, the work I am doing will create jobs. The money I make for the company pays people’s salaries, allows them to keep a roof over their heads and send their kids to school. Making big things happen takes guts and vision. Sometimes it requires sacrifice.
Elena: Don’t stop. Please continue. I would love to hear exactly what you’re willing to sacrifice. Your morality? Your family? Your relationship?
Nate: I just meant that being in the business world requires a lot of time and effort.
Elena: Oh. As opposed to being a doctor?
Nate: You know I don’t think that. All of my frustrations with medicine stem from not being able to do the challenging parts of the profession.
Elena: And that suddenly justifies your behavior? And if I don’t agree with it, there’s something wrong with me.
Nate: Look… I didn’t mean to come on so strong. I just really believe in what i can accomplish. And I’m not doing this to try to get ahead. I want you to see that, to understand me.
Elena: See, that’s the thing, nate. I really do understand you. And that is what makes this so hard.
Nate: [ Sighs ]
Devon: Hey, you two. Everything okay?
Nate: Yeah, everything’s fine. I know you have to get to the hospital, and I need to head back to the office. I’ll call you later.
Devon: See you back there.
Elena: They, um… they just took some chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, so I’m gonna grab one. Can I get you anything?
Devon: Yeah, you can give me the truth. You clearly look like you need to talk to somebody. And I’m right here. Oh, davante adams!
Elena: It’s hard to discuss this with you.
Devon: I understand. But I know that you and nate are going through a rough patch, and if there’s anything I can do to help, I’d like to, even if it’s just have a chat with an old friend.
Elena: “An old friend”?
Devon: I’m sorry. A young friend.
Elena: [ Chuckles ]
Devon: Talk to me.
Elena: [ Sighs ] Look, I get that people change. It’s normal, it’s natural, and most of the time it’s a good thing. But the changes that I am seeing in nate… I don’t recognize who he is anymore.
Devon: I know this is a big career transition for him, but is it that bad?
Elena: You really mean to tell me that you haven’t noticed? From the day that he decided to walk away from medicine, it’s like — I don’t know — like he’s lost his center. His goodness, his compassion. And it’s all been replaced by this hunger to prove himself, to excel no matter what.
Devon: Well, hang on a second ’cause I’m — I’m confused. Things have been improving since he’s come back to work. So…what’s really going on?
Elena: It’s nothing. It’s everything.
Devon: Okay. If you have a problem with him and it has something to do with work, I feel like I’m to blame for it. No?
Elena: I wish it were that simple.
Devon: Well, it can be. You can tell me what’s going on, and then I can address it with nate and nudge things in the right direction for everyone. We’ll be planning group vacations in no time. Listen, if I did something, you could tell me what it is so i can at least figure out how to fix it.
Elena: Devon, this isn’t just about what you’ve done. It’s much bigger than that.
Allie: Oh, my gosh, baby, these pictures are all gallery-worthy. Ah. The love, the crazy dance moves.
Noah: Yeah, there is some solid blackmail material on there, especially from my dad, the self-proclaimed king of the dance floor.
Allie: Ah. Summer and kyle are made for each other. Look at the way he looks at her. Oh, you have to frame this one.
Noah: Yeah.
Allie: [ Laughs ]
Noah: [ Sighs ]
Allie: Noah?
Noah: I, uh — I’ll take that.
Allie: Wait. No. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. These, um… these are of me.
Noah: Yeah.
Allie: I-I-I didn’t notice you taking these.
Noah: Well, that was kind of the whole point. I’ve always wanted to capture you like this. No filter, no ironic graphics. Just you in perfect natural lighting.
Allie: Normally, I hate seeing photos of myself, but… is that really the way I look?
Noah: Well, that’s how i always see you. You know, you’re a pretty great subject, professionally speaking.
Allie: Oh, yeah?
Noah: Yeah.
Allie: Well, I think these belong in a gallery somewhere.
Noah: Oh, yeah? What would you say if you saw these framed?
Allie: Mm…I would say that the photographer might have really liked his subject.
Noah: Hmm. I think I’d say he loved her.
Allie: [ Chuckles ]
Kyle: Aww, would you look at that?
Summer: Love is definitely in the air.
Noah: Yeah, I thought i smelled something when you walked in.
Summer: Oh, today has been such a perfect day, even with you here.
Kyle: In spite of an uninvited guest dropping in by helicopter.
Allie: Okay, take a pause here, guys. I still can’t believe you guys call him tucker. I mean, this is the tucker mccall, the most fascinating man, wrapped in a myth, bathed in business legend. I mean, that’s kind of cool, right? Or if you’re into that “billionaire playboy who lives life by the extremes” kind of thing, which I am clearly not.
Noah: Yeah, tucker spent a lot of time in genoa city and did the whole playboy thing.
Allie: Right. You said that he’s devon’s dad.
Noah: Biologically.
Summer: And he was married to ashley for a while.
Allie: Okay, that is so weird
[Chuckles] And hard to imagine. And, kyle, you said that he had a relationship with your mom, too.
Noah: Oh, we’re just filling allie in on the life and times of tucker mccall.
Jack: Believe me, the less you know about that guy, the better.
Summer: You know what? His helicopter didn’t blow away any of the decorations, so I’m just gonna pretend like that wedding crash didn’t happen.
Jack: I wish I could do that, too.
Diane: Don’t contact me. Don’t call and don’t text.
Tucker: Are you saying I’m dead to you?
[ Chuckles ] Isn’t that ironic?
Diane: I’m done! I have satisfied my end of our agreement. I have given you information about ashley and the abbotts. I’ve — I’ve kept you apprized of her general well-being and her romantic status. Look, you’re here now. You’re here. What could you possibly still need from me?
Tucker: Well, since you’re asking —
Diane: No! No. No more spying. I can’T. It’s over. Just say goodbye.
Tucker: No. It’s a little too soon for that. If you’re on medicare, remember,
Victoria: Tucker shows up at the same time that chancellor-winters is prepping to go public. I mean, it’s got to be connected somehow. Maybe he’s working behind the scenes with devon.
Victor: Or jill. You know, he was in bed with her in more ways than one.
Nick: As if there weren’t enough reasons for us to avoid taking control of chancellor-winters, having tucker mccall in the mix is a complication we cannot afford.
Victoria: Well, make no mistake. We’re not backing out of this. Scooping up chancellor-winters is too big of a get. And in no way do I fear tucker mccall. If he comes up with a plan, then we’ll just find a way to outmaneuver him.
Victor: My thoughts exactly.
Victoria: And we’ll know about any complications or potential hazards ahead of time because of our ace in the hole — nate.
[ Elevator doors open ]
Nate: [ Sighs ]
[ Elevator doors close ] Do my eyes deceive me?
Esther: Oh, nate. Hi. How’s my favorite doctor?
Nate: Now your favorite businessman, I hope. I know I have a lot of competition out there.
Esther: Well, there’s always room for one more favorite, especially someone as charming as you.
Nate: Oh, well, thank you.
Esther: [ Chuckles ]
Nate: So, what brings you by chancellor-winters?
Elena: I have a meeting with devon.
Nate: About what?
Esther: [ Chuckling ] I’m not sure.
Nate: Well, why don’t you wait in here? So, is this the first time you’ve been here since the merger?
Esther: Yeah. Mrs. C would be so impressed. It was a big move, and she’d be so happy that her grandson’s company has joined hers.
Nate: Say, you knew katherine as well as anyone.
Esther: [ Chuckles ] The stories I could tell.
Nate: Mm. She was an inspiration. To have accomplished so much in an era where it was rare for a woman to run a big company…
Esther: Yes. People underestimated her because she inherited the business from her husband, and so they didn’t think that she was qualified.
Nate: Mm. I know that feeling.
Esther: Really? But you graduated from medical school. How could anyone ever think that you don’t know what you’re doing?
Nate: Oh, you’d be surprised. But I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what she went through. I’m sure she’s had more than her fair share of detractors and naysayers.
Esther: [ Chuckles ] More than you can imagine. And the worst one was jill. She was a thorn in my side, too. It’s crazy how she could become co-owner of this company.
Nate: Ah. I never had any issues with jill. She’s always been so helpful. If there are any problems at this company, they have nothing to do with jill.
Esther: Well, yes, she makes me crazy, but I guess I do kind of wish that jill was in genoa city full time. I mean, in the final decades of her life, mrs. C made peace with jill, and they eventually became co-ceos of chancellor.
Nate: Wow. So, katherine was willing to share her power. Hmm. That’s fascinating. You know, I would love to know more about katherine the businesswoman, if you wouldn’t mind.
Esther: Mind? Oh, no, I-I’d love to.
Devon: Elena, I trust your judgment, so you can tell me the truth and tell me what I’ve done that’s causing friction in your relationship.
Elena: You didn’t do anything per se. I’m just saying that i understand why you’re putting nate through the paces. You’re running a business. The success and failure of every decision falls on you.
Devon: Yeah, and I appreciate you understanding that.
Elena: But I think the only thing nate cares about is making his mark and showing everyone that he deserves to be where he is, that he has the talent and the courage to operate at that level.
Devon: Yeah, I know that. And I wouldn’t have hired him unless I thought he was talented or I thought he could handle this job. I mean, he’s one of the smartest people I know, and I have very high expectations for him. But he knows this already, right?
Elena: I think he’s just frustrated that things haven’t happened as quickly as he wants them to or in the way that he wants them to.
Devon: He still feels like that? ‘Cause since he’s come back to work, I’ve been under the impression that he’s really making an effort to respect the hierarchy.
Elena: It’s just the way that nate is handling his feelings. I can’t accept it.
Devon: Are we talking about just him struggling with this transition into the corporate world, or is it something completely different here?
Elena: I’m sorry, devon. I’m gonna head back to work.
Devon: You sure?
Elena: I’ll see you later. Ever leave your clothes in the dryer
“The young and the restless”
will continue. Let’s be real…
Esther: Oh, my goodness!
Devon: Hey. What’d I miss?
Nate: Hey.
Devon: Esther, you’re looking beautiful, as always.
Esther: Oh, you.
[ Chuckles ]
Devon: Everything all right with you?
Nate: Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?
Esther: I was just telling nate how mrs. C liked to shake people up. She wasn’t shy.
Devon: No. And she didn’t waste one second of life on this planet.
Esther: Oh, that’s for sure.
Devon: She had a motto. Remember that?
Esther: Yes. “Live until I die.” And it wasn’t just a saying to her.
Devon: That’s right, not at all. She grabbed life with both hands and lived it. She saw the places she wanted to see. She had a whole bucket list she checked off. She was even lucky enough to find love later in life.
Esther: Yeah, she grabbed this happiness and hold on tight.
Nate: Words to live by.
Devon: Yeah.
Esther: So, devon…
Devon: Yeah?
Esther: …Why’d you want to see me?
Devon: Well, I wanted to see you because I’ve been thinking about a conversation that we had not too long ago.
Esther: Uh-oh. What’d I say?
Devon: You were just telling me how miles and bella are growing up and how you’re not taking care of the chancellor mansion anymore.
Esther: Yeah. That. Yeah.
Devon: And so I started thinking about our whole principle behind forming chancellor-winters. You know, it’s because we wanted it to be a family enterprise ’cause that’s something that’s very important to me.
Nate: I can’t begin to tell you how I feel about being a part of this.
Devon: And, esther, you are part of the chancellor legacy.
Esther: Oh, that means so much to me.
Devon: Well, it’s very, very true. And we would love to have you a part of what we’re building here, if you’d like to be.
Esther: De– wait. Devon, wait, wait. A-are you offering me a job?
Devon: I absolutely am offering you a job, yes. Our receptionist has to take off for personal reasons —
Esther: Oh! Oh, no! No! The answer — yes! The answer is yes!
Devon: Yeah?
Esther: [ Laughing ] Yes!
Devon: Good.
Esther: Wow.
Summer: All I know is when i look back on the day that we chose each other again in front of all of our friends and family, the last thing I want to think about is —
Noah: A stupid stunt pulled by some self-aggrandizing jerk? Yeah. Yeah, I agree. We should erase that part.
Summer: Consider it forgotten.
Noah: And tonight doesn’t have to end. After party tonight. My club.
Kyle: Ooh. Are you up for it?
Summer: Mm, dance all night with you?
Kyle: Oh, I thought you’d never ask.D
Summer: [ Chuckles ]
Allie: Ah, they kissed! That makes it official. After party it is.
Noah: Save me a dance. Or all of them.
Allie: Mm. Only if you play your cards right.
Noah: Alright, it’s official. I’ll see you guys tonight. Bye. See you, jack.
Jack: Good night. You know what? I think it’s a great idea. We could all use a little palate cleansing, particularly after tucker very nearly spoiled your day.
Kyle: I’m sorry. What happened?
Summer: Tucker who? What?
[ Laughter ]
Tucker: No, we’re still partners. I need you to continue to be my eyes and ears inside the abbott world.
Diane: And if I refuse? What, are you threatening me?
Tucker: I’m reminding you that you would not have been able to make progress with your son, nor would you have had any kind of important place with your adorable little grandson, were it not for my help. So I need you to continue assisting me until I can get a foothold. ‘Cause, you know, I’m facing the same uphill battle you faced, right? I mean, your crimes, granted, were more egregious than mine, which gives me hope — ’cause if you can overcome your obstacles, so can I.
Diane: To what end?
Tucker: Why do you want to know that?
Diane: Because I feel protective of the abbotts now. They’re my family. So I need you to tell me exactly what you want from them.
Summer: You know, as excited
Jack: Are things that busy at marchetti? ‘Cause I honestly think you two deserve a honeymoon break.
Kyle: Oh, funny you should mention that. I have already lined up a villa on the beach in costa rica.
Summer: Mm, he surprised me. He even got me this cute little straw hat.
Kyle: Yeah, we’re still working out the schedule and things, but we hope we can get away in the next couple of weeks.
Summer: You know, as excited as I am about a romantic vacation, I’m still a little nervous about leaving marchetti and harrison.
Jack: No, we won’t peel any of his grapes for him. Unless he asks. You can always video-chat with him every night.
Kyle: We’re going to pack some picture books so we can still read him bedtime stories.
Jack: Great. As for marchetti, you’ve hired a great staff. Lean on them. Delegate. Look, you two take time. Enjoy the love you share with each other. You deserve it. We’ll take care of the rest.
Kyle: Okay, but what about our mothers? Is it safe to leave them without supervision?
Jack: At the moment, yes. There is a stalemate. I wouldn’t call it peace, but I — they’re not fighting. Take full advantage of that.
Esther: I should warn you — I cannot possibly start until tomorrow at 8:00.
Devon: Well, guess what. Tomorrow at 8:00 is perfect.
Esther: Really?
Devon: Absolutely. Yes. We’ll have the current receptionist start training you, and then I can go up and take care of everything in H.R.
Esther: I will learn the routine in no time.
Devon: I have no doubt that you will.
Esther: I’m so glad you thought of me.
Devon: Oh, absolutely. I’ve been thinking about you for a long time. I’m just happy that this opened up and we can make something work out.
Nate: Welcome aboard.
Esther: [ Chuckling ] Thank you. Oh! I am an employee of chancellor-winters.
Devon: Yes, you are.
Esther: Well, starting tomorrow at 8:00. Oh, no. Tomorrow? Oh, my gosh. I’ve got to find something to wear. I’ve got to go.
[ Laughter ] Mrs. C would be so proud of you.
Devon: Oh.
Esther: I got to go.
Devon: [ Chuckles ] Thank you. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Esther: Thanks. Bye!
Nate: Good move bringing esther on.
Devon: Oh, yeah, man. It feels like a missing piece to this puzzle having her here. Katherine always considered her family, so it’s only right that we take care of her like this, you know? But, uh, speaking of looking after family, when I asked you before if everything was okay with you, how come you weren’t honest with me?
Victor: Now as devon’s coo, nate hastings is perfectly positioned to find out if tucker mccall had anything to do with chancellor-winters going public.
Victoria: The more intel we have, the better prepared we’ll be.
Nick: Yeah, the sec has a name for that kind of behavior, and they don’t like it.
Victor: Son, no regulations have been violated.
Nick: Yet.
Victoria: Nate has also developed a personal relationship with a consultant that jill brought in to help with the ipo, a woman named audra charles.
Victor: Hmm. Good.
Nick: This is all assuming that nate can continue to lie to his cousins’ faces.
Devon: I asked you not that long ago how things are going between you and elena.
Nate: I said we’d work things out.
Devon: Yes, I know what you said, but I just had a conversation with her.
Nate: What did she say?
Devon: I’m not gonna betray her trust, but I can tell you that she loves you very much and she’s worried about you.
Nate: Yeah. I wish things hadn’t gotten to this point with her.
Devon: Well, I’m gonna say to you the same thing I said to her. If there’s something that I can do to help, I’d like to do it. So, let’s hear your side.
Nate: Elena’s been saying all the right things about me leaving medicine, but the fact of the matter is she never expected this to last. She thought I’d have fun for a while, but ultimately wind back up at memorial.
Devon: Hmm. I mean, I know a lot of your connection was based on being in the same profession.
Nate: Mm. When things got tense between the two of us, elena’s first instinct was to tell me to walk away from chancellor-winters. She’s still focused on the past, how things were. And I’m looking forward.
[ Cellphone pings ] It’s a business matter I need to follow up on.
Devon: Anything I can help with?
Nate: Consider it handled. And for the record, I’m committed to working things out with elena, and I’m hopeful it will happen because I love her. But I want to make one thing clear. I am determined not to allow personal issues to interfere with what I’m trying to accomplish here.
Devon: Okay. I appreciate your candor.
Nate: Better take care of this. (Hamlet) it’s beggin’! Advantage plans have coverageyou could save on
Nate: I got here as quickly as I could. What’s going on?
Victoria: Tucker mccall has returned to genoa city.
Nate: Devon didn’t say anything about his father coming to town.
Victoria: Yeah, I gathered since you didn’t mention it to me, which means one of two things. Either tucker hasn’t told devon that he’s here, or devon knows that his prodigal father has returned and he’s just keeping you out of the loop.
Nate: I wonder if he found out about the plan to go public.
Victoria: I had the same thought. It’s possible that he’s thinking of making his own move on the company. With him, anything is possible.
Nate: I’ll see what I can find out.
Victoria: It’s imperative that you do. If there’s a wild card in the mix, it could change the entire game.
Phyllis: You know, it feels so wrong having these secret meetings here, but then it feels so right.
Nikki: [ Chuckles ] Well, since summer is suspicious of our new civility, I thought it would be a good idea.
Phyllis: I mean, I can’t believe I had to swear to her that I wouldn’t try to run diane out of town. I guess she wants me to just stand back and watch this woman try to worm her way into the lives of everyone we love.
Nikki: Well, from what I can tell, you’re doing a good job faking it.
Phyllis: [ Sighs ] Thanks. So, tucker. His desire to give this very ostentatious gift to kyle and summer — could that link him to diane in los angeles?
Nikki: With any luck, it will.
Phyllis: Alright, so, you have big news to tell me. I’m ready.
Nikki: Thanks to victor’s team, we have a fascinating new piece of the puzzle.
Tucker: Trust me — I’m not out to hurt anyone. I just want what you got when you came back to genoa city — forgiveness and acceptance, mostly from ashley. I’ve made no secret of that.
Diane: I am sure that people are already suspicious about the two of us being back here at the same time. And if anybody puts the pieces together, then all the help you’ve given me will be for nothing. And I have worked too long and too hard to lose what I’ve managed to get back. So, please. Come on. Just please reconsider continuing to use me as your spy.
I love that picture. Hey. Hey. Did you forget that we were supposed to meet the reporter at virginia’s grave in 45 minutes? My mom’s grave is less than 10 minutes from here.
[ Exhales deeply ] I’m guessing this is where you went to high school. Yeah. And I had no intention of ever coming back. But we were, um… we were driving by, and I just needed to see this. I needed to see the spot where my, uh… …where my life changed in an instant.
[ Lock beeps ] Hello, ryan. Are you surprised to see me? Now, I know kevin pops in from time to time to monitor your condition, but… I just had to see for myself. And everyone assures me that you are still incapable of movement, but knowing how deceitful you are, you know, I never really bought it. I still think you could be faking it. Nikolas, thank you for meeting me. Let’s not pretend I had a choice. Why have you summoned me? You need to divorce ava immediately. Valentin: Working hard overat aurora, huh? Stock’s up.
[ Sighing ] Yeah. Yeah, it’s no secret that we took a hit when you blocked the merger, but we’re moving in the right direction. In no small part thanks to you, right? Well, uh, drew is doing a great job. He founded it. He knows what he’s doing, so… the reason I wanted to meet with you — I think your talents could be better utilized elsewhere. I want you to consider leaving aurora and coming back to elq full-time. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? Who are you? Uh, I’m josslyn jacks. I’m sonny’s stepdaughter. I know most of his guys. Are you new? I’m the new chef. Just getting my tools of the trade in peak condition. Huh. All right. Well, I left my jacket here, um, so I’m just gonna go grab it. No, you won’T.
O say, can you see
by the dawn’s early light
what so proudly…we… hailed yeah. They’re taking, uh, diane off the ventilator. I’ll — I’ll call you with an update when I get it. All right. Dr. Ashford? Ms. Miller’s breathing on her own. She’s conscious, although she’s still pretty groggy. Can I see her? Mr. Corinthos is gonna have to wait. Assuming she’s up to it, I got a few questions. District attorney. To what do I owe the pleasure? I’ve got a good mind to book you on malicious intent.
[ Chuckles ] You scared the life out of us.
[ Groans ] It was a hook, wasn’t it? Just like ava and brando. Unfortunately. But you’re a tough cookie. Here you are. Now, I know you just woke up, but, um, tell me what you remember.
I used to be a cheerleader. Did I ever tell you that? No, I don’t believe so. Yep. Reese and I made the varsity cheerleading squad our freshman year. It was quite an accomplishment. Reese — that’s peyton’s daughter? Yeah. Yeah. We were best, best friends. Hmm. So close. Like josslyn and trina close.
[ Chuckles ] Reese had it going on. Country club girl. Pretty, popular. Probably why we made the squad. Although I was a better athlete and a much better cheerleader, if I do say so myself. I have no doubt. Reese gave me access to a life I wouldn’t have been able to touch. And I was so grateful for that. I mean, we loved each other like besties. And by junior year, we ran that squad. Until that afternoon.
[ Sighs ] Reese had been ignoring me all day. And it was after practice, and reese, jody, lisa, and I, we were headed to reese’s car, and I realized I forgot my sweater. So I went back to grab it and… …on my way back to the car… …the girls were already in the convertible, and I could tell that reese was talking about me ’cause they were all laughing and whispering. And just like that, reese looked at me, started the car, and she pulled away. It was deliberate. You know, she wanted me to know that she was leaving me on purpose. And I yelled, “I hope you crash and burn.” 10 seconds later, reese pulled onto the parkway right in front of a semi. I saw the whole thing happen. Reese’s convertible disintegrated into a twisted pile of metal. Two girls dead, one in a coma. And I stood in this spot without a scratch on me. I’m not divorcing ava. Oh, come on, nikolas. You and ava have been on the brink of divorce at least three times, to my knowledge. It’s time you just got on with it. Aside from the fact that I love my wife, we’re remaining married to protect ava. Ah, yeah, you’re referring to spousal privilege. No, well, it’s true that, as ava’s husband, you can’t be compelled to testify that you saw ava and esme struggling just moments before esme plunged to her death. Keep your voice down. Why are you bringing that up? Oh, I can assure you we’re quite alone. And we’re quite done. This conversation’s over. Ava and I are remaining married. Nikolas, you seem to be under the misapprehension that you have a choice in the matter. You don’T. Let’s see how in control you really are. That’s convincing enough. Whoo! I may have overdone it there. Oh, that’s right. You don’t know about my — my injury, do you? Some maniac attacked me with a hook. Now, you know all about that, don’t you? You used to hook on at least one of your victims. And so, I have to wonder, would you use one on me, too, if you could get out of that chair? I was at brando’s garage because I’d gone there to see sasha.
[ Exhales sharply ] Um… I’d been asked to file a continuance regarding her guardianship. And? Go on. But sasha didn’t know where the papers were, where brando’s copy of the decree was. You’re doing great. Well, what happened then? Robert’s in there questioning diane. She’s not up for it. I mean, she’s still recovering. Right. She was stable when I left. I think she can handle it. Yeah. Diane’s tough. Yeah, doctor, she’s tough, she’s tough in the courtroom. She’s like a barracuda. But she didn’t have a defense against whoever attacked her with that hook, right? Look, diane — she survived. And if she can id the attacker, then we can finally get ahead of this psycho. Take your best shot. Go through all the channels. But I’m telling you right now, I’m gonna do what I have to do to make sure that diane gets justice. I admit, I did not see that one coming. Why would you want to bring me back on board after everything you’ve done to hold on to elq? I mean, you tore my family apart. You damn sure don’t trust me. No, no, I-I trust you. You and drew almost got the better of me. Fair and square. It was a strong countermove, and it would have worked. But I had ned. Right. So why risk alienating him by bringing me back to elq? I know, ultimately, you’ll put the good of elq first. Yeah, well, good luck explaining that to ned. I expect there to be pushback, and I’ll handle that. Michael, you have expertise that ned lacks. Right. Well, that’s always been the case. So what changed? What, is the — is the company in trouble? No, no, no. It’s stronger than ever. I have certain operations I’m undertaking that are at a critical juncture, and I don’t want elq to suffer. You know, you could always step aside as ceo. I’m not interested in giving up ceo. But, michael, if you come back to elq, I promise you we will both have the time and the resources to devote to our outside projects. What part of “my stepfather is your boss” is unclear? Mr. Corinthos isn’t here, and I can’t let you have free reign in this restaurant or my workspace. So, today, your access is denied. As for mr. Corinthos’ office, you’ll need his permission to go in there. You know, sonny won’t be happy to hear that you gave me a hard time.
[ Scoffs ] You think this is a hard time? What I think is you’ll regret being so rude to me. I’ll tell mr. Corinthos you stopped by.
I was attacked on the quartermaine grounds at a picnic they were having to benefit G.H.’S pediatric wing. Josslyn jacks, she found me. She made sure I got to the hospital. Unfortunately, sonny’s cousin, brando, he was attacked a few days later, and tragically, he did not make it. And then it was diane, sonny’s lawyer, who was the most recent victim. So if it isn’t you or some kind of copycat, maybe it’s sonny that’s the common denominator.
[ Thinking ] Outrageous.
Unacceptable.
If anyone is gonna gut
you with a hook, my love,
it’ll be me. Nikolas: Don’t delude yourself. Uncle victor, I’m the one in possession of the family fortune. And you have no power over me. You do not want to put that to the test, my boy. Look, I’d really rather not waste my time and resources bringing you back into line, but I will if I have to. I won’t be intimidated into giving up my wife. Well, I can’t say I blame you. Ava is a spectacular woman. Beautiful. Ruthless. Oh, and that wicked sense of humor. But, sadly, she’s also far too much for you to handle. No one “handles” ava. Yes, well, particularly not you. You are way out of your league, my boy, with your callow tricks and childish games, provoking ava into fights so that you can declare your love and win her back again. Look, marriages, they hit rough patches. We’ve hit one. But we will get past it. Your marriage hasn’t hit a rough patch. You jumped into bed with esme. Come on, open your eyes, man. Ava came out of hospital and then declined to move back into wyndemere. But she will. No, she will move home and she’ll believe in me again because I found a way to prove my love for her. It’s no secr et there’s frictionbetween you and your father. But unlike drew, I’m not interested in making peace. Just that you perform effectively at elq. I have no doubt that you will. Whatever your outside projects, they’re your own business. Uh, michael, I need to speak with you right now. Hey, uh, take my seat. I got somewhere I got to be anyway. Michael, think about it. Uh, what’s going on? I think I know why no one’s seen dex. I think sonny has dex in his restaurant. You need to help me get in there before he kills him.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and…
[ Door opens ] Don’t let me interrupt. Keep singing if you like. I just want to have things ready for when sonny gets back. Don’t waste your time unpacking. You’re not gonna get to use any of that on me. ‘Cause I’m innocent. Sonny seems unconvinced. I have another patient to see, but I’ll be back to check on diane. What? I know it seems like you’re the common denominator with all these victims, and I know everything inside you is wanting to go after this attacker and make them pay. That’s right. Don’t do it.
[ Scoffs ] Diane: It’s really just a jumble. I-I don’t even know when sonny and sasha left. But they had to have left, right, because I was alone when I was attacked. What’s the last thing you remember? Talking to sonny. And then, after that, I’m just trying to get the sequence of events right. Maybe if I could talk to sonny again. He’s outside. I’ll get him.
you can’t cause an accident by wishing someone would crash or by screaming the words out loud. I know that. But I contributed to reese’s state of mind when she pulled out onto that parkway in front of that truck. Reese and I had been best friends since we were 12 years old. She would have never… left me behind. Never. She would have never turned against me. That was before she found out I slept with her father. Victor: More games? All right. Enlighten me. How do you plan on proving your love for ava this time? It’s private. It’s between husband and wife. But all you need to know is that I’ve proven to ava that she can trust me. Oh, I’m afraid I’m gonna need to know more than that. I’m afraid you’ll have to learn to live with unanswered questions. Now, if you’ll excuse me.
[ Chuckling ] Oh. Surely you don’t expect me to answer to valentin. Both of you can go to hell. Well, I had anticipated that you would be less than cooperative, so I reached out to my son for assistance. Were you successful, valentin? See for yourself. About time you woke up. Good to see you. Thank you, boss. From what I understand, it was touch and go. How you feeling? I’m blissfully numb at the moment. My mind’s a little foggy, but it’s starting to clear. I’m just trying to piece together what led up to the attack. That’s good. Yeah, whatever you can remember. Did sasha give me permission to go through brando’s papers? Yeah. You went into his office. Sorry, we can’t have you influencing diane’s memories. We need your recollections unprompted. Okay? And I just thought hearsay applied to the courtroom. Well, I’m not too concerned about admissibility at this point. I just want to get this psycho. But dante’s right. Sonny can corroborate, but the memory’s got to be yours. Right. Okay, well, I remember being in brando’s office. I found the guardianship papers. Mm-hmm. But the li– the light — it was so dark in there that I came back into the garage to be able to read it. Was anyone in the garage?
[ Cellphone ringing ] The next thing I remember was seeing dex. Mr. Corinthos, I’m ready to get the truth out of that punk. Let me know if I can proceed without you. You again. Mr. Corinthos isn’t here. If you don’t get that, maybe your friend here will. All right, you need to consider your next move carefully. How you choose to handle the situation will have direct implications for your future as well as sonny’S. If you blow it, well, sonny won’t be so forgiving.
I know I was a minor and that reese’s father took advantage of me. You know, the adult carly knows that. Right? But reese was just blindsided, and she was devastated when she found out. Reese’s father, he — he’s dead, right? Yes. He… killed himself not long after the accident. Carly… what he did was reprehensible. Look, one day, scout is gonna be 16 years old, and if one of her friends’ fathers seduced her into an inappropriate relationship, I would annihilate him before the case even reached trial. And I know you would do the same thing if joss or — or avery or donna was ever in the same situation. I would kill the bastard. Would you blame them, or — or would you think that they brought it on themselves? Of course not. I would never. Then why are you still blaming yourself? Ava: Gee, ryan, it must be hell sitting here alone all day, every day. No mental stimulation of any kind. Just sittin’ here, waiting for somebody, anybody. You know, I wonder if you’re still waiting for your precious esme.
[ Gasps ] Bingo. “I, nikolas cassadine, of sound mind and body, do hereby acknowledge and confess that I, and I alone, am responsible for the disappearance of esme prince. I know this because I killed her.” Easy. How did you get that? Trade secret. A more pertinent question is why the hell does a letter like this exist in the first place? What do you want? Dex. Where is he? No idea. I’m the chef. I have nothing to do with other employees. Mm-hmm. Okay, right. Okay, this is — this is what’s gonna happen. My — my sister josslyn is going to look around, and if she sees that dex is being held anywhere in this restaurant, she’s going to bring him out and we’re gonna leave. And if you interfere in any way, I will call my brother, detective falconeri of the pcpd, and we will have the cops search the premises. And if they find that dex is being held here prisoner, well, then, you’ll be arrested, as well as your boss. See, sonny, though, he’ll claim that you acted on your own without his knowledge. And if you think that you can cut a deal and give him up, ll, we both know how he’ll retaliate. So your best option — well, your only option — is to not let the police get involved in the first place. So what’s it gonna be? Dex. You saw him in the garage with sonny and sasha and yourself before the attack? Yes. Who is he? Well, he works for sonny. He was there at first, and then he wasn’t there. And I assume sonny sent him on an errand. Okay, so you found the guardianship papers. You took ’em to the garage to read with the better light. Mm-hmm. Is that when you saw dex? No. No, wait. No, he wasn’t there then. He wasn’t there — he was there before the attack, but then when I — I came to for a second. That’s when I saw him. Now, let’s get the sequence right here. You came out of the office with the papers. Uh-huh. Who was there? No one. No, the garage was empty. Sonny and sasha had gone, and I started reading.
[ Exhales sharply ] And that’s when I — that’s when I saw just a glimpse of motion out of the corner of my eye. And I — and I turned around, and that’s when I saw her. She ca– she came at me with a hook. Okay, t-take it easy. Y– what did — you just said, “she”? Diane, you saw your attacker? She came right at me. She? Yeah! Yeah, the attacker was a woman.
My country ’tis of thee
sweet land of liberty
[ Door opens ] Dex. What did sonny do to you? Nothing yet, but we — we have to get out of here. His guy, carver, he’s — he’s a dangerous freak. Yeah. Yeah, he gave me the creeps, too. Wait. Joss, he knows you’re here? No, you have to go now. Go! No, no, no, no. My brother’s dealing with him. It’s okay. We need to get you untied. Use — use the knives. It’ll be faster. Did he use these on you? No. No, and now he never will. Okay. Okay, okay. Hurry, cut the ropes, and let’s get out of here.
Diane, can can you describe your attacker? A woman with a hook. I-I mean other details like, um, age, height, build, hair color, that kind of thing. Well, she was about my height. Um, I — I couldn’t tell her build because she was wearing a bulky coat with a hood. Or maybe it was a cloak. I couldn’t tell for sure. And I — I couldn’t see her hair. Okay, that’s — that’s good. Just take a minute. Diane, you’re doing great. But can you remember any more details?
[ Sighs ] Sounds. Do you remember hearing anything? Yes. Yeah. She was wearing bracelets. And they — they jangled when she raised up that hook. Bracelets, not dog tags. Why can I remember her bracelets, but I can’t remember her face? This is far too many visitors. I have to ask you to leave now. Okay. Um, you’ve given us a lot to go on. Thanks, bud. Take it easy. Okay? Ow! I’m gonna be back to check in with you, okay? Ow. Okay. Hey, robert. If I remember any other details, I’ll call you. Or I’ll — I’ll have my people call you.
[ Chuckles ] Diane, the most important thing is that you focus that considerable energy of yours on recovery. Um, you’re doing great. That’s the most important — the most important thing to remember.
[ Chuckles ] You know, it’s never too soon to quit. If you’re not here, I’ll have less to say to my brother the cop, and you won’t have to answer to him or sonny.
[ Door slams ] Hey. Is he all right? Sonny had him in the freezer. He was tied by his wrists, hanging from a meat hook. All right, let’s go. You leave when mr. Corinthos says you can leave.
[ Scoffs ] When mr. Roberts… started paying attention to me, I was flattered. I could tell he liked me. And I liked it. I even started flirting with him in my own way. And I knew it was wrong, but I… I just felt like I was doing something new. You know? And I — I should have stopped going to the roberts’ house. Hell, I-I should have transferred out of the school, but I… I didn’t want to lose reese. I didn’t want to stop being the popular girl on the cheerleading squad. I didn’t want to stop going to the country club pretending I was a member. You know, reese gave me access to a life that I didn’t want to give up, and that’s on me. Carly… carly, you were a child. He was a predator. Reese… reese found us in bed together. And the next day, she wouldn’t talk to me and she wouldn’t even look at me. And I thought — well, I hoped that we could talk after we dropped the other girls off, but… reese had already turned against me. Something had broken in her. She shouldn’t have been driving. She was too upset. She shouldn’t have been on the road. She wasn’t — she shouldn’t have been driving. She shouldn’t been there. Wait, wait, wait. Did — did her mother tell you that? Look, peyton is a vindictive snob. But she’s not wrong. Yes. She’s not wrong. Yes, she is. Esme was determined to intern at spring ridge so she could work with you. She claimed to be fascinated by your case, which of course, makes perfect sense now. I’m sure she saw you at some kind of kindred spirit.
[ Thinking ]
You have no idea. And I know that kevin banned her from having any further contact with you, but that cunning esme, she found a way around that, didn’t she?
Yes.
My clever daughter. In retrospect, I think she was blackmailing nikolas.
Because nikolas
betrayed you.
He was never
worthy of you.
Only I’m worthy
of you, ava. But all good blackmail schemes must come to an end. And esme overstayed her welcome. Now she’s gone. Victor: What on earth could possess you to write out a confession to a murder you didn’t commit? I did it to protect my wife. I would do anything to protect ava. Yea– which is precisely why you have to divorce her. Your obsession with ava is not only detrimental to you, nikolas. It’s jeopardizing the entire family. I don’t give a damn. Clearly you don’t give a damn. You didn’t give a damn when you alienated your son. You didn’t give a damn when you were unfaithful to your wife. And you obviously didn’t give a damn when you wrote out this ridiculous confession. Now, fortunately, valentin intercepted the letter before it could fall into the wrong hands. It belongs in ava’s hands. It was meant for her. Oh, until she hands it over to the police in a fit of pique. Or were you assuming she wouldn’t do that because she’d be frightened of implicating herself? No, she wouldn’t do that because she loves me. Well, be that as it may, it’s too late now to matter.
I find it very hard to believe that peyton wasn’t aware what her husband was up to. That is a — that is a dysfunctional family. I’m betting that peyton was very used to dealing with her husband’s indiscretions because she didn’t want to give up all the wealth and — and the status and — and the social position. She couldn’t afford to confront her husband. It was just way easier for her to blame you. And the only person that really did have an excuse was — was reese because she was a child. And it was — it was too painful and it was too confusing and scary for her to confront her father about what he did. So she made it all your fault, too, carly. But it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t your fault. Yes, it was a tragedy, one in which the parents acted…badly and the kids paid the price. And I — personally, I get why you want to run away from this whole thing, because you’ve been running your whole life. But now it’s time to stop. Let go of the misguided guilt. Just let it go. Let it all go. It wasn’t your fault. What happened to reese was a terrible accident, and I hate that it happened. But it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’T. I’ve telling myself that all these years, but I never really believed it, and seeing peyton brought it all out. But it’s over, right? It’s over. It’s over. All right, we need the police. Hold on, hold on, joss. Look, this is about to escalate in a way that is not going to end well. It’s best all around if you just let us go. If you’re so confident mr. Corinthos won’t mind his guest leaving, then you can afford to wait till he gets here to give his okay. All right. To hell with this freak, michael. I’m calling the cops. Sonny can get arrested, too. No. No cops. No cops. Why not? He tried to kill you.
[ Door opens ] Michael: Oh, hey, dad. Look what we found in your freezer. You’re doing well. I just want you to try and rest. Well, sorry, doc. Now I can’t stop thinking about my attacker. I’m sure I know this woman from somewhere. I just can’t place her. And I’ve usually got such a good memory for faces. You went through a traumatic experience. Hmm. Now, the brain, the mind will go into protect mode and keep the disturbing events at bay. You might start to remember in bits and in pieces. That’s — that’s what happened to me when I went through something traumatic. But driving yourself crazy trying to remember, it won’t do much good for your recovery. So be patient with yourself. It’ll come back in time. Sorry, doc. That’s not gonna work for me. Now I just want this maniac caught. Dante: Well, this is amazing. I mean, diane just gave us some real valuable information. Yeah. Thanks to her, we now know the killer’s a woman. This could change the whole direction of the investigation. It — it could mean patterns that we haven’t detected yet, a way to tie the victims together aside from sonny. Or it confirms our worst-case scenario, that the killings and the attacks are random after all. Esme just disappeared one afternoon at the height of trina robinson’s trial. Now, I bet that topic never came up in conversation. How she framed an innocent young woman. Well, she was just about to be exposed, too, and she just vanished. And I guess that esme has made a couple of posts from the french riviera. So that’s where the authorities are looking for her.
[ Thinking ] Esme would never abandon me for a place as banal as the french riviera. She’d never abandon me at all. You know, I, for one, am so glad that she’s gone. I found esme to be a really dangerously disturbed young woman. Reckless, too. Oh, she just kept pushing the boundaries, assuming that nobody would ever push back. You know, wyndemere isn’t always a safe place. It can be downright dangerous if you don’t watch your step. And esme, well, she failed to watch hers. Yeah, I seriously doubt that anybody will ever see esme prince again. Ava is a practical woman. I’m sure she’s already beginning to realize her marriage is toxic. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince her that it’s also jeopardizing her future. I’ll even make her a generous divorce settlement offer, which I — I’m sure she’ll be only too happy to accept. Even if ava agrees, I never will. Oh, stop being so tedious, nikolas. Aren’t you overlooking something? Nikolas isn’t really necessary. In fact, if he were to disappear like esme did, spencer inherits the cassadine estate. Oh, you do have a good point. If nikolas is intractable, there is always spencer. And after all, accidents do happen. Threats. You want me to choose my life over ava? Well, it isn’t really a choice, is it? How can you be with ava if you’re dead? Victor… I love her. Love is a luxury. Survival is essential. Just remember that. Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll divorce ava. Splendid. I’ll call my lawyer, have him prepare the paperwork, obtain the necessary signatures. Then, with you divorced and esme dead, I can finally turn my attention to more pressing matters.
Chloe honey, I’m telling you, you feel much better this morning. Yes.
A decent night sleeps made me realize how lucky I am to, um, to be done with Clyde honey. Yes. I love you too. Yes. Okay. I’ll talk to you soon. Okay.
Oh, thank God. No one can see your mother now. How ridiculous to I look. Let’s just.
You, Laura, Wonderful, wise woman. We miss you
so much.
Thank you darling. For suggesting we stop by here after we left the flowers on Abigail’s last resting place. That’s still so hard to say, isn’t it? The Horton family has had so much loss in such a short time. Two beautiful women still so much to live for. I suppose there is some comfort in knowing that Clive Weston is going to rot in prison for what he did to have a gal,
but I’m guessing I’m going to have to wait until the roll is called up yonder to see Gwen Rez check fee forbidden entry through the pearl gates for what she did. Laura.
Jennifer, what brings you by come to finish me off.
Ooh, you look a bit like a deer caught in headlights. Is that how I looked? Just before you pressed the gas pedal down to the floor?
That’s right. I remember who was behind the wheel of the car, who hit me, person who tore into me and left me there for dead. That was you.
I don’t know where you get your information from. I think you newspaper boys like to call it a primary source. See, Gwenny told me that Jenny was behind the wheel of the car that ran her down. Gwen told me she didn’t see the driver. Well, I just came from her hospital room and while she was telling me this horrific story about what happened to her, her memory of everything that happened last night came rushing back to her and it wasn’t hard to make Gwen realize that Jennifer did this on purpose.
And I bet you gave it a really hard sell. Jennifer needs to make, what’s the word? Oh, I know. Restitution. And that’s going to come in the form of a check from you, that lot of zeros attached. If you wanna make this all go away, that is
like Sands through the hour class. So are the days of our lives.
Look great. Please stay away from me. I, I, I didn’t come here to hurt you. I came here to tell you how very, very sorry I am for what I did to you,
okay? You really made this. Yeah, well, I’ve only read about 10,000 corporate announcements in that time. I really appreciate having you as a sounding board. I’ve been so worried about my mom that I’m finding it really hard to concentrate, and if I don’t get a handle on all of this work I have to do, I’m gonna start losing clients.
And the first one that’s going to be me.
Do you own a calendar? If you did, you’d see that the election is one month away. I know that. And do you know that my polling numbers, they’re going down? Yes. But, And that mailer that you promised would get into the hands of the voters by last weekend. Did that happen? I’m sorry. They got held up at the printers.
I was going to follow up, but, but the only butt that I want to hear about is mine and what, how you’re doing what it takes to get me behind that big old desk at the State House. Do I make myself. Crystal,
I, I’m wearing this thing on my head because I’m getting highlights. I’m Bonnie thought that a new would perk me up and Bonnie doesn’t take no for an answer. Well, I’m sure your hairs can look just beautiful. And that’s off flowers. Mm-hmm. , who are they for? Who like STAs and pink roses. I
you. You brought me flowers. Yes. Craig. Why would you bring flowers and what are you even doing here? See, I’m here because I wanting to see how you are.
Having second thoughts about trying to kill me. Oh, Quinn, No, no. It, it wasn’t deliberate. I swear I didn’t even see you, but until it was too late, you didn’t see me. You knew you hit me with your car and you still didn’t stop to help me. I don’t, I, I wish I could tell you. I left. I just don’t, I just, I just can’t, But I didn’t even remember Okay.
Until like an hour ago. And as soon as I remembered, I, I, I knew I had to see you. You’re telling me you have no memory of fleeting someone with your. No, because when I did it, when I hit you, I wasn’t in my right mind. I was, Hi,
is Gwen on board with his blackmail scheme of yours? Blackmail is such a cold, hard word. I like to think of this as a settle. You didn’t answer my question. Did Gwen authorize your being here and acting on her behalf? We had begun to discuss that possibility and we were interrupted by one of the many people providing her with very expensive medical care.
She doesn’t know you’re here. I took it upon myself to see gay resolution that benefits all parties involved. I find it very hard to believe that Gwen would prove this when she and I talked last night. Well, that was probably before your wife tried to turn her into a hood ornament. That is not what happened.
It was a hideous act with malicious intent. It was an accident,
but darling remember, That Gwen told us Laura’s death was an accident. Gwen is a liar. Darling, when I think of what Jennifer is going through, when I think of what, what the hell her mother could have been to her, I just swear I could throw things.
Laura meant so much to those people who loved her through her words were never spoken.
So, um, how did you even know that I was here? Bonnie called me. and she told me you were here. I’m glad she did. I’m, I’m relieved. And then she also asked me drop by. So that’s why you’re here, Nancy. I am here because Bonnie thought you needed another friend to talk to besides her.
I still am your friend, aren’t I?
Honestly, I’m not sure.
I want you to get those mailers out by today and I want you to set up a press conference, the kind that makes me national news. And if this doesn’t happen by the end of business today, then I’m going to have to, Okay. Stephanie’s not gonna say anything, so I will. Her mother’s in the hospital right now, so maybe you could cut her a break.
Oh. I’m very sorry to to hear that, but Oh, if you, you can’t do the job, Stephanie, then why are you not delegating someone else in your firm? And you could have at least informed me that you are dealing with a family emergency. Mr. Price, if you could just look, if you will just kindly stay out of this young man.
This is between me and Ms. Johnson, Chad. It’s okay. Really, you’re absolutely right. Ms. Price. I should have delegated and I should have told you about my. I’m sorry I dropped the ball on those mailers. I will have those out today and then I will start working on the press conference. That’s just what I wanted to hear.
And look, um, I’m sorry for laying into you like that.
I’m truly, I’m, I’m truly sorry to hear that your mom’s in the hospital. I’m praying four. I appreciate that. I will call you later to let you know when those mailers have. Thank you. Thank you. The, oh, you know, speaking of delegating, why don’t you let your assistant here pick up some slack. He’s not my assistant.
This is my friend Chad Damara. Chad Damara. Oh, good Lord. I came with a head of steam and didn’t take the time to find out who you were. Uh, Mr. Damara, uh, you, you have my sympathies. You know about what happened, Their poor wife. Such a terrible tragedy.
My wife and I buried our daughter a few weeks ago. We’re doing our best to help take care of her two young children. I know you’ve been through a lot and I’m sure you’re worried sick about Gwen, which is why it would be awful for you to lose your wife. What the hell is that supposed to be? Well, you called what happened to Gwen in accident by which you’re admitting your wife’s liability.
Did she confess? No. I was speaking hypothetically. If Jennifer had done something like that to another person, it would not have been intentional. The point is that it happened and now you know about it. What’s your cut of this settlement that you’re pushing?
You. You know, you’re not the only one who’s had a rough couple of months. I was wrongfully accused of killing poor Abigail. I had to hire a lawyer who’s now threatening to take me to court. Why don’t we just keep it easy? You can write a check for say a million books. I can’t do that. Oh dear. And I guess I’ll have to alert the police folks at the intruder and tell them about Jennifer.
Accident. What I mean is I don’t have a million dollars in my personal checking account. I’ll have to go to the bank for that after a transfer’s been made. I’ll arrange to meet you somewhere. I’ll wait right here to complete our transaction.
You’re doing the right thing, Jack, for your wife, for your family.
Michael Forten. Oh, you’re a sight for fries. We have missed you so much, Michael. Oh, I missed you too, so much. Nah, now I know. I’ll see you later at the house, but I. To come here and pay my respects to Mom and Abigail and, uh, so we’re all doing here, I assume. Of course, of course. Does your sister know you’re here or is this a surprise?
No, no surprise. In fact, I’m here because she needs me. Jennifer asked for my help.
Those pills I caught you.
You got high and then you got in your car. Why? I don’t know. I wasn’t in my right mind. I was, I was hallucinating that Abigail was in the car with me. I, it, it was an accident, I swear. And I am. So, so sorry. You didn’t come here to say you’re sorry you came here to save your ass. No, no. Yes. You say that you sped up, you know that you hit me, but it doesn’t matter though.
Right? So you didn’t know it was me. I didn’t know I, I hit the gas pedal. I thought I hit the brake, you know. The last conversation we had before the, um, accident, as you like to call it, wasn’t a very friendly one, was it? If I recall, you told me that if I went to Jack and told him that you were using that, I would be very sorry.
That sounded like a threat to me. But, but, but when I hit you, I, I didn’t know that you told Jack, but, but, but now that he knows, and, and I’m no longer in denial. I’m, I am. I’m glad that you told him because I need help and now I’m going, I’m gonna get it. Yeah. I know, I’ve heard this all before from my dear old mom.
I was stoned, so you have to forgive me. But now I’ve, I’ve seen the light and I’m gonna stop this. I’m gonna quit. I’m gonna come clean. You’ll see, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know what I’ve learned about addicts, though They are very, very, very cunning. And they lie.
You’re right, you’re right. I’m, I’m, I’ve said those same things to the people that I love.
I mean, there’s no reason in the world that you should believe. A word I say,
You, you, you did the right thing telling Jack about me. Now I’m gonna do the right thing too. What was that? I’ve just decided I’m going to the police station and I’m gonna turn myself in.
Jennifer called me, told me she started abusing painkillers again. She said, You knew about it. We do now. We didn’t for quite a while. I decided a phone conversation wasn’t enough. She’s my kid’s sister. Her life’s a mess. So here I am, Jen asked me to arrange to get her into rehab. Well bless you for that.
Oh, I am so relieved that she’ll be getting help. She also told me how much your love and support meant to her. Oh man. You’d know, you know we’d do anything for you. And Jennifer Rose Laura’s two wonderful kids. She was always so proud of you both as are we. Well, gentlemen, why don’t we all go home and I’ll fix this A nice lunch.
Okay. Actually, I’ll meet you. It’s, uh, it’s been a while since, since I spent some time with mom.
Look, I have to go to the police now, or I might lose my nerve. I’m, I’m so terribly, terribly sorry for everything.
What about your addiction? Don’t you want to get clean? I’m sure they have programs in prison. Yeah, I’ve been to prison. You wouldn’t last a week there. I’m stronger than you think. Don’t turn yourself in.
Isn’t that what you want? I thought it.
But I look at you now, I, I can see how much you’ve suffered. You’ve done your penance. Your mother died suddenly, and your daughter was brutally murdered. It’s no wonder why you turned to something to stop the pain. Because I did that. I almost killed you. If he didn’t, I’m here now. What are you saying,
Jennifer?
I mean, that’s just as much a surprise to me as I’m sure it is to.
I wish someone would’ve told my mom they cared about her. Someone like Jack. It was just she and I when we were growing up and I was so needy. I wasn’t up for the job. Well, I’m up front now.
Don’t go to the police. I’m, I’m gonna tell them that I have no idea who hit me.
Jennifer and Jack are old friends of AVEs. We had ’em over for dinner. I could see how much they’re suffering. I can only imagine what it’s been like for you and your children. Oh, thank goodness. The police finally got the best. Who. That’s a relief. I couldn’t believe that our current governor turned that gang of violent criminals loose.
You have my word. That won’t happen on my watch.
I just had an idea. Uh, maybe you could convince Chad to join my election committee. He’s run a major corporation. His experience could be a big. If we need extra help for the big push to the election, I will hire enough staff to get the job done. Well, okay, your call, well, I’ll leave you two to your business and you tell your mama get well soon so she can get to the poll and place and vote for price.
welcome to my world.
Why would you cover for me?
Well, I have two reasons. First one is my mom,
I want to see you do what she never managed to do.
And the other reason,
Well, after everything that I’ve done to your family, you still allowed me to be part of Jack’s life. I know you didn’t do that for me. You did that because you love him and you want him to be happy. I feel the same way about him and I can see that his heart is. Completely broken after he lost Abigail.
I can’t take you away from him too. He would absolutely destroy him. I won’t let that happen. You won’t love what happened,
darling. You go on up. I’ll fix you a cup of tea and some of grams donuts.
Jennifer are, are the kids in here?
You? Yep. Me. You take your feet off that table and turn off that television set. Yummy donuts.
Well, and see, I am, I’m sorry that you don’t think we can still be friends.
Uh, let me stop. No, wait,
I’m, I’m sorry. What I meant was, Craig, I don’t think a good friend would’ve rated her fiance a around and waved her engagement ring under the nose of a friend who had just had his heart broken. I know why you did that. Nancy, I hurt you. I, I lied to you. I cheated on you as Leo and I made you feel like nobody wanted you, and well, you wanted me to know that somebody did
like, said that he did love me. He said that I was good for him. The only problem was I wasn’t good enough to keep him from doing all the terrible things that he did it. Nancy , I know from experience you can’t love a man and change his nature no matter how much I know that now too. Anyway, um, Thank you for coming by to check on me and see how I am.
And thank you for the flowers.
You were one of the first people who came by and held my hand when Leo broke my heart. I, I just wanted to return the favor.
I, I just had the craziest thought.
Yeah. See that can read your mind. You’re thinking, what if we get back together? What if we did?
I, um, I know that it wouldn’t be a romantic relationship, but there’s more about being together than just sex, right? We know each other better than anybody else. We’ve seen each other at our best and our worst. You will. Never be anything but beautiful and Nancy. We care for each other and we know how to take care of each other.
When, um, it would be so much safer than being with somebody new
and we wouldn’t have to risk putting our hearts back out there and having them broken again. It just wouldn’t be the. A romantic ending that we’ve both dreamed about now,
but it would be pretty damn nice.
Hey, what are you doing in this house? I smelled donuts when I couldn’t resist. I made these donuts for my husband. And Zippy. The clown wants his shows back. Are you saying I have big feet? Are you commenting on my choice of footwear? You still haven’t told me what you’re doing in the house. It’s cool. Jack knows I’m here.
Oh fine. It’s not cool with me. I know who you are. I know who you are too. You Abigail’s second grandmother Once. Oh wait. Or are you her second cousin twice removed the family trees in this town? Get a little inbred. But if you know who I am, it’s probably because you saw me on the news. And then you also know that I didn’t kill Abigail.
No, no. You’re just the guy that broke into her bedroom and cried. Open her jewelry case to get what was inside and left behind the knife that killed our, Okay. Well what? Enough about me. Let’s talk about what Jennifer did.
Leo came to see you. He didn’t tell me he was going to do that.
He said You’d remembered the accident and he’s demanding a million dollars in exchange for your silence. He didn’t. He did. So you know what I did? Yeah. Leo made sure. I blacked out last night. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. I blacked out and I, I just remembered it this morning and, and, and once I did, I came straight here.
I believe Jennifer, it was an accident. I’m gonna tell the police that I, I don’t remember what happened to me. Then Leo will go to the police and tell them his version. Like he wasn’t there and without me. He’s got nothing. Don’t you give him a penny?
Why are you doing this?
Because she’s your daughter and she loves you.
I have your word. Those mailers will be at campaign headquarters in an hour. Okay, good. I will let the staff know to expect. Now I just have to set up a press conference that will put Paulina on the map. You should take a break and call the hospital. See if there’s any news on your mom. I will do that, but I have to get Paulina calmed down first.
She’s unbelievable, huh? She’s a force of nature, but I do like her. I’m sorry if I shot my mouth off when she was here. I’m sorry. She thought you were my assistant. Well, I am unemployed, so she’s got a point. Don’t tell me you’re hurting from. No, but I, uh, I do need to keep busy and you need to hire more people.
So why not hire me?
What’s that smile for? Are you, uh, reading my mind again? You think that that thing on your head is gonna keep me out? That. I guess you know that I’m thinking as nice as it sounds right now, the thought of giving up on romances something we both don’t wanna do. No, we don’t. We both deserve a chance at real love again.
Mm.
Nancy, Nancy Miller, you have always been by friend. I want you to have that happy ever after, and I want that for you. So I tell you what we’re gonna say goodbye. We’re gonna see each other. We’re gonna hang out now and then, and have a good time. Maybe even go seeing some needle diamond karaoke, anything.
But you don’t bring me flowers. Cause that would never be you.
Is your husband enjoying his donuts? Was that nutmeg I tasted in there? It is my grandmother’s secret recipe. And none of your business, what was the meaning of that crack about Jennifer? I’ve decided I can’t divulge that attorney client privilege. Oh, you’re a lawyer. Like I’m a nuclear physicist. No, no.
You tell me about that cracker. I’m gonna take my rolling pin and hit you up the side of the head. Uh, Jack, this twit friend of yours said he got in the house with your permission. He did, but he’ll be leaving soon. Well fine. You deal with them.
I assume you meant I will be leaving with a big fat check. I’m afraid not. I just came from Gwen’s hospital room. You lied about going to the bank. No need Gwen, and I manage to settle this whole matter without you. What does that mean? That the only person who’s a eyewitness to the accident is Gwen, and she is not gonna say a word about who hit her when it happened, so get the hell outta here.
Now can I at least get the old ladies’ donut recipe first? Alright,
so you really wanna help me, huh? Put Paulina behind the big old desk in a state. Well, I need to focus on something outside of myself, and this is only for about month, so I won’t be shortchanging my kids. And honestly, I believe that probably enter price is the best choice for governor. So yeah, it’s really going to be hectic.
Well, if I suck at it, which you won’t, I’m giving you my permission to fire me. What do you say? I say welcome to S J P R.
Good. I was afraid Leo would still be here. No, I made sure work event, so now I’m free. To focus on you. Check. It was incredibly gracious of Gwen to cover for me and let this go. I am so, so, so sorry for lying to you about the pills for, for getting behind the wheel. The car when I knew I was wasting, you already lost one daughter and I could have, I could have killed your other.
Can you ever forgive me? Don’t Please don’t. Don’t even, don’t talk like that.
How many times have you forgiven me?
I am so sorry. You were suffering with all of this alone and I never.
I guess I’m just guess this is what they call hitting bottom
check. What do I do now?
Whatever it is, you won’t be doing it alone.
I’m sorry. Go. I assumed you’d want me to make the most out of this opportunity. Well, you assumed wrong. You bloody little tosser. I thought I was doing this for both of us. You know how I feel about Jack. He was furious when he came into my room. You could scotch my relationship with him for good. I get it now.
Okay. Jack de is nobody’s sugar daddy. Now I’m left with all these pesky legal bills. I’ve got nobody to pay for them.
I’m gonna be staying with Doug and Julie. Looking forward to seeing some of the people I haven’t seen in so long.
I’ll be back.
Oh my God. Mike. Mike H. Yeah. Yeah, it’s me. All right. Oh, you’re back in Salem. Always did have a keen grasp, the obvious Nancy. Oh, um, well, um, I’m nice to see you again. Really? Do you have amnesia or something?
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Most of the press asked Max questions, but I really love Billy Burke (ever since I saw him in the “Twilight” movies! And he’s been great in many shows I love, such as “Revolution” and “Major Crimes”), and Diane Farr (who plays Sharon) is also great. They play spouses in this show. There’s a bit of familial reveal at the end of the first episode, too. I asked them if they could speak a little bit about their characters’ relationship, and their relationship with the main character, Bode (Max).
get off this call.” Whether he’s filming or working at home, it’s no different for him. He just has a bit more work than he’s used to, and he’s getting “a lot more emails” than he’s used to from his “Fire Country” co-workers, so he has a hard time keeping up on that, but he enjoys the work.
Alexis’ sister) and more. I had a lot of fun. The movie comes out today, Oct. 7, in theaters and On Demand. I highly recommend it because it’s a good psychological horror thriller. Anson Mount (
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Captain Paolo was asked if he’d had any acting experience, but he hadn’t. He said he was just playing himself in the show, so he doesn’t consider this acting experience, but he said it was “incredible.” He was asked whether the singls on the show really talk to the captain about how much they want love and whether he believes their stories, and how did he help them. He confirmed that the cruise director, Matt, and the bartender, Ezra, gathered info about the singles and what happened with them, and they all worked to help them out, “to either fortify or strengthen their bond or maybe try to open themselves up to other opportunities out there with other singles until they find the real love.”
