Daily Updates

From: rika@netcom.com (Melissa Martin)
Subject: GH: Update, Wednesday, 4/24/96
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 15:18:46 GMT

                         General Hospital Update
                        Wednesday, April 24, 1996

Today's Storylines:
------------------
* ARE WE WATCHING DYNASTY?
* JUSTUS AND INJUSTICE
* BLONDE AMBITION

ARE WE WATCHING DYNASTY?
------------------------
Jax and Brenda have just "accidentally" bumped into Lily and Sonny.
When questioned by Jax, Brenda denies prior knowledge of L&S's
plans, claiming she heard about Stone Mountain from a salesperson
at Wyndham's.  She admits to seeing Lily there.  She asks Sonny,
"Since when do you ski, anyway?"; he replies wearily, "About
as long as you've been telling the truth" (LOD candidate #1).
Brenda smugly declares that it doesn't bother her that Sonny and
Lily are there; does it bother Sonny that she and Jax are there?
Sonny wisely doesn't answer, and he and Lily leave the battlefield.

Brenda, smug and self-satisfied, cackles after L&S leave; noticing
Jax's dour face, she asks if he didn't think the event was funny.
He didn't, but Brenda insists that "we handled things beautifully".
Jax basically says, "What do you mean 'we'?" and stalks away.

Brenda rushes back to Jax's suite; she seems genuinely astonished
that he is upset.  Jax is upset about being played for a sucker,
being lied to, and being misled.  Brenda denies all of the above -
she wanted to go away so they could ski and have fun, and that's
what they've done.  She somehow convinces herself that she is the
injured party, and starts getting annoyed with Jax.  Brenda claims
to have been "more honest" (which reminded me of "a little bit
pregnant") with Jax than with anyone except Lois.  "As long as it
suited your purposes," adds Jax.  She can't see why he's making her
sound so horrible; he responds that he doesn't think she's horrible,
but she is "manipulative and, at times, very careless".  She still
doesn't get it, and goes on about their "arrangement," though Jax
points out that it was supposed to involve mutual consent.

Brenda tries whining.  "This is so unfair," she insists.  She
swears she never lied to him, because she never said she had
given up on Sonny.  He agrees that she never said that, but she
is guilty of "lies of omission, not outright lies."  She still
can't - or won't - understand his feelings, and rehashes their
deal to use each other to get to Lois and Sonny.  He reminds her
that things changed:  he told her the next move was hers, and then
she came to him and made that move.  Attempting to rewrite history,
she insists she just suggested going skiing.  (Do the words "taking
the relationship to the next level" ring a bell, Brenda???  I doubt
Jax knew that you meant a higher elevation above sea level.)  Things
deteriorate until they are shouting at each other; your updater is
struck by the similarities to parts of the S/B wire scene.

Jax threatens to leave immediately if Brenda doesn't come clean.
He is clearly hurt, and wants to know why she didn't just tell him
the truth.  Brenda was afraid of how he'd react; also, she says,
some part of her wants to be with Jax, with or without Sonny.  Jax
admits that some part of him wanted to be with her too - and he
figures she depended on that when making her plans.  (I found myself
involuntarily wondering which of his parts they were talking about,
but we'd probably better not go there.)  Brenda finally says some-
thing sensible:  "I don't know what I'm doing; I'm so confused."
Brenda suggests that since they've talked things through, they can
just go on with "the plan".  Jax disagrees and leaves, telling her
to call him whenever she's ready to "deal from the top of the deck."

Lily and Sonny, meanwhile, are in their room, and Lily has had
enough - and then some - of Brenda.  Brenda is always around,
spying or plotting to bother them.  Sonny doesn't want to let
Brenda spoil things, but Lily can't help it - Brenda's smug little
smile was too much for her.  Okay, says Sonny, we'll leave.  Lily's
not happy about this either, since it basically means Brenda wins.
When, asks Lily, are they going to stop running away from Brenda
and start dealing with her?  Isn't it time to admit that Brenda is
waging a campaign against them, and that she wants Sonny back?
Sonny figures if they just ignore her, she'll go away.  (Kind of
like the Law of Dealing with Internet Trolls..... not that I'm
mentioning anyone by name.  No, sir - not me!)  Lily doubts Brenda
would even notice.  What scares Lily is that the disruptive stuff
Brenda is doing might work.  (Which is *also* similar to what people
fear about trolls.  Is this story an Internet allegory?)

Sonny insists that Brenda just annoys him - and the harder she
tries, the more it turns him off.  Lily asks a good question:
"And what about when she's not trying?", referring to his reaction
when she got hurt in the accident.  Sonny claims he just felt
sorry for Brenda then.   Yeah, right.

They agree to leave Stone Mountain first thing in the morning.
Sonny asks if Lily wants him to confront Brenda.  She says no,
but when Sonny goes to take a shower, she leaves their room.

Down at the front desk, Brenda is explaining that Jax left but she
is staying.  (And taking responsibility for the bill, I assume).
She tells the clerk she's not sure how long she will stay - "it
depends on someone else's plans."  Lily walks up in time to hear
this last remark, and compares Brenda to the Glenn Close character
in "Fatal Attraction".  Brenda is glad Lily feels like the wife
did in that movie, and tells Lily to be careful if she orders
room service - who knows "what might be under the covered dishes."
Brenda tries to walk away from the desk, but Lily won't let her.
Brenda calls her a "Stepford wife"; Lily, winding up her pitching
arm, asks, "Did you ever think that a Stepford wife would do THIS?"
and slaps Brenda's face.

Brenda figures Lily will get her father to break Brenda's legs.
Lily calls Brenda a tramp - and trash - who's not worth that kind
of effort.  Lily turns to walk away, but Brenda grabs her arm and
stops her.  At this point a melee is about to erupt, but it is
averted when the desk clerk grabs Brenda.  Sonny, arriving on
the scene right on cue, grabs Lily.  Alexis and Crystal - I mean,
Lily and Brenda - snarl insults at each other (the word "slut"
escapes Lily's lips).  Things finally calm down, and Lily and Sonny
walk away  - "Tough girl!" is Sonny's closing remark as they leave.
Brenda stares after them. (Lily-should-hide-her-pet-bunny-hanger...)

JUSTUS AND INJUSTICE
--------------------
Justus meets Luke at the courthouse and tries to be optimistic about
the hearing.  Laura arrives in the courtroom.  Edward pulls Justus
aside, telling him that he must not defend Laura because he's too
emotionally involved.  (Not that it matters in the slightest
compared to everything else going on, but wouldn't it also be a
gross conflict of interest?)  Justus insists that he can't desert
his friends.

Luke walks up, and Edward tells them both that he has arranged for
an eminent attorney from NYC, R. J. Chambers, to defend Laura.
Chambers supposedly has vast experience in criminal cases.  Luke
questions Edward's motives; Edward gives a "travesty of justice"
stock answer.  Luke asks Justus's opinion, and Justus advises him
to go with Chambers.  Luke introduces Chambers to Laura, who vents
some frustration about why she has been charged at all.  She points
out that of *course* her fingerprints are on the murder weapon,
since she is the one who brought it to Ward House.  And perhaps the
killer wore gloves, explaining the absence of other fingerprints.

Out in the hall, Edward and Justus are discussing the evidence too.
Edward figures it's a weak circumstantial case; Justus points out
that Garcia thought it was enough for an arrest, and Dara thinks
it's enough for a trial.  Edward chalks it up to political and media
pressure to arrest *someone*; Justus doesn't think so, give the bad
press the police and the D.A.'s office got over the arrest of
Katherine for a crime that hadn't even been committed.  Edward
assures him that, since Laura has the truth on her side, Justus
should just stay away from the whole thing - otherwise Justus might
"cave in" and confess.  Edward again mentions Laura's innocence.
Given that she was at Ward House with two babies (here is LOD
candidate #2), "She'll come across as a Madonna, and I'm not talking
about the one with the fancy underwear."  Just then Kathy breaks
into the conversation - see below for the details.

The bail hearing takes place.  The judge recognizes R.J. Chambers
from his TV appearances.  (I hope that the judge isn't talking
about ads on late-night TV.)  Chambers, not knowing Laura's unusual
history, is expecting an easy time getting bail set.  Dara Jensen
explains Laura's past, thus educating both the judge and the
defense counsel.  Luke leaps to his feet and does his best to
defend Laura (at the top of his lungs).  He does so again when the
judge denies Laura bail.

After the hearing, the Spencers are pretty upset with good old
R.J., who comments that Laura must have had a very colorful past
(now THERE is an understatement).  Laura retorts that Justus would
have known about her past.  Chambers figures Justus couldn't have
gotten bail set either, and he heads off to do some research, no
doubt stopping to talk to the press first.  Luke and Laura
embrace and Laura starts to cry; she wants Luke to bring her a
cassette recorder so she can make a tape for Lulu.  Luke promises
to research Chambers' background, and also to try to find out who
the real murderer is.

Outside the courtroom, Justus and Dara are sparring as usual.  She
brags about getting bail denied, and claims that she can "take"
Chambers.  She tells Justus that Laura's chances were better with
Justus defending her.  (Guilt-hanger.....)

Laura is back in her cell, getting a visit from Luke.  She worries
that her past will prejudice a jury against her.  She asks, what
if the truth isn't enough?  Luke assures her that they will do
whatever it takes in that case.  They will make their own rules -
and take down whoever they need to in order to do it.  From the
look on his face, he means it.  It would appear that the "user-
friendly Luke" Tony Geary has mentioned in recent interviews is
gone.  (Old-Luke-is-back-hanger).

BLONDE AMBITION  (tm T'n'T, I believe)
---------------
Katherine and Mac are in the Outback office watching TV.  Veronica
Boles is questioning the mayor about the police commissioner's
"enforced leave of absence from which he will not be returning."
The mayor claims it will have no effect on the Damian Smith case -
Laura is guilty, and he is certain of that.

Mac and Kathy have totally different, but absolutely predictable,
takes on the most important point from the interview.  Kathy is
excited that the police commissioner job is available for Mac to
take, but he points out that the more important issue is that an
innocent woman has been charged with the crime.  Kathy claims to
be "worried sick" about Laura (yeah, I bet it's keeping her up
nights), but she is sure that Laura wouldn't want Mac to miss out
on this golden opportunity.  (Can't you just see Laura down in her
cell, making that tape for Lulu, thinking, "I'd hate for my friend
Mac to miss any golden opportunities.")  Mac repeats that he isn't
interested, and she should give it up.  "Sure," she says.

Kathy finds Edward at the courthouse with Justus.  She pitches
her idea of Mac as Police Commissioner.  Edward is amused that
Kathy wants him to sell Mac on the idea, to pull strings to get
him the job, *and* to pretend it was his idea all along in order
to leave Kathy out of it.  Kathy coaches Edward to call it part of
a deep concern to end corruption in Port Charles.  Justus has LOD
candidate #3, but it only works in context:  "Oh, is that really
true, Edward?"  Edward asks the $64,000 question:  "What's in
this for you, Katherine?"  She wants to see someone she cares
about do something "worthwhile and important that will benefit all
of us." Translation:  a simple barkeep isn't high and mighty enough
for her these days.  She is unaware of the deeper significance to
Edward of being owed a favor by the new commish.

Edward visits Mac and pitches "his" idea.  Mac sees through him
("Have you been talking to Katherine?"), and insists that he is
not interested.  Mac says he's no good at political game-playing;
he doesn't have the patience.  Edward insists that this is exactly
why Mac would be good for the job.  Mac feels that people only want
reform until it costs them something.  Edward calls that a cop-out,
and promises Mac lots of support.  Mac asks how Edward can be so
sure he could get Mac the job; Edward chuckles, eyes twinkling,
and explains that he has "friends and favors" - the job is Mac's
if he wants it.  (Why he would, I can't imagine - I think Mac's
assessment of himself as ill-suited for a political appointment
was accurate and admirably self-aware.)

Kathy is back at the Outback office with Mac.  And - are you sitting
down - she is eating!  Imagine *that*!  She broaches the police
commissioner subject, her words somewhat muffled by a mouthful of
baked potato, and denies any role in Edward's visit to Mac.  Mac
worries that if Edward got him the job by calling in favors, he
would just be in Edward's pocket instead of the mayor's.  Good
call, Mac!  (Commish-or-not-to-commish-hanger.)

-----------------------------------------
Paprika Peel aka Rika, 1/3 of the Wednesday Update Team