Daily Updates

From: rika@netcom.com (Melissa Martin)
Subject: GH: Update, Wednesday, 8/14/96
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 04:19:43 GMT

                       GENERAL HOSPITAL UPDATE
                      Wednesday, August 14, 1996

Much as I am enjoying many of the current storylines, is it possible that
the ABC soaps, in a cost-cutting measure, are sharing storylines?  It sure
seems that way.......

Today's Storylines
------------------
* Kevin Collins as Viki Carpenter
* Brenda Jacks as Erica Kane
* Carly Roberts as Kendall Hart
* Tracy Quartermaine as Tracy Quartermaine
* Alan Quartermaine, NOT as Sidney the Bear
* The Princess Lesley Lu, Out of the Woods

KEVIN COLLINS AS VIKI CARPENTER
-------------------------------
[For those who don't know, Viki Carpenter is on OLTL.  She had a
major multiple-personality story in 1995, which helped Erika Slezak
to win her umpteenth Emmy.  Viki has had DID for years, but this story
got to the root cause - sexual abuse by her father when she was a
little girl.]

At the lighthouse, Kevin is showing Lucy what a beautiful job Gina
did putting together his teaching notebook for the Abnormal Psych
class.  He can't see how Gina would have thought he was unhappy with
her work.  Lucy recognizes in Gina the way Lucy herself used to be -
anxiety-ridden, feeling like a phony, and thus feeling like a bad
person.  Not only that, but people exploit that fragility.  All Kevin
needs to do is to be nice to Gina.

Mac calls, asking if they have heard from Felicia.  Kevin asks Lucy
if Felicia called "while I was out."  (This probably referred to his
trip to Felicia's with Mac earlier, but it's possible that he went out
again after that).  Mac says that Felicia has left town with Tom.
Kevin is upset that Filly has put herself in danger just to prove
that she trusts Tom.  The stalker could still be out there, tracking
her, and she has removed herself from "the people who could protect
her."  Kevin wonders [in what might qualify as a FAQ], "What is that
woman using for brains?"

Lucy defends Filly's decision.  Filly has to make up to Tom for
suspecting him, and she needs to deal with her own guilt too.  Plus,
she's a grown-up and she gets to make her own decisions.  Besides,
Tom is with her and can offer her protection.  Lucy's defense is
vehement, and Kevin observes, with a twinkle in his eye, "I'm
getting on your nerves, aren't I?"  Lucy doesn't deny it.  She's
frustrated with watching him carrying the weight of the world on
his shoulders - he should take care of himself.  Kevin, in his best
imitation of a British sea dog, responds, "Aye aye, Cap'n.  And
for the moment, I have a class to teach."  Lucy is on her way to
Brenda's for the photo shoot.  She leaves, after inviting him to
call her there if he needs her, and reminding him once more to be
nice to Gina.  Almost as soon as she leaves, Kevin has one of his
sudden headaches.

Kevin teaches his class (in the park) - the topic is self-victims.
Things seem to be going fine until Kevin has another sudden
headache, and he loses his train of thought.  He begins to flip
frantically through the notebook, until alt.Kevin, who is clearly
on the scene now, rips a page out of the book and angrily wonders
where Gina is "when he needs her".  A student reminds him that he
sent her to get a book.  He makes several snide suggestions about
where Gina went instead, until Gina finally arrives and is met with
a highly sarcastic greeting from alt.Kevin.

Gina nervously explains the layout of the notebook to him (note that
Kevin understood it perfectly a short time ago); she then suggests
that perhaps a different organization would have worked better.  She
offers to reorganize the notebook for him that night.  Alt.Kevin
thanks her - for providing a "classic example of self-victimization."
Gina did nothing wrong, he explains, but she "lacks the guts and the
backbone to stand up for herself".  Instead she apologizes, embracing
the blame because she's a self-victim.  Self-victims, he continues,
know they are guilty of much worse things for which they have not been
properly punished.  They encourage belittling, because they think it
is merited.  He closes by saying, with a nasty laugh, "And who the
heck are we to argue?"  As Gina sits in silent distress and the
students glance at one another uneasily, alt.Kevin moves on to the
next topic - "the idiots who love" self-victims.  He notices the
distress of the class, asking, "What?  Doesn't anyone have a sense
of humor?"

After class, Gina is still at the park.  She remembers some of
alt.Kevin's cruelest lines, and she finally bursts into tears,
ripping pages out of the notebook.  She throws the book in the
trash can, and is on the verge of hysterics when Sonny grabs her.

Meanwhile, back at the lighthouse, Kevin is asleep in a chair.
He wakes up, horrified that he is late for class.  He calls out to
Lucy (who isn't there) to see if she knows where his notebook is.
He notices a message on his machine, and plays it.  It is from a
student in his class, telling Kevin that he was way too hard on
Gina today.  Kevin, stunned, plays the message twice.  Then he picks
up a book titled "Disassociative Disorders" which is sitting on the
coffee table.  As he flips through the book, he develops a severe
pain in his head.  Lucy comes into the house in time to see him
sitting on the sofa, gripping his head in obvious pain.

BRENDA BARRETT AS ERICA KANE
----------------------------
[For those who live in a cave in Tibet and may not know, Erica Kane
is the diva of all divas on AMC, the woman who shows that being
height-challenged doesn't mean that a person can't be a model - at
least, not in soap land.  So she and Brenda have something in common
already.  Last year, Erica had a drug-addiction-following-an-accident
story which might have finally won Susan Lucci an Emmy if not for
Erika Slezak's work on OLTL].

STOP THE PRESSES!  In what may be a GH first, Brenda is seen
transacting business for L&B not involving tee shirts or seductive
videos.  She is on the phone with Dara, chattering away.  Meanwhile,
Jax does his best to concentrate on his laptop screen, but when the
other phone line rings, he answers it and takes a message for Brenda.
She thanks him for taking the message - he's her husband, not her
secretary.  He thinks it is "adorable" that she's worried he will
feel his masculinity is threatened by taking messages for her.  The
message was her make-up artist - she has an "Up Close and Personal"
photo shoot for Jacks Cosmetics today.

Brenda insists she cannot do it, despite the fact that she agreed
to do it.  She says she will cancel, but Jax stops her.  He remembers
from her last photo shoot that she panics before modeling jobs.  She
shouldn't, because she and the camera "have something special."
Besides, once in front of the camera, her nerves go away.  She says
it's not panic - she just doesn't feel like smiling today.  She
starts to make the call to cancel the session, but then she stops -
it's last-minute and totally unprofessional [good call, Brenda].
She decides to grit her teeth and make the most of it - but she has
"errands" to run first.

Her errand leads her to Alan's office just as Sonny is leaving [see
below].  She tries to explain why the Stone Cates Memorial Wing means
so much to Sonny - he is trying to make up for being alive, when both
Stone and Lily are not.  Then she gets to her reason for being there.
She wants more of the medication she got after the hit-and- run
accident.  Alan is concerned - if she is still in pain from the
accident, she needs to be examined.  Brenda assures him that the pain
is just sporadic.  But she just started modeling again, and the high
heels and standing all day, etc., etc.  Alan repeats his insistence
that she make an appointment.  She agrees to do so, but it will have
to wait a while because of work.  And, meanwhile, how about a little
something to get her through today's photo shoot?  Alan writes her a
prescription for half the usual number of pills on the condition that
she will make an appointment.  Yeah, right, that'll really happen.

Brenda arrives home to find Lucy waiting.  She convinces Lucy not to
stay for the photo shoot, on the grounds that it will seem more
genuinely like "Brenda at home", which is the point of the magazine
article.  Lucy admits she is relieved to have the chance to spend
"more time with my Doc", and she leaves.  As Jax lets the make-up
artist in, Brenda checks the bottle of pills in her purse, and also
checks her watch.  Later, we see her check her watch and the pill
bottle again.

CARLY ROBERTS AS KENDALL HART
-----------------------------
[For those who don't know, Kendall Hart was on AMC.  She was Erica
Kane's daughter, the result of a rape by a friend of Erica's father
on her 13th birthday.  Kendall came into town and attached herself
to Erica as her assistant without telling Erica who she was.  She
developed a crush on Erica's husband.]

Carly and Tony bump into each other, literally, at the nurses'
station.  Carly is late for class, and rushes off.  Tony flashes
back to The Kiss.  Later, Carly comes back to the nurses' station in
time to hear Bobbie telling Luke about the picture of her daughter she
has taped up in her locker.  She berates Carly for missing a class and
for being late for her shift.  Carly tries to make an excuse, but
Bobbie cuts her off.  If Bobbie is paying her tuition, Carly is
expected to show up on time.

Tony sees Carly at the nurses' station again later.  He figures they
can't keep avoiding what happened.  He apologizes; she tries to say
that she wanted him to kiss her, but he stops her and asks that they
pretend it never happened.

Still later, Carly follows Bobbie into the nurses' locker room and
notes the combination Bobbie dials to open her locker.  Bobbie
caresses her daughter's photo.  Carly hides behind the door till
Bobbie leaves.  When the room is empty, she opens Bobbie's locker
herself, and caresses the photo much as Bobbie did.

TRACY QUARTERMAINE AS TRACY QUARTERMAINE
----------------------------------------
[Tracy is an original.  She can be imitated, but never duplicated.]

Tracy drops in on Jax, and she is pleased to note that "the wife"
is out.  "Where is she - if you know?"  asks Tracy.  She presumes
that Brenda's "errand" involves Sonny: "your pretty little bride
finds Mr. Michael Corinthos Jr. pretty damn near irresistable."
Tracy suspects Brenda thinks she can save Sonny.  "The bottom line
is, she's a spoiled, petulant brat with the IQ and the libido of a
rabbit."  [And if you think your updater is dumb enough to make ANY
sort of editorial comment on this quote, you're NUTS.]  The fact that
Jax married her makes Tracy doubt his judgement in other matters.
Jax turns this remark around - perhaps he should question their
partnership.  Tracy calls his bluff - he'd never walk away from ELQ.
He assures her that he would.  He agrees that Sonny has a hold over
Brenda from their past, but Jax gave her a way out of the hurtful
relationship with Sonny, and she took it.  Tracy:  "That's what you
want to be?  A way out?"  Jax:  "I am her husband."  And when Tracy
attacks Brenda, she attacks Jax as well.  Tracy agrees to drop the
subject; as a closing remark, she tells him that he is about to get
his heart broken.  He considers this to be sham sincerity, and
tells her to talk business or leave.

Tracy asks, "What the hell are you waiting for?"  She is impatient
for their plan related to ELQ to move forward.  He insists that it
is not going to go according to *her* timetable.  Tracy:  "Oh, I
love it when your eyes go all steely.  Do more!"  That was LOD
Candidate #1.  LOD Candidate #2, from Jax, follows soon after:
"Your idea of conducting business is to throw hand grenades in the
room and take advantage of the resulting chaos."  Jax prefers a more
subtle approach with fewer long-term negative consequences.  He tells
her to go home and wait for instructions.  Tracy gets the last word:
"You are so damn sexy when you're annoyed."  She advises him not to
keep her waiting too long, because, "I'm really dangerous when I'm
bored."  Words to live by.

Lucy arrives just as Tracy leaves, and Lucy asks Jax what on earth
he was doing with "that witch".  Jax claims that Tracy blames him
for Ned's decision to go on tour, and she stopped by to torture
him about it.

ALAN QUARTERMAINE, *NOT* AS SIDNEY THE BEAR
-------------------------------------------
Monica drops by Alan's office with some mail that came to the house
for him.  He asks her to stay for moral support during his meeting
with Sonny.  Sonny arrives, immediately telling Alan that if this
has to do with Jason and the ELQ stock, there is nothing to say.
Alan explains that it is another matter.  GH is in financial
trouble, and Alan wants Sonny to let them use his $30M gift to shore
up the hospital.  Sonny says no - that money is intended for the
Stone Cates Memorial AIDS Wing.  Alan tells him that if they don't
get money, there won't be a hospital to put a wing on.  Fine, replies
Sonny, I'll give my money to someone else.

Then Alan blows it.  He asks Sonny why, if he's laundering money by
donating it, he would care what it's used for.  Monica tries to save
the situation, but it's too late.  Sonny: "You people are unbelievable.
With your hand in my pocket, you insult me, and you insult my wife."
Brenda arrives at the door to Alan's office just in time to hear
this.  Sonny explains that Stone was more than "just a worthy cause."
He loved Stone like a brother.  He doesn't care about the hospital.
Sonny turns to go, and sees Brenda standing at the door.  They
exchange meaningful looks, and then Sonny leaves.

Later, Alan sees Monica at the nurses' station.  He tells her she
looks tired and should go home.  She says she can't because his
famn damily is all over the place, and it escalates from there into
a dumb, pointless fight.  Monica moves from there to something
even more dumb and pointless - a scene in which Dorkman tries to
get her to go to bed with him.  It doesn't seem to matter much
where - her house, the P.C. Hotel, the sofa in the lobby [okay,
so I made that part up].  She turns him down at first, but she
eventually falls for a VERY old line - "nothing has to happen."

THE PRINCESS LESLEY LU, OUT OF THE WOODS
----------------------------------------
Luke, Laura, and Lulu are at the hospital for Lulu's check-up.
Laura is worried that Lucky, who is with Sly, will be mad that they
went without him.  [Laura, get a grip.  YOU are the adult; just
because Lucky is insolent and rude doesn't mean he has the right to
call the shots].  They meet Sonny, who is there for his meeting with
Alan Q.  After Sonny leaves, Laura asks if Sonny knows about Nikolas.
Yes, says Luke, he does.  Laura says, fine, she's glad Luke had
someone to talk to about it, but Sonny never looked at her that way
before.

Luke says hello to Bobbie, telling her she looks good after her
trip to the "fat farm".  He tells her that Lulu is doing well.
Bobbie asks about the birthday party - Luke describes it as "okay".
Bobbie says she will bring a present by - Luke tells her not to
bother, as Tony *and* *Carly* dropped one off.

Tony comes in with Lulu's results - normal white cell count, and
platelets just below normal.  It will be a long time before they
know for sure, but they can be "cautiously optimistic".  Luke goes
to tell Bobbie the news; Tony and Laura discuss Nikolas.  Tony has
gotten over his previous angst about the whole thing; he is kind to
Laura about the situation.

Meanwhile, Luke is griping to Bobbie about Nikolas's existence.  She
points out that he ought to be glad about it since it saved Lulu.
This of course doesn't impress Luke - why should he be grateful to
"that specimen" when any stranger with the matching marrow could have
done it too.  The Cassadines are evil, etc., etc., yada, yada, yada.
Bobbie tries valiantly to defend Laura's point of view, but Luke's
mind is hermetically sealed.  Bobbie explains that she has one photo
of her daughter taped up in her locker.  Based on what she feels
when she looks at it, and the hopes and wishes she has for her
daughter, she can understand what Laura must be feeling.

"Doc Bro-in-Law" advises them to "enjoy your baby", and all three
Spencers are smiling as they go to call "Gucky".  [Luke called him
that, I would assume because Lulu does.  If so, she has developed
Emily's talent for apropos nicknames at a young age indeed!]  As
they head for the phone, Luke remarks that the "Princess Lesley Lu"
did indeed find her way out of the forest.  Sniff....

Laura does indeed call Yucky - er, Gucky - and he is apparently
pleased by the news.  Luke walks off with Lulu, and Laura pulls
out a sheet of paper with a phone number and dials.  "Nikolas,"
she says into the phone, "I have some wonderful news."

--------------------------------
Rika, 1/2 of the Wednesday Update Team