Daily Updates

Ok. This is my first one. Sorry for the delay.


Friday, August 28th, 1998.

The show opens with Jax and Jerry meeting for a working lunch at the Grill. Brenda is there, presumably because 1) Jerry never shows up to these things and Jax wants the company and 2) where else is she going to be? (I'm wondering if they are regretting building her that charming little cottage set). They "banter" and then Veronica strolls in looking a little more sedate than usual and requests a moment with her daughter. Brenda petulantly rebuffs her and Jerry smirks "You're Brenda's MOTHER?"

Across the Grill the Cassadines (Stefan, Alexis and Nikolas, if you've lost track) are continuing their giddy (by Cassadine standards) celebration of Helena's arrest. Stefan is reflecting that Helena is going to be playing out the role she set up for him. Alexis is not so chipper this day, however, and is fretting that Helena has turned down representation at her arraignment. Stefan admits it "gives him pause". Nikolas, ever the optimist, recaps the last week for us in two sentences, and states that sending Helena away should be pretty easy since Alexis has already made the case. Stefan warns him not to underestimate Helena and advises Nikolas towards "cautious optimism with an eye towards celebration". Alexis, looking like she's just tired of this whole thing, reminds them that her neck is closer to the chopping block than theirs if anything goes awry, and Helena will most probably try to tear apart her credibility. Nikolas shrugs "Let her. What could she say about you that could matter?" Alexis looks guilty.

At the Quartermaines, Monica is guilt-ridden, torn and... Fill in an adjective of your choice. Basically she's angsting something fierce. She is gazing at a picture of her wonderfully photogenic family of yore -- meaning, one with Jason Q. in it. She hugs it to her chest and wanders over to the french doors. AJ enters and surprises her. He reminds her that she's chief of staff these days and Monica says she's trying to cut down on her work load, and gives her "stand by your man" speech. AJ reiterates that Alan's lucky to have her. They speak of the car explosion. AJ states that he's going to talk to Edward to get him to back off of the Michael issue -- he's now deciding that the best course of action is to take a step back and try to earn Jason's trust so that, if something *does* happen, Michael will have the Quartermaines to turn to. Monica agrees with his assessment of the situation but says that he shouldn't be the one to handle it. AJ gets defensive and Monica backpedals, and asks to handle Edward herself. AJ agrees, BUT says "You're not going to stop him", completely negating every supportive thing he just said. Wonder where he gets that from. AJ then says that he's going to go to Jason and try to work some damage control.

The phone rings and Monica answers. It's detective Taggert, calling up with more witty repartee for the good doctor. He's peeved because he still doesn't have anything on Justus. Monica keeps her side of the phone conversation light, though she really LOOKS like she's lying. She requests more time and Taggert nixes the idea. He states that he will name names TODAY. He hangs up on her and Monica fakes the end of her conversation and hangs up. All of this goes flying right over AJ's head and she steers the conversation back to young Michael. AJ takes off for the penthouse. Monica takes the tape out of her purse and frets.

Jason is at the penthouse talking to Michael and showing him boats from the window. Michael has a stuffed animal the he plays with while Jason reminds him of the day that he might die and explains that he might die *again*. Probably not, he reflects, but if he doesn't come back, that'll be why. Michael momentarily takes a fascination with Jason's mouth and covers it with his hand, but then resumes playing with the animal. Jason continues his "World According To Jason" speech -- trust me, you've heard it before -- and so has Michael, because he's much more into trying to grab Jason's lips than listening. Jason keeps taking his hand, but it never really works out. He does manage to tell Michael how important he is and puts him back into his play pen just as Robin warily descends the stairs. Jason crosses the room and picks up his gun, loading it while Robin watches.

Jason tells Robin he's going out. She asks why he's going alone. Jason is cold and business like. Robin looks at him, wide-eyed, and states that she doesn't know him when he acts like this. Jason reminds her that she trusted him to handle this. Robin starts to cry "I don't want you to get hurt!" -- Robin insists there are other ways, but Jason will not be put off. He announces "It's time", goes and looks down at Michael and repeats another variation on what he said at the window. He starts to leave and Robin stops him, "Promise me you'll be home tonight." He walks back to her and give her a "big meaningful" kiss, then hugs her. He pulls back, announces he loves her, then starts for the door. Robin grabs his hand, crying, and Jason pulls it away much like Michael Corelone tosses the gun aside after his first hit in The Godfather (Carly fans everywhere give a little cheer). He walks out, leather jacket in hand.

Back at the Grille, Alexis complains about Helena and Nikolas and Stefan reiterate their support. Alexis still won't embrace the celebratory attitude, but Stefan calls an end to the meal and they depart.

At the other table, Brenda is on her feet, along with the brothers Jacks, and asking Veronica what she wants. Veronica states she has to apologize and request she not have to do it in front of strangers. Brenda takes the hint and introduces Jerry, who says he's already met the other Ms. Barrett. Veronica looks at him like he is out of his mind and repeatedly states that he's wrong. Jerry retraces the whole conversation and Veronica insists she's never seen him before. Jerry says (I swear, I am NOT making this up) "Well, I'll be a dingo's daddy". Jax remarks on Jerry's wounded ego. Jerry concedes defeat and they depart, leaving Bren and Mommy Dearest alone.

Veronica is losing sleep over that water-in-the-face thing. She then spills her guts about the Luthur thing. She tells Brenda that she seduced him on purpose, knowing it would cause trouble, basically so Brenda would notice her (run, Brenda, run!). Brenda accepts the apology, most likely because she recognizes this kind of behavior. She announces that she'll listen. Veronica is very pleased when Brenda asks her to tell her about her life. Veronica starts to talk about the British Invasion.

Jerry, once away from the table, asks Jax for information on Veronica. Jax tells him he doesn't know enough. Jerry tells him about his conversation with Veronica at the bar the other night, and concludes that Veronica is either a great actress or "She's nuts" (give the man a prize! Half the PC hotel staff know this of course, and most likely have pool on how long it'll take her to take a tripod to them.)

At the Courthouse, Justus is packing up after a case when Dara enters to set up for Helena's arraignment. She makes a comment on Morgan and Justus informs her that he's doing pro-bono work for Ward House. Dara attempts to break down the stone cold front Justus is projecting, and he states, with more than a tinge of bitterness that he UNDERSTANDS her position. He's heard all about it. She doesn't sleep where she works.. Though he'd assumed that applied to everyone. Dara asks if he's referring to Detective Taggert.

Speaking of Taggert, he's hanging out at the mansion harassing Monica. He makes a little speech about the lack of noise in the mansion. He play with the phone and states it's time for her to give him something he can use. Monica turns around and opens a briefcase, stating all this can be his if he just walks away. Taggert talks on the phone a little while, just to wear on Monica's nerves. Once done, Taggert grins, picks up a bundle of cash, smells it -- plays around a little while, stringing Monica along until announcing "On the street they call me Mr. Clean. And it's not because of my hairdo". Monica is not impressed. Taggert reiterates the choice and when Monica does not answer he announces he's calling the medical review board. Monica states she won't be an audience. She starts to leave, then returns for her bag. Taggert has a psychic flash and stops her.

Back at the Penthouse Robin is holding Michael and telling him how good Jason is at his job. She tells Michael about how hard Jason fought against things when she first knew him. Robin smugly tells Michael all about what she did for him, what she taught him, and somehow he STILL doesn't understand that some thing are just WRONG and she should have told him not to work for Sonny from the beginning. But she just couldn't make him understand (momentary reflection of what Jason would think if he HEARD this stuff -- after all, he doesn't like being talked about like he's stupid and Robin is in full mother mode.) This woeful homily is interrupted by a knock on the door. It is AJ "Damage Control" Quartermaine, come to offer that olive branch. They talk about Renaldo, then AJ asks about Jason.

Oddly enough, when we come back to Justus, he's asking Dara how she could possibly thing he was talking about them (ummm you weren't. You were talking about Taggert). They have a frighteningly brief scene, the gist of which is -- Justus knows he's been thrown over and he's bitter about it.

Taggert is playing keep away with Monica and the purse. She screams that she'll have him arrested, but Taggert only makes those "whoo whoo" noises, and continues with the game. Somehow Monica resists what must be a powerful urge to just take the man down. He opens the purse and finds the tape. He notes it's been advanced. He smiles that he'll just be taking this and Monica doesn't have to sweat Alan anymore. No one will go to jail unless they broke the law and no one will know where the info came from unless she talks. Edward and Lila appear, and Edward grumbles at Taggert's presence yet again. Taggert makes small talk, then departs after being appropriately nice to Lila.

Robin takes Michael upstairs. Upon her return she and AJ have a conversation so incomprehensible I could barely follow it. AJ is giving up that damage control motivation to get a little snippy with Robin. To be fair, she is getting snippy back. AJ does tell her that Edward was crazy, but he's hoping it won't effect those dock renovation. Robin states that Jason *might* listen to him. (Of course, Jason *might* not come home, so anything is possible at this point). AJ asks if Mike was carted off upstairs because Jason doesn't want him near any Q's. Robin makes these odd hypocritical statements about how she understands how important it is for Michael to see the Q's and she knows better than anyone that Michael is going to need the Q's. AJ asks if it's crazy that the family be able to see the kid on holidays and birthdays. Robin pronounces that it sounds fair to her. (Oddly enough, no beam of light breaks through the ceiling of the penthouse). AJ thanks her and Robin makes a few ominous remarks suggesting she's awfully close to spilling the beans. AJ gets all excited and tells her that if she knows something that will allow his family more access to Michael, she has to tell him.

At the mansion, Edward is complaining about Jason. Monica snaps and, on the verge of tears, rants about loyalty. She walks across the room, snatches up the briefcase containing the bribe money and stalks out (if she's smart, the woman just won't come back.) Edward looks surprised and asks "What was that?" Lila gives him a look of disapproval. "A mother."

Moreno has an office! It's big! It's specious! It has a nice shiny desk. And it has lousy security, because as soon as the door shuts, Jason appears, reverting to thug threads (yes, folks, the leather jacket is back), and puts a gun to the back of Moreno's head.

At Taggert's pad, he is listening to the tape. He hears Justus talking about killing Damien Smith and letting Laura take the rap. He sits up, a surprised but pleased expression on his face.

Once Veronica is done impressing Brenda with her stories of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll, Jax appears and whisks his fiance away. Jerry sits down and tells her that he won't blow her cover. Veronica insists again that she has no clue what he's talking about and she doesn't much want to see him again anyway, then stalks off.

Now....

The Cassadines. They're in the courtroom, all seated in the back row, eagerly awaiting the taring and feathering of the family matriarch. The judge states the charge and asks for introductions of the counsels. (The Judge, by the way, is Chester from "Soap".) Dara stands up and introduces herself. Helena gets up and announces "Appearing for the defense... The victim, Katherine Bell." (Ok. Now, generally, I'd say having Kat as your lawyer is a bad move, but you have to admit, it packs a bit of a punch in this instance). Stefan leaps to his feet and for all his verbosity only comes up with "WHAT?"

A door opens. And... Oh, yeah. There she is. Katherine. She's been to a barber, but she's back and just a smug as ever. She also looks a might peeved. We get a close up of Stefan - shocked, Alexis -- amazed, Nikolas -- ummm no words. This boy is way used to this kinda stuff by now, so he just kinda looks like "Great. Here we go again" -- I predict it'll take him two commercial breaks to get over this one. Dara, seated at the state table wears an expression clearly stating "You have GOT to be kidding me" - I swear, this woman will NEVER gets to actually do her job. She should just resign.

We get another shot of Kat. Just to remind us. She's back.

End of show.