Daily Updates

General Hospital Update for Monday, 21-Aug-2000

Wow. Normally there's between 20 and 24 scenes in an ep; today there were *30*!! And that's if you don't split same-location stuff. (Boy, my fingers are gonna get tired...)

1) We begin in the sleazy motel room where the cops have just busted in on Carly, Sonny, Sorel, and Assorted Goons; Taggert demands that Sonny give him the tape recorder, which Sonny reluctantly does. Carly, ever-helpful, says that she can "explain everything"--but Sonny barks at her to keep quiet. Ooo, tension...

2) Still at the bar, Ned's shocked by the whole "Eddie's Angel" thing. He begins to think that it's all a joke being pulled on him by someone in his band, something amusing for the magazine to write a fluff piece on--but Miss "Responsible Media" sets him straight, to Ned's growing horror; it ain't no joke. The thing is, no one knows just who "Angel" is...is she why Ned broke up with Chloe Morgan?

3) Speaking of, there she is, still lost in unpleasant dreamland. As it happens in her dream, it happens in real life; Helena stands over her with the knife, angling it occasionally to make the light gleam over its edge in a really sinister way. Then, just as Mama Cass sweeps down with the knife--Chloe wakes up, freaks out, and yells for Jax, trying desperately to fight off her attacker.

4) Jax, however, is otherwise occupied. He calls after the Mysterious Brunette again, and she hesitates when he says, "Brenda!"--but then she hurries off into the shadows without letting him see her face. He goes to follow--but is pulled up short when he hears Chloe screaming his name. Without another thought to the Mysterious Brunette, he dashes off to be heroic to his Not-So-Mysterious Blonde.

5) Heroes, however, Nikolas and Lucky ain't. (Dontcha love how I segue?) They stand outside the rave, bickering about whether Lucky should take off or stay and look out for Elizabeth; Nik thinks that *someone* should be keeping an eye on her, and eventually Lucky agrees that he'll stay at the rave--but he won't get involved with what Liz is doing unless she's in trouble.

6) Which, of course, she is; Zander's pressing a bottle of water on her, a drink she really isn't enthused about taking. She tries to duck out to get something *else* (read: non-hallucinogenic) to drink, but he tells her everything'll be fine even if she does drink the water--unless she's a cop, or something... Liz decides that maintaining her copless cover is a good idea, so she takes the water and tries not to swallow--but as she puts the bottle to her mouth, Zander tips it so that she can't help but down some. Whoopsie...

7) Mighty Mouse is still battling Ninja Catwoman--but when Jax finally arrives, kicking the door down in the process, the only person he finds is Chloe, lying unconscious on the floor. There's a certain absence of blood soaking through that oh-so-delicate peignoir she's wearing, however, so I don't think she's come to any lasting harm.

8) Ned's just having a pissy night, and he starts to act that way. He talks around the Angel/Chloe question under the guise of "setting things straight", then laments the loss of privacy when the interviewer tells him that the footage of Angel in her teddy is spreading all over the country. She weedles with him a bit, trying to get him to give her Angel's real name--but Ned flat-out refuses, hoping to buy himself a little more time before Alexis kills him. Disappointed, the perky journalist agrees to end the interview and leaves; the second she's gone, Ned heads to the bar and tells the 'tender he'll pay Big Bucks for the "Eddie's Angel" poster.

9) Back in the motel room, Sonny insists that Carly keep her mouth shut; of course, since she's nervous and watching her plan blow up in her face, she kinda doesn't listen. And when Sorel gets in on things, taunting both Sonny and Carly about Ms Benson's hookerly attire, it gets even harder for her to keep her mouth shut--but Sonny puts his foot down, and she quiets down for the time being. Of course, Taggert is enjoying this way more than is strictly necessary, and has Hannah handcuff Sonny while Taggs himself leads Carly away. Alone for a brief moment, Hannah apologises to her former lover/mark/whatever, but Sonny has none of it, and tells her to tell it to his lawyer. She leads him away.

10) Inside the rave, Lucky and Nik split up to search for Liz--who is quickly getting trashed (it must be something in the water ;). She becomes very loose-lipped, and informs a smugly confident Zander that she's a painter and has painted all kinds of things, even the wind from the back of a motorcycle. Of course, the speed meant that she painted the wind all over Jason's tail (lights), but it was all good... She becomes simpery and flirty, and Zander smiles--while Nik watches from across the room, his brow furrowing as he tries to figure out what it all *means*. Elsewhere in the room, Lucky stumbles across a dancer--it's Emily! She's wearing a floppy, gorfy-looking hat and unflattering glasses, and Lucky's *so* not impressed by her presence.

11) Chloe regains consciousness quickly, and informs Jax of the attack.

12) Lucky darn near yells at Em, thinking that it was just a really stupid move for her to show up at *all*. The young Quartermaine defends her being there, because she wants to make sure Lucky won't zone out or treat Liz like dirt again--you know, all that out-of-character stuff. (In this endeavour, I wish her Good Luck.) Meanwhile, Liz is still describing her adventures as a biker chick to Zander, who moves into her space in an overly familiar way; across the room, Nik looks even more disturbed. (Take that how you may.) Back with Lucky and Em, he's firm--he'll be fine, but she won't be if the killer recognizes her; she needs to get out *now*. Em simply points out that with the brilliant disguise she's put together she can blend into the crowd, no one will recognize her--a tactic that quickly loses credibility when Nik spots her from a mile behind. He joins them and is just as indignant as Lucky at their friend. Anyway, their argument doesn't last long, because Nik passes on the information that Liz is getting trippy with Zander--in fact, they're getting a lot more than trippy, as Zander takes her by the arm and offers to take her someplace else. Liz's eyes light up, and she agrees; they'll go somewhere to "fly", like you do on the back of a motorcycle... (Hey, Lizzie? You're already higher than a kite, you don't need to go anywhere to fly. :)

13) Alan is thinking deep thoughts at the door to the terrace of the mansion when Monica makes an appearance, and starts acting all lovey towards him. They (well, mostly just Monica) flirt, and veiled allusions to sex and procreation are made--but then Alan breaks the mood by pushing her away and demanding, "You're seeing someone, aren't you?" (And these two think they'll be good role models for a small, impressionable mind? Yeesh. *They're* still small, impressionable minds, and look at what they do with each other...)

14) The bartender who controls the "Eddie's Angel" poster is holding out, so Ned offers him more money. Before the negotiations can progress, however, another member of the band shows up and drags Ned off to practise; Eddie Maine uses those vocals to whine about privacy all the way out the door.

15) Back at the cop shop, Mac congratulates Taggert and Hannah on the bust; the two arresting officers are quite smug, and despite Carly's taunts about Hannah's former "job" performance, Hannah stays cool--and just taunts Carly back as she fills out the necessary forms. Sonny is unimpressed, but Carly takes the more direct approach--she tries to attack Hannah, and is led away to simmer down in an interrogation room with Sonny. Mac, who saw Carly's lunge for the FBI agent, questions Hannah on her treatment of the arrestee while Dara stands in the background, taking it all in. Now that they're alone in the interrogation room, Carly tries to explain what happened to Sonny--but he listens to *nothing*, and instead makes it crystal clear that she's not to say a *word* until Alexis arrives.

16) Back at the rave, Lucky is concerned about Liz--but before he dashes off to save the day, he tells Nik to stay with Emily and get her home, if he can. Nik agrees, and as soon as Lucky heads off into the crowd Juan makes his presence known, and becomes the third to berate Emily for being there. Over near the door, Zander almost has Liz alone--but Lucky arrives in the nick of time, to a whole lotta heat from Liz's glaring yet slightly blurred eyes. He asks her to come with him, but instead she clings to Zander and becomes *really* snippy.

17) As Chloe explains the attack, Jax gets all angry and calls the police. Like they'll do any good...

18) Of course, Alan and Monica have been standing together for more than five seconds--so they start arguing. Popular topics are: who's cheating on who, why they're bothering with the pregnancy thing at all (hey, good question), you know--the usual stuff. Of course, this quickly gets them even madder, and their fighting deteriorates in English ability to one-word insults--which, of course, get them so hot and bothered that their only recourse is to fall into each others arms and exchange tonsils.

19) The police stand outside the interrogation room and go over their strategy; they'll let Sonny take a piece out of Carly, *then* separate them, at which point Carly will be so distraught that she'll fall all over herself to talk to friendly ol' Taggert. In other words--Good Cop, Bad Sonny. Taggs is told to question Carly first to make Sonmy mad; Hannah says that the mobster will see through the ploy a mile away, to which Mac wonders if she has any more brilliant ideas. This being Hannah...she doesn't. Anyway, in the interrogation room, Carly has issues with not saying anything--the whole concept just goes so completely against her nature--but Sonny remains firm and *quiet*.

20) In the midst of their (a)rousing game of tonsil hockey, Monica and Alan are interrupted by Edward, who blusters about the room, disapproving of everything he sees. The mature lovers are unfazed, however, and simply remind him of all of *his* past indiscretions--and then torment him by vocally enjoying each others' company on the terrace while Edward tries very hard to ignore them in the living room.

21) Emily says again that she's *not* leaving the party--at which point Nikolas and Juan take the matter out of her hands, and start talking about who's accompanying who home. Across the room, Lucky decides that Liz is beyond playing along--so he goes for the genuine approach, and apologizes for his behaviour in an attempt to get her to come with him.

22) Taggert enters the interrogation room to find two very silent people sitting at the table. He has Sonny taken out of the room; as soon as he's in the bullpen, the mobster asks for a phone and calls Alexis. Inside, Taggert talks very politely to Carly, making sure to stand in front of the window into the bullpen so that Carly and Sonny can't maintain eye contact; he thanks Carly for her cooperation with the bust, reasons with her to try to get her to open up, insists that Carly would be *helping* Sonny by explaining what was going on in the motel room...so wrapped up in his strategy is he that he moves away from the window, and Carly immediately locks eyes with Sonny, who has finished his phone call and is watching the proceedings with an intense expression on his face. His silent presence helps Carly keep her mouth shut, and she simply sits, blinking back tears as Taggert tries to wear her down. After a long moment, however, Sonny turns away from the window outside and tells Mac to call Taggert off--he's ready to make a statement.

23) The police have responded to Jax's call, but the investigating officer gives them the runaround, and once he leaves Jax and Chloe decide that Helena must have got to him. Jax apologises for not being in the room to protect her, but Chloe brushes him off, just grateful that he heard her cries. About that distraction, though...was she really Brenda?

24) Whoever she is, we see the back of her walk up to a door and knock softly. The door opens, and the Mysterious Brunette enters the room beyond.

25) Jax explains to Chloe that he called after the woman, but she ran off before he could see her face. He admits, though, that if it had been Brenda, she would have waited when he called her name; therefore, she can't be the woman he wishes she were. Chloe is excessively understanding, and sappiness ensues; they decide to go home right away, and exchange "I wuv you"'s. And kiss.

26) Out in the gardens, Andreas dashes past a shrubbery--which speaks to him! No, wait, it's just Helena; she's ditched her Ninja headgear, but is still in the Catwoman suit that Andy must be getting turned on by; they discuss how the plan failed, and that Helena will try again. Jax might have been made cross by the attempt on Chloe's life...but Helena is cross that she couldn't finish the job. Who's more dangerous angry? Well, I'll put $50 on Madam; anybody wanna take the bet?

27) In a shadowy room, Stefan talks to the Mysterious Brunette about what Jax's reaction was when he saw her. The woman actually gets a line, and reports that he called her 'Brenda'--a fact which makes Steffi *very* pleased.

28) Nikolas apparently needs his brain examined; he's made his mind up that Juan will take Em back to Kelly's in Nik's Jag. (But if anything happens to his car, boy, Juan better hope there's same-day cheap seats on a plane back to Puerto Rico...) Across the room, Lucky plays his "I love you now" cards so convincingly that Liz ditches Zander to go home with her ex; the two worm their way through the crowd and out of the rave...with the really pissed (as in angry) druggie following close behind them.

29) Ned has succeeded in getting the poster from the bartender; he hands over $300, and accepts the pic of his honey in a teddy with bad grace. No sooner has he rolled the thing up, however, than his phone rings--it's Alexis. Ned proceeds to lie his butt off about how perfect his trip is, and apparently makes it convincing...but he *knows* that she's gonna ream him out royally when she sees that poster...

30) Sonny gives his statement--he states that he won't say anything until his lawyer arrives. Mac is not amused, and Taggert, who has left Carly, is pulled into another huddle with Dara, Mac, and Hannah about just what kind of evidence they have; Sonny doesn't actually agree to run drugs on the tape, but the silence could be interpreted as implied consent--he could have nodded. They discuss Carly's involvement and how exactly they can use her testimony to nail Sonny--Dara convinces them that whatever Carly says or doesn't say, Our Favourite DA can make a case. Carly is taken out of the interrogation room and told that she can leave; Sonny, however, has to stay. While Sonny is led off for his own little talk with the cops, Carly stands alone in the bullpen, frantic--but silent.

Tomorrow: more Fun With Legalese, as Roy makes an appearance at the cop shop to get exposition from Hannah and Sonny presumably gets ahold of Alexis.

Jeneva (Jayne Leitch)
< jleitch@netcom.ca >