The Week in Review: March 16 - March 20

This week began with the greatest scene of General Hospital that has aired in the time I've been watching.  The week was, unfortunately, inconsistent; while nothing could be better than Monday's Luke monologue, there were scenes later in the week that were absolute filler.  Because of that, and because most of the non-Cassadine/Spencer stuff was a variation of things we've seen before, my extended comments deal mostly with that C/S storyline.  I'll comment on the other things more when they're in the spotlight.

I.  The Cassadines

A.  Helena and Robin

On Monday, Robin came through the lobby of the hotel, passing somebody reading a newspaper.  The hand behind the newspaper paid a man for whispering something in her ear (Luke would say that she had certainly done so before), and when she lowered her paper, we saw that it was Helena.  She again thanked Robin for helping Nikolas, and Robin again brushed her off.  Helena simply said that if she should ever need a friend, she'd know where to look.  I wondered whether Helena was going to set up Robin to have to depend on her in some way.

B.  Nikolas

Nikolas was on the docks when Helena went there after talking to Robin, and she cooed over the fact that he had regained his voice.  Nikolas didn't want to hear it, and sent her away again.  Helena tells him that his opinion of her does not change her feelings for him.  Then she turned to the subject of Robin.  She spoke of Robert and his strong ethical code, saying that she is not surprised that Robin would turn down Stefan's offer of money.  Nikolas acted as though he already knew about the incident, but Mama Cass knew better.  She went off, very pleased with herself for rocking the boat.

Stefan approached next, and Nikolas confronted him with the information.  He insisted that he would pick his own friends.  Stefan didn't deny it, and launched into the litany of reasons that Nikolas should stay away from Robin, as if he thought he could actually convince him with the evidence against her.  He brings up her ongoing relationship to Jason as well as her HIV status--harsh, maybe, but both put the crown prince in the path of danger.  Nikolas defended Robin and declared that he would not break up their relationship.

C.  Stefan and Katherine

On Tuesday, Stefan was at the guesthouse (our first time to see the set, and I honestly don't know why they bothered with another set for the few scenes that we've seen there) with Kathy as morning came.  He apologized for being away so many evenings (I hoped that meant that he didn't really want to be with her or that she was avoiding her out of his conflicted emotions), and wanted to make it up to her, starting with breakfast in bed.  Of course, she didn't want what was on the tray, so he joined her in bed.  I have to tell you that I used to swoon over Stefan, but not anymore.  Not since all the bad writing.  I tried, but no such luck.  Drat.

Katherine:  "That's unbelievable."
Stefan:  "I would venture to say most people would say the same thing and that is what has protected Spencer from exposure all these years."

Afterwards, she wanted the breakfast.  They teased over the scones (unfortunate use for my favorite Cassadine food), and then he told her that Luke would be coming to settle a score.  He told her about Lucky and Nikolas and what Nikolas had said.  I hated that Katherine was in on the story, and knew that if she threw it up in Luke's face I would have to kill her myself.  He took no pleasure in telling her; it was clear that it hurt him to think of Laura being hurt by the man he hates.  But of course, he hates Luke primarily not because of their family feud (Richard Dawson?), but because of the way he treats Laura...and because he has her.

Stefan:  "Yes, Laura has been known to take the concept of forgiveness to extremes.  Could you imagine forgiving, and then marrying, a man who had done such a thing?"
Katherine:  "No, I can't imagine.  But it made sense to Laura, so who am I to question it?  After all, if we put our story up for scrutiny, someone might find it difficult to understand why we're together."
Stefan:  "Sometimes I don't understand it myself."

It was clear that Stefan was lost in thought about Laura, pondering the workings of her mind and her powers of forgiveness (hoping that she would forgive him of some things? wondering why she won't?) while Katherine was ready to move on and talk about them.  She asked no questions about the rape--his version of it--or about where he found out about it, or why he told Nikolas, etc.  Of course, she always brings every discussion back around to herself, so I wasn't surprised.  And of course she didn't want to know the answers.  While I laughed at Stefan's last line above, Katherine took it seriously and insisted that they were kindred spirits.

Asleep after the deed, Stefan dreamt of Laura.  We saw a replay of the Greek Island flashback in which he made love to Laura.  It was a remarkable contrast to the scene of the rape from the day before.  This of course spawned more ponderings on ratsa comparing the two men and their relationships with Laura.  But I don't buy the argument that Laura loved Stefan heart and soul.  I don't buy that she was happy or content there on the island, with him.  She was surviving, as she always does.  And she was turning to the one soul on that island who was kind and caring--and who loved her.  The scene has always left more questions for me than answers: How many times did they make love?  Did they plan this meeting?  Was she thinking of Luke?  Finally, we have two men telling or remembering their stories--all they know.  But I get the feeling that neither of them knows completely what Laura would say if she described either of these instances.  Her story is now the one I long to hear.  And I think that it may hold some surprises for these two men who picture here in such different ways.

Laura, after all, is used to being put on pedestals.  And I wonder, sometimes, if she used Stefan's pedestal in two different ways.  On the island, she used it to find comfort and affection, as well as to rebel against the other Cassadines.  I'm not saying she didn't have genuine feelings for him, but she is a woman who can use what she feels to her own advantage when she needs to.  And second, I wonder if she used Stefan's pedestal, when he came to Port Charles, as the one she could come willingly down off of.  Since she can't or won't disillusion Luke about various things--or doesn't want to--and, actually, it's the rest of PC that seems to hold her up on an unrealistic pedestal, at times--she chooses to disappoint Stefan.  And again, it's easy, because she doesn't choose him--doesn't love him anymore.  I haven't worked this out completely, but it seems to me that Laura is aware of the way Stefan thinks about her, and she draws on that while at the same time rejecting it.

But back to the contrast, which I've described before.  Luke knows Laura in reality.  They have loved through hard times, and he knows her faults as she knows his.  They struggle on together, and even if they take their love for granted at times, they have had times in which they've questioned its practicality and workability and depth.  On the other hand, while Luke does have some idealistic constructions of Laura, Stefan only has those.  It was fascinating to see him deal with her when he came to Port Charles in the beginning--he realized that she was almost none of the things he thought he knew and loved, and he had to retreat to those marvelous Greek flashbacks to find her.  I don't believe that Laura will choose Stefan, in the end.  She didn't choose him then and she won't choose him now.  She may examine her choice more closely than she has in the past, however, and that will be something to see.  And in the end, we'll have Luke and Laura finally not taking their relationship for granted, but examining their past and present and possibilities...and choosing each other.

I want to do a more specific comparison as well.  Lots of people assumed that Stefan's remembrances were more positive than Luke's, and I think that, if we look a little closer, we can see that they're actually equally bitter.  Stefan knows that he has to remember Laura in an idyllic, idealistic way.  He has to remember her from his past because to think of her in the present is to deal with the Laura who rejected him, who hurt Nikolas, and who isn't present.  Finally, it is to face a Laura who didn't choose him.  And let us remember that she was not there of her own volition.  She did not choose to be on that island.  She chose to be with him, perhaps desperately clinging to her one source of comfort in her prison.  But she also chose to return to the disco that night to try and comfort Luke.  Both memories are a strange mixture of her choice and of her victimization.  Likewise, Luke remembers Laura in the past.  He spends his life trying to protect her in penance for the time he could not protect her...from himself.  Yet in the present, in the reality, Laura loves him.  So he has the luxury, if you will, to remember the most horrid of times, where Stefan does not.  And again, it is her story that I long to hear.  Not only so that I can fill in the gaps of the men's memories and hear her point of view, but also because it will be interesting how she casts each of them in her own memories.  For she has perceptions of them as well, and they are subject to the same limitations as Luke's and Stefan's.

Stefan:  "Just a dream.  The usual mixture of metaphor and madness."

And now back to Stefan and Katherine, who will never inspire me to such ramblings.  Kathy awoke Stefan from his dream, and the look on his face as he realized where he was--and who he was with--was great.  He composed himself quickly, as Kat asked after his dream.  He didn't give any details, but got out of the bed and moved to get dressed and head out to take care of some business.  But Kat didn't want him to leave, and she really wanted to know what the dream was about.  He told her he never remembered his dreams; she asked if it was about Nikolas.  He declared that he didn't want to remember, because he didn't want to share her with anything or anyone.  He forcefully kissed her, pressing her up against the wall, as if to drive the thoughts of Laura out of his mind and convince himself that he loves Katherine--and it was a faint echo of the rape scenes from the day before while at the same time standing in sharp contrast to his gentle sex with Laura in the flashback.  Katherine seems willing enough, as if his kisses drove any curiosity out of her mind.  Finally, again, she doesn't want the answers.  And so she's perfectly happy to let him give vague answers and change the subject.  She's going to believe anything he tells her.

D.  Stefan and Nikolas

Nikolas:  "I've never spoken to him when he hasn't threatened me.  Have you?"

Stefan:  "If there were some profound secret about your father, wouldn't you want to know it?"

After his fight with Luke, Stefan went up to the parapet to check on Nikolas.  He told him not to worry about Luke but to be careful around him.  He assured him that he shouldn't feel guilty for telling Lucky the truth.  And his above line, while a bit heavy handed in the irony department, spoke volumes about his longing for Nikolas to know the truth and his fear that Nikolas would have the same reaction as Lucky.  The fight may have allowed him to strike out at Luke in a tangible way, but the scene with Lucky had to disturb him.  The similarities between Lucky and Nikolas are too pronounced for him not to realize them.

And in the end, Stefan announced that he was going to visit Laura.

II.  Carly and Jason

A.  Carly and Jason

Justus:  "Carly, there are times when Edward is sincere.  Yes.  But those times are few and far between and most of the time they have something to do with Lila."

Jason:  "I am fighting with everything I have to get him back, and I don't care how I look while I'm doing it!"

Carly entered on Monday and tore into Jason for taking care of business in the face of Michael's disappearance.  She then asked him to turn to Edward for help, and demanded that he keep his promise that he would put everything aside to search for Michael.  Now, I know that she's scared and frustrated, but again, she herself has said that Jason's the only person on her side.  I kept hoping that she'd find some true faith in him.  In fact, he had been discussing the kidnapping with Justus before turning to business, but she hadn't heard that part of the conversation.  But instead, she called his love for Michael into question, and Jason then responded in the same tone, telling her to stay out of his face.  The argument escalated, with both of them screaming at each other; he told her not to be hysterical and said he was just as worried even though he didn't show it and she criticized his lack of emotion and insinuated all kinds of things about what he was and wasn't doing.  In the end, she threatened to go to Edward, and then noted that Michael is already out of his face.  At that, Jason stormed out and Carly ran after him, pleading with him and saying that she was sorry.

B.  Jason and Robin

He went to the bridge (sigh) where he began pounding on the stones in rage.  Robin approached and asked him to stop, saying that she would help her.  He told her that Michael was gone.  Robin quietly wrapped his hand in a handkerchief and listened as Jason berated himself for the kidnapping.  Tony and the Qs have come up clean, so the kidnapper was trying to get at him.  He said that he was worried and scared; he had never before known what it was to be afraid.  He described Michael's thoughts; it always gets to me the way he can empathize with that baby--can feel what he feels, can identify with him.  Robin held him close and told him that they would find Michael.  Jason agreed, and said that he would make the kidnapper pay.  Robin couldn't see his face, but I would like to think that she's not so far in denial to know what he meant.

C.  Tony

While his parents stewed, Michael was with Tony at Mercy.  He told the nurse some lie about the baby's parents and immigration, and she said that he could stay as long as he needed to.  When she leaves, Tony tells Michael that so far they are doing fine.

D.  Carly and Jason

At the penthouse, Carly watched Edward's broadcast.  She wanted so badly to latch onto this as a new source of hope, but Jason claimed it would be a disaster.  She changed the subject to the night before, saying that she had been worried when he didn't come home.  For his part, he said that he had been thinking about what he had said, and agreed that his job put Michael in danger.  Now Carly said that she was speaking out of fear and that Jason shouldn't worry about putting Michael in danger.  In turn, Jason said that she should consider telling the truth about AJ as Michael's father for Michael's safety.  I was impressed at the way this kidnapping was making Jason think and cover all the basis, and his thought processes seemed much more logical than Carly's.  How's that for brain damage, Doc-Ex-Bro-In-Law?  It's clear that he's been doing a lot of thinking--a lot of unselfish thinking--while Carly's motivations have always been laced with selfishness.

Carly:  "The truth is that you are Michael's father in every way that matters.  We are his family, and we are going to get him back-- together."

At any rate, Carly didn't agree with him.  She argued against all of his points and begged him not to hold last night against her.  She said that the kidnapping might not be about his job at all, and Jason told her that it was her secret to tell.  She was relieved.  She insisted that she wouldn't let the Qs take Michael, and Jason told her to make whatever decision would help Michael.  She told him that he was the father.  And that's true.  She hasn't given AJ a chance, but Jason is now the father of that child, for all intents and purposes.  And it worries me, since at some point, AJ will find out.

Later, she thanked him for everything, and he told her that he didn't do anything that he didn't want to.  She then started berating herself again, thinking out loud about Jason having to care for Michael by himself in the beginning.  He responded that he had help.  She then said that she thought that she and Michael belonged with Jason.  He said that was what he wanted...but that he wasn't sure it was the best thing for Michael.  Carly again refuted him, using all of his own arguments, but I knew that he wouldn't be convinced by emotional appeals alone.  I do think that at some point he's going to decide that he is Michael's father and the best thing for him and that'll be about the time AJ finds out.

In the end, Jason decided to go to Puerto Rico to check out someone in the organization who had been acting strangely.  And we saw Michael lying alone in a hospital bed at Mercy.

E.  Tony and Robin

On Thursday, Robin and Nik were eating a picnic in the park when Tony approached.  He had just had a call from Bobbie, who was running late, and she had told him that the authorities were fingerprinting babies at the hospitals and she had to stay for a while and help.  Tony told Nik and Robin that he was headed to take Lucas to Betty's, since he had to run an errand (Lucas whined with the best of them), and they volunteered to watch him.  Nikolas and Lucas played for a while, and then he went off to the swings while Nikolas and Robin talked about her condition.  When Tony came back, Lucas took his hat out of Tony's pocket, sending a piece of paper to the ground.  Robin picked it up, but Tony didn't hear her call after him.  When she saw that it was a receipt for baby supplies, she figured it out.

F.  Carly and Jason

Jason had returned from Puerto Rico on Thursday, but had no news.  He announced his plan to bring in the police; he will risk jail to bring Michael back.  He called Taggert, who comes over and tell them that they are hand-printing babies at hospitals.  Carly headed to GH to help; she wanted to feel like she was doing something.  After she left, Mike arrived, wanting to help.  He couldn't do anything but try and comfort Jason, who sat, after Mike had left to pray, holding Michael's teddy bear in the same way in which Carly does sometimes.

At GH, Carly volunteered to help and a nurse let her take a baby back to the nursery (doesn't anybody remember Ryan?!?!).  Bobbie found her holding the child in the hallway and asked what she was doing.  She calmed down, though, and Carly told her a bit of what she was feeling.  It was clear the ice between them was melting, as Carly was coming to confide in her and she was coming to sympathize with her daughter.  Back at the penthouse, she told Jason about holding the child.  It gave her hope that somebody somewhere was holding Michael too, and that he was safe.

On Friday, Carly had another dream about Michael while napping.  Jason said that he has dreams about Michael too.  Carly wanted the dreams to mean that Michael was telling them that he was ok; Jason said that it just meant they were thinking about him.  Carly noted that it was probably "bleak" to be Jason, and asked him if he ever made things up to make himself feel better.  He said that he couldn't.  He could only do something about it.  And this time, there was nothing he could do.

Carly regretted not having a picture of Michael to show people...and because she was afraid that she would forget his face.  Jason decided to have a sketch artist come over, answering the first.  As he described the child to the artist, she just smiled, and when he couldn't approve the picture because he couldn't "see" it, Carly was able to answer the second for herself as she made slight adjustments and realized that she knew her child's face better than she thought.

At the end of the episode, Benny called.  Moreno had made a move, and they think it might mean that he has Michael.

G.  Tony and Robin

Tony spoke with Michael at the beginning of Friday's episode, telling him all the reasons that he had taken him away.  They were headed out of town soon.  But Tony's plan was about to hit a snag in the form of Robin, who arrived bearing the receipt for baby things.  She wanted him to give himself up, for his own good.  Her move outraged a lot of people on ratsa.  I faulted her only for underestimating Tony's mental state, but I understood what she was trying to do.  She had just heard Jason threaten to make the kidnapper pay, and she believed that she could reason with Tony.  And I don't think that she wanted to admit that another person in her life was, perhaps, lost to her.  She wanted believe the best of Tony--she needed to.  But I still didn't understand why she didn't let Jason know what she was doing; she could have convinced him to give her a chance, perhaps.

After her request, Tony asked if she had told Jason yet what she knew.  She said she hadn't--perhaps she should have lied and said that Jason had given her this chance and was waiting and watching.  She again asked him to give himself up and perhaps avoid jail.  Tony recites his now set speech about the evil that is Jason and Carly, pointing out that Jason can't feel.  Robin doesn't agree, despite Tony's medical knowledge.  They go back and forth about morals and ethics, and Tony explained that he had thought Michael was his for months and that he couldn't leave him to Jason and Carly.  Robin said that she couldn't let him keep Michael, and Tony said that he knew.  When she moved to leave, Tony announced that he was going to lock her in with Michael.  When he leaves, he'll call the police and tell them where they are.  And with that, he left her.  Robin then realized that she had made a mistake, and told Michael so.

III.  The Spencers

A.  Luke and Lucky

On Monday, the standoff between the Spencer men continued.  Lucky demanded that Luke get out of the way, and Luke said that he wouldn't until he explained "the packed bag and the attitude."  Lucky tried to leave anyway, and Luke took advantage of his size and strength and forced him to stay.  Lucky threw that up in his face, and any shred of doubt Luke was holding on to that Lucky didn't know the truth faded away.

Luke:  "What do you know?"
Lucky:  "Say it!"
Luke:  "Lucky, don't..."
Lucky:  "Say it!!"
Luke:  "You think that's gonna make you feel better?  I promise you it won't!"
Lucky:  "I wanna hear the words!  If you can't look me in the eye and tell me the truth, man, then we have nothing.  We have less than nothing!"
Luke:  "Less than nothing?  Is that so?  Alright.  A long time ago...long before you were born...in another life...I raped your mother."

Luke:  "There.  I said it.  Feel better?"
Lucky:  "Where'd you rape her?"
Luke:  "You don't wanna hear this, Lucky."
Lucky:  "Yes I do.  I wanna know the big lie my whole life's been based on."
Luke:  "There is no big lie!  You were conceived, born, and raised in love.  Nothing but love.  And what happened between me and Laura a long time ago and what happens between us now are personal matters between a man and his wife.  And they don't concern you.  And the darkest places in my soul are not yours to examine on demand!"
Lucky:  "You are so full of crap!  You're a coward.  You were a coward then and you're a coward now.  I never thought...that I would look into your eyes...and hate you.  But I do.  And right now, I hate you.  I hate you more than anyone."
Luke:  "Why?"
Lucky:  "Because you're a liar.  And you're a hypocrite.  And I am so sick of being lied to, Dad.  I'm sick of it.  What...just tell me what happened."
Luke:  "Oh, no.  No."
Lucky:  "You owe me this!  I want to know the truth about everything that happened."

He demanded that Lucky tell him what he knew; Lucky demanded that Luke be the one to speak the words.  Luke did, and fell back on the defense that Lucky didn't feel any better now that he had confirmation.  But Lucky wasn't to be dealt with.  He wanted the whole truth.  Luke then fell back on the argument that it was his life and none of Lucky's business.  And that one is true, but only to a point.  But Lucky wouldn't give up.  He wanted the whole story.  He demanded it repeatedly amidst insults, and wouldn't hear the truth that Luke was already giving him--that he was born and raised in love.  The delivery of Luke's "why," there in the middle of the dialogue hit me.  It was as if he really didn't know, and that he was scared it was because he was a rapist.  But it was because he had lied.  And that helped my belief that these two will come together again at some point.  It isn't the irrefutable act that Lucky condemns--at least not solely.  It's the breach of trust.  And when Luke earns his trust again, Lucky will give it not in hero-worship, not as a dutiful son, but as a man.  And Luke will have had to earn it.

Lucky:  "I have to know!"
Luke:  "You...you want the truth...about that night?  I don't even know if I know the tru...truth.  Alright, son.  I'll tell you everything I know."

Luke agreed, in the end, to tell the tale, knowing that he couldn't avoid it and knowing that if he didn't, Lucky would go further away from him.  Telling the story that had condemned him was the first step in regaining that trust.  By this time, Lucky was crying and Luke's voice was shaky.  His line above struck me.  Luke can only tell what he knows.  It's the same with all retellings, and you know how they fascinate me.  His story may not be the ultimate truth; Luke doesn't believe in ultimate truths.  And that was the primary difference in these two men at that moment.  Luke knew that one person could never tell the story--that there was not one simple, monolithic truth--and that his version was necessarily clouded by perspective, time, emotion, and lots of years of denial and defense mechanisms.

The scene that began after the halfway mark went on for something like 14 minutes, uninterrupted.  And it was all Geary--a perfectly written, magnificently executed description of that night so long ago.  The camera was close up on Luke's face--almost too close, just as that shot from a few weeks before.  And we cut from that to black and white footage of the rape.  But the sound of that flashback never came; we only had Luke's voice, from here in the present, recounting his story.  I was glad about that, because it underlined his own protestation that he didn't know the truth.  He--and we--only had things filtered through his own mind...and that marvelous voice.

I was struck, in the course of this scene, by the great power of the soap opera medium.  Somebody could write a script for a play, movie, or television program in which a father has to tell his son the same story, and it wouldn't carry the same weight, even if Geary and Jackson were to play it.  But with soaps, we have the ultimate story arch.  Twenty years ago, Luke raped Laura.  The same actors shot the scenes then, and the same actors are dealing with the memories now--both as their characters and about them.  Geary has faced a lot because those scenes, and in this episode, he answered back to fans, to critics, and to the past.

Somebody on ratsa once asked if we'd take Luke and Laura as they were, with the whitewashed rape in tact, or if we'd rather not have them at all.  The answer seems obvious to me.  Even though the powers that be rewrote things after the fact, talking about the rape as if it were a seduction, I think that that is exactly what Luke and Laura might have done to deal with the event--to make order out of chaos, as Luke said.  Nobody back then could foresee that the choice to cast the rape in a more positive light would lead to this point.  But now that Geary and the writers have taken the opportunity--taken the chance--to set the record straight, I would give up none of the writing that has gone before.  The timing, the writing, the performance...the effect is exquisitely painful to watch.

And finally, if Geary doesn't win the Emmy for this scene alone, there is no justice in the world.

But back to the scene:

Luke moved to sit on the sofa and began his tale.  It was, at first, as if he were narrating somebody else's story.  From his halting words to Lucky his voice grew calm and quiet, and he looked away into the distance.  But as he continued, the emotion started in slow and subtle, until in the end he had to break off his story.

Luke:  "Ok.  In those days I managed a disco.  Campus disco.  Cheesy little joint.  Laura worked for me as a waitress.  And I was obsessed with her."

At this point we had our mid-point commercial break, and when we returned, Luke related the entire story, as I said, in one unbroken string.  I'm going to break the dialogue a bit for comments and description (and for ease of reading), but it was continuous on the screen.  Thanks to Allyn for posting the screen captures of her closed captioning.  I've double-checked them against the audio, but she saved me much work.

Luke:  "That's part of what went wrong that night--obsession.  (sigh)  Laura was only a few years older than Liz.  Too young.  Too young to understand the power of obsession.  I was a walking dead man, literally.  I'd been marked for execution by the organization.  I'd become what Frank Smith used to call 'expendable.'  Which meant disposable.  I was drunk.  That's not an excuse.  That's a fact.  I was very drunk.  But not as drunk as I planned to be."

Luke did look at Lucky to insist that he wasn't making excuses, but then he turned away again.  I was impressed with his delivery; he wasn't pleading for sympathy, he wasn't explaining things away.  Instead, he was preparing to relive the complete horror of that evening...all for his son's sake.  And he knew that at the end of it, his son would leave him.  Very painful indeed.

Luke:  "It was late.  The disco was closed.  I was alone.  Seemed like as good a time as any to die.  And I was as close to puttin' a bullet in my head as I've ever come.  And then...there she was.  My angel.  She was dressed in blue...blouse, one of those skirts that wrap around.  Little shoes...high heels...with, uh, straps around the ankles.  And a brown sweater.  She carried a brown sweater.  Her hair...was long and loose.  You know how she wears it, like spun gold.  God, she was beautiful.  How I loved her."

Behind these lines, we saw Luke crying at the bar and Laura sitting behind him at the table.  She went up to him, asking him what was wrong.  That's a beautiful shot of Laura, because I think it epitomizes the way she was back then.  She runs her hand through her hair and looks utterly beautiful, but she has no awareness of that.  She's too caught up in the troubles around her, including Luke's.  Several things in this passage struck me.  First, the fact that Luke moved from the word "obsession" to the word "love."  For he did love Laura, I think.  He just didn't know what to do with that love, since she didn't seem to share it.  He was desperate, and she was the symbol of everything he thought that he would never have.  Second, I love the detail.  We saw the clip running behind his words, and so we knew that he was describing her outfit perfectly.  Finally, the change to present tense when he turned to Lucky--"you know how she wears it"--reflects the fact that he still sees Laura this way.  He still sees her as an angel who loves him when, in the world he knew (knows?), he could never have her.

Luke:  "She wanted to know what was wrong.  I told her to go away.  I...I told her...I warned her to leave me.  But she didn't.  She wanted to talk.  (makes a sound as if in disbelief)  She talked about Baldwin...how their marriage was over, I think.  I don't know.  Doesn't matter.  She wanted to know why I was crying, and she couldn't accept that...there was nothing she could do to help.  And I told her, 'Go home.  Go to your husband.'  But she didn't.  She started talkin' nonsense, like...Scotty and she were my friends, and...if I was in trouble, the three of us could go to the police.  (disbelief again)  Like some big, happy, problem-solving trio.   It was absurd.  Insane.  Pathetic.  And so familiar.  Me needing her, aching for her, and her not going away, refusing to go away and let me heal my shattered...heart.  Pretending that she didn't know that...my love for her was eating me...up inside."

If we had heard the dialogue in this part of the flashback, we would have seen that Luke's account was accurate.  Laura did talk of her troubled marriage, and the rest.  It was interesting to see that Luke, who had professed not to know the truth, was actually getting most of the simple details correct.  I was interested most in the last line above, and wondered if Laura would say that she was pretending, or that she didn't know the extent of his love/obsession.  I think that she did, actually, even on the evening in question.  In the scene behind, we saw her go to Luke, him turn to her and then away when she mentioned Scotty, and then grab her and her try to calm him down.  Luke's voice, in the present, grew agitated; he was beginning to feel again the emotions of that night.

Luke:  "I couldn't take it anymore, so I told her she was a chain around me, a sickness.  She was tearing me apart.  I was on fire.  And I reached for her, and she touched me, and her hand was cool and soft.  And she felt like salvation.  And she smelled of roses.  (he is crying by this time, and the word "roses" almost sobs out of him)  And I wanted to drown in her.  I wanted her to hold me underwater...till my last breath exploded inside me.  I wanted to die in her arms.  (collects himself and sighs, bracing himself for what was to come)  But then she turned away.  Then she wanted to leave, just when I wanted her to stay.  And that was the dance we did, you see...back and forth, push and pull.  (back to a calmer description, and the music begins at the end of this sentence...quietly) There was a...song on the turntable, and those stupid disco lights were on, flashing, demented.  And all I knew was I couldn't die.  I...I couldn't go to my grave without holding her once.  One time.  The song on the turntable was 'Rise.'  She was standing on the dance floor, looking at me.  Eyes so blue...could almost make you believe there was really a God.  And I reached for her.  'Dance with me, Laura.  Dance with me.'  And she came to me, and I held her in my arms.  I held her so close.  And then she got scared...and she wanted to go home.  And I kissed her, and she kissed me back.  I know she kissed me back.  (the music changes to that of one lone bell ringing over sustained chords)  And then she said no.  I think she kept saying no.  But I pulled her down to the floor, and I took her.  I raped her."

I don't think Luke doesn't remember.  I think that he tempers his words with the phrase "I think" to make the scene less vivid for himself and for Lucky, just as he would revert to passive voice to describe her clothes in the next section.  But still we had the details and the accuracy.  Here the only point at which I wondered what Laura would say was when he said that she kissed him back.  He insisted on that, mentioning it twice, and I think that he was trying to convince himself of that fact, as if he could hang onto it and convince himself--either then or now--that she wanted him.  But that's just my speculation.  We saw those famous scenes as he spoke, and I was interested that in his retelling we could follow the scene through onto the floor; the cameras cut away in the scenes.  We also had strains of "Rise" playing over the monologue and flashbacks at this point for a while.  Very nice.

Luke:  "I think I blacked out or something.  When I came back to myself, I was standing.  (he chokes and begins to cry on the next line)  I was looking down, and she...was...huddled in a ball on the floor, sobbing, and her clothes were torn.  (now almost pleading)  I don't know how that happened.  (now weeping, choking out the words)  And her face was...smeared with makeup, black tears...streaking...streaking her beautiful face.  And I reached out to her, you know, to help her out, to say 'I'm sorry,' to apologize.  To tell her I didn't mean to hurt her.  And she cowered away from me like a little wounded animal."

This part of the story fascinated me.  He stated that he raped her, but then it was as if he couldn't recount the details of the act.  Of course he wouldn't, not for Lucky.  But I really don't think he remembers it--he can't remember it.  He can't let himself remember the details of hurting Laura.  And probably at that point in the act, the whole thing was a blur because of the emotion and the alcohol.  What I like most about this part is that the sex act is complete removed, and the rape is left as the act of power and desperation that it was.  Practically speaking, he couldn't be more graphic.  But as I said, it works on a character level as well.  And behind these words we saw the aftermath--Laura's face, streaked with mascara just as Lizzie's had been, and I knew Lucky was seeing that too.  We got an occasional shot of him during this monologue.  He sat quietly, weeping, not wiping anything away.  And we saw Luke, staggering away from her, not really realizing what he had done.  I love the parallel structure of the hands in the original rape scene.  Laura takes his had to dance, and after the rape she refuses it.

Luke:  "Ringing.  There was a telephone ringing somewhere.  And then she was gone.  She ran to the park.  Someone found her there...and I...I..."

I absolutely loved this.  Luke's part of the story ends here; he only knew what happened next to her second-hand.  And again I hoped that we would get Laura's retelling of the story, so that we could hear the rest of it.  And at this point, his voice grew so choked that he had to break off.  When he continued, he had returned to the calm, controlled voice of the opening.  He simply said, "That's all I know."

Lucky's response was, "That's a nice story, dad.  Makes me really proud."  He picked up his bag and left.  Jonathan Jackson didn't go back and watch the footage of the rape before watching this scene; he said that he didn't want to know anything Lucky wouldn't know.  And I wondered how amazing--or how painful--it was for him to sit and listen to Geary tell this story.  Finally, though this gets a bit personal, I was fascinated by pondering how this story was affecting these two actors, as well as the others involved.  Becky Herbst said that her mother came to the studio the day they taped the rape and cried when she saw her makeup.  Geary has said that he gets anxious before he goes in and after work he goes home and cries.  The way this story is both Luke and his makes his performance that much more intriguing.  It's as if Luke and Geary are both dealing with the past.  And it's wonderful to watch.  After his son left, Luke sat on the couch, alone, and wept.

Luke didn't want to tell this story because he didn't want Lucky to know.  He didn't want to face Lucky's hatred, and he didn't want Lucky to have to hurt.  But I think even more than that, he didn't want to relive that night.  It was clearly painful, and to remember the details when he's spent most of the time since then trying to put them behind him even though he carries the event with him so clearly.  Some say Luke's a bad parent.  And perhaps they're right on most days.  But this sacrifice--this willingness to go through such torture for his son's sake--was one of his best moments as a Dad.  And perhaps his willingness to face the past means this is one of his best moments...period.

B.  Luke and Bobbie

Luke:  "I told him, Barbara."
Bobbie:  "Oh God."

Bobbie:  "You alright?"
Luke:  "Not really."

Bobbie came in to find Luke sitting on the sofa, in the same place he found her after she found out about Carly.  She was about to warn him about Lucky when Luke told her that Lucky knows everything.  She then realized that he was sitting there hugging a pillow and the look on his face says it all.  She sat as well, then gathered herself and asked some questions.  Is he going after Lucky?  No.  If he's ever to get his son back, he's got to let him go now.  Should he tell Laura?  "No way in hell."  He's not going to drag her into the middle of this when, for now at least, Lucky's only blaming him.  At the same time, it will save him from facing her reaction when he's so recently faced his son's wrath.  But you know she's going to be angry with him for keeping all of this information about her sons from her--for forcing her to be a bad mother by being absent when she was needed.

He went to the mantle and touched the family photos.  Bobbie then told him--in what was, perhaps, not the best example of timing--that he should stop protecting her.  But she was right.  Laura should know.  But she told him that she was sorry.  He said that he was too, and began to cry again.  He covered his face with his hand, as if he couldn't bear anybody else--even his sister--to see his pain.

C.  Lucky

Meanwhile, Lucky was at the bus terminal getting a one-way ticket out of town.  On Tuesday, we found that he had slept the night at the terminal, rather than taking a bus.  When the policeman woke him, he claimed that he was over 18, had missed the last bus and was waiting for one this morning.  But when the officer left, Lucky took off as well.

Lizzie:  "Lucky, you've been the best friend I could've ever ask for.  You were around through the worst thing that has ever happened to me.  And you never flinched, and you never looked away.  You were solid.  You were someone I could depend on, someone I can trust.  And I want to be the same for you.  And I can be.  You just have to let me."

Lizzie:  "Lucky, do me a favor before you go."
Lucky:  "What?"
Lizzie:  "Don't."

He went to Lizzie's--I knew that he wouldn't be able to leave without seeing her.  He had helped her through her rape, and now she would be the person I would choose to help him deal with his mother's.  But he wasn't looking for help; he was there to tell her that he was leaving.  And of course he couldn't leave without saying goodbye.  But she told him that he couldn't tell her anything that would be worse than her own rape, and that she wants to be there to help him the way he had helped her.  He didn't want to tell her because it was about rape.  But after her appeal, he did.  He told her that what he had wanted was the name of the guy who raped Liz.  What he got was the "consolation prize"--the name of the guy who raped his mother.  When she asked if he meant Stavros, he said, "My dad."  He thought that she would think it disgusting or sick, but her response was that it was sad.  And then she asked him not to go.

Lucky:  "Yeah, I'm sure she could.  She must have some story she's been selling herself all these years.  But I don't want to hear it. Besides, it's the first place my dad would look."

She thought that he could go to North Carolina to see Laura, but he refused.  She thought that Laura might have answers, but Lucky said that she would only have self-delusion.  The thing is, Lucky's right to be angry.  He's right to be confused.  And he's absolutely right to tell his father exactly what he's feeling.  But that truth-telling is hampered by Lucky's own emotions.  He sees things only as black and white right now, and he's taken Lizzie and Laura's experiences to be the same, leaving no room for his parents to have individual experiences--not allowing for any explanations or understanding.  It would take a long time for him to come to terms with this, and these initial stages would be pure pain to watch.

Lucky didn't want his father to find him; it didn't dawn on him that Luke would give him some space and time, because, again, Luke was either good or bad, black or white.  He had lost all sympathy and objectivity for his father, and he had wiped all memory of the good things out of his mind.  But Liz didn't want him to go, and she invited him to stay there.  They move inside, because nobody is home.

D.  Luke and Lucky

Luke then arrived at the door.  He's not there to see Lucky; he's not looking for Lucky.  He's there to ask Lizzie to be a friend to Lucky because he will need one.  He was calm and quiet.  Lucky steps out from behind the door, a cold look on his face.  Liz leaves them alone, and they step back out onto the porch.

Lucky:  "What the hell are you doing here?"
Luke:  "She knows?"
Lucky:  "That's right, 'cause I don't lie to people I care about and I don't protect men who rape."
Luke:  "For God's sake, Lucky, I'm the same man I was yesterday, I'm the same person you've known all your life."
Lucky:  "Do you really believe that?"
Luke:  "Yes!!"
Lucky:  "The man I knew would have never done this.  The man I knew protected my mother; he didn't degrade her."
Luke:  "I raised you, and I have always honored my wife.  We created order out of chaos and we've been faithful to each other for 16 years and you will not diminish that.  You ask her.  She'll tell you it's been a good life."
Lucky:  "Well, that makes her just as twisted as you are.  And you know what?  I hate you both."

Luke:  "All right, you hate me. You think you have that right.  Ok, I can take that.  But you remember why you hate me.  Because you love your mother.  And don't you ever take this out on her, because she paid enough for that night.  You have no idea what happened to her."
Lucky:  "I know exactly what happens to a woman when a man forces himself on her."
Luke:  "You know nothing!  You know what happened to Liz.  It's not the same."
Lucky:  "Yours is even sicker."
Luke:  "And you're qualified to make that judgement?"
Lucky:  "You bet I am."
Luke:  "Who told you?"

Lucky:  "Why do you care who told me?  Lookin' for someone to blame for the mess you've made?"
Luke:  "No.  But if this is how it's gonna end up between you and me, I deserve to know who started the ball rolling."
Lucky:  "Well, come on.  You're the expert on angles.  Figure it out.  Who knows everything about my life before I do?"
Luke:  "Son of a..."
Lucky:  "That's right.  A little Cassadine, my brother Nikolas, told me.  And Stefan told him.  Now, I wonder who told Stefan?  Mom? Kinda makes you wonder, don't it, was she kidnapped by the Cassadines, or was she rescued?"

This scene was just as painful as the one on Monday, because of Lucky's reactions.  Again, he's leaving no room for understanding, no chance for grace, and his anger his spilling over onto Laura.  And Luke spoke the truth--that he shouldn't take this out on his mother, that it wasn't the same, that he was, etc.  He's right to question Lucky's right to judge; he knows Lucky has every right to be angry, but to judge where he doesn't know everything?  Lucky has heard about that night, but he doesn't know what his parents were like back then or what they went through immediately following.  But Lucky wasn't listening.  And while Luke could leave him alone for a bit, when faced with him accidentally he couldn't simply remain quiet.  He had to defend himself.  More importantly, he had to defend Laura.  Because now, on top of everything else she has faced because of what he did to her, now her son was declaring his hatred for her.  And the other blow, perhaps worse because he didn't do anything to bring it on himself, was the knowledge of the possibility that Laura told Stefan about that night.  That she confided in another man--his enemy.  And it brought him one step closer to having to admit the possibility that there was more to Stefan and Laura's relationship than she had admitted to in the past.  I think Luke can deal more easily (though it's not easy) with his own transgressions.  He's used to living with the fact that he's hurt Laura.  But he doesn't do well with transgressions against him, especially when they are Laura's.  The set up for her return was wonderful, but I was glad to have only father and son to deal with at this point.  Guza was using Genie's absence in marvelous ways, and I wouldn't have had her come back any sooner.

One last note?  I loved that he had to stop himself from ending that phrase--son of a bitch.  Practically speaking, that was for the censors.  But it fits, because if Luke were to finish calling Nikolas the son of a bitch, who would be the bitch?  And Luke doesn't allow himself to be angry at Laura.  Or at least he tries not to.  This clearly wasn't planned, but it was a nice, inadvertent commentary on the way Luke puts his anger about the situation onto the Cassadines, unwilling to face his anger at Laura.  I can't wait until circumstances don't allow him to do that anymore.

E.  Bobbie and Elizabeth

On Wednesday, Lizzie was at the hospital looking for Lucky.  She told Bobbie the general outline of what had happened, and Bobbie simply asked her to have a little patience for Luke and what was going on.  I think she very rightly didn't want Lizzie to feed Lucky's rage, and was worried about Lizzie as well.  She wanted to help Elizabeth understand, but I don't think she can do that right now any more than Lucky can; she knows even less than he does, and she's getting it all through Lucky's filters, combined with her own.  Lizzie went from there to The Outback, where she had to suffer through Sarah's whining about Nikolas.

F.  Luke Visits the Cassadines

Luke:  "Why are you on the planet?  Why do you exist?  Is it necessary?  And are there any crimes for which a juvenile shouldn't be punished as an adult?  This is what I ask myself."

Whatever he told Lucky, Luke did blame somebody else, because he couldn't handle taking all of the blame himself.  He chose to blame Nikolas.  There was a bit of outrage at Luke for this next scene, but I found it to make complete sense.  Luke is angry--perhaps as angry as Lucky--at himself, at his son, and at Laura.  But he knows that he should face the consequences, finally, and can't allow himself to be angry with his family right now--he's too worried that he's going to lose them over this.  So he turned not to Stefan, whose relationship with Laura he fears, but to Nikolas.  Nikolas has always been perfect location for Luke's rage; he has always been the symbol of rape.  He was a child of rape--and if he wasn't, that's even worse.  He's a reminder of Laura's connection--which Luke is afraid of understanding--to the Cassadines.  He's a threat to Lucky, a rival to him for Laura's love.  Finally, Nikolas is the stand-in punching bag for everything that Luke can't bear to aim at Laura.  Luke had softened, just a bit, when Nikolas was hurt.  But the scene in the ambulance is now only a thorn in Luke's side.  He can't afford to see Nikolas's side in this.  He must simply see Nikolas as a Cassadine, and as a symbol of a whole mess of ugliness.

Luke: "What happened Nikolas?  After your stroke, which left you mute, you had so much poison in your mouth that was drippin' off the pointed tips of your forked little tongue?"

Nikolas:  "Laura was raped, but certainly not by my father."
Luke:  "DON'T GO THERE!  If you live long enough to be a redwood, have as many lives as your bony hag of a grandmother, you'll never understand one moment between my wife and me.  And particularly not that moment.  You think you know me?  You think you understand something about me, Nikolas?  You know nothing."

Luke:  "You know, there was a moment there where I...I actually thought I liked you.  Boy, that was confusing.  But no more.  Now I know who you are.  You are my enemy.  And I know how to treat an enemy.  Three times now you've almost lost your life, Nikolas.  And I gave it back to you.  On that mountainside in Switzerland, in the parking lot in front of my club, and just now.  Three times.  There won't be a fourth."

Nikolas was on a balcony at Wyndemere when Luke came up behind him, commenting on the distance to the ground.  He accused Nikolas of telling Lucky to hurt him, to hurt the Spencers.  Nikolas, in response, threw the rape back in Luke's face--not a smart move, but it's the way Nikolas is dealing with his own actions.  He knows he did a hurtful thing in telling Lucky, but he hangs on to the justification that he was setting the record straight and defending his family's honor, while at the same time taking Luke--the man who hurt his mother--down several notches.  The sad thing is that Nikolas is defending a story that is still a lie.  He doesn't know the truth about his own life.  The comparison with Lucky, when Nikolas finds out, may be exactly what brings them together.

Luke continued to threaten and bully, but Nikolas held his own, managing not to look too afraid.  Finally, Luke said that he would never save Nikolas's life again, and I was hoping that we wouldn't have to have Nikolas hurt again to find out.

Luke:  "Hatred is never too much of a drain for us.  In fact, I find hating your guts invigorating.  It agrees with me."

Luke began to leave and was stopped by Stefan--perhaps the last person on earth he wanted to see.  Stefan had let his boat go, and they began one of their typical verbal exchanges.  But emotions this time were running too high.  Stefan was chafing at the sight of the man for whom Laura left him, and Luke was itching to hit something...someone.  And where Nik kept his cool and gave Luke no reason to swing, Stefan did not.  Nor did Luke, for when Stefan threw the rape in his face, Luke swung.  But in fact, Stefan landed the first punch.  The argument turned into a physical altercation, and Luke's face bled when they separated from the chokehold in which he held Stefan when Lucky arrived.

One of the comments Luke made elicited a lot of response.  He claimed that Stefan had always used children in his war against Luke, and cited his telling Nikolas the truth about the rape as the latest example of putting a child in the line of fire.  Luke's done the same with Lucky, but Stefan has used Nik repeatedly, as well as capitalizing on Lulu's illness for his own timetable of returning to Laura's life and using Lucas, albeit mildly, to gain Bobbie's hand, which we've been led to believe was at least in large part an attack on Luke.  Luke may be hypocritical in saying so, and he may have put things a bit more harshly than I would, but I think he spoke the truth.  And he said that now, Stefan had used Nikolas to get at Lucky to get at him.  To Luke's mind, it was all planned from the beginning, down to the timing.

Lucky:  "You ok, Mr. Cassadine?  I really wouldn't care if he broke your neck right now, I just wouldn't want that to be what he goes to jail for."

Luke:  "You have no right to be ashamed of me, boy."

Luke and Lucky fought back and forth then, but only verbally.  Lucky asked after Stefan's health, only to provoke his father--I don't believe for a minute that he'll abandon everything his father has told him, and he has good reasons of his own to distrust and dislike the Cassadines.  I'm sure that he knew he had been right that Luke would blame something else, but where he saw something disgusting and hateful when he looked at his father's blood-streaked face, I saw the desperation.  He wouldn't go back in the same boat as his father, and Luke had to leave his son on Spoon Island and return alone.

G.  Bobbie and Lucky

On Friday, Bobbie went down into her basement.  She spoke to Lucky, who was out of sight, saying that if he wanted to sleep upstairs he should let her know.  She left him some money and headed out until he came out from hiding and stopped her.  He said he would stay if they didn't talk about his father, and she agreed.  She wanted to talk about it one time, and then she would let it go.

Bobbie:  "When would you have liked to have known?  When you were six?  Twelve?"

Now, Bobbie caught a lot of flack for defending her brother for this.  But she wasn't defending him for raping Laura--she never has.  But Bobbie is a mother, and knows the value of family.  She's also, besides Laura, the person that knows best that Luke is flawed.  But she doesn't want Lucky to be without family, and she wanted to say the things that he wouldn't admit to himself.  She was doing this as much Lucky as for her brother, and I was glad to see her do it.  She appealed both to his emotion and to his logic, but Lucky still insisted that his father was a rapist and a hypocrite.  Bobbie pointed out that Lucky can't know what Luke has been going through for the past 20 years, nor can he know what went on between Luke and Laura before and after the rape.  But the only fact Lucky thinks he needs is that Luke raped his mother.  And he won't let her or anybody else convince him that there's anything else to be considered.  Bobbie told him that he had a right to his anger, but not to his spite.  It's clear, though, that Lucky has appointed him judge and jury.  And that I don't agree with, as much as I understand it.

Bobbie:  "I know you think you lost the father you adored and the family you believed in.  Luke never claimed to be perfect.  You wanted him to be..."

Then Bobbie spoke the most amazing line.  Yes, Luke has encouraged his son's hero worship.  But Lucky has been a participant in that.  And just as Luke and Stefan wanted Laura to be perfect, Lucky wants the same from his father.  Yes, Lucky is disappointed.  And yes, he even should be.  But when he calms down, I hope he can see the value of Bobbie's advice.  After all, father and son could have an even stronger bond when they see each other as they really are--Luke is not a hero and Lucky is not a carbon copy.

Bobbie had said her piece, and she knew that she shouldn't push her points with Lucky at this point; she'd only alienate him.  So she repeated her offer for him to stay there and he agreed.

H.  Luke and Nikolas

Nikolas:  "If you're here to threaten me, don't bother.  I understand that I'm your enemy and that you'd kill me without a second thought.  The only reason that you hesitate is because you know my Uncle would kill Lucky in return."

On Friday, Robin left Nikolas saying that she had something to do and agreeing to meet him again.  Nikolas stayed behind, reading Laura's letter until Luke approached behind him.  He spoke to him very calmly and matter-of-factly, and Luke assures him that this meeting was an accident.  But Nikolas didn't just leave it at that.  He instead commented on Laura's letter, knowing that it would gall Luke to know that his wife was writing to him, and said that it was better that he doesn't know how to write her, because then he'd just tell her about his own injuries and the fight with Lucky.  He said that perhaps the reason Laura wasn't there was because all of the people she loves hurt each other--very profound.  But Luke won't grant him the point; he says that Laura is out of town because a Cassadine wrecked her mother's mind.  Nikolas asked him why Luke was angry with Nikolas for telling Lucky the truth when he himself used the Cassadines' crimes against Nikolas all the time.  Luke said that he didn't know Nikolas knew.  Nikolas said that Stefan had told him the truth when he was trying to explain Luke's hold over Laura (And that makes it right?  Both sides have been guilty of such propaganda and lies I wouldn't blame Nikolas and Lucky for leaving town.) and why Laura will never choose Nikolas over her other family.  He then explains that he knows why Luke despises him--and he actually verbalizes what Luke has never admitted.  He said that he was a child of rape in Luke's eyes, and that's why Luke hates him.  Luke will not admit it, but I hope that some time he'll hear the wisdom in Nikolas's words.

Luke:  "You remind me of nothing...apart from all the other Cassadines I've exterminated.  And if you remind me again, you just might join that hapless heap of swarming insects."
Nikolas:  "And Laura would forgive that too."

This was a sad scene.  Nikolas spoke much of the truth, and I think he realizes the tactics that have gone on in both families.  And he is willing to face Luke calmly and rationally.  But the sad part is that he has to know all of this, and that he has to worry about how to deal with two men who are quite willing to kill each other.  And that he truly believes such negative things about his own mother--that she's given him no reason not to.

After Nikolas left, Luke turned and looked at the fountain and the place where Lucky found Lizzie.  I assumed that he had come to be in that place again.

I.  Luke and Lucky

Luke entered his club at the end of Friday's episode, sent the employees away, and took a shot of whiskey.  At that moment, the strains of "Rise" sounded.  He whirled around and saw Lucky, who tossed him the CD case and walked out.  Luke watched him go, then rounded the bar, stopping to pick up the bat he keeps behind it, and pounded the crap out of the CD player.  But the music didn't stop, it sounded warped and perverse.  And Luke proceeded to take the bat to stools, walls, the bar...and finally to his own reflection in the mirror above the bar.

It was a brilliant scene, well written and well played.  But some new viewers may not realize just how brilliant it was.  An acquaintance of mine on another board told about this scene and the SWATCH behind it.  In the months after the rape, the song "Rise" appeared several times.  At one point, Luke had to change the jukebox while he and Jennifer Smith were out on a date because the song came on.  And he often would play it to torture himself.  But there are two incidents that, combined, make this current scene so smart.  1) At one point, Laura came home and turned on the radio to hear that song.  She through the appliance to the floor and smashed it, but it continued to play, warped in the same way.  2) One night at the disco, Luke was standing by watching Laura and Scotty dance slowly together.  Unable to stand it any more, and willing to bear the pain of hearing it himself, he switched the record to "Rise" and began to dance with Jennifer in front of Laura.  She couldn't take it, and she left the floor.  Later, she reprimanded him for doing such a thing and he apologized.  But the effect of that scene was great, just as this one.

IV.  The Quartermaines

A.  Edward

After dismissing Helena on Monday, Robin ran into Justus and Edward.  Justus ignored Edward and greeted her, and she commented on his new life with Jason; from anybody else, such a comment that he looked well in his new job would have been sarcastic.  When she was gone, Edward asked Justus about the baby.  Justus answered briefly, refusing to open up to Edward on that or any subject.  The reason became clear as Edward commented on the timing of their meeting and Justus acknowledged that it was the anniversary of the night he killed Damien Smith (2 years ago).  Edward wanted to cast their encounter as a second chance, but Justus would have none of it.  Edward talked about Mary Mae and the legacy she left, contrasting it with the way Justus was leading his life.  He asked Justus to come back to the family, and Justus refused.  Edward grew irritated and announced that he would not lose his great-grandson the way he had lost Justus.  Justus called after him, warning him not to get involved.

On Tuesday, it was made clear that Edward hadn't listened to him (was there any doubt?).  He aired a live broadcast out of the Q mansion asking for information on Michael and offering a five million dollar reward.  The others entered, and AJ lit into Edward immediately, saying that he had done more harm than good.  Alan and Monica joined in, but it seemed from the start that the consequences would speak for themselves.  The first crank call came in.  Ha!  I have to say that the progression of nutballs on the line was actually amusing.

Taggert:  "Some old jackass went on TV this morning and yapped about the kidnapping in direct violation of our orders."

Edward:  "Now you're thinking like a Quartermaine."
Monica:  "Like an idiot."

Edward actually called the police to see if his plan had worked, and Taggert's response (above) cracked me up.  I wanted more of Taggert and Edward as this thing went on!  Off the phone again, AJ chided Edward again, while Alan agreed.  Terry pointed out in her update that Alan's opinion changed several times in the course of the discussion.  Nobody seemed to notice.  Another call came in, clearly fishing for the money, and everybody was laughing as they heard Edward's side of the conversation.  Emily entered, though, and they stopped laughing.  They tried to reassure her, but they had to tell her that Michael was missing, and she was clearly upset.  Edward launched into another tirade about Jason, but then pointed out that somebody knew something, and they would find Michael if they were only persistent.  But instead, they had another crank call.  You had to admire the old man's determination, though.

C.  Alan

On Wednesday, AJ was manning the phones for all the loony calls in response to Edward's broadcast.  Keesha praised him, and then Alan interrupted them, announcing lunch.  AJ asked him to watch the phones in his place, and Alan agreed, popping some pills instead of answering the phone once they are gone.  When we returned to him, he was talking with one of the callers, telling them all about his problem.  I had waited a long time to hear Alan talk honestly about his problem, and this seemed like a bit of a rip-off, but we did get to hear him struggling with his admission.  Finally the person gets off the phone, and AJ entered.  Alan asked him about the line he was just on, not telling him what had happened, and AJ told him that was the police line, monitored all the time.  Alan looked horrified.  I was too, since the whole thing seemed contrived.

D.  AJ

I'll skip over some AJ and Keesha crap.  Suffice it to say that she was heaping on the praise and he was getting big-headed about his role in the family and taking down Ned.  Now, as I've said before, Carly and AJ carried last summer for me, and I was softening to him even before Kanan left.  But with Warlock, AJ won me over...for a while.  Now there's no sense of him trying to keep a distance from his family--no sense that he's trying to prove something to them while still acknowledging the bad things about them.  He's simply playing the game again.  I'm back to hoping that he gets exactly what's coming to him.

V.  Mac and Felicia

On Wednesday, Tess was chatting with her boss when Robin and Brenda arrived, looking for Mac.  She told them that they were upstairs in the apartment, and that she was about ready to get them if the bar grew any busier.  Upstairs, Felicia, Mac, and V told Jax what they knew and what they suspected.  When they brought Jimmy out of the closet, the last of Jax's doubt faded.  Jax claimed to know nothing about Cape Endowments or about anybody in particular who would want to kill him.  I was wondering, personally, whether he knew more than he was saying, especially when he insisted that the authorities were to be kept out of things.  Mac was hesitant, but in the end they all agreed.

Brenda and Robin arrived and cleared the room.  Jax stayed behind as they headed downstairs, but Brenda said she was there to talk to V.  She wanted to kidnap Jax for a surprise and needed to know that his schedule was clear (translation: V, clear his schedule!).

Downstairs, Felicia continued to taunt Tess about the job.  When she goes off to clean a table, Robin confronted her Uncle about his tabloid story.  When Felicia defended him, she scolded her too.  Yawn.

On Thursday, Felicia announced that Maxie and Georgie were coming home and that they had to downplay the engagement.  They've decided to stick with it because of Tess.  Speaking of Tess, she arrived shortly after and we had more of the same.  Maxie and Georgie arrived, thrilled to death about the wedding, and Tess wondered at the fact the children didn't know before this.  Again, surely she would know by now that something was up!  Yawn again.

VI.  Brenda and Jax

On Thursday, V and Jax arrived at The Outback with his list of possible killers and chat about the dummy corporation.  But when Jax asked about the calendar, V announced that she had cleared his calendar.  Brenda approached, and told him that it was her doing, and that she was taking him somewhere.  He guesses the museum and the opera, and I just rolled my eyes.  She puts him on a jet and he protests her spending her money again.  I don't protest it; I'm just tired of her equating money with romance.  They have one serious moment when she asked him what he thought about her state of mind, and he assured her that he was convinced that she was over her breakdown.  Gee, that was easy.  She put on a dress and showed him that she had brought him his tuxedo.

In the most nauseatingly repetitious scene yet, Friday found Brenda and Jax in a game of cards with his wealthy friend Teo (from their wedding trip) and some obnoxious rich lady.  I'll just cut to the chase and tell you that Brenda bet Jax and won a huge bracelet.  Surprise, surprise.  This is such lazy writing I'm insulted.