Volume I, Issue vi

February 1999

PC in Review by Amy McWilliams

Port Charles

The Light-the-Firehouse Gang

• Scott asks Lucy to continue living at the firehouse, and she reluctantly agrees. (12/2)
• Eve goes to visit Scott in jail and runs into Lucy, who awkwardly apologizes for blaming Eve for the murders. Eve learns from Scott that Lucy will be staying at the firehouse. (12/2)
• Scott gets out of jail, and he takes Lucy to Mario's, where Kevin and Eve are having dinner. Lucy wonders if Serena will be confused about Lucy's relationship with Scott if she stays at the firehouse, and tells Scott that he wants to be with her because she is a part of his past--is safe. (12/7)
• Karen tries to make Christmas happy for Serena, who's upset that Scott and Lucy aren't there. Karen, Lee, and Gail don't tell her about Cooper. Serena asks about Joe, and Karen lies. Later, she tells Lee and Gail the truth about Neil, as well as Courtney and Joe's plan to get him back. (12/29)

Most of the action for these characters would come with the aftermath of the General Homicide storyline. At this point, Lucy was still unwilling to choose Scott over Kevin completely, and Scott was determined to convince her. His willingness to use almost any means necessary irritated some, but Scott has always been bull-headed once he decides what he wants. And right now, for better or worse, he wants Lucy. I'm convinced that, whatever his reasons, he does truly love her--so much so that I don't see this turning out with a simple partner-switch again back to the way things were. I predict Eve will end up with Chris when and if Lucy and Kevin get back together (which I like to think is inevitable, though I could be wrong--and though this current match-up could last for a while). That leaves Scott out in the cold, and I've found myself worrying about him.

Eve and Kevin continue to be adorable, and this mix-and-match storyline makes me very happy. I was sorry to see that we were beginning to get a bit of repetition with the scenes of Lucy and Kevin looking on at the other's apparent happiness, however, and was glad to see our progression away from that in the next month.

Julie and Cooper

• Lee discusses Julie's charges with Kevin, Frank, and Joe. Lee's best defense would be to have Julie declared legally insane. Frank is agitated to hear that Julie would not go free, but that she might spend the rest of her life in a mental hospital. Joe tries to convince Frank that this is the best thing, but Frank meets with a sleazy attorney and asks him to defend Julie. The attorney refuses and tells Frank that the case has no chance. (12/1)
• Kevin visits Julie, who still insists that she's Cooper's sister, Marcia. She blames Victor for killing her mother, and defends Cooper against Kevin's questions about the time he held her captive. Remembering their conversations, she says that he had to do those things to persuade her of the truth, for her own good. (12/1)
• Kevin continues to talk to Julie, and believes that Cooper drugged her into working with him. Later, Julie remembers Cooper's plan to meet up with her if anything went wrong. (12/2)
• Julie remembers that Cooper told her about a place to meet up, and she pretends that she's confused when Frank comes to see her. She apologizes and asks him to help her escape. When he balks, she tells him that she's pregnant with his child. (12/3)
• Frank is shocked to hear that Julie's pregnant, but she makes him promise not to tell anybody, for the sake of the baby. She still wants him to help her escape. (12/4)
• When Gail tells Julie about the flu epidemic, Julie believes that it's part of a plot to kill Frank. (12/17)
• When Gail says that she knows about the baby, Julie tells her that there's something wrong and that she needs to go to the hospital. Gail arranges it, and in the ambulance, Julie smiles when she sees Cooper as one of the paramedics. (12/21)
• As the excitement over the virus dies down, Scott and Garcia hear that Cooper has escaped, Julie never made it to the hospital, and Kevin and Eve are missing. (12/23)
• They don't know that Cooper and Julie have taken the others to Rex Stanton's mansion. Cooper wants Kevin to write a sequel General Homicide--the non-fiction account of the murders. Kevin has managed to bring a phone cord with him, and he and Eve try to remember as many email addresses as they can, hoping to send word about their location.
• Lucy is upset at the news Kevin is missing, and Scott promises to find him. (12/23)
• Julie tells the tale of the murders she committed, and says that she truly enjoyed setting Eve up to take the fall. Cooper informs Kevin that it will be his job to write the ending to the new General Homicide--Eve's death. (12/24)
• Scott and Lucy come to tell them that Julie and Cooper have kidnapped Kevin and Eve. Frank has no information, but he insists on going to help. Scott asks Karen to spend the holiday with Serena. (12/28)
• Kevin pretends to start the new book, but he's really signing on to the Internet to send messages to Serena, Chris, and Victor. (12/28)
• Kevin tries to log on to the PCPD website, but Cooper catches him. (12/30)
• Frank, Scott, and Lucy go to Chris's apartment. He doesn't know anything either, but decides to search Kevin and Eve's computer files for clues. He can't access them, and his email locks up before he can read it. (12/30)
• Greg doesn't like Kevin's ideas for Eve's death, so he decides to "write it" himself. Julie fetches a straight jacket. (12/30)
• Just as Victor was receiving Kevin's email in Greece and phoning the authorities with their location, Chris retrieves his email as well. He goes with Frank, Scott, and Lucy to the mansion, where Garcia and his men are already at work. (12/31)
• Julie has placed Eve in a straight jacket, and Cooper is bricking Eve in behind a wall. Kevin attempts to neutralize Julie, but Cooper zaps him with the stunner he's put around each of their ankles. Kevin lies unconscious on the floor as the PCPD surveys the room by way of a camera put down the chimney. Cooper wants to talk to Lucy when the police call, and says that he'll let Eve go if she'll come in. (12/31)

I can't begin to tell you how boring I've found this storyline since the revelation that Cooper was involved. I'm disappointed that they backed off Julie's being a conscious killer-by-choice, while I do like the connection to the Collins's past. The scenes at the mansion with the brick wall, etc., however, left me yawning. As one magazine said, Cooper was great the first time around, ok the second, and overkill (so to speak) this third time out. At least they didn't haul out a connection to Rex, other than the mansion. It was only to get worse once Julie was imprisoned, but I'll leave that for later.

Courtney and Joe

• Courtney receives word from her in-laws, who are coming to Port Charles to visit Neil. Karen tells Joe that Courtney wants to announce Neil's parentage as a defense against the visit, and Joe decides that it might be the best thing when he sees Mary and Neil together. (12/1)
• Neil tells Courtney that the broken eggs are his fault, but Mary refuses to let him cover for her condition and her mess. Neil asks Mary to come to grandparents' day at his school, and she happily agrees. Neil's grandparents arrive at that point. (12/3)
• Neil is ecstatic to see his grandparents; Courtney is not. They all go to grandparents' day together, and when the Kaneloses start to push Courtney about spending time with Neil, she tells them that Joe is Neil's biological father. Across the room, Karen is encouraging Joe to decide whether or not to tell Neil the truth. (12/4)
• Courtney tells Joe and Karen that she's informed Neil's grandparents of the truth. Karen isn't happy that Courtney made the choice herself, but Joe sees only that they need to tell Neil the truth before he hears it from somebody else. Meanwhile, the Kaneloses went to see Neil at the Scanlon house. Mr. Kanelos asks Mary about what Courtney has told him, and she is shocked. She leaves them with Neil for a minute and goes inside. When Joe and Courtney arrive home, she comes back out to find that they are all gone. (12/7)
• Courtney believes that they have kidnapped Neil. On their jet, Neil's grandparents give him gifts and tell him that his mother will join them in Greece. Mary asks Joe if Neil is his son, and he explains the situation. Mary is happy that Neil is her grandson, and tells Joe that Neil is lucky to have him for a father, which is very important to him. Later, Joe tells Karen what has happened and that he's going to Greece with Courtney to get Neil back. (12/8)
• Joe and Courtney go to Greece. On the plane, an elderly lady mistakes them for newlyweds. Joe calls Karen; he's left some poems for her in her mailbox at work. Courtney reminds him later that she had once left poems for him. (12/9)
• Joe and Courtney help the old lady with her bag, then she disappears. In customs, they are accused of smuggling when the officials find several gold watches in the bag. They're taken into custody and told that they'll be sent back to the USA on the next flight. (12/11)
• On the plane, Joe bribes a caterer for two uniforms and he and Courtney sneak off. (12/14)
• Joe and Courtney see Neil on the street outside a café. Courtney tries to follow him, but his grandmother stops her and denies that Neil is with them. Courtney tells her that Neil needs medical attention, and Joe later schemes to get to Neil on the doctor's appointment Mrs. Kanelos would inevitably make on the outside chance that Courtney wasn't lying. (12/16)
• They tell the café owner that their passports have been stolen, and he gives them a room. Joe calls the hospital and is upset when he can't get through. (12/17)
• News of their escape gets out, hindering their plans to rescue Neil. (12/18)
• When Mary's phone call to Joe is cut off, she decides to go to Greece and find him. Victor insists, of course, on going with her. (12/21)
• The Kaneloses have taken Neil to their private island, so Joe and Courtney stow away on a ship headed that direction. (12/21)
• Joe and Courtney talk about the past, but become afraid when a storm comes up suddenly. (12/22)
• Locked in the hold, they fear they're going to drown until the crewman who brought them on board finally lets them out--only to tell them that the ship is sinking. (12/23)
• The two parents wash up on shore and Joe revives Courtney. He remembers their last romantic trip to Greece. (12/24)
• Joe and Courtney remember Christmas past, and Courtney too remembers their romantic time on a Greek beach. (12/28)

• They celebrate Christmas with Joe's makeshift tree and Courtney's mistletoe, but Joe only kisses her on the cheek. They exchange gifts, and Courtney says that she's still in love with Joe. He tells her that they were once in love and still are bonded by their child, but he now loves Karen. (12/29)
• Now in Greece, Victor and Mary find the café where Joe and Courtney stayed. Victor contacts an old business associate from the toothpaste business for help. While he logs onto the computer to send a photo of Joe and Courtney over the Internet, it falls off the table and breaks, meaning he doesn't get Kevin's email either. (12/30)
• He fixes the computer quickly, much to Mary's amazement, and gets the email. He calls the PCPD with Kevin's location, but worries that he should go home and help his son. (12/31)
• Victor's contact tells them that Joe and Courtney's boat has sunk, with no sign of them. (12/31)

Oh. My. Cow. If I thought the above was bad, this was ten times worse. I haven't hated a storyline on PC yet--until this one. Not even Victor could save my interest in this contrived conglomeration of my least favorite characters. The stuff with the castaways was just insipid, much less repetitious, and the conclusion, with the sudden revelation that Joe can fly a helicopter and the heart to heart with Papa Kanelos at the café, were awful. Why didn't Joe open with that, if it worked so well? And Lord knows there was no need for a tracking device, since the fearsome foursome took Neil back to the very same café at which Mama Kanelos saw Courtney before.

Worst of all? This storyline centered on a powerful family in Greece and there was not a single mention of the Cassadines? Feh.

The Virus

• Frank demands more DL-56 from Chris, who wants him to try a new formula. Frank's not happy. Meanwhile, Matt's suspicious of the time Chris and Frank are spending in the lab together. (12/2)
• Chris give Frank the new formula designed not to cause aggressiveness. Chris notices Frank's elevated immune system. Eve visits, and Chris takes a culture of her flu, later mixing them with DL-56; he tells her that he's working on an herbal remedy. (12/3)
• Chris and Frank meet with someone from Lance Pharmaceuticals and make a deal for DL-56. Later, Frank steals more of the drug, taking the infected vial by mistake. Matt's curiosity continues upon seeing the Lance representative. He goes to the lab, where Chris catches him. (12/4)
• Frank goes to the lab and asks Chris about the possible effects of DL-56 on fertility. Chris realizes that Julie is pregnant. Frank admits to stealing some DL-56. They fight, and after Frank leaves Chris realizes that he took the contaminated vial. He follows Frank to Mario's, only to find that Frank has already injected himself with the mixture. He tells Frank that he needs the vial back, promising to give him more of the regular stuff, but as Frank hands him the vial, he drops it on the floor and it breaks. (12/7)
• Frank complains about the "side-effects" of the new DL-56. Not willing to explain what had truly happened, Chris cleaned up the floor and burned the cloth he'd used. Lark steps into the liquid, however. Frank grows rapidly worse, and Chris tries to tend to him. Kevin comes in to check on them and is amazed to see how sick Frank is. They take him out of the bathroom, and Frank collapses on the floor. Eve wants to take Frank to the hospital, but Chris refuses. When she confronts him, he tells her the truth. Eve wonders who else has been exposed. (12/8)
• Lucy again says that she fears Serena will get the wrong idea about them if she stays at the firehouse. They go home, and Lucy starts to feel ill. (12/8)
• Kevin fears that Frank is contagious and tells Mario to close the restaurant. Chris and Eve, meanwhile, look after Frank. Eve realizes that Lark is showing similar symptoms. Frank has a seizure, and they take him to the hospital. Chris tells Eve that the virus is the Nepal flu on DL-56, after she questions him. Lark has to go to the hospital as well. (12/9)
• Lucy grows worse, and Kevin calls with the news from Mario's. (12/9)
• Scott takes Lucy to the hospital, where Kevin visits her for a moment and gets her to go to sleep. When she wakes up, Scott is there instead, promising to stay with her. (12/10)
• Ellen tells Eve and Chris that the virus is a new strain of the Nepal flu, not knowing Chris's involvement. She begins to become sick as the ER and East Wing are quarantined. Matt wants to come in and help her, but she won't let him. (12/10)
• Meanwhile, Lark enters the ER, where she speaks with Frank. He tells her about the DL-56 and sends her to get some from Chris. Kevin and Ellen stop her from leaving. (12/10)
• Eve and Chris go to the lab to work on an antidote; Kevin follows. Chris passes out before he can give them the details, and drops his tape recorder--the only record of his work--into a beaker of acid. (12/10)
• Scott calls Gail and tells her about the flu. She'll keep Serena until he and Lucy get out of the hospital. (12/11)
• The authorities shut down the lab, and Kevin and Eve lose hope of finding any record of Chris's work. Eve hears that the ER has been quarantined. (12/11)
• Ellen calls Mary and Karen to tell them about Frank. Mary is worried, but Victor convinces her to stay put. Karen, on the other hand, enters the quarantine with Matt; they both wear protective suits. (12/11)
• Karen is shocked to hear from Lark that Frank is still on DL-56. Lark tells her about the new version of the drug that Chris was working on. (12/11)
• Matt decides to inject Chris with adrenaline to revive him enough to give them some answers. Eve protests, since it could kill Chris, but Matt says it's worth the risk of Chris's life to save so many others. Chris tells them about the combination of the flu virus and DL-56. (12/14)
• Karen worries about Frank when he gets worse. She needs to get him some DL-56, but doesn't know how. She tries to remember the formula. (12/14)
• Eve saves Frank's life in the ER. (12/15)
• Lucy, in her delirium, thinks Scott is Kevin. She tells him that it was wrong for her to sleep with Scott, and that nothing could keep them apart. Eve enters and shares kind words with Scott, but later hears Lucy say that she has always wanted to be with Kevin. (12/15)
• Kevin and Karen call Victor, who goes to the computer at the Baldwin lab with Mary to try to recover her data. He can only retrieve part of it. Kevin volunteers to be tested, while Karen tells Lark that she's working on recreating DL-56 for Frank. (12/15)
• After being injected, Kevin comes down with the flu. (12/16)
• Chris gives Matt and Karen more information, and they work together to recreate the formula. They're having some success, but Matt notices that Karen's protective suit is torn--she's been exposed. (12/16)
• Karen strips off her suit and goes back to work, determined to make headway before she succumbs to the flu symptoms. She confers with Eve, unsure about injecting Frank, and Eve tells her that he'll die without the DL-56. Joe would want her to try. Frank immediately improves, but the aggressive side effects return as well. He tells them that Julie is pregnant, and Eve tells Gail. (12/17)
• Karen and Eve wonder if they should inject the other patients. (12/17)
• Eve talks to Matt about the testing of DL-56 on mice. They work with Karen to create a vaccine, finding that the DL-56 had cleared Frank of the virus completely. When told that they needed human testing before the authorities would let them use it on patients, Karen injected herself. (12/18)
• Matt tells Scott that Chris was the cause of the virus, and Scott attacks Chris. Chris has a seizure, but survives. (12/18)
• Scott tells Lucy that Kevin is sick. (12/18)
• Karen improves from the vaccine. (12/21)
• Lucy doesn't understand why Scott is distant until she hears about the things she said while feverish and delusional. (12/21)
• Kevin congratulates Karen and Eve for finding a cure. He and Eve plan dinner at the lighthouse, but Cooper and Julie arrive there, armed. (12/22)

I wasn't much interested in this storyline either, but it did do lots of interesting things for characters. Karen was surprisingly engaging, and I enjoyed all of the combinations of interaction. Lucy's fevered ramblings were great, and I loved seeing Scott punch Chris out just as much as I could have slapped Matt for his treatment of Chris. Chris himself came out looking remarkably sympathetic, I thought, for somebody who was majorly at fault, and I liked seeing Eve stick up for him.

I knew he was doomed when they started giving him lines, but I was very sad to see Mario go.

Frank

• Chris and Karen both refuse to give Frank more DL-56 at separate times, but Karen tells him that she'll help him detox. (12/22)
• Frank is determined to get off DL-56. (12/23)
• Karen helps him, and they talk about their alcoholic parents and her own experiences with drug abuse. Karen wishes Joe would call or, better yet, come home in time for Christmas. (12/24)
• Frank grows angry at Karen's help and steals some pills out of her medical bag, taking them with him when he goes to help look for Julie. (12/28)

I was utterly surprised to see that this was my favorite storyline of December. Jay Pickett did amazing work, and even though Karen got a little preachy, she and Frank were great in their scenes together. Bravo.

Chris

• After narrowly escaping his own virus, Chris learns that he's on suspension and facing a review board. (12/22)
• Matt and Ellen plan to help the patients each celebrate their own holiday, and are amazed when Chris shows up to play Santa Claus. (12/29)

Love Chris in that Santa suit, and the sympathy meter kept rising (only to fall in the next month, I'm sure, for some). Matt and Ellen make me heave.