The Spencers: (cont.)

Laura: "Nikolas."
Nikolas: "How are you?"
Luke: "Interesting timing."
Nikolas: "Hello, Luke. Stefan said that he wanted me to meet him here. He said that it was important."
Luke: "Nikolas, did you know Lucky's alive?"

When Luke began entertaining the thought that Stefan was involved in Lucky's kidnapping, we talked a lot about whether or not he was back to square one where Nikolas was concerned, or whether he was attributing all that anger towards Stefan, with Nikolas only as the motivation. In this scene, and with the last line above, it seemed to me that Luke was wary, but not at all ready to jump back to the beginning where Nikolas was concerned. He wasn't screaming, but asking. And though he should have, perhaps, let Laura ask the question, his tone was not accusatory. He did not demand to know where Lucky was, nor did he beat about the bush. He was straight with Nikolas, and trusted, I think, that Nikolas would be straight with him. There was a respect there that shows these two have indeed made some progress.

Nonetheless, I appreciated the blocking that had Laura standing in between the two men. This time, the line between her two families was not as clear. At the same time, I wondered that we had no reaction from her to Luke telling Nikolas the news. She would have done it differently, I think. I was amused, however, when Laura would later say that Luke would not make accusations that he couldn't prove. I suppose that she meant in this case, because that certainly hasn't held true in the larger scheme of things!

Nikolas: "How could Lucky be alive?"
Luke: "Ask your uncle."
Nikolas: "No, it's impossible."
Luke: "You think? I saw Lucky with Stefan not two days ago."
Nikolas: "So you mean to tell me that this is some kind of hoax, and you think that my family was behind this?"
Luke: "That's right."
Nikolas: "Oh, Luke, if you're lying about this--"
Laura: "No, no, no. He would not lie about--"
Nikolas: "You would lie to me, but you would never lie to my mother."
Laura: "We think it's Helena."
Nikolas: "I will find her and I will make her give him back."
Luke: "Oh, forget Helena. If you've got any pull with your family, use it on your uncle. He's got Lucky now."

Laura: "Stefan's on his way over here? I think you should both go."
Luke: "I ain't going anywhere."
Nikolas: "No, neither am I."
Laura: "Luke, it's better if I'm alone with him."
Luke: "You believe me?"
Laura: "He will tell me where Lucky is."
Luke: "And you'll tell me?"
Laura: "Yes."
Luke: "Immediately?"
Laura: "Yes. Thank you for finding our son."
Luke: "We'll get him back."

Nikolas: "You don't really believe that Stefan has anything to do with this, do you?"
Laura: "Nikolas, I don't know what to believe right now. I just know that--I know that Luke wouldn't make accusations he can't prove."
Nikolas: "But why would Stefan put us through this hell?"
Laura: "I don't know. Maybe it's Helena who's forcing him."

Laura: "And don't tell anybody, especially not lulu."
Nikolas: "What about Elizabeth?"
Laura: "No."
Nikolas: "She loves Lucky so much, and if she knows that he's alive--"
Laura: "Listen to me--we have to make sure that Lucky's safe first."

Laura: "I love you."
Nikolas: "I love you, too."

Stefan: "Laura, I--I have something to tell you. This will be difficult. Perhaps you should sit down."
Laura: "I'm fine."
Stefan: "You may not believe what I'm about to say, but I swear it is true."
Laura: "Lucky's alive."
Stefan: "You know?"
Laura: "Yes, I know. How long have you had my son?"
Stefan: "Who told you Lucky was alive?"
Laura: "Luke. Luke told me he saw Lucky. He saw you with Lucky. Stefan, tell me--where is my son?"
Stefan: "I don't know."

Laura slapped Stefan at this point.

Joan: "I'm just simply reeling after watching today's show...for the third time."

Terry: Laura has just floored me. I realize she wouldn't do such a 180 for no dramatic reason at all, and that she will surely come to rest somewhere other than at her current position, but geez. She's in shock, but golly, she should bear in mind that once something spills out of your mouth, you can't unsay it. Does she seriously entertain the thoughts she spewed at Stefan yesterday? Will she regret them?"

"Now more about my ambivalence about Stefan's part of the Lucky story. This is speeding up nicely, and I loved having another Alexis/Stefan scene about it. Yes, Amy, it's clear that Stefan wants to be a knight in shining armor, but I'm glad you agree that Alexis overemphasizes that point. And it was maddening that he was stalling on turning Lucky over. Yes, he was concerned about Helena, but I think also, he was stalling because once Laura has her son, she and Luke are going to be celebrating together and he isn't sure where he (Stefan) will fit into the equation. So he's afraid. And I can understand that. He seems to know that whatever he does, he can't win."

Amy: "As an aside, you shouldn't be too glad about my reading Alexis's accusations as overemphasis. I still see the ratio very differently than you do, I think."

Terry: "But I guess I just don't get why we're being led to believe that we, as well as Laura, should see this as such a failing on Stefan's part. He's stalling, but he has every intention of telling Laura about Lucky now. (Well, he did until the end of the hour, when Helena got the better of him again) Luke, who is getting all the pats on the head for doing things in the proper order at the proper time, does indeed go to tell Laura without waiting until he has a warm body to deliver to her. But he isn't in all that much hurry, either. He did not rush directly into her arms, but stopped at his office to talk mushy with Felicia and stick his tongue way down her throat."

"Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I thought this was interesting, and kept waiting for Felicia to say, 'What if he didn't exist.' But even before that, though he waited until he saw Lucky with his own eyes, he was in Port Charles, on Helena's yacht, when he overheard Stefan and Andreas talking about where Helena had taken Lucky. Why couldn't Luke have gone to Laura at that point and taken her to the cabin, instead of Felicia? Both men waited, in their own fashion, until their own levels of comfort for telling her this amazing news were reached."

"But when I'm told that Stefan should suffer because he didn't tell Laura immediately, but Luke should be rewarded because as soon as he found out, he rushed to tell her, I have to say that he didn't rush so fast that he didn't have time to wax nostalgic about adventuring with Felicia, and to sit in his office collecting his thoughts (where Alexis came upon him). I'm not faulting Luke, I'm simply saying that I don't think Stefan should be faulted either.

Amy: "I think we're getting too hung up fighting about the details. The bottom line, for me, is that Laura has figured out that she doesn't trust Stefan. I've seen that and believed it for ages. And I thought the scene played out well. We were shown that Stefan meant to tell her. We were shown that it was chance that Luke got there first. We were shown that Laura saw that his reason not to tell her immediately could be, just as Luke's was, that he wanted to protect her. Bottom line: it didn't matter. None of the circumstances, the slight differences, the chances or choices of timing mattered. They all combined to show her and us that she couldn't and didn't trust Stefan."

"And while I understand why you rant and rail about the way this pans out for him--because lots of people online may point at him and say he's wrong, or that he looks bad, or that he's done everything incorrectly where Luke's done everything just as it should be done--I the actual scenes have played out very well. Stefan comes out looking better and more wronged by Laura than I thought he would. And finally, it's a beautiful echo of the times she's wronged him in the past. He wanted to believe that they could have a future together; she never did, finally. And he's now reeling under that realization, just as she is seeing all the things that could have been, had she done things differently where he was concerned."

Joan: "It was wonderful, wonderful. If it makes you feel better, Terry, these scenes have caused me to seesaw again in my sympathy for Stefan. Perhaps it's the meds I'm taking, but maybe it's the writing."

Amy: "I have to ask, do you think that we're being show a Stefan who can't win no matter what he does to get back to the status of 1996? Back then, it seemed like he couldn't win either--that he hadn't a chance. The dynamic is starting to feel that way to me, and it's not just because of Luke's rant about Stefan. The tensions are similar, though Laura has been 'with' Stefan. And I have to say that's what I've missed in the Laura-is-jealous-of-Felicia stuff. Without Stefan directly involved in the tension, romantic or not, of Luke and Laura, it isn't the same."

"And finally, these scenes felt familiar, and I felt like this wronged Stefan was the Stefan I haven't seen on my screen in forever."

V. Luke Tells Roy the News (3/6)

Recording: "Your custom calling feature is working. However, the number you're trying to reach is out of range of your service area or the number you're trying to reach is not compatible with your telephone system."
Luke: "Figures. Figures."

As the day began, Luke took off his coat (he was in short sleeves; he rarely is) and asked again who was there. When he hung up after getting no response, he looked at the phone for a moment before punching *69. He suspected it had to do with Lucky.

Roy: "So you--you didn't find anything?"
Luke: "Roy, I found my son."
Roy: "Oh, my god."
Luke: "Yeah. He was in a cabin. I saw him through the window not 15 feet away from me. He's alive."
Roy: "Oh, Luke. How'd he look?"
Luke: "He looked good, man. Different. I guess he would after whatever he's been through. Maybe he's grown up a little bit."

Roy: "So--so Laura's--Laura's talking to--when did you tell Laura?"
Luke: "Hmm? Just a few hours ago."
Roy: "Ok."
Luke: "Oh, man. She was--well, you can imagine. Her kid's alive. And now there's nothing that matters but getting him back. So, I didn't want to leave her there, you know, talking to Cassadine alone, but maybe she can get something out of him. Me? I'm trying to--I'm trying to track him and the queen of darkness and see where they're hanging upside down and dropping their change these days."

Luke: "Well, just wait for Stefan to make a move or try to pick up Helena's scent. Anything more hostile risks their hurting him. See, that's what makes this so tricky, Roy. These people are quite--quite capable of killing him just to cover their tracks. And I know it makes no sense because they've been keeping him alive for a year."
Roy: "Yeah, he's got to be valuable to him. They've been moving him around. They--they have these guards. They staged his death in the first place. Wouldn't go to all that trouble if you're just going to kill him."
Luke: "You'd think. You know, a few years ago, I staged Laura's death. It was the same idea--fire, a body that couldn't be fully identified. I did it to keep her away from Cassadine and to keep him away from her mother. It's ironic, isn't it? Roy, you say that you never think about trying to escape. Lucky would. I know he would. He would expect me to rescue him."
Roy: "That's what you're doing, right?"
Luke: "That's what I'm trying to do. I just got to find where to look next. Damn it, man, he was 40 miles away. Now he could be anywhere."

Since I always notice things about Luke's office, you won't be surprised to hear that I noticed in this scene that Luke was still sitting in the fairly new desk chair. It's the one that swivels, the one that was added in for the great shot of Faison as he turned around. It's kind of a nice touch that it's still there as we talk about Faison's last "mind boink."

Luke was also drinking water again, rather than slugging alcohol.

VI. Laura Tells Stefan She Can't Trust Him (3/6)

This scene continued from the one the day before:

Laura: "You liar! Where is my son? You take me to him. You take me to him now!"
Stefan: "Laura, I don't have Lucky! I want to help you get him back, but you have to listen to me!"

Stefan: "What did Luke tell you?"
Laura: "Why do you want to know? So you can tailor your story to match his? Why don't you just tell me the truth for once?"

Stefan: "Now, when the police uncovered the link between my mother and Faison, I realized she couldn't have employed him for the sole purpose of killing Katherine. Eventually, I discovered she was siphoning money to an estate in Nova Scotia. I followed her there. That is where I found Lucky."
Laura: "When?"
Stefan: "Early February."
Laura: "Oh, my god. Is that before or after you asked me to marry you?"
Stefan: "I made plans to free Lucky. But by the time I had my people in place, Helena had moved him. It took some time to learn his new location, but as soon as I did, I found it, I went in, and I got him away from her."
Laura: "And you took him to your country house?"
Stefan: "Yes, for a medical examination. I wanted to be certain that he hadn't been harmed in any way."
Laura: "Did you think I was going to love him less if he was?"
Stefan: "Laura, all I was trying to do was what I felt was right for you."
Laura: "How? How could it be right not to tell me that my son was alive? I don't get it! What--tell me. What were you trying to accomplish here?"
Stefan: "I watched you mourn Lucky. I pulled you off those train tracks. I was not going to expose you to that kind of pain again, not till I was sure I could bring him back to you."
Laura: "Yeah, well, if that's true, then I--I should understand. You made a mistake, but your motives were good."
Stefan: "Yes."
Laura: "I don't believe you. I can't."

Laura: "How many times have you lied to me? I can't even keep track. You say that you found out Lucky was alive in February, but you know, I don't know. Maybe you knew all along. Maybe you were the one who hired Faison to take him."
Stefan: "For what possible reason?"
Laura: "I don't know! To make sure that Nikolas had my undivided attention or--or to make sure that the last bond between me and Luke was broken, so that we would never get back together again."
Stefan: "You know, if you remember, just before we heard Lucky died, you had agreed to go away to Paris with me. It was hardly in my best interests to leave you prostrate with grief."
Laura: "But you let me believe that my mother was dead all those years. You let me grieve for her."
Stefan: "I was saving your mother's life."
Laura: "Oh. Right, right, from Helena. You know, it's amazing how much you hate your mother considering what a great excuse she turns out to be. You can do virtually anything and blame it on her. You can even kidnap my son!"
Stefan: "Laura, you can't believe that."
Laura: "It's just as plausible as you going off to Nova Scotia to follow Helena. With you, I can't tell the difference between the truth and a lie. All I know is that I had a family here in this house. I had a husband and a son and a daughter and, yes, you made it possible for Nikolas to save lulu's life, but in return--in return, I lost Luke and I believed that my son was dead. Was that it? Was that the price? I wish you would've just told me. I mean--oh, my god. Not that I wouldn't have paid it, but at least I would've known what I was giving up. And maybe I would've had a chance to say good-bye."

Laura: "And where is Lucky now, Stefan? You must have some idea where to begin looking."
Stefan: "I'm sorry, I don't. I don't."
Laura: "How do I know that that's the truth? How do I know that you're not going to go out of this house and find Lucky and make sure that he never comes back again because he might contradict your story? How do I know that?"
Stefan: "Laura, how can you believe that I would harm your son? How can you believe that? I risked everything for you. I waited for months and years until you were ready to come to me."
Laura: "You systematically dismantled my life until you were the only choice I had left."
Stefan: "It was never my intention to be the man you settled for. I wanted to be the man you loved. I was going to prove that love by bringing your son home to you."
Laura: "Oh. I see. I understand now. So Lucky was a tool for you, a way for you to look good in my eyes."
Stefan: "You're determined to misunderstand."
Laura: "Oh, no, I understand. I understand finally. You're a Cassadine, Stefan, just like the rest of them. Where is Lucky?"
Stefan: "I don't know."
Laura: "Get out of my house."
Stefan: "You're making a mistake, Laura."

Laura: "Oh, god."

Stefan maintained his distance and kept his tone down throughout, except for grabbing her arm on the line, "How can you believe that I would harm your son?" But for Laura to speak of choices now, and of choosing Stefan by default was almost too good to be true. Not everybody felt the same way, as you can tell by our discussion on the following page.

After he was gone, she finally let herself sink down on to the couch, where she whispered the last line and clutched her stomach.

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