I. Laura Asks Roy About Luke (1/17)
Roy: "Can you explain to me why she finds these so fascinating?"
Laura: "I think because they're yours and she thinks you're wonderful."
Roy: "Well, trust me, it's a mutual admiration society."
Laura: "I think you help her to miss her father a little bit less. Especially now that he's decided to disappear again. I don't suppose he told you where he was going?"
We cut from Stefan's entrance into Mac's birthday party to these scenes. Lulu has stolen Roy's gloves again. That is just the cutest things--and convenient!
Laura: "I'm sorry. I--I promised myself and you that I wouldn't try to get information out of you about Luke. I--"
Roy: "I know it must be tough."
Laura: "Well, I guess I should sort of be used to it by now. Luke only tells me what he thinks I should know. And the rest I have to sort of take on faith."
Roy: "What's the rest?"
Laura: "Oh, the usual--that he'll keep in touch with his daughter, that he'll come back alive--you know."
Roy: "I know that Luke is a pretty capable guy."
Laura: "I'm aware of that. You know, if I didn't like you so much, you could really start to irritate me."
Roy: "Eviction is always an option."
Laura: "No, no. I just mean that macho code of silence--that's irritating. You know, you keeping Luke's secrets and him keeping yours and what the women don't know won't upset them."
Roy: "Yes, but he thinks that it's making it easier for you. He believes that, so you should probably give him points for trying."
Laura: "I guess I should. I guess I should just try to accept the fact that I'm--I'm not a part of his life anymore. Oh, god, it's so hard to let go. Maybe because I never thought I'd have to."
Now, Jason left Carly on the same day, and I was struck by the difference between these two women. Carly refuses to believe that Jason would ever turn away from her, but Laura has believed that Luke is long gone for what seems like forever.
II. Laura Asks Mac About Luke (1/24)
Laura: "Do you know why Helena paid Faison all that money?"
Mac: "I wish I did."
Laura: "Do you know if Luke is involved in this?"
Mac: "Do you?"
Laura: "I can't help but wonder if that is the reason that he left the country."
Laura: "I could be way off about this, but when he said good-bye to Lesley Lu, there was a look in his eye. I don't know. I tried to ignore it but then I found out about Faison and Helena and--he's up to something. I know he is."
Laura: "You didn't give Faison a chance to tell Luke?"
Mac: "If Luke had stayed out of it, Faison would be in jail."
Laura: "You know, I--I saw Luke that night, come to think of it. And he told me that--that there had been an explosion, that Faison was dead. But I knew that something was off."
Mac: "Something has been way off ever since Luke took off after Felicia."
Laura: "Excuse me?"
Mac: "You didn't know?"
Laura: "Apparently not."
Laura: "My god, he never even said a word to me about it."
Mac: "Maybe I shouldn't have, either."
Felicia: "Would you like a cup of coffee or some tea or something I can get you?"
Laura: "No, I'm on my way out."
Felicia: "Are you sure? I haven't seen you in ages."
Laura: "Sounds like you've been kind of busy."
Laura: "Felicia? If you hear from Luke, will you tell him that Laura says hi?"
Felicia: "Oh, well, I probably won't hear from him. But, if I do, I--"
Laura: "Thanks."
Felicia: "Did Laura seem a little more tense than usual?"
Mac: "Nobody likes to feel shut out."
It was painful to watch Laura find realize that she hadn't been told this important thing. I wondered if she went back in her mind to the scene in which Luke stopped by for her birthday and figured out the timing.
III. Laura and Felicia Duke it Out (1/27)
Roy: "I didn't expect to see you tonight."
Felicia: "Why? Because Luke's not here?"
Roy: "You like to get right to the point, don't you?"
Felicia: "I try to."
Roy: "I noticed that."
Felicia: "I'm not doing such a good job these days."
Roy: "Well, you ask me, you're doing fine."
Felicia: "Ok, then I'll ask you. Have you heard from Luke?"
Roy: "You know, I think if he's going to call anybody, it'll be you."
Roy: "He's always liked to disappear clean. Always has."
Felicia: "Thank you. It's not like he's not coming back."
Roy: "He always does."
Felicia: "I just can't help it. I just wish Luke would call me."
Laura: "Why would Luke call you?"
Laura: "Didn't you tell me that you didn't expect to hear from Luke?"
Felicia: "I was in the middle of a private conversation with Roy."
Laura: "In the middle of my husband's club, where you seem to spend every waking hour these days."
Felicia: "Excuse me?"
Laura: "Well, isn't it just a little inappropriate?"
Felicia: "According to whom?"
Laura: "I don't know. I guess according to me."
Felicia: "What are you, the Luke police?"
Laura: "Well, what are you? You going to sit on that barstool until Luke comes back?"
Felicia: "Who do you think you are? You get on my case in my living room, and then you show up here to do the same thing?"
Laura: "You know, Mac told me about your latest little escapade--"
Felicia: "I know. Mac tells me everything."
Laura: "Where you let yourself be kidnapped by Faison--"
Felicia: "Let myself be kidnapped by Faison?"
Laura: "So who would come to rescue you, Luke? Why don't you depend on your own husband?"
Felicia: "Mac saved our lives."
Laura: "Yeah, well, if you hadn't dragged Luke into it--"
Felicia: ""dragged Luke"? Oh, Laura, my god, you know as well as anybody you can't drag Luke into something that he doesn't want to do. Anyway, who asked for the divorce? And on the same day that his sister was supposed to get married. Do you have any idea the kind of shape he was in when you left him?"
Laura: "I guess you were the one who helped him to pick up the pieces."
Felicia: "Laura, what is your deal, anyway? You get to be with whoever you want to be with, and then he has to sit around and pine about something that happened 20 years ago?"
Laura: "So, you and Luke have become pretty good pals, huh?"
Felicia: "That's none of your business. And for the record, I will see Luke whether you like it or not."
Laura: "And how does your husband feel about that, Felicia?"
Mac: "I'm sorry to interrupt, ladies, but I have a date with my wife."
Laura: "There's a novel idea."
Now, in this round, I have to say that I was on Felicia's side, though Laura looked ready for a fight all dressed in red, while Felicia was caught off guard. She was saying things to Laura that I had long wanted to say myself (that darn picture tube just gets in the way). At this point, I was still sympathetic to Felicia. That would change once Luke returned and they went off to find Lucky together. I was even supportive of her in the scenes where Mac said he new the truth. But after that, it was all downhill.
The look on Laura's face as she realized that she really didn't have much room to speak--that, despite her feelings of jealous and territory, she had gone off with somebody else--was remarkable. But as she grew more and more angry with Felicia, I kept wanting her to identify not with Mac, the partner whose partner left him for adventure with somebody else, but with Felicia, the girl who wants it both ways. She hasn't yet.
For some reason I noticed again that the mirror was back in place above the bar.
Roy: "Can I get you anything?"
Laura: "The garage door opener."
Roy: "Excuse me?"
Laura: "Lulu told me that she put it in your coat pocket because she was worried that you might get locked out in the cold."
Roy: "You got to love that kid. I didn't even notice."
Laura: "Yeah."
Roy: "I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here. Are you ok?"
Laura: "I'll be fine."
Laura managed a smile for Roy before she left.
IV. Luke Comes Home (1/28)
Roy: "I got all the files covered."
Luke: "All of them?"
Roy: "Well, the ones that went back to 1995."
Luke: "Well, that's good because I was saving 1994 and before for the next millennium."
Luke: "I found Faison's assets, some of his contacts, and a chalet on the North Sea. Very gothic, very typical. But nothing that tells me that my son is really alive."
Roy: "So, it was Faison's final head trip, huh?"
Luke: "Yeah, could be. The problem is now I've got this voice in the back of my head that just won't shut up. And it just keeps saying, 'Your kid is alive.'"
Roy: "So all those months you dealt with him, all the cat-and-mouse stuff--I mean, he came this close to executing you, right? And Lucky's name never came up?"
Luke: "Well, no, but I mean--he was a psycho, man. He was waiting for the perfect moment to blow my mind. And he found it."
Roy: "You know, Luke, it pays to be skeptical of people that are accomplished at the arts of cruelty."
Luke: "I was a zombie after that fire. But even so, even though I was out there it didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense to me that my son would go to sleep with candles burning. And even if he did, you know, he wouldn't sleep through a whole raging room full of fire. I mean, we're talking about a kid here who at 6 was running shill games in Istanbul. This kid made his way back and forth across this continent practically alone from the time he could walk. He had instincts. He had survival skills."
Roy: "Yeah, but if Faison was setting out to mess with your mind, I can't think of a better way than to set you up for some soul-killing search for a child you've already buried."
Luke: "What are you saying?"
Roy: "I'm saying you loved your son. You always are going to want him back, you know? And Faison knew that."
Luke: "He hated me. God, he hated me. And I let him find my weakness, my one biggest vulnerability, the one thing that would make me crazy forever. But, Roy, if there's even a shred of a chance--"
Roy: "Yeah. Yeah, no. I know, you got to take it. What are you going to tell Laura?"
Luke: "Nothing. Nothing's change. There's no reason to give her false hope."
Roy: "I don't know about that, Luke."
Luke: "Oh, no, no, I--she's been through enough, believe me."
Roy: "She's tougher than you think."
Luke: "Nobody knows my wife like I do. Nobody."
Terry notes Roy's pants, but not Luke's hat. (Haven't I taught you anything? Or were you just distracted?) Luke's in a hat of the style that always makes me think of a photo of Elton John from the 70s. Notably, Tony Geary wore almost this exact hat in a photo shoot for People magazine, as well as on the cover of Soap Opera Digest once. That was back in the 80s. The hat is grey; the rest is black. I find the chain he has hanging from his belt somehow appropriate as he speaks of the possible trap Faison's "news" of Lucky may have been. He moves to look out the window, just as he did at least once after Lucky's death. He's distracted by telling his story, but he finally sits down and manages, between phrases, to pour a drink. Roy sits on the edge of the desk opposite.
From Terry's update for the details of this series of scenes: "He's back, and speaking in tongues: Roy, scrumptious in black jeans and a simple button-down shirt, is working in Luke's office. The chair in front of Luke's desk (not Luke's chair, but the one where his guests, except Flea, sit) has been replaced by a stool. Luke, in dark glasses, hat, and scarf--guess he's in disguise, too--shows up, carrying an overnight bag and speaking a foreign language--Dutch? Whatever he says sounds an awful lot like "Who da man?" Luke is a study in black, with a huge silver chain running from his belt into his pocket. Luke has traced Faison's assets and such but found no proof that Lucky's alive. Still, he's convinced it's true, he tells Roy."
"Well, actually, he's doing an expository scene in his office: When Luke asks Laura about Luke, Luke is telling Roy about Lucky's death, giving the audience a quick review. They couldn't identify the body, and just used a coin on a chain, he remembers. Roy asks if there weren't physical evidence they could use, such as dental records, and Luke says nothing that could not have been faked by Faison, and that the coin could easily have been planted. Why, Roy asks, and why didn't it come up sooner in Luke's dealings with Faison? Luke talks about it making no sense that his savvy, world-traveling son would got to sleep with candles burning or sleep through a raging inferno. Roy still thinks this could be 'a soul-killing search' for a boy already dead, and Luke agrees that Lucky is his most vulnerable point. He still won't let Laura know about Faison's words, but Roy thinks she's tougher than Luke gives her credit for."
Luke: "My sister around?"
Elizabeth: "Uh-uh. She's saving lives today."
Luke: "Oh, instead of risking them by cooking sauerkraut and corned beef?"
Elizabeth: "With melted Swiss and a touch of Tabasco."
Luke: "Oh. She told you the secret recipe, didn't she?"
Elizabeth: "Actually, Lucky did."
Luke: "Well, that's right. I taught my son all the finer points of fast food haute cuisine."
Elizabeth: "And he passed them down to me. Most of them, I'd never attempt. Some things just stick with you, you know?"
Luke: "I know. For life."
Elizabeth: "And a cream soda with crushed ice?"
Luke: "No, darling, a beer."
Luke: "How did you get yourself sucked into this mess?"
Back to Terry's update: "Nothing fazes Roy, bless him: Flea enters Luke's office, sees his bag on the desk and smiles. She hears someone coming in the back door and calls 'Welcome home.' It's Roy, who tells her she just missed Luke. She tries to come up with an excuse for being there; he saves her by pretending to think she came for a scarf she left behind the night before. He also tells her the tiff she had with Laura was no big deal."
"What do you mean, she's at the hospital today?: Luke, meanwhile, is at Kelly's looking for Bobbie. (I know I'm fixated on the point, but since they inherited the diner, did Bobbie ask for a reduced schedule at GH? Seems a head nurse would work 40 hours a week, but she spends so much time at Kelly's, I can't imagine she is maintaining a full-time job at the hospital as well.) Since she isn't there, he chats with Liz, and they soon begin to reminisce about Lucky. Luke notices the bodyguard lurking outside (Francis is rather conspicuous), and Liz explains that Jason left town and Sorel grilled her about his whereabouts, so Sonny set this up for her protection."