Friday, July 28, 2006
Dusty congratulated Holden on the mini Snyder, giving him a bear from Johnny to his future pal. The dads bonded over single parenting. "Feels like somebody slammed a fist through my life and I can't fight back," Dusty whispered as Lucy lurked. At Java, Luke hunted down Damian, demanding the skinny on Bio Dad's pills. Holden offered condolences about Jennifer, advising Dusty to "grab a hold of Johnny" and "hold him tight." Meanwhile, Damian pontificated about getting to know his son "before it was too late." Emotional, Luke hugged him (No, Luke! Run!). Damian stoically thanked him for his love and respect. Across town, Lucy visited Jennifer's grave, wallowed in guilt and said a heartfelt prayer (Nearby, her brother Bryant rolled over). A lurking Dusty seemed to finally be softening towards his ex as she bared her soul to the headstone. Their eyes locked dramatically. Elsewhere, poor Luke was torn about which dad to be there for. Damian magnanimously assured Luke he'd be fine in Malta alone. "If you're going to Malta, then I'm going with you!" Luke cried. He refused to say goodbye to Damian, promising to make Holden understand. "I will not abandon you," he whispered. At the cemetery, Lucy was so frazzled she called Johnny her cousin before telling Dusty to "take care." Dusty then angsted alone at Jen's grave.

At the Lakeview, Simon and Carly flirted over plans for his building. What was Simon's budget? "The sky's the limit!" He ran up to his suite to get some contracting bids and then Katie popped out of the woodwork. "What's Simon up to and how does it involve me?" she demanded of Carly. "Simon has not asked me to spy on you!" Carly assured, laughing. "Give me some credit for brains." She told Katie that Simon hadn't talked about her at all. Katie was less than thrilled but let Carly off the hook. Naturally, she ran into Simon in the lobby. Banter about Carly ensued. Katie accused Simon of having "nefarious" purposes. "What has got you all worked up and in such a frenzy?" Simon wondered. He told Katie there was no going back for them. He'd moved on and he suggested she do the same. He came back to Carly and they commiserated over Katie's suspicions. "Katie's just being Katie," Carly sighed, but Carly could take care of herself. Simon handed over Carly's hefty retainer check and they opened up the winning contracting bid. Kvetching Katie came into the cottage, noting that Mike wasn't paying a whit of attention. Sure, he was concerned for Carly, too, but Katie had to quit stressing. Mike was so smug that she wondered what he had up his sleeve. And that's when Simon and Carly came knocking. You guessed it, Mike was their winning contractor! Surprise!

At Crash, Casey laid out yummy wraps for Lia's memorial and spotted an unenthused Will and Gwen. Casey asked Gwen to sing for the rather unliked deceased. Jade popped up, too (like an unsightly rash). At the Lakeview, Maddie told Henry she was getting some "therapy": going on with her life. He didn't think it was so wise to do that at Lia's memorial. "The whole 'Candle in the Wind' thing seems a little weird," Will noted as Jade spread psycho killer gloom and doom and one of Lia's friends got prickly. Maddie introduced her memorial date, Nate, to a worried Henry before they headed off. When Maddie and Nate arrived at Crash, Lia's pal blasted her. Casey broke it up, asking Maddie what was up while Jade ominously snarked at Nate for bringing Maddie there. Maddie herself admitted to Casey that she was scared "of what I've done to Lia." Uh-oh. Just when Casey was making headway, Will and Nate interrupted. Back at the Lakeview, Henry had a martini and Eve returned with retail therapy and protein bars for their little sis. Eve let Henry have it for letting Maddie go off alone. Will wasn't in the mood for this memorial after Jen's, so he left Gwen there. A self-pitying Jade hit him up for a ride to see Lily's baby. Outside, Nate got smoochy-feely with Maddie and kicked off flashbacks. "Maybe you are a psycho!" he said as she bolted. Gwen sang "All That We Let In" by the Indigo Girls for Lia as, outside, Nate turned around, thinking Maddie had returned. Everything went red as a knife came down....

Thursday, July 27, 2006
Emily found Meg on the Bridge of Angst while out for a run, noting that the redhead seemed a little down. "Is it because of Paul?" "No, Emily, it's because of you," Meg sniped. Elsewhere, Barbara demanded she and Paul come up with a plan to neutralize Emily. After some bittersweet talk about Jennifer, Barbara wanted to know what Paul planned to do about his preggers ex. Meg and Emily snarked back and forth about Paul and Emily walked off with a smile, since Meg was lookin' mighty rattled. Paul said he'd look after his baby but didn't want to destroy its mother. Barbara scoffed, noting Meg was controlling him. (Talk about the pot calling the kettle!) Then, Paul overheard Susan being told her and Emily's spa day was a no-go. He stepped in to "work a little something out." Back on the Brooding Bridge, Barbara sighed over Meg and Paul's defunct romance. Across town, Susan told Emily the bad news: "We're plum outta luck, baby!" That is, until Paul gifted them with the deluxe spa package! Susan wasn't thrilled by the "peace offering." but Emily thanked Paul for being "sweet." Meg wondered why was Barbara so gung-ho about her and Paul. "Did you hear Hal at Jennifer's service?" Babs countered, explaining how Hal had loved his adopted daughter like his own. If Meg turned her back on Paul and the baby, "You're saying no to life." Back at the Lakeview, Susan told Emily to be on guard. "It's a massage, Mother!" she cried, "Taking this is not the same as being taken in!" Shooing off Susan, she asked what Paul was up to. "I want a happy, healthy child," he said. "We can make that happen right?" Hmmmm....

At Oakdale Memorial, Holden introduced the baby to Coma Lily and Luke listened in as Holden praised both his boys. Luke joined his pop and baby bro for quality time at Coma Lily's bedside and Holden told Luke he hoped he'd come home. Cousin Lucy got to hold the baby next and Luke skipped out to illegally use his phone. He rang Damian to update him on Lily and the baby and to tell him, "I have to be at home. I can't go to Malta with you." Damian was not happy and headed to the hospital. Holden and Lucy were hopeful that Luke was finally coming around. In the hallway, Luke explained that his sisters, the baby and his dad needed him. Damian sighed and moved to call his pilot...and a bottle of pills fell from his pocket. Gasp! Damian brushed off the meds as for his "allergies" and left but Luke quickly scribbled down the name of the drug. As Lucy emerged, he asked, "What is this?" "It's a very heavy-duty drug," she informed (sounding very smart). "It's an end-stage hormone treatment...the last resort for someone who is very, very ill."

Gwen and Will were pulled out of their morning afterglow by Jade waving the paper, where Lia's death was headline news. At Java, Lia's friends gossiped about Maddie and Casey jumped to her defense. Meanwhile, Henry was unsettled when "Madeline" got intrigued by the knife at the breakfast table. Jade pointed out that Maddie had gotten slicey-and-dicey recently. But that didn't mean she was capable of killing someone, Gwen protested. "Why not? I did," Will countered. (Oops!) Henry had the waiter remove the knife and then Nate told Maddie about Lia's memorial. Gwen and Will talked about The Rose Incident...which segued into more honesty talk and more Jade lurking. Casey agreed to arrange Lia's memorial at Crash and then ran into Dallas, who warned him to stay away from Maddie. Maddie nixed Nate's offer to take her to Lia's memorial. When Henry suggested she see a therapist, Maddie got defensive. Eve tried to mediate and Maddie realized her sibs thought she was a psycho! Will and Gwen's arrival interrupted Casey and Dallas. Jade was two steps behind as Casey caught his pals up on the Maddie situation. Gwen and Will agreed to go check on Maddie and then show up for Lia's memorial. Casey decided against a sappy message: "Just tell her that I'm with her." Eve and Henry assured Maddie that all they wanted was to help her. Then, "treat me like I'm me!" "The sooner we find the killer, the sooner you can get back to your girl," Dallas reminded a surly Casey. Will and Gwen passed on Casey's message to Maddie. Did she have one for him? "I'm fine and thank you for thinking of me." Later, Jade told Gwen that even the new cop thought Maddie was a suspect. "What if somebody else gets hurt?" she demanded as Maddie blankly agreed to go to Lia's memorial with Nate after all.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006
"We're not trespassing!" Carly told a suspicious cop, who didn't buy it. Sure enough, Simon admitted that he hadn't exactly closed on his building yet. Well, then they were under arrest! Carly and Simon were summarily hauled into the police station. Simon was highly amused by the whole predicament and sure they'd get off scot free. Jack was not. He had Simon booted from the room while he blasted Carly. "You violated your probation!" he reminded, angry that Simon had suckered her. "What I do is none of your business," Carly spat. Peeved, Jack stormed out. On her own, Carly had babysitter issues and was informed that she was spending the night in jail. Just when things looked pathetic, Jack returned and uncuffed her. She was free to go — thanks to Simon, who'd wheeled and dealed with the building's ex-owner! "Well, that was fun!" he grinned. "What next?" Hotwiring a car? Carly couldn't help but laugh. They giggled over their night's adventures...except for the getting arrested part. "Next time, let's just keep it legal," Carly suggested. Jack glowered as the chuckling chums left the station.

Gwen ran into Jade, who told her about Maddie's sketchy behavior. Gwen herself was looking for Will after a "stupid fight" about...Jade. Jade assured Gwen that she and Will were just friends and gullible Gwen bought it. Will showed up with a surprise: He found them (him and Gwen, that is) a home! Will let Gwen and Jade into a fully furnished, candlelit house that used to be Jennifer's. "Sign the lease," sighed Gwen. "I love it." Jade clinched her third wheel status by hugging Gwen congratulations — and making eyes at Will.

At Memorial, Dr. Bob told Lucinda, Lucy and Holden that Lily's baby required a C-section. But there was "significant risk" to Lily. "She could die." Meanwhile, Luke ran into Kevin...who let him have it for ditching him and the gals. "Lose my number, freak!" Kevin spat. When Damian walked up, a tearful Luke was suddenly gung-ho to move to Malta. Damian generously offered to wait to book the trip until Luke talked to Holden. But Luke was chomping at the bit...until Lucinda called with news of Lily's surgery. Holden wasn't sure he could choose between his wife and child but he did pick surgery. "I did what you would've wanted," he told Coma Lily. "Just hang in there, okay?" Luke rushed to the hospital to join his family and Lucy asked to scrub in and observe. "You save them both," Lucinda directed Bob, before telling Luke she was proud of him for coming. Of course, Damian showed up, too. He scowled, Lucinda sneered. Holden gave Coma Lily a pep talk and then Luke offered to wait the surgery out with him. Having lost this round, Damian stalked off. Soon, Dr. Bob and Lucy came out with news: Lily got through okay. Yay! Lucinda and Luke did a little dance of joy. Moments later, Holden brought Baby Boy Snyder out to meet his grandma and big bro.

Susan, Emily and Daniel settled in for dinner together at the Lakeview, glad that Em was out of jail. Not so glad was Paul, who showed up at the Snyder farm determined to make up with Meg. "I'm willing to do anything," he told her as she tried to feed Buttercup the lamb. Paul proved to be better at feeding Buttercup than making his case to Meg. "I'm willing to negotiate for shared custody," Paul told her. "We'll hammer something out." But Meg wasn't won over as fast as her fleecy friend. Paul assured her he'd change. He wanted "Plan B," a life with Meg and joint custody of Emily's baby. "Marry me," he asked her, pulling out a ring. "Make a life with me." (Has Meg seen his track record?) She wasn't so hot on the idea. (That answers the previous question.) Paul gave her a spiel about waking up next to her, cooking breakfast and making love 'till dinner but Meg was wary. "I need to back up," she told him, and he needed to work things out with Emily on his own. Meg even refused Paul's offer of a long engagement. "I need to trust you before I can give you my heart."

Then, Anastacia's "Left Outside Alone" highlighted Gwen and Will christening their new place as Jade lurked outside, Meg cuddling a baa-ing Buttercup, and Paul walking out of the Lakeview after watching Daniel touch Emily's pregnant belly.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006
At the cottage, Carly 'fessed up to her and Simon's new partnership. Simon himself arrived at the Lakeview, dressed to kill and prepping things for a special lady. He ran into Lucinda, who suspected said lady was Katie. Simon scoffed. He was wooing his new designer, Carly. "I'm just trying to enjoy my life," he assured, before kissing Lucinda and thanking her for caring. "With a kiss like that, you might just get the right girl," she teased. Katie and Mike told Carly that Simon was legitimately rich but still couldn't be trusted. Carly explained that her pattern of dependency on Jack had to stop and, "that's why I need to take this job." Then, Simon called, ordering her to meet up. Katie warned Carly (again) while Mike offered his support. Later, on their Deck 'o Love, Mike and Katie had brewskies, discussed Simon, and smooched. Carly arrived at the Lakeview in a cute green dress. Much flirting with Simon ensued. They had the "I'm not here to break up Mike and Katie" talk, complete with Simon admitting he did love his ex, but was "pretty much" over it. Okay, but if Carly heard the name Katie again, she was gone! Elsewhere, Mike and Katie used construction as a metaphor for their relationship. "We're structurally sound," Mike assured. But what about Hurricane Simon? "Nothing is going to mess up what we have," he promised. Simon and Carly drank bubbly and talked about his property but Simon hit on a better idea: They'd break into his building; he'd teach her how! Mike and Katie did the deed on their deck and were still talking about Carly and Simon...who picked the building's lock in a dirty Freudian fashion. Naturally, an officer caught them trespassing (and giggling)!

Dusty and Johnny brooded on the bridge where Dusty had proposed to Jennifer, missing her terribly. Dusty vowed to start moving on: tonight! (No, not *that* way.) Then, the Donovan duo ran into Lucinda at the Lakeview. Dusty wanted Lucinda to shut down Street Jeans, "the sooner, the better." Big Lucy was boggled by Dusty's desire to close Jen's company but agreed. Then, Johnny got fussy, perplexing Dusty, who'd fed and changed the tot. Little Lucy walked up in a cute black dress, murmuring, "Maybe I can help?" She had a quick fix for Johnny's teething problems — something cold — but no quick fix for Dusty. He bolted. Naturally, Lucy was bummed that Dusty might never forgive her for helping Jen shuffle off her mortal coil. "Dusty needs friends. He needs you," Lucinda told her.

At the Oakdale PD, Casey prickled, realizing that Margo was questioning Maddie. In Eve's suite, Maddie was lying like a rug. Henry strengthened her alibi. They'd been watching Breakfast at Tiffany's, Maddie added. Elsewhere, Tom told Casey to chill. Instead, Casey blasted Dallas for kicking off Maddie's "basket case" behavior. Eve aligned herself with Henry and Maddie so Margo closed up shop. Eve spun on Henry the minute the door shut. Back at the OPD, Margo sent Casey to talk to Officer Matthias as she and Dallas considered Maddie's knife from the car slashing. Margo then told Tom she didn't believe a word of Maddie's alibi. Henry assured Eve that Maddie hadn't killed Lia and they asked their sis for the truth about her whereabouts. Margo was determined to make sure Casey and Maddie stayed apart. "Maybe Casey can help her?" Tom suggested. As they hashed it out, Officer Matthias revealed Casey had flown the coop. At Eve's, Maddie admitted she had no memory of where she'd been (just memories of Lia and Casey making out). "She's hiding something!" Eve hissed, but Henry made her promise to keep mum. Then, Henry let an intense Casey in. "I still care about her a lot," he said. He was on her side no matter what. Henry told Casey that visiting Maddie was a no-go and when he left, Henry informed Eve that Maddie was AWOL again! At the station, the coroner eyeballed Maddie's knife and said a similar one could've caused Lia's wounds. And there was another knife missing from Crash, too — the murder weapon? On the bridge, Maddie and Jade traded threats. Henry and Eve (quite understandably) feared that Maddie had done lost her mind. Margo ordered Casey to stay away from mad Maddie. Jade offered up one last snipe for the road and Maddie noted, "You're mean and sneaky...like Lia."

Monday, July 24, 2006
In the Lakeview dining room, Holden confided in Lucinda about his troubles with Damian, admitting he'd blamed Luke for Lily's fall. At the police station, Damian made moving to Europe sound reallllly inviting but Luke said, earnestly, "My home is here with my family." Carly came to the Lakeview bar looking for her phone and ran into Simon, who made his business pitch to her again. At the country club, Casey found Lia's bloody, naked corpse in the still-running shower. Rattled, he called Margo, kneeling by Lia's modestly-posed remains (who dies with their arms over their chest?). After checking her pulse, Casey covered Lia up with towels, compromising the crime scene, but sparing our eyes. Meanwhile, an erratic Maddie showed up at the Lakeview. Outside the cottage, Katie brought Mike some coffee. They shook their heads over Simon's arrival in town (again) while Simon followed Carly all over the Lakeview bar. "I am not taking your money!" Carly spat. "I'm offering you a job," he clarified. Holden copped to his mishandling of the night of Lily's fall and Lucinda brushed it off. "You gotta rid yourself of Damian and Damian's influence," she advised. Damian was the Maltese devil on Luke's shoulder, urging him to find a place where "you can finally be yourself." At the club, the crime scene guys did their thing and Margo questioned Casey, holding him as he relived the horror. Tom arrived, wondering what the heck was going on. D.A. Dad and Detective Mom realized their son was the only suspect at the moment. Oh, no!

Maddie (Suspect #2) snuck into Eve's suite at the Lakeview but was caught by an irate Eve. Holden would've loved to "drop kick Damian back to Malta," but Luke being Damian's biggest fan made it difficult. "Should Grandmother have a chat with him?" Lucinda posed. Damian answered Luke's phone and blew Lucinda off before springing Luke from jail. Carly was understandably suspicious of Simon's job offer. He had a building he needed her to jazz up and, "I think you have talent and style." Dallas pulled Margo away to talk to the coroner and Casey realized, "She thinks I did it!" The coroner told Margo and Dallas, "My guess, it was a butcher knife." Margo remembered Maddie slashing Lia's car. Showered and changed, Maddie tried to avoid Eve's pointed (hee!) questions about where she'd been all night. Tom assured Casey that Mom was just "in cop mode" and they were all just scared. Dallas asked Casey if he knew anyone who might want Lia dead (Like Rhymes With Caddie?). Henry arrived and he and Eve double-teamed Maddie. "I went for a walk," she kept saying. Then, Margo arrived to question her! Mike kept working on the deck — and Katie — as Simon and Carly did a little working of their own. "Katie's not going to be okay with this," Carly pointed out. After some more back and forth, Simon told her, "I can't promise you success, just a shot at it."

Holden and Lucinda snarked about Damian but refused to give up on winning Luke back. When Damian and Luke arrived for food, Lucinda assured Damian that she wasn't havin' his shenanigans. Margo told an evasive Maddie that they'd found Lia stabbed to death, warning her, "Either you answer my questions or we take this downtown, where it gets official real fast." Damian tried to sneer at the Walshes and Snyders from his high horse and Lucinda sneered right back. "I think you love to control your son, but he's smart...and he'll see through you." Luke walked in and, you betcha, jumped to Bio Dad's defense. "You and Dad have shut me out," Luke told her. "You've won the scrimmage, but the war is far from over," Lucinda hissed at a smug Damian. "He can't hurt us," Katie assured Mike about Simon — as a knock sounded at the door. It was Carly, who sheepishly blurted out her new partnership with Simon. Casey got good and riled, assuring Dallas that Maddie wasn't Lia's enemy and wouldn't have hurt her. "Madeline, cooperate with the nice detective," Henry suggested as Maddie flashed back on seeing Lia at the country club the night before when she dropped her bikini top and sashayed toward the shower. She even remembered seeing Lia and Casey nearly naked right by the shower. "I never left the suite. I was here the whole time," Maddie lied, without blinking an eye.

2005 recaps