Friday, August 4, 2006
Simon sincerely apologized for hurting Carly, admitting that he invited her to dinner to "make Katie squirm" and he feels awful about it and he doesn't want her to quit. She was softening when Jack came in, oddly called him "buddy" but also noted that he's "rich and shady — no offense," before asking him to go. Carly replied that Jack is the one who should leave and invited Simon to stay. Jack jealously suggested that Carly only made that decision to stick it to him; she responded that her business was none of his anymore. After Jack left, Carly did exactly what Jack predicted, asking the Aussie (still begging forgiveness) to go. "We are both stuck on our exes ... we can help each other get over our hang-ups. I'll forget about Katie, you'll forget about Jack and we'll both be healthy, wealthy and wise," he argued, adding that he wants to build a nice reputation for himself and tempting her with a glamorous trip to New York City on a private jet. She declined anyway and he finally, regretfully, left. He was on the plane later when Carly showed up, having apparently changed her mind and walked right up and boarded a private jet without his notification.

Damian called Lucy on her snooping and voluntarily handed over his medical records, saying, "A dying man has nothing to hide." He asked her to verify that he was receiving the proper treatment, as if she would know. Noting that they both couldn't sleep, he invited her out. She stalled him so she could call Holden to report that Damian's records are "too perfect," as though they were based on textbook research on a terminal disease.

Barbara ran in to a mourning Dusty and volunteered to watch Johnny so the widower could go out and try to take his mind off of the ghosts up in the Lakeview suite. He headed for Yo's, where he was being haunted by the redhead sitting with her back to him when Lucinda arrived to deliver papers dissolving Jen's company (per his request). He asked after Lily (nice touch) and she complained about Damian's influence on Luke, calling her ex-son-in-law an "elegant gangster." She was detailing her plans for the "elegant gangster" ex-son-in-law when Damian arrived with Lucy on his arm. Lucinda went over to dramatically scold her granddaughter, who also played along with the ruse, then accepted Damian's comfort and sexy billiards tips while milking him for info about Luke while Dusty watched suspiciously from the bar. When Lucy came to get a refill, Dusty asked what she was doing "hanging out with a sleazy guy like Damian Grimaldi?"

The killer had just finished holding Maddie down under the Snyder Pond water until she stopped struggling when Gwen randomly showed up and wondered who had called for help. She had leaned in to look more closely at the now-calm pond when Maddie suddenly burst to the surface, gasping for breath. Gwen jumped in and helped her out, then called the police. The sirens were blaring when both Jade and Will ran into each other in the woods, each suspiciously covered in dirt. They realized that if they made their presence known to the cops, they'd have to explain why they were both there — to stop Maddie from telling Gwen the truth. Maddie was seriously freaked out and flashed back to her argument with Will and Jade as Gwen told Margo that that's what she was doing in the woods. She snapped out of it and hugged Gwen to thank her for saving her life. At the police station, Maddie couldn't remember much about her attacker, except that he/she wore pants, a sweatshirt and gloves, all dark. She later confided to Gwen that she thinks it might be someone other than the serial killer who attacked her. When Gwen admitted that she was in the woods looking for Will because of Barbara's warning about Jade, Maddie blurted, "I think one of them tried to kill me to keep their secret." Naturally, Gwen asked a few follow-ups, to which a freaked-out Maddie responded that they wanted her to keep her mouth shut "about the night that they slept together." Meanwhile, Margo was breaking it to Henry and Eve that she wants to keep Maddie for a bit longer. Back at the crime scene, Will and Jade wandered into the scene, having cleaned themselves up. After Dallas brought them in to give their statements, Margo pulled he and Jack aside to confided that she believes Maddie might have set up the attack to take suspicion off of herself.

Thursday, August 3, 2006
More heat advisories led us to Damian promising Luke that they would have tons of fun in Malta, what with all the surfing, horseback riding and slot machines. Luke was more worried about getting him the best health care possible, but Damian claimed that he doesn't want to waste what's left of his life on doctors. Damian then headed to the hospital to meet with Lucy, who offered to give him a chance to say good-bye to Lily. He suspected that she knew about his illness. "I don't want you to see me this way — as an invalid," he sighed, rather dramatically, before creepily thanking her for her thoughtfulness. She responded flirtatiously, and Lucinda caught them in a hug. She and her granddaughter then went into the hall and proceeded to argue loudly about Lucy's taste in men, which ended with her deciding to move out of the Walsh Estate. Once Lucinda took off, a "distraught" Lucy ran into Damian's arms. He invited her to move into Fairwinds. Of course, it was all part of her master plan with Lucinda and Holden, who discussed the first phase later. After noting that her granddaughter "has a talent for subterfuge" Lucinda fretted that she'd gone too far in their fake fight, but Lucy texted some x's and o's to assure her that all was well. Meanwhile, Luke seemed puzzled by Lucy's sudden decision to move out of Lucinda's, but bought her excuses before turning to his father's troubles. "He practically carries his medical file around with him. It's so sad," shrugged Luke, as Lucy tried to hide her interest in getting her hands on said file. Damian caught her looking for it later.

Katie met Mike at the Lakeview, where he surprised her with a romantic evening in honor of their three-month anniversary, during which they attempted to avoid the "S" word and failed miserably. Speaking of, Simon walked in, spotted them, and dialed Carly's number. J.J. and Parker have apparently been fighting again, so Carly was spending some quality alone time with her soon-to-be-ex-husband's dead mistress's son when Simon summoned her to the Lakeview to impress some clients, so she got herself all dolled up and promised J.J. that he'd love the babysitter. And indeed, when Sky Blue, a musician friend of Gwen's, arrived, she sent the starstruck boy into a tizzy. Sky was promising Carly that she'd make the kids pancakes for dinner when J.J. bounded back down the stairs and dorkily asked "Are you ready to rumble?" Assured that J.J. would be just fine without her (and since her other kids were "upstairs"), Carly took off. At the Lakeview, she said a quick hello to Katie and Mike before Simon escorted her to the other side of the lounge — thus ensuring that Katie would become obsessively distracted by them, while Mike tried to get her to focus on their evening. Meanwhile, Simon told Carly that the client cancelled, then leaned in and seductively asked her to come to New York "on business" with him. Carly, knowing a little something about these sort of tricks, realized that he was just trying to make Katie jealous and went off on him for engaging in his "post-adolescent nonsense" in front of everyone, getting angrier by the second. After nearly crying (!) about how she had been so excited about the job at first, she quit. Simon was left to ponder his actions alone. Carly got home to find an annoyed Jack, who reported that Sky's impromptu concert with the kids tripped the circuit breaker and she also set off the smoke alarm and there's a psycho killer on the loose, so he sent the kids to Emma's because Carly's so irresponsible. "You are berating me for being a bad mother because the babysitter is not an electrician?!" snapped an incredulous Carly, pointing out that he was quite obviously motivated by sheer jealousy, and nothing else. She scolded him for always interfering and coming to her "rescue" before noting that she can handle things just fine on her own, thanks. She did reluctantly accept his offer to fix a few things, since he was there anyway. Carly was outside angrily putting away the trash and trying to cool down from her horrible evening when Simon showed up to apologize.

After overhearing Jade announce that she and Will slept together, Maddie tried to hide, but Will grabbed a tree branch and scared her out of the bushes. "Show us your hands," demanded a freaked Jade, and Maddie complied. "Good. No knives," Jade muttered, before Maddie revealed that she'd heard them and angrily demanded to know how they could do this to Gwen, and insisted that they tell Gwen the truth. Will swore it only happened once and that he doesn't want to lose his marriage, so he begged an Maddie to keep the secret until she wigged out and ran off; Jade wouldn't let Will follow the "psycho" into the woods. Will admitted that Maddie seemed kind of "spacey," but he doesn't believe she's a killer or a snitch. Jade wanted him to "think outside the box," but he argued that "the last time I did think out of it, I spent a few years in an institution." With that, Jade ran off to make sure Maddie would keep quiet, but Maddie had gotten herself lost in the forest. Somehow the slasher found her and after a scary struggle, they both ended up in Snyder Pond, where the slasher held Maddie's head under until she seemed perilously close to drowning.

Wednesday, August 2, 2006
We returned from the ubiquitous heat "updates" to find Barbara visiting a happy Gwen and Will at their new home. Babs, like Lucinda, was appalled to learn that the young Munsons were planning on helping Jade get back on her feet with an apartment deposit. Barbara worked on convincing her son and sudden favorite daughter-in-law that unlike Gwen, some people are not gold diggers, invoking both the swindled Snyders and the late, sainted Jennifer to make her point. When Will left to deliver the promised funds to Jade, Babs warned Gwen to keep her husband on a tighter leash or risk losing him, because — and she blamed herself for this — Will is "swayed easily." She then sincerely told her that she just wants Will to be happy, and that she believes that he and Gwen should be together forever. Gwen defended her husband. At Java, Casey caught up with Jade to warn her to stop implying that Maddie's a killer by volunteering her testimony to Margo. Jade defensively noted that Maddie is doing just fine making herself look guilty — and Casey should probably watch out for his own safety. Will ran into Casey while looking for Jade there and they discussed Maddie's troubles before Will tracked down Jade at the Snyder Pond. He gave her the check, then gently told her that she needed to start keeping her distance. A hurt Jade protested that she's been very discreet about their one-night-stand, which meant something to her.

At the Lakeview, Eve was trying to reassure an insolent Maddie that she would never share the fate of the other teens who've been slaughtered when Margo showed up to question her about the knives she took from Crash. Maddie's response was to impulsively flee. Margo apparently managed to catch her and bring her to the station, where Eve and Henry pressured Dallas to release their sister. He suggested that they start by telling him the truth about what has Maddie so traumatized. In the interrogation room, Margo asked about Nate, causing Maddie to flash back to herself reaching for a knife that dropped, but was clearly remembering her own assault, not Nate's. "I liked Nate; he was a good person," Maddie tearfully insisted, trying to articulate her distress to Margo. Eve finally interrupted them, left her lawyer's card, and took her sister home. A frustrated Margo was explaining her near-breakthrough to Dallas when Casey barged in. After Margo scolded him for his rudeness, she learned that Casey had seen Maddie and ordered him again to stay away from her. He refused and vowed to prove Maddie is innocent. At the Lakeview, Henry tried to convince Maddie to go swimming. After Eve finished up a call with her "neglected husband," Maddie decided to go off for a walk alone, announcing that she's "not worried" about the killer. During her stroll, she happened upon Will and Jade — and overheard Jade mention that they slept together.

In a selfless but uneasy gesture, Meg encouraged Paul to go be with Emily, who was sobbing with worry at the hospital. Susan was trying to talk Em out of her persecution complex when a concerned Paul came dashing in. Paul was calm and supportive and Dr. Schiller soon reported that everything's relatively fine; Em just needs lots of rest. Within no time, she and Paul had their hands on her tummy, giggling over the kicking baby. After having a heart-to-heart with Emma (who urged her daughter to resist Paul's Svengali charms, then reluctantly advised her to learn to deal with Emily if she really wants him), Meg arrived at the hospital and in time to spy the happy scene. Upon seeing her, Paul jumped up guiltily and announced that the baby's fine.

Tuesday, August 1, 2006
"You're a doctor — does it look like he's dying?" asked a skeptical Holden when Lucy reported that Luke has learned that Damian seems to be terminally ill. (Of course, Jennifer looked pretty healthy, as well.) Holden dispatched her to talk to Luke, who was saying a poignant good-bye to his mother, begging the sleeping Princess to open her eyes just once before he leaves. She didn't, and he promised to be a better son when he got home. After telling her he loved her, he turned around to see Lucy, who urged him to stay in town and get Damian some stateside medical care. Damian, meanwhile, said his good-byes to Lisa, who questioned Luke's willingness to leave with Lily in a coma. When she stepped away, Sergio the thug came in to warn Damian that he'd better get Luke back to Malta. Back at Holden's, Lucy, driven by her memories of Craig's manipulation, fretted about Damian's plans for Luke. Holden assured her that "I don't quit on my kids" and Damian will learn that soon enough — he and Lucy began formulating a plan.

The afternoon was going smoothly for Paul and Meg at Java when Emily showed up and thanked Paul for the massage. He tried to explain, but Meg was still flustered, forcing him to do some Svengali-sized damage control about how it's not as bad as it sounds and anyway he was only being nice to Em because of Meg's influence. "I'm still Barbara Ryan and James Stenbeck's son," he argued. "Swallowing all my pride and becoming a better man is not going to come easily to me." Meg caved so completely to his persuasion that she agreed to be blindfolded (!) by Paul and brought to the Snyder Pond, where he and Meggie Mae fished (well, he tried) and giggled and frolicked in and around the water. But she was still hesitant to get passionate, what with the Emily Factor still looming. He agreed to go slow and take cold showers. Meanwhile, Susan was trying her usual best to talk some sense into Emily regarding her involvement with Paul when Em began experiencing sharp pains. Susan rushed her to the hospital. Back at the pond, Paul's need for a cold shower was diminishing so quickly that he tried to ignore his cell phone's ring, but then his pager went off, alerting him to the fact that Emily had been rushed to the hospital.

Fearful of the slasher, Jade panicked and got Gwen all riled up when she heard a noise outside. Will investigated and found Lucinda, in full gardening regalia (including a very large pair of shears), who instantly took it upon herself to confront Jade about her potential gold-digging. Will and Gwen defended their friend ("She's worse than my mom," he noted hilariously), but Jade whimpered about her culpability in all of Will's problems until Gwen insisted that her husband was "just as guilty for cheating" as she is. The double meaning in those words didn't go unnoticed by Jade, who gave the young marrieds their space. Will wanted to spend their morning in bed, but Gwen was distracted with worries, especially for Maddie's situation. During their post-coital cuddling, she assured him that "you and I are forever," while failing to knock on wood. After another run-in with Lucinda, Jade went to Java and saw Luke, who announced that he was going to Malta. She urged him to stick by his mother. Damian showed up and learned that Lucy knows everything.

Monday, July 31, 2006
At Lia's memorial, Gwen was singing The Indigo Girls' "All That We Let In" while right outside, poor, cute, smart Nate was being violently and very bloodily murdered. The slasher, in his/her combat boots, calmly walked off as Nate slumped to the ground. It was Gwen who stepped outside, literally tripped over the body and started screaming, well, bloody murder. Casey came to her rescue and was once again the one to calm everyone down and call his mother. No one seemed interested in checking Nate's pulse. The slasher watched them from the bushes. Jade came back from "the bus stop," having heard the screams, while Casey sweetly worried about Maddie, who arrived breathless at the Lakeview, where she ran into Henry and Eve. They noticed the blood on her hands, which she had trouble explaining. Back at the murder scene, Maddie was getting blamed by one of Lia's friends for the murder, especially when Jade (despite Casey's admonishment for her to keep her mouth shut) reported to Margo that she saw Maddie apparently throw something over the bridge on the night of Lia's murder. Will also showed up without a good alibi (he'd gone on a walk, not home), which Dallas learned after taking impressive charge of the scene. Dallas also made sure that all of the kids had to get escorts home, after leaving their shoe prints and address (bad news for Jade, who was invited to stay with a sympathetic Gwen and Will). Casey awesomely continued to defend his ex-girlfriend and later meditated on the murder scene and told himself that Maddie couldn't have done it.

Henry and Eve were comforting a rattled Maddie when Margo dropped by to grill the teen about the memorial. Guessing that wise-looking Margo "already knew" what happened, Maddie confessed that Nate came on to her, so she just ran away. That's when Margo announced that Nate's dead and Maddie's got more explaining to do — though it doesn't really seem legally kosher that Margo talk her into incriminating herself, then basically announce that she's the new prime suspect. Maddie was really too stunned to process anything. Dallas showed up to report that Nate was killed in the same way as Lia.

Holden (with Luke's help) brought home his new son, who shall apparently continue to remain nameless, all stiffly swaddled, to meet his sisters. Luke (who had promised to keep Damian's illness a secret) announced that he wouldn't be around to help for much longer. Holden didn't really understand how Luke could feel like Damian needs him more than his family, but Luke had made up his mind and left to see his father, who had spent the afternoon sharing coffee and flirting more with Lucy. Lucinda showed up at Holden and Lily's to get a look at her new grandson and sympathize with her harried son-in-law. She also offered to intervene with Damian, but Holden figured that might just make things worse. He wants time to devise a plan. Lucy then stopped by and learned that Luke might be planning to leave town with Damian. Meanwhile, Luke told Damian (who announced that he has to leave by the end of the week) that he has to take care of one more thing, then it's next stop: Malta.

Mike and Simon stepped outside to "settle things" while Katie and Carly waited nervously inside. The men finally agreed to work together — Mike on the "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" tactic and Simon to "prove" that he's now all-business, though neither Katie or Carly seemed to fully believe their reasoning. That didn't stop them all from toasting to the future. Before he left, Simon shared a poignant moment with Katie over the framed dolls above her mantle (which were a gift from him).

2005 recaps