Friday, October 27, 2006
The men were all wowed by the many lovely ladies in their gowns as everyone arrived at Craig's fundraiser ball, where most of the guests seemed to have given the "romantic royals" theme a rock star twist. Casey (Romeo?) was dazzled by Maddie's (Juliet?) beauty, but annoyed that Adam had bailed without listening to Gwen sing.... Gwen (Pocahontas?) did the same for Will (John Smith?).... Dusty (too "cool" for a costume) flirted with Lucy (Cleopatra) and Lucinda (who he called "Elizabeth" in a nice nod to both her costume, of Queen Elizabeth, and her portrayer, Elizabeth Hubbard).... It didn't escape the notice of Tarzan Mike (uncomfortably supporting his wife at the event by wearing a tiny, little pigtail in his hair) or Margo that Katie seemed preoccupied with whether Simon would be showing up.... Paul, bedazzled in a glam Lancelot getup, had his buttons pushed when Craig "let it slip" that he chose Meg's costume.... Craig and Katie made nice.... A sad Barbara (Sargent's Madame X) complimented Will and Gwen, then noted how jealous Dusty seemed of Lucy's date.... Vienna was hilariously snobby with Kim and Bob.... Upstairs, Simon and Carly prepped for their heist, with her in head-to-toe Grace Kelly — for whom the Prince of Leonia has a reportedly paralyzing weakness. Simon scattered rose petals on the bed, readying it for Vienna, then asked if Carly was jealous. "Like I couldn't have you any time I wanted," she purred.

Carly was shocked to hear that Jack was handling the security detail, while Katie kept her eye on her ex. But Simon soon made his move: "I'm so sorry I let you go," he told Vienna, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "I want you so bad, I can taste it." Carly then pulled Simon aside to ask him to abort the mission because of Jack, while Katie told Vienna that Simon's in love with someone else. Having spotted "Grace Kelly," the enchanted prince — like one of Pavlov's dogs — interrupted to ask Carly for a dance. But first, Vienna had to find out what's going on between Carly and "my Simon," while Katie nonchalantly confirmed to Simon that she told Vienna he's with Carly now.

Emily (Marie Antoinette) tattled to Dusty and his bodyguard Chaz that Craig is planning to make someone disappear and that he's got a jet fueled and ready — but no one expected that it would actually be Craig who had himself Copperfielded away during the ball's dramatic climax. The magician he hired charmed everyone (and even flirted with Paul!), then stuck "volunteer" Craig in a box and made him vanish.

Poor Jade (if she had a costume, she probably would have chosen Cinderella) was sadly spending the evening at Yo's, where Adam helped her deflect a lascivious fellow patron. "Sometimes you want to go to a place where nobody knows your name," he joked, then asked why she wasn't out with friends. "I don't have any friends," she responded bluntly, but that didn't deter him. Intrigued, Adam introduced himself. That's when Will and Casey goofily called (trading the phone back and forth between them) to bug him to show up at the party. Adam is so cool now that when he called Casey "dork," and it made sense. He promptly invited her to the gala.

Thursday, October 26, 2006
At the police station, Jack was assigned to Vienna detail: looking out for her and her jewels while she was at the ball. Vienna, naturally, flirted shamelessly and quickly deduced that Jack "adores" one of the scores of women who adores Simon. Speaking of, Carly fondled the remains of Mimi, the French vase she so loved, while sadly wondering who would want to trash their model unit (for what seems like the 900th time), causing Simon to flash back to his destruction of Mimi. Carly was both enraged and nervous that Spiro the loan shark would do something so irrational, considering that he won't get any money if Simon doesn't make any. She was in the middle of an atypical meltdown before she finally agreed to help steal the royal jewels by providing a distraction for the prince, despite her reservations. "You didn't exactly come with the best of references," she lamented, blaming herself. "When I started this, I was just broke. Now I'm planning my first heist." Simon urged her again to go, but she couldn't stay away for long. "So for stealing those jewels, what do we have to do first?" she asked, as jaunty Pink Panther-type music played.

Adam came to check out the Crash digs and meet his sudden sister-in-law Gwen, with whom he seemed quite enchanted. He promised to return for her show later, while the teens went out to get costumes from Lisa. Lily and Jade were shopping for new, less homeless waif-like clothes for Jade at Fashions when Gwen, Will, Maddie and Casey arrived. After Lily helped diffuse a tense moment, she and Jade cleared out of there, while the other teens searched for costumes, then apparently rushed back to Crash for Gwen's performance, because that's where we saw them next. Adam missed her performance because of a sweet heart-to-heart with Kim about his mutual parting of ways with Abigail and Will's emotional state. They even discussed the stressful life of a professional singer (something to which Kim can relate). Adam was worried that in Casey's zeal to get Gwen discovered, no one had considered the impact on Will; Kim thought he wasn't giving his brother enough credit.

After rather abruptly rejecting poor friendless Luke's invitation, Lucy awkwardly asked Dusty to attend Craig's benefit with her and was also turned down. Luckily, a fellow doc with a crush asked her out later. Meanwhile, Lily and Jade ran into Luke, who invited his cousin to the ball. "Come on, you are not going to that," said Lily, and Jade quickly agreed, filling Luke in on her whole "cold turkey thing" with Will and wistfully noting that she'd make it to the next extravagant ball.

When Emily reported to Dusty that Craig had hired Tom, she was ordered to get more info. Unfortunately, Tom caught her rifling through his briefcase. She feigned concern, but Tom claimed that he can handle Craig — and then warned her to steer clear of his client. When Dusty heard her latest update, he decided that Tom couldn't be trusted. "Don't you understand that the man who put him away is now helping him out?" he said, starting to panic. Em went off to spy on Craig again, and overheard him meeting a guy at Yo's. "So I'll get right to the point," he said. "I need someone to disappear."

Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Meg, Kim and some random nurses were going through a rack of costumes for the Romantic Royals costume ball that were delivered by an anonymous donor, not the "Oakdale Playhouse" as Meg guessed. Meg was musing that all the costumes were for queens who'd "lost their heads" when Kim suddenly remembered that one of the gowns already had Meg's name on it: Guinevere, who according to pseudo-historian Meg ended up in a convent but at least didn't end up at the guillotine. Craig showed up and managed to drop the "anonymous" from "donor" in no time. "Don't play me, because I don't like and it won't work," she argued, when he tried to convince her to wear the gown he chose for her. He insisted that he sincerely appreciates her kindness (showing that he can out-Svengali even Paul) and she softened. Meg was fondling the gown when Paul, fresh off of hiring a P.I. to tail Craig, arrived and forbade her to attend the gala, guessing that Craig had given her the gown. Meg didn't confirm it was gift, and told her jealous lover that he was making too big a deal out of the whole situation, especially because Bob had ordered the entire staff to go to the benefit. Besides, Meg thinks the ball will be fun; Paul wants to keep an eye on Craig. She then revealed that she's dressing as Guinevere. "I spent one whole summer reading The Now And Future King — she didn't read the cover closely enough because it's called The Once And Future King — "and ever since then, I've been in to the whole ‘Camelot' thing." Done: Paul will go as Lancelot. Who will be King Arthur?

At Yo's, Tom commiserated with Adam about his hectic schedule, noting that Craig offered him a job. Adam encouraged him to consider it, noting that he doesn't want to lose him, too. Tom pointed out that working for Craig could cause trouble with Margo. Adam argued that Craig should no better than to think he can manipulate Tom and the job will help him spend more time with the family.

Margo was gazing at a photo of Hal and Tom when Katie arrived with coffee and doughnuts. "The man that I shared a life with, that I shared a child with, is gone. And he should be here. Hal should be here. Okay, I just had to say that out loud," she said, wiping away her tears and requesting a happy conversation topic from her sister, who burst into tears herself. "Why can't I just make those feelings go away?" asked Katie, detailing her plan to have a baby to erase her continued yearning for Simon. Margo shot down that idea, and Katie wondered whether she could still be in love with her ex, who she now believes is in love with Carly. Margo pointed out that Katie showed complete devotion when she was frantically searching for Mike during the ice storm and noted that the real problem is that Katie has yet to find true closure with Simon. Katie then went running off to find Mike, while Margo greeted Tom and Adam, who tried to talk her into seeing that accepting Craig's offer would be good for the family. "I buried my best friend next to you. Hal was a hero; Craig is just the opposite: he doesn't know anything about being a hero. So if you think you're going to convince me that working for Craig is going to fix all of our problems, you're crazy," she said, cueing Craig's arrival behind her. Margo and Tom then weirdly stepped away while Adam warned his uncle not to mess with his family. When Tom returned, he agreed to take the job — on the condition that they see how things go and reassess around the holidays. Meanwhile, Mike and Katie reconnected and decided to attend Craig's gala as Tarzan ("king of the jungle") and Jane.

Simon stood outside of Carly's house looking at a photo of Vienna — who will wear the Prince of Leonia's (?) crown jewels to Craig's ball — on the cover of The Intruder (to which she apparently has a subscription). Carly caught him there and demanded to see it. "You know it's just the usual bad news: war, economy's down, Lindsay Lohan drunk again," he teased, before she snatched the paper from him. He admitted that he knew Vienna, and also that he was tempted to relieve the heiress of the gems. Carly reminded him of their legitimate business, but he didn't have much faith that it would bring in enough cash to pay off the loan shark. He agreed to avoid a jewel heist as an option, and nervously joined her at the model unit to do some final sprucing before the open house. He was still in a "glass half empty" mood, but Carly urged him to think positively. Claiming that he just needs a shower to clear his head, he asked to meet at her place later. After she left, he smashed the vase that she had just bought for the model, then headed to the Snyder house. There, he stared some more at The Intruder before guiltily knocking. A glammed-up Carly welcomed him into her candlelit living room, where there was cheese platter and champagne waiting, so they could celebrate their success. "To Simon, the man who promised me a new life and didn't let me down," she toasted (making him feel worse) before laying a tender kiss on his cheek. He was so guilty that he stopped the makeout session and insisted that they return to the model that night to check out the artwork. When they got there, Carly was shocked to see that the place had been trashed. Simon was not so surprised.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Emily made it plain to Craig that while she didn't want him to worry about her feelings, she was plenty concerned about Dusty, who was standing nearby holding the baby. Dusty sent the child upstairs, away from Craig, and reminded Craig about the injunction against him. Craig said he was on his way out and apologized for his bad timing. Dusty complained to Emily about Craig's fixation on Dusty's son. They discussed what a good man Hal was and Dusty asked Em to level with him about Craig was really up to. Emily replied that she didn't know what Craig's agenda was. Dusty felt certain that Craig was in town for Dusty's baby and implored Em to spy on Craig for him. She agreed.

At the police station, Margo thanked Casey and Tom for supporting her through the memorial service. Adam entered and Margo threw her arms around her son. The fam urged Adam to rest up at home; Adam left with Casey. Craig entered and volunteered his help in securing them quality family time. His solution? Giving Tom a cushy job. Margo questioned Craig's motives but Craig insisted that he was sincere, not scheming. Margo complained to Jack about her brother; Jack said he'd handle it.

Lily talked to Jade about the importance of family and impressed upon her that it was time to cease her self-destructive lying. Jade told Lily that she owes Will three thousand dollars. Lily said she'd pay it off in order so that Jade would no longer be tied to Will in any way. Lucinda entered and accused Jade of trying to swindle Lily. Lily defended Jade and instructed the girl to mail the check to Will as opposed to delivering it by hand. After Jade left, Lucinda told Lily she'd zip her lips about Jade but was confident she would one day get to say, "I told you so." Lily assured Lucinda that she had Jade's number but still, the girl was family. Lily then realized that Jade had slipped out of the house. Lucinda stressed to Lily that breaking Jade of her bad habits was not going to be easy.

Will told Gwen that he wanted kids but wasn't ready to be the kind of dad his own father had been. Will resolved to make his father proud of him and said he thought he knew where to start: getting his GED. Their cozy moment was interrupted by a knock on the door from Jade. Will reluctantly answered the door and accepted her condolences about his father. She handed over the envelope with the check inside. Gwen berated Jade for trying to take advantage of Will and declared that she wasn't buying Jade's seeming turnaround.

Jack offered not to go to work but Carly said she understood how important it was that he go to the station. "I'm so glad my kids have you," she sighed. Simon showed up but hid so that an exiting Jack wouldn't see him. Carly thanked Jack for his concern and made him promise to take care of himself. Carly screamed when Simon caught her by surprise. He proposed that they take the kids and jet out of Oakdale together. Simon admitted to Carly that Spiro had doubled his interest because Jack dragged him into the station for questioning. Simon didn't have the cash to cover it and that's why he wanted to leave town. Carly noted that she has kids and can't play in his pretend world any longer. Simon didn't want to leave without her and was worried that she might be in danger from Spiro. He resolved to stay in Oakdale to get her out out the line of fire. Carly left Simon alone to think of a way out of the situation and Simon felt his luck was about to change when he spied the National Intruder story about Princess Leonia's upcoming trip to Oakdale for Craig's benefit. Carly questioned the wild boost in Simon's spirits; he remained coy and showed himself out. Carly noticed that her paper was missing.

Jade returned home and confessed to Lily that she'd gone to visit Will.

Adam and Casey sat down for a drink and talked about Hal. Adam was flabbergasted when Casey revealed that Will was a married man.

Monday, October 23, 2006
Will and Jack were shocked when Margo announced that Hal is dead. She explained how he was nobly helping a teenager being attacked by a gang and was killed for his efforts. Will knew he needed to tell his mom before she heard it from another source. "She's barely over losing Jennifer," he lamented.

Lucy and Paul reamed Craig for trying to underwrite a charity benefit but Dusty was actually okay with it. Barbara assured Paul that Craig would have no control over the money the benefit raised. Will arrived and broke the news of Hal's death. "I just don't know what we're all going to do without him," she sobbed. Paul informed Emily, who broke down in tears.

Spirro warned Simon to muzzle Carly or else they would both be dealt with. "You keep your girlfriend away from the cops," Spirro snarled.

Katie asked Carly how far she has taken her relationship with Simon. An annoyed Carly accused Katie of still being emotionally involved with her ex. Carly confirmed that she wasn't sleeping with Simon, but conceded she knew what Katie was feeling. "You don't want Simon, but you just don't want anybody else to have him," Carly explained and Katie tearfully agreed. Carly got a phone call about Hal and dashed out. As Katie searched Simon's room, he returned and jumped his intruder. When he realized it was his former wife he ordered Katie to go home, then ran out to find Carly.

Carly commiserated with Jack about Hal and she even ignored Simon's call. They decided to tell Parker together. Jack was depressed when Hal's police badge arrived at the station. Simon showed up and saw Carly, Jack and Parker together.

At Yo's, Margo, Tom, Barbara, Will, Gwen, Emily, Paul, Meg, Bob, Kim, Jessica, Katie, Casey, Maddie, Jack and Carly remembered Hal. Jack led a last-minute memorial. "He was like a father to me," Jack declared. "He was the voice of reason when everything else was spiraling out of control." Everyone toasted Hal's memory and Jack placed Hal's police hat on some flowers.

2005 recaps