Friday, November 10, 2006
Carly asked Mike to at least pretend to be happy for Simon, but despite their personal history, he's apparently a Carjacker all the way. He was, however, pleased by the notion that a romance with Carly might mean Simon will stop chasing Katie. "She chose you," noted Carly (well, it was actually more of a by default thing), and Mike replied that watching someone else with the person you love is tough (as he well knows). Mike was thinking about poor Jack: "Years ago, you told me Jack was all you ever wanted." Carly argued that Simon was willing to take her, quirks and all, but Mike warned her that the Aussie was no good — he used to be a jewel thief, for goodness sake. (Awkward!)

In Simon's room, Katie told her ex that if he hadn't called her, she would have called him. "Something happened between us; we can't just ignore it," he said cautiously. "You're right — and the one thing that keeps going through my head is you saying that there's this unbreakable bond between us," said a nervous Katie as thousands of "Skatie" fans held their breath. She apologized and was on the brink of spilling out her true feelings when he interrupted her: "Sleeping together was an irrational, terrible mistake.... I give you my word that that will not happen again." And that ... pretty much knocked the wind out of her. She put on her mask of nonchalance and tried not to cry as he explained what led him to make this disastrous error. "What I guess I'm trying to say is that now I see what you have seen for a very long time. And that is: it's too late for us," he said. "I don't believe this," she blurted, turning away, but he still didn't get it and continued convincing himself that it's time to throw out the metaphorical box of memories. "Let me get this straight," she choked out, eyes watering, "sleeping with me made you realize how much you want Carly." He denied that, and started to get an inkling that she was a little upset. But Katie, too proud to protest, wished him the best of luck and asked him to keep mum before getting out of there as soon as possible, rushing past Carly on her way out. Simon finally admitted that he had cut ties with his ex. "Poor Katie — obviously she still has feelings for you," said Carly, as Simon flashed back on their kiss and unconvincingly agreed that they were both ready to move on and celebrate their wealth. It didn't take long for things to get steamy.

A shaken Katie was recovering from her encounter with Simon at Java when Margo showed up to comfort her. Katie confessed her fantasy of Simon taking her into his arms and telling her wants to be together again. "Before I could open my mouth and embarrass myself, Simon said those three little words: he's over me," she sighed, before blurting that she slept with Simon. Margo absolved her of that indiscretion, but fretted that Katie now has to worry about Mike finding out. "I am going to spend the rest of my life making sure that Mike knows how much I love him," vowed Katie, before remembering, with a look of horror, the little "Dear Diary" confession and rushed home.

Lucinda showed up at the cottage demanding Katie's new novel pages from Mike. She suggested they simply check the computer, but Mike called her on the invasion of privacy. So instead, he (reluctantly) did it himself (at Lucinda's prodding).

In a snarktastic exchange, Craig showed up at Paul's penthouse (been a while since we saw that) and pushed every single one of Paul's buttons about Meg, while Paul giggled about Craig's legal troubles. But Craig got the upper hand: "What happened between me and Meg at the gala the other night was entirely my fault," he dangled, and Paul, falling into his trap, bit down hard, and Craig worked his way up to revealing that he had kissed Meg. Paul pasted a smile on his face and lied that Meg had told him everything. Craig, clearly delighted by his work, apologized for his attempt to "twist the tiger's tail" and took his leave so that Paul could let the jealousy eat away at him.

Emily's fibs about putting the past weren't really working on a suspicious Meg, who forced Em to pull a sleight of hand with the vial of white powder when by asking what she was hiding. Emily proceeded to babble on about being in therapy full-time again, this time with a group for parents who have lost their babies. Low blow — Meg was totally forced by the unwritten Snyder code of polite social conduct to be nice to her after that and despite some obvious faux niceties on Emily's part, she agreed to a cup of coffee. Emily managed to slip the drug in by faking a coughing fit and asking Meg for water. It didn't take long for Meg to feel the effects, and Emily hilariously questioned whether she's contagious, then picked a quick argument and took off. Meg looked all queasy when she tried to stand up.

Adam the Professional expressed his annoyance to Will and Casey that Gwen had decided to take a nap time during her big professional recording session. A groggy Gwen interrupted their argument and asked to continue the session. Jade showed up with a funky new haircut and eavesdropped (with professional equipment this time) as Adam threw up his hands at all the babying of Gwen that his brothers were doing. Adam, who declared himself "done for today" invited her to lunch, then got a lot of guff from Casey and Will. "See what I'm dealing with? Strictly amateur time," Adam said. Gwen ran out to beg him for another chance to finish the session, and after asking Jade to stick around ("I think it would be worth the wait, getting to see the maestro in action," she snarked), they got back to work, where Gwen laid down a "better" track. She then pulled Adam aside; he assured her that he thinks she has talent. She thanked him as her song played over an end-of-show montage: Adam leaving with Jade; Gwen in a Casey/Adam sandwich hug; Carly and Simon's foreplay; Katie coming home to find Mike in front of the computer; Craig picking up a queasy Meg's dropped cell phone.

Thursday, November 9, 2006
Casey arrived at the recording studio to see Adam, who proved his music producer cred by dropping the appropriate lingo and complaining about Gwen's tardiness, while Casey could only gush about the awesome craft services. Gwen was late because she and Will were at Java getting coffee to keep her awake after an all-night study session. Will (like Casey) doesn't seem to take Adam as seriously as Gwen, and suggested she simply skip it, which for her was out of the question. The brothers continued to brattily protest when Adam treated Gwen like an actual professional, suggesting that "time is money" and that she might have to do more than one take on her song. After Gwen performed the tune a few more times, Adam nailed the problem: the bittersweet song requires more poignancy than her light-hearted voice is letting on. After she concentrated on her dead baby, the next take seemed to go much better, but we're no Clive Davis. Good thing Adam is, and he agreed. He sent Casey and Will off to extend their studio time, but in the few seconds it took him to do that, Gwen fell asleep.

Craig broke it to Emily that he wouldn't be drugging anybody — she would. When he ordered her to slip the drug (which apparently mimics the effect of a virus) to Meg, Em protested that she'd be the first suspect and he was clearly setting her up. "I promise you that any inconvenience to Meg will be purely temporary" and Paul will be hers, he argued, refusing to reveal his complete plan. Instead, he insisted that she complete her task, or she'd lose her job. She finally agreed, but wasn't happy about it.

Paul tricked Meg (though she wasn't really fooled) into meeting him for breakfast, so he could jealously nag her about Craig's constant pursuit of her. She insisted on and received a reluctant apology, and they had a moment of bliss before Meg interpreted Paul's delight about Craig's incarceration as a commentary on her lack of willpower. "Because you assume the only way I won't give into Craig Montgomery's charms is if he's behind bars?... Do you really think I have so little control over myself?" she asked, getting progressively angrier because Paul was painting Craig like a "cross between the devil and the Invisible Man." Paul protested that Craig is so crafty that he managed to bring down a trio of clever ladies in his life: the Barbara, Rosanna and Jennifer brain trust. She assured him that she can handle Craig: "I handle you, don't I?" she blurted. Oooh — Meg is totally on to the Svengali! Clearly irritated, he tried to get her to promise never to see Craig again, which of course didn't go over well, then split so they could both cool off, which was Emily's cue to join Meg.

Katie was too distracted by memories of sex with Simon to focus on her new novel pages. Mike was trying to talk his cranky wife through her writer's block when Margo arrived to report Craig's latest arrest. When Mike stepped out, it took Katie about two seconds to bring up Simon. Margo was reminded about how "a couple of years ago, I had that obsessive thing about that sportscaster" — awesome that she remembered! — "I just went crazy for awhile," she finished, urging her sister to write down her feelings. With Margo gone, Katie sat down with her computer to lament that she doesn't have a split personality to make her love life easier.

Carly returned to Simon's room to drop off a letter relinquishing all claim to the business (and him), but he convinced her to come in and hear him out. "No hard feelings, Simon. You promised me some fun, and you came through, while it lasted," she said wistfully. He apologized for the night before, noting that her surprise declaration had thrown him for a loop. That's when the broker showed up with miraculous news: they actually sold all of the units in their cursed building and some of the buyers even want Carly to design their apartments (even without having Mimi the French vase in the model). "The entire industry is frothing at the mouth to see what you'll do next," he reported. Yep, that's right: they're rich again. After a close moment of celebration, Carly again called Simon on hurting her feelings. He wondered what she'd tell Jack about them now; she promised to tell the truth about their relationship. They agreed to keep having fun (and sex) and see where it goes. He was itching to start, but wanted to take care of one thing first. That turned out to be Katie, who came to his room to settle things.

Carly waited for Simon in the lobby, where she ran into Mike, who charmingly called her "darlin' " but was disappointed to hear that her blush of happiness was thanks to Simon.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Carly seemed a little embarrassed that after she poured her heart out in a message to Simon, he had chosen ... to take a shower. "I told you so many times how attracted I was to you. I showed you so many times," responded Simon, sheepishly staring at his feet (knowing that he just came from Katie's bed — er, couch). But Carly initially misinterpreted his hemming and hawing for cold feet. "I'm not stupid. I'm not looking for a rose-covered cottage and and eternal domestic bliss with some commitment-phobic jewel thief," she assured him — which is awesome (and yet a little mean) because that's pretty much what Katie always wanted. He finally admitted that he cares very much for her, which is why he doesn't want to hurt her. After flashing back to Carly calling him on the fact that Katie would just have to snap her fingers to win him back, Simon told her that she was right about him in their earlier argument. "Really, I expect very little of you: just fun," she shrugged, trying to convince him that they're good together, but soon worried that she was throwing herself at a guy who didn't want her, so she left.

Mike first suspected that Katie's uncontrolled sobbing was due to baby-related sadness, but soon realized that she was upset about something else. "Don't be so nice to me," she sobbed, then cut her foot on the broken trinket from her argument with Simon. Mike then proceeded to be the sweetest, most attentive, willing-to-forgive husband ever as he gently asked her what was wrong, which only served to make a frazzled Katie more guilty. She was about to confess when Lucinda showed up, demanding the new pages for the reissue of Oakdale Confidential. Katie wearily promised to have something by tomorrow, which temporarily placated Lucinda, who allowed herself to be rushed out the door by Mike. The moment between the Kasnoffs was ruined, and since Mike had once again proved that the was "always on her side," and then carried her up to bed, Katie decided to keep mum about her infidelity.

Dusty was impressed when his mole, Emily, interrupted his makeout session with Lucy to report Tom's resignation, but Lucy still worried about the trouble her dad could cause. At the jail, Em wondered why Craig had asked her to let Dusty know he would soon be out of jail; he noted that Dusty has to think he can trust her. Craig then assured his new lawyer that he would "handle" Lucy himself.

Since Lucy and Dusty were still hanging around at Craig's house, he invited her to come home with him. In the Lakeview lobby, they ran into Barbara who brought Johnny and asked a lot of direct questions. Lucy meekly offered to mend fences with Babs, who preferred to hit her with some more cold truths: Craig, she argued, "has one weapon in his arsenal: something that you and Dusty fail to recognize ... your feelings for Dusty." Furthermore, Craig would tell the court that Lucy was only pressing charges to get Dusty to love her — something Barbara seems to believe as well. "Don't give them anything to talk about," smirked Babs, urging Lucy to drop her "schoolgirl crush." Dusty returned just as Barbara was finishing up her sound scolding, and Lucy admitted that his mother-in-law was right: they should stop seeing each other. They shared a kiss and parted ways.

Margo was beside herself with pride in her husband for dumping client Craig, though they both winced when Tom tore up the retainer check. Casey showed up moments later to ask for money. (To his credit, he recognized his bad timing.) The Hugheses, aside from suddenly being out a whopping salary, didn't approve of their son's plan to give up one of his Crash shifts to help produce Gwen's demo. Tom worried about him splitting his focus; Casey argued that working with Adam was like an internship. Tom, easily convinced, promised him a check in the morning. They were about to head home when Margo got the call that Craig is out of jail.

At home, he pulled out a vial of some sort of white powder or liquid, which he euphemistically labeled "a means to an end" and "insurance," before admitting that he couldn't pronounce the drug inside. Craig was dancing around the subject with a nervous Emily ("this is way too much" to get Paul back, she said, rather reasonably), when Margo strolled in. "You certainly are a true-blue friend," she snarked to Emily, who took off to leave Margo to coldly threaten her brother. "I don't think there is a person in there anymore," she said, warning him not to try to jump bail or go near Johnny.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Though Adam initially put on his L.A. music producer airs and Simon Cowell-ed his way through some of Gwen's rehearsal, he was truly charmed when she sang her original song. Jade did show up at one point, throwing all the teens into a hissy, but Adam defiantly chatted with her, then pulled Gwen aside to urge her to stop letting Will and Casey (who "treat her like glass") do all the talking for her. He wants to work with a strong, independent artist. Jade, of course, eavesdropped on the whole pep talk, no doubt plotting a way to manipulate Luke into helping make Gwen look weak and dependent while simultaneously making herself seem "tough" — a quality that Gwen was busy proving she had. "I've had more hard times in my life than you've had in all of your pampered days," she spat to Adam. "You don't know me, and if you did, you'd know that I can take you and 10 more just like you." Impressive, but Adam was annoyed again when Gwen cut her session short to study. "How bad do you want it? It's the dean's list or Billboard's list," was his somewhat cheesy analogy. Britney Spears probably got that same speech once. Gwen and Will took off, and Casey — knowing nothing about the music biz — tried giving his brother a hard time about his ridiculously professional strategies, to no avail.

Craig was outraged to be arrested by Margo, especially because Dusty came along to watch. Lucy shakily whined that she doesn't want Johnny to end up like Bryant, but Craig insisted that he loves all of his kids, even the dead ones, and Dusty is no better when it comes to morality. "You'll regret this for the rest of your life," he told his daughter as Margo led him off. She later coldly vowed to her brother that she will happily help lock him up and throw away the key for his actions. Tom showed up, gave his wife a hug, and quit being Craig's lawyer, citing a conflict of interest. When they left, Emily arrived to rub it in a bit, but Craig scolded his employee for mocking him, and promised her that he would get his revenge on his enemies. Meanwhile, Dusty comforted Lucy and refused to let her drive home alone, so after a quick chat about how often he thinks of Jennifer, they started making out.

After a passionate sex session on the couch (at least they didn't use Jack and Carly's) there wasn't much post-coital bliss for Katie and Simon. "What have we done?" she wailed, wracked with guilt, before begging him to just leave. "You were my first love, but I don't want to love you anymore," she sobbed. "I am a cheat and a liar. I'm disgusting!" He insisted that they made love, and their mutual desire is perfectly human, but Katie pointed out that she's the one who's married, and ordered him to stay out of her life for good. She was sobbing on the couch when poor, sweet, cuckolded Mike returned home to soothe her.

When Lily's car battery died, she remembered that she and Carly are friends, and dropped by for a visit. Carly sounded a little like she was trying to convince herself when she breathlessly told her sometime gal pal that in a lot of ways Simon is more right for her than Jack could ever be. She went on to gush about how turned on she was by Simon. "I remember," sighed Lily, who pointed out that he does have a bit of a dark side. Carly admitted that she's drawn to that, too. After the ladies polished off a pizza and some beers, Lily urged Carly to go off and find Simon. "What about your dead battery?" wondered Carly. "I'm rich — my dead battery is someone else's problem," joked Lily.

Meanwhile, a depressed Simon returned home and listened to Carly's message. When he got out of the shower later, she was waiting — and shyly suggested that he tell her what he's been up to tonight.

Monday, November 6, 2006
Despite Lucy's pleas, Craig emphatically refused to drop plans to seek custody of Johnny. Still, he assured his "sweetness" that no matter what, she'd always be his daughter, and begged her not to take action to send him back to jail (for planning her kidnapping a few years ago) out of spite — and also pointed out that Dusty doesn't have the cleanest record (true!). She tearfully vowed to go through with his arrest, so he called Tom. Margo and Tom were arguing about Tom's work for Craig when Maddie came home from school, quickly realized she was interrupting, and went outside. Tom argued that thanks to his battle with Emily, he can sympathize with a man who wants to raise his own kid. That's when he got Craig's call, summoning him to Fairwinds. "The master is calling me," monotoned Margo, mocking her husband by imitating a zombie. Lucy left when Tom arrived. Craig told his lawyer he doesn't think there will be a problem. He did seem to get through to Lucy, who admitted to Dusty later that her dad called her bluff, and she was sort of bluffing. He urged her to send her dad to jail, for Johnny's sake, so she returned to Fairwinds and interrupted Craig's celebratory drink with Tom — and brought Margo, who arrested him.

Adam found Maddie waiting outside the Hughes house, and confided that he's willing to produce Gwen's demo mostly as a favor to his brothers, although he wondered why Casey had such an interest in her success. Maddie evasively suggested he ask his brother, who happened to show up just then. Apparently there's no Hughes family grapevine, because not only did Adam not know about Gwen and Will's marriage, but he had no idea that Casey had (rightfully) been accused of knocking up a girl. Casey confessed all, which made Adam understand his loyalty to Gwen. Still, he noted that if he and Gwen don't "click creatively," it won't happen.

In decisive quadrangle news, Jack and Carly and Simon and Katie all had emotional conversations about their romantic longings. Jack heard Carly leave a message telling Simon that he's important to her, and even promised to tell Jack. "I'll save you the phone call," said Jack, after she hung up. When she couldn't say for sure whether she loves Simon, another patented Carjack "relationship" talk followed, culminating with Jack (Finally! Probably too late!) admitting, "I want you back." Carly pointed out that he's had numerous chances and he's just putting up a fight now because of Simon. Jack argued that she has just talked herself into loving Simon. "Because you're supposed to be the only man I'll ever love," she said sarcastically. "I am the only man you'll ever love," was his bold response, and he added that she belongs to him. "God help us," she sighed, as Jack laid it on thick, giving her the puppy dog eyes and the husky sweet nothings in her ear, but she held strong. "I was always trying to do things your way, live up to your standards. But I am not that person. I don't want to try to be anymore.... How many times have we been through this?" she asked (about 9 billion). "I'm not gonna change. Neither are you." She then asked him to leave and he complied, before whining that he wants her to be happy. "Be careful with Simon," he cried. "If he ever hurts you..." "He won't," she interrupted.

A frustrated Simon showed up at Katie's door and after barging in, he blurted: "If I want Carly, or any other woman for that matter, then I have to be able to let you go. Now." He was looking for one last blow-out fight so they can have closure. Instead, he stumbled upon her box of memories, which he took as a sign that she does still care for him. A tearful Katie was forced to explain why she was throwing everything away, and finally cried that the great love between them wasn't real, but he insisted that it was. "I am not leaving this house with you thinking that everything we had was a lie," he insisted passionately. "I try to pretend to be something that I'm not, but I can't seem to shake it. I'm a con man by trade. I'm a thief and I am a liar, but there are some things that even I cannot fake.... And loving you — what we had, in this house, together — was the most real and the most true thing that has ever happened to me." That really got to her (why wouldn't it?), and he continued to voice all of the unspoken things between them until finally she shouted that she hated him. He grabbed her and demanded that she teach him exactly how she can do that, because he wants to hate her, too. Of course with all of that pent-up rage and emotion between them, they just dissolved into a voracious kiss.

2005 recaps