Friday, January 26, 2007
In Dr. Bob's office, Barbara filled in Paul on the craziness at the blood drive. Meanwhile, Jack arrived and took a perfect shot, allowing Craig to release a bleeding Milo. As the cops did their thing, Meg thanked Craig for saving her and marveled at his sudden show of modesty. "I told you I wasn't so bad to have around," he grinned. When wounded Milo was wheeled past them, he repeated his bitter accusation of, "You killed my wife!" As Babs updated Paul on the standoff, he was not happy to hear Craig played hero. Elsewhere, Jack and Craig tried to assure Meg none of this was her fault (even though it was). Rattled Meg flashed back on neglecting to write down Sarah's allergies. Attuned to shady behavior, Craig advised her to be careful around the cops (yes, even her cousin Jack). Jack thanked a smug Craig (awkward!), while Craig thanked Jack for stepping in. Meanwhile, Meg went to see Paul. Barbara got in a few potshots before leaving the kids alone. "I believe you," Meg said, meaning it this time. "Let's just be happy that you're okay," Paul sighed. He explained his visions, how they were more jazzy special effects than actual play-by-play. Unfortunately, Meg still walked away at the end of the talk. It's okay, though, because Babs was still in her boy's corner — until he said he wanted to stay at Memorial to be tested and that Meg needed him. Meg needed something all right...she gasped that she had killed Sarah and Craig overheard.

At Oakdale's coffee-and-crime café, Elwood whined about the registered bonds but Casey told him to suck it up. Noting their dirty dealings, Adam made himself scarce. Casey beat a hasty retreat soon after. The sudden emptying of the Hughes' house puzzled the remaining partygoers, but then Lisa called to report the break-in at Crash. Margo filled in Will, Gwen, Maddie and a returning Adam. Before Margo, Adam and Will trooped over to investigate, Maddie was quick to point the finger at her best pal, Jade. When Casey arrived and got the 411, Tom noted that insurance wouldn't cover Will's loss. At Crash, Adam sighed that they had to cancel Gwen's studio time while Will walked Margo through his routine earlier that night. "The alarm didn't go off all evening," noted Margo. Adam stood around smugly as the rest of the gang arrived. Cue Maddie blaming Jade, Jade sniping, and squirrelly Casey defending her. Jade wasn't surprised that she was the prime suspect, though, and she waved away Adam's false sympathy. Batting 1.000, Adam came back to snark at Will for losing 10 grand. Later at Java, Will wallowed in guilt and Gwen wished bad, bad things on the thief. Outside, Adam gave one of Casey's payees cash for the bonds Elwood had given him. "It's a classic win-win," Adam then told someone on the phone. Back at Castle Hughes, Maddie ranted about Jade and then comforted Casey since he'd lost out on this demo project, too.

Clueless Katie asked Margo where Mike had gone and she spilled the details of Mike's surprise toast. "We're back together and that is all that matters," Katie sighed. Of course, Mike was at that very moment reading Simon's letter out loud. Katie returned to the cottage, where Mike brandished Simon's not-quite-love note. Despite the lack of inflammatory content like "think of me while you're in bed with Mike," Mike dissed the "Simon Frasier seal of approval," and told Katie he didn't know "who the hell you are." Katie laughed off the letter as "a final goodbye." Mike was appalled by her warm fuzzies for her destructive ex. Well, Katie was sick of defending herself. Mike echoed her statement that they "couldn't do this anymore," and told her they had no place left to go. In a startling display of lameness, he came back downstairs with his suitcase, telling her he was "just goin'." Resigned, the duo kissed and said their final goodbyes, complete with swelling orchestral music and artfully staged props. (What, no montage?) As Mike shut the door, Katie broke down in sobs. (Bye, Mark Collier!)

Thursday, January 25, 2007
At the cottage, Katie and Mike dished her vegetarian chili. Before heading to Tom and Margo's, Katie checked the mail and found a letter from Simon. Cue an apology (voiced-over by Paul Leyden himself). Simon wished Katie well and urged her to be happy with Mike. When Mike got curious, Katie folded up the missive and wrote it off as a bill. Henry showed up bearing gifts, happy that "Matie" had reunited. Naturally, Katie sent Mike ahead with the food so she could talk about Simon. Henry criticized Simon's penmanship, wondering if Carly knew he was "writing to his ex." Katie assured Henry she was fine about the whole thing but refused to let him burn Simon's scribblings. She then opened Henry's gift: a chocolate trophy celebrating her and Mike's success. Yum! Henry left but then burst in crying "Ah-ha!" Katie was mooning over the letter! She kicked him out and proceeded to do it properly, with a montage of "Skatie's" Greatest Hits set to Avril Lavigne's "Keep Holding On." Aw! Then, she stashed the letter into a book and showed up at Margo's with her food. Returning home, Mike tried to compose a special toast to Katie. Searching for inspiration on the bookshelf, he found...Simon's letter!

At Castle Hughes, Gwen and Adam filled in Maddie on their Will-and-the-demo debate and Maddie sided with Gwen's views on her hubby. Tom and Daniel then trooped in and Tom beamed at his family. Except wait...where was Casey? Still committing a felony at Crash! And he made it worse by trashing the club to make it look like an outside job. Mid-staging, Margo called him wondering if he was churning Tom's ice cream himself (LOL!). Meanwhile, Maddie again warned Adam about crossing Jade. The rest of the family bantered about Katie's cooking and Will and Casey's educations. When Casey the criminal finally showed, he carefully stashed his bond-laden jacket. More adorable Hughes family interplay followed. Criminal Casey got a little uncomfortable when talk of the demo project came up and Tom raised a toast to all the kids. Later, Danny and Margo talked about Craig and Emily. The Hugheses continued to bask in the most group airtime they've had in years...except for Casey, who wasn't so much basking as fidgeting. Mike came by to drop off food but then left to prepare a surprise for Katie. Nearby, Casey answered another call from Elwood: His parents needed cash tonight. Casey immediately booked it over to Java with the bonds. Of course, Adam followed...and he watched the whole transaction.

Smack in the middle of the Memorial blood drive, gun totin' Milo demanded to know "who killed my wife?" Meg tried to keep him calm and Craig arrived in the middle of the standoff. Our dastardly day player added Barbara to the hostage list and then told Meg all about his wife Sarah's elective surgery. When Milo realized Meg knew details of her demise, he let all the hostages but her go and pulled her aside. Meg told him anaphylactic shock had killed Sarah and that she didn't know what triggered it. But she flashed back on questioning Sarah about her allergies and realized that, yup, she'd indeed screwed up. Aloud, though, she defended herself to psycho Milo. He blamed Meg for her death. Craig lurked in the doorway as Milo said he was now going to kill Meg. Meg apologized, pleading for Milo not to shoot. That's when Craig sprang, tackling Milo to the ground. Cue a minute of theatrical struggling and the gun going off. Gasp!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
At Crash, Gwen's Oakdale Idol glee wavered when Adam implied she pressured Will into taking Barbara's cash. At the Hughes' Babs and Will transacted, Casey and Jade eyeballed the loot, and Maddie and Margo wrangled a crying Daniel off-screen. "This isn't a handout," Will told Barbara, promising to pay her back. Gwen assured Adam that Will wasn't tanking her demo just to keep her to himself. Will got huffy when Babs asked for a favor. Of course, she was just warning him to be careful with the bonds. Whoops! Casey eavesdropped as Will said he'd put them in the Crash safe. Then, Elwood called Casey, saying he needed to pay Elwood ASAP — or El's folks would call his. Adam strolled up on Casey flipping out. Meanwhile, Will came to lock up the bonds and discussed the demo with Gwen. Maddie told Adam that Jade was waiting and then sent Casey out for Tom's favorite ice cream. "Your dream is my dream," Will told Gwen. Less dreamy, Adam told Jade he needed to stay for his family dinner...but she could leave. Harsh! Jade accused him of wanting Gwen and refused to be another guy's second choice. After she stormed off, Maddie warned Adam about scorning that particular woman. Will sent Gwen to dinner with Tom and Margo and told her he needed to study. As he locked the bonds away, Casey crept around Crash. Later, Casey let himself in and helped himself to the bonds.

Dusty encountered mopey Emily as Craig painted a misty watercolor of his and Em's failed partnership for Lily. No dummy, Lily called Craig on his interest in Meg. Naturally, he changed the subject to Lily, who revealed she's not ready to go back to work. "You're a goddess. You'll knock 'em dead!" assured Craig. Elsewhere, Dusty gently told Emily to "knock it off." She'd let Craig get to her and "You've got to get your priorities straight." Emily realized Dusty was right and thanked him. Back at the Lakeview, Craig and Lily talked about responsible diet pill use. He thanked her for "being my only friend in the world," and then he left. As Lily popped a pill, Lucinda walked up, aghast at her buddying up to Craig. Minutes later, Dusty asked Big Luce to buy out Craig's shares of The Intruder. Lucinda reminded Dusty about Emily's wall-chaining fetish but Dusty shrugged it off (maybe he likes chains?). Meanwhile, Margo didn't want Emily agitating Tom or Daniel. Emily tried to win Danny over with Chicago Bulls tickets and hot chocolate, but he wasn't havin' it. Dusty was pleased when Lucinda mused that a buyout would needle Craig and agreed to it. Not so pleased, Lily defended Craig to Lucinda, practically yelling. Margo assured Emily that Daniel's snub just meant he needs time, but Emily rushed out in tears. Lily apologized to Lucinda for flying off the handle. Left alone, she was tempted by the Lakeview's dessert tray (but refrained) and popped a second pill.

At Memorial, Paul was freaking, much to Meg's dismay. Paul shoved Meg away before she could touch him, shaking from another vision of blood. "I don't even know who you are anymore!" Meg cried. After Paul shouted a lot. Meg relented, "I do believe you." Dr. Bob showed up and they pulled Paul into his office, talking soothingly as one often does to a crazy person. Paul suspected that Dr. Bob and Meg were up to something. Yup! Cue a needle jab. (Dr. Bob, we didn't know you had it in you!) "I trusted you," Paul whimpered, making eyes at Meg as he passed out. Later, Barbara came by to collect her unconscious son. She blasted Dr. Bob, who told her Paul was having a "psychotic break." Psychotically broken Paul kept mumbling about the blood drive. That's when Meg's dead patient's husband, Milo, arrived there. As Paul urged Barbara to stop the drive before someone died, erratic Milo pulled his gun and cried, "Nobody move!"

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Emily brought Daniel's mp3 player by Chez Hughes but Margo kept her from seeing Danny because the kid was in bad shape. "He was crying?" gasped Emily. As Margo talked about Daniel's trauma, Craig came by. Emily lashed out at him for traumatizing her son. Danny came downstairs and Emily went off, demanding Uncle Craig keep his distance. Margo cautioned Em that she was scaring Daniel and pulled him away to visit Tom. Then she kicked Emily out. Of course, then she went a few rounds with Craig: "Emily was right. You hired a corporate thug!" Margo exclaimed. Naturally, Craig parried the blame like a pro. Margo kicked him out, too. Later, Em and Craig tangled at the Lakeview and Lily refereed. Craig told his tale of woe to Lily. She said he's "no saint," but, in a nice nod to history, assured him she's still his friend.

At Java, Elwood caught Casey gambling...and losing. Furious El took away his laptop battery, crying, "You're in way deep!" Elsewhere, Lily told Jade that Holden had nixed her diet pill popping. Jade's impromptu pep talk reminded Lily of Rose. Sadly, Jade didn't have Rose's magnetic pull with guys. At Crash, Will came bursting in on Gwen and Adam with budgetary issues that seemed to sink the project. Barbara arrived and offered to back the demo with a hefty 10 grand but Will turned her down. Over salads, Jade confided her Adam trouble to Lily, complete with awkward tidbits about their sex life. "Rose never compromised when it came to love," Lily smiled. Hearing that made Jade feel proactive...and made Lily covet Jade's lunch. Will turned down his mom's help initially but then accepted it. Yay! Delighted Barbara planned to meet them later with registered bonds. Adam then needled Will while Barbara and Gwen had a sweet scene about Babs' tough year (will wonders never cease?). Back at Java, Casey admitted he filched Margo's mad money. El told him he needed more cash ASAP "before something happens." Gwen appreciated Will letting Barbara help but, unsettled by Adam, he snubbed her snuggles. Later, Adam was skeptical about Will's Mommy issues and told Gwen that Will was more scared of "losing you." As Gwen boggled, Adam blew off hanging out with Jade in favor of cozying up to Gwen some more. Will caught up with Babs at Chez Hughes (totally calling her on re-gifting something to Tom) and accepted the bonds. Nearby, Jade startled a huffy Casey...who salivated over 10 grand's worth of pretty paper.

At Memorial, Dr. Bob reassured Nurse Meg that her work was exemplary, despite the dead patient. He told the stressed out Meg to "take a deep breath and step back." Meanwhile, Paul was still reliving The Shining (or maybe Cabin Fever), complete with rivers of blood and screams. He grabbed his coat and rushed to the hospital. "Something terrible's going to happen!" he told Dr. Bob, who was skeptical at best. Meg walked up on this and echoed the "Paul is a demented drama queen" diagnosis. She stormed off and, of course, Paul remained firm in his belief that something wicked this way cometh. He went looking for the blood drive, staring at Meg with his trademark puppy face. Two seconds later, he made a major scene, trying to drive everyone out of the room because they were in danger!

Monday, January 22, 2007
At the cottage, Mike and Katie marveled at Danny's miraculous return and talked about having babies. Down on the farm, buff 'n' bare Brad needled Jack, calling Carly a "lying, cheating tramp." Even if the shoe kinda fits, Jack wasn't havin' it. Cue bitter brotherly banter. Meanwhile, Katie talked about growing up without Casey in her life and Mike brought up Jack and Carly and their kids. "When the time is right, we'll know," he assured. Vienna walked in on the Snyder boys, hankering for a "piece of Emma's apple pie," and Jack begrudgingly introduced her to "my shirtless brother, Brad." Later, Vienna and her leopard print robe flummoxed Brad and earned him some more of Jack's ire. Outside, Jack fiddled with the motor for Caleb's old go-cart and wondered why Vienna was pulling the Green Acres act. "It feels a lot better being here than not," she shrugged. She helped Jack stack some firewood and praised the sweetness of Snyders (complete with a flirty finger across his lips). Brad watched the interplay, impressed that Jack was "definitely not out of the game!"

At Chez Hughes, Adam and Maddie hovered over Tom when he came home from the hospital. They demanded he eat his heart-healthy granola as Margo met Casey outside with the mail. She wasn't thrilled with his semester report card but agreed not to tell Dad. Tom praised the legal profession to his sons and amidst the fun family tableau, Margo discovered her Mad Money missing! After they ran through a list of suspects and scenarios, the boys made a quick exit and Mike and Aunt Katie arrived. Outside the house, Adam asked his baby bro: "Did you rip Mom off?" If you guessed Casey denied it, you'd be right! Inside, the Hughes and Kasnoffs discussed family. Later, at Java, Casey assured Maddie of his commitment to academics. Of course, when he booted up his laptop, it was for "just one hand, I swear." Katie decided to throw a "Thank God Tom's alive!" party to keep herself occupied and she and Mike cuddled — seemingly united. In decidedly better shape, Margo and Tom enjoyed some heart-healthy smooching.

In his Fortress of Psychic Solitude, Paul partially burned a P&G gallery shot of Marie Wilson. At Memorial, Meg had some angsty flashbacks about Paul and didn't notice her patient flatlining. Oops. After the woman was pronounced dead, Craig walked up to comfort her (of course). Then, Parker came to visit his psychic friend and ask how he'd known Carly would escape. Craig diagnosed Meg with a case of Paul-Ryan-on-the-brain while Parker noted that "Jack was right. You're weird," and cracked Paul up. Paul then explained the pitfalls of his powers to Parker. "Paul is no longer in my life!" Meg insisted to Craig, who offered to help her "decompress." Thank you, but no. Meg preferred pedicures. The two shared some awkward niceties and then Meg decided to work late and help with the hospital blood drive. Paul booted Parker from the Hermit Hovel, finished burning Meg's glamour shot, and had a vision! He saw waves of blood pouring across the hospital floor (just like that one scene in The Shining).

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