Hospital – Reception/Waiting Room
Charles and Angie talk about how he’s going to get an HIV test to put her mind at ease.
Trucker’s Shop
Ava and Alex want to know what’s wrong with her car. Trucker and Buck are very hesitant and the former tells her that there’s something she needs to see. He shows her a bloody towel that they found in her trunk. She’s shocked, as is Alex.
Hospital – Hallway/Dante’s Room
Dinah Lee tries to get Curtis to slow down and talk to her, but he’s convinced that Dante was at the gatehouse and wants to prove it. When they walk into Dante’s room, it’s empty. “It wasn’t a dream. Dinah Lee, Dante’s back…”
Hospital – Exam Room
Charles is shown into an exam room and the technician expositions about the test and what it’s testing for. They talk about what happens if the test comes back positive and problems that can arise as a result, including the social consequences such as “denial of health insurance, life insurance, certain medical services, it can affect your employment status, it can result in housing discrimination.”
They talk about Charles’ sexual history and when asked about whether he’s ever had sex with an IV drug user, Charles admits that he doesn’t know, and when asked about the frequency with which he uses condoms, he admits that the answer is “almost always.” As the technician looks at him, it dawns on Charles that he’s been taking chances he wasn’t aware he was taking.
Trucker’s Shop
Alex bags the towel and tells Ava he’s going to have it analyzed and then starts questioning her about how blood could have gotten in the trunk of her car. “Why don’t you just say what you’re thinking?” she demands. “That that’s Egypt’s blood.” Alex denies that that’s what she’s thinking and asks her to calm down. She panics about the police getting involved and the prospect of her getting arrested. “Nobody has seen or heard from Egypt since we had our fight at Burnell’s. Your FBI buddy thinks that was me pushing that cart of mannequins,” she says, getting wound up and wondering what piece of evidence is going to turn up to incriminate her next.
Bet you wish you’d made fewer proclamations about wishing Egypt dead now, huh?
Alex assures her that he knows Egypt is setting her up and tells her not to start freaking out until they know more, but she thinks she’s being pretty calm for someone “being railroaded into a murder rap.”
Alex asks Trucker to take Ava out to his car, which Trucker does despite Ava’s protests, and then starts interrogating Buck. “I’ve just about had it with your questions and insinuations, pal,” Buck says, indignant in spite of the fact that he knows that he actually is an accessory to Egypt’s plot. Alex warns him that he’s going to make it his business to find out what’s going on and that Buck’s in for a world of trouble if he finds out he was involved.
After he leaves, Buck flashes back to his conversation with Egypt in the plane. “Damnit Egypt!”
Hospital – Dante’s Room
Dinah Lee is sure there’s an explanation for Dante’s absence, but Curtis thinks the only explanation is that he’s escaped. A security guard – a different one from the one who kept letting people sneak into Dante’s room – comes in and tells them they’re not allowed in the room. They ask what happened to Dante and he tells them that he’s been taken for testing.
Hospital – Reception Area
Two dayplayers, a husband and wife, argue about whether he’s going to get surgery.
Dante, disguised in a mask and scrubs, approaches Dr. Lynch, who wants to know where Dante went after he snuck him down to the basement. “Dr. Lynch, I didn’t cut anyone up, I swear.” That’s comforting.
Curtis and Dinah Lee walk back out into the common area, looking for Dr. Lynch.
Meanwhile, Dante ominously tells Dr. Lynch that he has one last favor to ask of him.
Hospital – Hallway / Mr. Parker’s Room
Curtis and Dinah Lee catch up with Dr. Lynch to ask about Dante’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, two nurses walk into “Mr. Parker’s” room and tell him it’s time.
Curtis asks Dr. Lynch if he can see Dante and is told that he cannot.
Dante is freaked out at the sight of a needle and Nurse Edie Falco assures him that he wouldn’t want to go through the surgery without it. “I am not having an operation…” She assures him that they’re aware he’s frightened, but ask him to relax. When he looks through the window in the door, he sees Curtis and Dinah Lee in the hallway, and has no choice but to let himself get jabbed.
Hospital – Exam Room/Waiting Room
Charles has finished giving his blood sample and returns to the waiting room, where he’s met by Angie. She asks if she’s late getting back to him and he tells her he needed a few minutes to recover anyway. She wonders if he fainted when the blood was taken and he tells her that that was the easy part. “I guess there’s just certain things I wasn’t aware of,” he admits and they exposition about the cost of being HIV positive in the ‘90s.
He tells her about an “unprotected situation” he was in once that he worried about at the time and then shrugged off, admitting that now he’s worried that could come back to haunt him.
Trucker’s Shop
Trucker and Buck get back to working on a bike. Buck decides to bail and get back to Stacey’s, but Trucker still wants to know what’s wrong. Buck insists that he’s fine and walks out.
Rescott House – Front Porch/Living Room
Alex and Ava walk up to the house with her lamenting that this might be the last time she gets to see her mother and her son except for visiting days. He tells her to stop assuming the worst, but she thinks he’s not worried enough about this.
As they get in, he reassures her that he sent the towel to a be analyzed by a friend who has nothing to do with the police, which seems like a massive conflict of interest.
Kate comes into the living room and tells them that they have some visitors, ushering Minnie and Alexis into the room. Alex tells Alexis that Egypt isn’t there right now, but promises that he’s going to track her down and “everything’s going to be just great.”
The expression on Ava’s face suggests otherwise.
Rescott House – Living Room
Kate suggests that Alexis might be ready to go for bed and takes her upstairs. Alone, Ava asks Alex if the feds are going to show up and arrest her soon. He tells her that Charles “is in this with us” and not to worry about it. When Charles walks in, he asks if Egypt has turned up and Alex tells him about the towel. When Alex starts saying that it’s obvious Egypt set Ava up, Charles corrects him and says the only obvious thing is that Egypt has disappeared and reminds Alex that as an officer of the law, he has a duty to report what he’s found. “Either you report this or I will. And if I report it, I have to make it very clear that you were trying to withhold evidence,” Charles warns. “I suggest you make that call.”
Donovan House – Living Room / Resort
Buck answers a call from Egypt, who asks him how it’s going. He tells her he’s going to fly down to where she is and pick her up, but she refuses to tell him where she currently is and tells him she’ll be home “soon enough.” He threatens to tell Alex everything and she brings up all the things he’d like to keep secret, threatening to blow up his life if he messes with her scheme.
Hospital – Hallway/Operating Room
Curtis is agitated, wondering why Dante hasn’t been returned to his room yet, and Dinah Lee urges him to calm down. Hilariously, now that there’s no one currently in the room, the security guard is like a sentinel outside of it.
Meanwhile, Dante is getting some unnecessary surgery.
Curtis tells Dinah Lee that he has to stay until he knows for sure that Dante is there. She tries to reassure him that Dr. Lynch wouldn’t lie about Dante still being in a coma. “Dante can’t hurt you anymore. Why don’t you believe that?” He wants to and asks her to help him.
Episode Cast:
- Buck Huston – Philip Brown
- Dante Partou – Thom Christopher
- Dinah Lee Mayberry – Jessica Collins
- Egypt Jones – Linda Cook
- Charles Harrison – Geoffrey C. Ewing
- Alex Masters – Randolph Mantooth
- Curtis Alden – Christopher Marcantel
- Angie Hubbard – Debbi Morgan
- Ava Rescott – Lisa Peluso
- Trucker McKenzie – Robert Tyler
- Alexis Masters – Krista Bonura
- Dr. Lynch – Richard Cain
- Nurse Becker – Edie Falco
- Don – Thom Sesma
- Minnie Madden – Louise Stubbs
Loving (1983-1995) 