AU – Giff’s Studio
Dinah Lee and Trucker continue the argument that started at the end of the last episode, with her asking if he would have preferred her “jumping on the first plane out of here” to staying in Corinth. He tells her that what he would have wanted is for her to reject Gwyneth’s check, warning her that she doesn’t just have to worry about Gwynneth, but the entire Alden family. “They hang together. When you cashed that check, all you did was cut yourself into their game.”
Dinah Lee feigns innocence, saying that all she did was buy a bowling alley and Trucker reiterates that she’s invited a heap of trouble onto herself. “The Aldens always win,” he warns.
Flynn’s Apartment
Flynn and Carly have spent the night together, but apparently all they did was fight. He reminds her that she followed him home and insisted on staying and she tells him that it’s because she “honestly wanted to be with [him].” So screw how he feels about it, I guess.
“You know, I think I have figured it out. Do you know why we didn’t make love last night?” she says in an accusatory tone. Girl, nothing happened because he didn’t even want you to come over. It’s not a mystery, but this is just the preamble to her gaslighting him by saying that this isn’t about her very real and very obvious feelings for Paul. “It has nothing to do with me at all anymore; it’s about you, Riley.” He looks at her like he can’t even believe what he’s hearing and says, “Me?” “It’s amazing how you have found so many ways to keep us apart.”
Flynn, you could do so much better than this.
Rescott House – Living Room
Ruth has shown up at the house, looking for Carly, but Kate tells her that Carly isn’t home. Ruth asks if she can leave a message for her and when she introduces herself, both Kate and Ava react, because they of course know the name.
Rescott House – Living Room
Now that she knows who Ruth is, Ava tries to jump into action, offering to be the one to take the message and make sure Carly gets it. Kate literally pushes Ava away and puts herself between her and Ruth to receive the message, which is that Ruth will meet Carly at 4 pm that day at “the same place.” Ava puts on her best “concerned” face and suggests that Ruth tell her where “the same place” is since Carly might forget.
Louie comes downstairs and Ruth quickly makes her exit as Ava tries to chase after her to get more information. Louie asks what’s going on and Kate says Ruth was just there to visit Carly and then changes the subject, asking how the wayward teens are doing. As Louie is explaining that he thinks he’s managed to calm Ally down, Ava is staring out the window as if thinking of making a break for it.
Louie adds that he thinks the talk Ava had with Ally was helpful and she thinks he’s being sarcastic and blaming her for how sideways things went. Kate basically tells Louie to ignore Ava because she’s “in a total tizzy over this wedding.” After he heads out, Ava starts to break down, thinking that Ruth’s arrival means the end of her relationship with Paul. She starts flipping out at the idea that Ruth is going to give Michael to Carly that afternoon and then Paul will know he has a son and their relationship with fall apart. Kate tells her that Carly finding Michael will be “a gift,” but Ava is fixated on the idea that Paul won’t marry her if he finds out that he has a child by Carly first.
Flynn’s Apartment/Rescott House – Living Room
Flynn rejects Carly’s accusation and reminds her that she is the one who threw up “roadblocks” to them getting together. “Well, I made myself ready, willing, and available last night,” she returns, because Carly’s feelings are the only ones that actually matter and the fact that Flynn was mad at her the night before and wanted her to leave him alone mean nothing.
He tells her that knowing she wants to be with Paul isn’t exactly a turn on for him and she gets frustrated. “Yes, I have feelings for Paul, but not those kinds of feelings.” He doesn’t believe her and says that he can’t get involved with her when he knows that she’s buying a house with the intention of living there as a family with Paul and Michael. She denies that that’s what she’s doing and he tells her that she’s “lying to [herself].”
In an effort to prove something, she gets up, picks up the phone and calls her realtor, saying that she’s not interested in the house anymore. That apparently works because he softens his tone and they end up kissing. “Don’t be jealous anymore,” she says.
The phone starts ringing, but they let it go to the machine because they’re making out. The caller is Ava and Carly starts multitasking, continuing to make out with Flynn while actively listening to Ava’s message. When she hears the name “Ruth Austin,” Carly leaps out of bed and grabs the phone.
“She was here, Carly,” Ava tells her, relaying the message and then pleading with Carly not to keep her in the dark. Carly thanks her for giving her the message and then hangs up. “I have to call my lawyer,” Carly tells Flynn, excitedly saying that the meeting could mean that she’s about to get Michael. She then realizes that it could also mean that she’s about to lose Michael for good.
AU – Giff’s Studio
Dinah Lee denies that the Aldens can do anything to her and brings things back to her original question, wanting Trucker to say that he’s “glad that [she] didn’t leave town.” Before he can answer, Giff walks in and wonders what’s up. “Trucker was just congratulating me. His mother-in-law’s backed me on a business venture,” Dinah Lee explains.
Giff is taken aback when he finds out that Dinah Lee bought Pins with Gwyneth’s money, calling it a “gutsy move” and admits that he heard about the offer from Gwyneth herself. Trucker reiterates that taking the bribe and then reneging on her end of the deal was dumb, but Dinah Lee doesn’t think the Aldens can touch her because she isn’t married into their family and doesn’t work for any of them so there’s nothing they can take away from her. He points out that bowling alley itself is something that she now has to lose and warns that they’ll try to take it away from her.
“I think you’ve been playing by their rules too long,” she tells him. “You’ve forgotten what it’s like to be independent.” Trucker doesn’t take well to that and storms out.
Now that Trucker’s gone, Dinah Lee starts to second guess everything and asks Giff if Gwyneth really could come after her in some way and get Pins shut down. “She’ll be mad,” he acknowledges, but tells her that he thinks the person she’s really worried about is Trucker. “He’s the reason you’re staying.”
Instead of engaging with that statement, she asks if she’s still going to be allowed to model for him and he assures her that while it may be Alden University, it’s Bowman’s art department. She leaves to go get ready for class and a moment later, Gwyneth walks in, all smiles because she doesn’t know yet that her plot blew up in her face.
She informs him that she’s decided to forgive him for trying to keep her from telling Trisha about Trucker’s affair and he wonders “what would happen if we got in a real fight?” He then adds, “Would I get $10,000 to let you win?” “Shall we have a real fight and see?”
AU – Giff’s Studio
“Bribery is disgusting,” Giff says. “Dinah Lee’s a good kid.” Gwyneth tells him that “She took the money and ran, you know” and speculates that she’s in the Caribbean as they speak. He corrects her, revealing that Dinah Lee bought Pins with the money. Gwyneth seethes at the realization that she just bankrolled Dinah Lee putting down roots in Corinth and complains that they had a deal. I guess that’s the problem with a completely non-enforceable, contractless deal.
He has no sympathy for her and when Gwyneth tries to lay the blame for destroying Trisha and Trucker’s marriage on Dinah Lee, he corrects her that the problems existed before Trucker and Dinah Lee slept together. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot. You played quite a part in all this, didn’t you? You dumped Dinah Lee right in Trucker’s lap, didn’t you? You let them have an affair right here in this studio and all the time you were supposed to be Trisha’s friend?” He tells her that she has a “nasty mind” and says he cares about everyone involved in the triangle.
“You’re busy charming the whole wide world, aren’t you, Gifford?” She accuses him of wanting to be everyone’s best friend and he tells her that he has no interest in being friends with “a dragon lady.” “Well, I have no need to be liked,” she returns. “Especially by you.”
As she’s trying to leave, he decides to try to get the last word in, asking if it’s “complicated, dealing with a man who sees you.” He suggests that she try to play it safe and go for a pool boy. She makes no verbal response and instead leaves, slamming the door for emphasis.
AE – CEO’s Office
Trucker informs Jack that he’s quitting his job. Jack suggests that if he’s stressed out because of the situation in his marriage, he could take a leave of absence and come back when things have calmed down, but Trucker doesn’t want to do that because he wants to prove something to Dinah Lee by extricating himself from the Aldens. He tells Jack about what Gwyneth did and Jack thinks it’s “too bad” that Dinah Lee didn’t use the money to leave Corinth.
“Are you leaving Alden Enterprises because of your split up with Trisha, or are you taking a stand for Dinah Lee?” Trucker asks him not to start on that, saying “I’m ending it with Dinah Lee. I mean, I like her and everything… if I’d never met Trisha, I’d probably be living with her now or something, but the point is, I love my wife, I love Trisha. I really love her. I saw her this morning and she’s still very upset and hurt and mad and everything…” Jack is as unsurprised by that as the rest of us, but Trucker adds that the baby moved “and she looked at me… and finally we connected for a minute.”
Jack urges Trucker to try to “build on that,” which Trucker says he intends to do. “We’re still married; I want to stay married. I’m going to get her back.”
AE – CEO’s Office
Gwyneth tells Jack that she has something urgent to discuss with him and they start talking about plans for a new factory for the cosmetics line and her belief that they need to rethink where they’re going to build it. When he sees the address, he points out that it’s where the bowling alley is located. “It’s no problem,” she says, “We’ll buy the place and demolish it.”
He tells her that he’s spoken to Trucker, who decided to quit after finding out about Gwyneth’s attempt to buy Dinah Lee’s exit from town. “She tried to wreck your marriage, Jack, do I have to remind you of that? You wanted to get rid of her – this is our way.” She then points out that he fired Dinah Lee twice, so what’s the big deal about using AE to go after Pins? He thinks that what he did was different and accuses Gwyneth of trying to enact a “vendetta.”
She says that if he’s not going to help, she’ll have “no choice” but to go over his head. When he points out that he’s the CEO, she reminds him that Isabelle is back. “And her heart is with Trisha.” Jack laughs at the idea of “grandmother running the show” and she tells him to laugh while he can.
AU – Giff’s Studio
Hey, remember how Trucker quitting AE wasn’t about Dinah Lee? Well, he’s sure wasted no time in coming back to report to her and get a pat on the head. “I quit AE; nobody owns me.” She’s pleased, but he then adds that he needs “to get back on track with [his] life” which means that they shouldn’t see each other anymore. “I hate hurting you,” he says, “but I want my marriage.”
She glares at him and wonders, “You think if you break it off with me, everything’s going to be okay?” He says it’s a “start” but she tells him, “You’re miserable with Trisha; you’re happy with me. We’re good together.” His only response to this is “My wife’s pregnant.” She acknowledges that, but says, “But you don’t love her anymore. You just don’t know it yet.”
Corinth Towers – Bar/Austin Apartment
Shana is camped out in the corner and Ruth is drinking at the bar. Carly walks in and joins Ruth at the bar, agreeing to pay her tab before they talk.
Shana walks over and Ruth gets defensive, wondering who she is. Shana is direct and to the point, explaining that Carly is willing to make a deal of money in exchange for Michael, offering Ruth $25,000.
Laying aside how problematic it is that Carly is trying to buy a child, let’s look at this deal for what it really is. Ruth has raised Michael, without any financial support from Carly up until this point, for 10 years. At $25,000 that’s $2,500 per year. Ruth doesn’t have it together, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that she nevertheless spent more than $2,500 per year on things Michael needed. If Carly’s serious about this, she needs to add another 0 to her offer to at least reimburse Ruth for what she’s already paid out of pocket over the years, otherwise this “deal” makes no sense for Ruth.
Ruth, however, is very impressed by this offer. Shana tries to emphasize the generosity of this offer by pointing out that Ruth never legally adopted Michael, however, I would think that that fact kind of works against Carly because it means that, legally speaking, she simply abandoned him, which wouldn’t exactly help her in a custody case.
Shana gives Ruth a contract to sign and she says that she needs to talk to her husband before signing anything. Shana asks the bartender for a telephone and Ruth calls Nick and tells him what’s going on. Nick tells her not to sign anything and to have Carly and Shana come over to their place in a few hours. Ruth hangs up and gives Carly the instructions. After she leaves, Carly decides to count her chickens before they’ve hatched, confidently stating that she’s going to get her son back.
Episode Cast:
- Louie Slavinsky – Bernard Barrow
- Jack Forbes – Christopher Cass
- Dinah Lee Mayberry – Jessica Collins
- Giff Bowman – Richard Cox
- Shana Vochek – Susan Keith
- Ava Rescott – Lisa Peluso
- Flynn Riley – Keith Pruitt
- Carly Rescott – Colleen Quinn
- Kate Slavinsky – Nada Rowand
- Gwyneth Alden – Christine Tudor
- Trucker McKenzie – Robert Tyler
- Ruth Austin – Susan Greenhill
Loving (1983-1995) 