Head Writer: Mary Ryan Munisteri / Executive Producer: Fran Sears
Paul is surprised to learn that the regulars at the pub where Ava is working think that Flynn is her boyfriend. Flynn explains to him that he pretended to be involved with Ava in order to get some of the customers to back off of her, but admits that he is attracted to her. Paul reacts by going on the radio and talking out his feelings in the form of a chapter of “Weird City,” a serialized story in which he casts himself as “Tough Guy” and Ava as “Beauty.” Ava and Flynn hear the broadcast and try to reassure Paul that nothing is going on between them. Despite her desire to keep her relationship with Paul together, Ava is nevertheless jealous when Flynn asks Carly out on a date. Though things go well between them, Carly tells Flynn that she’s not ready for something serious and he agrees to keep things casual.
Paul’s hopes are up when he realizes that his leg is twitching, but when he visits Dr. Stevens he’s informed that it’s just a spasm and that it doesn’t indicate that he could regain the use of his legs. Frustrated, Paul takes his feelings out on Ava, who turns to Flynn for support. Not wanting to hurt Paul, and having just begun something with Carly, Flynn encourages Ava to work things out with Paul. Ava is jealous about the developments between Flynn and Carly, but she’s mostly worried about the progress Carly and Shana are making in the search for Michael. Concerned that Ava is going to meddle again and turn the trail cold, Carly tells Kate that Ava has been trying to sabotage her search for her son.
After sending out a coded message on the radio, Carly is contacted by Ruth Austin, the woman who has been raising Michael. The two women meet, but Ruth reveals that Michael is currently traveling with her husband, who is a musician. Further discussion leads Carly to believe that Michael is being raised in a less than savory environment and that she needs to extricate him. Although unsure if she will tell Paul about Michael, Carly is determined to find the boy before Paul and Ava can be married at Christmas. Worried that Carly will push too hard and scare Ruth off, Shana warns her not to try to contact the woman again.
As she makes plans to get Michael from Ruth, the tensions between Carly and Ava remain high and Paul, who has proposed to Ava, asks Carly to make up with her sister. However, while Carly is being drawn further into her romance with Flynn, Ava’s insecurities where Carly is concerned continue to rise as Paul begins talking about wanting to have a baby and tells her that he wants them to have fertility tests before they’re married in order to ensure that children will be a possibility. She tries to convince Paul to elope and when he refuses, she tries to enlist Kate’s help, but she refuses as well. Undeterred, Ava manipulates Louie into agreeing to help her arrange a surprise wedding for herself and Paul, but her plans are almost derailed when Carly catches her looking at wedding dresses.
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As part of her job managing the Alden art collection, Trisha hosts a welcome party for Giff Bowman, an artist who has joined AU’s faculty. Things go awry when Giff disappears with Trucker and Jack to the Corinth Towers’ bar in order to watch a baseball game, where the trio crosses paths with Dinah Lee. After being informed by Gwyneth that the dress she’s wearing was previously loaned to Dinah Lee, a furious Stacey goes looking for Jack to get an explanation and finds him hanging out with Dinah Lee at the bar. Similarly furious is Trisha, who blames Trucker for ruining her party by absconding with the guest of honor.
Jack and Stacey’s problems continue after he swears that he’s told her everything, even though he has not told her about kissing Dinah Lee. Wanting to make trouble for him, Shana informs Stacey about the kiss and after he fires Dinah Lee from AE, she sets him straight about who told Stacey about the kiss. Jack tries to do damage control, but memories of Jack’s past affair with Lily, and the evidence of an affair that keeps piling up, make it impossible for Stacey to believe that he’s not carrying on with Dinah Lee. Meanwhile, though Trisha and Trucker are happily surprised to learn that she’s pregnant, the distance continues to grow between them as a result of their conflict over her job. While Trisha increasingly desires space from Trucker, he finds himself drifting closer to Dinah Lee and becoming increasingly aware of how attracted he is to her.
Dinah Lee gets a job at the bowling alley and begins posing in Giff’s art class in order to make ends meet and when Trucker walks into Giff’s class, he catches sight of Dinah Lee in the nude. The tensions between the two continue to rise just as Trisha goes on a trip to Pine Valley to try to woo Jeremy Hunter into accepting a position as AU’s artist in residence and, taking notice, Jack tries to warn Trucker to keep his distance from Dinah Lee. Trucker ignores his advice and continues to develop his friendship with Dinah Lee, even as he becomes jealous and anxious when Giff warns him that Jeremy is a ladies’ man who might try to romance Trisha. In an attempt to reconnect with Trisha, Trucker accepts Giff’s offer to help him with an art project, but when Trisha returns from Pine Valley she’s annoyed at the thought of Trucker stepping onto her turf when what she wanted was something to call her own. She’s even more annoyed when she learns that Trucker has been hanging out with Dinah Lee and when he argues that she’s not as bad as everyone wants to make her out to be. When his plans to spend some time alone with Trisha are foiled by her making plans with Gwyneth, Trucker heads to the bowling alley and hangs out with Dinah Lee, coming to her defense when she gets caught in the middle of two drunken customers.
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Desperate to help Matt get out of jail and prove that he’s been set up by his stepfather, Ally manages to track down one of Reverend Ford’s victims, but the girl refuses to tell the authorities what happened. Stymied, Ally decides to try a different tactic and comes up with a plan to gather evidence and turns to Paul for help, asking to borrow some recording equipment in order to lure Reverend Ford into a confession. Paul refuses to support Ally putting herself in danger and makes her promise not to try it, but she simply steals a recording device and takes off, determined to follow through. She meets up with Reverend Ford and makes herself appear vulnerable and it’s only when he goes on the attack that she realizes just how vulnerable she actually is. Fortunately, when Paul realizes that she took his recording equipment he manages to get hold of Louie, who shows up in time to come to Ally’s rescue. Although Ford tries to escape, he’s caught and Ally’s recording backs up her version of events.
Meanwhile, despairing of what’s going to happen to him following a visit from Reverend Ford, Matt accepts another inmate’s offer of drugs. When he’s released from jail following Reverend Ford’s arrest, Matt asks if he can move in to the Rescott house, as the thought of returning to Ford’s home unnerves him, and Kate and Louie agree on the condition that Matt and Ally follow certain rules. Almost immediately, the pair break the rules and are caught kissing by Kate and Louie and the tensions in the house are increased when Ally finds Reggie’s phone number in Matt’s pocket. He pretends to throw it away, but secretly keeps it. In the midst of all this drama, Ceara Connor arrives from Pine Valley with an aim to escape the trauma of her past. She instantly connects with kindred spirit Matt, making Ally jealous.
Loving (1983-1995) 