Boogie Chillen
SPECIAL I LOVE LUCCI EDITION
February 12, 2005

[NOTE: SoapNet showed a 7-hour "I Love Lucci" marathon on Saturday, 2/12/05 ostensibly focusing on Susan Lucci, but there was LOTS of other fun stuff, too!]

Some Character Info for relative newbies:

Mona Kane - Erica's long-suffering single mother, secretary to Dr. Tyler, her one TRUE love whom she eventually marries; former wife of Eric Kane (who divorced her when Erica was 9 years old); played by Frances (aka Fra) Heflin (sister to Van Heflin)

Philip Brent - Amy's biological child, Ruth's assumed child, first love of Tara Martin, played by Richard Hatch of Survivor, at least as far as these episodes go

Nick Davis - longtime friend of Mona, biological father of Phil, future love interest and later longtime friend of Erica; he's a dance instructor; played by Larry Keith

Amy Parker Tyler - Linc Tyler's wife, Ruth Brent's sister, Phil's biological mother; played by Rosemary Prinz

Linc Tyler - Phoebe's child with Dr. Charles Tyler; he's a lawyer; played by James Karen (#1, 1970), Paul Dumont (#2, 1971), Nicholas Pryor (#3, 1971) and Peter White (#4 1974-1981, 1984, 1986, 1995)

Charles Tyler - Phoebe's long-suffering husband, Chief of Staff at PV Hospital, father to Anne, Linc and the deceased Charles (biological father of Chuck); played by Hugh Franklin

Anne Tyler - Phoebe & Charles' biological daughter; played in these episodes by Diana de Vegh

Joe Martin - father to Tara and Jeff, widowed, attracted to Ruth (whom he eventually marries); eventually he and Ruth adopt Tad and later have a child together, Joey/Jake; played by Ray MacDonnell for 35 years

Ruth Brent Martin - assumed mother of Phil, married to Ted Brent and later Joe Martin; she and Joe eventually adopt Tad and have a child, Joey/Jake together; nurse at PV Hospital and very much a mother hen to one and all; played by Mary Fickett until she retired in the late 90s

Kate Martin - Joe's mother; a wise and loving homemaker who dispenses grandmotherly advice to one and all; beloved by everyone, ESPECIALLY Tad; originally played by Kate Harrington and later by Kay Campbell

Chuck Tyler - biological child of the never-seen Charles Tyler, II, grandchild of Dr. Tyler, doted on by Phoebe, who raised him with Dr. Tyler after his parents died in a plane crash, perpetually in love with Tara (who was star-crossed in love with Phil), sometimes date for Erica, married Tara to be a father to her baby by Phil, who was missing in Vietnam, eventually married (among others) Donna Beck and moved to Kentucky

Tom Cudahy - former pro football player from Idaho, marries Erica, is proprietor of The Goalpost (a family restaurant) and a disco (for Erica); later hooks up with Brooke and becomes an alcoholic; brother to Sean (a sleazy womanizer who eventually murders Sybil Thorne and is sent to prison); played by Richard Shoberg

Tad Martin - biological child of Ray and Opal Gardner, brother to Jenny, adoptive child of Ruth and Joe; adoptive brother to Joey; adoptive uncle to Little Philip (aka Charlie Brent); marries a slew of women; is a womanizer and somewhat of a con artist; ran away at 14 and returned at 19; played by Michael E. Knight

Jenny Gardner - child of Ray and Opal Gardner; star-crossed love of Greg Nelson; best friend to Jessie, whom she worked with at a seedy dive named Foxy's; sweet and beautiful, despite being raised by Opal, a tacky opportunist and all around bad mother; eventually marries Greg, but later dies in a jetski accident; played by Kim Delaney

Jessie Hubbard - one of the few black characters on AMC; nephew to Dr. Frank Hubbard and taken in after his mother (Frank's sister) dies; he's from the streets, but tries to fit in in Frank's conservative household; is star-crossed in love with Angie Baxter and eventually marries her; played by Darnell Williams

Angie Baxter - daughter of Pat and Les Baxter; sweet, conservative, well-to-do, very intelligent and in love with Jessie; later becomes a doctor; played by Debbi Morgan

Liza Colby - child of Marion and Larry Colby; ultra-conservative, snobby rich girl; falls in love with Tad (who takes her virginity AND has sex with her MOTHER); friend to Amanda Cousins; arch-enemy of Jenny Gardner; loves Greg Nelson; played by Marcy Walker

Amanda Cousins - hapless, frumpier friend to Liza Colby (but MUCH nicer); has a crush on Greg; played by Amanda Bearse

Brooke - ace reporter of print and screen; editor of Trend and then Tempo magazine; married to Tom Cudahy, Adam Chandler and Tad Martin at various times; mother to Laura (with Tom) who was killed by a drunken driver; mother to Jamie Martin; perpetually ends up with Erica's leftover boyfriends and husbands; played by Julia Barr

Palmer Cortlandt - self-made millionaire from Pigeon Hollow; CEO of Cortlandt Electronics; extremely conservative and imperious; doting father to Nina Cortlandt and willing to let her go blind rather than allow her to marry Cliff Warner; arch-enemy of Adam Chandler; played by James Mitchell

Adam Chandler - self-made millionaire from Pigeon Hollow; CEO of Chandler Enterprises; arch-enemy of Palmer Cortlandt; father to Skye, Haley, Junior, Colby and the deceased Anna Claire (aka An Eclair); played by David Canary

Nina Cortlandt - daughter of Palmer and Daisy Cortlandt; granddaughter of Myra Murdock Sloane; star-crossed love and triple- bride of Cliff Warner; adoptive mother to Bobby Warner; also loves Matthew Connolly; became President of Cortlandt Electronics at the age of 19; diabetic; played by Taylor Miller

Cliff Warner - doctor at PVH; star-crossed love of Nina; biological father of Bobby Warner (with Sybil Thorne); played by Peter Bergman

Opal Gardner - biological mother to Tad and Jenny; formerly married to abusive criminal, Ray Gardner; comes to town with Jenny during the time Tad had run away; leeches onto the Martins; puts daughter Jenny to work at a sleazy bar at nights; major opportunist; MAJORLY cheap, tacky, bigoted, uneducated and hard-edged; fond of lame' pants; talks Phoebe into setting her up with (what turns out to be a successful) a franchise of The Glamorama; played by Dorothy Lyman originally (now played by Jill Larson)

Dixie Cooney Martin - hails from Pigeon Hollow (looks and acts like she came out of Dogpatch); niece of Palmer Cortlandt (aka Pete Cooney); daughter of Betsy and Seabone Hunkle; half-sister to Del Hunkle; sister to Will; comes to PV to work for and leech off of Palmer; star-crossed love and triple bride of Tad; impregnated by and later married to Adam; biological mother to Adam Chandler, Jr (aka JR); occasional stepmother to Jamie Martin; played originally by Kari Gibson and later by Cady McClain.

Craig Lawson - grifter; marries Dixie for her money while screwing and scheming with Gloria; falls in love with Dixie, but is ultimately caught; played by Scott Thompson Baker

Gloria Marsh - nurse; originally a con-woman in cahoots with Craig Lawson; reformed by being raped by Will Cooney/Cortlandt; played by Teresa Blake

Travis Montgomery - rich guy from Charleston; marries Erica; father to Bianca; brother to Jackson; ex and future husband of Barbara; played by Larkin Malloy

Barbara Montgomery - ex and future wife of Travis; sometimes lover of Jackson; all business; is babysitting Laura #1 when Laura gets hit and killed by a drunk driver; played by Susan Pratt

EPISODE 1: 1971

Some backstory: Back in the day, Nick Davis had knocked up Amy Parker, then left town, never knowing she was pregnant. Amy gave up her baby, Phil, to her sister, Ruth Brent, to raise as her own.

Phil is in the hospital in New York after an accident of some kind.

Nick shows up at Mona's house early in the morning (Mona is in her nightclothes and bathrobe and puttering around in the kitchen). Nick wants to go to New York to be with or there for Phil, even though Phil doesn't want anything to do with him or anyone in Pine Valley. Mona is VEHEMENTLY against him butting in to anything to do with Phil or the Brents. In fact, I've never seen her so HARSH! Erica comes in, also in her nightclothes and robe. She has disdain for Nick and he leaves. Erica is out of high school at this point and in love with Jeff Martin. Mona tries to advise her to date other boys and not focus on just one guy.

Did you notice that even Mona had perfectly coifed hair and lots of makeup, FIRST THING in the morning without even getting dressed yet? Some things NEVER change :-)

Anne Tyler, a serious working woman, visits Phil in the hospital. I didn't realize until the end of the first episode that the dark- haired woman WAS Anne Tyler -- I only remember Ann as being a blonde. Phil is worried that she might have told Ruth about the accident. She denies it (but she DID tell Joe, who told Ruth). Phil is ADAMANT that he doesn't want ANYTHING to do with Pine Valley and doesn't want to worry Ruth.

Tara (Karen Lynn Gorney (credited as Karen Gorney) shows up at Joe's office to meet with him for a dinner date. He tells her about Phil.

Nick shows up outside Phil's hospital room and runs into Anne. He tells her he's there to see his SON. She's SHOCKED that he knows Phil is his son!

EPISODE 2: 1970

This should have been the FIRST episode shown since it was chronologically earlier than the first one. I'm basing the year on the fact that Rosemary Prinz (Amy) was only on in 1970.

Wow, that was GREAT crying by Amy Parker Tyler (Ruth's sister, biological mother of Philip Brent). I also didn't realize that she was ever Linc's wife.

I didn't know that Kay Campbell wasn't the original Kate.

An otherwise uninteresting scene had a couple of noteworthy things in it. Kate is rolling out dough. Then I realized that, as the scene started, we could hear a car pull up. She's still rolling the dough. Then we hear the setting of the emergency brake and the engine turning off. Still rolling the dough. Then we hear a car door slam (and this all sounds like it really IS right outside her kitchen window). Still rolling the dough. A full five seconds elapse before we hear a knock at her kitchen door. We would NEVER see a scene like this today -- nowadays, if we hear a car pulling up at all, the visitor is pounding on the door in the next split second!

I don't know why they chose this episode if they wanted to showcase Susan Lucci -- she only had ONE scene (the one where she says she wants to be special and she's GOING to be). Well, that and the ending credits "beauty shot" where she and Chuck were making small talk in the background. MOST of the episode was Nick and Amy and his forcing her to tell him that Philip was, indeed THEIR son.

Erica is at the malt shop with Chuck and is unhappy that Phil had stood her up for the prom. She's also annoyed that Nick Davis came into her house to tell her mother and her how lousy she is. She plans to get even with him. BTW, Phil is in the hospital, for a different reason. That guy sure spends a lot of time in the hospital.

It was nice to see Phoebe looking so young and fit -- she hadn't yet turned into quite the caricature of the nasty socialite -- she was downright PLEASANT for the most part (but she definitely had a good start based on her putdowns of Amy. At Amy's, Phoebe invites Nick to the Country Club for lunch. Phoebe to Amy: "Oh! Um, you wouldn't want to JOIN us, would you Amy? ... You would be welcome, of course." Amy: "No, thank you, Phoebe, I have an appointment." Phoebe: Oh, GOOD! Well, then, we'll see you later, dear." The slight was so subtle and natural that you might have missed it. I didn't notice until I was looking for vidcaps to post, but Nick was smoking a cigarette during the visit and at one point blew the smoke practically in Phoebe's face.

Dr. Tyler visits Kate Martin and tells her that Joe told him about the bad news about Paul. Kate says yes, he never WAS a prisoner of war. Since Paul Martin, Joe's brother, is alive and kicking, I'm guessing they are referring to Joe's father (unless, of course, they thought Paul was dead and were unhappy that he's actually alive :-) Dr. Tyler commiserates with her (over tea), having lost his son Charles (and Charles' wife) in a plane crash. Charles the second was the light of his life. Kate reminds him that he has a fine grandson (Chuck) and his two other children, Linc and Anne. She says it's the same with her -- she tries to think of the things that she DOES have, like Joe and her grandchildren. (Hmmmm, she DOESN'T mention Paul, so maybe they THINK Paul Martin is dead at this point, but he's really not -- she doesn't seem too broken up over it, so they are PROBABLY talking about her long-missing husband.) Can an old-timer clarify this storyline for me? We also find out that Chuck's mother died in childbirth and that Phoebe had always been a wonderful stepmother to him. Dr. Tyler is worried about Amy and Linc's marriage and says that if she paid as much attention to her marriage as she does to her UNNATURAL attachment to her "nephew" Phil, it would be better for everyone concerned.

EPISODE 3: 1979 (IN COLOR!)

[NOTE: This episode is such a classic that I plan to write a detailed update with all the dialogue pertaining to the Erica/Tom/birth control pills later this week]

An aside from Liza Huber (Susan Lucci's daughter) informed us that Susan was pregnant with Liz's brother, Andreas while taping this episode -- that would explain why she wore a bulky coat and was filmed mostly from the chest up. It's also just after the murder of Eddie Dorrance; and Kelly Cole, who is being hospitalized for drug withdrawal, is a suspect and will go to jail as soon as she is released from the hospital. Langley is on board, wooing (i.e., scamming) Phoebe, and Phoebe the high society grand dame, is now in her nasty, uber-snobbish and haughty element! Oh, and Tom, a staunch Catholic who REALLY wants to start a family with Erica, has discovered that she has been taking birth control pills.

Ah, THERE'S the Linc I remember (Peter White)!

And there's Tom, at his eye-popping best! I loved watching him get mad because he was SOOOO over-the-top :-) This was an AMC *CLASSIC* moment -- you want to rewind to view parts of it again just to reassure yourself that there really WASN'T steam shooting out of both his ears :-) It was hard to understand him sometimes because he was so mad and gritted his teeth so hard that some of his words came out sounding more like death rattles than words :-)

Interestingly, although Bianca doesn't have a peephole in her front door (in the 2005 timeline), Tom had a peephole on his OFFICE door at the Goal Post. Of course, it was so high he was probably the only one who could actually SEE out of it.

Erica is having fits about Tom kicking her out and blames her mother 100% for the breakup (because Mona and Mark weren't able to cover for Erica when Tom (after getting some odd looks from Dr. Clader when Tom wondered why Erica wasn't conceiving) confronted them about Erica taking birth control pills. Erica can't seem to fathom that her OWN deceit might have something to do with Tom so furious (oh, she knows it, but refuses to admit it, even to herself).

Ah, and there's Myrtle, looking positively plain compared to how tarted up she's been looking for the last 15-20 years. She had PLENTY of flying sparks, though.

EPISODE 4: 1982

It's the episode where Erica does her famous modeling shoot at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I always thought she looked ridiculous.

OMG, there's Liza -- in college! Even THEN she was wearing a man's shirt and a long tie -- where DID she get her fashion sense? Liza is trying to talk Amanda out of going over to the high school to chase after Tad Martin.

Oh, and there's the fake Silver Kane (Deborah Goodrich). She has come out of her ridiculously frumpy shell, but is still very subservient, not to mention secretly seething with jealousy and hostility toward Erica. She plans to steal Erica's boyfriend and plots Erica's downfall. We eventually find out that she is really a grifter named Connie Wilkes, whom Tad briefly knew in California.

And there's 19-yr-old Tad, looking like Vinnie Barbarino :-) He keeps calling Jenny "Sweetheart". I didn't realize he's had that habit all the way back -- I thought it was more of an adult thing he picked up along the way. He's feeling like Rip Van Winkle because he's returned to the high school to get his degree after running away for several years and now he's in the same class with his little sister. Jenny points out that Jessie is his age, too, and doing well in school.

And there's Jenny, wearing that ugly green top. I remember that top because she wore it a LOT. It was one of the few instances where a character was realistic -- she didn't have many clothes and did NOT have something new to wear every day -- I got downright TIRED of seeing that damn green top, in fact. I think she was wearing it when she had that first dance with Greg (which was the night before if I'm hearing the conversations right, so she's wearing it two days in a row).

And there's Angie, she of the incredibly deep dimples. She's down because her father won't let her see Jessie unless HE chaperones them. Apparently they had to all sit together the night before watching television and Les made it pretty bad for Jessie until Jessie walked out in disgust.

And there's Jessie now, looking like Boom Boom Washington after a haircut. He and Angie make plans for her to sneak out to see him later that night.

Nina looks cool as ice with her little Cortlandt Electronics CEO bun. Cliff is peeved at her for having had an affair, but she wants to try again. Cliff doesn't THINK so and makes plans to have dinner with some temporary character named Lynne, who pats her bed in anticipation.

Ever the gigolo, Tad tells Amanda he doesn't have the money to take her out -- no problem -- Amanda just HAPPENS to have 2 tickets to a rock concert.

And now we see the original Glamorama and the original Opal (Dorothy Lyman). Tad's there trying to hustle her for some dough. And there's ETHEL! Opal turns Tad down flat for dissing her in court the other day and suggests he go to high school and get himself an education. Later she goes to see Ruth and tells her to put Tad to work to learn the value of a dollar. Tad hustles Ruth for money, too.

Silver caresses one of the very high heels Erica is supposed to wear in the most important shot at the museum (she then tampers with the heel). The way she's caressing and fondling the shoe and rubbing it up against her face and neck, she looks for all the world like a model in an old magazine ad for a vibrator. ;-)

We don't see him, but "Mr. Jim" is mentioned at the Glamorama -- I had completely forgotten about HIM :-)

EPISODE 5: 1986

Erica and Jeremy are going to be married -- but first she has to break him out of prison.

The guests are assembled in the prison chapel for the wedding. I see a 6-yr-old Joey (you know -- the one who comes back to town as Jake). There's Phoebe, Mona, Jeremy (looking kind of beatup), Mark, Tom, Virginia Graham, Brooke, and a bunch of extras. I wasn't sure WHO the hell the maid of honor was until an extreme closeup later on revealed her to be Nina. That strikes me as an odd choice of maid/matron of honor for ERICA. I have no idea who the guy is that is sitting next to Brooke.

Erica is wearing a wedding dress with shoulder pads that stick out about 8-10 inches -- LOL! Other than that, it's a totally shapeless sack.

Matt, looking demonical with anticipation is readying the helicopter and weapons for the big breakout.

Erica pretends to faint in a ploy to stall for time and create a diversion until Matt can arrive with the helicopter.

Oh, there is a MUCH younger Palmer in a wheelchair. As I recall, he was in a wheelchair because he shot himself in order to get Nina's attention in his neverending quest to break up her marriages to Cliff.

Oh look -- there's MYRA! Palmer tells her what a great nurse Natalie is and how she'll have him out of that chair and playing tennis by 1987 (which is how I figured out which year this episode was originally shown -- well that and the end credits).

There's Natalie now, arguing with Ross about her loyalty to Palmer. Ross is bribing her to take money and leave because he doesn't trust her not to be a spy/troublemaker on Adam's behalf. She protests that she and Adam are COMPLETELY finished, but tells him she'll take the $50K. Then Donna arrives. I'd forgotten that they were good friends.

Now we see a slightly older Tad yelling at Adam. Hmmm, Adam's voice is MUCH deeper in 2005 than it was in 1986. That goes for most of the older characters, of course, but it surprises me with Adam. His hair was silvery gray then, as opposed to the stark white that it is now -- I think I like the white better. In fact, Adam seems younger and more vibrant now in 2005 than he did in 1986 (plastic surgery probably plays a large part in it, but, damn, that man has good genetics and major charisma! David Canary is like a fine wine -- he just gets better and better with time!

And there's the ugly twin Siamese warrior statues Adam used to have in his living room!

Meanwhile back at the wedding, we get an extreme closeup of Erica and I am reminded of a style trend that used to bug the SHIT out of me -- her eyebrows are combed spiky and straight up toward her hairline.

Tad is wearing a bold black sweater and leather pants. Have you ever noticed that only relatively YOUNG people (and Erica Kane) can get away with wearing leather pants? Can you imagine Tad wearing leather pants TODAY? Tad mentions he's married and Adam mentions something about Tad STAYING married (sounds like a condition of Tad's employment with him). Tad mentioned Skye earlier, but he's not married to HER, although they HAVE hit the sheets. Tad is THRILLED not to be working in the Tempo mailroom anymore.

Tad calls Marian, who is polishing her nails (they are in a real estate business together in some tacky little back office). She really hasn't changed all that much over the years -- she's ALWAYS looked FABULOUS!

This is so much FUN!

Marian comes over to Tad's new office in the Chandler Complex and ogles and flirts with WRCW's newest anchorman, who has been discussing stuff with Tad. After the anchorman leaves, Tad warns Marian that they are there for business, not so she can ogle the backsides of TV personalities. Marian: "It's just nice to know he's down the hall -- it'll keep my creative juices flowing, you know?" Tad: "I'm sure." ;-)

Tad calls Hillary. They don't seem to be married at this point (he's being too polite to her). Oh, apparently they ARE married to each other, but they don't act like it -- they appear to be amicably estranged, but HE is much less estranged than SHE is.

Back at the wedding, Mark pulls Brooke aside and goes on and on about how good they were together before and he didn't see it. She brushes him off and lets him know that she knows that he's totally wired on coke at the moment and it's pretty stupid considering they are standing in a prison.

Jeremy comes in to the room where Erica has been lying down. She giggles, tells him it's all an act and drags him out the back way to escape, with him protesting all the way.

Now we see Skye, played by her debut character, an Aussie actress named Antoinette Byron.

Adam tells Skye that she would be MUCH better with Tad and Hilary would be. She says he's Tad's boss and that Tad admires and respects him. Adam: "I suppose if Tad would listen to ANYONE, it would be ME." My how times have changed! Skye and Adam's relationship is VERY tentative and she is much more concerned about Stuart's well-being.

EPISODE 6: 1988

In this episode, Erica gives birth to Bianca.

Matt, looking quite dapper (not to mention mighty TASTY), is ostensibly with Nina at this time (I'm basing that on the fact that he walked in and yelled: "Honey, I'm HOME!". She, apparently is NOT home. I don't think they actually LIVE together, though.

There's Jasper Sloane, answering Palmer's phone and looking very much like the Monopoly guy.

Brooke is married to Adam, and Laura.1 is still alive. Based on Brooke's coat, REALLY wide shoulder pads are still very much in style. She looks FABULOUS, though -- better than when she was younger, I think. I really think women in their early 30s look their best. I thought the same of Erica.

A pregnant Erica has a severe case of toxemia and may not make it. She's getting ready to give birth and Travis arrives at the last minute to be there. They both assume that the baby is a boy. Erica's blood pressure is dangerously high. Geez, she squeaks even when she's moaning with labor pains.

A more mature Erica tells Dr. Clader that, if necessary, he should go ahead and take the baby by caesarian section -- she doesn't care about scars or bathing suits or ANYTHING!

Nick's back, waiting with Mona, Mark and (the real) Silver (the one in love with Jeremy and who tries to stab Natalie with scissors but ends up dead herself).

Jackson visits Natalie. He hasn't changed much (in looks) over the years, either. He looks might yummy ;-) He's there as her lawyer.

Palmer is intent on finding Nina -- he assumes she's out chasing Cliff, whom he says she's fixated on. Palmer HATES Matt. He says that if he has to choose between that QUACK (Cliff) or that RUM RUNNER (Matt), he'll go with the quack. Myra reminds him that it's not HIS choice to make. Palmer: "My daughter is dallying with a mercenary while her husband plays house with that female Che Guevara!" I'm really enjoying Myra and her ongoing acidic sweetness to Palmer.

And there's Barbara Montgomery (Travis' ex and future wife), who is working for Adam as editor of Tempo magazine. She's calculatingly offering herself to Adam, sexually. Adam turns her offer for "dinner" down and says his wife (Brooke) is waiting for him. Ever the pragmatist, Barbara is gracious about it, but merely puts her plans for him temporarily on hold.

Nina, in the meantime, WAS home. She was waiting in bed to surprise Matt. She was EXCEPTIONALLY sensual and not even a little bit the ice maiden.

Meanwhile, Erica is moaning and groaning and squeaking and whining about what might be wrong with the baby.

Eventually the baby is born and Erica declares that his name is Travis Carter Montgomery III! Joe says it's a nice name, but Ruth suggests they think up another name because their son is actually a DAUGHTER.

EPISODE 7: 1991

Erica is throwing herself at a minty green Jackson, telling him that she loves him like she's never loved ANY man. He stoically tells her that he doesn't WANT her love. Jack mentions "Operation Snare Jackson", which as I recall was hatched between Opal and Erica in a campaign to win Jackson back at ANY cost.

Erica has plotted and schemed to get Jack to New York to be with her at the Royal Plaza hotel. She has apparently gotten him to admit that he DOES love her even after everything that has happened. THEN Adam showed up and somehow let it be known that Erica DID plot for everything to happen to maneuver Jackson back into her clutches there at the hotel, and THAT's why Jackson is pissed off and insists he doesn't love her. She continues to grovel and shrug off her machinations since, in the end, they ARE there together and they DO love each other, so what does it matter HOW they got back together as long as they ARE together? Jackson is TOTALLY disillusioned with her and all her deceptions (sounds like a familiar theme).

Dixie Cooney Martin Lawson is ALSO in a hotel, wondering where her husband (as of that DAY) is. He's across the hall in bed with the wild-maned Gloria. We must have just missed her debut in that thong. They have been scheming from the get-go for him to scam a wealthy woman.

There's Livia, looking and being FABULOUS, as always! She's on the phone with Brooke, who is grousing about Jackson running off to New York to be with Erica. A very hunky Terrence comes down the stairs, wearing nothing but pajama bottoms. He overhears Livia dissing men in general.

Adam, thrilled to have seen Jackson storming out of the lobby, shows up at Erica's hotel room with a bouquet of flowers. She grabs the flowers and starts smacking the shit out of him with the bouquet.

Dixie is in the hallway in her bathrobe, searching for Craig. She hears Gloria giggling in a sexual manner and looks worried. She goes back into her own room and calls the Elkwood police to report that her husband is missing.

Back in New York, Erica is now throwing food and glassware at Adam. And slamming him with temporarily feather-filled pillows. The hotel manager shows up and she starts throwing stuff at HIM, too. Shattered glass is EVERYWHERE! The manager tries to crawl out as Erica figures out that he was PAID by Adam to let slip in front of Jack the fact that she had ordered champagne, etc. Adam laughs indulgently throughout all this. Erica lands a pretty good punch on Adam and he laments not wearing headgear :-) Erica screams about how he wrecked EVERYTHING, not just for her, but for HIM, too! After a little prodding, she tells him that if Jackson had gotten back together with Erica, the road would then be open for Adam to get back together with BROOKE, the love of his life. Adam laughs and says he's found a NEW love, someone far better suited to him and that she's just as devious as HE is -- it's ERICA. She's, um, surprised. She declares that she just died and went to HELL and wonders if he's on new medication or has suffered any blows to the head (apparently they've both forgotten the punch she gave him about a minute before because he says he's only received a solid blow to his HEART.

Adam waxes on and on about how PERFECT they are for each other (or at least how perfect SHE is for HIM). She's just plain worn out and tells him that it won't work because she loathes him and if he were the last man on earth, she would check herself into a CONVENT. FF some with him laying more blandishments on her, laughing with delight the entire time. She tries to make it crystal clear that she would NEVER go around with him again. Before she would do that she would throw herself off a bridge into the water -- with WEIGHTS on her legs!

Jack goes to Brooke's house and boo hoos about Erica. Brooke is not inclined to take him back, having been unceremoniously dumped in favor of Erica. She breaks off their engagement.

Craig sneaks out Gloria's bedroom window in order to leave her room because Dixie, across the hallway, is talking with the police. He returns to their room and pretends to have been out jogging. Dixie is amorous, but he wants to take a shower first.

EPISODE 8 is an episode from when Bianca was in a coma after falling off the balcony and where Erica says she doesn't need DNA because she has K-A-N-E. I hardly call THAT a classic, so my comments end here without my watching the last one.

I'm planning to post a LOT of vidcaps to a website soon.

Robin "all in all a really FUN marathon!" Coutellier