Sam refuses to acknowledge that the DNA tests may have been tampered with. He doesn't believe one word that comes out of Lindsay's mouth. Bo tries to convince him that a test will put to rest any doubts, but Sam retorts that he doesn't need a test to prove he is Mathew's father—he knows it just by holding his "son". Bo finally gives up on talking to Sam that day and returns to his apartment.
When Melanie realizes that Lindsay set her up, she is furious. She threatens to tell Bo the truth if Lindsay won't. Lindsay begins to give Melanie a guilt trip, and rehashes their childhood. Melanie admits that their father loved and favored her over Lindsay and begins to feel badly. She agrees not to tell Bo, but thinks that he deserves to know the truth. Lindsay gets a call from Colin that sends her rushing over to his place. Melanie is alone in Bo's apartment when he walks in and smiles at her...
Meanwhile, Nora and Colin are discussing his divorce. They agree that she will be his attorney in exchange for her freedom. She advises him to file a countersuit and asks if there are any incidents from the marriage that would make Melanie look bad in court. Colin brings up her indiscretion with Bo, but won't reveal his name. He tells Nora he doesn't know if he's ready to hurt Melanie again. Nora reminds him that this is just a legal tactic to buy him more time. While Colin is on the phone calling Lindsay, Nora looks over the divorce papers and realizes that Sam is Melanie's lawyer! Colin tells Lindsay that Nora is his new attorney and she's gonna save his marriage unless Lindsay can come up with something better to offer him.
Jess is getting set to go on stage to perform, but is nervous that someone in the audience could recognize her. Max comes to the same club to have a drink after his business deal in Ohio went down the tubes. Shortly after, Blair walks in and tells Max she's been waiting for him all day at his hotel room. He accuses her of sabotaging his business deal, but she soon convinces him to sit down with her and have a drink. She steps away to go to the ladies room, and bumps right into Cris! At first, he thinks she has hunted them down, but she assures him it is a coincidence. She promises to cover for them and get Max out of the club ASAP. Reluctantly, Max agrees to leave, but then thinks better of it once they get out side. He doesn't trust her and thinks there is something she is trying to hide in the club. When he turns around, someone knocks him out! Blair, confused, rushes over to Max and finds Todd standing over him with a metal trash can lid in his hand!
As Max lay unconscious, Blair asked Todd what he was doing there, was he stalking her? "What the hell did you do to your hair?", is his first comment. He sarcastically tells her he was bored and came to Cincinnati to have a beer and found everyone from Llanview there. "What's wrong with you people, can't you just leave me alone?", he asks, annoyed. Where's Téa, wonders Blair. "I cut her up into little pieces and keep her in my freezer", he jokes, with a grin on his face. Blair actually looks a little worried and asks Todd, "What are you going to do to me? Hurt me?."
"You really think that I would hurt you?", Todd asks, looking offended. Blair points out that he just clobbered Max. I was just trying help you, Todd tells her. Blair worries if Max will come out of this in his right mind. "How would you be able to tell?", jokes Todd. Blair asks for his help getting Max into a taxi, but Todd refuses to get any more involved and heads back into the club. When Max wakes up, he's already on Asa's jet and Blair lies and tells him that he was mugged. Max tells Blair that he doesn't trust her, but he does want her and he kisses her.
In the middle of her performance (I have no idea what song that was, please email me at [email protected] if you know), Jessica sees Todd out in the audience. She stares more closely at him, almost forgetting to sing, but when she looks away for a moment and then looks back, he's gone. Todd has actually moved to the back of the room and is taping Jessica with a video camera. The performance goes very well and afterwards Will and Cristian congratulate her on the great job she did. She starts to tell them about seeing Todd, then changes her mind, she must have been mistaken. They go to load the van, leaving her sitting alone at the table. Suddenly, Todd appears behind her, asking for her autograph. She turns and stares up at Todd.
Viki goes to Cherryvale for her next chemotherapy treatment. Ben is by her side the whole time, and when he notices she's having a bad reaction to the treatment, he stops the I.V. and yells for the nurse. She won't listen to his orders, so he forces her to call a doctor in immediately, Viki's in anaphalactic shock. After the doctor helps Viki, he tells Ben it was lucky he was there and discovered the problem so quickly. Ben wants to know why Dr. MacIver wasn't there overseeing the treatment and demands that he be called to the hospital immediately. When Colin arrives at the hospital, Ben berates him for not being there during Viki's chemo treatment. He says that it's standard procedure, but promises to stay while Viki's treatment finishes. Melanie comes in for some reason and she and Colin listen as Ben tells Viki that they can get through anything together.
At Bo's place, he helps Melanie pick up her spilled purse and she apologizes again for telling Sam about Matthew. Bo tells her not to worry about it, if there's one thing he knows for sure, she didn't do it on purpose, she wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone. Melanie asks Bo what he will do if it turns out that Matthew is his son. Bo says he would like to raise him. They talk for a while and Melanie defends Lindsay, briefly telling Bo how their father used to ignore Lindsay and dote on her. Lindsay's always been second-best, with her father, with Sam. Lanie's glad that Lindsay has Bo and for once might come first with someone. But Bo tells Lanie that he and Lindsay are just friends right now and that's possibly all they may ever be. After Lanie leaves, Bo finds a mirror that dropped out of her purse.
Nora notices Sam's name on Colin's divorce papers and calls out for Colin. He rushes into the room, thinking something's wrong with her. Nora accuses Colin of playing some sort of sick, twisted game, that since Sam is helping take Melanie away from him by being her divorce lawyer, Colin took the Nora away from Sam, depriving him of the woman that he loves. Colin denies that anything like that is going on, but is interrupted when the doorbell rings.
It's Lindsay, upset by Colin's news that Nora is now his divorce attorney. Lindsay begs, pleads, and finally threatens Colin to keep the fact that Nora's alive a secret for a few more days. She's so close to having everything she wants and she's not going to let him ruin it now. If he doesn't help her, she'll have his medical license taken away, she threatens. I've got the bounced check you tried to bribe me with, he reminds her. Nora hears faintly hears their argument and throws back the covers, determined to leave. Downstairs, their stalemate is broken when Colin gets called to the hospital. Lindsay manages to take the extra set of keys that are sitting on the hall table with her when she leaves. Later, she sneaks back in and goes upstairs to the room where Nora has been staying and finds her lying on the floor, unconscious but still alive. She rifles through the bedside drawers, looking for the bounced check Colin threatened to use against her. She actually holds the tape with Asa's confession in her hand. But not realizing what it is, she throws it back in the drawer. She's heading towards the door when Nora grabs her leg and Lindsay starts screaming her head off.
Max and Blair arrive home from Ohio. He wonders why his wife was in Cinncinati with him. Why, it's because she loves him and wants to be with him, she purrs. She wants to take their act upstairs and he decides to go down to the wine cellar for a bottle of champagne. Blair agrees that would be a good idea until she remembers that she locked Skye in there. After figuring out that during the time she was gone, someone must have already gone down there, she decides some champagne would be a good idea after all. When the pair reaches the cellar, they are shocked. The place is destroyed with bottles everywhere. Max spots a drunken Skye, lying on the floor. He also finds the note that Blair wrote and realizes that she is the one who left Skye there. When she admits it, Skye is happy, especially when Max tells her he cares. A look of contentment comes over Skye-she's not really drunk but the other two don't know it yet.
Jess runs into Todd at the club in Ohio and asks him if he'll turn her in. Todd looks at her unknowingly and she fills him in on her escapades with Will and Cris. She also informs him that her mom has cancer. Todd is very concerned but Jess tells him that Viki will win this battle. He decides to go to Llanview. Just then, Cris and Will happen by and want to know why Todd's there. He just happened to be there, he's not stalking them. He thinks the guys are using his niece and he intends to do something about it. He wants to take Jess with him but as she declines, he gives her some money. He advises them not to leave any evidence around and the trio takes off. He looks at the video that he made of Jess singing.
Colin tells Viki she's ok now and they decide to start the chemo up again. He encounters Melanie and lets her know that he will not give her a divorce easily. While Ben is off getting Viki something to drink, a little boy named Sean appears in Viki's doorway. When he tells her he's afraid, Viki invites him in to talk. He has aids and is afraid of the monsters. Viki tells him her monster is cancer and though they are both afraid of the same thing, there are armies to fight the monsters. In fact, today is a special day, the day of compassion, a day for people to help. She urges him to be strong and brave and he will win. They decide that he's a prince and Viki a queen. He falls asleep and when Ben returns he takes him back to his room.
While Lindsay is searching for the bounced check in Nora's room, a supposedly unconscious Nora(who is on the floor) grabs her by the ankle and looks up at her. Lindsay begins to scream but Nora closes her eyes again and groans. When Colin arrives back home he wants to know what Lindsay has done to her. He has to get her to a hospital and when Lindsay argues against it, he threatens to tell Bo.
Nora is wheeled into the hospital and Ben stops to talk to Colin but doesn't see her. He will watch Viki's case and Colin closely and though he would prefer to get rid of him, he knows Viki likes Colin. Later, Colin assures Nora that she'll be fine and he's agreed to let her go home.
At Colin's house, Lindsay is still searching for the check, finally finds it and starts to burn it. At this time Melanie shows up to pack some of her belongings. Lindsay claims she found Colin burning his divorce papers and she's there because he's just devastated. He seemed just fine when Melanie saw him and she's thinking perhaps the woman that Colin had there previously was Lindsay who denies it. Lindsay thinks Lanie should talk to Colin who at first doesn't want to but then thinks maybe Lindsay is right. She thinks Lindsay is on Colin's side. When Lanie goes to leave and Lindsay decides to wait for Colin to see if he's 'ok' Lanie looks at her in disbelief.
When Asa arrives home, he is enraged that some of his vintage wine is gone. Max drags Skye into the room and asks Nigel to get some coffee for her. He assures Asa that though Skye is responsible for this, it's not her fault. Skye pulls Blair's confession note out and tells Asa he should see it but the old man isn't interested in playing games. Max and Blair both grab for the note but it turns out to be Nigel's shopping list. Skye threatens Blair that she will win and that's when Blair realizes that Skye was never really drunk. Max agrees that it's awful what Blair did to Skye and she went too far. Blair mutters that it wasn't far enough.
Lanie returns to see Viki who thanks her for the past advice on her being with her love. Lanie admits that Colin isn't the one she herself was speaking about earlier.
Colin takes Nora back to his place again but will return her to her home tomorrow. When Lindsay(who is still there) asks him if Nora recognized her, he tells her it's over, she's going home and he'll take his chances. Lindsay assures him she will deny all knowledge of this whole episode. She's found the check and there's no evidence that she was ever involved in this entire thing. When she leaves, Nora mutters Lindsay's name.
Llanview Police Academy
Sophia is upset that she only scored a 59 on her written exam while Antonio received a 98. She whines to John Sykes about being nervous taking tests, not being able to "get her thoughts together" on essay questions and asks for ‘John' to cut her some slack. He informs Sophia that while they are on duty, he is ‘Lt. Sykes' and she will not be treated differently than any other recruit. However, he will give her "one more shot" but if she doesn't pass the next test, she will be out of the Academy. When the recruits face the obstacle course, affectionately known as the "confidence course" where they are tested on speed, strength and agility, Antonio goes first and his performance is hailed as a possible "new trainee record." But when Sophia is challenged, she does poorly, seeming uncoordinated and slow. When she can't climb the rope after several tries, she gives up; later, when she asks for another try, Sykes refuses to bend the rules for her. Instead, his ultimatum is that she pass the entire course in a respectable time within one week or she's out of the Academy. A double whammy day for Sophia and she feels sorry for herself, asking Antonio why John is so hard on her. Antonio has no sympathy for Sophia, he doesn't think she should be training at the Academy anyway because, as he explains it, "Out on the streets, I need someone to trust...someone who will put out workout time and study time to be a good cop." Later, Sophia practices the obstacle course alone while trying to convince herself why she wouldn't want to be a cop. She does much better until she gets to the "stupid rope" where she fails again, but this time refuses to give up. "I am not gonna let you beat me...I am not gonna fail because of some stupid rope...I can do this." Antonio, who has been watching quietly, offers to help Sophia by sharing his "trick" to conquering the rope: "Use your lower body...swing it back and forth...create momentum...think Ricky Martin!" After he demonstrates, Sophia grabs hold of the rope and climbs it to the top. When she jumps down, Antonio catches her and they have an awkward moment.
Asa's Office at the Mansion
Skye interrupts Blair checking out papers on Asa's desk. Blair accuses Skye of trying to "give her a coronary" but Skye assures Blair that wouldn't be good enough for the revenge she seeks. When Blair suggests that Skye simply "pack it up and leave" because she has won Max, Skye begs to differ. She tells Blair it is not a question of whether she will win Max back, but simply when. However, Skye is visibly hurt when Blair shares her news about she and Max joining "the mile high club" on Asa's jet during their return from Ohio: "Max and I are together in every sense of the word." When Max comes in and can't deny that he slept with Blair, Skye is upset but calm, explaining her smile as a trick she learned from her father. "Adam always smiles at people right before he destroys them." After Skye leaves the room, Max asks Blair if the real reason she slept with him was to be able to "throw that in her face?" Before she can answer, he storms out after Skye. Later, Blair sits down at Asa's computer and brings up Buchanan Enterprise files.
Asa's Wine Cellar
When Max finds Skye alone in the wine cellar, he suggests that it is "the last place" she should be. Skye wants to know if Blair "tricked" him into sleeping with her but Max can only explain his feelings as "complicated." Skye explains that the time she spent "holed up here" left her plenty of time to think about what Renee had observed about her: "the other woman...your mistress...caught in the middle of a pointless war." Skye admits that she almost drank, but instead she became angry; angry enough that "I almost exposed both of you in one fell swoop." After Skye confesses the reason she stopped her exposé ("I'm in love with you"), Max kisses her. But Skye pulls away, insisting that Max is merely kissing her to "keep me happy...and quiet." Max insists he is kissing her because "I care about you," but that he can't throw Blair out because she could just as easily go to Asa. Besides, "Despite everything I still have feelings for her...I have a history...I can't pretend it doesn't matter...I'm sorry...I don't want to mislead you...I care too much about you." But when Skye wants to know if they are "headed somewhere? Do we have a future?" Max doesn't know and Skye is unwilling to "settle" for less than "real love" from Max. She asks him to leave her alone unless he is "ready to tell me that you love me and only me" but his silence is the answer she expected. As he turns to leave, Skye warns, "She's betraying you, Max." Max answers, "Maybe."
The Banner
Kevin joins Rae in Viki's office as she looks over Daniel's letters to Grace. She finds no clues to her daughter's identity but "lots of stuff for my divorce" in the letters. Kevin reminisces about Grace, how Daniel used her, how he misses her, etc. He admits to Rae that he talks to Kelly about Grace because they were good friends, but tries to cover his feelings about Kelly when Rae suggests they "comfort each other." When Rae asks Kevin if he thinks Daniel would hurt her daughter, Kevin doesn't think so but advises Rae to "keep her guard up." Rae gathers Grace's letters and finds a new one to her from Daniel at the bottom of the pile, which she finds "unbelievable." In it, he professes to apologize and "stop the torture" by setting up a meeting between Rae and her daughter at The Palace at noon. Rae is skeptical but can't pass up the chance so she promises Kevin that she will get John to go to the meeting with her.
After Rae leaves, Kelly comes in to confront Kevin with his crumpled note she found in the wastebasket at the Carriage House. "Joey could have found this...you want him to find out about us, don't you?" Kevin excuses his behavior with the note as being because "I didn't have my wits about me" after Kelly had "laid a kiss on me like you did." Kelly accepts responsibility for the kiss but reminds Kevin that she pulled away from him and that should be the end of it. When Kevin asks Kelly if she is happy with Joey, she doesn't give him a convincing answer. Her pat answers convince Kevin that Joey is happy with her, but he will not be convinced that Kelly is happy with Joey. Kevin suggests that he and Kelly put their feelings "out for everybody to see" which panics Kelly because she doesn't want to hurt Joey. Kevin is undeterred until Kelly shocks him with the confession, "I'm pregnant." Later, she has to admit she is "not sure...we're trying" which infuriates Kevin. His opinion is that since Kelly doesn't even know how she feels about him, it is not right to bring a child into the equation, and it certainly isn't best for Joey. He implores her to "deal with this" but Kelly reminds Kevin that "there is no you and me" and it was his decision. "I came to you...you practically demanded I leave you alone...I took you at your word." When Kevin tries to explain that he acted that way because he had just found about Viki's cancer diagnosis and was desperate not to divide his family, Kelly reminds him that after that he still rejected her. "You told me later to go back to him...I took you at your word...I married him...You have no right to tell me how to feel...you called the shots from the beginning...I'm with Joey...I'm gonna have his baby...there's not a damned thing you can do about it."
An angry Rae and John Sykes interrupt Kelly and Kevin with the news that Daniel had once again set Rae up – it had been a 65 year old woman that Rae met with at The Palace, not her daughter. Rae is exasperated and at the end of her rope when John suggests they find a way to "bring the guy out into the open." Kevin wants to "torture him back" and suggests they make him lose his leverage. "What would he do if he thought you already found your daughter?" Rae is skeptical of the idea, but John believes that if they can convince Daniel that she has found her daughter, that would be enough for him to get careless. One problem = no daughter. Kelly's offer solves that problem, "I'll be your daughter."
Sam and Nora's House
After sending Matthew with Marianne to the park to play, Sam is startled to come into the house and see Todd sitting on his sofa. Todd's simple explanation is, "It's been a long time...I missed you...I couldn't stay away..." but when he "cuts to the chase" he asks Sam to help him with the "little legal problems" involving R.J. he got into the last time he came to town. Sam is incredulous that Todd would come to him for legal help but Todd admits, "it's that...and the whole reunion thing." Sam responds coldly, "I'll tell you what...for old times sake, get the hell out of my house!" Sam thinks that Todd has "some nerve" coming to him after "I went to the wall for you...and you took me down the long road, man. You gave me a ride!" He reminds Todd that he betrayed him, lied to him and used him. Now Sam has only one question for Todd, "I want to know how Téa is...what did you do to her?" Todd seems hurt at Sam's "lack of confidence" in him but he confides that Téa left him; he woke up one day and she was gone, leaving only a note saying everybody in Llanview "was right about me" and he doesn't know where she is. "Hell, I hope...heaven, probably...maybe Idaho, I have no idea." When Todd claims not to have betrayed, lied to or used Téa, in fact, "I didn't do anything," it is this last statement which Sam realizes is at the root of Todd's problems. Todd further confides to Sam, "Don't tell anybody I said this, but I want to come home...I have unfinished business with people..." When Sam refuses to become Todd's lawyer once again, Todd throws Sam a curve. "I'll go ask your girlfriend, Nora, she always had a soft spot for me...she still understands the value of a dollar..." Sam chokes out, "Nora's dead." Todd's flip response to this news is, "Did you have her killed?" Sam erupts, lunging at Todd. "Don't you ever say her name out loud again!" Sam calms down, backs away from Todd and apologizes for "getting upset." Todd comes close to an apology with his response, "I didn't know...I didn't know you loved Nora...Why would you love Nora?" Sam understands that "love has always baffled" Todd but, indeed, "I loved Nora...I sometimes find it hard to get through a day without her." Todd wonders if he apologizes to Sam if that would be enough for Sam to "get past it" and help keep him out of jail, but Sam adamantly refuses to help "even if my life depended on it." Todd then wonders if Sam would help him "if your kid's life depended on it?" Sam wants to know, "which kid?" and is surprised to learn that Todd "ran into" Will with Jessica and Cristian. Sam wants to know how Will is, but stops Todd before he can tell him where he saw the trio. "Oh I get it...rock/Sam/hard place." When Todd offers to "check-up" on Will, Sam advises Todd to "keep his distance" which Todd interprets as Sam not trusting him. "I don't know what to think about you, man...any trust I had for you is long gone." Todd is hurt, "I meant something to you...that meant something to me...it still does." Sam reminds Todd that he destroyed their relationship and again refused to help Todd legally. As Todd leaves, he tells Sam, "I'm very sorry for your dead friend."
Nora continued to show improvement from her injuries, but shows her disdain for Colin by refusing to answer his questions. Finally she says, "I saw Lindsay." This stops Colin in his tracks, but he denies knowing anyone named Lindsay (did his nose just get longer?). As Nora persists, Colin shows her a photo of Melanie. "My God, they could be sisters," says Nora. Colin convinces Nora that Melanie was actually the woman he saw, that Melanie knows he is "rehabbing a patient" at his house and that she often helps (did his nose just get longer?). Again Nora begs Colin to let her go home, but no, he says, he can't -- because (drum roll here) he cares about her!
Ben, desperate to make the ailing Viki's life easier, goes to see Max and has a high ‘ol time making him squirm in front of Pa. "Tell Pa the truth," Ben challenges Max. "Tell him who I really am." As Max twists, Ben finally admits to being B&B, the company that's got Buchanan Enterprises by the bal ... balance sheet (and the other, too.) Ben fires a parting shot at Max, "I assume I don't have to tell you what happens next time," and leaves him to lick Asa's boots. "Family is the most important thing," Max (did his nose just get longer?) tells Asa, and he urges Pa to let Will, Cristian and Jessica come home so the family can be reunited. That put a great, big burr under Asa's saddle. "I thought I had one loyal son," he tells Max. "I guess I was wrong."
Todd slithered into Viki's house when Ben left. He dodges questions about why he's back in Llanview, but shows Viki the tape of Jessica's singing debut. She's thrilled to know that her daughter is OK, and is happy when Todd says he gave her some money to help out. As Viki pushes Todd about Téa, his anger builds at her questioning, and her frustration builds over his stone-walling. As Viki runs her fingers through her hair, clumps of it come out in her hands and she breaks down. (Mattie, and others, I'm sure, who have taken chemo, shed a few tears during this scene.) Todd, at first not knowing whether to stay or go, tries to comfort his sister with his weird sense of humor. "Some of my favorite people are bald. G. Gordon, Mussolini, Dr. Evil." It doesn't work. Ben comes in and sees Viki crying. He grabs Todd and asks him what the hell he did to Viki.
Bo told Hank about the paternity test mess and asks him if he thought it could be one of Lindsay's tricks to get him back. Could be, reasons Hank, it sounds "like vintage Lindsay." Then again, she could be telling the truth, Hank says, as he advises Bo to settle the issue with Sam privately in order to avoid a media circus.
Lindsay attempted to pitch her pity party at Sam's house, again telling him how sorry she is for the mess (did her nose just get longer?) and that a new DNA test is the only way to really know the identity of Matthew's real father. "You're a seriously disturbed woman, Lindsay, and every word out of your mouth is a lie," Sam fires back. When Melanie comes in, she attempts to avoid the very heated argument between Sam and Lindsay, but Sam makes Lindsay repeat her "I paid Jeff Barnes $500,000 to switch the DNA results" story. Melanie is horrified by her sister's scheming, which Lindsay saw only as a "simple solution" to keep Bo from going back to Nora. Sam calls Bo to his house to discuss some business and again gets Lindsay -- with Melanie as a witness -- to repeat the sordid tale of paying Barnes to change the DNA. When Lindsay finishes, Sam plays his trump card. "Arrest her commissioner," he tells Bo, "for felony bribery."
