At home, Cris is working on a rather uninspired painting when Evangeline stops by to check on him and also to request a painting of "anything but love". Cris agrees, and lets Van know what a special gal she is, and how she deserves nothing but the best.
Michael and Marcie enjoy a meal at the Palace, reaffirming their love and even sharing a kiss, which Hugh interrupts. Though Marcie admittedly wished Hugh had shown a LITTLE jealousy (he only congratulated them), she assures Mike she feels only for him.
A very edgy John arrives---late---for his session with Dr. Crosby, and is confrontational and hostile from the get-go, forcing Crosby to remind him that he's not far away from "forced retirement". John conveniently uses his subpoena as an excuse to leave early.
At the penthouse, Dorian and Adriana spring a breakfast-in-bed surprise on Blair, who seems to have the weight of the galaxy on her. She turns down the breakfast and asks her aunt and cousin if they'll run Craze for a while, as she needs to focus on the kids---the other Cramer ladies gleefully agree, and Blair (reluctantly) soon heads off to testify at Todd's trial.
At the courthouse, Rex assures Todd he's got people looking out for Denton; eventually one of those people call Rex---Denton is slushed at the Palace. Rex bolts and, with a tape recorder running, tries to work him for any information. Even toasted, however, Denton remembers Rex ratting him out before and refuses to incriminate himself. John testifies to finding the dead fetus, the bloody branch, and Todd's conjured alibi. Citing her attack on Viki, Todd presses Evangeline to bring up John's therapy, but the judge finds it irrelevant. Soon, Blair takes the stand---doing her best to ignore Todd on the way to it---and is immediately asked by Hugh to opine on Todd's innocence.
At Llanfair, Natalie is furious to discover Tess modeling Nat's wedding dress without permission---the pregnant alter manages to tear the zipper in the process, causing Natalie to discard it outside in a trash bag, but not before warning Tess of the dangers of love. The former Mrs. Vega gets a call from Dr. Crosby and leaves Tess alone to talk to him. Upon arriving at the LPD, Natalie hesitates when Crosby's line of questioning turns to John---who is not happy to find them talking moments later.
At Rodi's, Antonio and Nash have the same "I'm raising this baby/No, I'm raising this baby" back and forth they've been having for weeks. Nash calls Tess and gets no answer; the two men head to Llanfair but Tess is long gone---she's snuck down to the lab where the paternity test is being conducted. After a vicious verbal attack on a tech buys her privacy, she takes an interest in her amniotic fluid.
Cris goes to Llanfair to talk to Natalie, but finds only her discarded dress outside.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Miss Cramer, please take the stand." - an impatient Judge Terence to Blair, apparently failing to notice the death grip the defendant has on her left arm.
Adriana continues to snipe at Rex about Nina but he counters with some harsh words of his own. Cristian sets to work on his commission for Evangeline. Outraged to find Natalie in Dr. Crosby's office, John bitterly accuses her of trying to get back at him. On the witness stand, Blair endures tough questioning from Evangeline as Todd loudly objects to his own attorney's tactics. Natalie explains to John how the shrink set her up and promises her former flame she said nothing about him to Crosby. In the lab, Tess smashes the vial containing the amniotic fluid sample. Starr asks David and Spencer to help her and her little brother see their incarcerated dad. Cris glumly reports to Carlotta how he found Natalie's wedding dress in the trash at Llanfair. Dr. Crosby warns Natalie he's holding John's career in his hands but she rails at the therapist for sullying a hero's name. Blair is stunned when Kevin testifies about witnessing Todd's attack on Margaret at the motel. Later, under cross-examination, Evangeline forces Kevin to admit that Todd acted in self-defense because Margaret was holding a gun on him at the time. Rex is upset to see a yuppie lawyer hitting on Adriana at the bar. Tess decides to locate Claudia Reston. Spencer consoles a sorrowful Blair.
While Nash searches for Tess he runs into Cristian and then Natalie. He explains that Tess is missing and even though Cris suspects that Nash wants to keep Tess in charge, he agrees they should help to locate her. If Tess is in trouble, then Jess is in trouble as well, he states. Nash also advises them that Tess was upset by the amnio and that the sample was destroyed. When Cris reveals that Jess is a reporter and that her investigative trait may have transferred to Tess, it dawns on Nash that he may know where she is. He thanks Cris for offering to help and not judging him and heads off to check out the schedule for trains to NYC. Nat is confused as to why Cris was so nice but he indicates that he thinks the man is honest. He's certainly torn up over Tess and Cris can relate.
Tess shows up at the rehab center pretending to be a friend of Claudia Reston. The young woman fails to recognize this so called friend but Tess discloses the reason that she's there; Claudia's father has had Nash beaten up and she needs to call him off before it happens again. Claudia accuses Tess of lying. She does admit that she still loves Nash and knew that writing checks for him was a way to keep him since he didn't love her back. Tess wants to help him out since she's put him through a lot herself, she announces. Claudia thinks that Tess is merely there to check her out so that she won't be his next mark and also to check out the competition. Tess lets it slip that she's pregnant which totally throws Claudia for a loop. Crying, she says that she was the one who was supposed to have Nash's baby. Confiding that she and Nash may not be able to raise the child together brings Claudia to a halt.
Todd finds out that what Rex has learned about Denton is not very much and that it all appears to be over. He's concerned about Blair and not what the jury thinks. He wants Rex to keep digging and though Rex tells him that he has a club to run and doesn't have that much time, he will look again because he still believes that Todd is innocent.
Dorian and Adriana are in over their heads as they try to run Craze in Blair's place. When David happens to show up, as if on cue, to pick up his severance check, Adriana begs for his help even though Dorian is against it. He's happy to aid them which results in Adriana asking her mother to hire David back. While they are bickering David receives a call from Spencer, ordering him to talk to Blair for him. He tells him what to say. Rex shows up next with an ad for his club, even though he's normally not the one to handle it. As Dorian continues in her Dorian way, Adriana sends her off with the ad so that she can drive someone else crazy. She wishes that she and Rex were still speaking so that she could ask him to get her out of there. They have a chat though, and among other things, Adriana admits that she's tired of being perfect, she knows that lots of people hate her mother and she herself treats Dorian like dirt. She also tells Rex that they won't happen. He tells her that he still believes in her.
Blair is consoled by Spencer in the courtroom as she laments that she's lost Todd forever. She keeps hearing his voice as he called to her in court but she believes that he's guilty. Here she is crying on another man's shoulder for a change, she continues. As she talks, Spencer reflects back to a previous time with Margaret, when she first spotted the personal ad that Todd placed. Even though he cited it as a probable trap, Margaret nevertheless went on about how Todd cared so much for Todd, Jr. that he was willing to give them another chance. Spencer muttered in his snide way under his breath that junior meant nothing to him personally. Back to the present, Blair decides to leave and try to clear her head. Alone, Spencer calls David and demands he appear. Upon returning, Blair has made a decision; she wants Spencer to help her to let go of Todd. Use me in any way you want to, he replies. When David shows up wanting to speak to Blair, he reminds her of the numerable ways in which Todd has hurt her in the past and how capable he seems of killing someone. She doesn't need his help, she responds. When she hears that court will be ready to reconvene shortly, she decides to stick around. Spencer applauds David after she walks out. He just wanted David to confirm what she already knew herself, he tells him. Also, he likes telling David what to do. Someday Blair will learn that Spencer is more sinister than Todd, David proclaims.
Hugh is stunned to learn Evangeline plans to call but one defense witness-Todd, who is paid an unpleasant visit in his cell from Bo.
At the courthouse, as he tries to comfort Blair, Spencer flashes back to Margaret reading Todd's ad in the paper, and suggesting to her she trap Todd before Todd can trap her. Blair leaves the courtroom as John shows up to support Evangeline. As Todd is called to the stand, Blair returns, but cannot stand to listen to his "lies" and takes off again as he's testifying!
On the stand, Todd explains the ad, how Margaret asked HIM to meet by the lake, how Margaret whacked him with the branch, and such. (We get flashbacks while he speaks). He answers honestly that his intent that night was to kill Margaret to protect his family, but he couldn't since she was pregnant. Finally, he testifies that Margaret caught on to his plan, and threw herself off the boat---the words "I will always love you" being her last. Todd tried to save her, but couldn't. Hugh's cross is pretty weak and objected out by Evangeline.
When a pushy photographer shows up at Craze for its' cover shoot, the Swedish model hired to pose is stuck in traffic, and Adriana is fretting. Citing her comment earlier about how she yearned for a chance to model herself as a girl, Rex intercepts the real model outside the office, saying he's "Giuseppe Donatelli: the snake wrangler" -effectively scaring her off. Without revealing his scheme, Rex then suggests to the photographer that Adriana pose for the magazine-he accepts. She's reluctant but eventually slips into the sexy (for her) secretary costume; the camera seems to love her.
In NYC, Claudia recalls her past with Nash---the parallels between the two young women make Tess VERY uncomfortable; Jessica eventually emerges. Nash shows up, tries to apologize again to Claudia, who is still very emotional over his treatment of her years ago and throws him out. In private, she makes an ominous statement. While drinking with Cris at Rodi's, Antonio finds out that Tess disappeared again but is relieved when Jessica calls. Cris shares a nice reunion with Blair, who's come to the bar to drown her sorrows.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"What my FATHER did? Gimme a little credit. 'Daddy, the bad man hurt me!'...You screwed with the WRONG woman this time." --- Claudia, in private, after Nash tells her he deserved what her father did to him.
Closing arguments in Todd's trial are delivered by Evangeline and Hugh. Hugh's cockiness comes through as he iterates the facts in the case, suggesting to the jury that there is no other explanation for Margaret's murder. Evangeline is no slouch with her own closing remarks, bringing up the fact that Todd was not the only person with the opportunity to off Margaret, and expressing once again to the jury that there is no substantial physical evidence suggesting that Todd is the killer. Nevertheless, it is evident that Hugh will win the trial, and Todd finally loses control when he realizes that Blair never showed up for the closing remarks ... he breaks down over the fact that he has lost everything. Van thinks that their best chance at this point is to accept Hugh's offer of life in prison, thus saving Todd from death row.
Blair is still convinced of her fiancé's guilt, and she tells Spencer that she will never be able to love a baby killer. Spencer continues to comfort her as she fights a hangover, this time going so far as to kiss her on the mouth! Later, Spencer pays off Denton for his "assistance." The pieces of what really happened are becoming increasingly clear, as Spencer's flashbacks demonstrate that he was the mastermind behind Margaret's actions. His latest flashback shows he and Margaret putting together their plan to frame Todd! Across town, Asa has had it with Spencer's other machinations (against the Buchanan family), and he hires a private investigator to track down the source of the photograph of the mysterious woman. Clint asks Asa about what happened to him on New Year's Eve, but his father cannot offer any information. Nash shows up at the mansion, and Clint introduces him to Asa. Before long, Nash has been invited to stay at the mansion!
Viki and her daughters spend some much needed catching up time over breakfast. Viki is disturbed to learn that Natalie gave away her wedding dress, because she was holding out hope for a Nat and Cris reunion. Clint interrupts, and Viki speeds off to Todd's trial. She leaves quickly in order to avoid any awkwardness; she has still not confronted Clint about her jealousy over his date with Dorian. Jessica lays into Clint for not supporting Antonio, and she is even more livid to discover that he has invited Nash to stay at the Buchanan mansion! She tries explaining to her father that he needs to support Antonio, because Antonio is her boyfriend, but Clint is determined to stand by Nash. Jessica is becoming increasingly desperate to integrate.
Carlotta and Cristian bond at the diner, and he convinces his mother to help him get some alone time with Natalie. Carlotta fakes being sick, and Cris closes the diner, trapping Natalie inside with him. She is cold towards him, going so far as to insult his coffee! Before she can storm off, Cris convinces her to listen to him for fifteen minutes. He takes her back to the happier days of their relationship, and by the time he's done, Cris feels confident that he is going to win Natalie back.
