ATWT Recaps Week of April 18, 2005

Friday, April 22, 2005
After Craig showed up at the Palace of Happiness, Jennifer waffled about her decision to marry Mike. Katie finally managed to call off her harping brother, but the damage was done: the groom was ready to kill him, and the bride was in tears. Mission: accomplished, and after the commercial, Craig and Katie were back on their superspeed jet back to Oakdale. He proposed a champagne toast, but she was more livid than ever. He still wasn’t buying her shame spiral. “Freud said no accidents, so you can drop the regretful act,” he said. “I am sick to my stomach,” she snapped. “It’ll pass, okay?” he responded….

Meanwhile, Jen also had a tummy ache, mostly because Craig’s manipulations were eating away at her. Realizing she can’t run away from the problem as she had hoped, she decided that getting married to Mike would be a big mistake Bigger than sleeping with Craig? Because marrying Mike pales in comparison. However, Mike the superhero (call him “Flawless Man”) promised to stand by her no matter what happens. Then, while she napped in the chapel, Flawless Man made all the arrangements for them to return to Oakdale. So, to clarify: they haven’t tied the knot, but they’re still very much together forever….

A deliriously cheerful Craig got back to Oakdale in time to run into Sierra at Metro, but she was disgusted by the sight of him. “I have seen the damage that you have done as a father first-hand. And you know something? It’s nothing to celebrate,” she spat. Craig kept cool and even offered her some champagne (since Katie declined.) Sierra promptly threw it in his face….

When Keith announced that it’s time for him to leave Oakdale, which a just-arrived Lucinda thought it was a “capital” idea (has she even met him before?). Lily, however, thought of all sorts of people that need Keith to stay in town, not-so-subtly avoiding the obvioius (herself). Lucinda took her condescending leave, and Jack arrived with a report on J.J., and a request to take the boy home. But Keith was set on leaving for Chicago first thing in the morning. That’s when J.J. was wheeled in, clearly feeling better. “I have a concussion,” he chirped, adding that he gets to stay up all night with his new favorite person, Carly, playing video games. (Wonder what they’ll tell Parker?) After a chat with Carly, Lily talked Keith into letting J.J. spend his last night in Milltown. J.J. told Carly and Jack that Les threatened to do to him what he did to Julia. Carly pinky-swore that they would never let Les hurt him. Perhaps feeling pleased with her powers of persuasion, Lily kept flirting with Keith, then thanked him for all his help. Her “you’re welcome” from him was a passionate kiss. … La Walsh visited cowboy Les in the interrogation room at the police station. “I am the lady whose family you have despoiled,” she announced. He swore he didn’t kill Julia, and seemed surprised that her cell phone was found in the all-the-way house. Les said he may have “let things get a little out of hand” with Julia and Carly, but he’s being framed. Lucinda looked convinced and left a message for Jessica. (But sadly, La Walsh seems to have gotten rid of her solid gold cell phone.) ….

Celia knocked on Alison’s door, causing Will to drop the perfume bottle he was sniffing. He was stammering out an explanation when Casey arrived, still hoping to reconcile with her about condomgate. She accused him of stalking, and even claimed that “stalking” and “following” are synonyms. Maybe in Montega, honey. They sent will out onto the fire escape (!) while they talked, and Celia even shut the window when she noticed he might be eavesdropping, though crouched out there in the tiny space, it’s hard to understand what they expected from him. Celia told him that he can scratch her name off of his player’s list. He laconically insisted that he’s not like that. “What if you want an older girl? Somebody more experienced,” she whined. But Casey reassured her that he’s happy with their chaste kisses. Then they just left without even saying good-bye to poor Will, who was therefore locked out! They came back in time let him back in, and he asked them not to mention to Ali that he was there. He cleaned up his mess, but left the window open when he left. At least he didn’t mess with Ali’s mouthwash….

Henry was packing a suitcase when he got a message from Katie, with news that she was off to Vegas to “stop” Craig from ruining the wedding. A poignant good-bye to Snickers (“Don’t take any wooden carrots” he joked), he took one last look around the cottage before opening the door to leave, but Margo was at the front door. Because not everyone in town knows yet, Henry helpfully filled in Margo about Jennifer and Craig’s baby-to-be. Thinking ahead, he also pointed out that once Craig manages to destroy the Jennifer and Mike relationship, Katie will be free to marry “the love of her life” (Wait, is Simon coming back?). Margo questioned Henry’s love for his wife. “Truly, madly and deeply, but I also have my pride,” he said, but she argued that he’d be an idiot not to fight for Katie. Henry wasn’t expecting this reaction from his sister-in-law and was truly touched by her support and encouragement, but when Katie got home later, he wasn’t around.Thursday, April 21, 2005
Luke tracked down Lily at the hospital. After a quick recap of the day’s events at the spooky Old Mill, she told him Les has been arrested for Julia’s murder. They both still obstructed justice, though, so Lily’s hoping for suspended sentences. She also tried to get him to cut Holden some slack. Holden arrived soon after and tried to score some points with his son by offering him a ride to the varsity baseball game tomorrow. No need — “Casey’s parents” have it covered, and Luke made it clear that it’s gonna take a lot more than that to get back in his good graces. Holden and Lily then had a talk about how she wants everything to be okay between him and their son. He mentioned that Emma was going to Seattle, so he’ll be at the farm while she’s gone. After an awkward moment, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and left….

Will was busy offering his services to a frazzled Alison at Metro when Holden arrived with bad news: Julie has only six months to a year to live, so Aaron’s staying with her in Seattle. Ali turned on the waterworks, although perhaps more out of concern for her love life and less for the imminent death of an old Oakdale favorite. Will gave her a great pep talk about how Aaron will love her no matter where in the world he is, which backfired horribly when Ali decided to go to Seattle herself. He helped her pack up everything she owned in one suitcase before she left, then told her to “have fun.” Yes, supporting her boyfriend while he holds vigil at his mother’s deathbed — do you think she’ll have time to fit in the Space Needle? Anyway, about three seconds after she walked down the hall, Will realized he accidentally forgot his car keys (did Rosanna hook him up with a new ride from Cabot Motors?) in her apartment, but it was too late: Ali was not just out of earshot, but long gone. He snuck in the window to retrieve them, but couldn’t help taking a moment to sniff her perfume. Suddenly, a knock at the door startled him, and he dropped the bottle.

Alison’s exit from Metro meant yet another hassle for Dusty (Rafael is covering for her — great), who was also not thrilled to hear from Paul that Jennifer skipped town. “WorldWide is out millions for backing your sister’s company,” he argued to an unapologetic Paul, who suggested that once his sister got settled, they could “smuggle” in some of her designs, as though Jen is going into witness protection. An exasperated Dusty reported on Jen’s desertion — and Craig’s baby — to a shocked Sierra (Jen’s happy news is spreading like wildfire!) His suggestion? WorldWide should dump Street Jeans. She wondered whether his anger toward Jen stemmed from something deeper, but he insisted that “just once, I wish it would be about what it’s about. It’s about business,” he snapped….

Jennifer was the topic on the superspeed jet to Las Vegas, as Katie claimed she followed Craig onto the plane to stop him from ruining his baby mama’s life. He was too busy scanning a long list of Sin City wedding chapels. “Bingo! Palace of Happiness,” he said, but she questioned how he could be so sure that’s where Jen went. “First of all, come on. Second of all, Rosanna and Jordan got married there. Jennifer knows that, she’s in a rush. She’s not gonna be comparison shopping,” he pointed out. Craig’s altogether too delighted by this entire predicament. He then accused Katie of sharing his goal of busting up the wedding, but she continued to insist that her slip was a mistake. She really seems to believe it, even if he doesn’t. He also doesn’t mind doing his little sister’s “dirty work” either. “It’s all right, you just show up, act surprised, and help Mike pick up the pieces,” Craig concluded….

In Vegas, Jennifer was in the middle of becoming Mrs. Michael “Kasnot” (er, Kasnoff, although yesterday it was “Karloff,” thanks to the quirky, forgetful chapel owners, the Lovejoys). They eschewed the chance to pick a signature theme song, but came up with some eloquent vows on the spot, delighting the Lovejoys. The show sure did spend a lot of time on the gooey endearments, considering the wedding was about to be interrupted. First, the bride got woozy (not a good sign), then Mike got a call on his ancient cell phone. It was Katie, who had sworn she would stop Craig, but couldn’t bring herself to speak, even as he and Jen hilariously spent minutes saying “Hello?” and trying to guess who could be on the other line. Then Craig showed up. “Did you get to the part where you ask whether anyone objects? Because Padre, I’m ready to talk,” he announced, as Katie arrived moments later. What came next was a rather pointless argument about the legalities of marrying one man while pregnant by another before Craig “consented” to let the nuptials happen. What? As far as we know, it’s not even remotely illegal anywhere in the country, so maybe they were going by moral law. But this is Vegas, people!Wednesday, April 20, 2005
It was an emotional day in Oakdale and beyond. We started with a clearly heartbroken Henry finally giving his backbone a workout by railing at Katie for “inadvertently” slipping the truth about Craig Jr. She begged him to understand that it wasn’t about Mike, but he’s done being used by her. “We could be beautiful together. Except for one tiny detail: you don’t love me that way. That part of your heart is taken. Mike’s got squatter’s rights,” he grimaced, and also pointed out that won’t matter, either. “The cold hard truth is that he’s gonna hate you for breaking his heart,” he said. At the same time, Mike and Jen had successfully patched up their Bliss Of Denial bubble on the plane to Vegas, gushing about how they’d marry each other no matter what. Mike again reassured her that he can’t wait to raise this baby as his own, and they fantasized about PTA membership and soccer games. Another random mother and her child contributed to the fantasy, giving Mike her baby to hold (and reaffirming the fact that he’d probably make a much better Mom than Jennifer). In Sin City, they met with doting chapel owner Mrs. Lovejoy. As Jen freshened up, her groom made arrangements with Mrs. Lovejoy to get a ring (“Money is no object,” he said. Construction must be booming.) He then proposed on bended knee….

Back in Oakdale, Paul was stalling an inquisitive Craig (“She went for a really, really long walk,” he snarked), but Montgomery apparently knows that when you’re looking for clues to Jen’s whereabouts at Mike’s house, there’s usually some papers carelessly laid out on the desk which indicate where she’s gone. Luckily, Paul was in charge this time, meaning that these papers provided misinformation (making it look like Jen and Mike were headed to Mexico). That stopped Craig for about half an episode, until he snuck back in and logged onto the computer. Destination: “Vegas, baby.” Katie showed up then and tried again to discourage his obsession with Jennifer’s baby, but he took off anyway. “Why is everyone walking out on me today?” she sighed, before doing some snooping of her own as Henry’s fateful words echoed in her ears. By the end of the day, she joined Craig on the plane….

Paul, still in doomsayer mode, interrupted Barbara’s own little Bliss Of Denial bubble in her car, which involved hugging a teddy bear while fantasizing about “Baby Barbara” bringing her whole family together. He broke it to her that Jen wasn’t coming back, and they had an uncharacteristically civil exchange about how it’s the best way for Jennifer’s baby to be happy. Poor Grandma Babs just wanted to be there to babysit and meddle, and Paul was sweetly sympathetic, even though she brought up Cabot. He even called her Mom and — though it briefly looked like they might make out — gave her a comforting hug….

Out in the Oakdale wildnerness, Les had a bloody knife to Jack’s throat, but Lily’s scream distracted him. Jack got the upper hand, stopped himself from just finishing the guy off right there, and angrily ordered the conveniently just-arrived back-up cops to take him away. Of course by then, the creepy Old Mill had done its bad karmic thing, sending J.J. plummeting from a rotten beam. He was rushed to the hospital, where Ben (Hey Ben! Long time no see!) was checking out Carly and Emily (Hey Emily! Ditto!) arrived to comfort her. J.J. was unconscious, and Keith and Jack were so worried that they (respectively) refused treatment for their knife wounds and beat themselves up with guilt. Keith got a supportive-but-maybe-so-much-more embrace from Lily for his efforts. Carly, however, won the prize for the Wife Of The Year, not only for her throwdown with Les, but for being so supportive of Jack, who was wigging out about “my son” this and “my boy” that. She even joined in the concern-a-thon, saying, “He’s so easy to love. I get that now. I understand why you couldn’t let him go.” Oh my. What would Julia think? Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Now that they’ve happily entered their own little Bliss Of Denial, Mike wanted to wed Jennifer in Las Vegas immediately. Paul, everyone’s favorite doomsayer, dropped by to burst their bubble, saying that Barbara can and likely will ruin everything. Apparently, Grandma Babs already broke her solemn vow from yesterday by blabbing to Hal, whose busy with some massive manhunt (Other than for Les? Because he’s not working too hard on that) and could only spend a few minutes griping about being kept out of the baby loop. Paul was convinced that this news would eventually get back to Craig, and if not, “what if the baby looks like him?” (although that has got to be the least likely problem to worry about). His advice? Get out of town. “At the very least, you should elope to Europe, but a remote island — that sounds very nice,” counseled Paul, who insisted (from experience) that being a good parent is the most important thing they can do for the baby. Sufficiently shaken by Paul’s pragmatism, Mike and Jennifer boarded a plane for Vegas, talking about quickly finding “someplace wonderful” to live — what airport is that near? Katie tried to cover her tracks with Craig, but he got the truth out of her, so she shifted to deterring him from going after the baby. Craig, of course, has his mind set, and nothing’s gonna stop him. That’s when Henry showed up with champagne, only to learn what Craig knows. Katie tried to explain her slip to Henry — who seems to spend his days moving weights from one place to another while wearing a tuxedo — but he didn’t believe it was a mistake, just another ploy to win back Mike….

Jack was overwhelmed with love and concern for Carly (even if he was distracted by the fact that J.J. was missing) because of her brave efforts to help his “son.” Lily and Keith managed to find creepy cowboy Les on the one road out of Oakdale and they (or rather, Keith) decided that the only option was to chase him, since the Oakdale P.D. was nowhere in sight. (Well Hal must have been pouting about not knowing he’s a Grandpa.) Les ordered J.J. to call Jack, then grabbed away the phone and promised to “wrap the car around a tree” if Keith and Lily didn’t back off of his tail. Jack urged the boy to put on his seatbelt and promised he would get him out of this. Unfortunately, neither Jack nor Lily could reason with a vengeance-minded Keith, so Lily gave Jack their location: Millstone Road, just past the quarry. Uh-oh. Bad stuff happens there. Naturally, Les had a blowout just then and ran off the road. Jack then rushed to help after Carly urged him to go. She was eventually taken off by paramedics, but not before grabbing a photo of Jack and J.J….

Meanwhile, Keith and Lily were on Les’s trail, but Oakdale’s foliage is apparently quite dense, because they lost sight of them briefly. J.J. managed to run off to (where else) the spooky Old Mill (the ultimate in bad karma places), where Lily found him hiding in a precarious spot. Meanwhile, Les stabbed Keith, then managed to disarm a just-arrived Jack in seconds. “Your wife put up a better fight than that, man,” taunted Les. Good one, Jack.

Margo was crushed when Casey snarked that she’s not one to lecture about sexual responsibility. The boy left his father to clean up the mess, and Tom (today’s superhero husband) consoled Margo by urging her to let herself off the hook for her near-affair with Doc Reese last year. Once she calmed down, Tom talked to his son, who assured him he wasn’t about to hop into bed with Celia. “I’m never gonna forget Grandma bending over and picking up that condom,” said Casey. (Neither will we.) Mom and son made up later, and he promised he would be responsible, even if he’s sometimes a handful. “You’re my spring day, Casey. I adore you,” she gushed tearfully. Before bed, Tom and Margo, always this show’s most realistic couple, shared a glass of wine (despite the fact that she’d just brushed her teeth) as he reaffirmed his absolute devotion to her, deftly referencing their past together. “If you ever have a day when you think that I came back because of habit or Casey or because we had a couple of years in the bank, I didn’t. I came back because when you walk into a room, my heart does that same stupid dance it did the very first time I saw you smile,” said Tom. Hmmm….

a string of poignant Hughes scenes? It looks like someone’s trying to prove they know a little history… Monday, April 18, 2005
Mike was in the odd (though noble) position of convincing Jennifer that she should agree to let him raise her and Craig’s child together. “We’re talking about a lifetime of hiding the truth … will you be able to lie to Katie and Henry?” she asked and then … oh, wait, ther was black smoke coming out of the Vatican chimney. When we got back to Oakdale, Katie was defending herself for fishing for info from Dr. Schiller, who very admirably held onto that hippocratic oath (maybe she learned her lesson from the time she blabbed about Rosanna’s hysterectomy to Carly)….

Craig was on a fishing expedition of his own at the gym, where Henry was a little too happy for Craig’s liking to learn that Mike is (supposedly) the father of Jennifer’s baby. “Do I smell morality here, Henry? Since when do you do the far, far better thing?” asked Craig, who turned the psychological tables (as only Craig can) by further rattling Henry’s faith in Katie’s love for him over Mike. Later, he admitted to Katie that he would really like another child as they caught up on the family and the fact that it was just Bryant’s birthday. (Lucy has apparently joined the debate team). He then got his little sis to slip that Jen was five weeks pregnant (not ten), and he pointed out that he was “with” Jen five weeks ago. Can we say “Ewww” enough?… Jen, still trying to talk Mike out of his superhero costume, pointed out that there would be a big custody battle, but Mike suggested that they have the upper hand and they can just leave town until the baby is old enough that a couple of weeks won’t make a difference. Jennifer thought it was a good idea but worried about the Barbara factor. Jen invited Grandma Babs over and threatened to cut her out of her life if she did anything that would lead Craig to find out the truth. Babs promised not to mention anything to anyone, “not even to Will” which must mean she’s really serious. Poor Barbara’s “helpful” suggestions, including a heightened security system and a new maternity line were shot down, because it might mean the secret could get out. Afterwards, Mike was so moved by Jen calling it “our child,” that he pushed the “selfless good guy” thing to the limit and proposed marriage. She accepted, proving that she’s not a complete moron….

A humiliated Celia walked out after Kim discovered Casey’s condom. The teen followed his girl out as Tom and Margo filled in Bob and Kim about how they walked in on Casey making out with Celia. Bob and Kim thought it was very responsible and Tom agreed; Margo was still horrified by the idea that her son is becoming a grown-up. Outside, he was proving her right, flubbing his way through an “apology” (“It wasn’t even for you;” “It’s not even mine”), which didn’t help at all with Celia. Back inside with his parents, it was just as bad: Margo wanted to “define sex” and had a few other uncomfortable points to make. The argument reached a climax when Casey pointed out that after last year, she’s in no position to discuss sexual responsibility. Even Tom reacted like that was a low blow….

As Bob and Kim were leaving, they spotted Celia outside crying (and with a broken heel), so Kim had a sweet little sex chat with the Montegan kiddo. “I would never, ever do anything like that,” said the last naive 16-year-old on the planet, referring, apparently, to going all the way. Kim told her it was important to talk about the subject to avoid misunderstandings just like this. The best part was that Celia kept referring to the condom as “that thing” (which does seem kind of appropriate, considering her apparent innocence). Also, as Kim invited her to join her and Bob for a latte, she called her “toots.” Yay!… Les came for J.J., and after a chase around the couch, Carly yelled at the boy to call for help and run away, while she hit Les with a conveniently available brick-like object. Unfortunately, it didn’t pack the necessary punch, and Les commenced strangling Carly, until J.J. (wearing his Rescue Squad sweatshirt) knocked out his dad with a baseball bat to save her. Rather than grab J.J., her cell phone and her car keys and fleeing when she came to, Carly opted instead to turn her back to the psychopath passed out on her living room floor and pick up the phone. Naturally Les took this opportunity to snatch up his son and threaten to kill him if Carly didn’t let them leave. Maura West (Carly) and young Dylan Denton (J.J.) played the absolute terror beautifully and Michael Lowry (Les) went all out, at one point scrambling on all fours to recapture hs son. Also: the marks on Carly’s neck? Very scary….

In the “all-the-way house” (Les’s slack security halfway house) Lily continued charming the simpleton who runs the place while Keith found Julia’s cell phone in the dumbwaiter connected to Les’s room. Lily wanted to call the cops with this damning evidence, but Keith argued that they should wait for Jack to come home. Lily phoned Hal, who nonchalantly reported that Les won custody of J.J. “You know how the kids are with the Internet,” Hal said, giving his reasons for why the line at Carly’s was probably busy. Uh huh. For someone with extensive kidnapping experience, he doesn’t seem even remotely concerned! Lily and Keith were understandably more worried, and rushed over to the Snyder house. There, they found Carly barely conscious and J.J. missing. Les was busy driving his son out of town and warned him, “If you make one more move, I’ll do to you just like what I did to your mother.”