ATWT Recaps Week of April 4, 2005

Friday, April 11, 2005
Lily tried to take back her entire confession (it’s her own fault for doing such a convincing job in the first place!), but Tom pointed out that she obstructed justice anyway, plus this just makes her look more guilty. Jack and Keith went through Julia’s personal items and noticed that her cell phone was missing. After Keith offered some support and a hug to Lily, they double-checked the list of calls that Julia made on the day of the murder. It’s important to note that this wasn’t clumsy police work on Jack’s part; the original list he’d received was missing a number. The call happened after Lily left the apartment, and it was to a pharmacist. He reported that Julia asked someone, “What are you doing here?” before the phone went dead….

Will walked in on Alison asking Katie (her best friend again!) to hire him at the gym and overreacted, as usual. “Maybe you can send a bill next time, like the other shrinks,” he snapped, insisting that it’s his life to fix (or not, as the case seems to be). She tried to get him to accept that she loves her boyfriend, and they can just be friends. By the look on his face after she gave him a peck on the cheek, that’s gonna be tough….

Barbara gleefully hovered over Paul’s table at the Lakeview. “I’ll get a refill as long as you’re standing there,” he said, without looking up from his paper. “Don’t be smug,” she scolded. “Don’t be annoying, we’ll call it even,” he responded. Despite his severe lack of interest in anything Mommie Dearest had to say, Barbara told him she found proof that Jennifer is pregnant. “I don’t even want to know,” he sighed. (Neither did we, Paul. Trust us.) She blathered on about how the miracle of a baby could bring the whole family back together….

If you thought the Paul and Dusty scenes crackled yesterday, today’s confrontation between Dusty and Craig was equally snappy. Craig tried to get his (stolen) designs back, then questioned Dusty’s commitment: “You suddenly have interests beyond tequila and teenaged girls?” Dusty warned him to stay away from Jen and Craig sensed that something else might be going on….

. Jennifer was having car trouble and instead of letting Mike — who spent half the episode in a towel — take her on her secret mission to the family planning clinic, she called a car. One guess who her driver — sorry, “transportation specialist” — was. That’s right: Henry. Once she left, Grandma Babs dropped by with a baby gift and congratulated Mike on his impending fatherhood. Poor Mike looked especially angry to be the last to know (as usual), and kicked her out. But it’s a good thing for Mike that Jen’s so distracted by her pregnancy, because she left the clinic info out in the open….

Meanwhile, Jennifer (for whom deception, we’ve already established, is not a strength) tried to fool Henry about where she was going but he naturally figured it out, and tattled to Katie, who pointed out that Craig could be the father….

Jen was reading a “Young & Pregnant” brochure in the waiting room before she was distracted by an adorable toddler and her mom, who talked about how the baby changed everything and put her lofty career goals in perspective. (How convenient that she was there and so willing to chat!) This gave Jennifer, pause, but she was ready for “the procedure” anyway. Of course Mike burst right after her name was called. Thursday, April 7, 2005
What a day for one-liners! Of course, when you’ve got Craig, Dusty and Paul in snooping mode, what else would you expect? Dusty and Paul met in the hallway outside of Boulevard Jeans to discuss saving “Street Jeans” from Craig’s evil clutches and — is it possible that Paul added highlights since Tuesday? (Rose would be so proud!) Anyway, inside the hastily set-up office, Craig did a smooth-talk tap dance for a client demanding proof that the clothes will be ready. The client stormed off after giving him a week’s deadline, so in a long mumbling chat with himself, Craig decided to swipe more of Jen’s work. As he snuck off, there was a hilarious shot of Dusty and Paul peeking around the corner. It got better inside the office, where they discussed their plan to steal back Jen’s stuff. “You got a better idea?” asked Dusty. “Yeah, we just kill Craig,” answered Paul with a shrug. “Next time. Now we gotta search,” said Dusty, who found the designs taped under a desk, and they replaced them with Barbara Ryan sketches. “See what a pre-planner I am?” Ha! Meanwhile, Craig, who still has the security code at BRO, stood in Jen’s office and asked himself, “If I were an unstable princess artiste, where would I hide my designs?” Barbara, looking fabulous in crimson, caught him with a file. She threw Jen’s purse at him to stop him from stopping her from calling security and — eww! — Jen had her pregnancy test just loose among her stuff in there. Of course Babs found it after Craig (who had only stolen one sketch) was run off by Dusty and Paul. Craig angrily discovered his own missing designs later… Alison and Aaron awkwardly decided — or rather, Aaron decided — that the timing was bad for them to get married. Bottom line: he wants her to stop worrying, because he’s not going anywhere. What ominous foreshadowing. We were treated to a detailed fantasy of their dream wedding, all candlelight and romance….

For some reason, Tyson The Oldest Teen Ever was really bent on taunting Will about the fact that Alison isn’t that into him. “See if you can squeeze me in between shop and remedial English,” snarked Will just when the tension was almost diffused. In retaliation, Tyson had to pull out the old “psycho loser” insult. Result: gym brawl. Tyson’s geeky friend wussed out and ran off before Tyson and Will were arrested for stubbornly refusing to apologize. Hal read his insolent son the riot act, Tyson and his dad decided to press charges, and Will just continued to make things worse for himself. Even Celia told him he was stupid, then summoned Ali to talk some sense into him. He was too jealous about what he presumes are her impending nuptials to listen….

Rafi granted Casey permission to take Celia to a concert, but he’s driving them….

Jennifer and Mike talked and talked about honesty and forgiveness and moving on all day, and she still managed to keep her pregnancy a secret. “I’m too distracted to even draw,” she whined, talking about how hard it is to have a career and a home life. He reassured her that she was the woman for him, and they fell into bed. She got up after and called the Family Planning Clinic for an appointment. Wednesday, April 6, 2005
In a typically soapy fake-out moment, Jennifer dropped the bombshell to Dusty that she’s pregnant and Mike’s not the father — just as Mike walked in and asked “Is it true?” Of course, he heard nothing and was talking about Craig and “Street Jeans,” but that’s what a show-opening teaser is for. Dusty counselled Jen to keep mum, but Mike was being so sweet and romantic and forgiving that Jen looked like she was going to throw up, and not just because the Chinese take-out made her queasy. When he presented her with the big surprise — blueprints for a planned studio for her to be added on to Lucinda’s guest house — she looked ready to confess….

Off the visit with her daughters, Lily was completely losing it. Sierra tried to calm her down as she babbled on about the constant supply of photos she’ll be needing while she’s in the clink. Little did she know that at the same time, Keith was at her house talking Luke into admitting that he really had nothing to do with Julia’s death. They showed up and convinced Lily of the same thing. Now they’ve got the mammoth job of undoing the stupid mess Lily made by confessing. But Keith’s on her side now, and even pointedly held her hand to prove it….

Alison, Aaron, Celia, Casey, and Will all showed up at the gym because of some “Free Trial Offer” flyers that Henry had distributed. Ali and Aaron, with apparently huge bonuses from Metro burning holes in their pockets, bought four memberships (for themselves, plus Susan and Emily) to help out. In a private moment, Katie thanked Ali for her efforts. Aww — they’re friends again! It’s been a while since they’ve talked. Also at the gym, Celia was harrassed by Tyson The Oldest Teen Ever — if Constantine Maroulis weren’t busy on AMERICAN IDOL, he would totally have played this part of this bully — and his geekier friend. Casey (keeping up the ’70s vibe in an “I’d Rather Be Rolling” T-shirt) and Will saved her without getting violent, although Will clearly kept calm only to impress Alison. Casey even noted Will’s crush on Alison and then called him on his recent Jekyll and Hyde behavior. Later Will, who was in a foul mood from seeing Ali getting all cutesy with Aaron, got into another showdown with Tyson. Back at Metro, Ali and Aaron laughed about the Colemans’ suggestion that the gym is a good place to tie the knot (“I almost died in that ring!” Aaron rightly pointed out). They soon realized, with a little awkwardness, that they were planning a wedding even though they’re not even engaged….

Dusty warned Sierra that Craig is getting mean, and cryptically offered to “deal” with him. Sierra was understandably concerned about what he meant, but he promised to neutralize Craig without getting rough. Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Upon realizing she was pregnant, Jennifer decided to talk to herself about it, with Dusty on the other side of the door. But he luckily wasn’t listening, and spent the whole day urging her to put business first. “Jen, I know it got personal,” he finally said, exasperated. “But you gotta suck it up. You gotta be a big girl.” Admitting that “there is no crying in business,” she eventually set up for “Street Jeans” at the trunk show (held in what seemed to be the Lakeview’s tiniest room), but was understandably flustered by Craig. Paul (predictably sporting a new hairstyle) and Hal managed to shut him down by demanding a permit, but by then the damage had been done, and Jennifer fled after having a terrifying daydream about Craig taking their baby daughter away. (She seems to think she’s having a girl.) A quick visit to the doctor’s later, she headed back to the office, where she blurted to Dusty that she was pregnant — and that Mike isn’t the father. That’s when Mike walked in (cue the dramatic organ music)….

The judge tried to sort out the mess that was the custody trial. If she was going by wardrobe alone then Keith and Jack, nattily attired in dark suits, would have won by a landslide — Les didn’t even bother to wear a tie. Instead, she sided with the boy’s biological father until Carly, who had totally bonded with J.J. during their time in the lobby, got the kid to refer to Jack as “Dad” and Les, apparently the biggest idiot ever to step into a courtroom, overreacted by roughly grabbing the boy’s sweater. There went his chances for custody. Outside, Michael picked up a quick phone call (maybe from Gloria or Kevin wondering where the mop is?) as Keith asked Carly for more details about the murder, because he wants to find out who really killed his sister. Finally, they all thanked Michael (who won with the tried-and-true “lucky break” tactic), then went off for Super Sundaes at Al’s…..

Henry was looking a little insecure when Mike showed up at the gym to take out some aggressions against Craig on the punching bag. Despite his offer to share a sympathetic “brewsky” with Mike, Katie pointed out the absurdity of him placing such a drink order and stepped in to comfort Mike herself. He got her so riled up about her brother that she ended up boxing the bag. Henry came home with a new job for Apex Limousine Service (which is also the real-life car service that ATWT uses to shuttle all of their cast and crew to and from the Brooklyn studios), and the Colemans decided to make Katie’s fantasy involving a man in uniform and a backseat tryst come true….

Lily got an emotional wake-up call from her visiting daughters while Holden and Lucinda fretted about the fact that she’s not criminally insane (prompting Lucinda’s impression of a simpering Dr. Michaels). Luke showed up to yell at them both for not doing more then blamed himself and ran off. By the end of the day, Keith tracked down Luke for more answers. Monday, April 4, 2005
Genoa City’s Michael Baldwin arrived to argue the custody case, giving Keith the line of the day when they were introduced: “I knew a Baldwin once — wily character.” After a small hurdle involving Michael’s previous felony, Jack, Holden and Keith testified to Les’s abusiveness. By the way, the courtroom had the same view of the impressive Oakdale skyline that could be seen from Paul’s old apartment. But Les got a moment alone with J.J. and creepily threatened to slit Jack’s throat if the boy didn’t say what he wanted him to on the witness stand. J.J. obliged, saying how much he loved his father in a scared monotone, eliciting courtroom chaos, thanks to Jack’s outrage….

Jessica brought news that Lily was declared sane (though some long-time viewers might beg to differ), so Lucinda played dirty by bringing Natalie and Faith to visit their mother the prisoner, in hopes of guilting Lily into, well, pleading not guilty. (On a side note, Lucinda’s cell phone looked like it was solid gold — only the best for La Walsh!)….

Craig stole everything from Jen (even her assistants) and was busy launching “Boulevard Jeans” at the Lakeview with the ripped-off “Street Jeans” designs. He even worked a little hilarious PhotoShop magic on the ad poster featuring Mike, putting a different (though less cute) model’s face on it. Dusty, Mike and Barbara were outraged, but Dusty later ordered Babs to stop meddling — then literally carried her out of the office kicking and screaming. Jen went to confront Craig and the mob of fashion press alone. She nearly fainted, leading her to take a pregnancy test. She was staring at the (positive-looking) results when Dusty pounded on the door at the end of the hour….

Katie announced that she and Henry are broke. How broke? “Can your car sleep two adults and a rabbit?” she asked Henry. “Only if Snickers loses a few pounds,” he quipped. But being the good husband, he decided to — gulp! — apply for a legit job as a limo driver (he must really love her).