Daily Updates

From: bv143@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (T.A. Murray)
Subject: PC: Friday Update - 10/10/97
Date: 12 Oct 1997 19:59:04 GMT

Port Charles - Friday Update - October 10th 1997
(posted and e-mailed)

PORT CHARLES - THE BRADY ZONE

As you no doubt have all noticed, life, television and particularly
Port Charles, have situations and plots that directly trace their
roots to episodes of that classic series, "The Brady Bunch".
But just to make it a little clearer, in this update we are going
to be pointing out the uncanny parallels between the two
shows.

Frank is in the middle of his confrontation with Bennett.  Frank
tells him he didn't realize Ben's influence went beyond the
operating room.  How did he line this job up?  Bennett tries
to play innocent.  (Like Jackie Coogan in the episode "The Fender
Benders" where he hits Carol's car and tries to weasel out of it.)
Ben says it was just the result of media coverage. (Like the Brady
episode "The Hero" where Peter saves a little girl and the
newspaper picks up the story.)  Frank wonders why his work as
a Paramedic would get him a job as an athletic director.  Ben tries
to wiggle out of it some more, but finally fesses up.  He claims
that he was talking to the guy from the college during a golf game
and let Frank's name drop. (Right. What was a guy from Chicago
doing playing golf in Port Charles?) "Simple as that?" Frank asks.
"No big deal," says Ben.  It is a big deal to Frank.

Joe and Karen are in the middle of a confrontation with Chris.
Joe accuses him again of tampering with Kevin's IV line to
torpedoes Karen. "Admit it." (Like "Kitty Karry-All is Missing"
where Cindy's doll is stolen and she accuses Bobby.)  Chris says
Karen is sabotaging  herself and doesn't need his help.  Karen
says that Chris knows she didn't leave that IV open.  He knows
no such thing.  She should stop blaming other people for her
problems, just because Jagger dumped her.  Joe grabs him and
Chris pushes  him off.  "The Rocky Balboa routine is getting old."
(Like Peter in "A Fistful of Reasons" where Peter defends Cindy
from a bully making fun of her lisp.) Karen asks Chris if it was
personal or he just doesn't want her to get the Quartermaine
residency. He tells her she's no threat in that department. Joe
takes offense. Chris says Karen wants that residency as much as
anyone, and that she's trying to pin her mistake on someone else,
so she still has a shot at it.  He'll say it nice and slow so they
can both understand, if they go around spreading lies about him
putting Kevin's life in danger he'll go straight to Dr.
Quartermaine and have them up on charges.

Kevin is lying in bed with eyes closed.  The door of his room
begins to slowly open as happy Lucy music plays in the background.
He senses the door opening and begins to sit up.  "Lucy you just
couldn't stay..."   The music changes to dramatic "it could be
Cooper coming to try and kill him music".  (Like in "Fright
Night" where the spookiness is all faked.)  Kevin sits up
abruptly, when he realizes it isn't Lucy at the door.

Scotty is at the table in the Lighthouse, wearing his cute
little spectacles.  He is trying to glue a little doll
together. (Elmer's glue.  Rex can't get him for sniffing that.)
Scott flashes back to his recent tea party with Serena, where
she asked if he was okay and he reassured her.  When Scotty
comes back from his flashback Lucy is in the room.  Scotty
explains that he stepped on "Little Sherry" and is trying to
fix her before Serena gets home. (Like in "Confessions,
Confessions" Peter is in trouble when he breaks Carol's favorite
vase.)  Lucy suggests that he wait until he's feeling better.
He says he feels fine.  He doesn't look fine.  Lucy insists
that something is wrong.

Scott says that he's the picture of health.  Lucy agrees,
"Yeah, a picture by Picasso."  She reminds him that he has
had hallucinations and should be examined by a doctor so
they can figure out what's wrong.    He doesn't want to know
If it happens again they'll do something.  Lucy, Rhonda and
Eve are they only ones who know and he wants it to stay that
way.  Lucy says Scott is a great father, and lawyer but that
can be a real pinhead.  He tells her that if the doll starts
talking to him he'll reconsider.(like Kitty Karry-All used to
talk to Cindy.)  Lucy asks him to think about Serena.  That's
all he does think about.  So, Lucy suggests they go over
everything that led up to him being sick.  He has. (Like when
Jan was allergic to Tiger in "Katchoo".) They rule out food
poisoning from bad cheese.  They can't figure it out.  Lucy
then suggests that they could really use Kevin's help.

It's only Victor at Kevin's door. He apologizes for waking
Kevin. Kevin says he wasn't asleep.  Victor comes into the
room and looks around, "I like your room it's nice."  (No
doubt comparing it to the rooms he's had lately.)  Kevin
quickly explains that credit goes to Lucy and her decorator.
(A similar transformation occurred in "Our Son, The Man" to
Mike's den.)  Kevin gets out of bed pushing his little IV
holder along with him.  Victor starts to ask if Kevin is all
right.   He's fine.  Kevin asks Victor to sit down. He asks
if Victor has had lunch. Victor says yes, "Fish today.  No
species I know."  (Now we know where Kevin gets his sense of
humor.)  Kevin smiles and asks how he is.  Victor says he's
alive thanks to Kevin.  He pulled him out of the fire.
Kevin gives part of the credit to Frank Scanlon.  Victor
doesn't have to thank him. Victor has trouble saying it but
finally gets out, that he has spent his life running away
(Like Bobby in "Every Boy Does it Once.") and he admires
Kevin for not running away. "Monk doesn't run... ever."
Victor says he's proud of Kevin.  Kevin looks touched.

Joe and Karen are still giving innocent Chris a hard time.
"Maybe you didn't intend to put a person's life in danger."
Joe theorizes. Karen swings Chris around.  She repeats the
accusation. "You opened Kevin's IV and lowered his head."
She goes on reiterating Joe's theory, which had no basis
whatsoever in fact. (As in "The Slumber Caper" when Marcia
is falsely accused of drawing a caricature. Carol said "You
were blamed for something because it seemed somebody didn't
have all the facts.  And you turned around and did the same
thing to Jenny".)  Chris is  starting to show a bit of temper
himself.  He says Karen and Joe should take their act on the
road.   Karen should take a look in the mirror if she wants
to see who responsible.  It's  ironic that both Karen and Joe
have a penchant for self-destruction . How fortuitous they
found each other.  Joe could teach Karen how to disregard her
Hippocratic oath. (That "do no harm" bit.).  He lowers his
voice, and says that Karen could teach Joe how to strip.
(We're in favor of that.)  Joe is angry and gives Chris a
good push.  Chris pushes back.  Ellen comes up right then
and gets between them.  She demands to know what's going on.
(The way Carol and Mike separate Greg and Marcia in "My
Sister, Benedict Arnold.")

Julie sits on the front stoop with a basketball in her hands.
Mary walks up.  She heard about the Frank's job interview and
wants to find out how it went.  Julie tells him that Frank's
left.  Mary wonders if it isn't some sort of case of mistaken
identity and Julie says the college is crazy about Frank.
Julie wants to make a confession.  Mary jokingly suggests
that Julie should talk to father Wysocki. (Uh... Can dead
priests take confessions.) Julie tells her not to tell Frank,
but she wishes he wouldn't take the job.  Mary takes the
basketball.  She points out the window of a neighboring house.
It belonged to Louie Peron.  A nice kid, with no physical
abilities and severe allergies, whom Frank had taught sports,
and eventually had become a powerful executive.   That's what
kind of a guy Frank is. (See the episode "My Fair Opponent"
where Marcia helps Molly win the hostess-of-banquet-night job.)
Now, it's Frank's turn and he deserves a shot. (This whole
scene is reminiscent of the scene in "Alice Doesn't Live Here
Anymore".  Where Carol explains to the kids that it would be
selfish to ask Alice to stay, when she wants to leave.)

Bennett is still explaining to Frank how the opportunity to
recommend him for the job just fell into his lap.  Frank wants
to know why Ben would help him at all.  Because of Julie. A
long distance relationship can be difficult, but this job would
"equalize the playing field".  Frank pretends not to know what
he means.  Julie, as a successful Doctor will be earning much
more than Frank, an English teacher/paramedic.  It would bother
most men to earn less than a woman. (Like "The Driver's Seat"
where Greg can't admit Marcia is a better driver.)  Frank says
that money has never been important to him.  Ben acts like Frank
was speaking in Swahili, and skips over it.  This job offer is
nothing to be scoffed at.  Frank says that "Us proud guys like
to accomplish things on our own."  Bennett insists that Frank
was hired on the basis of his work. (Well, if his resume is
really good enough for that college, it looks like we could use
Frank as our new football coach at Arizona.)  Frank's not buying
it. Bennett is happy things have been clarified.  Yes, things
are quite clear to Frank. (Yes, it's just like, "Double Parked"
Where Mike is offered an architect job building a court house
right on the park Carol is trying to save.) He starts to leave
and then turns back.  He declares that now he understands why
Julie created a make-believe family.  The last thing he'd want
was to be associated with Bennett Devlin.  Ben says that Frank
misunderstood him.  The job offer came from Coulson College.
Frank asks him not to insult him.  He will decline the offer and
furthermore, he doesn't lie to Julie. (Implying that he will
tell her of her father's role.)

Julie remembers how she promised herself, when Frank was in
the ER that they would stay on course, and move forward.  She
just didn't know moving forward meant Frank moving so far
away.  Mary says it's a terrific opportunity and they'd miss
him like crazy.   And they couldn't let Frank see if they were
falling apart when he left.   Julie agrees and Mary leaves and
asks Julie to tell Frank she'll call him.  Julie gets up and
shoots the basketball.  She misses.  (Like Mr. Matthews missing
the crucial shot in his pool game against Bobby in "The Hustler")

Ellen asks the belligerent interns what's going on.  Chris tells
her the truth.  Karen and Joe have a theory that he jerry-rigged
Kevin's IV.  Karen wants to explain her side. Ellen tells her
that it's not the time and place.  She asks Karen and Joe
to behave like Doctors while they're on duty.  Joe and Karen
leave. (Though they don't actually go off to treat any patients.
Karen's problems come first.)  Chris thanks Ellen.  He told
Karen and Joe that his hands were clean, but they wouldn't
listen. Ellen tells him that it's his own fault for having
given the appearance of sabotage when he read Karen's letter
and told  Ellen the contents.  (Cindy in "The Tattletale")

Karen and Joe fume next to the staircase.  Karen suggests
that going head to head with Chris wasn't the best idea.
Joe (Judge, jury and executioner) Scanlon is furious that
Chris is getting away with this.   Karen points out that they
are accusing a Doctor of deliberate malpractice.  Joe asks
if Karen thinks this sort of stunt is beyond Chris.  She
doesn't.  (We do.)  But there's no proof.  Joe thinks they
should get some and they should start at the beginning. (Joe
and Karen's efforts to solve the mystery are reminiscent
of Bobby and Cindy's teeter totter record breaking efforts in
"The Teeter Totter Caper.")

Lucy postulates that Scott might be suffering from a
psychological rather than a physical ailment.  It might help to
talk to Kevin. Scott says that until they have a chance to do so,
he's going to do it his way.  They'll say the fish sticks were
bad and leave it at that. Okay, Lucy agrees sarcastically, denial,
highly recommended. Scott stuffs an insurance form in an envelope
and licks it.  Now that Lucy has broached the subject of his
health he wants to talk about the future if anything should happen
to him.  He knows Lucy and Serena have grown close and he'd like
her and Kevin to be Serena's guardians if anything happens to him.
(Like Carol and Mike were for her little nephew Oliver in the final
season) Lucy is thrilled and she kisses him. "I'm speechless," she
tells him."That's a first," he counters.  Lucy's delight soon turns
to concern as the special Rex-drug begins to affect Scott.

Rex, standing beneath the duck crossing sign by the lake (and just
where is Sigmund when Mommy need his protection?), gazes at
Scott and Lucy through a pair of binoculars.  He chuckles evilly.
"'Scuse me while I kiss the sky," he says, revealing a heretofore
unsuspected familiarity with psychedelic rock.  (Rex would never
have appeared on a wholesome family show like The Brady Bunch,
despite the Roman Brady connection.)

Julie tosses Frank the basketball as he walks up to the house.
(Hey, Julie, you should really be more careful.  No doubt
everyone remembers Marcia's traumatic experience in "The
Subject was Noses.") He throws the ball and makes a basket.
She's impressed with his skills and curious as to how the
interview went. He looks at her sadly. "I don't know how to tell
you this," he says.

Joe and Karen walk into Kevin's hospital room. They are surprised.
"And they said there were budget cuts," Joe quips.  (So Joe is
marginally aware of his surroundings. Who knew?) "Welcome to
Shangri-la," Kevin says and quickly attributes the environmental
changes to Lucy.  Joe thinks Kevin must be enjoying his stay.
"Nothing personal," Kevin tells him, "but I can't wait to get home."
He asks if they've had any luck finding out who made the "mistake"
with his IV.  Some, they tell him.  Karen says they don't want to
bother him while he's recuperating, but they've hit a wall.  Does
Kevin remember anything from just before his surgery?  (Of course,
she doesn't mean "anything", she means anything that will support
their bogus theory about Chris.  Guess we're lucky these two
geniuses didn't join the PCPD.)  Yes, Kevin does remember
something.  Someone came into the room and they were wearing
black.  "Black?" says Karen, either unfamiliar with the color or
wondering how it fits into the Chris theory.  (Like Carol's editor
in "Tell It Like It Is" who refused to accept her family biography
because it was unbelievable.)

"Why am I the bad guy?" Chris asks Ellen.  All he did was make
the connection between Karen's emotional state and an almost
fatal error.  He think someone should be expressing their
appreciation. Don't expect that from Karen, Burgess tells him.
(Did Marcia thank Cindy for reading her diary in "The Snooper
Star". We think not.)  Now that she's heard his side she thinks he
should go back to work.   Someone in black is lurking in a nearby
doorway as Chris goes behind the nurses desk to sign something.

Lucy takes Scott to the Hospital.  She wants him to go to the ER,
but he only wants to see Kevin.  They slip in through a back door.
"Are we invisible?" Scott asks.  Lucy tries to guide him up the
stairs.  He sits on the stairs and begins to giggle.  She attempts to
quiet him and get him on his feet when she hears footsteps coming
toward them.  They both look up the stairs in horror.  "What are
you doing here?"  Alas it appears to be not Eve in a negligee, but
Bennett Devlin. (Rex deception of Scott does bear a resemblance to
Greg's heinous deception of Bobby in "Out of this World" when
he makes Bobby think he's seeing flying saucers.)

Media Reference of the Day: Rex - "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the
Sky" Jimi Hendrix.  Honorable Mention - Chris for "Rocky Balboa."

Director - Jill Ackles

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