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From: rika1@mindspring.com (Rika) Subject: PC: Update, Monday, May 11, 1998 Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 20:02:06 GMT X-Server-Date: 11 May 1998 20:03:34 GMT PORT CHARLES UPDATE Monday, May 11, 1998 TODAY'S EPISODE: "THE TEARS OF A CLOWN" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since most of the action takes place against the backdrop of the hospital circus today with a lot of interwoven stories, this update is organized chronologically and not by storyline. Casa de Scanlon --------------------------- Frank and Joe come into the kitchen carrying costumes for the circus (somehow it's hard to take Joe seriously with a pair of huge polka-dotted shoes draped over his shoulder). Frank is in high spirits, Joe is grumpy, and Julie, over by the sink, is silent and grim. Joe complains about Frank punching him out last night; Frank calls Joe a wuss and claims that he was just "clowning around." Joe is not amused by Frank's attempt at a joke. He tries to explain the seriousness of the fight; Julie chimes in too, but Frank shrugs it off. Joe and his shoes head for the hospital; Frank sneers that Joe is "so hormonal." Julie defends Joe's reasons for being upset, but Frank doesn't want to hear it. He leaves for the hospital, insisting that Joe will get over it. Chez Coe/Collins --------------------------- Lucy bustles into the den and finds Kevin sitting pensively on the sofa. She wants to hurry to the hospital; she promised Serena she wouldn't be late. Kevin suggests that Lucy go without him, but she refuses to let him sit home alone thinking. Kevin has a fairly unanswerable retort: "Lucy, my father just told me that I killed his mistress when I was a child. I think I deserve to sit with my thoughts for a while." But Lucy always has an answer, even for the unanswerable. Right now isn't the time to brood - Victor has spent years in institutions, and she isn't sure she believes him. Kevin insists that he has to tell the Jasmine Island police what he knows (which is ZIP, in reality - Victor is the one who knows something, not Kevin). Lucy has a good suggestion - Kevin and Victor should have a joint session with Gail to get an objective opinion. Lucy is sure Gail will agree with her that Kevin couldn't have killed the woman. At The Hospital ------------------------- Several people in red clown suits and yellow wigs, looking a lot alike (which will become significant later), are running around by the nurses' station, engaged in assorted hijinks. Grace, who is wearing a helmet with a peace sign atop her wig, and whose clown make-up includes two large tears (my reason for mentioning these details will also become clear later), is looking for Matt. Eve figures Matt is lucky to be missing the circus; Jake figures he's on the floor somewhere. Ellen's Apartment --------------------------- Jake was wrong. The movers are clearing out Ellen's stuff; she directs them while Matt watches. The movers take the last piece of furniture, leaving Matt and Ellen alone in her empty apartment. She reminds Matt of their agreement last night not to make the goodbyes difficult; he answers that last night he could pretend that this moment would never come. She kneels in front of him and they kiss. He asks her not to go, but she insists that the move is right for her. She will call him as soon as she arrives. Matt: "I'm never going to forget what it felt like to breathe you in." Ellen admits that last night was unexpected - and perfect. She never expected to feel that way again, or even to want to. Matt tells her, if she ever feels that way again, to close her eyes and remember how they felt together. They kiss feverishly, fighting back tears, and then Matt slowly heads for the door. He opens it, turns back to look at her, and leaves her alone in her empty apartment. Back at the Hospital --------------------------------- Kevin, Lucy, and Victor have arrived at the hospital, and as usual, Lucy is attempting to referee for the Collins men (AKA the Bickersons). Victor doesn't like being at the hospital; Kevin grumpily reminds him that Gail did them a favor, rescheduling her day to fit them in. Victor would rather stay outside and watch the circus; besides, he figures "all that psycho mumbo jumbo" is a waste of time. Kevin thinks that since Victor kept secrets from him for 30 years, the least he can do is spend a few minutes with Gail. Victor reluctantly agrees, getting the last word: "I suppose it's considered unprofessional to keep your witch doctor waiting." Kevin watches him go, annoyed, and then agrees to meet Lucy later. She sends him off with a kiss and some last-minute advice: "Be nice - control yourself." Eve, Scott, and Serena get off the elevator. Serena runs to greet Lucy, while Scott and Eve look on smiling. Serena gives Lucy a Mother's Day card which reads, "To My Almost Mommy." Lucy gets all choked up and embraces Serena; Scott snipes, "Speechless, Lucy? Too bad you can't stay like that." Lucy thanks Serena for the card; Serena then turns to Eve and gives her a drawing. Lucy shoves Scott out of the way to have a look at it. Eve tells her she will hang it in her locker while a jealous Lucy fumes in the background. Scott disappears to do some work, leaving Serena with the two women (BAD idea, Scott - Serena may get her arms yanked off in a tug of war). Lucy sends Serena over to play with some of the other kids; then she turns on Eve angrily, calling her "Bozo" and accusing Eve of using Serena to get to Scott. As Eve walks off angrily, Lucy calls after her, "You know, the clown suit adds about fifty pounds!" Grace (whose peace-sign helmet has vanished) takes Julie aside, asking her which Scanlon family member is diabetic. Julie isn't aware of anyone, which Grace finds strange. She explains about catching Frank with a vial of what he claimed was insulin the other day. Chris, in a Fire Chief hat, gets off the elevator in a foul mood. Eve greets him, telling him he looks a lot better than in "that GQ look." He asks where she was after dinner (he tried to call her); she doesn't reveal her whereabouts. In keeping with the law stating that all private, sensitive conversations in the city of Port Charles must be conducted in loud tones in crowded, public areas of the hospital, Chris reminds Eve that she'd better not tell anyone that she lied about their alibi when Devlin was murdered. They look over and notice Grace (still no helmet); she clearly overheard them. After the commercial, we see Grace at a phone booth leaving a message for Scott. She is suddenly wearing her helmet again. (She wasn't wearing it in the last scene; she must have been expecting to pass through a construction zone on her way to the phone and so stopped to put it on.) She tells Scott's machine that she has important information regarding Julie's defense. If she sees him at the circus, she's going to "play it cool" so Chris and Eve won't suspect anything, but she needs to talk to him ASAP. Meanwhile, Frank has been doing a magic act to entertain the kids. Lark is impressed. Julie comes over and snarkily congratulates Frank for his "hidden talents." Lark escapes in a big hurry; Frank ignores Julie's mood and assures her, "You ain't seen nothin' yet." He invites her to a broom closet to see some of his best tricks. She refuses, explaining that he scared her the night before; he promises that it won't happen again. Julie asks him about Grace's story about the insulin. Frank is mad - "Doesn't Grace have anything to do but yack, yack, yack?" - but he quickly manufactures a story about the vial actually containing Vitamin B-12. He's been feeling rundown lately (oh, yeah, like last night?). Julie wants him to get some tests, but he insists that he doesn't want anyone fussing over him. Julie leaves to get back to work, and Frank angrily remarks to himself, "Grace has got a big mouth." Joe, meanwhile, is telling Karen that if they have kids he wants them to look just like her. (Well, her clown face-paint job does include some pretty awesome eyelashes.) She wants to kiss him - they head off to "jail," evidently for some hanky-panky. Grace is wandering around (no helmet again; she must have made it back through the construction zone safely), still looking for Matt. Frank approaches her, flirting with her. Lark looks on, displeased. Gail's Office ------------------- Gail asks Victor why he didn't tell Kevin about Marsha's death sooner. Victor claims that, as Kevin's father, he was trying to protect him. Gail asks for the details of Kevin's involvement. While Victor and Melanie were arguing, they weren't watching the boys closely. Ryan started throwing knives, as he'd seen done at the circus. First it was just plastic knives, but eventually he convinced Kevin to throw real knives with him. One of the knives hit Marsha, and she went over the cliff and into the river. Victor claims that Kevin didn't see what happened. Gail points out that, on some level, Kevin must have known what happened. Victor says something that sounds very Ryan-like: "I did the best I could for you." He explains that this is why he didn't take Ryan with them to Europe - he wanted to rescue Kevin from Ryan's influence. In addition, he was afraid of what Ryan would do to Kevin when Victor wasn't watching. Kevin shouts back that perhaps, if they hadn't left Ryan, he wouldn't have grown up to be a murderer. Gail tries to calm them down, but Kevin will have none of it. He insists that he and Victor are going to the Jasmine Island Police right away to tell what they know. Victor objects at first, but then he agrees - a little too readily, if you ask me (though I guess you didn't). Kevin assures him it will be for the best. Victor wants to visit the bathroom first; he leaves Gail's office. After he is gone, Kevin asks Gail if she believes Victor; she thinks Victor is hiding something. Back at the Circus ----------------------------- Frank comes up to Jake and Lark, standing together talking. Lark leaves, and Frank tells Jake that he can understand why Jake thought Lark was a college student - she has all those curves in all the right places. (Ewwww.... a fine foster parent here....) If Jake ever touches Lark again, Frank promises to break his fingers, his arms, his legs, and then whatever's left. Grace (still in helmet) comes off the elevator and Eve tries to stop her to explain what she overheard. Grace assures Eve that she doesn't owe her any explanations, and she heads off. Lucy, who observed this exchange, slinks up to Eve and snipes, "Another of your many friends, huh?" Eve retorts, "Well, at least I don't talk to ducks." (As the CEO of FGC Sigmund, allow me to remark that Eve would be much better off talking to ducks than to certain humans I could name. Sigmund would have had better sense than to discuss alibis in a public place.) Lucy, who is holding a toy duck from a "Lucky Ducky" carnival game, rolls her eyes in digust. In The Circus Dressing Room ---------------------------------------------- Grace (sans helmet) finds Matt in the dressing room. She assures him she has saved him the best costume, but he thinks just a hat will be enough. She notices his mood and asks if he's okay. He responds simply, "No." She believes that the best way to cheer up is to do good things for others, so they should start with face paint. She is preparing to paint huge red lips on Matt when she remarks that his lips are pretty delicious "as is." She moves in for a kiss, but Matt pulls back. Grace asks Matt to tell her what's wrong. He starts with the typical intro to a kiss-off: "Grace, I think you're a terrific person." Grace, whose eyes are filling with real tears to match the painted-on ones, knows what's coming. She prompts Matt: "But?" He tells her that he's never going to feel for her what she feels for him. Her lips tremble as she asks, "It's Ellen, isn't it? She's left town and she's still my competition." Matt apologizes; he can't change the way he feels. Grace tries to regain some amount of dignity. She thought Matt was smart, but she was wrong - he doesn't know what he's missing. She leaves, fighting back tears. The Circus, Again ---------------------------- Kevin meets Lucy in the circus area; he's looking for Victor. Kevin goes off in search of Victor, asking Lucy to page him if Victor shows up. As Kevin leaves, he seems to have another circus-related vision that upsets him. Scott gets off the elevator; Lucy meets him and asks where he's been. Scott explains that he's been working on Julie's case. Lucy thinks he should pay some attention to Serena. He's moving way too fast with "that tramp Eve," and Lucy can't believe that Scott threw her out of the house. Scott explains that Eve and Serena are friends, and he tells Lucy not to call Eve a tramp. Lucy insists that "your daughter's friendship with that tramp" will just cause Serena heartache if things go as she expects they will. Scott angrily tells Lucy to think the worst if she wants, but the "Eve discussion" is finished. He stalks off; Lucy watches him go, remarking to herself, "No, it's not." The Dressing Room, Scene of the Crime --------------------------------------------------------------- Someone in one of the basically-identical clown suits comes into the dressing room and sits down in front of a mirror. We cannot see the person's face. (You know quite well who it is if you've read the spoilers, but since the person's identity isn't revealed in this episode, I'll save that for the Tuesday updater.) Outside the room, we see another person in a clown suit (whose face is also not shown) slowly opening the door. This person holds a stethoscope. While the clown in front of the mirror freshens up (perhaps from a bout of crying), the other clown sneaks up behind her and strangles her with the stethoscope. -------------------------- by Rika, substituting for Marguerite
