01-30-2017 (Monday) ELIZABETH?

Nina and Valentine come into The Floating Rib for macaroni; she approaches him with a discussion about how to tell Charlotte about Lulu being her real mother.  Valentine says the important thing is to let Charlotte know she is loved and wanted and will never have to leave them; Nina lifts her glass in agreement.  He fills her in on how his semen was used to inseminate Lulu’s embryo; it was against his will – Helena used a young lady to seduce him.  Nina says she can fill in the rest.  He assures her that he isn’t going to lose Charlotte; he says she brought him the one thing he never thought he would have – love.  Anna comes to console Griffin about Claudette’s demise; he says she may have made some mistakes, but she didn’t deserve to die like that.  He is angry and wants to exact revenge on Valentine, but Anna tells him he has to restrain himself; she is investigating.  She fills him in on the school that burnt to the ground.  She also tells him about Valentine being disfigured back in the day; he was slated as just an analyst, and he was the best and brightest.  She says something that she doesn’t remember; she still has to find it out.  She goes over and sits down with Valentine and Nina; she says she understands why he held onto that old photo of her… because she inspired him to remake his life.  Nina asks what she is talking about.

Kiki talks to Nathan and tells him that she is worried about Sam; she found it strange that she wanted to go find Franco first.  She tells Nathan she doesn’t care if he arrests Franco on the spot, but he needs to go find him; he leaves immediately.  Sam and Franco talk, still in the storage unit – (I’d be worried someone would come by and lock them back in) – Franco tells her that Julian may have wanted him out of the way because of Alexis…he tells Sam about running into Alexis in the alley, and the picture he found of her at the table with Tom Baker.  Hell of a coincidence, he says; Sam looks confused.  He tells Sam he really doesn’t want to cause anyone else pain, let alone her; she asks if he is still going to protect her mom.  He tries to apologize, but starts coughing; he coughs up blood.  Nathan and a couple other officers show up; Sam tells them he needs to go to the hospital.  At the hospital, Kiki talks to Franco.  Griffin tells him he’ll be okay, but he needs to rest; he’s running more tests.  Nathan tells Franco he’ll be right outside the door; and says he is glad he’s feeling better.  He tells them that Elizabeth had gone after Tom’s brother after he came into the station ranting; now they are worried about Elizabeth.  Kiki kisses Tom goodbye; he recalls being locked in the storage unit…he wonders again where he’s seen those trophies before.  Sam gets told that Jason is also in the hospital; she goes to see him.

Alexis comes into the police station and tells Dante that she wants to confess to being involved in Tom Baker’s death; when he turns on the recorder and asks how she’s involved, she tells him she killed the man.  Diane comes in very angry; Alexis tells her she cannot live like this anymore… she says she doesn’t want her lawyer, she wants her friend.  She says she needs to do this, even if it means she goes to prison.  Alexis continues to tell Dante her story; how she met Tom, got drunk with him, and woke up in a motel room across the street from the bar.  She says she didn’t sleep with him…she remembers that night.  But, she says, she had a black out the night he was killed, and she knows she was with him again.  She tells them she remembers him pulling a knife on her and getting it away from him; she says she want crazy, she raised her hand and she must have stabbed him.  Diane questions her not actually remembering killing him; she says no, it’s flashes of memory…not the whole thing.  He shows her a picture of Tom dead; she remembers spitting in his face when he had the knife to her throat, raising the knife over him, then dropping it and kicking it away.  She screamed screw you and ran away.  She realizes she didn’t do it; she didn’t kill Tom Baker.  Dante says his sights are still set on Franco; Kiki tells Nathan she’s heading to Liz’s house to make sure she’s okay.  She asks him to call her if she shows up there.  He remembers that they were in Tom’s brother’s house; he sits up and says Elizabeth is in trouble.

Liz continues her talk with Tom’s brother; she apologizes for what Franco did.  He tells her their mother can’t take this, he begins to cry; he says he needs a drink and offers her one.  She tells him that she needs to go; she says she just needs to find Franco.  He tells her she is never going to find him and tells her to find her way out; he leaves the room and she finds a photo album on the floor.  It has pictures of Alexis, Kiki, and herself… Tom;s brother comes back into the room and asks what she’s looking at.  She steps back; he asks what that is, and where she found it – he swears, Tom swore to him that he didn’t have these impulses anymore.  Liz says that’s proof he was still a predator.  She picks it up and starts to leave; she says she is taking it to the police.  He slams the door and tells her he can’t let her do that.

01-27-2017 (Friday) FRANCO IS RESCUED!

Hayden and Finn arrive at the hospital together; as they step of the elevator, they are greeted by Brad, who wants to make sure his name gets put on the patent for the new drug they are developing.  Finn only cares that it get made and distributed to those who need it.  Griffin interrupts; Finn is glad and Brad is slightly annoyed.  Hayden suggests that a patent isn’t a bad idea; she says it could be good P.R. for the hospital.  Nurse Nancy bothers Hayden, as Hayden denies having anything more than a friendship with Finn; Nancy tells her she wants to be her friend.  She says she can tell they are in love; and she heard all about their almost dying together.  Hayden smiles, as if she might tell her.  She admits to “a little something” between her and Finn.  Nancy swears to be the soul of discretion (oh, yeah right); Hayden doesn’t necessarily look as if she believes her.  Brad tells Finn that he saw him getting a prescription from Griffin; he says he knows he is addicted from the Zen-zen and threatens to tell the hospital board until Finn agrees to put him on the patent.  Nurse Nancy spills the secret to Griffin first chance she gets, telling him he can’t tell anybody…because it’s a secret.  

Alexis drops her empty bottle when Dante asks about Tom Baker; she doesn’t want to talk to him, but he says if he can’t come in and talk to her, they will have to go down to the station.  She lets him in, but she refuses to answer any questions.  Diane shows up to give her good news about her hearing; she tells her she doesn’t need to hear it because she can’t go through with the hearing.  She tells Diane that she is, at least, guilty of covering up two murders.  Diane talks her into going to the hearing, but she tells Diane to go ahead and says she will meet her there.  There is something she needs to do first, she says.Tom Baker’s brother storms into the police station; he demands to know what the police have found out about his brother.  He leaves in a huff; Elizabeth follows him.  She tells him she needs his help; she wants him to clarify something he said.  She asks how he knows that Franco had locked his brother in a cage; she says that information was not released to the public.  He says his brother called him and told him what had happened; everything except the part about putting Franco in the cage before escaping.  Liz tells him that she thinks someone else killed his brother.  He tells her he is sure Franco did.

Franco ponders who could have done this to him; he tries to recall where he’d seen that trophy before.  He talks to himself, trying to recall what he does know.  He sits down against the door with a notebook and tiny pencil; he realizes he may not have much time yet – he has no food, no water, and it’s cold.  He draws a picture of Elizabeth, and writes her name on it; then starts talking to himself again about how hard he has tried for her and her boys.  He says he loves her, then lays back down on the floor and passes out.  Sam calls Kiki to tell her about Franco’s note, which she found on the floor when she went back to The Floating Rib to get her phone.  She asks her where she found the note; Kiki tells her.  Kiki wants to go with her, but Sam sternly tells her, “no.”  Sam goes to the storage units and finds Franco; he says even he doesn’t think it’s fair that she has to save his “worthless ass” but begs her not to leave him.  She tells him she isn’t going to leave him; she asks if he knows who did this… he says someone who was really good at basketball, and he points out the trophies.  Scene flashes to Elizabeth, still talking to Tom’s brother.  There are basketball trophies all over the room.

01-26-2017 (Thursday)

Lulu finds her mother talking with Kevin at a table in the Metro Court; she asks to sit down.  Kevin offers her his chair.  She tells her mother she made a mistake; she tells her she told Charlotte she was her mother and now Charlotte hates her.  She tells her how she ran out of the closet and locked her in.  Kevin suggests co-parenting; he offers therapy.  Lulu gets upset, but denies being upset; she says she just has a lot to think about now and leaves.  Kevin apologizes to Laura.  

The girls discuss whether they should call the police at this point and tell them everything they know; apparently no one has looked at Franco’s note yet, which I guess is still just stuck in Kiki’s purse.  Sam tells Kiki she and Elizabeth can handle this right now and if they need her or find anything, they’ll give her a call.  Sam doesn’t want to go to the police; she begs Elizabeth not to throw her mother under the bus.  They walk out the door; Kiki drops her purse as she and Dillon leave, and Franco’s note, somehow, ‘falls’ out and is left laying of the floor because she picks up her purse without even looking at it, which she simply wouldn’t do.  She and Dillon go sit and have a drink, and talk and she tells him she is ready to be happy; they kiss.  Carly sees them.

Carly goes to Sonny’s; she finds a letter addressed to Morgan on the desk.  He comes down the stairs; she asks him to open it.  He says he couldn’t…he shows her a whole stack of mail he hasn’t opened.  They start to go through it together.  Michael thanks Nelle for her kind words to Joslyn; he tells her that he hopes she can take her own advice, and let her bad memories go, unburdening herself.  She tells him she’s trying.  They flirt a bit and he leaves.  He goes to see his mother; he tells her that he and Nelle are getting close (after she mentions seeing Dillon with Kiki).  Carly tells him that she hears Nelle is not available; then blurts out that she's seeing a married man.

Nelle comes to Sonny’s door; she says Carly sent her to go through Morgan’s mail.  Sonny says he is not comfortable with that; she asks if she can just gather it and take it back to the office, saying Carly asked her to do that then.  Sonny steps in front of her and tells her that he sees anger in his eyes; he recognizes it, he says, from when he used to look in the mirror, holding all that anger inside.  He tells her one of these days, it’s going to explode and hurt the people she loves.  

Elizabeth goes directly to the police station; Sam goes to her mom’s.  She asks if there is anything else she hasn’t told her; she says no.  She swears she believes that Julian didn’t have anything to do with Franco’s disappearance…Sam questions if she is falling in love with him again.  Alexis insists not.  Sam questions if she was drinking before she came; Alexis admits that she almost did… opened the bottle, poured herself a glass, swirled it around and sniffed it, but she swears she didn’t drink it.  Sam realizes she left her phone at The Floating Rib, and leaves.  Alexis looks at the bottle again.  She takes it outside and pours it out.  Dante seems to buy Elizabeth’s theory about what happened to Franco; Nathan says it does sound possible.  Dante takes his coat and leaves.  He heads to Alexis’ house to question her about Tom Baker.

01-25-2017 (Wednesday)

The waitresses run to Jason, one tells the other to call 911; Tracy comes into the dining room.  She manages to wake Jason up, sort of; she asks how long he’s been sick.  He says he’s not; she tells him he is burning up.  She says she is going to call Sam but he tells her not to call.  They get him to the hospital and get his fever down; when he really wakes up, he finds Julian sitting by his bed.  Julian tells him that this person he and Curtis are investigating is very dangerous and if he keeps it up, Sam and her unborn child might be at risk.  He demands to know why this person wants Sonny dead.  Julian won’t tell Jason who it is; he just says that all of their lives, including his, may depend upon Jason doing the right thing.  

Curtis and Jordan move to the bed; they continue kissing and get in position to have sex.  Jordan puts a halt to things though; she says one minute they are playing cards and the next they are going at it for no reason.  He says there is a reason and she knows it; he brings up a moment between them in the interrogation room.  She admits that she felt something for him that day.  She also says it doesn’t matter because she is with Andre; Curtis mocks her relationship with Andre.  She tells him he needs to get over himself.  They get into an argument; she claims her attraction to him is only physical, but it means nothing going forward.  She kicks him out of her room all bitchy-like now, and tells him that they are there on business; he wishes her luck in her relationship with Andre and leaves.  

Sam asks Elizabeth what’s going on; she says she is willing to help.  Liz questions what has changed; she figures out that Sam talked to her mom – she asks what her mom said.  Sam doesn’t tell her; she simply asks if Elizabeth wants her help or not.  Liz begs her to please keep an open mind about Franco during this investigation; Sam brings up the ‘fake rape video’ Franco made Jason watch.  Liz says she feels the same way about Tom Baker; they both agree they just want to get to the truth here, so they sit down to talk.  Franco is struggling to crawl across the floor to shove a note under the door; he is trying to stay warm using bubble wrap?  He tries to open some more boxes, and gets frustrated when he just finds Tupperware and trophies.  He passes out. 

Kiki goes to talk to Dillon.  She shows him Franco’s phone, which is now out of the bag and kind of wrapped in the bloody handkerchief; she says she needs to get the data off of it.  He asks how long it was in the water; she says she doesn’t know.  He doesn’t make her any promises but tells her he will take a shot.  They go to a storage unit, to use a dehydration machine.  This unit happens to be directly across from the unit that Franco is locked in – he groans at one point, and they hear it, but they don’t hear any other sound so they think nothing of it.  They find his note on the ground, but only because they were looking for something to write instructions on for rebooting the phone once they get it dried out.  Liz calls and they tell her they will be right there; Franco wakes up, trying to make more noise, but just a little too late.  They are gone.  He starts looking through boxes again and finds another trophy; this one, he recognizes.  But from where? 

Alexis insists that Julian be honest with her; she asks how he “took care of the situation” with Tom Baker and what happened to Franco.  She assumes some scenarios and then asks him again; he says he doesn’t know where Franco is.  She questions how she can tell he is telling the truth; he says she can’t.  Alexis presses Julian for an answer; he tells her that she is right to suspect that he did something to Franco, but still denies having done anything to him.  He tells her that he has always put her welfare first, despite how it may have seemed and his conscience is clear, even though he can’t prove it to her.  He says he has to go take care of something and asks her not to go get a drink; she gets mad and says she’s not going to drink.  He tells her not to inquire too much about Franco because her inquiries may require an explanation; he tells her again they will fix this.  Diane brings over paperwork for Alexis’ approval; she also brings a bottle of wine for celebration once she gets reinstated to the bar.  Alexis tells her she really doesn’t think she will ever practice law again; Diane gives her a pep talk, gets up to go present her case and says she will be back to pop that bottle open with her.  Alexis stares at the bottle, longingly.  After Diane leaves, Alexis puts the bottle away in the cabinet; she immediately turns around and gets it back out and starts opening it.

01-24-2017 (Tuesday)

Curtis and Jordan spend the evening together, reminiscing and celebrating the testimony they have from Buz; he goes to get sandwiches, and brings back cards.  They play poker and he teases her about what a horrible poker play she is, and tries to sweet talk her a little bit.  She playfully resists, but he comes closer and closer, and kisses her; she kisses him back.

Michael comes to visit his dad and brings onion rings; Carly comes in saying she hopes he brought lots because she’s starving.  She says Joslyn is not taking the news about Morgan well; she refuses to talk to anyone.  Michael says he is going to try to talk to her; maybe she will listen to him.  After Michael leaves, Sonny asks Carly if she has thought about them; she smiles.  She tells him that Jos refuses to move back in with him; as much as she wants to be with him, she says, she is going to stay with her daughter.  They talk a while longer and end up kissing, but suddenly gets up and says she has to go because Joslyn is waiting at her house.  Jos tells her brother that she is not going anywhere near Sonny’s house; he tells her Sonny wasn’t responsible but she thinks he is, because he’s a mobster.  Michael tells Joslyn that she needs to let herself grieve; he says she is displacing her anger.  Nelle tells Jos that she really does need to move through the anger in order to ever get over it; she reminds her that she was once happy living there with Sonny and her brother.  She listens.  Just as Carly is putting her coat on, Joslyn steps in the door, with Michael and Nelle standing behind her.

Sam shows up at Alexis’, unannounced; Julian comes down the stares calling out to Alexis.  He pretends to just be picking something up; Alexis asks him to leave and says she needs to tell Sam the truth.  He leaves and Alexis confesses everything to Sam, even the possibility that she might have killed Tom Baker.  Sam says that makes sense with what Elizabeth was telling her; that she doesn’t know her mom at all.  Alexis tells her about her encounter with Tom Baker, all that she remembers… Sam tells her that she will support her as much as she can, but when Alexis tells her about Tom, she hugs her and says she has to go.  Alexis apologizes, after she walks out the door.  When Julian comes back home, Alexis asks him if he did something to Franco.

Elizabeth is sitting at The Floating Rib, looking at Franco’s phone; Jason comes in and says he was with Jake today at school for Daddy-Donut Day.  He asks Liz what’s wrong; she doesn’t say anything about Franco missing.  Kiki shows up and asks Jason if he is there to help them with Franco.  Jason gets concerned; Liz tells him it’s nothing they can’t handle themselves and he goes to sit down at another table.  He orders coffee.  They ask each other if they have seen Franco; and both get concerned when they acknowledge they haven’t.  Elizabeth shows Kiki the bloody phone she found, which she now has in a plastic bag; now, they agree, they need to be worried.  They also agree, they cannot involve the police – the police are already looking for Franco.  Kiki takes the phone and says she will see what she can figure out; she tells Elizabeth to stay in touch.  Jason stands up from his table; he doesn’t feel right… he gets dizzy and falls to the floor.