OLTL—Friday–10/29—"I believe in miracles now."

"Are you really alive?"

Téa and Todd reunite.  She tells him Starr and Hope were never at the warehouse and he tells her Dani is fine.  Todd tells her everything is going to be just fine because, "I believe in miracles now."  Then they hug and cry.  Thank goodness.  Finally, the happy ending we deserve!

Todd tells Téa he is sorry for giving up on her.  They talk about the phone call and she says, "yes," she really did call him.  Their peaceful moment doesn't last long and there is another near collapse of the building.  But, they get lucky and the cavalry shows up.  Bo is leading the rescue and assures them they will soon be out of there.

Natalie runs ballistics on the gun that killed Eli and finds Cole's fingerprints on the trigger.  She confronts Marty.  Natalie knows that Cole really did the shooting.  She tells Marty she overheard her conversation with Cole; and also, Marty did not have any powder residue on her hands.  Marty says she washed her hands, but Natalie knows she is grabbing at straws and tells her, she is obligated to report the forensic evidence.  Marty begs Natalie to cover for her.  This will be Cole's third felony and he will go to prison for the rest of his life!

Natalie asks Marty if she realizes what she is asking.  Marty reminds her that after Mitch Lawrence killed her husband, Jared, Natalie stabbed Mitch.  And how many people covered for HER?!?!?  Even John tried to take the rap.  Natalie knows she is right.  But just then, John enters the station and this is the first time Natalie has seen him since his rescue.  Marty watches them hug, but then turns away.  [She has nothing to live for, in so many ways.]

Yesterday, Hannah and James struggled for her gun and she hit James over the head.  He passed out and she pushed him into the open grave.  She forces Starr to cover him with dirt, then tells Starr to "get in."  Starr stalls Hannah by begging to say her goodbyes to Hope.  Hannah allows it and appears to actually be starting to break down a bit.  But she quickly recovers from her sentimentality, and again tells Starr, "That's it, now get in, or I will hurt Hope."

Starr gets in the grave, Hannah is about to shoot Starr, when James regains consciousness, grabs Hannah's leg and pulls her in with them!  There is a struggle, but again, Hannah gains control of the gun and points it at James.  Unfortunately for Hannah, Starr is behind her now, and bashes her with one of the shovels.

Langston is explaining to Cole everything that she knows so far about Hannah's reasons for wanting to kidnap Starr and Hope.  He suddenly realizes that it is because he told Hannah, that if it wasn't for Starr, he could be with her.  In effect, he feels responsible for motivating her to move from fantasy into reality.  He just can't believe how foolishly naive he has been!! Langston tries to soothe the blow by saying he was fooled like everyone else, including his mother, because Hannah is such a great liar.

Gigi arrives at Llanfair.  Viki and Charlie are greeting trick-or-treaters and also babysitting Shane (who we didn't see, and haven't seen in quite awhile).  Rex returns from his trip to New Mexico.  He mentions Echo in his conversation with Gigi and Viki is curious.  Rex explains he went to NM to see if there was anything else he could find out about the heart necklace.  He went to his mother's grave where he had left her half of the necklace, but it was gone.  He asked around town and no one recognized Echo from her photo.

Echo and Clint run into each other at the hospital and she shows him the heart necklace.  She says HE gave it to HER after purchasing it on a business trip to NM.  He says he doesn't remember and doesn't want to remember anything about their "relationship."  But he does ask why she kept half of a heart.  She says, "Because it's special to me."  She says she left the other half behind many years ago, maybe at Llanview Hospital; but it wasn't the only precious thing that she left there.

Clint sees an "associate" get off the elevator and heads around the corner to meet with him.  Clint asks him if he "took care of it."  It seems Clint had Rex followed to NM.  His hired help arrived at the cemetery just before Rex did and snatched the necklace off of the grave.  He hands it to Clint!  Dun, dun, da.....

Cole is sitting alone in his apartment when he hears a tiny voice say, "Daddy" and looks up to see Hope and Starr coming through the door.  Another teary, happy ending!  YEA!
          

OLTL—Thurs–10/28—"I'm going to be your new Mommy."

It was the episode we've all been waiting for and it didn't disappoint.  But that was at the very end, so, I will briefly cover a few other highlights:

Marty finally gets a chance to call Cole and tells him that Starr and Hope were NOT in the warehouse, but no one knows where they are.  During their conversation, Natalie enters the squad room and overhears Marty telling Cole not to say anything to anyone and definitely not to come to the police department.

Nora and Bo bring each other up to speed on the latest developments.  Both of them find it hard to believe Marty could actually commit 1st-degree murder!

Bobby Ford is in the ER because of his injuries from Clint's goons.  When Langston finds out from the doctor that Ford has multiple internal injuries that had to have come from a beating, Ford admits to Langston he was beaten.  Langston immediately calls the police to report the assault and Inez answers the call, finding out that her son is in the hospital.  Clint happens to be there with her, so brings her to the hospital.  He is so incredibly smug.

Inez tells Langston the police have learned that Starr and Hope were not in the warehouse.  No one has heard from James since he was staking out Hannah at Marty's, so now, Bobby and Langston know their suspicions of Hannah were probably right, and she should be considered the prime suspect.  Langston goes over to Cole's and tells him what they have been speculating about Hannah's involvement with Starr's disappearance and the latest developments.

Hannah forces James, Starr and Hope to wear Halloween costumes and masks, so they won't be recognized.  She takes them to a cemetery where she gives them each a shovel and tells them to dig.  Her plan is for them to dig their own graves.  I didn't think it was possible, but Hannah Bananas is getting even scarier.  Hannah explains to Starr she is planning to keep Hope because she is so important to Cole.  Otherwise, she would have gotten rid of her already.  She tells Hope, she is going to be her new mommy.

At the warehouse, the building and upper floors have imploded and the Fire Department is keeping rescue efforts from continuing.  However, John and Todd and Blair and Téa have fallen into the basement level.  Now, it is just a matter of digging them out.

While they are stumbling around in the debris, John finally tells Todd that Téa never died from a brain tumor.  He gives Todd all of the details, but Todd is not buying it until John says Greg Evans confessed!!  John then goes on to say Téa was being held in the warehouse by Eli, and hopefully, she is still alive.

It is only shortly after this, that Blair breaks through the wall and comes through to the waiting arms of Todd and John.  She asks Todd if he is ready for one more.  When he turns his head, he sees Téa framed in the opening.  The look on Todd's face truly gave me chills; and then tears of joy.  Hallelujah!!
          

Wed–10/27—Spending Energy Should Be Like Spending Money

I offered some philosophical advice to a friend of mine last week and she appreciated it so much, she suggested I share it with other people.  OK.  I love my OLTL—that won't change—but maybe, when there is a day off from a recap, like today, I will offer something different.

A friend of mine went on a job interview that turned out to be particularly frustrating and demoralizing.  I tried to cheer her up a bit, by putting the experience into perspective.  This is an excerpt from what I told her:

Maybe it is a sign that you still need to keep looking for your path.  I feel very sure “the right path” is not supposed to feel like that.  It should feel comforting and welcoming.  I have taken the wrong path too many times, and it always feels wrong.

Maybe try making a list of Pros and Cons—things you like to do and things you don’t like to do—things you’re good at doing and things you’re not. I know you just want to make some money as fast as you can, but the frustration of going through what you did yesterday, steals from your positive energy and it’s not worth it.

You can’t afford to waste any of your energy right now.  To put it another way—imagine that energy is like money—you want to get the most for your money and you don’t want to spend it unnecessarily or fruitlessly.  You want something of value to come from your investment of time and energy.

We used to always say, “Just rise above it.”  And I think that is good advice, because it is like cream that rises to the top in a bottle of whole milk.  Everybody wants the cream.  You have much to offer, and in the right situation, it will be appreciated.

I saw Jane Fonda on Oprah today and she is absolutely gorgeous at age 72.  (Well, she did admit she had some minor plastic surgery recently, but she still looks wonderful.)  Better than that though, her attitude toward life was really inspiring.  She is still close friends with her 3rd ex, Ted Turner.  They had their first joint interview since their divorce, and he told her that their time together was the best time of his life.  She asked him if that was true, and he said, "It was a pleasure to be her husband."  WOW—that was so powerful and honest, it made me cry.  But I digress.

The point is:  Just stay positive.......
          

OLTL—Tuesday–10/26—"I must have been gone longer than I thought."

Cole shoots Eli and Eli says, "What have you done?"  Cole says, "That one's for killing Starr."  Eli tries to get up and then Cole says, "And this one's for Hope."  Then he shoots him again!!!

Marty runs up, glad she finally found Cole until some comes around to the other side of the vehicle and sees what Cole has done.  She tells Cole, Eli is dead and he says, "Good."  Then, she tries to get him to tell her exactly what happened.  She explains to him that Eli was hand cuffed and completely defenseless, and Cole will be arrested for first degree murder.  He says he doesn't care about anything anymore since Starr is dead.

Natalie is waiting with Dani for the ambulance and Dani tells her Téa is alive and was in the warehouse with her; but she never saw Starr and Hope.  The last time she saw them was at the Cherryvale Clinic.  Then Nate arrives and Natalie tells him to stay with Dani because she has to tell Brody about Téa.

Marty tells Cole he has to leave, get out of there, NOW, don't answer his phone and don't talk to anyone.  He leaves.  Marty bends down to pick up the gun.  Natalie is just getting there, sees Marty and then sees Eli.  Marty tells Natalie she killed Eli.  Just then Brody comes back because Bo had told him to check on Eli.  He asks Natalie what happened and she tells him Marty shot Eli.  He just can't believe this has happened and screams, "OH, MY GOD!"  He asks Marty, "Did you really do this?" and she says, "Yes, I did."  He has no choice, but to arrest her.

Téa and Blair fell into the basement of the building when Eli set off the bomb.  They both regain consciousness and try to figure out where they are and how they are going to get out of there.  They start talking about everything that has happened since the last time they were trapped in a similar situation.

Blair blames herself for bringing Ross into their lives and then getting involved with Eli.  Tea says she should never have let Eli draft her Will.  Blair says, "Yeah, well, I was a bigger fool—I married him.  I thought Eli was the anti-Todd, but it turned out he was the anti-Christ!!  Todd turned out to be the stand-up guy, through all of it."

Tea:  "I must have been gone longer than I thought."

Todd and John McBain were in the warehouse during the second collapse.  Now they are trapped in the basement.  But there is a very thick wall between them and the girls, so they are not able to hear each other.

It was James that Starr clobbered over the head with her booby trap yesterday, but Hannah was right behind him.  She laughs at all of them, locks James in the attic with Starr and Hope, and leaves.  James explains to Starr how he put together all of the clues, but he wasn't expecting Hannah to have a gun.  It isn't long before Hannah returns and tells them they are all going somewhere.  Somewhere, where they will be together forever.....

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Monday–10/25—"Haven't we had enough truth for one day?!"

Zow-ee, Wow-ee!!
Major storyline action.  Another secret was revealed.  One major character confesses to murder another commits murder!  And, we don't yet know if anyone died in the warehouse explosion.

Marty wants Natalie to let her through the barricade to catch up with Cole.  She threatens Natalie.  She tells her she overheard her conversation with Brody and she may start talking about her suspicion, that possibly Brody is her baby's father instead of John.

Eli is holding the detonator for the bomb and then makes his final threat:  "Manning, if I can't have my wife, then you can't have yours either."

Dani screams, "NO," and runs toward the warehouse.  When McBain realizes what is about to happen, he yells for everyone to get down and then Eli pushes the button.

After the explosion, Todd regains consciousness, but Dani is laying on top of him and not responding.  Todd carries her toward the ambulance and they run into Marty on the way.  He begs Marty to help, but she says she has to get to Cole.  Todd pleads with her and she relents.  Todd tells Natalie to call McBain, NOW, and tell him to get into the warehouse and find Starr and Hope.

Thinking that Starr and Hope are in the warehouse, Cole runs in on his own.  He is calling out for Starr when part of the ceiling falls on him and he is pinned down.  McBain finds him and pulls the debris off.  Cole is injured with a deep gash on his forehead.  When John gets him out, he is treated by the EMTs, near where Brody is questioning Eli.

Outside of Marty's house, Hannah confronts James.
"Tell me the truth.  You're spying on me."
"What are you talking about.  I just came to see if Cole had any news about Starr and Dani."
"You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"Eli Clarke is getting the ransom from Starr's dad right now.  Cole and his mom just went over there to make sure that Starr and Hope are okay.  Cole wanted to be the one to bring them home."
"Do you think that's gonna happen, Hannah?  Do you think they're going to be ABLE to bring them home?"
"Why, don't you?"
"In a hostage situation, there are no guarantees, but it's obvious we both want them to come home safely, from where ever they are."
"Oh, I know where they are."
"I'm sure you do."
"I heard Cole and his mom talking about some abandoned warehouse on Route 22.  You should have no trouble finding it."
"OK, well why don't you come with me."
"I told Cole and his mom I would stay here."

Hannah tries to convince James to go to the warehouse, but he he says he is going to stay there with her.  She says she doesn't need a baby sitter.
James: "I know, but I'm not going to that warehouse."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't believe Hope and Starr are there."
"You don't?  Eli Clarke kidnapped them.  If he doesn't have them, then where could they be?"
"I have no idea, but you know what, I think you do."

He tells her he knows about his bullet necklace and that Cole didn't find it at his apartment.  "I talked to Cole, so, don't give me that crap.  There is only one way that you could have gotten that necklace, and that was taking it off of her yourself.  So, when did you do that, Hannah?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You were just so obsessed with Cole that you would do anything for him.  Even if that meant getting Hope and Starr out of the way, right?"
"That's insane."
"Exactly.  I guess that's why they assigned you an around-the-clock shrink.  Give it up Hannah.  Game over"

Hannah says, "Speaking of games...."  She goes to her purse and takes out the baseball and tries to get James to guess where she found it, then taunts him by saying Starr thinks he is s-o-o-o smart.  She tells James everything that she has done, but then, she pulls out the gun and points it at him.  She tells James, "Starr doesn't deserve him. Cole belongs to me now."

In the meantime, Starr is rigging up some kind of a booby trap to drop on Hannah when she opens the door.  We didn't see anymore of what happened at Marty's house, but when Starr hears someone opening the door to the attic, she drops a heavy box on them.  It looked like it might be James.

At the hospital in Greg's room, Destiny is in shock over the news she has just gotten from her parents (or are they).  Yesterday, Mr. and Mrs. Evans told Destiny they weren't her real parents, but she wasn't adopted; she is their own flesh and blood.

Destiny:  "I don't get it.  First you're my parents and then you're not, and now you are again?"  Greg explains they are not her parents, they are her grandparents.  He is her real father.

She asks Shaun if he knew about any of this and he says he did not.  Now, she realizes Shaun is not even her brother!!  She starts sobbing.  She just cannot get over the fact that everyone has been lying to her, her whole life!  Even Shaun wants to know how they could do that to her.

Destiny demands to know who her mother is.  Greg finally tells her she was someone from their old neighborhood.  "She wasn't my girlfriend, she was Shaun's.  Your mother was a girl that Shaun was in love with."  "It was Charlene.  You (Shaun) were in prison and we were working on your appeal, and it just happened."

Destiny: "I want to know where Charlene is now."
Mr. Evans: "She ran off."
Shaun: "Ran off? I tried like hell to find her."
Mrs. Evans: "Well, maybe she wanted to disappear."
Greg: "No.  It's time for the truth."
Shaun: "Haven't we had enough truth for one day?"
Greg: "Look, I was trying to protect you, that's why I couldn't tell." Destiny: "Where is she, Greg.  What happened to my mother?"
Greg: "Charlene is dead.  I am so sorry."

Destiny runs out of the room crying.  But Shaun knows there has to be more to it than that, if Eli was able to twist Greg's life completely around, the way he did.  Greg says there is.  Greg's parents want to know why he told them that Charlene ran away.  Greg says, "Don't you see?  Elijah Clarke wasn't just threatening to tell the truth about Destiny, he was threatening to tell the truth about Charlene, and how she died."
"Well, how did she die?"
"I killed her."

John McBain and Todd enter the warehouse to try to find Starr and Hope, when the roof starts caving in.  Brody chains Eli to a nearby vehicle and everyone runs into the building to aid in the rescue.  Now, Cole and Eli are left alone and they just stare at each other.  Cole sees a satchel marked "Evidence" next to where he is sitting.  He opens it and finds Eli's gun.  He looks at it and then takes the gun and walks toward Eli.  Eli sees him coming toward him, and then sees the gun.

He looks at Cole in horror as Cole shoots Eli in the heart!

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Friday–10/22—"That snake-in-the-grass, Rex Balsom"

Another AWESOME Friday episode.  A secret revealed, some relationships forming, others tested, tears of happiness and tears of sadness, plus a dramatic cliff hanger.  WOW.

Hannah tells Cole she had a dream that Starr and Hope were dead.  She goes on to say the dream was really real.  Cole tells her not to even think about something like that because John McBain is going to find Eli and bring Starr and Hope back home.  Then he is going to fix everything between them and everything is going to be fine.  When Hannah hears that, she knows she has to take her game to the next level.  The wheels are turning in her twisted head.

Outside of Marty's house, Langston, Bobby and James are watching and waiting for Hannah to come out.  Their theory being, she will lead them right to Starr.  But, while they are waiting in the car, Bobby starts to cough up blood and James says they need to take him to the hospital.  They all agree.  Langston says she will drive him in her car and James stays behind.

Marty is also at home with Cole and Hannah.  When she finally reaches Bo by phone and finds out they have found Eli, she and Cole head for the warehouse.  Hannah is left alone and starts talking to herself.  She comes to the conclusion, that when the police find Eli, but not Hope and Starr, then how long will it take before they start looking her way.  Hannah also knows that if Starr is eventually rescued, she will have NO chance with Cole.  She needs to get Starr and Hope out of the way.  Hannah looks at her gun, struggles with a decision, then puts the gun in her purse and leaves.  As she is going to her car, she is confronted by James.  He wants to know what she is doing and she wants to know if he is spying on her.

Bo is at the warehouse directing the operation with the police and SWAT team.  They are going over the blue prints of the building, to locate all of the doors and windows and preparing to make the trade with Eli.

Natalie arrives at the scene and tells Brody she has to talk to John, NOW.  Brody says John is busy—there are three hostages in there.  Natalie says, "Actually, there's four."  Natalie tells Brody all the details about Téa's "death" and that more than likely she is also a hostage.

They argue for several minutes about why Natalie should not get any closer to the scene, just as Marty arrives and overhears their conversation.  Brody is telling Natalie she just doesn't understand how much he cares about her and the baby.  Finally he agrees to tell John about Téa and takes off.

Cole comes up behind Marty and calls her name and Natalie sees them.  When she tells them that Eli is in the warehouse, Cole jumps the barricade and runs toward the scene.  Natalie tries to stop Marty, but now, Marty has ammunition.  She threatens Natalie, that if she doesn't let her into the restricted area, she will start talking about Natalie's involvement with Brody and the baby she is carrying.  Natalie is really taken off guard!!  She doesn't have a choice but to let Marty enter.

Eli unties Dani so he can take her to Todd.  He tells her they are leaving Téa behind.  Eli calls Todd, and McBain takes the phone and tells him, HE is running the show now.  Eli says, yes, it's quite the welcome wagon, but he doesn't see the helicopter he asked for.

John says it is at a heliport a few blocks away and they have a van to take him there, and the ransom is inside.  Eli then reminds John that actually, HE is in charge and will consider the change of plans after he talks to Blair.  He tells Blair the only way she is getting the girls back, is if she gets in the van and goes with him.

Eli brings Dani out and tells Blair that Starr and Hope are inside the warehouse.  If anything doesn't go the way he has planned, he has rigged the warehouse with explosives with a push button detonator that he has in his hand.

Blair gets into the van, but then, decides she doesn't want to fool around with Eli and his demands, so she sneaks out the other side of the van and breaks into the warehouse to try to find Starr and Hope.  Once inside, she calls for Starr.  She hears a muffled voice and then finds Téa!  They break into tears, Blair hugs Téa, and then just starts blubbering about how they had a funeral for her and.....  To say the least, she is thrilled to see Téa.  She hurries to untie her, apparently forgetting what she came in there for, then realizes—where's Starr and Hope?  Téa says they are not there and she doesn't think Eli ever had them.

Clint comes to the Buenos Dias Café and finds Matthew by himself.  Matthew is concerned for Destiny, if it turns out Greg was involved with Eli Clarke.  Clint tells him he thinks Matthew is doing "a hell of a job" at B.E.  Matthew says, "What, copying and filing?"  "Well you're doing more than that.  How about when you caught that snake-in-the-grass, Rex Balsom?"  Matthew wants to know why Clint didn't involve the police, but Clint explains, he has his reasons and also because Bo really likes Rex and Natalie still considers him to be her brother.  When Matthew asks Clint what kind of files Rex was stealing, Clint tells him, "corporate secrets."  "Are you serious?"  "Oh yeah, there is nothing Balsom won't do for money."

At the hospital, Greg tells Shaun he betrayed his family.  He wants to tell the truth, but his parents say they want to talk to him first—ALONE.  They force Shaun and Destiny to leave the room.  Mrs. Evans says that revealing the secret is not going to help anyone except Greg, by easing his conscience.  Both parents refuse to go along with Greg.  Mrs. Evans says, "Over my dead body."

Finally, Shaun and Greg come back into the room and want to know what is going on.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans decide they will be the ones to tell Destiny.  They start out by saying how much they love her and how, that is never going to change; but that they are not her real parents!  She just looks at them and says "I'm adopted?"  She is beyond devastated by this news.  Destiny just keeps saying no, no, no and Shaun jumps all over Greg about keeping the secret that Destiny was adopted.  Mrs. Evans finally says, "We never said she was adopted.  She is our own flesh and blood."  Greg tells Destiny that his parents are her grandparents and that HE is her father.

Back at the warehouse, everything is in place for the exchange.  Blair tells Téa she had better not freak out on her, but that they need to get out of there because Eli has rigged the warehouse with a bomb. They hurry as fast as they can to get out.

At the same time, Eli comes out with Dani, releases her to Todd and jumps into the van.  When he realizes Blair is not in the van, he says, "Fine—if I can't have what I want, you can't have what you want either;" and he detonates the bomb.  The entire warehouse goes up.

Todd is holding Dani who is now screaming.  They all stand there in shock, staring at the inferno.  Todd thinks Starr and Hope are in there and Dani knows Téa IS.

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Thursday–10/21—"It's Show Time."

Todd comes home with a briefcase full of money.  Blair says, NO WAY should Todd give Eli that money.  She says Eli is spinning completely out of control and tells Todd that Eli broke into the hospital and tried to kill Greg Evans.

Blair wants Todd to hold on to half of the cash, otherwise, they don't have any leverage.  She tries to explain that, Eli doesn't want the girls, he just wants the money.

Téa and Dani are tied up together at the warehouse and Eli comes back.  Téa tries to negotiate with him to let Dani go.  With her as his hostage, Todd will pay him any amount of money he asks for.

Natalie and John learn that the bone fragment Natalie got from the ashes in the urn, do not match Téa.  Natalie thinks Eli has Téa and that she is the mysterious patient at Cherryvale Clinic.

The Evans put together a birthday party for Destiny at the Buenos Dias Cafe.  Shaun is afraid to leave Greg, but Dr. Wright says Greg is going to be fine.  Destiny doesn't feel like celebrating or opening her gifts with Greg still in the hospital.  Matthew shows up with a gift and that cheers her up a bit.  Then Shaun comes in with a present and Nate arrives also.  Destiny blows out the candles on her cake.

After the party, Matthew confronts Nate outside about him coming to the party and bringing "the perfect gift."  Nate brought earrings that Dani was planning to give to Destiny.  Matthew is extremely jealous and he gets in Nate's face about Dani and now Destiny.  Darren has to break them up and he tells Matthew to get it together.  Matthew tells Darren to leave him alone.

Dr. Wright is attending Greg when he suddenly starts to lose blood pressure, she has to call a code blue.  Amazingly, she is able to get his heart started again, and Greg starts to wake up.  She wants to call Greg's family, but when he finds out it is Destiny's birthday; he tells her to wait.  First, he needs to talk to the police.

Natalie arrives with an officer, explaining that John is working on something in the field.  She asks him about what he said to her about Téa, and he confirms Téa is alive.

Greg tells Natalie, "Eli had a plan, it involved his brother (Ross) getting custody of Danielle, that was going to make him rich.  I don't know how and I don't know the details.  All I know is, he needed Téa, and he needed her dead, so he forced me to tell her she was dying of a brain tumor."

Natalie asks, "Was she?" and Greg answers, "No."

He gave her the details about taking Tea to St. Kitts; but when Eli wanted him to kill Tea, he couldn't do it so he secreted her out of the hospice and hid her at Cherryvale Clinic.

Natalie asks about the ashes that were sent to Todd and Greg says they were from the morgue.  Greg explains he has been keeping a secret from his family.  Eli found out and used it against him.  He wants his family to know the truth and to make it right with Téa.

Greg thinks Téa is still at Cherryvale Clinic, but Natalie tells him, "Not anymore, she's vanished."  After he tells Natalie everything he knows, he is placed under arrest by the officer.

Eli finally calls Todd and they negotiate.  Eli wants a helicopter to take him anywhere he wants to go.  "Oh, and one more thing, I'll need Blair."
Todd:  "There's no way in hell I'm sending Blair over to you."
"She's my wife and I want her."
"Well, you know, she tried to kill you Clarke, and now you've kidnapped her daughter and her granddaughter.  I'd say it's over, I'd leave her out of it."
"Sorry, that's my condition.  I get Blair, or you lose the women that you love."
"Clarke, you don't want Blair, you just want the money."
"Actually, I want Blair AND the money."
"I'm giving you all of my money; I'm not giving you the mother of my children."
"Then, I guess you don't want those girls back."

Blair:  "I'll be there.  I'll be there Eli.  Just give us the girls."

By the time Natalie gets to Todd's to tell him about Téa; Todd, Blair and John are all on their way to the rendezvous with Eli in the old warehouse district.  Eli tells Téa and Dani, "The gang should be here any minute.  It's show time."  John, Todd and Blair arrive.

Shaun gets the call from Vivian, they have been waiting for; that Greg is awake.  But she tells him there is something else, and he needs to get there right away.  Greg's family rallies around him, but he has to tell Destiny that he was involved with Eli.

He tells her, Eli gave him a choice:  Work with him or he would expose the the truth.  Shaun asks him, "What truth?  What did Eli Clarke have on you?"

Dun, dun, da.....

          

11/22/10—Hopefully, Buster will be fine!

Hello Dear Readers:

Sorry I have not been able to post the OLTL blog over the past couple of days, but I am working on it.  I had a very ill kitty cat, poor little Buster, who had to go to the vet and he had a very scary 24 hours.  Hopefully, we are on the right treatment course (blood tests pending).  I've recuperated from the trauma, now, will pick up where I left off and continue to write about our beloved daytime drama!

I am almost finished with Thursday's episode, so will post that tonight sometime.  Friday's OLTL episode will post on Saturday; at least that's the plan.

Thanks again for your interest.
          

OLTL—Wednesday–10/20—"Echos have a way of repeating themselves."

Mostly story line teasers today and development of stories to come.  Nothing that we didn't already know, but now more people are piecing clues together.

Cole comes over to James' apartment to see if James has any ideas about where Starr might be.  When Cole sees the bullet necklace on the counter, James said he heard Cole wasn't happy about finding the necklace in his apartment.  Cole tells him, the last time he saw the necklace was when Natalie found it outside of Todd's house.  James mentions Hannah's possible involvement in Starr's disappearance and that she might be working WITH Eli, then waits for a reaction.  Cole defends Hannah as a victim of Eli.  James feels much more sure of his hunch about Hannah now, but doesn't say anything to Cole because he would probably confront her and then they might not ever find out what she did with Starr.

Ford goes over to see Hannah and Langston is still there.  Ford tells Hannah, he wants a second chance with her and Langston's eyes almost pop out of her head.  "What?!?!?"  Hannah receives a phone call from Marty and excuses herself to the other room.  Ford quickly tells Langston that he is only playing Hannah to try to get information about Starr and that she should find James and he will tell her everything.

Echo goes over to see Chuckles and is just about to tell him something that she has been wanting to tell him for a very long time, when Viki returns home and tells her to "Get out of my home."  Echo leaves.  Charlie tries to soothe Viki, but she just gets aggravated by how naive she thinks Charlie is being.  Charlie is still trying to convince Viki that what happened with him and Echo was a very long time ago.  Viki says, yes but, "Echos have a way of repeating themselves."

Rex snaps a photo of the heart necklace he found in the box in Echo's hotel room.  He barely gets out of the room without too much suspicion from Echo, by pretending he was delivering clean towels to the wrong room.  After he leaves, she rushes to the box to make sure the necklace is still there.  She takes it out and puts it around her neck.  So, there is obviously a connection.  She is either Rex's mother or she knew his father.  We'll find out soon enough.

Rex returns to the Buenos Dias Cafe and shows Gigi the photo of the necklace.  Then, he tells her he is on his way back to New Mexico with a photo of Echo to see if anyone recognizes her.

Bobby Ford comes back to his apartment and tells James and Langston what he observed about Hannah.  One very significant fact was, when Cole came back to Marty's, Hannah did not ask him if he had any news on Starr.  James immediately says, "Because she already knew!"

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Tuesday–10/19—Echo DiSavoy has a secret

Since we're coming to the close of a major storyline soon, it's time to start an new one.  This one will be centered around Echo DiSavoy, if you haven't already figured that out.

Rex has been hired by Viki Banks to find out why Echo DiSavoy is back in town.  He has learned that after the murder trial, where she faked her death, her plea deal with the Llanview district attorney stipulated she was to leave Llanview and not return.  However, Rex found out she was stopped for a speeding violation in Llanview about a year after she left.  He is trying to figure out why she came back to Llanview at that time.  He wants to talk with Clint Buchanan since he was involved with her.

Clint comes into the Buenos Dias Café and Rex approaches him.  He tells Clint what he knows and asks Clint what he might know about why Echo came back to Llanview after the trial.  Clint says, "Who wants to know?"  Rex tells Clint that Viki has hired him, but Clint says he already knows; and that he has his own people keeping an eye on the situation, so, Echo is really the least of his worries at the moment.

Viki stops by La Boulaíe to see how Dorian is holding up considering the situation with Starr and Hope.  They get into a discussion about Echo and Dorian warns her about Echo getting in between her and "Chuckles."  Viki says there is absolutely nothing that she can do or say that will cause that to happen.  [Always a bad sign when the writers drop clues like that into the dialogue.]  Dorian tells Viki she will take her side against Echo.

Charlie and Brody have a discussion about Ford in relation to Jessica and he begs Brody not to be a hero.  He explains to Brody, that is how he lost his son Jared because he just didn't anticipate the danger of the situation and then got himself shot and killed (by Mitch Lawrence).

Christian wants to see Gigi's latest sketch and asks about the heart pendant that she has drawn.  She explains it is related to the trip that she and Rex took to New Mexico when Rex was trying to find his birth mother.

Bobby and James talk about Hannah.  James tries desperately to get Bobby to help him find out how Hannah might be connected to Starr's disappearance.  So far, he has done a very good job of putting the pieces together, but he is convinced there is more that Hannah knows, but that he will never be able to get out of her, so he solicits Bobby's help.  Even though Bobby thinks James' theory is too crazy, even for Hannah, he agrees to help.

Hannah finds the baseball Starr tossed through the window.  Duh.  Then after a lengthy discussion regarding lack of trust and what to do next, Hannah decides she is going to take Hope with her.  Starr begs and pleads and finally convinces her that she can't just show up at Marty's with Hope.  Hannah tells Starr she has to do some more thinking about what she is going to do next, then leaves the attic.  When she returns to Marty's, Bobby Ford shows up.

Echo skips out on her bill at the Minute Man Motel where she was staying and gets a room at Roxy's Angel Square Hotel.  She finagles her way out of the deposit by offering to take photos for Foxy Roxy's to help promote the business.  Roxy is completely unaware that she has been duped and is thrilled to have an internationally famous photographer offer to take photos for her.  During their conversation, Roxy learns that Echo was involved with Charlie Banks in Atlantic City.  Roxy brings up his son Jared and that he is dead.  Echo never knew Charlie had a son.

Roxy goes over to the Buenos Dias while Rex is still there, and he finds out Echo has taken a room at the Angel Square Hotel.  He asks Roxy if she knows whether Echo is in her room right now, and Roxy says she thinks she went out.  Rex hustles over there pronto and lets himself into her room.  He does a quick search of the room and discovers a decorative box that Echo stored in one of the bottom drawers of the dresser.  When Rex opens the box, he finds half of the heart pendant that the jewelry artist in New Mexico had told him belonged to his birth mother.

Echo shows up at Llanfair and tells Chuckles she is sorry to hear about his son; and that now she knows he will understand.  She says she has something she needs to tell him.

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Monday–10/18—"I was nice to him, right?"

As we saw in one of Friday's cliff hangers, Dani pries the lock off of the door to the room where she thinks Starr is being held.  But when she opens the door, she finds Téa tied up.  Dani is shocked beyond belief when she sees her mother.  She rushes to her and just keeps screaming, "You're not dead.  Oh my God.  Oh my God.  Is it really you?" 

Téa:  "It's really me.  It's really me, and I'm never leaving you again."  They cry and cry and cling to each other.  Dani tells Téa everything that has happened:  They had a funeral for her, Todd is a mess and Eli killed Ross.  [They should have been ripping those ropes off a lot faster and burning some rubber out of there, but it IS a soap opera.  So they talk about lavender bubble baths, as though they had all the time in the world.  la, la, la. Uh-oh.]

Clint brings two thugs, Black and Blue, to Ford's apartment and has them beat up Ford.  Clint turns his back on the brutality.  He sits down at the bar, makes a sandwich and helps himself to a beer.  [Clint is turning into a monster in front of our eyes.]

Ford wants to know "Why?" and Clint tells him it's about his daughter, Jessica.  As Clint is leaving he explains to Ford, he can still keep his job at L.U. as long as he stays away from Jessica and her baby, because Jessica is going to marry Brody and live happily ever after.  Clint calls Ford a mongrel and "You know what I do with mongrels?  I have them fixed."

Jessica and Brody are at the hospital for a follow up appointment with Dr. Wright, and to do a paternity test.  Jessica convinces Brody it is best to just do it so it won't eat them up.  Then, regardless of how the test comes out, they will raise the baby and then have more babies, until they have a house full of kids.  Brody was happy about that idea.

Starr decides to make another attempt at reaching the window, but she is just too short. She finally comes up with an idea, and writes a message on a baseball asking for help.  She throws the ball through the window, hoping someone outside will find it. [More than likely, Hannah will be the one to find it! After all, this IS a soap opera.]

Even though Greg is still unconscious, Eli reiterates to him the details of their original agreement and what Greg was supposed to do, but didn't.  "You broke your promise and now, you're going to have to pay."

Eli explains that once you are involved with one of his "plans" you have to follow through or else, because after all, look at the results.  "I'm alive, Tea is right back where she started, and you, my friend, well, this is the end of the line for you."  Greg injects poison into Greg's IV drip.

He is about to leave, when Shaun returns to check on Greg. Eli hits Shaun over the head and runs out of the room.  Shaun regains his balance, staggers down the hall and tells Brody, Eli was in Greg's room, standing over his bed, dressed in scrubs.  Brody calls for back up, but Eli is long gone.

Nate shows up at Todd's and apologizes for getting involved in hiding Dani.  Todd doesn't accept the apology, saying it was selfish; but says he would have done the same thing.  Nate talks too much, and Todd eventually shows him the door.  Todd turns around and looks at Téa's urn and says, "I was nice to him, right?  What a Moran."  LOL

When James sees his bullet necklace fall out of Hannah's purse, he demands to know where she got it. She tells him that Cole found it in his apartment and thinks Starr probably lost it in a struggle with Eli. James still wants to know HOW did Hannah wound up with it. She says Cole threw it away and she fished it out of the trash.

James discusses Hannah with Bobby and tells him the story about the bullet necklace. He asks if he thinks there is any possibility that Hannah could be involved in Starr's disappearance. Nate comes over to tell James about the ransom call and tells him there was something weird about the call. Eli refused to let Todd talk to Starr. James is thinking about what Hannah said.

Eli returns to the warehouse just in time to stop Tea and Dani from leaving.

No one at the hospital knows Greg has been poisoned!

Dun, dun, da.....
         

OLTL—Friday–10/15—"I'll be back."

Today's episode had several major cliff hangers, and A LOT of details leading up to them.  I hated to leave out any of the good stuff, so I had to pick and choose.  I couldn't cover the minor interactions like Langston/Markko, Langston/James, Cole/Marty and maybe others I forgot.  But, here we go...

After searching around in the attic, Starr finds a baseball bat and is preparing to bust her way out, when Hannah Bananas opens the door.  With the bat in her hand, Starr tells Hannah she is going to grab Hope and then they are leaving, but Hannah says, "I don't think so," and points a gun at her.

Starr wants to know where she got a gun and Hannah says that her father has lots of guns in the basement.  As it turns out, they are in the attic of her parent's house.  The parents are in Europe, ignoring her as usual, and they won't be back for quite some time.  She is determined not to be ignored anymore.

Hannah has it all figured out, that if she gets rid of Starr and Hope, Cole will eventually get over them and she will be there for him—to hold his hand, offer a shoulder to cry on and in the end, a warm bed.

Starr tells her she is out of her mind if she believes that, and tries to reason with her.  She reminds her, that probably everyone in her family is looking for her right now.  Hannah tells her, "Oh yeah, they are, but everyone thinks you're with Eli.  There's quite a manhunt on for him, but, no one is looking for me."

She explains that even if they do find Eli and she and Hope are not with him, everyone will assume he got rid of them.  She tells Starr that when she ran away with James, they should have just kept running and everyone would have been a lot happier.  Why couldn't she just admit that she wants James?  Starr says because she loves Cole.  Hannah says, "Oh yeah, how can you say you love Cole, when you are wearing this around your neck?" She grabs James' bullet necklace and pulls it off of Starr's neck.  [The longer Hannah talks, the more she is starting to act and sound exactly like Allison Perkins!  LOL]

Hannah tells Starr she is leaving her there.  Starr asks, "For how long?"  She replies, "Until Cole falls in love with me."  Then she leaves.  When she returns to Marty's, she literally runs into James who had come by to see Cole, but talked with Langston and Markko instead.  Hannah drops her purse and James' bullet necklace falls out.  He just glares at her and says, "Where did you get this?"

After Dani's outburst when she yelled, "Starr, Starr," Eli ties her up, then goes into Téa's room.  Téa rushes towards Eli and says, "I just heard Daniella.  She must be right on the other side of that door."
Eli says, "I didn't hear anything."
"I'm sure of it.  I'm sure of it.  She was calling out for Starr—like she thought Starr was in trouble."

Téa wants to know where she is and why she is there.  Eli says, well, he couldn't exactly take her home.  She doesn't understand what is going on.  Greg says, "Actually Téa, you've missed quite a lot."

Téa runs down the whole timeline to Eli, as she remembers it (I was here, then I was there, etc.) and that Greg wouldn't let her use the phone.
"Why wouldn't they let me use the phone?"
"Because Greg didn't do what he was suppose to do."
"What was Greg supposed to do?"
"Kill you."
"I don't understand.  Why are you saying that Greg, my own doctor, was supposed to kill me?"
"Because, that was the plan."
"The plan?"
"From the very first day, when you collapsed in court."
"When you took me to the hospital."
"Greg insisted on running the tests again, which I knew he would.  But then we had a little talk." Greg was forced to give Tea the diagnosis that Eli told him to give to her.

Téa still doesn't understand what Eli is talking about and what he meant when he said Greg was supposed to kill her.  She tells Eli that none of that matters, she just needs to see her daughter and she needs to use a phone because her family thinks she is dying and she needs to get to Dani and her family.

Eli just keeps staring at her with a smile on his face, like it is just so funny to him.  Then, he tells her, "Sorry, Téa.  I'm afraid you're not going anywhere."
"Why not?"
"Because, you're a dead woman."
"But I'm not dead, I'm alive."
"Téa, I thought you were smarter than that.  You don't get it.  There WAS no brain tumor.  You were never sick at all!!"

Téa wants to know why Greg would go along with something like this and Eli tells her it is because Greg has "past sins."
"You blackmailed him."
"I did what I had to do, to get what I want."
"What do you want, Eli?"
"Financial independence.  Your death was supposed to secure that for me.  BUT, everything happens for a reason, and things turned out just fine; because, you may be MORE valuable to me.......alive."

After Natalie gets caught trying to steal Téa's urn, Todd takes it away from her and carries it upstairs.  When he comes back down, Natalie asks John to distract Todd.  She goes upstairs and comes back down just as John is leaving.  They go outside and she tells him she was trying to get some of Téa's DNA.

At the police station, Natalie FINALLY tells John all the details about her hunch, regarding Cherryvale and the mysterious female patient, etc.  John tells Natalie, Todd got a phone call from an unknown number, a couple of days ago, and it sounded like Téa's voice.  He thought he was losing his mind.  Natalie says, "Maybe not."  But Natalie still has a question, "If there was the remotest possibility that Téa was still alive, then why was Greg Evans telling everyone that she was dead?"

Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Destiny are sitting by Greg's bedside.  Mrs. Evans asks Destiny to get her a coffee from the cafeteria.  After she leaves, she tells her husband, "Shaun seems to think, this Clarke person was holding something over Greg."
Mr. E.:  "What do you mean?"
Mrs. E.:  "All I know is that Greg would do anything to protect Shaun and Destiny."
Mr. E.:  "How could Clarke have found out what we did?"

Mrs. Evans feels that if "the secret" is what got Greg into this situation, then maybe it is time to get everything out into the open.  Mr. Evans disagrees, because "Think about what it could do to Shaun."  Mrs. Evans, seeing the possibility that they might lose Greg, thinks that Destiny deserves to know the truth.

Eli tells Téa, "There are only three people who know you are still alive:  "You, me and Greg, and I'm going to take care of that right now."

He ties up Tea and locks her in the room.  On the way out, he tells Dani, "I'll be back, ha, ha, ha.  I always wanted to say that!"  Then he leaves.

The Evans leave Greg's room and go to the hospital's chapel, just as Eli shows up dressed in surgical scrubs with a mask over his mouth.  He pretends to be looking over some records while the guard outside Greg's room receives a phone call and decides to walk away from his post.  [That guard is SO fired!]  Eli goes into Greg's room.

While Eli was in the room with Téa, Dani was able to free her hands from the ropes.  As soon as Eli leaves, she jumps out of the chair pulls off her gag and starts yelling, "Starr, I'm coming."

Téa hears her voice and is overjoyed.  Dani struggles with a crowbar and a hook tool and eventually pries the lock off the door.  She swings open the door and sees her mother gagged and bound!!

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Thursday–10/14—Eli names his price.

Todd and Blair have hi-tech FBI people set up and ready to record incoming calls from Eli; but no one can figure out WHY he hasn't called yet.  Blair thinks that is a very bad sign, but Todd says Eli is only making them sweat.  The longer he waits, the more they'll be willing to pay.

Natalie still hasn't told anyone, what Greg said about Téa.  She starts to tell Nora at the police station and then gets interrupted by Bo.  McBain and Price have found Starr's car abandoned, so Bo asks Natalie to go out to the car and gather all the evidence she can find.

When she gets there, she starts to tell John about Greg, but he gets interrupted by a phone call, and needs to leave.  He asks her what she was going to say, but she says it can wait.  Natalie gets a lot of blood evidence out of the car and one mysterious thread out of the trunk.

FINALLY, after John leaves, Natalie tells Price about Greg and he tells her he thought he had a lead also, and had gone to Cherryvale clinic; but did not see the female patient, because he got a call that Greg was awake, so he left.

Natalie runs down the facts to Price:  "Something is just not right here.  We know that Eli and Greg are in this together somehow.  Eli ends up at the same hospice where Téa died.  Then he tries to kill Greg who, it turns out, is treating a woman at Cherryvale.  Then Eli goes on the run with two girls and a toddler, and they wind up at the same clinic?"

"It's not like he could go to a hospital in Llanview."

"True, but do you really think it's a coincidence that they ended up in
Cherryvale, or do you think there is a connection to the patient Greg was
treating?"

Natalie says they HAVE to check it out.  At the Cherryvale clinic, they find out the female patient "disappeared" last night and then her private nurse quit this morning, taking all the patient's records with her.  Natalie shows the orderly Téa's photo, but he says he doesn't recognize her.

Starr wakes up and she and Hope are locked in a room that looks like someone's attic.  Starr remembers Hannah coming to the Cherryvale clinic, but not how they got to the attic.  [Flashback:  Hannah hit her over the head.]

Dani wakes up in an abandoned warehouse, somewhere in PA.  Téa is locked in a room there also, but neither of them know it.  Eli calls Todd.  Todd wants to talk to Starr.  Now Eli knows Starr didn't make it home yet, so this will help in his negotiations.  Eli demands to talk to Blair.  Blair asks to talk to Starr.  Eli puts Dani on the phone and she blurts out that Starr and Hope got away.

Everybody just looks at each other and Eli loses it.  He tells Dani, "Bad move."  In the next room, Téa is climbing on chairs and tables to try to get to a very high window, but she is too weak and she falls.  Dani hears the noise and wants to know, what was that, and who is in there.

Eli tells her it is Starr.  He orders Dani to tell Blair that she is fine and Starr is fine and everyone is fine.  Todd takes the phone back and Eli names his price:  $50 million.

After Eli's call, the FBI tell Todd and Blair they don't know how Eli did it, BUT, somehow he was able route his call through several international stations in different parts of the world, and also had apparently planted devices locally that would interfere with the signal.  They are not going to be able to trace the call.  Blair goes ballistic.  They tell her the best they can do is try to analyze the background noise and see if that gives them any clues.

Eli screams at Dani for not following the script.  Dani refuses to back down and demands to know about the noise she heard coming the next room.  Eli says, "What noise?  I didn't hear anything."

Dani pleads with Eli to let her see Starr and he just laughs at her and says, "I'm in charge.  Me, that's it."  When he walks away from her, Dani starts yelling "Starr, Starr.  Can you hear me?  I'm okay."  Téa is on her knees praying to God for help, to find her way home. When she hears Dani's voice, she can hardly believe what she is hearing.

Eli goes into Téa's room and she says to him, "Daniella's here, I just heard her voice." Eli just looks at her like — Poor Tea, now I'm going to have to kill you. [Oh, no!]

Starr looks around the attic until she finds a baseball bat and is just about to bust the door down, when Hannah Bananas opens the door and they stare at each other.

Natalie leaves Cherryvale to pursue a hunch she doesn't share with Price.  She shows up at Todd's, saying that her Uncle Bo asked her to pick up something; then she goes directly into the living room.  She is hoping to take Tea's urn without anyone knowing, but for some reason, Todd decides to check on her and catches her in the act.  She is definitely startled by him and then he says, "Hey, what the hell are you doing?!?"

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Wednesday–10/13—"That's French for....."

Bo has a press conference about Eli and the abduction.  All of the Ford boys are at the police station (including Bobby, for some reason).  Cole shows up and picks a fight with James and then punches him. James punches back.  Bo takes Cole into his office, but Cole demands that James be arrested for hiding Dani.  Bo tells Cole, it isn't James' fault, it's Eli's.  He tells Cole to go home and take care of his mother.

Ford sees Brody at the station and asks about Jessica and the baby.  Brody says, "For a guy who says he doesn't care about the baby, you sure do ask a lot of questions, and it's gotta stop."  They have a short conversation and Brody ends it by telling Ford, "That's Jessica's baby and it has nothing to do with you."

Hannah Bananas returns home looking like the cat who ate the canary.  Marty notices she has scratches on her neck and she makes up a story about handing out flyers all night and falling into some bushes.  She has done something with Starr and Hope!!  When Cole arrives at Marty's he is a mess.  He is heart sick over the abduction and frustrated because he doesn't know what to do.  Marty tells him she is going to go talk to Bo.  Hannah sees an opportunity to get close to Cole and starts to tell him something about Starr and Hope.  I doubt if she will confess anything to him, as it would not fit into her plan.

Jessica tells her parents about the baby daddy situation.  Clint goes ballistic and demands to know who the "scum" is.  She reluctantly tells them, and even though Viki and Jessica beg him not to do anything, they both know he is headed straight for Ford.  He finds him at the police station, but, he doesn't say anything about Jessica.  Ford thanks him for getting him reinstated at L.U. and Clint acknowledges the favor and nods, but you can almost see the wheels turning in his head.

Clint chats with Inez.  She thanks him for getting Bobby's job back and Clint says, Bobby already thanked him.  She says she is sure he can do better than that, and will figure out some way to repay him.  Clint says, not to worry, "I'll think of something."

Rex stops by the offices of The Sun to see Kelly.  He says he was worried about her.  They get into a discussion about Echo.  From researching the newspaper's archives, Rex finds out that after Clint's murder trial, Echo had made a deal with the DA that she would not return to Llanview.  But he found a record of a speeding ticket in Llanview only about a year after that.

Rex goes over to Viki's and tells her what he found out.  Viki has no idea why Echo has come to Llanview and/or what she wants.  Rex assures her he will get to the bottom of it.

Echo visits Dorian at La Boulaíe, but Dorian doesn't recognize her.  When she tells her who she is, Dorian says, "Ah yes, Echo DiSavoy, la salope de Llanview.  That's French for slut."  Dorian closes the door on her, but Echo has her foot in the door. She follows Dorian into the living room and proceeds to bring up all of their past history.  She reminds Dorian, that together, they almost put Clint in prison for murder.  Dorian accused Clint of murdering Echo, even though she was really faking her own death.  Dorian tells Echo she is the mayor of Llanview now and has much bigger things to think about at the moment.  Echo explains she is only in town to see her old boyfriend, Chuckles.  They continue going back and forth at each other until Echo pushes just a little too far, and Dorian screams at her to get out.

Langston answers the doorbell and finds Markko.  He has stopped by to see if she is okay and she is very grateful.  He asks her if she will go with him to see Cole and she agrees.  As they are leaving, Ford stops by to check on her also, but says he sees she is in good hands and he leaves.

Bo gets a call from John McBain, and he says, "You found them? You found the girls?"

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Tuesday–10/12—"Eli, you're an Angel"

Today's action was a non-stop, heart-pounding, hold-your-breath, bite your fingernails, tear jerking, and frustrating drama all rolled into one episode; focusing primarily on the abduction of the Manning children, Starr, Hope and Dani by Elijah Clarke.  But to be fair, there were several other very poignant and emotional interactions worth noting.  I'll highlight a few, then get onto the main story.

• Greg tells Natalie that Téa is alive, but she doesn't understand why he is saying that.
• Cole tells Hannah his family will always come first, then leaves her to go back to his apartment.  He accidentally leaves his cell phone behind.
• Natalie tries to interact with Marty, but doesn't realize no one has told her about Starr and Hope
• When Marty learns the news, she rushes to Cole.
• Todd finally returns home, and finds that Blair has been brought there by the police but doesn't know what is going on.
• After he tells her, they have no choice by to console each other.  Blair comforts Todd and reminds him that he is a father that is always there for his children, and they have the greatest kids possible.
• Bo and Matthew have some time together in Bo's office.  Bo is starting to see that Clint has already influenced Matthew's thinking.

Now, onto the big story:  Starr, Hope, Dani, Eli and Téa.

Starr tells Eli she needs to change Hope's diaper and then gets Hope a safe distance away from the car.  Starr can see that Eli is semi-conscious and barely holding onto his gun.  She tries to reach for the gun, but Eli reacts quickly and grabs her arm.  Starr gets away from him and starts to run, but Eli gets out of the car and picks her up, kicking and screaming.  He gets her into the car, but she fights back and gets away.  She grabs Hope and starts running up the stairs.

In the meantime, Téa was gotten herself together, robe and slippers, and starts down the stairs from the 5th floor.  She is very weak and her steps are unsteady, so she is taking it slowly.  She makes it as far as the 3rd floor when she hears, and then sees someone coming up the stairs.  She can't see the person, but it is Starr.  Tea enters the 3rd floor and hides behind the door while Starr passes.  Starr goes to the 5th floor and enters.

Téa continues her escape down the stairs.  Dani is also on the 5th floor looking for medical supplies for Eli.  The orderly stops her once and she tells him she is just leaving, but then slips into the nearest room, which happens to be Téa's, but Téa has already made her way into the stairwell.

Dani gathers up anything she can find and heads out, but encounters the orderly once again.  This time, she explains that her sister needs medical care but doesn't have insurance and she begs him to let her leave before he calls the police.  He agrees and she runs for the stairs.

When Starr reaches the 5th floor, she enters the first room she finds, which again, turns out to be Téa's room.  She looks around for a phone, but doesn't find one, so goes out into the hallway to call for help.  She remembers that Eli has warned her about calling the police, so she calls Cole.  Hannah answers his phone, since he left if behind, and Starr tells Hannah where she is and to tell Cole to come and get them.  She then barricades herself inside Téa's room.  When she hears a knock on the door, she opens it and sees Hannah. Hannah says, "Cole couldn't make it."

Téa makes it to the parking garage, just as Eli opens the door to chase after Starr.  They both look at each other in shock!!

Téa is SO happy to see Eli and starts telling him her whole story about St. Kitts and then Cherryvale, etc. and that Greg has not let her call her family and she's been in bed for longer than she knows.  Eli is delighted to hear that her family doesn't know she is alive and just plays along, as thought her ordeal is a big surprise to him also.  He tells her he is going to take her back to her family and she says, "Oh God, Eli, you're an angel."

The next thing we see is Eli closing the trunk of the car and a corner of Tea's robe is sticking out of the trunk.  Just then, Dani finally returns to the garage and Eli tells her to get in the car.  When she asks about Starr and Hope, he tells her they got away.

I still haven't figured out how Dani got down to the garage without passing Starr on the way unless there were two sets of stairs, but I don't think so—the scene shows everyone going up and down the same stairs marked "Area B."  I went over the videos again, but no clue.

Back in Llanview, John McBain is starting to put some of the pieces together, and after thinking about what Detective Price told him about Greg having a patient in Cherryvale, he thinks that possibly Eli is heading there also.  McBain arrives at the parking garage, just as Eli peels out.

Dun, dun, da.....
          

OLTL—Monday–10/11—"She's visiting us from another planet."

Just my opinion, but the writing seems to be getting A LOT better lately, and the acting is absolutely superb.  This ensemble is in sync!!  If only the same actors could always stay with the story; but alas, they move on to other things.  So, here we go....

On Friday, Shaun was sitting by Greg's side telling him, he is pretty sure something is up with him, but he doesn't know what it is.  He thinks their mother knows though, because of the way she acted when John McBain mentioned Eli might be blackmailing him.

Shaun just keeps talking and talking and finally, Greg starts to open his eyes.  He tries to say something, but Shaun says, "Don't talk."  Greg keeps mumbling, "Téa, Téa."  Destiny comes rushing into the room and Shaun says Greg has been trying to say something, but he can't make it out.

Téa is questioning the nurse more aggressively now, because she senses something is just not right.  When the nurse confirms that, yes, they are in Cherryvale, PA, Téa becomes very agitated and demands to be able to speak to her husband.  The nurse says she will call Dr. Evans again.

When she makes the call, she reaches Detective Price who is now in the parking garage.  He says he has just arrived at the clinic and is on his way upstairs.  When he finds the nurse, she wants to know why he has Dr. Evans' phone and did something happen to him.  Price says that is what they are trying to find out and he shows her a photo of Eli Clarke and asks if she has ever seen him, with or without Dr. Evans.  She says she has never seen him, and that Dr. Evans interacted primarily with his patient.  Price asks to see the patient, but before he sees Téa, he receives a call saying Greg is awake.  He tells the nurse it won't be necessary to disturb the patient.  He thanks her and then leaves.

In the meantime, Téa decides she has waited long enough for Greg.  She wants to see her family.  She doesn't understand why they haven't come to see her since they are so close by and is convinced something is very wrong.  She decides she isn't going to spend another minute there.  She removes her IV and gets out of bed, but she is still weak.  She struggles to stand up and has to get back into bed.

Eli, Starr, Dani and Hope are on the road.  Eli is driving, but is starting to sweat and is on the edge of passing out.  Dani has a close eye on him and when he does pass out, she grabs the wheel.  There are headlights coming toward them.  They just narrowly escape a collision.  Starr convinces Eli to let her drive and also that he needs to see a doctor.  I finally agrees, but says "Not in Llanview.  Drive to the next town."  That town (of course), turns out to be Cherryvale.  They find the clinic.

When they pull into the parking garage, Starr sees Detective Price leaving, but Eli puts the gun on her.  Dani volunteers to seek help for Eli so Starr can stay with Hope.  Starr insists she needs to change Hope's diaper and Eli says okay.  She takes Hope out of the passenger side and tells her to run toward the door.  Eli is fading and Starr sees her chance to grab his gun.

Natalie and Rex are chatting in Viki's kitchen when Viki comes home looking exasperated.  Natalie asks her what is wrong and she says, Echo DiSavoy.  Rex wants to know, "What's an Echo DiSavoy?" LOL

John calls Natalie and asks her to come over to Starr's apartment to collect evidence on a murder and possible abduction, but not to say anything to anyone.  She pretends nothing is wrong, just business as usual, and leaves in a hurry.  Viki has a chance to talk to Rex alone and says she doesn't know what Echo is really up to, but she doesn't trust her.  She is not in the mood for more drama since it has already been a rough year for Charlie—and their marriage barely survived—and Clint lost Nora and then Kim. She just wants some peace for her family. Rex offers to dig up some dirt, but Viki wants to put it out of her mind, and hopes that maybe Echo has already left town.

Clint goes to Rodi's to meet Inez, but runs into Echo instead.  She flirts, but he says he'll pass.  He then enumerates all the things she did in the past to tick him off; number one on the list, that she framed him for her murder.  She says, yes, that wasn't such a nice thing that she did, but much more importantly than all that; they were really a hot couple.

Echo brings up Bo and Nora and tries to antagonize Clint.  He gets up from the table to make a phone call and runs into Rex.  Since Echo already has him riled up, he takes it out on Rex by mentioning Gigi's financial assistance and how it would be a shame for her to lose it, which is what would happen if he says anything to Bo about ANYTHING.  Rex expresses how much he hates being part of Clint's dirty little secret regarding the David Vickers situation, but Clint says, "Get off your high horse, because those charges against Vickers are legit."  Rex says, "Even if that's true, you're the one who dropped the dime on him and you're keeping it all a secret from Bo."

Echo interrupts their conversation and insists on an introduction.  Clint tells Rex, "This is Echo DiSavoy.  She's visiting us from another planet."  Rex inquires how long she'll be staying and she says she hasn't decided yet, but she has taken a room on the other side of town.

Rex returns to Llanfair to tell Viki he just met Echo DiSavoy, and as it turns out, she's sticking around.  Viki ponders that information for half a minute and then says, "You're hired."

Todd and McBain arrive at Starr's apartment and find the blood in the hallway.  John breaks down the door and they go in.  Todd finds the baby sitter shot to death and is visibly sickened.  Todd tells John that if they find out any of that blood is from his girls, he is going to rip Eli's face off with his bare hands and John won't be able to stop him.

McBain pulls out all the stops with road blocks, all points bulletins, etc., but Todd feels like they are not doing enough.  Todd is a wreck and he starts pouring out his emotions to John about children, the responsibility and the heart ache that is always a possibility.  John says, "Believe it or not, Manning, I do get it. ...we're gonna find them."

John needs to get back to the station and Todd wants to go with him, but John says, "No, just let me do my job."  Todd says okay and that he will probably go to Dorian's to be with Blair and the boys.  Then, John tells him, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you're going through this."

Natalie goes back to the lab with the blood samples and finds out from Shaun that Greg is awake.  She hangs around outside Greg's room and when Destiny leaves to find the doctor, she goes into the room to talk to Greg.  When Greg hears Natalie's voice, he says, "Tea is alive."

Dun, dun, da.....
          

Fall TV Season: Newbie Reviews

OK, I watched what I could from the new Fall lineup and I have mixed reviews.  Maybe it was the shows I picked, but some of them are turning out to be the same, tired, old format; so I switched a few.

It seems, even I have a hard time being objective.  The likability of the actors contributes heavily to a show's appeal and success.  A perfect example is Castle. Nathan Fillian is a natural in the role, and with his co-star, they make an exciting pair.

The Event is my favorite new show.  I just hope it holds up.  My favorite returning show, which is an absolutely, must see is The Good Wife—LOVE IT.  So, this is what I have so far:

Newbies		Comments
Hawaii 5-0		Lots of shoot 'em up cowboy stuff. Really hot guys and might be interesting after it gets going. Some scenes looked a bit fake—like back lot and not like real street scenes.  Maybe too much gratuitous violence.  We'll see...  But having a hard time staying interested to the end of the episode.
The Event		I resisted watching this because I didn't want to spend six more years LOST, but I finally watched it, and I am totally hooked.  Modern SciFi.  It has the big special effects action of LOST, the intrigue of The X-Files and the non-stop pursuit of the good guy like The Fugitive.  I was holding my breath most of the time.  No one can be trusted and we don't yet know the difference between the good and bad guys.  I had hoped FlashForward would have all that, but it just turned out to be stupid.  And V is so completely unwatchable, I hope they don't bring it back.  I recommend this!
Chase		Decided not to watch it or review it.
Detroit 1-8-7		Good job, but same old story.  I like Michael Imperioli a lot, but this is the exact same character he played in Life on Mars!  Don't hold your breath for this one, it might not make it.  The hand-held camera and constant closeups make me feel a bit seasick. Watch it while you can.
Blue Bloods		Wow.  I didn't think I would like it this much, but I am a sucker for anything shot on the streets of NYC.  It will fill the void left by Law and Order admirably.  And, who doesn't love Tom Sellak.  The rest of the core cast really shines.  All very likable, very appealing characters in one family unit.  Lots of warm and fuzzy.
The Whole Truth		Not going to watch it.  I don't like any of the actors.
The Defenders		A fun romp with some unusual but attractive characters and the usual, predictable happy ending.  Good if there isn't anything else you want to watch.
Undercovers		Well, it's complicated.  Hot, hot actors, gorgeous clothes, lots of action.  As with a lot of these types of shows, maybe too much violence.  Very much like Hart to Hart was years ago, only more technology.  Whether or not it is that believable, maybe not.  Fun.
Nikita		Nonstop action. Violence, torture, violence against women,  automatic weapons in the subway station.  Everybody gets killed except the good guys. High tech gadgetry that is too ridiculous. Won't be watching it.
Law and Order L.A.		Same as the original L and O, but using crime stories from the West Coast instead.  Good cast, worth watching if you're already a fan.  I think I'm burned out on the genre.
Trump's Apprentice		Of course, I'm watching it. The contestants have been brutal this time; especially the women.  Yikes.  Celebrities will be back second half of season.
Outlaw		Nope.  Is it Jimmy Smit's character and his smug attitude or just very boring writing or both?  Didn't hold my interest at all.
No Ordinary People		Way better than I thought it would be. Thought it would be more "cheesie," but appears to have a story. I think they can stretch it out for awhile, if it is done right. Very watchable.
Outsourced		Got bad reviews before it aired, but it is somewhat funny. The novelty has to wear off soon, though. There are only so many ethnic, stereotypical jokes you can make, before it starts getting tedious and offensive. Good fun while it lasts.