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Date: 29 Aug 1998 15:57:32 -0400
From: pitman@anotherwayout.com (Kent M Pitman)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.soaps.cbs
Subject: Y&R: AWO#108: "Threw and Through"
Message-ID: <sfwiujb36j7.fsf@world.std.com>
INSIDE... * Can Neil finally get through to Victoria?
* Has Alec been thrown out like yesterday's news?
* Should Miguel try to work through his grief over Veronica?
* Will Ryan be thrown that a letter from Phillip comes through?
* Can anyone cut through Nikki and Victor's doublespeak about Neil?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANOTHER WAY OUT, Episode 108, 29-Aug-98 by Kent Pitman (kmp@harlequin.com)
"Threw and Through"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The phone rings at the main house of the Newman ranch. Nick, who is pacing
around in the living room, calls out: "Miguel, can you get that?" But the
phone continues to ring and so he finally answers it. "Hello?" "Oh, good,"
comes the voice of Neil at the other end, amidst some crackles of static. "I
was afraid no one would answer," he adds. "Neil? Is that you? It's not a
very good connection, should I call you back?" Nick asks. The scene cuts to
show Neil standing at a pay phone. "No, listen," Neil says, "I'm looking for
Vikki. Is she around?" "I think she went down to the tack room to talk to
Cole. Do you want me to forward you down to there or take a message?" "Nah,
that's all right. Just tell her I have to get in touch with her right away."
"Sure, I'll tell her," Nick says, hanging up the phone just as Victor enters.
"Who was that?" Victor asks. "Neil Winters, looking for Vikki." Victor
frowns. "I just don't understand that man," he mumbles. "What's to
understand?" Nick asks. "He loves my sister." "Do you know Neil Winters has
resigned from Newman Enterprises?" Victor asks. "Resigned? Why?" "Well, he
didn't say why. He just said it was necessary."
Jim Bradley is home with Ruth all suited up in his new guard uniform and
getting ready to go out. "I don't like this," Ruth says. "What? That I have
a job?" "It's not that," she explains. "I just have this strong feeling
you're walking into something that one day you won't be coming home from."
"Oh, that's ridiculous," he assures her. "I'll be fine." Just then there's a
honking horn outside. "That must be the security chief--he's giving me a ride
in," Jim explains. They kiss quickly and he rushes out the door.
"Dad, what do you think of Neil and Vikki dating?" Nick asks. "Well, I
worry, you know, that maybe he is being a little forward with my daughter,"
Victor admits. "Have you told Vikki that?" "Of course I have." "And?" "She
always wants to know why I think that," Victor says. "And what do you tell
her?" "My, you are full of questions today, aren't you? Well, I used to say
the situation made me uncomfortable." "Uncomfortable? Why? Because he works
with Vikki or because he was black?" "I don't want to talk about it, ok?"
"But why?" "Because I can't say the situation makes me uncomfortable any
more." "Oh, I see. You're finally getting used to it," Nick says with an
understanding nod. "No, m'boy, you do not see. The reason I can no longer
say the situation makes me uncomfortable is that now that Neil no longer works
for us, it would no longer be ambiguous for me to say the situation makes me
uncomfortable. People would know what I meant."
Nikki enters to find Nick and Victor talking. "What are you two talking about
so seriously?" she asks. "Dad was just saying how he'd like to hire Neil
Winters back." "He left Newman Enterprises?" Victor nods. "Mom," Nick says,
"what do YOU think about Vikki and Neil dating?" "Well," says Nikki
thoughtfully, "I guess I can't say the situation makes me terribly
uncomfortable..." Just then, Vikki enters and interrupts them. "There you
are," she blurts out. "Have you seen Miguel?" "He wasn't here to answer the
phone when it rang a minute ago," Nick says. "I think he's down at the
stables cleaning up Veronica's dead body." "Oh, I heard about that on the
news," Vikki says, "Mom, are you ok?" "I'm fine, honey," Nikki assures her.
"But the stables are a mess, so Miguel's putting in a little overtime getting
them cleaned up." "Mother, tell me you didn't really make Miguel clean up
after Dad murdered his girlfriend." "Now see here," Victor chimes in, "it
wasn't murder, it was self-defense." "And anyway," Nikki adds, "I'm sure
whatever plans he had for the evening were cancelled anyway, so it's not like
it's cramping his social life to put in a few hours getting things cleaned up
in time for me to go riding later."
"Hey, look at this," Ryan says to Trisha. "It's a letter from my son." She
hugs him and says, "See, I knew he'd write to you." Ryan rips it open and
reads aloud:
Dear Dad,
I'm sorry I've been so mean about Trisha lately.
I promise I've reformed. It was mean of me and
I now regret it. My friends here at camp have
convinced me she's great. In fact, I've never
had so many friends. It's great. By the way,
they want to know if Trisha could send more
pictures. They also say they're willing to come
over and help her find the top to that bathing suit.
Maybe when I get back we can go fishing, just the
two of us... or you can come along, too, if
you want. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking about you too.
Love, Phillip
Down at the stables, Miguel has a rag and a bottle of spray cleaner and is
scrubbing blood spots from the stable floor. Finally he puts them down and
goes to Veronica, gently pulling the hook from her dress and pulling out a
small bottle of seltzer water from his pocket to pour on the blood-soaked
parts of her dress before the stain sets. Just then, Veronica blinks and
Miguel, startled, drops her head onto the floor. "Ouch!" she says. Then she
looks around worriedly. "Are they gone?" she asks. "Yes, they left me to
clean up the mess," Miguel says. "Veronica, mi amor, you're alive!" "Of
course I'm alive. Do you think Nikki's the only one around here that's smart
enough to wear bulletproof clothing? Why do you think I've been fussing so
much lately about what outfit you wanted me to change into? It had to hide my
vest." "But the blood..." Miguel says. She looks down. "Stage blood. If I
did get shot, I didn't want them to think it didn't work. I never imagined
someone would try to stab me with a hook, but the vest worked just the same."
Miguel doesn't know what to do, so he kisses her passionately.
Just then, the phone rings. "That's probably Neil again." "Neil called?"
Vikki says excitedly. "What did he want?" "I don't know," Nick says, "Answer
it. Maybe you'll find out." She picks up the phone. "Hello?" "Vikki!" says
Neil. "Am I ever glad to hear your voice." "Neil, what's going on? Why is
this connection so bad." "Never mind that. I need a loan." "A loan?" "Just a
short term one." "Sure, how much?" "Eighty thousand dollars," he says in a
matter-of-fact tone. "EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS??" she repeats, not quite so
calmly. "It's just until Monday." "Monday?" "Look, I'll explain everything
when I see you." "Well, Neil I--" "Listen, Vik, I gotta go. I'll be in
touch, ok? I love you." "Neil, I--" she repeats. But he has hung up.
"What was that about eighty thousand dollars?" Nick asks. "Neil says he
needs a short term loan." "How does he plan to pay back such a loan?" Victor
asks. "I don't know. But Neil's a high-powered exec. I'm sure he can manage
it," Victoria says. "Not any more he's not," Victor says. "You fired him?"
Victoria says with alarm. "No, your father did not fire him," Nikki says.
"He just quit," Victor adds. "Quit? Why would he do that?" Victoria asks.
"I think he was trying to force Mom and Dad into admitting why they were
uncomfortable with him and you." Victoria looks quizzically at each of them.
"You're uncomfortable with him?" Victor and Nikki look at each other. "I
can't really say we're uncomfortable..." Victor says. "What your father means
is--" Nikki starts to say. "Never mind, Mother. I know exactly what he means.
I'm going to my room." And she storms out.
As Jim Bradley and the security chief enter a room marked "Security - Do Not
Enter", several other guards snap to attention and salute crisply.
"Everything in order?" asks the chief as his eyes scan the various video
monitors that are watching the building. "Yes, sir!" responds one of the
guards. "Good," responds the commander, who then leaves. The guards remain
at attention. "He's gone," Jim says. "You can relax." "No, sir," says one
of the other guards. "Protocol doesn't permit it, sir," says another. Jim
takes a deep breath and sighs. In a voiceover, we hear him saying "No one
told me this place was going to be so darned formal." He goes to the end of
the line and stands expectantly at attention with the others.
Veronica and Miguel are still kissing. Suddenly, Veronica pushes Miguel back.
"Wait," she says, "I tried to murder your employer--you aren't worried about
that?" Miguel blinks. "Are you kidding? Do you know how many times I've
thought about doing the same thing myself? ESPECIALLY when she asks me to
prepare a party on short notice all the time! I'm just glad you're all right,
my love." "There's just one problem," Veronica says. "What's that?"
"Everyone thinks I'm dead." "That's no problem," Miguel says. "I'll just
tell them I buried you. They will respect my privacy. You can come and live
with me in the servants quarters." "But what about the guards? There are
security people all around, or so I've been told." "Don't worry," Miguel
says. "I don't think there were ever really any here. You notice they didn't
call them to come rescue Nikki when they figured out what was going on. They
probably just said there were security people to scare you." Veronica nods.
"And you don't mind if I stay with you? Or that one day I might still murder
your employer?" Miguel shakes his head. "Mi casa es tu casa," he says with a
smile. "Just don't poison them." "No? Why?" "I have a reputation as a
gourmet chef to uphold," Miguel explains. "Miguel, you're incredible." He
blushes and says, "Now climb aboard." "Aboard? Aboard what?" "Climb into my
arms," he says. "I have to carry you across the threshold to my quarters."
"Oh, Miguel. You're so romantic. I don't know what I ever saw in Joshua."
"I thought it was he who saw in you," Miguels notes. "Wasn't HE the
gynecologist?"
"Poor Miguel," Nikki says, as she looks out the window and sees him carrying
Veronica across the field. Victor follows her gaze out the window. "What do
you mean, poor Miguel? The man is paid quite well." "No, I just mean having
his true love get killed that way. But then, if he were up here answering the
phone when he should be, maybe he wouldn't have time to be falling in love
with murderous tramps and hookers like that Veronica person." "Actually,
Mom," Nick observes, "Veronica was a hookEE. Dad gave her the hook. Dad was
the hookER." "Nicholas Newman!" Nikki says with some alarm. "Don't you EVER
speak that way about your father that way!"
It's later in the day. Vikki is in her room when the phone rings. "Hello?"
"It's Neil," comes the reply. "Neil, where ARE you? At least this is a
better connection. When you called earlier today, you sounded like you were
calling from half way around the world." "I was. I was in Hawaii. But I'm
back now--on the continent I mean. I've taken a Concorde to Connecticut."
"Connecticut? What are you doing THERE? Dad says you quit Newman Enterprises?
Why would you do such a thing?" "I did it for you," Neil says. "People were
uncomfortable with you and me being together on account of we work together."
"Neil, I don't think that's what they were uncomfortable about."
Jim Bradley has been standing for a while with the security guards at
attention. "Is something going to happen?" he asks. "I don't understand the
question, sir," says a female guard. "Why do you keep calling me `sir'?" he
asks. "Because you're a senior officer, sir," she replies. Jim points to his
rank insignia, which apparently indicates this is wrong. "I'm the same rank
as you all," he protests. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" asks one of the
male guards. "You don't need my permission for that," Jim says. "Just
speak." "Well, sir," the man says, "we know what you're up to. You're in
disguise, but we still know." "Disguise? What ARE you talking about?" The
same woman guard speaks again: "You did an excellent job of covering, sir.
But we ran the obligatory fingerprint check and that told us what we need to
know. You're Commander Carl Williams from the Genoa City Police department.
We assume you're here undercover to check us out." "I am who?" Jim/Carl asks,
stunned by the claim. "Commander Carl Williams," she repeats. "Williams.
Williams," he mutters under his breath. "It's a very familiar name, now that
you mention it. My God! My memory is coming back. Uh, if you all will
excuse me, I have a phone call to make."
Victoria and Neil are still on the phone. "Well, it doesn't matter if they're
uncomfortable or not," Neil says to Victoria. "Soon we'll be married and--"
"Married? I haven't said I would marry you. And what's this about money you
need? How are you going to pay me back if you're not employed?" "What makes
you think I'll need to pay you back?" Neil asks. "You said just until
Monday." "Right. Well, on Monday we'll be married." "Monday? Neil, I--"
"It's all set. I'm just checking out the university." "University?" "Yale.
I enrolled our kids in graduate school." "Kids? Graduate school? Neil, we
don't have any kids ... and graduate school is expensive. Is that what you
wanted the eighty thousand dollars for?" "Relax. No. They say we don't have
to pay for the tuition for several months yet. The money's for the house."
"What house? Does this have something to do with Hawaii?" Neil sighs.
"Well, it's probably spoiling the surprise, but I've booked rooms in Hawaii.
I just got back from checking out the hotel. And no, the money has nothing to
do with Hawaii--I put that on my credit card and I'll worry about that next
month after we're married and I have access to your family fortune. But the
eighty thousand they wouldn't let me charge. That's the downpayment on our
house here in L.A." "L.A.?" "Where you're going to be running that office."
"Neil, I canceled that trip months ago. I told you that." "You did? I must
have forgotten. Well, you'll have to uncancel it because that's where I
bought us a house." "But you don't even work for Newman Enterprises."
"Right. And that's the beauty of it. It means I can just pick up and move
whenever you want to move, like here to LA. So here I am. The house is
bought and on Monday we'll be married. The honeymoon suite is booked. And
our kids, all six of them, are enrolled in school. All that remains is for
you to show up and say `I do'." There is silence on the line. "Vikki?
Vikki?" The camera turns back to her room, where the phone is sitting in the
trash can and Vikki is rushing down the hallway. "Mom? Dad?" she calls.
"You were right. Neil's being too forward with me!"
Trisha is with Meg in their living room. "So I don't understand," she says to
Meg. "Why are you home alone? I thought you'd be here with Alec." "We broke
up," Meg admits. "But I thought you liked Alec," Trisha says, confused.
"Yeah, well--I just couldn't deal. Alec wanted to move the relationship to
the next level." "Sex," Trisha says, suddenly understanding. Megan nods.
"But I wasn't ready. And I told him. I said, `I can't move to the next
level. I'm just not ready for that. Not until--'" "--until things move to
the next level," Trisha finishes. "Exactly. Marriage," Megan says, nodding.
"And you don't think he wanted to do that?" Trisha asks. "No, I don't think
so." "You don't think so? You guys didn't talk about it?" Meg sighs. "Talk?
I just couldn't. I sent him home. It time for me to move to the next level."
"So you could get some sleep." "Right," Meg says. "Well, thanks for taking
the time to explain it, Meg. I think you've moved my understanding of the
situation to the next level."
"Ruth!" Carl/Jim says into the phone. "My memory came back. I know who I used
to be. I have a wife and a son in Genoa City!" Ruth is anything but happy.
"That's great for you. But I told you if you took this job you wouldn't be
coming back." "You're not listening," Carl says. "I said I remembered I have
a wife." "So you'll be going back to her and not to me." "Are you kidding?
Who said anything about going back to her? I said I REMEMBER her!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright 1998 Kent M. Pitman. All Rights Reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Another Way Out" takes plotline state at time of publication and shows that
there are interesting places right around the corner. The goal, besides
having some fun with good-natured parody, is to challenge the notion that we
must be mired in certain tired plotlines for months just to have a good time.
There is always another way out...
Archives of this and older episodes of "Another Way Out"
as well as the more serious "morals" that underly them,
can be found at: http://world.std.com/~pitman/awo/index.html
Don't forget to try the "character index" and "ratings index"!