All My Children Recaps: The week of March 18, 1996 on AMC

Michael's case against the school board headed to court. Janet plotted revenge against Brooke and Pierce. Tad and Liza battled for the station manager job.
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All My Children Recaps: The week of March 18, 1996 on AMC
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the week of March 18, 1996
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March 11, 1996
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March 25, 1996

Monday, March 18, 1996

Reluctantly, Julia agreed with Noah and they ran off into the bush. As the police arrived, Matt and Hayley created a diversion to take the eyes of the law off of the escaping fugitives. The police ordered Mateo and Hayley into their squad car and prepared to haul them off to jail. Why? I don't think the Jamaican police need a reason. Erica professed her changed life to Dimitri, but was crushed when Dimmie told her that they would discuss their future together when Erica was released from Betty Ford. Dr. Kinder, who lurked outside the meeting room listening to ever word the pair said, arranged that when Erica left the room she would see Elise Flynn's Cutting Edge gossip piece about Dimitri and Gloria. Erica blew a fuse and ran back to find Dimitri, who was on the phone talking with Gloria. Erica called Gloria ever word in the book---and called her "emaciated" twice. Erica accused Dimitri of having an affair with Gloria and blasted him. Dimitri said that the tabloid report was inaccurate and Erica should know better for believing it. But Erica didn't budge. After Dimitri left, possibly to go back to Pine Valley, Dr. Kinder stepped in to try to push his agenda. Erica told him that she had been such a fool and had probably blown her chances with Dimitri. Apparently Erica's reality check came a little too late. Even as Dr. Kinder told Erica that she needs a man who will treat her right, Erica wanted to go and chase after her husband. It was show time for Pierce's art show. He and Janet arrived together and would eventually leave together, but don't look too far into the word "together." Opal did some prodding into Janet's life, asking her how she and Pierce were doing. Wanting to win Opal over, Janet lied and said that she and Pierce were going to get married. Well the word spread quickly and eventually reached Pierce and Brooke. Brooke was devastated, even if she didn't outwardly show it. Trevor bumped into Janet and didn't wish her ill-will. Instead he was very pleasant, saying he was sorry for accusing Janet of killing Laurel. Pierce and Janet left the show and returned to the cabin where Pierce discussed their future. Pierce decided that he no longer wants to live in the cabin, but rather move into the city. Janet, although slightly uncomfortable with the idea, agreed that moving would give them a new start. But Pierce repeated what he said, that he wants to move to the city, not with Janet. Janet crumbled. She begged Pierce not to leave her, but Pierce insisted that it was the right thing to do because although Janet brought him out of his zombie like living conditions, he can't say that he has the same feelings for Janet as she has for him. He gave her one day's notice, saying that he'll be leaving tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 19, 1996

At the morning breakfast, Kelsey loaded up on blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs until she saw Edmund and Maria kissing and then she scraped everything off her plate back onto the serving platters. Edmund tried to coax Kelsey into chowing down, but she refused. Maria chimed in that she needs to consume extra calories because she's nursing, but even that didn't work. Kelsey explained her non-interest in food by saying that she was getting fat, but finally when Edmund told Kelsey that she was beautiful, she agreed that a morsel of food might not be such a bad idea. Dimitri called from Palm Springs to ask Maria if she could come to Family Week. Maria said that she couldn't leave Sam, but when Edmund and Kelsey assured her that the baby would be looked after, she agreed. Maria's presence could be crucial to Erica's recovery because of the past conflicts between the two---Erica's stealing Maria's prescription pad and lying about the hit and run. Mateo and Hayley were detained by the police for a substantial amount of time. Apparently the police chief ran a background check on Mateo and found out that not only was he from the same town as his "she's not my" sister, but their mothers also shared the same maiden name. Seeing that there was no way out of the lie, Mateo confessed that he was Julia's brother, but that he is trying to talk his sis into returned to the US. The chief said that since he failed he can head back to the mainland and that he will have an officer accompany them to the airport. Fast thinking allowed Mateo to ask the chief if he could stay and have a romantic vacation with Hayley, to which the chief reluctantly agreed. After Matt and Halo left, the chief put a plain clothes officer on tailing duty to watch their every move. The twosome returned to Lila's house and asked if she could help them find Julia and Noah. Corinne stepped in and said that it wasn't safe and that Matt should give up the search. Corinne's advice was interrupted by a "vision" of some danger lurking for everyone. Finally Corinne said that she would lead Matt and Hayley to try to find the runaways, but not until dark. Julia and Noah, meanwhile, were enjoying some romantic moments in the flowers and waters around the island. Somehow they managed to find an old stone fixture and went inside for a night's rest. Pierce returned to the cabin to claim some of his belongings, but Janet wouldn't let him leave with them. She tried to convince him to stay, but it did no good. Adam returned from his trip and paid a surprise visit to Brooke. He bestowed expensive jewels and a dozen long stem roses on his love interest, who seemed preoccupied by the news that Janet and Pierce were supposedly getting married. Adam tried to romance Brooke, but she was not in the mood and eventually the man-swap began. Adam raced to the cabin to see exactly what was behind Janet and Pierce's sudden engagement and Pierce showed up at Brooke's to say hello to the woman he is infatuated with.




Wednesday
March 20, 1996

Janet told Adam that Pierce had left her. Adam warned his one-time wife's sister that if she even thinks of having a breakdown and throwing someone down a well that she'll have to answer to him. Janet swore that she wasn't going to "lose it" again and that she had already placed the blame where it belonged. Adam, who took that to mean that Janet was blaming herself for her fall-out with Pierce, said that Janet was on the right track to starting a new life for herself. But when Adam said that Pierce and Brooke were not an item, Janet couldn't help but chuckle. Pierce, meanwhile, was telling Brooke how he really felt for her. He was interrupted, however, by Phoebe who dropped by to pay a visit to Brooke. Pierce seized the opportunity to ask Pheebs if Janet could stay at the cabin (since Phoebe does own the property) after he moves out. Well Phoebe wanted no part of the murderess. She said that Janet had better get packing. But the Brooke stepped in to remind her aunt how Janet had saved Jamie. She also added that the people of Pine Valley have treated Janet poorly for a long time now and if Janet had returned the same sentiment, she wouldn't have jumped in Willow Lake to save a drowning child. Phoebe finally came around and said that Janet could stay. In fact, Phoebe took a little trip up to the cabin to let Janet know that she could stay. Liza was infuriated when Tad gave an unapproved speech at the end of the Cutting Edge, saying how he apologizes to the Dillon and Delaney families for Laurel's shooting. This turned into a feud for power that eventually was settled by station owner, Mr Chandler. As it turns out, Adam said that the bickering between Liza and Tad has gotten way out of hand and to settle the problem. Liza's job is now up for grabs. Adam issued the challenge that whoever can do a better job ratings-wise will get the job of station manager. Tad and Liza will alternate days as producer of the show and at the end of the cycle whoever had the better ratings gets the job. As an added bonus if Liza wins (since the job is already hers) Tad has to sign a two year contract to host the Cutting Edge with no way to get out of it. The attention finally shifted to Michael's trial. With Trevor as his attorney, person after person was called to the stand to state their viewpoints on why Michael was dismissed from his job. While Michael was on the stand, the opposing counsel got him to admit that he did sign an agreement upon starting his teaching stint that said he must get all material approved or he will be terminated from his duties. Prior to the trial Anita overheard her father, Hector, talking to Enid Nelson on the phone and admitting that the only reason Michael was fired was because he's gay. But it was Palmer who would expose this truth. Saying that he finally realized Michael's homosexuality was what got Laurel killed, Palmer masqueraded as one of Enid and Hector's cohorts, and got the twosome to admit that Mike was fired for his sexual preference. On the stand, Palmer exposed this in open court. But when Hector took the stand and swore on the Bible that he said no such thing, things started to heat up. Now keep in mind that Hector is a religious man and just lied after swearing on the Bible. Anita confronted her father outside the courtroom and asked him how he could do such a thing. In the cliffhanger of the show, Janet had another of her "chat sessions" with Mirror Janet. But when Janet looked into a mirror, the now famous Mirror Janet wasn't looking back at her---Brooke was.

Thursday, March 21, 1996

Things turned out to go every which way but right for Anita. When she asked her father why he lied after swearing on the Bible, he told her to (basically) shut up. He said that she was no longer the little girl he raised and that she is a disgrace to the Santos name. Anita tried to get her mother on her side, but as it usually goes, Isabella was in full agreement with her husband. But things took a major turn when Anita was called to the stand. She told how she overheard her father say the only reason Michael was fired was because of his homosexuality. A teary-eyed Anita broke down and she could barely look her parents in the eye. The jury was given its orders and sent out to deliberate. Outside the courtroom, Anita was hauled away from Hector and when Bobby tried to step in and help his girlfriend out, Hector told Bobby that it would never see Anita again. Pierce asked Stuart if he could rent out a long empty apartment behind the studio. Stuart, who said he isn't prejudice, told Pierce that he could not rent him the apartment in good faith because of Janet. But when Pierce said that he was moving in sans Janet, Stuart quickly switched brushes (he's a painter, so you can't say 'changed his tune'!) and gave Pierce to go ahead. Now for a sense of deja vu. If you're a long time viewer, you'll remember how Janet impersonated Natalie. She became a total look a-like. Nat of course was thrown down a well on the Marick estate. Well when Janet views herself in the mirror and sees Brooke staring back at her, you can kinda get a hint of things to come. Probably unintentional, but this turned out to be one of the most humourous moments on the show in quite some time. Anyway, armed with an old pair of scissors, Janet headed to town to pay Brooke a visit. Janet held on to the shears like they were her life line. Janet went in to Brooke's and began crying about how Pierce had left her and asked Brooke if she knew why Pierce left her. Janet, of course, was trying to get Brooke to say that she had an affair with Pierce. No, Janet wasn't going to stab Brooke with the scissors, she just wanted a little lock of hair. Janet retreated into the bathroom when she realized she was getting too confrontational and she struck gold. Janet quickly extracted a few of Brooke's locks out of her hair brush and her mission was accomplished. Later when she returned to the cabin, Janet pulled out a bottle of "Reddish Blonde" hair dye and said that if Pierce likes Brooke, he'll love her soon-to-be new look. Corinne gave Mateo and Hayley the location of a private beach where the two could have some fun. The two had a romantic time on the beach and if you are wondering if there is any real life romance between Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa, Kathy pointed out to me that Mateo was quite giving with his tongue during all those kissing scenes! Taylor, who had placed a called to Lila earlier, trying to get her to give information about Noah and Julia, paid an announced visit to Lila's little cottage. Now came the spook factor. Corinne prepared some food on the stove which quickly went up in a blaze of fire. Across the island, Noah and Julia's campfire suddenly ignited at the same moment. Corinne obviously knew that something was amiss and got an even stranger look of her face as Mateo and Hayley returned from the beach and were about to walk in and see Taylor!

Friday, March 22, 1996

Kelsey's fantasies of Edmund continued. So much that she did everything short of telling him that she wanted him! Kelsey popped down to check up on Edmund, who was working on Tempo stuff, in her nightgown but was all "gussied" up. Edmund became slightly suspicious, but said nothing. When Edmund told Kelsey that he thought highly of her, Kelsey nearly had a happy fit. But her good mood was ended when Maria called from Denver International in between flights. She was crushed to hear how Edmund loved Maria and how the lovebirds were sick without each other. In the morning when Maria called to tell Edmund that she made it safetly to Palm Springs, Eddie told Maria how he thinks Kelsey might have a crush on him. Maria told Edmund not to say anything to the houseguest for fear that it might tick her off. Tad and Liza's battle for station supremacy began getting ugly. Dixie, Junior and Jamie dropped by to pay Tad a visit and have a bite to eat, but Liza was hardly thrilled. In private Liza told Tad that family and little kiddies are barred from the station from now on. Tad refused, saying that they have a right to be there because they are his kids. And that Junior is Adam's---Liza's boss--kid. Liza wasn't moved. Instead she opted to try to make Tad nervous with references to their night of passion. The next morning, tapes that Tad was reviewing for the Cutting Edge mysteriously disappeared. Tad accused Liza of thievery, but his claims were disproven when a stagehand confessed to taking the tapes to editting. Tad asked the stagehand to get the tapes, but found out that they were already erased. Marian showed up during Tad and Liza's heated argument and knew that they were arguing about more than work. When she had her daughter alone, she asked Liza the big question: You've slept with Tad, haven't you? Mateo walked into the cottage and saw Taylor standing there and quickly pushed Hayley out of the way so Taylor wouldn't see her. When asked why he was there, Matt said that he was there to find Julia. Matt, having to continue his charade of affection for the ex-cop, asked Taylor is she wanted to stay with him in his room, a request Taylor was more than happy to accept. Lila quickly sneaked up to Matt and Hayley's room and got rid of all of Hayley's belongings. Matt slipped aside and tolf Hayley he was sorry about ditching her, but that it had to be done because he wants to find "the gun." Of course he's talking about Louie's gun that Taylor has been carrying around. Again---What would Freud say about Taylor and her gun obsession? Taylor mixed some sedatives into Matt's juice so that she could get a clean getaway from him in the morning. When Matt awoke, he found that Taylor had ditched him. So where is Officer Cannon? She was up in the helicopter searching for Noah and Julia---and she was closing in fast!




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