Today's show and scenes center around Renee's Charity Ball event.
As Dorian prepares to go to Renee's Charity Ball, she is reluctant to leave Mel by himself though he tries to talk her into not going, but she leaves anyway so that Blair and Kelly do not go unsupervised given the problems between them lately.
Almost everyone in Llanview is at the Ball. Cassie and Andrew meet up and she is touched that he remembers enough about her trip to ask how it went. She tells him about not being able to see her father. The subject switches to Eli and she expresses the same concern about not comfortable with Eli staying under the same roof as River, especially again given the latest fiasco with the motorcycle. but, with the look on Andrew's face, she drops the subject - for now.
Blair on the other hand, escorted by Ian, continues her anger trip and riling up everyone. Bo and Nora meet up with Carlotta and Hank while Jacara and R.J. also make their entrance. Jacara/R.J. make the usual thinly veiled innuendoes about Carlotta and Hank, but they are ignored. After they leave for the bar, Bo/Nora wonder what that was all about since there was more tension than usual between the couples. Carlotta leaves to go powder her nose and Nora promptly follows leaving Hank/Bo to discuss the issue in private while they do the same.
Hank tells Bo about Jacara showing up uninvited at his cabin while he was there fishing, complete with steak fillets and a bottle of wine. Jacara had cleaned up the fish Hank caught and had fish scales all over her and decided to go for a swim in a swimsuit that she was already wearing under her dress. While Jacara took a swim, Carlotta shows up as well complete with steak and a 6-pack of beer. She sees Jacara and was rightfully annoyed although she jumped to the wrong conclusions. As Hank/Carlotta relate their sides of the story, Nora is upset, shocked and surprised at Hank, because Hank is usually faithful. Carlotta tells her she forgives Hank (because she doesn't have a choice), but she can't forgive Jacara. Bo tells Hank not to beat himself up over the incident because it was innocent on his part and Carlotta has forgiven him enough to come to the Ball with him. He tells him to concentrate on Carlotta.
Meantime, Dorian runs into Cassie and asks or rather, tells her, that Addie's Dr called and informed her that she had to be heavily sedated after Cassie and Blair left. It is atrocious of her to do this to Addie. She does not let Cassie get a word in.
Viki meets up with Kevin and asks if he'd seen Dr. Doherty. He suggests she looks downstairs for him. She rushes past Clint with a quick hello, telling him that she has "misplaced" the doctor. As she goes looking for the Dr., Clint looks like a cat that swallowed a canary. Kevin immediately wants to know what happened. He tells his son that he only reminded the Dr. of the hefty endowment the Buchanans contribute to his university. Kevin could not contain himself and congratulates his ol' man on his manipulations.
Dr. Maude gets introduced to Clint and Kevin by Renee. Kevin is surprised that she is Mel's mother. Maude sees Doherty hiding behind the plants and asks who the distinguished looking gentleman is. She leaves and introduces herself to the Dr. She wants to know why he's hiding and he tells her "protecting Llanview U's assets."
In another part of the room, Ian and Kelley are discussing worthy donations to the charity event including a pair of soccer sneakers. Blair sees them and comes bubbling along to promptly snatch Ian away. She asks him to buy her a gift at the event and sees a pair of earrings she'd like. Ian enters his bid. Who should come along, but Téa and Todd. Téa also insists on the earrings, which makes Blair furious and it becomes a bidding rivalry between the couples. Todd gives up saying it's ridiculous. To get back at Blair, Téa tells Todd in open hearing of Blair about how adorable Starr looked before they came to the ball playing dress-up with her mom's jewelry and stuff. Blair is of course not too pleased to hear that and rants and raves, calling Téa names as usual with Téa smiling and looking on calmly. She and Todd walk away.
Meantime, at Mel's room in the hotel, a waiter delivers a bottle of Rum to him, complements of the manager. Mel hesitates, but, then gracefully thanks the waiter. As he contemplates the drink, luckily for him, Cassie arrives to update him on the latest events in the Cramer sisters saga. She tells Mel that Addie insisted Dorian hurt Melinda as a child. Cassie concludes that there might have been some abuse between the sisters. Mel does not think it's sexual, but, he'll pass the profile to an expert he knows to get an opinion. Cassie leaves, but not before Mel gives her the bottle of alcohol to give to Kevin instead.
Back at the Ball, Blair confesses to Ian that she wants revenge against Todd and is pursuing Ian for his money. Ian finds it ironic, since she was berating Téa for the same thing. She argues and justifies her stand that Téa pretends and hides it and yet she's a lawyer, but she (Blair) does not hide her intentions.
On the other side of the room, Clint and Asa get in a bidding rivalry over Dr. Maude's book, who later invites Clint and Viki to dinner. Nora tries to auction off the dog - for a good purpose she says, but Renee won't let her. They discuss Carlotta/Hank problem and almost get in an argument themselves. Nora then leaves in a huff to get some fresh air. As Carlotta and Hank continue to make up, Jacara and R.J. walk by and create even more tension between them. R.J. finally pins Jacara to the question of how she feels about Hank. She tells R.J. about her brother Jason, who was everything to her and was like Hank and she misses him since he died and sees him in Hank.
Cassie returns to the ball and Blair blows up at her over Addie's condition. She tries to explain, but, Dorian butts in and they both have at poor Cassie. Téa takes the opportunity to rile Blair some more, quietly goading and telling her that she needs to save her strength for tomorrow in court because she's going to "level" her. Blair again rises to the occasion yelling and screaming out of control and calling Téa names and threatening her. All this time, Téa is quiet and only tells Blair in a soothing voice to calm down. She finally gets completely out of control and pushes Téa out of the window. Téa falls down while a full ballroom and the people downstairs on the terrace look on in horror.
Back in Mel's room, Maude pays her son a visit and he asks her advice on the Cramer issue. She agrees that Dorian does not fit the profile of a sexually abused child, but there are other forms of abuse that are quite possible and should explain her need to control people and things.
What will Mel, Cassie and Maude uncover in Dorian's past? Will Téa survive
the fall? What will be the consequences for Blair? Will Ian continue to be
played for a fool? For the answers to these questions and more, point your
browsers right here!
Mel admitted to Mary that he wanted a drink, but
he was resisting the urge. Mary was impressed
by Mel's progress and warned him that there was
no turning back. Dorothy came by Mary's room for a visit and could tell that
something was bothering her grandmother. Mary denied this and wanted to know
why Dorothy was really there. Dorothy told her grandmother about her miscarriage
and said that it had been the real reason when Muriel had gone to NY on the day
she died. After Dorothy left, Neil appeared to Mary and assured her that Dorothy
would be fine. Mary was angry at Neil for killing himself with tobacco because she
really needed him now. Mary and Neil danced to an old song as they remembered
how it was after the war. Dorothy came back and found Mary crying and offered her
grandmother comfort. At the auction, Todd attempted to grab Téa before she fell,
but he couldn't and Téa crashed through the window and fell to the terrace leaving
everyone stunned. Todd warned Blair that if Téa was dead, Blair would wish she
was the one who went out the window! As Blair collapsed into hysterics, Dorian
was horrified to learn what had happened. The doctor told Todd that Téa was alive,
but unconscious. Bo tried to question Blair, who insisted she acted in self defense.
When Bo questioned Kelly and Ian, they admitted that they didn't see Téa provoke
Blair and they reluctantly admitted that they heard Blair verbally threaten Téa.
Dorian pleaded with Nora to help Blair and Nora got Bo to allow Dorian to take Blair
home. As she left, Blair kept mumbling to herself that she did nothing wrong. At
the hospital, Viki tried to comfort Todd and she realized that Todd cared about Téa.
Alone with an unconscious Téa, Todd pleaded with her to wake up because Starr,
and maybe even he, needed her. Andrew blamed Todd for Téa's accident and was
extremely hostile with him. Todd stared at Andrew for a moment and then punched
him.
In Llanview, everybody goes to the Palace for a dose of excitement. Just about anything can happen: terrorist bombs, drunks teetering on the roof, fistfights, and cat fights turned tragic. Three people's lives are on a collison course. Todd, Téa and Blair are the talk of the town in the aftermath of the night's bloody climax. Amidst the shattered glass and splattered patè, new alliances are forged and old ones tentatively renewed. What price will be paid we'll know only as time goes by.
The Palace-Kelly and Ian
Ian and Kelly discuss Blair's behavior. Ian tells her that he never believed Max when he warned him about Blair's ferocious streak. Kelly says this is not the real Blair, not the perfect role model Kelly had admired when she first came to town. Ian can believe that Max must have been telling the truth about the unstable side of Blair's personality. Kelly replies that it is the family curse. All the Cramer women have it. She will end up crazy like the rest of them. Ian has something in common with Kelly: as frightened as she is to wound up like Melinda, Ian was frightened of turning into Guy (before he discovered his true parentage). After what Blair did tonight, Kelly is worried she will do something awful, too. Ian offers some comfort, telling her that her imagination is going rampant, the most awful thing she did in public was dump a pitcher of Metropolitans all over Blair at Club Indigo. Kelly fears she is next in line for the looney bin. She needs to go where her crazy relatives can't find her.
Kelly leads Ian up to the roof, a special place where she and Joey used to go when she wanted to avoid the family. They would look at the stars and Joey even named one after her. When she points it out to Ian he explains that the group of stars are the seven daughters of the god, Atlas, who held up the world. Kelly notices there are only six. Ian tells her the seventh is Electra, who is hiding, some say because she is in disgrace for marrying a mortal, but others say, and he agrees with this choice that she is hiding out of grief for the destruction of Troy. That is a sentiment Kelly can understand. She asks if any of the daughters share the same names as her family. Ian laughs and says the Cramer women are not Greek goddesses. No, this is a myth where fate determines one's future. But Kelly is a human being and it is her character which will determine her future. She thanks him for the kind words. He tells her she deserves more: exotic flowers, gifts and jewelry- he has been taken for more by women with far less to offer than Kelly. She counters that he hardly knows her. He says that is somthing he is taking steps to remedy. She has depths to her character she does not even grasp. He kisses her long and lovingly.
Dorian's House- Nora, Blair and Dorian
Dorian tries to downplay Blair's actions, but Nora explains that Blair could be in big trouble, possibly assault charges, if Téa launches a complaint. Bo has to wait until Téa gains consciousness and it is the victim's testimony which will be the deciding factor on whether Blair is arrested. Blair is certain that Todd's wife will not tell Bo the truth and she will lose Starr. She did not mean to hurt Téa, she was only acting in self defense. Nora asks if she did not earlier threaten Téa with a throttling. Blair admits she did, but she didn't mean it. She begins to see how easy she is making it for Todd to have her put away in jail and gain permanent custody of their daughter. What if Téa dies? Nora replies Let's not go there. Dorian believes that it should make a difference that her niece was provoked by Todd's wife, but Nora tells them both that extenuating circumstances only applies to sentencing and not to whether a suspect is arraigned. Blair is really beginning to believe there are iron bars in her future. Nora assures her that she will do all she can with Bo, but Todd will do all he can to bring it to court. Nora leaves and Blair confides to Dorian she keeps seeing Addie's face when she told Cassie about the violence when she and Dorian were children. Blair used to think how could she even be related to Addie. Now without thinking she does the same thing. She knows now what made her mother crazy, she can feel her insanity inside claiming her. Dorian wants to know exactly what her sister said to Blair and Cassie. Blair replies that she said she hurt Dorian, like Blair hurt Téa. Blair is afraid of winding up like Addie. Dorian says she is doing so well, putting her life together after all that has happened to her. It is Cassie's fault for stirring up everything.
Llanview Hospital- Bo, Andrew, Cassie Téa
Todd has just sucker punched the good reverend. He taunts Andrew with his having to turn the other cheek and calls him church man. But when Todd turn away, Andrew surprises him with some of moves of his own, punching him in the stomach. Bo comes in between them. He sends Andrew away and Todd asks if Bo has arrested his lunatic ex wife yet. Bo says he has to ask Téa questions first. It's procedure. Bo wonders if Téa provoked it. Todd sarcastically replies that his wife just couldn't wait to fall through the window and almost kill herself. Bo says that he is going to chalk Todd's uncooperative attitude to his concern for his wife. He hopes Téa pulls through.
Cassie sees Andrew nursing his wound. He tells her he blames Todd for what happened to Téa. Todd is like a demon virus, he puts everyone around him in danger. He is evil. He has worried about Téa since she agreed to marry Todd, but no one understood why. Cassie dabs his wound with her hankerchief, but then pauses and says may be he should do it himself.
Cassie returns after phoning in her story and Andrew says he is sorry he tried to tell her how to do her job. Well Renee did say she wanted a night all Llanview would remember. Shouldn't Cassie be checking up on Blair? Both her mother and cousin are upset with her because of what happened at her visit with Addie and now because she is writing this story. Andrew asks her to step closer. He puts his hands on her face and with his fingers, he rubs her temples. She relaxes and closes her eyes. She forgot how good it feels when he does that. He assures her that Blair would want to see her now, no matter how angry she is. She opens her eyes and agrees that he has helped. Now she needs to ask a favor. Will he come with her to see Blair? He is Blair's minister and she will be on her good behavior. They have a deal He will protect her from Blair and she will protect him from Dorian. It's a mutual defense agreement. Andrew laughingly replies that it is just such a pact that got the U.S. into World War I. She reminds him that he is wasting his time at the hospital. Todd is closely guarding his wife and won't allow Andrew anywhere near Téa.
Meanwhile Todd is trying to get Téa to come out of her coma. He tells her he got into a fight with the Righteous Reverend and that Bo told him that Blair is still walking around. Well, he promised Bo he would put Blair in jail for what she did to his wife. Téa begins to rouse and mutters, no. She asks if everything hurts. He tells her probably, considering all her broken bones. Then he teases her that it serves her right for taking a double flipout the window and into the buffet table. She just ruined the patè. She says, that was not what she thought would happen. Todd says he will put Blair in jail for this. Téa advises Todd to go easy on his ex wife and say it is out of deep concern for the poor demented mother of his child.
Back at Dorian's- Dorian, Blair , Cassie and Andrew
The bell rings and Dorian, as usual, cannot find a maid when she needs one. She is less than happy when she opens the door to find her daughter standing beside her ex son in law. She tells Cassie that it will be her fault if Blair loses Starr. Cassie replies that it is her mother's secrets that are at fault. Andrew quietly reminds Cassie of their pact. He tells Dorian to invite them in. She asks what happened to his lip, but he will not furnish her with any information. He is here with Cassie to see Blair and Dorian certainly can't blame Cassie for something she herself has said is an accident. Blair comes into the hallway and asks how Téa is. Andrew replies tht she is alive and Cassie offers her help if Blair needs it. Blair causes no incidence, just quietly retreats back to the living room. Andrew feels it is time for Cassie to leave. He tells Dorian to feel free to call him. Dorian says the only way he can help is to perfom a miracle and make this all go away.
After they leave, Blair tells Dorian that she has really blown it. She will lose custody. Dorian replies that tommorrow they will reassess and figure out what to do together. It's over for today. Tommorrow, the Cramer Women will prevail over Todd Manning.
Bo and Nora's House- Bo, Nora, Penny and Todd
Nora tells Bo she will trade time with Todd for time with Dorian. He informs her that Téa is still in a coma and then suddenly seems anxious to get her out of the house. He suggests they go out for coffee or maybe just right to bed. He keeps blocking her view and then takes he in his arms and starts dancing. Nora says if it was her acting like this he would call her hormonal. Then she gets a good look at what Bo has already seen- her resumes all over the couch and floor. She wants to kill the dog but Bo holds her back. Nora picks up a wet and mangled resume and sniffles that this could have been her new personal assistant. Bo jokes that the soggy resume indicates the applicant sweats too much under pressure. He kisses her and turns off the light, lowering her onto the couch. They begin to make love when Nora suddenly asks Bo when his nose got so cold and wet. Lights go on and Penny gets the third degree from the Commish. Penny's name is Mud to him. Nora gives him a lecture for his bad behavior. He has destroyed her property, interfered with her life and last but not least, the straw that broke the camel's back, he has put his snout where it does not belong. This is an invasion of privacy. Justifiable homicide if she killed him. But she will take the high road and just throw him out of the house. Nora opens the door to dispose of the pooch and is shocked to see Todd in the doorway.
When she regains her composure she begins to upbraid him for bullying her husband with threats of editorial retaliation against him in his newspaper. Todd says he came to tell them that Téa is awake. Bo replies he will need her statement. Todd tells him he came over to save Bo the trouble. Téa confirmed Blair's story, it was just an accident. Blair is fragile and confused. She does things she doesn't mean to do. Bo says he can't charge Blair without Téa's consent. Todd replies that there has been enough pain tonight and wishes them a good night. After he leaves, Nora asks Bo who is that person inhabiting Todd Manning's body. He was just too reasonable unless he has something else to punish Blair with, like at the custody hearing.
Carlotta's Diner- Carlotta, Andrew and Cassie
Hank has just phoned Carlotta and told her about Téa when Andrew and Cassie walk into the Dinner. Carlotta wants to go to the hospital immediately but Andrew disuades her and shows her his lip. This is what happens when there is a breach of security. Todd is on the warpath and it is best to stay out of his way until tommorrow. Carlotta goes off to get them some food and they comment on what a night it has been . Cassie says thanks for everything. Andrew answers that he just loves spending time with his ex mother in law. She is grateful for the moral support and knows that she gave up that right a long time ago. He says he is still her friend. She admits that she still feels guilty, but misses their friendship. He replies it is not real practical because of Kevin. What will Kevin think of her out half the night with her ex husband.
Andrew call the carriage house to find out how Cassie is doing, but Kevin answers the phone since Cassie is still asleep. Andrew is vague, but says enough for Kevin to know that something happened the night before. Just as Kevin hangs up with Andrew, Cassie comes down the stairs. She tells him about meeting Andrew at the hospital and then how Andrew went with her to Dorian's. Kevin is rather upset that she went with Andrew instead of calling him, but gets over it, asking that the next time that Cassie needs help, she turn to him, not Andrew. Cassie is sorry that she can not say the words "I love you" to Kevin yet, but she's still trying to figure out what love is. When she finally tells him, she wants to feel that the words come from deep inside herself, that she really means them. Kevin is willing to wait, he rushed everything with Lee Ann and look what that left him with, a divorce. Cassie is reluctant to go to Blair's custody hearing with Blair and Dorian being mad at her. Kevin assures her that Dorian and Blair will always love her and that she should go to the hearing to prove that she's willing to fight to help her family stay together.
At the diner, Carlotta gets a call from children's services. Her application was reviewed again after Eli stole Hank's motorcycle and she has still been approved to become Eli's foster mother. He can come to live with her in about a week when the paperwork is done. Cristian is not very happy to hear this news, he doesn't want Carlotta to become Eli's foster mother. Cristian's got some news of his own, he intends to rent Antonio's old apartment, so when Eli moves in, Cristian will be moving out. Carlotta starts to doubt the wisdom of her choice, Cristian and Hank, and even Eli himself, don't seem too happy about it. Andrew helps to boost her confindence and convinces Carlotta that she's doing the right thing.
At Club Indigo, Hank stops by to let Jacara down easy. He likes Jacara very much and at some other time in his life they might have had a relationship, but Hank is very happy with what he has with Carlotta and doesn't want to ruin it. Jacara is disappointed and offers an invitation if he and Carlotta ever break up, but she appears to be willing to back off for now. Besides Carlotta, there's another reason it wouldn't be wise for Hank to see Jacara, R.J. R.J. proves his point when he spots Hank and Jacara holding hands and gets upset. Hank is always poking his nose into R.J.'s business where it doesn't belong and taking everything that is R.J.'s. R.J. warns Hank to stay away from Jacara. Jacara gets a phone call from L.A. and then rushes out of Club Indigo.
Nora is interviewing potential assistants with very little luck. The first applicant's entire vocabulary is the word "Cool", with which she replies to everything. The next applicant is an obsessive organizer who even used to help her previous boss by picking out the clothes he would wear. Next is an applicant who has no sense of humor *at all*. Nora has had it, she crumples up his resume and throws it across the room. Suddenly, Jacara arrives, asking Nora for help. Unusually rude, Nora tells Jacara she needs to make an appointment to see her and asks Jacara to leave. Jacara pleads with Nora for her help.
Nora, Jacara and R.J.
Jacara would like Nora to be her attorney. Nora can think of several reasons not to do it, most important being the fact that Jacara has been chasing Hank, which could hurt Carlotta. Jacara explains she thought Hank and Carlotta had broken up at the time and besides, she and Hank have already worked it out. Jacara wants to make a deal. She's good at sizing people up, if she helps Nora interview the next applicant and get rid of her quickly if she's not suitable, will Nora agree to give Jacara the extra time to speak with her? Nora agrees.
Jacara is hustling the latest applicant out the door. After she leaves, Jacara says she didn't like the woman and Nora agrees. Jacara then asks Nora what she can do to stop someone from bothering her. She gives very few details, but says she hasn't heard from this person in several years and now he's contacted her twice recently. Has this person made any threats, Nora asks. No, but Jacara ended the conversations too quickly to give him a chance. Unless he threatens her, there's really nothing Jacara can do, Nora says. To keep everything confidental, Jacara gives Nora five dollars, she doesn't have a single. Nora tells Jacara to contact her if the situation changes and she'll try to help.
Jacara returns to Club Indigo after her "mysterious mission", as R.J. calls it. Jacara mentions that she thinks they need to hire a bouncer. R.J. doesn't really think it's necessary, but he promises to take care of it. R.J. invites Jacara out to dinner. She accepts.
Max, Al, Frankie, Leslie, Nora, Andrew and Carlotta
Max is with all three children at the diner eating some icecream. They are there to discuss Al's moving in with Gabrielle. Al's had a change of heart, he's decided to stay with Max, Max needs him more right now than Gabrielle does. Max tells Al that it's not his problem to be worrying about Max, Al should enjoy being a kid. Max insists that Al go stay with Gabrielle for a while like he wanted to do. As they are leaving, Nora arrives and joins Carlotta at the counter. She orders an absolutely enormous meal, Andrew comes in and joins her. She's going to be fasting for Yom Kippur the following day, she explains, and she wants to fill up now. She thinks she'll need all the strength she can get to make restitution to people in person. Topping her list are all the uncharitable thoughts she's had about Penny and most important, she's be a pain in the butt to her long-suffering husband, Bo.
Dorian, Blair and Kara Richardson
At Dorian's house, Dorian and Blair are having a meeting with Blair's lawyer, Kara. Kara wants to go into court today and ask for a postponement to let everything cool down. She doesn't forsee any problem since Todd's attorney is "indisposed." What they have to do is put as much distance between themselves and this "incident." The other important thing is when Blair walks into the courtroom, she has to do whatever it takes to keep her emotions under control. Blair agrees. Dorian promises to make sure that Kelly and Cassie will be in the courtroom to support Blair.
Todd, Téa, Andrew and Starr
Todd brings Starr to the hospital to visit Téa, he puts her on the bed so Téa can touch her. Todd asks how she's feeling. "Like your psychotically enraged ex-wife shoved me out a high window." "It was only two stories", Todd replies, making Téa laugh and then wince at the pain laughing causes. Téa thanks him for the roses he sent her, peach is her favorite. Peach is all they had left, Todd tells her, unwilling as usual to accept a thank you. Todd jokes that now she can honestly advertise that she'll go to the mat for her clients. Was this what she planned to happen, this is what she wouldn't tell him about, Todd asks. "Defenestration" wasn't part of her plan. (I had to look it up in the dictionary, I thought she made it up, but there it was - Defenestration: a throwing or being thrown out of a window:-). All she wanted to do was to cause Blair to make a public scene and hurt her chances in the custody hearing, she had no idea it would end with her going out the window. Todd tells her that they were all worried about her last night, he's glad she pulled through..."cause it would be hell to break in a new lawyer." A nurse comes in to kick them out, she told Todd that he couldn't bring Starr in there, but of course he did it anyway. Starr and I will never forget what you did for us, Todd tell Téa, completely serious and sincere for once. "I did this for me, too", she tells him, "I did this for us." He leaves to go give Starr to Judith, who's in the hall.
Todd returns and Téa thanks him for bringing Starr, she just hope the sight of her face didn't upset Starr. Todd says she doesn't look too bad for going through a window, she could have gotten cut a lot worse. We could have had matching scars, Téa jokes. Téa's glad to hear that Todd went to see Bo and asked him not to press charges, it'll help their case. Téa looks over at the clock on the bedside table, the hearing will begin soon. Téa tells Todd all he need to do is to "politely" ask Judge Goldberg for a postponement. Todd refuses, he'll go ahead without her.
Todd intends to represent himself, he feels the case is already won. All he had to do is tell the judge what Blair did last night and he'll get full custody. Téa begs him to change his mind, even offers to get a lawyer she knows in New York to come down later that afternoon, but Todd is determined. Téa is certain that Todd will lose his cool, that Kara will push him until he breaks and he'll lose custody of Starr. Todd refuses to wait, if he does, Blair's lawyers will have plenty of time to find excuses for Blair's behavior. He feels he has to act now, while the image of Téa hurtling through shattered glass is fresh in everyone's minds. Todd walks out, ignoring Téa calling out his name.
Andrew comes by to visit Téa, he's glad to see that she's doing OK. Andrew doesn't look so hot himself, Téa notices his split lip. Andrew explains that he had a run-in with Todd, he blamed Todd for what happened to Téa and Todd decked him. That's why Todd can't do what he's planning to do, Téa worries. The hearing's in a little while, Téa explains, and Todd plans to represent himself. Todd's going to walk in there and blow the whole thing. Not only will he lose Starr, but Téa will lose Starr too. Andrew promises to get the news of what happens at the hearing from Cassie and come back and tell her as soon as he knows anything. Andrew leaves and Téa looks worridly at the clock.
Blair and Max
Max is working out at Serenity Springs when Blair arrives and gets on one of the bikes. Max asks how Blair is doing and seems to be on her side, asking Blair if Téa deserved it. Yes, Blair tells him, Téa was goading her from the minute she got there. Téa and Todd wanted her to go bezerk in front of the whole town because of the custody hearing. Blair swears she will die before she lets them take Starr away from her. Blair asks what Max has decided to do about Al wanting to move in with Gabrielle. Max hasn't decided yet, Al wants to have a meeting with him and the twins to discuss it. Blair doesn't know what she'll do if she loses Starr. Max advises Blair to focus on the fight right now. Blair leaves to go to the custody hearing.
The Courthouse
At the courthouse, Dorian, Blair and Kara are already there. Kara reassures Blair this will only take a minute, they'll ask for a continuance and then go home to plan their stategy. Cassie arrives, she was planning to come even before Dorian called, she tells them. No matter what their other differences are, she does support Blair in this. Blair grasps Cassie's hand and tells her she appreciates that. Next to arrive is Kelly, Dorian is glad to see her, but Blair just glares at her. Kelly goes to sit next to Cassie. Todd comes in, walks by Blair and says, "So sorry your custody suit went out the window, so to speak." The judge enters. Kara asks for a postponement, but Todd objects, he wants this over right away.
Todd explains he plans to represent himself. Kara objects. "Go ahead, knock yourself out, babe", Todd tells her. Todd feels that any further delays will be harmful to his daughter, she may not understand everything, but she feels the strained atmosphere around her. Todd says he has no choice but to represent himself, his lawyer is "all busted up" thanks to the plaintiff. All Blair and her lawyer want to do is delay things long enough that they can come up with something that makes it look like Blair was doing Téa a favor by almost breaking her in half. The judge understands his point, but asks him to reconsider representing himself and further compromising his case. The judge orders him to cease and disist or she will have to look further into his own emotional stability. Todd sits down and shuts up.
Kara again requests a postponement. Todd starts to object, but the judge cuts him off. Her only concern is for Starr and she doesn't see that Starr's best interests will be represented by Todd representing himself. She forbids him to continue without his attorney present. From the back of the courtroom a soft voice is heard, "Mr. Manning's attorney is present and accounted for." Everyone turns to see Téa entering the courtroom, hobbling on one crutch and with her other arm it a sling.
