Thanks To Riley for fillimg in while I’m in sunny Aruba!
Finding out that her mother hired a private investigator to take pictures of her husband and Lola, Summer shows up – guns blazing – to Phyllis’ apartment. The jig is up, Phyllis. “Who told you?”
A living room full of candles welcomes Victoria home from work. Surprise! The kids and Billy all emerge from their hiding spots once the lights are turned on. After special hugs for the kids, Billy hands Victoria some wine to kick-off their night.
Cane, Mattie and Charlie are seated for dinner, all dressed up. What’s the occasion? Well, your mother is being released tomorrow! Oh wait.. there’s something I do have to tell you. I couldn’t sign the divorce papers. Major buzz-kill. Cane is certain he has a plan that will make things right. Mattie and Charlie don’t seem too pleased with the idea.
So Sharon has agreed to close the place down early.. there better be a good explanation for this, Tessa. Will a brand new song do the trick? No doubt. Tessa keeps the objective clear. She needs completely and entirely honest feedback. Devon gave her a second chance and there’s no room for failure. And the acoustics in the restaurant are perfect.
Jack can’t believe his mother’s words. The new collective is an incredible marketing scheme. Still, he works to try to convince her. No explanation is good enough for Dina, “You’ve taken everything your father has created, and turned it on it’s head… you’ve failed him, Jackie.” Jack lashes out upon hearing these words. Dina, you left the family behind and broke everyone’s hearts.. you’re one to talk. As Jack continues, Dina has to sit down, and eventually starts searching for John. Jack takes notice of Dina’s actions and stops to apologize. She stands up, and sobs, holding onto the fireplace for support. Eventually, she is able to make her way to her bed to rest.
This is your night to laugh, relax and kickback, Victoria! Take advantage while you can. Billy’s taking care of the agenda tonight, and that includes dinner. After about a minute of having her attention, Victoria initiates a conversation with regards to learning that her father is seeing a psychiatrist in Vegas. After seeing the look on Billy’s face, she catches herself mid-sentence and decides to put all of that aside and appreciate what Billy and the kids have done for her.
Tessa sits across from Mariah with her guitar, playing her new song.
Phyllis can’t stand the thought of Summer not trusting her judgement. Kyle can not be trusted! That’s all she was trying to prove. Look at it from the other perspective, Summer. Perspective?! “All you have are targets, and collateral damage!” Summer has it all figured out.. this has got to be revenge for sleeping with Billy.
Traci stares at her computer screen in the living room. Jack comes over, curious to see what she’s up to. Not checking E-mails, or work. She’s actually trying to help a friend out with their dilemma, and she is looking to write a novel out of it. Every one of the Abbott’s has new dreams, don’t they? Hopefully everyone has some time for Abby’s opening which is coming up soon. On the topic of family, Jack tells Traci about the argument between him and their mother. Jack’s biggest surprise is how lucid she was. She even called him “Jack” at one point. He shares that this one word caused him to become alert of all the feelings he has bottled up towards her, – things he hadn’t been able to tell her about since childhood. As a result, he ended up bursting out at her, which he totally regrets doing now.
Cane tells the kids that he has decided to take time away from Chancellor, and in addition he is looking to downscale his life. According to Cane, the lifestyle he has built for himself exhausts too much of his energy which deserves to be spent more on the kids, his marriage, and maybe his resources should be spent on something that gives back more. Mattie and Charlie are quick to retaliate. They know full-well all Cane cares about is doing something to impress Lily, and they are not pleased knowing that. Why live your life trying to please others? Mattie explodes. “Don’t you see? Mom doesn’t love you anymore. Let her go!” Mattie can’t take his explanations anymore and steps away from the table.
Neither Vicki, nor Billy can believe how different each other are. Vicki is smiling and laughing, – something Billy hasn’t seen coming from her in a while. Billy seems more together, more relaxed. His justification? Well, things are better between the two of them, and it makes life much easier. And what’s the best way to celebrate? Dessert, served to them by the kids. Perfect planning, Billy.
Summer lays it all out for her mother. Yes, Billy did lead her into believing whatever they had was more than what it truly was, but Summer can admit that she was fully aware of what she was doing, and did it because she knew it would hurt Phyllis. As she begins losing her composure, Summer tells Phyllis she is ashamed of her relationship with Billy, wants to hide and can’t believe her mother can even look at her. Phyllis grabs her and consoles her despite the nature of their conversation. “Listen to me, baby. It’s okay.”
Traci and Jack talk more about Dina. Jack refuses to listen to Traci’s excuses for his mother. Dina is the reason for all of Jack’s poor decisions. According to him, he can create a timeline for all of his wrongdoings from the time she left them. The lack of emotional commitment? All because of Dina, Traci continues to look at the bright side. I mean, look at all the wonderful things Jack has accomplished? Besides, everyone makes mistakes. Why are you bringing this all up now, Jack? What happened? Jack turns red trying to bite his tongue but he can’t contain how is he feeling any longer. “Adulthood was forced on me at 15… and I became Smilin’ Jack Abbott.. Do you know how many things I have to say to that woman!” Before he can say anything he regrets, he decides bursting out at Traci won’t help and regains composure. Traci pleads with him to continue but he storms away, leaving much more to be said.
As Tessa finishes her song, Mariah’s face is blank. Was it that bad? No.. in fact, it was beautiful. They both stand up as Mariah continues to sing Tessa’s praises. Tessa can’t stop hugging Mariah and thanking her for all of her feedback.
Traci sits in front of her computer and thinks back to the conversation she had with Cane in regards to his divorce from Lily. Cane, Lily just wasn’t happy with you. And you kissed Victoria.. twice! She acted on her feelings just as you did. From this, Traci begins typing onto the computer.
Cane and Charlie are left to talk. Of course, all they can talk about is Mattie and her blow-up earlier. She’s got so much going on! School, the divorce, her mother.. and now she feels as though she should be worrying about her father too.
Traci writes about Cane, describing him as an “Aussie man.. a master at re-inventing himself. A man who must un-earth the man he once was. The only chance he has of winning back his one true love.”
Cane provides Charlie with some intel. He’s not giving up.. he can’t possibly do that.
Jack is greeted in his office by 3 Bristol boards highlighting the new ideas for Jabot Collective. After glancing over them, he heads to his desk in an attempt to bury himself in work. A woman quickly interrupts. Before him, a significantly younger version of his mother. Blonde hair, a face clear from any wrinkles. Jack can’t believe who is staring back at him. “Mother?” She approaches him, smiling. “Traci told me you were upset and wanted to talk.” Jack looks at her, troubled.
Saying sorry once isn’t enough to satisfy Summer’s guilt. She sits up now, pulling away from her mother’s embrace to face her, instead grabbing her hands. Giving more insight into why she slept with Billy, Summer explains that she stopped caring about everyone, until Kyle. Despite how sorry she continues to say she is, she begs her mother not to get her revenge by trying to harm her relationship with Kyle. Why are you trying so hard to split us apart? You didn’t want to go away with me to spend time together, it was to hurt me and Kyle. Phyllis takes her turn to explain her decisions. She tells Summer that she doesn’t think Kyle’s intentions are good, and she wanted him to show his cards while Summer wasn’t around. Summer deflects and defends Kyle. Phyllis begins tearing up, becoming more assertive. “I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” Summer stands her ground in saying that these decisions are up to her, and it is not Phyllis’ business to handle. “If you are trying to help me, please don’t.” Summer grabs her purse and leaves Phyllis to sit on the couch alone.
Jack stands up from his desk, walking around to stand closer to his mother. Retelling stories from his childhood about how his father used to create all kinds of stories to excuse her actions, Jack becomes increasingly more agitated. Picture how unimportant Jack felt while his father told him about all of the people his mother was off helping when Jack was the one who needed her most. Jack offers his mother a seat, as he wants to take some time to explain all of his feelings to her. Taking a seat next to her, Jack also offers a more gentler attitude. The most important thing he wants his mother to know is that he never let it go, as his father had advised him to. Her absence was always present, but he could never acknowledge it because he was too busy feeling sorry for his sisters. Forgetting that this woman could not actually be his mother, Jack tells her everything he felt, tears flowing on his end while the woman listened. So Dina, why did you leave?
Billy sits Victoria down and sits down on the coffee table in front of her. “I know we said we were going to take things slow, but sometimes you got to follow your heart..” Inside a Tiffany blue box contains an engagement ring! “Will you marry me?” (Again!)
You already know why I left, Jackie. Dina explains that she was deeply unhappy and felt as though she was alone. You were right Jack, she is selfish! Dissatisfied with her answer, Jack becomes more hostile again. Dina shoots back, “…I’m here because you needed me, not the other way around, darling.” Dina asserts that nothing she is able to say will take away his pain, but she does offer some advice. Focus on what you want, Jackie! What does your heart desire? Don’t follow in your father’s footsteps – look how that turned out. “Jabot doesn’t have to be your’s (dream)… what do you want?” Jack finally awakens from his dream, still seated in his chair.
Cane stands outside of the Abbott’s door.. but decides not to knock.
Mariah and Tessa are seating back at the table now, talking over dinner. A brick comes crashing through the window, a note for Mariah taped onto it. On the note writes “Give up the gossip. You’re ruining people’s lives.”
Victoria isn’t able to give an answer as they’re interrupted by Phyllis banging on the front door. Billy and Vick look at one another, unsure what to do.