May 2008 (Sweeps): Week 1

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Previously on Beyond the Horizon, secret plots continued to unfold for many characters in April...

• Crystal (Kerry Butler) and Rebecca (Lindze Letherman) worried for their mother Eleanor's (Catherine Hickland) mental state and her growing connection to Henry Von Stadt (Sebastian Roché).
• Hattie (Kate Collins) visited her not-so-"dead" mother Esther (Kathleen Widdoes) at Shady Glen Sanitarium.
• Jenna (Kari Wuhrer) launched a new plan to sabotage half-brother Thomas (Bobby Steggert) by tampering with his investigation into potential VSI client Lauren Sapphyre's background.
• Dominic (William Shew) begins to regret the choices that have led him to where he is in his life, and tries to detach himself from the various shady dealings he is performing for Leo (Jeff Branson), Henry and Von Stadt International... to no avail.
• Carina (Natalia Livingston) is ready to let go of the past and reclaim her life.
• Wily Esther Wilson switches fellow patient Eleanor's medication with some anti-psychotic pills!
• Evan (Ian Buchanan) arranged for Henry to become Eleanor's legal guardian, furthering Henry's plan for the unsuspecting Eleanor.
• Crystal became alarmed to see boyfriend Rod (Forbes March) becoming too comfortable at his job in the gay bar and using his looks to garner more tips out of the lusty male patronage.
• Eleanor revealed some inner demons in therapy at Shady Glen.
• Julia (Melissa Archer) tried to distance herself from her mother's drama by taking James Baldwin (Alec Musser) on a date to a baseball game.
• Rachel Marks (Sherri Saum) struck a deal with Thomas Baldwin to land office space in the VSI building.
• Thomas found a way to avoid using his father Theodore's (John Ingle) money to hire the private investigator.
• Gunman Ford Collins (David Chisum) beat up Dominic to ensure himself a cut of Dom's illegal VSI drug sales.
• Tiffany (Ambyr Childers) followed her mother Hattie to Shady Glen Sanitarium, where Tiffany discovered her grandmother was not dead after all!
• Detective Nathan Weber (Jason Thompson) was on the scene to investigate when Rachel Marks received another ominous and greusome warning on her bed at home.
• Eleanor is released from Shady Glen Sanitarium into Henry's care, and he moves her into the Von Stadt penthouse.
• Christian (David Evan Smith) lures Rod into taking it all off for the crowd during a provocative karaoke performance at Large Bar.
• Aviva (Christina Chambers) receives another note about who she trusts, and begins to suspect it's in regards to Ramon (Kamar de los Reyes).
• Rolo (Ignacio Serricchio) learned his scholarship had been revoked, and needed some fast cash in order to continue his college education in the Fall.
• Hattie pressured Rolo into spying on Eleanor at the Von Stadt penthouse for money.
• Fiona (Connie Fletcher-Staton) spotted Dominic and Leo together at the gym and wondered how they knew each other.
• Terrence (Walt Willey) and Christian made the difficult decision to suspend Aurora (Jeffrey Carlson) from "Angels in America" because Aurora's drug problem was interfering with production.
• Aurora's dependency on Dominic's VSI drug supply intensified, culminating in an overdose.
• Dominic felt responsible for Aurora's drug use and urged Shawn Marks (Tobias Truvillion) to reach out to Aurora.
• Tiffany introduces herself to her grandmother Esther at Shady Glen Sanitarium, and Esther tells her that she's only locked up in the asylum because she can prove Hattie killed Tiffany's father, Larry Lawless!
• Hattie realized that a vengeful Aviva may be the perfect cover for Hattie's next plot against Eleanor.

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Opening Sequence (UPDATED to include Ilene Kristen as Edina Dawson!)

Watch the Opening Sequence on YouTube!

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Terrence continues fighting his cold, so Christian splits his time between nursing Terrence back to health and starring in Terrence's hit show. The performace of Aurora's replacement in "Angels in America" causes the play to suffer, and a week into the run of the show, bad reviews threaten to shut down the show.

Shawn takes Aurora to the hospital and leaves him on a gurney in the Emergency Room, sneaking away so as not to be seen. Dr. Julia Lawless treats Aurora and ends up saving his life. Unsure of who to notify, and feeling sympathetic to Aurora, Julia finds "Mom" in Aurora's cell phone and calls her, to tell her of Eddie's condition.

At Shady Glen Sanitarium, Tiffany is shaken by her grandmother Esther's claim that her mother killed her father! "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry to have just blurted it out like that," Esther apologized. Esther explained that she's been locked up for years, and everyone she tries to tell about being unfairly institutionalized just chalks her up to being crazy! Esther warns Tiffany that her mother is a menace, and says she did her best to raise Hattie right, but she could tell when Hattie was very young that Hattie was going to be "troubled". Esther tried to convince herself she could help Hattie, that medication or a facility might not be necessary, because Esther wanted more than anything to be able to save her daughter, but all that delusion just gave Hattie the opportunity to turn the tables and lock Esther up so that Hattie could remain free to do her damage. Esther warns Tiffany not to make the same mistake of convincing herself she can help her mother. Tiffany appears confused and conflicted with all the information Esther has given her, and races off. Esther confidently sits back in her folding chair, telling herself "she'll be back..."

Hattie, in dark glasses, has a secret rendezvous with Rolo Valdez on a park bench in Central Park. Rolo finds her a little ridiculous and inquires about why Hattie is behaving like they are into some covert operations. "We are," Hattie informs him. Hattie offers Rolo more money to go through with the next favor she will ask of him. After accepting the envelope of cash, Rolo agrees, and Hattie passes him a bottle of medication. Hattie instructs him to switch the pills out with the regular medication Eleanor is currently taking. Rolo is hesitant, reminding her that Eleanor is his boss at Large Bar, and she's helped him out for several years. Hattie coldly points out that Eleanor hasn't been in any position to help him out lately, especially with his scholarship revoked, so Rolo needs to think about self-preservation right about now. Rolo once again looks at the cash Hattie just gave him and snatches the bottle of unidentified pills, begrudgingly accepting Hattie's directions.

Hattie returns to VSI and asks Leo where Henry has been, and Leo informs her that Henry took the day off to help Eleanor with some personal issues. Hattie is infuriated that her boss didn't even call to tell his assistant that he was taking the day off! Meanwhile, Eleanor returns to her own home to collect some belongings to take back to Henry's penthouse. Henry is at her side as Eleanor starts getting sentimental, realizing how much in the house belonged to Charles. Henry compliments his late employee's taste. Eleanor impulsively decides to get rid of Charles's belongings, purge them, because the memories are too much for her. This decisions seems to alarm Henry, and he urges her not to make such a hasty decision. Henry offers one of his many extra rooms as a storage room. Eleanor can have all Charles's belongings sent there, and when some time has passed, and Eleanor's developed some perspective, Eleanor can go back to them and decide what she wants to keep. Eleanor doesn't want to impose any further than she already has. Henry insists it's no imposition and offers to arrange for some movers to take all Charles's belongings to the penthouse first thing in the morning. Later, at the Von Stadt penthouse, Rolo swaps out Eleanor's medication with the pills from Hattie and narrowly misses getting caught by Leo.

Rebecca stops by Thomas's desk at VSI to wish him a happy 21st birthday! Thomas is shocked she remembered, they didn't even know each other back on Thomas's last birthday, and he's always very low key about his birthday. Rebecca admits she got a gentle reminder after class, from her Professor Baldwin (Thomas's dad, of course). Rebecca notices that Thomas seems particularly happy, and he excitedly tells her that his mother just called and she's coming to New York for a short visit, unfortunately she couldn't make it for the actual birthday, but booked a flight for Friday. Rebecca is excited to meet his mother. Rebecca gifts Thomas with an old ballpoint pen that belonged to her father. Thomas is touched, and noticed it was engraved with the initials "CS" (for Charles Halperin). Rebecca explained it was passed down from her grandfather to her father, and luckily they both had the same initials. Rebecca went on about how her father only used that pen, claimed it was his lucky pen, and he was pretty well respected around VSI it seems, so she hopes it will hold the same luck for Thomas. Thomas is touched, and they share a sweet kiss.

Fiona becomes suspicious of Leo's connection to Dominic and starts snooping at Leo's office. Fiona recalls that her boss, Evan Royale represents the Von Stadts, so if there are any incriminating cases against them, they would be found at the Royale & Klein law offices. Fiona digs at her office, and asks Evan about the Von Stadt file. Fiona mentions Leo wanted her to get some dates from the file for him. Evan mentions the Von Stadt file isn't at this office, but is held elsewhere, and if Leo needs anything, he can contact Evan about it directly. Fiona feels defeated.

Aurora regains consciousness and finds himself on suicide watch at the hospital. Dominic is waiting by Aurora's bedside and apologizes for contributing to where Aurora has ended up. Aurora decides to try to get off the drugs. He doesn't want to keep playing with his own life like this. Dominic is glad to hear it. Aurora asks how he got to the hospital, and Dom assumes Shawn brought him in, since Dominic told Shawn that Aurora could really use him. Aurora is buoyed to know Shawn saved him and wants to see him again to thank him.

Fiona notices a jittery Dominic visited Aurora in the hospital, and Fiona wonders if Dom gave Aurora the drugs. Putting two and two together and connecting Leo to Dominic and Aurora's possible connection, Fiona then wonders if VSI is really a drug trafficking front company!

Theodore orders Jenna and James to be in attendance to celebrate Thomas's 21st birthday, and though initially disinterested, Jenna recognized it as a good opportunity to appear to care for their half-brother in Theodore's eyes. Jenna and James attended Theodore's small dinner at The Redeye, and Jenna became quietly furious the more Theodore praised the man Thomas has grown up to be. Jenna excused herself and bribed a waiter to dump Thomas's free slice of birthday cake on his head when the waiter arrived at the table with it. An accidental twist of the waiter's ankle landed the cake all over Jenna instead! James couldn't help but laugh, and Thomas realized it really must be his birthday if a wish like that had been granted.

Dominic stops by Shawn's office at VSI to thank him for saving Aurora. Shawn tells Dominic that no one can know of Shawn and Aurora's connection, so Dominic must stop visiting him about Aurora. Dom tells Shawn that Aurora needs him, more than Shawn has given him so far, and that Shawn owes it to Aurora to make sure that Aurora is okay.

Crystal confides to her little sister Rebecca that she feels like her life is collapsing around her. Rebecca shares her concerns about Eleanor hiding from her grief by getting wrapped up with Henry. Crystal admits it's not just that. Crystal reveals that she caught her boyfriend shirtless at the gay bar singing Tina Turner's "Private Dancer". Rebecca bursts out in laughter, downplaying the situation and trying to get Crystal to realize she's blowing things out of proportion. Crystal swears she can't shake the feeling that Rod is slipping away from her. Rebecca decides that if Crystal feels he's slipping away, then she needs to stand up and get him back!

Shawn goes back to the hospital and signs in as "Mark" to visit Aurora. Aurora wakes up at Shawn's arrival. Aurora insists he owes Shawn a thanks -- and an apology. Shawn's confused. Aurora claims to be a fraud. All that confidence, all that bravado, all that self-assuredness... it's all part of the show, part of the character. Eddie is lonely, insecure, a little desperate, and hopelessly in love with Shawn. Shawn is surprised and admits he hasn't been deserving of Eddie's love. Eddie reveals that he grew up watching his mother live her life alone, a single mother, Eddie never knew his father, and Eddie always felt that love was revealing a secret side of yourself to that one special person. Eddie feels like Shawn has let him see a side of him that no one else knows. Eddie doesn't understand why Shawn seems so resistant to true happiness. Shawn reveals how challenging it's been as a black man in the corporate world, all he's had to do to get to where he is, how frustrating to know he can do Leo Von Stadt's job better than Leo can. To be openly gay would still have him in the mailroom. Eddie doesn't understand why Shawn wants to be a part of a world he believes doesn't want him. Shawn doesn't understand why he should give up on the career of his dreams, that he's so good at, because of whoever he sleeps with. Eddie sees his point, but still thinks they could find ways to make it work. Eddie doesn't want the drugs to fill the emptiness where Shawn used to be... where Shawn is supposed to be. Eddie wants Shawn. Shawn kisses Eddie, promising they can work it out, but not if Eddie wants to kill himself with drugs.

Eddie is surprised by his next visitor... his mother Edina (Ilene Kristen)!

Next Week on Beyond the Horizon:

• Edina is shocked by the people she meets (and already knows) in New York City.
• Terrence's mystery bruise concerns Christian.
• Eleanor returns to work at The Redeye and Large Bar.
• Carina finds she's still down on her luck.
• Jenna continues tampering with Rachel's work for Thomas.
• Mother's Day impacts everyone.
• Julia has shocking news for a patient.