I’m up to July 08, 1997.
Ugh - Bridget just told Hart that she and Peter are leaving Springfield for good and moving to Minnesota to be with Dylan. I hate this on so many levels - one, where is the reunion buildup with Bridget/Dylan and two, this just feels like a quick way to get rid of Bridget/Peter before Vanessa makes her return because they don’t want to deal with it. Dinah gets Hart to accept it and Bridget/Hart/Dinah/Matt have a tearful goodbye. I can’t believe that was her final episode - what about saying goodbye to Nola and others??
Philip keeps pushing Harley about Mallet and she finally confesses they’re no longer together. Meanwhile, Jenna and Harley have teamed up against Jeffrey in this never-ending saga, and now Philip is finally given something to do on this show and he pairs up with Harley and plays along with the ruse against Jeffrey.
Josh is able to find the doctor that told Annie her baby was dead, well before the ‘fall’. He convinces him to come to the trial, and just as they were having closing arguments, Josh and the doctor barge in and make the announcement. Annie freaks out and pleads with Josh to stop, but he tells her to go to hell, walks over to Reva’s side and hugs her in front of the entire courtroom LOL. The doctor then testifies that the baby was already dead so Reva couldn’t have killed the baby in the fall. Right before though, they finally have Philip arrive for the first time, and Rick/Abby give him an update. He shakes his head and says he had high hopes for Annie. This is a lost opportunity to me, because I really liked how Philip supported Annie throughout her intervention and dry-out at the Bauer cabin. The writers I guess had no interest in following up on that relationship, which is sad. Anyway, Annie demands to take the stand again, but Ross surprises her by turning on her and questioning her true motives, which upsets Annie and she makes a scene. Annie pleads to the jury and goes through Reva’s history, which really is another masterclass acting performance by Watros. I know she wins the Emmy this year, and I’d have to imagine this episode was part of her reel (I’ll have to look that up). Ross then gets Annie to admit the truth, almost like it was a therapy session on the stand. She tells Ross she cared about Blake and he should too, and then she lied for Alan and said he didn’t help her in any of this. The judge then dismisses all charges against Reva. Everyone celebrates and hugs, while Annie slowly and hurtfully walks off the stand alone. Pretty emotional here and you can’t help but feel so bad for Annie. The judge then tells Annie she will be arrested for perjury. As they’re about to arrest her, she screams in pain and collapses. She’s rushed to the hospital and has to go into emergency surgery. Rick and Alan tell her that she had to have a hysterectomy, which means she can no longer have children. She breaks down again. Meanwhile, Josh and Reva are finally having sex at Cross Creek LOL. The next morning, Rusty brings the kids over, which includes the new little actor playing Shane.
Matt learns from Rick that an experimental drug that could have likely helped Vanessa’s disease was being tried in Switzerland (where she is), so Matt wants to go there and see if she’s alive. After a little more digging, Dinah and Matt realize she is likely at the nunnery where Vanessa is. They plan to go find her after Bill’s graduation the next day. Of course Hart can’t go because he’s going to help Peter/Bridget settle in and unpack in Minnesota.
Michelle, Bill and Dahlia finally graduate, in late June, which seems very late LOL:
Dahlia: Another reminder how weird it is that Dahlia/Marcus are together considering their age gap. Tina showed up to celebrate with Dahlia, which was a nice touch, and Griffin offered Tina a receptionist job which she accepted. Frank/Eleni finally show up at the party which seems like an afterthought. Such a lost opportunity there in storyline as Dahlia’s guardian over the last couple years.
Michelle: She had another vision of Maureen congratulating her, which was sweet. And wow, prior to graduation they got Wyatt (AIDS counselor) to attend and mention Lucy. Random, but happy to see him still pop up even after Lucy is gone. Although that leads to a very random scene with Michelle giving a speech about AIDS and how a classmate died from AIDS, but I guess they’re dedicating a new memorial garden to support AIDS patients. Very nice, love the tie-back to Lucy’s story, but very random since Lucy wasn’t there haha. At the party, J finally shows up after being gone for months. Also, Rick doesn’t attend the graduation and there is a throwaway comment that he’s tied up at work and couldn’t make it, which is very lazy/disappointing considering Ed isn’t there already. But they’re playing Spice Girls and En Vogue in the background which screams late 90s and I love it.
Bill: Bill was valedictorian, which shocks me considering everything he went through with Vanessa’s death, fighting with Matt and living at a boarding house. Like Superman, Michael flies Vanessa back to Springfield overnight so she can watch Bill’s speech/graduation from a distance, which is really fun but so corny because she’s wearing no disguise at all other than a large hat, and she’s just walking around for anyone to see her. She watches his speech from the side stage like 20 feet away, where Matt then walks by her to take a picture of Bill LOL. Then the after party, she’s sitting out in public at a table next to the party and watching Matt/Dinah talk. Michael listens to their conversation though and starts to assume they may be in a relationship because they’re talking about their trip to Switzerland tomorrow and how happy they are - UGH. Michael tells Vanessa that Dinah is the lady that Matt has now moved on with and I’m livid - I knew I didn’t like this guy. (Although the actor that plays him is now married to Mariska Hargitay and he aged really well!).
Later, Michelle goes to Point Lester the night of her graduation to find someone that may potentially have Maureen’s heart, which according to Dahlia, is a dangerous part of town. She meets some seedy characters while there, but a younger, very handsome “bad boy” named Jesse seems to take notice of her and tries to help her. Dahlia and Marcus ‘rescue’ her and gets her home before she can get to know the mystery guy more.
The annual Bauer 4th of July BBQ party starts and Meta, Michelle and Rick start prepping everything. Michelle leaves early and randomly finds out where Jesse lives and invites him to the party, but he declines. Abby comes and continues to be very friendly with Rick again. Philip, Harley, Buzz, J, Nola, Reva, Josh and his small ugly sunglasses, Holly and Meg, Fletcher, Blake and the twins, Roger, Lillian and random Amanda show up (random, because she comes alone, uninvited, and Roger doesn’t seem happy to see her). Ross shows up later as a surprise and wants to talk to Blake, where he forgives her and they hug. Later after the party starts, Jesse shows up and Rick isn’t happy and kicks him out. I love seeing Rick play dad and brother to Michelle. So, Michelle runs after Jesse again back to his house and they eventually kiss.
Meanwhile, Annie is chugging vodka behind Alan’s back at the Spaulding mansion because she can’t handle not being with all the happy people at the Bauer’s. But she manages to slip out and show up at the BBQ drunk, while drinking a beer, and Philip catches her before others can. I loved that Philip acknowledges her withdrawal experience last year at the cabin, but sadly drunk Annie doesn’t want to talk about that. She then starts making a spectacle, scares Marah/Shane and Reva grabs her and tells her to GTFO. Watros is yet again doing such a great job in this role. Amanda calls Alan and he rushes over to take her back to the mansion, after she screams at everyone.
Ultimately, Vanessa comes to terms that Matt/Dinah are ‘together’, while Matt/Dinah travel to the nunnery in Switzerland. Matt finds her room and sees pictures of Dinah/Matt/Bill and realizes it’s really Vanessa, but Vanessa/Michael are still in Springfield. The nuns tell them that Vanessa/Michael went away on a trip, so Matt starts to think they’re now together because ‘Tess’ once told him she’s getting closer to her physical therapist. They get to Michael’s room and find an arrest record in his drawer, while Michael calls the nunnery to tell him he has to leave, after having some flashback to him being in trouble. He tells Vanessa he can’t go back to Switzerland with her anymore, but she’s ready to go live alone on another lake and asks him to join her because she trusts him completely. Then, Matt gets information that Michael was fired from his previous job in Chicago because he was charged with murdering a female patient of his! Great Friday July 4th cliffhanger! Matt/Dinah then find a picture of Michael and realize that’s the guy he saw at Bill’s graduation, and Matt realizes he was standing next to Vanessa at the graduation. Dinah/Matt book it back to Springfield to find Vanessa/Michael. This storyline is really capturing my attention, even if parts of it are a bit corny.
That surprises me that Brent/Marian wasn't featured or written about anywhere, as that ate up most of 1995 and was actually good/thrilling (for some). Maybe they were scared bc it was a little taboo for the decade? Hmm - can you send the summary or more context on what Roger did? I just watched 1995 several months ago so I can check my notes or scour my brain if I think about it a bit . My initial memory is that Roger was only involved in that storyline when he framed Marcus for stealing money at the Twin Towers, and then when Marian killed Cutter, Marcus became the suspect. I can't remember Roger being involved in the Marian storyline beyond that off the top of my head.