Park Perine's 1998 Story Outline

[AntiNWO]

A Story Editor is a writer who works on staff along side the Head Writer & Associate Head Writers, writing their own scripts, editing & rewriting breakdown & dialogue scripts.

The following is a story outline written by Parke Perine (story editor) for Port Charles.

PORT CHARLES (#0206 RA)

VTR: TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 1998; AIR: THURSDAY, MAR. 19, 1998

CAST: MATT, CHRIS, BOBBY , GRACE, ALICE, ELLEN, HENCHMAN, KEVIN, LUCY, DR. VAN ZANT (CHEMIST), LARK, JULIE, SCOTT

SETS: ND HOTEL ROOM, ELLEN’S APARTMENT, NURSES’ STATION, LIGHTHOUSE, JULIE/LARK APARTMENT, LAB

U/5’S 7 EXTRAS JEWELER, SIGMUND

TIME: SAME NIGHT; SCENES: 11

(A) Bobby tells Matt that Matt must trade his own life for Ellen’s and Alice’s. Scott shows up ready to take Matt out of the country. Bobby calls with the rendezvous location. Matt sends Grace off with phony information for Scott to keep Grace safe and to keep Scott from interfering as he trades his life for Ellen’s. Matt and Chris make ready to leave for the rendezvous location.

( Lucy apologizes to Kevin. A series of events, initiated when Rex flooded the market with tainted Jacks herbs, threatens to bring an end to Lucy’s company. (note omission)

© Jake postpones his coffee date with Lark, whom he knows as Chloe. Julie takes Lark home so that Lark misses the new coffee time. Lark sneaks off to meet Jake anyway. After a heart-felt moment in the lab, Lark and Jake leave to get coffee.

#0206 - 2: PROLOGUE, [P-A] ND HOTEL ROOM /ELLEN’S APARTMENT- NIGHT (MATT, CHRIS, BOBBY, GRACE/ALICE, ELLEN, HENCHMAN)

Bobby threatens to kill Alice and Ellen if Matt does not agree to meet and trade his life for theirs. Establish Bobby has made an offer to Matt; he will trade Matt’s life for the lives of Alice and Ellen. Chris is obviously very frightened. Grace is as well, but her fear is more for Matt and Ellen than for herself. Matt is all cold business. He makes Bobby call his Henchman, so Matt can hear Bobby tell the Henchman that Alice and Ellen will make it to the rendezvous point alive. Bobby calls. INTERCUT WITH ELLEN’S APARTMENT. The Henchman answers the phone. Alice and Ellen are tied up and clearly very afraid. The Henchman tells Bobby he understands the plan. The Henchman says the words, “Wharfside, right.” (Note to SW: Whar fside is a specific reference that will play later .) END INTERCUT. Matt asks Bobby where this trade is going to take place. Bobby tells Matt he’ll be in touch. Bobby leaves.

#0206 - 3; CUT TO: [P-B] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (KEVIN, LUCY, DR VAN ZANT)

Lucy is determined to save Jacks, but a key employee resigns. Lucy is putting out some nuts or vegetables (little snacks that she is trying to do like her favorite caterer would). She tells Kevin she wants things just right for when Dr. Van Zant, her chief chemist, comes over . Dr . Van Zant, Lucy rhapsodizes, the tireless one who so brilliantly worked up the whole Jacks line. Except for that awful stress pill of Rex’s, Lucy adds. She goes on: If only she had listened to Dr. Van Zant in the first place; he told her to stick with her beauty line and not put those stress pills on the market. She didn’t listen to him then, Lucy says. But she is going to listen this time to what Dr . Van Zant has to say, and together Dr. Van Zant and Lucy are going to start on a brand-new line that will pull

Jacks up from the depths. The doorbell rings and Lucy opens the door to Dr . Van Zant, who hesitantly steps in. Lucy tells him to come right over to her desk, they have so much work to do. Dr . Van Zant stays in the doorway, saying he’s afraid Lucy has misunderstood why he’s here. He sees Lucy’s confusion and adds: I’m here to resign. On Lucy, thunderstruck.

END OF PROLOGUE

#0206 - 4; ACT ONE; [1-A] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (KEVIN, LUCY, DR. VAN ZANT)

Lucy learns why her Chemist is leaving her. Lucy blur ts out that Dr . Van Zant can’t leave Jacks. He’s too impor tant, she won’t let him. Dr. Van Zant says that he’s sor ry, but he frankly doesn’t expect that Jacks can survive. Lucy reminds Dr. Van Zant that she’s still paying his salary, he has nothing to fear. Dr. Van Zant appreciates how good Lucy has been about still making payroll in the middle of all the problems Jacks has been having with the product recall and the class-action lawsuit. But Van Zant can see the writing on the wall, and a rival company has been making him generous offers for quite a while. Lucy guesses that it’s Kather ine Bell. Lucy watches Van Zant, sure she’s r ight. Kather ine Bell wants to steal Dr . Van Zant away to work on Katherine’s “Deception” line. Dr . Van Zant says he’s not at liber ty to say who has been making him offer s. He adds that he’s always turned the offer s down – until now. Lucy sees: The vultures are circling. Dr. Van Zant says he’s really sorry, but he has to look out for himself.

He leaves. Lucy works to regain her balance, looks to Kevin. Can you believe that? What nerve. Lucy refuses to give up. Kevin goes to answer the phone as Lucy continues. She’ll think of something. She’ll start by hiring another chemist, a much more loyal one that won’t desert the ship at the first sign of trouble. Kevin comes back. That was Jacks stock broker. Rumors have

hit Wall Street that Jacks chief chemist is leaving, and the rumor s are dr iving Jacks stock even lower. On Lucy, what else can go wrong?

#0206 - 5; CUT TO: [1-B] NURSES’ STATION - NIGHT (JAKE, LARK, JULIE)

Jake postpones his coffee date with Lark, whom he knows as Chloe. Lark is forced to leave the hospital before then. Lark is

anxiously waiting at the Nurses’ Station, hoping not to be spotted by Julie or anyone else who knows her as Lark. Jake moves in, apologizing to her and calling her Chloe. He’s got an emergency, can they meet a bit later instead of going now for coffee? Lark flir ts that Jake had better be worth the wait. Jake says he’ll try to live up to the challenge and he moves off. Lark is moving off in the other direction when Julie calls out to Lark. Lark makes sure that Jake has cleared before she answer s to ‘Lark’. Julie crosses to Lark and asks if she’s ready to go home. Lark covers that she promised to work another hour. Julie is impressed, Lark is obviously

taking her community service work to heart. But Julie tells Lark they need to go home now; Lark will just have to tell her supervisor that she can’t stay. Julie just has time to drop Lark off at home and get back to cover a double shift. Lark says she’ll take the bus home. Julie tells her no, not after dark. It’s dangerous. Lark petulantly insists that she is not a child; she knows how to take care of herself. Julie counter s that Lark has shown little except childish behavior of late, and cer tainly hasn’t demonstrated her ability to take care of her self. But that doesn’t matter, Julie reminds her, Lark is not allowed to be out unsupervised after work. It’s part of her court-ordered alternative sentencing. Lark chafes at being treated this way, and insists that this isn’t anything the judge would object to, this is work. Julie tells Lark there will be plenty of other days when Lark can add to her community service hours. Lark starts to object again but Julie stops her cold. Julie’s break isn’t long enough for her to stand there arguing with Lark. Because of the court order , Julie has no choice but to chauffeur Lark home. So Lark should just pipe down and come along before Julie remembers what an inconvenience itreally is to baby-sit Lark. Lark glowers, but leaves with Julie anyway.

#0206 - 6; CUT TO: [1-C] ND HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT (MATT, CHRIS, GRACE, SCOTT)

Matt tells Scott what has happened. Scott races off to try and save Alice and Ellen. Chris paces while Matt focuses on the plan he’s working on. Chris demands that they call the police rather than wait for a professional hit man to order them all to their doom. Grace adds that Chris may be right, they might all be in over their heads. After all, Matt is a doctor now, and not at all like Bobby. Matt has been out of that world for a long time. Matt says some things you never forget. Matt reminds Grace that the Marshals, who are the best at keeping people safe, have not done so well with Matt lately. Scott comes in and is surpr ised to see Chris and Grace. Scott thought this whole thing was hush-hush. Does everybody know that Scott is ready to fly Matt out of the country? (note deletion) Matt tells Scott he can’t go, he must wait for Bobby’s call. Bobby’s Henchman is holding Alice and Ellen captive at Ellen’s apartment, and Bobby will kill them if Matt isn’t right here by the phone when Bobby calls. Scott is floored. Ellen? And Alice? Scott wants to tear these guys apart himself. Suddenly he gets an idea. Scott tells Matt that Bobby doesn’t know about him, so Scott doesn’t have to wait. Scott wants to try and get to Alice’s before the Henchman moves Alice and Ellen to the yet-to-be-named rendezvous spot. If Scott can free Ellen and Alice, the whole game changes. Matt reminds Scott that they can not afford to call in the cops at this point. Scott tells Matt that he knows better than to do that. Scott rushes out.

END OF ACT ONE

#0206 - 7; ACT TWO; [2-A] JULIE/LARK APARTMENT/NURSES’ STATION - NIGHT (LARK/JAKE)

Ignoring Julie’s orders, Lark makes plans to meet Jake, and then leaves the house. Julie readies to hurry back to the hospital. She reminds Lark that there is milk and leftover pizza in the fridge. Lark coldly assures Julie that she is old enough to feed herself, too. As Julie heads out, Lark says pointedly that the day has really given her a headache; Lark will likely just go to bed early. As soon as Julie is gone, Lark’s demeanor changes. Lark calls the Nurses’ Station and asks for Jake. INTERCUT WITH NURSES’ STATION. Jake moves to the phone, asks playfully if Chloe decided he wasn’t wor th the wait after all. Lark tells him she had to go back to campus to turn in a paper: You have your emergencies, I have mine, she says. Jake laughs. She continues being charming, and tells Jake that now that they are even, she’ll agree to have coffee with him. Lark says she’s coming back to the hospital anyway. They make arrangements to meet in a half-hour. Lark hangs up, writes a note to tack on her door which says: DO NOT DISTURB. Lark moves up the stairs, smiling slyly as she does.

#0206 - 8; CUT TO: [2-B] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (KEVIN, LUCY)

Lucy insists she’s going to rebuild Jacks with Rex’s money. Lucy learns that there will be far too little money from Rex’s estate to do Jacks any good. Lucy tells Kevin she is going to make Rex pay for what he’s done to Jacks, literally. In fact, Lucy is calling right now to see how much money that the antiques she sold out of Rex’s home brought in. On the phone she barely gets two words out of her mouth. She listens, says a meek thank-you, and hangs up. Lucy tells Kevin the news. The antiques brought a relative pittance compared to what Lucy expected. All Rex’s antiques were knock-offs. Good ones, but still, the money is not going to bail Lucy out. How can she get out of debt like this? Lucy gazes at her emerald engagement ring. She comments that Rex was not at all what he seemed. In fact, the only thing Rex ever gave her of real value was—she gasps. You don’t suppose… Lucy tells Kevin she’s going to have the ring appraised tonight. On Lucy, determined as she dials the phone.

CUT TO: [2-C] ELLEN’S APARTMENT - NIGHT (SCOTT, ALICE, MATT)

Scott tells Matt that Alice is safe, but Scott was too late to rescue Ellen. Scott bursts in. Alice is tied up and gagged, but the Henchman and Ellen are gone. As Scott removes the gag and unties Alice, she tells him how she pleaded with the Henchman to take her, not Ellen. Alice told him Ellen is still recovering from smoke inhalation. Alice tells Scott with horror that the Henchman said they knew how important Ellen was to Matt, so he took Alice’s baby anyway. As Scott dials the phone he tells Alice he knows how she feels. His daughter was kidnapped, too. He promises to do all he can to save Ellen. GO TO MATT. (We still hear Scott, but we stay on Matt.) Matt picks up the phone. Scott says Matt? Matt relaxes a bit, telling Scott he was expecting Bobby. Scott says Alice is safe, but that scumbag took Ellen before I got here. Matt is silent. Scott says hello? Matt thanks Scott for trying but says he now knows what he has to do. On Matt, grim, knowing a showdown with Bobby is inevitable.

END OF ACT TWO

#0206 - 9, ACT THREE [3-A] LAB - NIGHT (JAKE, LARK, JULIE)

After near ly getting caught by Julie, Lark flirts with Jake. Jake responds. Lark is about to enter the Lab when she hears Julie talking to Jake inside. (We hear Julie ask Jake about a patient.) Lark steps back from the door as Julie exits, in a narrow miss. But Julie moves the other way, away from Lark, without seeing her. After a tense beat, Lark enters the Lab. Jake greets her as Chloe. Lark asks if Jake is ready to go out for coffee? Jake asks if she minds waiting for just a minute, he’s almost finished. Lark watches as Jake peer s into a microscope, then jots something down. Cur ious, she asks Jake what he sees. Jake says take a look. Lark moves over and peer s into the microscope her self. (Lark and Jake are now very close to each other .) Jake asks if Lark knows what she’s looking at. Lark answer s honestly that she hasn’t a clue. As Jake directs her, (see that little squiggly thing in the upper right corner?) he watches her , the way she brushes her hair back, the way her eyes light up when she sees what Jake is talking about. Jake tells Lark that the little squiggly thing is a regenerated cell, and that some day he hopes this regenerating technique will make paraplegics walk again. Lark says what a miracle it is when doctors can take people’s broken lives and fix them. She looks up then, and Jake realizes just how close to each other they really are. He asks isn’t fixing people why they both become doctors? The moment is charged. Lark tells Jake she’d really like to hear more about his research over coffee. Jake, held captive by Lark’s big brown eyes, says let’s go.

#0206 - 10; CUT TO: [3-B] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (LUCY, SIGMUND)

Lucy fears that there is no hope for Jacks. The doorbell rings. Lucy rushes to the door and shows the Jeweler in, thanking him profusely for working so late, and for making a house call. The Jeweler tells Lucy he wouldn’t do this for just anyone. He waits. Lucy reacts, twists the emerald off of her finger, and hands it to the Jeweler. She stands anxious and afraid and almost over his shoulder as the Jeweler opens his case and examines the ring. He tells Lucy the emerald is the best he’s ever seen. Lucy beams. The Jeweler continues that he’s never seen a fake this good. Lucy is crestfallen. It’s worthless? The Jeweler offers her two thousand dollars. Lucy says she’ll get back to him and the Jeweler leaves. Lucy goes back to working Jacks books. Lucy sums up to herself. Her chemist has quit, Jacks reputation is ruined and Lucy can see no way to make her miserable-slime-of-a-husband Rex pay for flooding the market with his phony and dangerous stress tabs. Lucy tries to look on the bright side. Maybe she should quit before she gets any further behind. Lucy moves from Jacks books to the couch, scooping up Sigmund as she does. Lucy talks to her confidant. Jacks is doomed, she tells Sigmund. Jacks is the Titanic, and they’ve hit an iceberg.

#0206 - 11; CUT TO:[3-C] ND HOTEL ROOM - DAY (MATT, CHRIS, GRACE)

Matt receives his instructions for the trade from Bobby. Matt sends Grace to safety, then convinces Chris of what Matt and Chris

must do. Matt gets the call from Bobby (ONE WAY; we don’t hear Bobby’s side of this). Matt listens, says got it. He hangs up and turns to Grace and Chris. Matt says the deal is on, he is to go alone to the Consolidated Foods warehouse in one hour. Grace is surprised. She and Matt were nearly killed by Bobby at that warehouse. Matt says that Bobby is apparently anxious to return to that warehouse to rectify the ‘nearly’ part. Matt suddenly has an idea. Grace knows that warehouse. If she can tell Scott what she knows, maybe Scott can get to the warehouse first. Grace is all for the idea. Matt makes Grace promise to tell Scott, but not to put herself in any danger. Grace assures Matt that she really wants to live through this night. She leaves. Matt, relieved, tells Chris the real plan. Chris must drive Matt to the Wharfside warehouse. Chris is thrown. Matt lied about where the meeting will take place? It’s not going to be at the Consolidated Foods warehouse? No, Matt tells Chris, that was just Matt’s way of making sure that Grace would be safe, and that Scott wouldn’t mess things up while trying to help. Chris looks for a way out of this. He says he thought Matt was supposed to show up alone. Matt tells Chris that is what Bobby said, but not what they’re going to do. Chris worries that any change in the plan will endanger Ellen. Matt assures Chris that Ellen is in plenty of danger already. So is Chris, Matt continues. Chris is a dead man if Bobby lives. If Bobby could find Matt, he’ll find Chris. Matt adds that Bobby never leaves witnesses alive. Chris sees that his only chance to live is to help Matt, but he wonder s what good he can be. He’s not used to any of this. Matt assures Chr is that Matt will tell him exactly what he needs to do. Chr is asks how Matt can possibly be so calm. Matt says that his ability to out-think Bobby is the only chance that any of them have to survive.

END OF EPISODE

[DrewH]

What's the point of this?

[Mason]

I agree, not to sound rude, mean, or otherwise insulting (*exaggerated rolling of eyes*), what is the deal with all of these old articles?