Parallel OLTL: 2004

2004

Shannon McBain worked her feminine wiles on River Carpenter, seducing him with ideas of becoming a rock star by joining Riley's band, Midnight Logic.

Lindsay and RJ's plan of revenge against Rex went into effect when they bailed Ultraviolet out of financial trouble by using a mysterious and dangerous loan shark, intending to get Rex in over his head.

Carlotta lied to Antonio about suddenly needing to leave Llanview to care for a sick friend in Puerto Rico, when in reality, Dorian was smuggling Carlotta out of the country! David caught on to Dorian's scheme and demanded answers, but instead, Dorian agreed to marry him in exchange for his agreement to trust her without asking questions. Dorian and David married in a simple, but unique ceremony at City Hall.

Paul Cramer hired Evangeline to contest Aunt Betsy's will, and Evangeline's first order of business was to discredit Adriana as a blood heir. Dorian and David counteracted Paul's threat by launching a full-scale investigation into Paul's past. First to turn up in their investigation was the name Chase Jackson, a young man residing in Miami, Florida. Dorian and David visited Chase, who was adamantly against going to Llanview with them.

Kevin and Kelly enjoyed every moment with their new baby Ace, and had even more cause for celebration when Governor Harrison Brooks convinced Kevin to take back his position as Lieutenant Governor! Kevin's replacement was forced to resign when proof surfaced of the man's ties to organized crime. Governor Brooks had no choice but to ask for his resignation because of the scandal it brought forth. Now that Kevin was a settled family man, Governor Brooks was sure that any scandal Kevin may have been involved with were officially a thing of the past, and Kevin's renewed focus made him the best man for the job. Kevin accepted the Lieutenant Governorship back, and his first platform was an end to organized crime!

Natalie's odd behavior unsettled her loved ones. Little did they know she was under Stephen Haver's control, and watching videos instructing her on how to frame John for Haver's murder! Bo and John decided that the only way to free Natalie from Haver's grasp was to let her think Haver's plan was being carried out. "New evidence" suddenly surfaced, leading to John's second arrest for Haver's murder, and Jessica volunteered to be the key to breaking Haver's control over Natalie. Antonio wasn't comfortable with Jessica putting herself in harm's way, but agreed to go along with the plan.

Jessica had faith that Natalie was strong-willed enough to break free from Haver's hypnosis if someone she loved was in danger. Jessica decided to pretend that she was still under Haver's control and act as though she had been programmed to shoot John in the courthouse on the day of his preliminary hearing, as Haver had been shot and killed. When Jessica fired at John, Natalie's fear for John's life broke her free of Haver's control and she hurled herself in the path of the bullet. The pandemonium subsided when Natalie realized that Jessica was firing blanks and the whole ordeal was staged in order to save Natalie. Natalie was grateful for the trouble that everyone went through to help her, and Natalie decided that she needed a little time away from Llanview to get her head together after the harrowing experience. Natalie traveled to London to spend some quality time with her father Clint.

Starr renewed her campaign to reunite her parents as Blair began to soften towards Todd. Todd delighted in his post as Editor-in-Chief of the merged "Banner Sun", especially since the newspaper would serve as a great venue to follow Kevin's sudden return to the Lieutenant Governorship. Viki warned Todd not to abuse his position at The Banner Sun, or he would lose it. Blair and Kevin continued to collaborate with David Vickers on the teen magazine, Craze, and David suggested spotlighting Midnight Logic in their debut issue.

Marcie continued to pester John and Bo about police procedure and case histories, and even began combing old Llanview PD case files for inspiration. As busy as Marcie kept herself with her book, she still stepped up to the plate to run the D-K Diner for Antonio Vega while his mother Carlotta was out of town. In between serving up cake and coffee at the diner, Marcie immersed herself in the old Llanview PD case files and was particularly intrigued with the file on the notorious Carlo Hesser.

Midnight Logic performed at the newly reopened Ultraviolet, with River making his debut as part of the band. After the performance, Riley was shocked to see Flash in the crowd! Flash had returned to Llanview, and to Riley, after having received intensive therapy for her vocal chords. There was a good possibility that Flash would sing again, as long as she didn't push herself too hard, too fast. That wasn't all the good news that Midnight Logic received that night. Rex informed them that a scout from Centurion Enterprises' Recording division was in the crowd as well, and was going to send their top agent to meet with the band to open up a "discussion". Flash was thrilled for her band, Adriana was thrilled for River, and Shannon was thrilled to take all the credit. Llanview would not be thrilled, however, once they learned who Centurion's top agent was -- Marco Dane!

Adriana took the court-ordered DNA test, and Kelly caught Dorian trying to tamper with the results! Kelly read Dorian the riot act for cheating her brother Paul out of Aunt Betsy's inheritance, but Dorian argued that she deserved it more. Dorian reminded Kelly of the years she's cared for her, in the hopes Kelly's loyalty to Dorian would be stronger than her loyalty to Paul. When Paul pressed Kelly to get the goods on Dorian, Kelly lied that if Dorian was up to no good, she'd been too careful to get caught so far. Meanwhile, Kelly started to feel as though Paul's "love" for Kelly would only go as far as Kelly's usefulness to him.

Marcie became so engrossed with Carlo Hesser's history, she hoped to pattern a character in her novel after him! Marcie quizzed Bo about Carlo, and soon found that most everyone in Llanview had their own reasons for hating him! In her research, Marcie tried to establish a timeline of Carlo's life that set him down the dark road of his life. Marcie was intrigued by the gaps of years in Carlo's life, when Carlo would travel to Rome or Mendorra, and disappear for years. Michael grew concerned when Marcie wanted to try to find Mortimer Bern, in order to interview him about Carlo. Who would know Carlo better than his own twin?

Midnight Logic, featuring the recently returned Flash, and recently recruited River, headlined at the launch party for Craze magazine at Ultraviolet. Marco Dane, the party's VIP, immediately wanted to sign the band to Centurion Enterprises, but Viki warned her niece Flash that Marco was not to be trusted! Viki hadn't forgotten all the torture that Marco put Viki's friend Karen Wolek through, or the trouble he constantly had gotten Viki's daughter Megan into. Asa agreed with Viki's opinion of Marco, and retained Evangeline Williamson as Midnight Logic's official representation, to protect his great granddaughter from going into the music industry blind.

Marco took up-and-coming schemer Rex under his wing, advising him to expand Ultraviolet by adding a "back room" for more exclusive and upscale clientele.

Jen relinquished her trust fund and took a job waiting tables at the D-K Diner to prove to Lindsay how much Jen wanted no contact with her.

Adriana appeared in the first issue of Craze, and Dorian was furious. Dorian scrambled to take Adriana out of the country under the guise of inviting her on an "extended belated honeymoon" with Dorian and David. Antonio grew suspicious of the sudden plans to leave and followed them all to Belize, and spotted Dorian giving Adriana over to Carlotta!

Confronting them all, Antonio demanded answers. Finally, Carlotta tearfully confessed -- she, not Dorian, was Adriana's biological mother! While in Mendorra as Dorian's maid, Carlotta was attacked by an extremely dangerous man, resulting in her pregnancy with Adriana. Not wanting to shame her family, Carlotta gave birth to Adriana in secret and Dorian arranged for her adoption by the Colon family. Antonio begged his mother to identify the man who raped her, but Carlotta refused. Instead Carlotta asked for Antonio's blessing to allow her to disappear with Adriana, possibly to never resurface again. Although it pained him, Antonio bid a sad farewell to the remainder of his family, and returned to Llanview by himself.

Two weeks after leaving Llanview, Natalie returned, with her father Clint by her side! Once Natalie told Clint about Viki's heart problems, Clint immediately decided to return to Llanview for the time being, to make sure Viki was taking care of herself. Being hovered over by her loved ones wasn't a comfort to Viki, it was a hazard! Despite following her doctor's orders, Viki suffered from serious palpitations, causing Clint and their children to rally and bring Viki to the hospital.

Asa and Bo were thrilled to have Clint back in Llanview, and Asa quickly worked to cement Clint's return to town by campaigning to replace Todd with Clint as Editor-in-Chief of The Banner Sun. Todd was not about to give up his position. Todd warned Viki that running The Banner Sun was crucial to his winning back his family, and nothing, not Kevin or Clint, would stand in his way. Viki begged Todd not to mount a war with her family, but Todd maintained that he needed to protect what was his, and he would do everything in his power to protect Viki. Viki wished someone would protect Todd from himself.

With prodding from Eve and Roxy, Natalie and John finally went on a date, and sparks flew.

Adriana's absence nearly destroyed River, who drowned his sorrows in alcohol and drugs while partying with Shannon McBain. With Adriana out of the running, Paul thought he finally had his chance at nabbing Betsy's millions, so Dorian and David revisited their "Plan B", by trying to dig up whatever they could on young mystery man Chase Jackson.

Rex followed through with Marco's advice by going to Lindsay and RJ for another loan from their company. In turn, Lindsay and RJ got Rex in deeper with the deadly loan shark, and the noose around Rex's neck began to tighten, though Rex remained unaware. Dining at the D-K Diner, Marco was smitten with his waitress, Jen. Marco knew a guy who would soon be hiring beautiful young women like her to make much more money than they could pouring coffee. Though Jen reacted with disgust, she hung onto Marco's card.

As things cooled off between Lindsay and Daniel, Daniel began spending time with Nora working cases in the D.A.'s office, and collaborating on crossword puzzles on their breaks. Nora and Daniel developed a surprising friendship, which rubbed Lindsay -- and Bo -- the wrong way. At the same time, Bo was surprised by his own rapport with Eve.

Marcie left the Diner in Jen's hands, and went on a quick trip to New York City to Centurion Enterprises headquarters. She had an appointment to meet the CEO -- Mortimer Bern! Back in Llanview, Viki was surprised to find a face from her past at her hospital bedside: her sister Tina!