From: Marni Centor <marni@panix.com>

             GUIDING LIGHT REAL-THURSDAY/FAUX-FRIDAY UPDATE
                       THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1996

                        WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?
                                 -OR-
                         CURSES! FOILED AGAIN!

Written by Jeanne Glynn and directed by Jo Anne Sedwick

HIGHLIGHTS
* Susan gives the cops the evidence they need, but it may be too late.
* Annie & Josh work things out -- right on the living room floor!
* Reva gets her man -- well, a man, anyway.
* Amanda ties one on for Blake.
* Brent distracts AM & changes costumes yet again.

CEDARS: Susan explains to Frank & Nick that Marian meant to attack. 
"You've got to keep her away from Lucy. She'll try to kill Lucy again," 
warns Susan, weakly but insistently.

BALLROOM: The change-partners dance continues, and Lucy is dancing with 
the Beaked Thing. She recognizes him as the person who gave picked up her 
fan earlier. BT doesn't answser. Lucy surmises that BT isn't speaking 
because he's someone she knows & he wants her to guess. 

Roger & Vanessa have stopped dancing. He's not happy with her 
pronouncement that she knows Hart told him to go to hell. "He doesn't want 
you anywhere near Peter. Neither does Bridget, neither do I, so I guess 
that kind of leaves you out in the cold." Rog thinks Jet & Hart look 
pretty cozy, but Van says they're just friends. "If Bridget & Hart get 
together, you're going to be in the cold right alongside me," warns Rog.

ALAN'S LAIR: Alan informs Reva that her time has run out. "I'm leaving. 
Good-bye."

LEWIS HOUSE: Annie & Josh sit on the couch. Annie wants to know if Reva's 
kiss got to Josh. "I... um..." stutters Josh. Annie insists on an answer. 
"Yes," he finally admits.

ALAN'S: Reva begs Alan not to leave. She apologizes for being a "bad girl" 
& letting Josh push her buttons. She tries to blame it on the champagne. 
She degrades herself terribly, offering to iron Alan's suits & develop an 
appreciation for Mahler, if only he won't leave. Alan says he gave her a 
choice, & she chose Josh. She says it's over. "Over for him or over for 
you?" If Josh hadn't rejected her, would she be begging Alan to stay? She 
begs some more & reminds him of his vow to stand by her. "And you swore to 
me that you didn't love Josh anymore. So we both lied."

LEWIS HOUSE: Josh says Reva's kiss got to him not because he still loves 
her, but because he's human. He explains about his long life history with 
Reva. He needs Annie to understand. "It didn't work," Josh says. "The 
minute it happened, I knew that it didn't work anymore. That thing that we 
used to be able to do to each other at the drop of a hat -- it's not there 
anymore. It's gone. It's finished." Annie is a bit doubtful. She knows his 
relationship with Reva was full of passion. "Passion without love is 
nothing," says Josh. "It's not what we have. It's not real." Annie is not 
so sure. She recalls all that he told her about the weeks after Reva's 
accident. [She mentions Harley -- yay!] Josh says that was a long time ago 
& he doesn't love Reva anymore. When she kissed him, all he could think 
about was getting back to Annie & away from the pain. Annie needs time to 
think. Josh cries & begs her not to go.

CEDARS: Frank asks Susan to tell him all the details. Marian was shocked 
to see Susan instead of Lucy. Frank calls Nell & she says that Marian is 
still sitting in the window, probably fell asleep reading her book. Frank 
says he's on his way over & Nell should call Levy to get a warrant 
immediately. "It's imperative," says Frank, whose vocabulary seems to be 
growing along with his brain size as the clues collect. Nell thinks Frank 
is out of his mind because it's so late. Frank says they're going to bust 
Marian Crane for the attempted murder of Susan Bates.

BALLROOM: Lucy continues to dance with BT, smiling at him coyly. Dinah & 
Amanda chat. BT starts spinning Lucy wildly & she asks him to slow down. 
He obliges & she continues to try to figure out who he is. Not Cedars. Not 
Spaulding. Maybe someone she knows through her dad. She vows to find out 
who he is before the night is over. The dance ends. AM reclaims his fiance 
& BT takes a bow & goes off silently. AM thinks he's just some guy trying 
to pick up on Lucy. "I think maybe you should stick with me the rest of 
the night."

Rog excuses himself from Gilly & pulls Dinah aside. Rog accuses her of 
betraying him to her mother. Dinah denies it. Hart interrupts & says it 
was he who aired their dirty laundry to Vanessa & Bridget, too. "Why are 
you doing this to me?" asks Rog. Hart says Rog needs to learnn that he has 
nothing to do with Hart or his life or Peter. He stalks off & so does 
Dinah.

Amanda asks Ross about his New Year's resolutions. Blake grabs another 
dance of champagne & heads for the pair, but Van restrains her & reminds 
her that Ross loves Blake, not Amanda. Blake doesn't want to just stand 
there & watch Amanda "bangle her bongos" at Ross. She'd like to strangle 
her with every one of her 7 veils. "He's more man than she will ever 
have," assures Van, encouraging Blake to rise above it. Blake glides over 
& compliments Amanda on her costume. "Make it yourself?" Ross is ready to 
dance & excuses himself from Amanda, who frowns.

Lucy tells AM that she's having a "perfect moment." They toast & kiss. BT 
hovers nearby, then exits to the patio. He goes to his suitcase & removes 
pieces of a Zorro costume. It seems his plan is to do Lucy in disguised as 
AM disguised as Zorro. [When he speaks, we can hear that it's not Frank 
Beaty under the mask. Also, this actor seems to have a mustache under his 
beak which would have been rather difficult for Marian to conceal.]

LEWIS HOUSE: Josh finds Annie standing just outside the front door, 
wrapped in her Cathy cloak. He puts a jacket around her shoulders. He 
reminds her that she told him it was OK to be human & you don't stop 
loving someone because they make a mistake. "Please don't stop loving me." 
He reminds her that love requires a leap of faith. It took him a long time 
to make that leap, but he did. He knows he said some things that may have 
hurt her, but he loves her, only her. He meant every vow he made at the 
carousel & he wants her to trust that. He asks her to make a leap of faith 
for him. "Please tell me that you can do that."

ALAN'S: Reva tries to take Alan's suitcase, but he grabs it back. She begs 
him again not to leave. Maybe she did want to be with Joshua. "There's no 
maybe about it," says Alan. She says Josh ended it in front of half of 
Springfield. Alan is sorry he missed the floor show. "I want my money 
back!" Reva says Alan was right about everything & Josh told the entire 
world that he couldn't remember why he ever fell in love with her. Alan 
seems almost touched. Reva tells the worst parts, about Josh calling her 
trash & accusing her of using her body to get what she wants. Josh had a 
cold, hard look on his face. "He still wishes I was dead," she cries. Alan 
goes to her & takes her in his arms. She cries on his shoulder.

BALLROOM: Dinah drags Hart away from Bridget. She tells him to go to hell 
& that she doesn't need him to lie for her. He says he'll be happy to, but 
by the way, he didn't lie to Rog to score brownie points with her. She 
tells him again to stay out of her life, then walks away. She stomps up 
the stairs & exits. Hart watches her, then returns to Jet, who asks what's 
up. Hart says Rog is mad because everyone knows that Hart won't let Rog 
use him or their son. 

AM gets called to the phone, so Lucy joins Gilly & David. They try to 
guess the name of Zorro's horse. 

On the phone, AM hears Marian's voice, begging him to come over, alone, 
because she's afraid she'll do "something desperate, again." She seems to 
be in tears & says she's sorry--she's done such terrible things. The 
Beaked Thing is making the call from a cellular phone on the patio. AM 
asks if Marian changed Lucy's test results & hurt Susan. Marian won't say; 
just begs AM to come over. "It all started with you & your father... Come 
now! If you wait, I won't be here to tell you. One way or another, I'll be 
gone by morning."

STAKEOUT: Frank tells Nell that Marian is after Lucy. Nell tries to calm  
him down, assuring him that they will get Marian. Frank is anxious for 
Levy to arrive with the warrants. Frank wants to go in anyway, but Nell 
talks him out of it. Levy arrives with the warrants & backup. Frank leads 
the way to Marian's building.

BALLROOM: AM tells Lucy that he has to step out for awhile. She wants to  
go with him, but he says he'll be back in time for midnight & won't answer 
any of her questions. He leaves her with Eleni & Buzz, who does happen to 
know the names of Zorro's horses. Another Zorro watches from the doorway.

LEWIS HOUSE: Annie hugs Josh & says she loves him. Josh doesn't want to 
lose her & she swears that nothing will tear them apart. "There's no one 
else. Just you," says Josh, going after her neck like Dracula.

ALAN'S: Alan thinks they're repeating history. He's been through this 
before, when Josh rejected her. But the problem is that she never loved 
him. He doesn't want to stick around for the lousy ending this time. Reva 
implores him to wait. She says it's not a game with him. She knows that 
Alan is the only one who cares about her. Alan doesn't believe her. She 
asks him to wait again. "You once said you wanted me. You can have me." 
Alan won't turn around. "Or don't you want me anymore?" asks Reva. Alan 
turns to face her & Reva removes her dress, then her slip. She has tears 
in her eyes as Alan watches her from across the room.

LEWIS HOUSE: Josh & Annie go at it hot & heavy in the living room. Annie 
can't remember him ever being that way before. "Take me to bed," she 
suggests, but Josh wants to do it right there.

ALAN'S: Alan walks toward Reva slowly & kisses her gently.

LEWIS HOUSE: Josh & Annie fall to the floor urgently. Josh slides his hand 
up under the back of Annie's undies.

ALAN'S: Reva slowly undoes the top few buttons of Alan's shirt & kisses 
his chest. [This wasn't as gross as I was led to believe by the spoilers, 
because Alan was not completely shirtless. I don't know who to thank for 
that, but please accept my grateful appreciation.] Alan kisses her on the 
lips & takes her in his arms. [I think we're supposed to note the sharp 
contrast between Annie & Josh's wild lovemaking and Reva & Alan's slow, 
gentle approach.]

CEDARS: Nick breaks out the New Year's decorations, including silly hats. 
Susan is touched by Nick's faith that she would come back to him. They 
snuggle on the bed & kiss. Nick tells her how everyone was pulling for 
her, especially his mom. Susan says he's the only reason she came back. 
Susan is worried about Lucy, but Nick says Frank will take care of 
everything.

MARIAN'S APT: Frank & Nell knock on the door. Nell shouts for Marian to 
open up & says they have a warrant for her arrest. Frank has his gun 
drawn. Levy tell Frank to open the door & the cops rush in with their 
weapons at the ready. Frank tells the figure at the window to put her 
hands up & turn around slowly. When he gets closer he sees that it's a 
dummy with a face painted like a clown. Frank looks confused.

COSTUME BALL: Blake finds Holly in the ladies' room & they're glad they're 
both happy. Holly says it's because they're with the right people. They 
resolve to be this happy every year. Amanda & her belly stroll in. Holly 
finishes fixing her face & leaves her daughter alone with the Frizzed One. 
Blake thanks Amanda for her advice about men not liking jealous women. She 
offers a piece of helpful advice in return -- men don't like desperate 
women either. Blake wishes Amanda a happy New Year & excuses herself into 
the nether regions of the bathroom. Amanda, alone now, removes one of her 
veils & ties the doorknob to a curtain tie-back holder [is there a better 
name for those things?]. She then exits the powder room & places an "out 
of order" sign outside the door. "Happy New Year to you too, Blake," she 
says softly.

Blake, finished with her business, tries to get out, but finds that she's 
stuck. She shouts to Amanda to let her out. [Actually, it shouldn't be too 
difficult for her to get out. The door she's stuck behind is a stall-type 
door, with space both above & below through which she might manage to 
escape.]

Back in the ballroom, Holly takes Fletcher aside. Rog wanders around 
looking for Dinah. Ross hasn't seen her & suggests maybe she wised up. 
Lucy worries that it's almost midnight & AM isn't back yet. Eleni says 
they're in the same boat--they can celebrate with their sweethearts later. 
Buzz says gloomily that he'll get to celebrate with Lucy's dog. She warns 
him to be careful with her dog, since she'll want him back after she's 
married. Buzz says he's grown awfully close to the dog & doesn't know if 
he wants to give it back.

Hart asks Jet if she would mind if he started spending more time with 
Peter, to get closer to him. "Sure," she says noncommittally. Hart thinks 
it would be fun to get a sled & take Peter to the farm to slide down the 
hill. Jet pretends an enthusiasm that she doesn't really feel.

Lucy's face lights up when she sees Zorro at the top of the stairs. She 
runs to him & gives him a hug. [Why she can't tell that it isn't AM is a 
mystery to me. The mask only covers the top half of his face & the bottom 
half is obviously not AM.] Zorro takes her hand & leads her out of the 
ballroom at a fast clip as the countdown to midnight begins. 

MARIAN'S APT: Frank is trying to figure out where Marian could have gone, 
since they saw her enter the building, but did not see her leave. AM 
rushes in, asking where Marian is. No one knows. AM explains that Marian 
called him & told him to meet her there. Frank says they will find Marian, 
and warns AM that it was Marian who hurt Susan, but she was really after 
Lucy. AM realizes he was set up & he & Frank race out.

BALL: Lucy watches the fireworks on the patio as the countdown continues 
inside. Zorro grabs her & kisses her & she finally notices that he isn't 
AM. She pulls away from him & tries to run away, but he grabs her & holds 
her in a freeze frame. Midnight strikes & she screams, "Help me! Please 
somebody please help me!" but no one can hear her above the revelry as the 
screen fades to black. 


--Marni (marni@panix.com)



