From: marni@panix.com (Marni Centor)

GUIDING LIGHT UPDATE -- THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1996

                      IN SEARCH OF...

Written by Roger Newman & directed by Bruce S. Barry

Highlights:
* Bridget searches the stars for the key to Hart's heart. Pat helps.
* Griff searches for a way to regain Marcus's respect. Fletch helps.
* Bill searches for a way to deal with his grief. Matt helps.
* Rick searches for Fern LaPlante. Abby helps.

POLICE HEADQUARTERS: Frank walks Griff through his release. Griff 
doesn't understand why he's being released, since he didn't post bail. 
Fletcher pipes up that *he* posted the bail because he thinks Griff has 
paid his dues. 

BOARDINGHOUSE: Bridget consults with an astrologist named Pat about 
Hart's chart. Dahlia arrives in search of Marcus, who appears at the 
stairs. Dahlia shoots him a huge smile. Marcus thinks Dahlia looks 
great. They go over to Company to rehearse for Dahlia's audition.

Pat tells Jet that Hart is more attracted to substance than style. He 
prefers a woman who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty or feel the wind 
in her hair. Cue Hart & Dinah, the latter attired in a rather affected 
riding habit. Jet smiles hopefully.

CEDARS: Rick scopes out the territory, then tries to find Fern LaPlante 
on the computer. He tries several different spellings, but comes up with 
zippo. He reasons that if Fern's not in the computer, Blake must have 
been telling the truth & he's not the father of one of her twins. Just 
then, a staffer comes by with a bunch of files. Abby asks him for a 
particular report & he drops his files. Abby helps him pick them up & a 
form with Fern's name is right on top.

Abby surprises Rick. She thinks he seems tense. Rick says the 
intervention didn't work out as hoped. He hopes they didn't make things 
worse for Annie. Abby thinks Annie is just scared, but will do the right 
thing in the end. Rick thanks Abby for cheering him up & gives her a big 
hug. Ross & Blake arrive. Blake thinks everyone's having a good day.

BOARDINGHOUSE: Jet clears the astrologist's stuff off the table. Hart 
tells Jet that he & Dinah are going riding & wonders if they can take 
Peter with them. Jet acts worried & says Petey's never been on a horse. 
Dinah asks what Jet was working on. Jet introduces Pat as her neighbor & 
says they were working on plans for a street fair. 

Peter rushes in, all excited to see Hart, who scoops him up. Dinah 
kisses him too. Jet frowns.

POLICE HQ: Griff doesn't want Fletch's help. Fletch says Griff is 
wasting his time in jail. Griff says he can't go back; he's dead inside. 
Fletch doesn't want to hear it. He's lost too many people already, for 
real, and he lists them all: his daughter Rebecca, her mother, Hillary 
Bauer, Maeve, Maureen, Vanessa. He missed Van's funeral for Griff. 
"Dying is for keeps," he says. "You're still here. You have a choice." 
Fletch says Griff is still the same man people have always admired; he 
just lost his way. Griff says he's lost everything -- the daughter he 
didn't know he had, the respect of people who have always looked up to 
him, and the love of his son. His bridges are burned & it's his own 
fault. He's in no mood to help himself right now.

Nell enters with a couple of collars & calls for Frank's help. One of 
them turns out to be Bill Lewis, whose black eye & split lip tell us 
he's been in a fight. Neither Bill nor the guy he was brought in with 
want to talk, so Nell offers that they got into a fight outside of 
school & broke a window. Frank asks what they were fighting about. Bill 
says Steve started it by tripping him during a game of basketball. Steve 
claims it was an accident & accuses Bill of being on edge ever since his 
mom died. "Are you that much of a mama's boy?" he asks. This sends Bill 
over the edge again & Fletch has to hold him back. 

Griff, who pulled Steve out of the way, says the boys have to settle the 
argument without violence. If things are too hot right now, they have to 
take a walk to chill out. Levy enters & assesses the situation. He's  
sorry to see that Bill's been brought in & tells Nell to do the 
paperwork. She leads Bill away.

Fletch tells Griff that Bill has been through hell. Griff agrees. They 
decide to go get some breakfast.

Frank tells the boys they can make one phone call each. Bill says he has 
no one to call. Frank suggests Matt, but Bill just laughs. Frank makes 
the call himself.

BOARDINGHOUSE: Hart asks Peter if he wants to go on a horsey. Peter says 
yes. Jet worries that it's not safe. Matt arrives & asks Jet if she's 
seen Bill. He never made it to his first class. Nola comes downstairs & 
is surprised to see Matt. She worries whether he's eating OK & says she 
couldn't find him last night. Matt says he spent the night at Lake 
Geneva. The phone rings & Nola answers. It's Frank, for Matt. Matt 
promises to come right down. He tells Jet & Nola that Bill was picked up 
for disorderly conduct, then leaves to go get Bill.

Jet thinks this is the last thing Matt & Bill need. Nola thinks it 
confirms her concerns about Matt. Dinah asks if she can do anything to 
help Bill. Nola thinks he has to work things out for himself. Hart keeps 
pushing for Peter to go horseback riding. Jet finally agrees, but makes 
Hart promise to make Peter wear his bicycle helmet. Hart & Dinah head 
out with Peter. Dinah cries out when she breaks a nail as she opens the 
door. Jet smiles evilly. Nola pulls back a placemat to reveal astrology 
charts & asks Jet what she's up to.

CEDARS: Rick asks if Blake is there for a checkup, but she & Ross are 
actually there for a maternity floor tour. Lillian takes Ross to get 
their masks & gowns. Abby exits. Blake asks Rick if he's calmed down 
since the previous night. He seems calmer & says he has ascertained that 
there is no fern La Olante in the computer. Blake hopes he's satisfied & 
reiterates that Annie is not trustworthy & both her babies are Ross's. 
Finally, she adds, there is no Fern LaPlante. Ross returns & says the 
tour is about to begin.

Elsewhere, in the hospital bowels, the mail guy delivers his files. The 
recipient sees Fern's lab report & says it has to go back to the sender.

On the maternity floor, Lillian shows Blake & Ross the nursery. The 
Marlers ogle the adorable babies. Ross says when their babies arrive, 
their lives will never be the same. The mail guy walks right past them 
with Fern's lab report. 

POLICE STATION: Matt arrives & asks Bill if he's OK. Bill is pissed that 
Frank called Matt. Frank says it's too crowded in the holding cell for 
them to hang onto guys like Bill. He wants Bill out & he doesn't want to 
see him there again. He advises Bill to take Griff's advice about 
walking away from a fight. Matt thanks Frank for calling him & exits 
with Bill. 

Frank returns to his desk to study for the detective exam. Nell sees him 
studying & mentions that she's taking it too. Neither one knew the other 
was taking the test. There's only 1 spot, so they promise not to let it 
affect their friendship. Frank hopes if he doesn't get the job, Nell 
does. She returns the sentiment. Levy pops in & asks for a volunteer for 
a special assignment. Nell's hand goes up a split second before Frank's. 

DINER: Griff & Fletch drop in for breakfast. Griff congratulates Eleni 
on not losing the diner. She thanks him for all his help. The guys order 
& Eleni goes for the food. Fletch tells Griff that people still care 
about him. Except for the one who matters the most, replies Griff.

BOARDINGHOUSE: After a weak attempt to hide Pat's true purpose from 
Nola, Jet gives up & introduces them properly. Pat guesses correctly 
that Nola's a Gemini. Nola thinks the whole thing is pretty ridiculous, 
but she just wants Jet to be happy. Jet says she'll be happy when she 
gets Hart, & Hart will be happy too, because Dinah is totally wrong for 
him. Jet intends to find out all she can about Hart from Pat so she can 
understand him even better. Nola doesn't want Jet to get hurt. Jet says 
it was her fault things never worked out before, because she wasn't 
right for Hart. But she's changed a lot & she can change even more. 

Jet desperately tries to use Pat's brief comments to prove her belief 
that Dinah is all wrong for Hart & they won't work out long-term. Pat & 
Nola both regard Jet sympathetically. Jet says Hart doesn't realize it 
yet, but what he needs is a woman who's willing to work alongside him & 
have a family with him. She can't imagine Dinah doing that. Jet's voice 
continues as we cut to--

JESSUP STABLES: Hart's giving Peter a horsey ride on his back & running 
circles around Dinah. All 3 are laughing happily & having a grand old 
time. Jet's going on about Dinah not being able to deal with Peter when 
he's grouchy or having a temper tantrum. 

Hart goes to get the horses saddled up, leaving Dinah with Peter. She 
tells him they're going to practice riding. She hauls a saddle up on a 
hay bale & seats Petey in it. She tells him how to make the horse go 
faster by kicking it. She rocks the saddle back & forth & encourages 
Peter to go faster & faster. They're both laughing & having fun.

CEDARS: Abby surprises Rick, who is lost in thought. He decides he needs 
a break. Abby tells Rick about a troublesome patient who has finally 
left, and mentions seeing Blake & Ross happily looking at babies. She 
feels so silly that Amanda almost convinced her that Rick & Blake were 
having an affair. It's so obvious that Blake only has eyes for Ross. 
Abby turns away to do some filing & the mail guy returns. He drops a 
batch of files in the In box, with Fern's lab report right on top. 

Abby doesn't understand why some people, like Amanda, just want to cause 
trouble. Just think, if Abby had actually believed Amanda, she wouldn't 
have wanted to have anything to do with Rick ever again. She's so happy 
Amanda was making it all up.

Upstairs, Blake & Ross continue to coo over the babies. Ross decides he 
wants to go buy a VCR so he can videotape everything starting from 
Blake's labor pains. Blake nips any thoughts of way-too-up-close-and-
personal videos right in the bud. Ross says he has the perfect camera 
right in his head; he will remember every moment of it. They get kissy.

DINER: Griff sees Marcus & Dahlia sitting at the counter. Marcus 
patently ignores his dad. Griff thinks he should leave, but Fletch says 
Griff should try to work things out. Griff walks up to the counter & 
says hi to Dahlia, then to Marcus. Marcus asks if Griff broke out of 
jail, then quickly pays & leaves, obviously not wanting to talk to his 
dad. Griff is bummed. He vows to rebuild his bridges. Getting his son 
back is now his Cause.

Frank comes in & Eleni notices that he seems down. He tells her that 
he's competing against Nell for one detective slot. It was a lot more 
fun when the competition didn't have a face. Eleni sympathizes.

STABLES: Dinah explains to Petey that she used to be afraid of horses, 
but she learned that the trick is never to look down; always look 
straight ahead. She thinks Petey could be a cowboy or a rodeo rider 
someday. Hart returns & asks if Petey thinks they should keep Dinah. 
Petey nods enthusiastically & Hart hugs them both, giving Dinah a kiss. 
Hart scoops Petey up & carries him out. Petey asks if Dinah can come. 
Dinah smiles happily & follows the boys out.

BOARDINGHOUSE: Jet says Pat has given her lots of great hints. Nola 
tells Jet to give it up. Jet thanks Pat, who has a few final words of 
advice for her. She can tell how much Hart means to Jet, and that she's 
been hurt deeply in the past. Jet says she has to change & thanks Pat 
before going upstairs. Pat tells Nola she's sorry that Nola doesn't 
share Jet's belief in the stars. Nola just doesn't think Jet should 
count too much on Hart, no matter what the stars say. Nola wonders if 
Pat would do a chart for her. She gives Pat the specifics on Quint.

Outside, Matt wants to show Bill how to handle a fight better, if he's 
going to get into fights. Bill isn't interested in Matt's "kung-fu 
crap." Matt thinks he might be more interested if he could see the 
damage to his face. Or maybe Bill likes getting the crap beat out of 
him. Matt tells Bill to take a swing at him so he can show Bill what to 
do. Bill refuses, so Matt starts taking shots at Bill instead, until 
Bill finally swings at Matt angrily. Matt easily dodges the boy's 
punches, then holds Bill away by his shoulders & lets Bill continue to 
swing. "That's OK, man, get it out. I know you think the wrong person 
died." Bill wishes Matt had died instead of Vanessa. "So do I," says 
Matt. "Look at me. So do I." The guys embrace in their mutual grief.

UNIVERSITY: Dahlia & Marcus stand in line. Dahlia says she has huge 
butterflies, but she's ready. When they get to the receptionist, she 
says Dahlia's name isn't on the list. That's impossible, says Marcus; he 
signed her up himself. The receptionist tells them to step aside, but 
Marcus insists he's going to get Dahlia in to the audition.

CEDARS: Rick makes Abby promise that she won't worry about Blake or 
Amanda anymore. She sits down at the computer & sees Fern's name. She 
asks Rick if he was looking for Fern LaPlante's file. Rick says it's not 
important. Abby remembers the name. "You do?" asks Rick. Freeze frame on 
the computer as the screen fades to black.


-- 
Marni (marni@panix.com)



