After surviving a near-death experience brought on by crazed baby snatcher Allison Perkins, business tycoon Clint Buchanan had proposed marriage to his on-again, off-again love, newspaper publisher Victoria Lord Buchanan. Clint and Viki had been married and divorced twice, and both had found love with other partners in the intervening years. But they had found their way back to each other, and Clint hoped that the third time truly would be the charm.
Viki and Clint's daughter, Natalie Buchanan, had recently reunited with her own on-again, off-again love, Llanview Police Detective John McBain. Natalie had given birth to John's son, Liam, back in January 2011, although the truth about Liam's paternity wasn't discovered until almost a year had past. Natalie and John tried to start over, but John found himself falling for another woman while he was out of town on assignment. A picture of John kissing this other woman was sent to Natalie, who broke things off with John and filed a restraining order to keep John from coming anywhere near her or Liam. John got a full-time job at the Port Charles Police Department, but in March, he left town on a special assignment for the FBI.
Viki's longtime frenemy, Dorian Cramer Lord Vickers Buchanan, resigned as mayor of Llanview to fill the vacant position of U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. She was living full-time in Washington, DC, with her husband, failed movie star David Vickers Buchanan.
David's father, Bo Buchanan, had been fired from his position as Llanview police commissioner by the new mayor. Bo and his wife, district attorney Nora Buchanan, were relieved when their teenage son, Matthew Buchanan, awoke from a coma after having suffered a traumatic brain injury. Matthew was stunned to discover that he was about to be a father, following a one-time hookup with fellow high school student Destiny Evans. Matthew initially wanted nothing to do with the baby but came around just before Destiny gave birth to their son in January 2012. They named the baby Drew Buchanan, after Matthew's deceased older brother.
In 2011, Viki's younger brother, Todd Manning, returned to Llanview to discover that another man had been living his life for the past eight years. It turned out that the other man was Todd's twin brother, Victor Lord Jr., whose existence had been kept secret all these years by their conniving mother, Irene Manning. Irene had brainwashed Victor into believing he really was Todd, and now Todd was back to reclaim the life he had lost -- including his ex-wife, club owner Blair Cramer, and their two children, Starr Manning and Jack Manning. Todd also learned he had another daughter, Danielle Manning, from his other ex-wife, attorney Téa Delgado Manning, who was now married to Victor.
Still with me? Well, Victor's life seemed to come to an abrupt end in August 2011 when he was shot and killed in his living room by an unknown assailant. Soon after, Todd shot and killed their mother after she attempted to kill Todd's family. Todd began to have flashbacks of shooting Victor, but he kept that to himself. As Todd bedded Blair for the first time following his return, the police barged into Blair's home and announced that Todd was under arrest for Victor's murder. Todd subsequently was found innocent by reason of insanity, and he moved to Port Charles, New York, where his daughter Starr had also relocated.
Starr's life took a dark turn after she left Llanview to reunite with her boyfriend, Cole Thornhart, and their daughter, Hope. They were on their way to visit Todd in Port Charles when Cole swerved to avoid an oncoming car, and their car careened over a cliff and exploded, killing Cole and Hope. Starr was the only one who survived. She sought revenge against the person she thought was responsible for causing the accident and got herself arrested.
Téa traveled to Port Charles to help Starr out of her legal jam, even though she was about to give birth to Victor's baby. Téa went into labor, and Todd helped deliver the baby, who was stillborn. Todd passed off another woman's baby as Téa's, however, and Téa didn't learn the truth for several months. Téa struggled to move on with her life without her baby and without Victor, unaware that Victor hadn't died at all! He was being held captive by Allison Perkins.
Starr, meanwhile, struggled to move on with her life and actually found love again. But in March, Starr left Port Charles for Los Angeles after getting an urgent call from her best friend, Langston. Todd also left Port Charles and headed back to Llanview after getting a series of troubling calls from Danielle.
After learning that Todd had deceived her yet again, Blair reunited with Téa's brother, Tomas, and they were engaged to be married. But the day before the wedding, Todd showed up in Llanview with two women from Port Charles who knew Tomas as Lorenzo Alcazar, a crime lord who had supposedly died years earlier. Within minutes of learning that his identity had been questioned, Tomas was called back into service by the CIA and sent on an undercover assignment -- without so much as a goodbye to Blair.
When we last saw con artist Cutter Wentworth, he was trying to get bailed out of jail after being arrested on an outstanding murder charge in Anchorage, Kentucky. Cutter had accidentally given a lethal drug overdose, at a strip club, to a man that he and his sister, Kim, were trying to scam. One of Kim's friends, Rama Patel, had shown up looking for Kim and taken a photo of Cutter crouched over the dead man. Cutter was arrested after Rama showed the photo to the police. Rama, meanwhile, was trying to live life on the straight and narrow with her husband, Buchanan Enterprises employee Vimal Patel.
Now, for a preview of where things will pick up when we tune in again on April 29 (don't read any further if you don't want to be spoiled):
Viki apparently said yes to Clint's marriage proposal, based on the huge diamond ring she is sporting at the start of a two-minute video preview that was posted last week by Prospect Park. If you haven't had chance to check out the video, click here to watch it now.
Bo and Nora seem more in love than ever, judging by the action taking place on the floor of their apartment. Rama and Vimal are still together as well.
Blair has opened a new nightclub, Shelter, which seems to factor in much of the action that will be taking place in Llanview. Todd shows up at the club, offering Blair a flower -- perhaps a peace offering for ruining her wedding plans? Cutter is no longer in jail and is back in Llanview, working as the manager of Blair's club. Rama was mixing drinks at the club during the video preview that has been released, although it's unclear if she's actually working there.
New couples have formed: Natalie and Cutter seem to be an item, while Matthew and Dani have rekindled their romance. Danielle appears to undergo a medical crisis early on, as we see Todd carrying her lifeless body out of Blair's club. Later, we see Dani having an emotional outburst while lying in a hospital bed. Téa, meanwhile, is still struggling to get past losing her infant son, having been unable to dismantle the nursery in her home.
Destiny is raising baby Drew and seems to have caught the eye of a handsome newcomer who is friends with both Matthew and Danielle. This newcomer, Jeffrey King, apparently is a reporter for the Banner and Viki has him taken under her wing. Word is that Jeffrey uncovers a scandal involving Dorian that puts an end to her career as a U.S. Senator and brings her back to Llanview, sparking a new round of the never-ending feud between Dorian and Viki. David is on hand as well, apparently trying to launch yet another reality show.
So it seems that the old adage is true. The more things change -- new sets, new characters, a new home for our favorite show -- the more things stay the same. David Vickers is still searching for stardom, young love is still flourishing, and Dorian and Viki are still at each other's throats. I wouldn't have it any other way.
