The lights were shining brightly and people were busy bustling backstage at the New York City BRO fashion show. But Jenn was having a last minute anxiety attack. New good friend Bonnie calms her nerves about modeling for the show by telling her, "What's the worst that could happen?" Jenn worried about the press attention, tripping in front of the cameras, and most importantly, how her mother would react when she found out town tramp Carly Tenney designed the entire BRO spring line. Would Barbara ever forgive her daughter for not ratting out Carly and Paul? Bonnie encourages her to put all of that out of her mind and "walk down that runway like you own it." Just focus on the moment. Bonnie let it slip out that she and Isaac kissed. "Brushed lips" really. Jen is easily distracted by the new gossip and wants to know if Bonnie has any feelings developing for Isaac. Bonnie says there weren't any flowers left for me, so she doesn't think the kiss meant anything.
Carly is putting some last minute touches on her evening attire while Craig eagerly watches, showering her with compliments on how stunning she looks. Carly gets an anxiety attack of her own and thinks she is turning into "her -- Barbara." Craig says he's "kissed both of you and you are no Barbara Ryan." Carly says, "She's angry because the clothes aren't her designs, and I'm angry because no one will know they're mine." Craig offers to fix things. Carly declines his help yet again, but tells him how glad she was that he was there for her.
Rose slapped Paul for hiding the fact that Carly was designing for BRO behind her back. They argue about why Paul kept this from Rose. Rose has had enough of his lies though and said, "What we had, Preppy, is over! You lied to me!" "No Rose I didn't lie! I compartmentalized! I wanted to keep you separate from everything else in my life." Rose slowed down her outbursts and let Paul talk. Paul however had had enough. He tells Rose that he forgave her for her mistake. "Why can't you do the same for me?" He walks off to attend to the show. Rose ran into Mitzi who showed up for fun. Rose confided in Mitzi that Paul lied to her and that she's not so crazy about him anymore.
After abandoning the airplane, Babs hops in a cab and heads for the hotel. The driver is curious why she is veiled in black and asks if she is famous. Babs says she was, once. After further prodding, he finds out that she's en route to see a friend at a fashion show. At which point she purses her lips and says, "I'll be making a little presentation to the designer. And it will be a real show stopper!"
Back in Oakdale at Java Underground, Adam, still smarting from discovering Abigail's growing affections for Nick Scudder, is dancing with one of Abigail's classmates, Brandy. Adam clearly looked confused, as his mind was on Abigail. Did he want to get back at her and hurt her for betraying his loyalty and trust? Brandy leans in and asks him if he was a good kisser. When Adam hesitates, Brandy said, "there's only one way to find out," and plants her lips on Adams for a hearty kiss. Just as they are breaking apart, Lisa comes over and gives him a big hug and a little whisper-warning to "watch your tail sweetheart, this one is a barracuda." Lisa then left the couple alone and returned to tending the bar. Brandy makes another suggestion to leave and Adam takes the bait. They leave in a hurry to get to know each other a little more intimately.
At the show, Carly is walking through the audience mingling with the guests when she spies a top designer, Rodney Alexander, in the crowd. She tries to avoid him, but he caught up with Carly and Craig. He insists that she sit with him during the show. Carly reluctantly accepts. Rodney is grateful and then leaves to work the crowd. Jack catches up with Carly. She is surprised to see him there and asks why isn't he guarding Barbara. Jack says he put her on a plane headed back to Oakdale and she should be out of the way. He couldn't miss Carly's first show. He gave her some encouraging words then left to find a seat.
Abigail comes to Java looking for Adam and asks Lisa if she's seen him. She said Adam left with someone else. Abigail's heart sank, and Nick showed up to pick up the pieces. Nick tugged at Abigail's heartstrings and further manipulated her emotions by telling her how beautiful, and smart, and strong, and full of passion she was. Nick encourages her to go after Adam and to let her passion out. Abigail kisses Nick on the cheek and thanks him for the advice before she leaves to find Adam. After she leaves, Nick smirks, as if his plan is working.
In New York, a delivery of flowers arrived backstage. Jen said they must be for Bonnie, implying they were coming from Isaac. But it was Hal & sons that sent Jen the good-luck flowers.
Reporters kept hounding Paul about Barbara's absence. He quickly side-stepped the issue, but Craig was there to put in his two cents. Paul told Craig to back off. Then Jack came around putting more pressure on Paul to just come clean about Carly, and give her the credit.
Backstage, Carly helps show-coordinator Pru roll a rack of dresses into the dressing room. Once the ladies were out of sight, Babs slithers into the back room. Craig sees her move toward the back room and mutters, "You don't know when to quit, Bar Bar"¦." Barbara searches the room for her dresses, her work. She still wasn't ready to believe that her son would betray her. Tonight would be the night her clothes were on display. After confirming that none of the clothes in the room were hers, she heard Paul introduce Jen. Babs swoops over to the live television feed in the room and watches as her daughter took center stage in a dress that was not one of her own creations. You could see the pain in her eyes and heart as she realizes just how far the deception and lies went. Just then Craig walked into the room and wasted no time in cutting Barbara down to size, "Jennifer has never looked better. Course, she's probably never worn such beautiful clothes." Realizing who was in the room with her, Bar Bar turned around and spat out his name, "Craig." Craig tells her Jenn was born to wear Carly's clothes. After a few more barbs between them, Craig leaves her alone in the room with the rest of Carly's collection. "You're a fool Craig. You and everyone else who's crossed me." She returns to the rack and finds the big finale: the wedding dress. Barbara's eyes light up with her own designs on what she will do with the dress. She slowly unzips the garment bag, but is interrupted by models coming in for another clothing change. Barbara gets out of sight just in time.
Bonnie is the next to go out on stage and she stuns her mother with her poise and beauty. Jessica and Dr. Ben both clapped for Bonnie. Isaac couldn't stop staring. Jessica notices the eye contact between her daughter and Isaac and asks him what that was all about. He denies anything more going on other than mutual admiration. Bonnie got back to the dressing room where she and Jenn acted like schoolgirls. They are drunk with the excitement of being on a New York fashion runway and loving every minute of it. Isaac made it past stagehands and brought Bonnie flowers after all. Bonnie was speechless. Isaac told her that her family and friends were out there cheering for her. He bends over to kiss her, on her cheek, then returns to his seat. After feeling so alone for months, and maybe years, Bonnie decides to let her guard down and let her family and friends into her life.
Everyone finally left the back room except for Pru. Barbara appears from behind a dressing screen and Pru is surprised to see Barbara at the show. Barbara tells Pru to "leave and close the door on the way out." Pru offers to get Paul, but Babs grabs her and throws her to the ground. Pru hits her head on the way down and falls into a heap. Barbara says, "I told you not to interfere. I have work to do." She saunters over to the wedding dress and grabs for the garment bag when Jenn walks into the room.
Abigail finds Adam shirtless and in the arms of Brandy, kissing.
Jenn misses her cue on stage and that sets a fire under Paul, Jack, Craig, and Carly. Craig fesses up that he saw Barbara "slip backstage." Carly told Paul to "keep the show going. I have to go save my clothes."
Jenn rushes over to Pru to find her breathing, but unconscious. Jenn says they have to get help for Pru. But while she was talking, Babs was closing the door and turning the lock. "Sorry Jennifer --- I won't let you do that."
Abigail finds Adam with his tongue down Brandi's throat. Brandi makes a quick exit and Adam apologizes, and Adam tells Abigail that he slept with Brandi because Abby is more interested in Nick. They argue, and Adam's jealousy of Nick comes out. He says that Brandi wanted him in a way that Abigail never has. She wonders if he's jealous of Nick, or the fact that she won the video award. Adam warns her that Nick is using her. She retorts that Adam is the user, and he snidely apologizes that he's not the man that Nick is. Abby storms off. She arrives home, where Molly and Jake have prepared a congratulations party for her. Molly feels that Abigail has shut her out of her life. Abigail tells her what Adam did, and immediately thinks that Molly is taking Adam's side. Brandi meets Nick at Java Underground, where he pays her off for setting up Adam and Abigail.
Barbara orders a terrified Jennifer to take off Carly's dress and picks up a pair of scissors to slash the other dresses. She wonders how long her daughter has been keeping things from her and imagines everyone laughing behind her back. Carly knocks on the door, and Barbara hides behind it as she opens it, then threatens Carly with the scissors. Carly manages to get Jennifer out of the room safely and checks on an unconscious Prue. Barbara accuses her of turning her daughter against her, which Carly retorts is better than her turning into a knife wielding psychopath. Carly tries to reason with an increasingly agitated Barbara, who refuses to believe that Paul and Carly were trying to save BRO. When Barbara goes to destroy more of the dresses, Carly tells her she'll have to go through her first. "I was hoping you'd say that," Barbara replies.
In the BRO audience, Jessica, Rose, Mitzi, and Jack realize that something is wrong, as Billy and Craig are separately approached by a tabloid reporter looking for dirt. Jack calls Officer Shanks and discovers that Barbara was not on the plane back to Oakdale. Jen walks down the runway, mouthing to Paul that their mother is in the back. Jack and Paul rush backstage, where Jack bursts in just as Barbara and Carly attack each other. Carly and Prue leave the room as Jack detains Barbara, who starts crying and apologizing. Jack refuses to buy her act. Carly and Paul quickly regain control over the fashion show. Paul lays into his mother and Jack tells him it's time to reveal Carly as the designer just as the tabloid reporter bursts in.
Carly is telling Craig how glad she is that he is there when Paul grabs her and stops the show to announce that she designed the fall line. The press applauds her as Barbara seethes while watching a video feed. Jack tries to calm her down as she gets increasing irrational. Rose meets Paul with a big kiss. When he tells her about the ruined dresses, she and Mitzi go to work to fix them. When Barbara sees what they're doing, she threatens them. Jack tells them to go ahead, he'll sit on Barbara if he has to. Billy meets up with Jennifer to make sure she's alright. She tells him she can't even recognize her mother anymore. Craig watches them kiss from across the room.
Jack wonders how long Barbara is going to use her accident as an excuse for her actions. She tells him she would rather see her company fail than see his trampy ex-fiancée get away with deceiving her. She promises that tonight was just the beginning - she will not go away. He escorts her out just as Jen appears on the runway in the finale wedding dress. As Carly appears on-stage with Paul and Jen, Barbara vows to make her pay. Recap --->
At the police station, James Stenbeck and Margo are playing Gin. Margo tells James she will not release him until she knows that Barbara and Paul are safe. While handcuffed, James places his cards down calling "Gin" and saying, "I play by my rules."
At Hal's place, Emily and Hal look at the picture of Jennifer in the newspaper. Hal comments that it is upsetting that his children have had to grow up rather quickly. He wants to protect them. Emily says it's impractical but a loving thought. At that moment, Adam walks in and tells Hal he needs to talk to him. Adam tells his father that he had sex with another girl and that Abigail caught them. Adam says he feels like he is a hypocrite because he was sneaking around behind Abigail. Hal asks if Adam wants her back
Adam says he does and is willing to apologize a hundred times. Hal tells his son that he shouldn't hate himself but rather he should regret it and be embarrassed. Then he will know he is truly sorry. In time, Hal says, there comes forgiveness. Adam asks if Hal forgives Barbara for being with Craig. "Yes", replies Hal.
At the BRO reception, Isaac and Bonnie flirt with each other and drink champagne. Then, some old friends of Bonnie's appear and talk with her and Isaac. It is clear that Bonnie embellished her current position at Java. She told her friends that she was managing a private, exclusive club. Isaac tells the girls the club is not exclusive. He then puts on a "street act" and his speech suddenly includes the words "chillin", "relaxin", and "ya'all." Embarrassed, .Bonnie asks him to get them more champagne. She continues to talk with her friends and one of them says she has an apartment on Park Avenue that Bonnie could move right into. Bonnie looks at Isaac and goes over and apologizes to him for lying to her friends. He coolly says that's fine with him. Bonnie says she thought he was angry with her. No, says Isaac, he was just having fun. That's why he came to New York anyway.
Jen convinces Billy to go to the reception with her for a little while. At the reception, Paul asks Jen to represent BRO for the next 5 years. Jen thinks they should speak to Barbara first but Paul thinks it is okay for them to make the decision. Jen gets frustrated and tells Billy she doesn't know why she defended her mother because her and Paul only care about themselves and Jen wishes she could be that way too. Billy wants to leave but Jen says the party can make her career and she has decided to make the most of it. She rushes over to the reporters and introduces herself as the new BRO model. Eventually, Billy gets tired of watching her indulge herself and leaves. Jen doesn't realize he is gone until Mitzi tells her he has left.
Paul, Carly and Rose discuss the success of the show. Carly thanks Paul and Rose for fixing the clothes that Barbara tried to destroy. Craig comes over to kiss Carly's hand. Paul tells him that it is a private party but Carly says she invited him. Paul tells Craig to stay out of his way.
Carly and Craig drink champagne and Carly thanks him for everything he did for her. Craig says that even though he wanted BRO to fall, he said it was better to watch Carly to succeed. They almost kiss just as the press starts asking questions. One reporter brings up the trial and questions them about their relationship. The reporter asks if Carly's plan was to drive Barbara out of her company and steal her husband. Carly is offended and politely ends the interview. Later, at the hotel room, Carly says Craig was her hero tonight. He says he was just happy to see his friend in the spotlight. He then says he doesn't have a room and Carly asks if he expects her to fall for that old routine. Slowly, he begins to kiss her neck, shoulders, and face. She kisses him back.
Rose comforts Paul and reassures him that he did the best thing. He fears that he saved the company but may have lost his mother in the process. Rose says Barbara will be fine. "She's a tough cookie." Rose tries to make him feel better but he can't stop thinking that he was acting like a Stenbeck, doing anything to get what he wanted. Rose says he is not his father's son. Paul asks how she can be so sure. She replies, "Because I don't fall in love with people like that." Paul says that no matter what happens or who gets in their way, they always end up together. Rose and Paul dance and kiss.
Later that night, Jack brings Barbara to the Oakdale police station. She asks for Hal. Margo says he is home but she can call him. At that moment, James is being walked in and asks Barbara if she is going to be locked up with him. First Barbara says she wants to press charges but when James says she'd be lying just like she did on the witness stand at the trial, she says to forget it. James continues to taunt her and Jack says he will put James where he belongs. James tells Margo that the reason she kept losing at Gin was because she always collected Kings and Fives. He says, "Predictability is a handicap my dear." Margo has one of the police officers follow James and gets angry later when they tell her they lost him. Jack tells Margo what happened in New York. Margo says, "Carly got everything she wanted - except you." Jack says he has seen her and Craig together and they have an understanding.
Barbara goes over to Hal's place. She is upset and says she needs him and wants to talk to him. Just then, Emily walks down the stairs holding handcuffs and wearing Hal's police shirt. Barbara tries to throw Emily out but Hal says Emily should stay. Hal tells Barbara that he will be a friend to Barbara but that whatever they had is gone and in the past. His life is now with Emily. Barbara storms out and Emily tells him to go after her but Hal won't leave Emily alone. She says she knew this moment would come and she was always so nervous that Hal would pick Barbara. Now that he picked her, she feels a huge responsibility and tells him that this is his chance to get away from her. Hal says he doesn't want out. "I picked you because every single day I fall for you a little bit more", he says. With tears in her eyes, she says she feels so lucky. He does too. They kiss.
Back at Tradewinds, Barbara arrives home to find James in her home. Barbara tells James that Rose stole her son, Carly took her business, and Emily turned Hal against her. Everything she ever loved or needed is gone. James says she still has him.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, an original episode of As The World Turns will not be shown today. Instead, CBS will air a repeat of a classic episode from 1986. On behalf of everyone at Soap Opera Central, we would like to give our thanks to you for visiting the Soap Central web site. We wish you a very happy, healthy and safe holiday.
Due to the extended Thanksgiving holiday, As The World Turns was not shown today. This preemption was expected and there will not be any lost or missed episodes. Programming will resume Monday where Wednesday's show ended.
