At the hospital, Epiphany is sharp-tongued and crotchety because she has not heard from her son, Stan. Cassius, the orderly, arranges for her to get a call from a recording artist that she has known and admired since she was fourteen. After the phone call a cheered- up Epiphany takes a break and goes to the roof. Patrick and Robin are distraught after losing a patient on the operating table. Robin tells Patrick that she has had enough losses in her life, including him. They slump on the hospital floor together, share a glass of sparkling cider and commiserate with each other.

Sonny and Kate attend an art gallery function in New York. Sonny asks Kate which painting is her favorite. When she tells him the "Rinaldi," he buys the 1.3 million dollar painting as a Christmas gift for her. He notices a waiter paying particular attention to them. Before he can question the man, the police arrive and harass Sonny. They appear to leave and Sonny apologizes for the intrusion to Kate, who shrugs it off. Later they are approached by a man and woman who are wildly complimentary to Kate to her face, but say vile things about her behind her back. Sonny overhears them and challenges the male. Before Sonny can take action, the cops arrest him. Kate is left alone and embarrassed by what has happened.

Jax wakes up with Carly's flu and cannot attend the party at the Metro Court. Carly goes alone, but does not fully understand the French that is being spoken by Jerry to some of the guests. She suspects that he is up to no good. She warns Jerry that she will not let him hurt Jax and exits in a huff. She arrives home with two waiters in tow who lay out a festive spread. She and Jax celebrate the New Year and their love in the comfort of their home.

Liz arrives at the safe house and finds canvas and paint that Jason has left as a belated Christmas present for her. He calls her to let her know that he has to go out of town and cannot join her. She is disappointed, but tells him that they will have other opportunities to share their love in the upcoming year. She begins to work on a painting, but suddenly grabs her goat and leaves the safe house.

Lucky arrives at Sam's to take her to the Metro Court party. They decide to stay at her apartment and take a bath together instead. Afterwards; they cuddle on the couch and enjoy the fireworks display over Port Charles.

Nikolas does not leave Wyndemere, but not because he is still grief stricken as everyone thinks, but because he is kept company by the physical embodiment of hi beloved Emily, who is dead, but still physically present with him. He does not question why or how Emily can be with him. He is just glad that he can still hold her and touch her. He dances with her and kisses her passionately as the New Year begins.

Due to ABC Sports coverage of The Capital One Bowl, the entire ABC Daytime lineup of daytime dramas – All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital – was preempted today.

This preemption was anticipated and there will be no "lost" episodes as a result of this special sports coverage.

Regular broadcasting will resume on Wednesday, January 2nd and pick up where the action ended on Monday, December 31st.

On behalf of everyone involved in the Soap Central web site, I'd like to thank you for your patronage over the past year. As the site continues to grow and evolve, it is the continued patronage of our wonderful and loyal visitors that has made this site so successful. We hope to see you on the Soap Central over the next 12 months.

Dan J Kroll
Founder, Soap Central

Lucky and Liz have an uncomfortable conversation at the hospital when he questions her whereabouts on New Year's Eve. She tells him that because she was not needed at the hospital and the babysitter was paid, she decided to have a little alone time before she went home. She asks how he spent his evening and he tells her he was with Sam. They agree to put the past behind and try to be friends. Lulu arrives. Lucky heads off with her to Luke's room. Luke is in his room with Ernesto, his contact for Cuban cigars. Ernesto has brought in the banned items wrapped in the sports section. Tracy walks in on them, but Luke is swift to cover up. Ernesto leaves after Lucky and Lulu walk in. Tracy is convinced that Luke is trying to trick her and she gives him a lecture about his health. Lulu and Lucky back her up. Lulu and Lucky leave Tracy with Luke and go about their business.

Jason, Spinelli and Diane are in Sonny's office discussing Sonny's arrest in New York on assault charges. Spinelli is trying to locate him. Diane gets a letter telling her that she has been nominated for "Litigator of the Year," and is ecstatic. She immediately forgets about Sonny' problems and starts thinking about what to wear, when Rick walks in. He tries to engage her in verbal sparring as he smirks about Sonny incarceration, but she tells him she has a life that does not revolve around Sonny, insults his tie and sails out of the coffee house. Rick leaves also. Carly stops in and worries along with Jason about Sonny and his claustrophobia. When Spinelli wants to hack further, Jason tells him to forget it because he will find Sonny in his own way.

Carly gleefully delivers an eviction to Alexis, because her rent is a month and two days late. Alexis apologizes for her new money management company and guarantees payment that day. She tries to be nice to Carly who smugly tells her not to take advantage of Jax. As Carly exits, Alexis tells her that she should also do everything in her power to make Jax happy. Jerry drops in while Alexis is sorting her mail. She also finds a letter telling her that she is nominated for "Litigator of the Year." She is very excited and begins babbling about fashion. Jerry offers to escort her to the event but she refuses him.

At Wyndemere, Nicholas and Emily discuss his tumor and what will happen. He is no longer having violent rages and he wonders if he has exchanged "mad for madness." He tells Emily that he no longer cares about who or what she is. He is just glad that she is there. Lulu drops by to check on him. They talk. He glances at Emily, who Lulu cannot see. Emily makes some comments, but Nichols does not acknowledge her in front of Lulu, who convinces him to go out for a walk. As Lulu walks ahead, he reaches back and surreptitiously takes Emily's hand.

Epiphany is hard on everyone at the hospital because her son has not called to wish her Happy New Year. In his office, Jerry, in his French accent and Mr. Moreau persona, orders one of his henchmen to terminate Stan Johnson, Epiphany's son, who is no longer useful to him. "But do it in Florida," he orders, so the death cannot be traced back to him.

Max worries about a surprise health inspection, but Spinelli hacks into the County system and gives the coffee house a good report. He crows about his superior computer skills when a female health inspector walks in and arrests him for his various crimes. Diane arrives back from shopping in the nick of time. She depicts Spinelli as a troubled loser, who acted without authority and would be a burden on the system if arrested. She guarantees that Jason will pay all Spinelli's fines. She notices the inspector's fashionable scarf and asks for advice about what to wear to her upcoming awards ceremony. They bond over Armani and the inspector accepts Diane's depiction of events.

Sky meets Rick in his office. They exchange pleasantries and discuss spending the day together. She reminds him that Sonny saved his life and questions his motivation for attacking him while he is in jail. She tells him that she knows from personal experience that revenge is not satisfying. When Alexis interrupts them, they act guilty.

Luke returns from therapy to find Tracy searching his room, but she does not find his cigars. After she leaves, he takes them from their hiding place, his water pitcher. He gleefully lights one up, but on the second inhale he starts coughing, then passes out. His monitor make a steady high-pitched sound and visually indicates a flat line.

Epiphany is bubbling over when her son calls. She tells him that she loves him and is proud of him and that she is going to tell him that every time he calls instead of being mad at him. Before he can respond, she hears a loud crash and the line goes dead.

Luke collapses after smoking a cigar in his hospital room. His heart monitor goes off like crazy just as Tracy comes into his room. She sees the cigar in his hand and realizes what may have caused the collapse. She runs out of the room to get his doctor. Tracy looks at Luke and tells him he has cheated death for the last time. Luke finds himself dreaming again. This time he is greeted by his own self dressed in a judge's robe. The "judge" tells him he is in purgatory and on trial for his own sins. The prosecutor turns out to be another version of himself as well as his defense attorney. The prosecutor calls Alexis to the stand first. She tells the "court" that Luke planned the murder of Helena years ago with her as a co-conspirator and reveals that another innocent woman, Katherine, died in her place. Carly testifies that Luke kept her from her mother by telling Bobbie she was dead. Mac testifies that Luke slept with Felicia while she was still married to him. Scott gets on the stand and reveals that Luke took Laura away from him and raped her. Lesley gets on the stand and tells the court that Luke made Laura run off with him for years and years. Luke's attorney doesn't object once and Luke asks him why. His attorney tells him there was nothing to object to because everything that was told about him was true. Nikolas testifies that Luke used to call him "Satan's Spawn" because he couldn't stand the fact that Laura had a son by another man. Luke tells Nikolas that he doesn't think of him that way now. Skye also testifies and tells the court that she was having an affair with Luke when he was first married to Tracy. Tracy also testifies that he is a coward for not having the surgery when he was suppose to and for smoking cigars after he just had surgery because he wants to live on his own terms and no one else's. The prosecution rests and Luke's attorney calls Bobbie up to the stand. Luke expects Bobbie will have only nice things to say to him. Bobbie does talk highly of him but then she admits that Luke lied to her and told her that her daughter was dead when he knew she wasn't and that he encouraged her to be a prostitute when she was a teenager. Lucky and Lulu testify that Luke wasn't much of a father to them and claim he never wanted children but had them only because Laura wanted them. The jury turns out to be all of the people who testified against him in court. They all vote him "guilty." However, Tracy steps up and says he is not guilty and everyone else decides to follow her lead. Dr. Julian Tavares performs CPR on Luke and revives him. Tracy shows Lulu the cigar she found in Luke's hand and tells her he has not been doing what the doctor ordered. Luke wakes up to find everyone watching him in his room. Tracy tells him she is glad he is alive so that now she can kill him.

Sonny is put in one of the interrogation rooms at the NYPD after he is arrested for assault on New Year's. The cop tells him that he is in New York City and doesn't run things there. He tells him he is going down for assault. Kate walks into the room and is very charming to the cop. She asks him his name and learns his last name is Kengle. She tells him she is here to get Sonny and bring him home. She starts dropping names like Mayor Bloomberg and George Steinbrenner to him to get him to listen to her. She sympathizes with him about wanting to please his wife by bringing her to Broadway musicals when he would rather stay home and watch a Yankee game. She tells him she could get him two free front row tickets to a Broadway show so he can take his wife sometime and be a hero to her. He accepts her bribe and is willing to let Sonny go. A black female police officer walks into the room and asks what is going on. She questions the cop about what he thinks he is doing letting Sonny go. Kate offers the female officer a chance to pose for "Couture" magazine as part of a five part series on real women with real stressful jobs and how they view fashion. The female cop admits she use to steal copies of the magazine when she was younger to read about all the fashions and accepts her bribe as well. Kate gives both cops her assistant's business cards and tells them to call and she will take care of them. They let Sonny go. Sonny returns to Kate's hotel room with her. Kate asks Sonny why he knocked the designer into the wall. Sonny tells her it was because he didn't like the guy and had a bad feeling about him all night. Kate isn't buying his explanation and tells Sonny she thinks that the designer must have said something bad about her behind her back and he overheard something to the effect that she must have slept with Warren to get her job back at the magazine. They end up making love and talking later. Sonny tells her that he saw a different side of her tonight and realized that she became a very confident woman over the years since he saw her as a teenager.

Epiphany gets a call from her son Stan, the computer whiz that use to work for Jason and Sonny. Stan is talking to her on his cell phone in his car and tells her he is in Florida. Suddenly, she hears a crashing noise over the phone and calls to Stan to answer her. She doesn't hear his voice anymore and becomes very concerned. Jerry watches her at the nurses' station from afar. He smiles as if he had something to do with it. Epiphany becomes very frantic when Stan doesn't answer her. Liz calls 911 to get a hold of a dispatcher to have them talk to Epiphany about what she knows. Epiphany can't give the dispatcher any useful information because she only knows that her son was driving in Florida somewhere and was away on business. Liz takes out her cell phone and discretely phones Jason to let him know what is going on. Jason and Spinelli show up at the hospital. Jason informs Epiphany that Spinelli managed to track down where Stanford was from some type of GPS system he hacked into on his computer and that a dispatcher from Central Florida was called and they are on their way to the scene of the car accident. Epiphany wants answers as to where Stan is and thinks he still works for Jason and Sonny. Jason tells her that Stan quit working for them back in September and doesn't know who he went to work for in Florida. Epiphany gets a call from the police later on and learns that Stan is dead. She starts crying very hard when she gets the devastating news. Meanwhile, Jerry shows up at Alexis' office at the hotel and makes a phone call about Stan and fills in his contact in a French accent pretending to be a man named Moreau. He tells the man over the phone that he overheard Epiphany talking to her son over the phone and that the car "accident" happened just as she was talking to him. Meanwhile, Alexis shows up at Ric's office after he called her over there. She sees that Skye is there and apologizes for the interruption. Alexis tells him about her nomination for "Woman Litigator of the Year." She tells them that past winners of this award have gone on to become cabinet members and one of them became a Supreme Court judge. He congratulates her on her nomination. She asks him why he called her over. Ric hands her a folder with a document inside it. Alexis realizes it is a trust he set up in Molly's name for her future. Alexis thanks him for doing that but tells him that Molly will be well taken care of. Ric doesn't disagree with that but feels that he needs to contribute to Molly's future since he is her father. Alexis gets a call on her cell phone from Sam. She starts telling Sam about what she wants her to do with the girls when she takes care of them while she goes to her award ceremony. She gets upset when Sam tells her she can't watch the girls for her. Alexis tries to be understanding but she is now in a pickle. Ric tells her he knows someone who could take care of the girls for her, even if it is last minute. Alexis thinks he knows of someone but it turns out he is talking about himself. Alexis is reluctant about him taking care of the girls and makes up some reasons why it may not be a good idea. He persuades her to let him do this favor for her. She thanks him for doing that for her and realizes she needs to put the bad things between them in the past. Alexis heads back to her office to find Jerry talking on the phone. She asks him how he got into her office. He claims that she left her office unlocked. Alexis doesn't believe she would do that. Alexis seems very distracted about her nomination and starts forgetting things like a meeting she missed with the city council. Alexis realizes she may have been absentminded lately and apologizes to Jerry for her accusations earlier. He tells her she can make it up to him by having a drink with him in the bar at the hotel. She agrees to have one drink with him. Jerry gets a call on his cell phone as they are about to leave her office. He tells her he needs to take the call and heads out of the office in front of her. He gets a call from his contact in Florida and learns that Stan is dead and won't be a problem for him any longer. Later, Ric talks to Skye about considering a relationship with him and tells her that he feels they connected on a deeper level when he was attacked at the Ball and she stayed next to him the whole time he was recovering. They share a kiss but Skye is reluctant about getting involved with him in any romantic way.

Felicia goes to Mac and asks him to let her help find Georgie's killer. She still has her Private Investigators license and can help. Harper interrupts them and tells them they found another victim with a phone cord around their neck. Lucky comes in with shoe prints, but he still needs a size. Felicia talks to them about not getting anything accurate. When Lucky leaves, Mac asks her about her other obligations. Felicia says they will have to wait. Georgie comes first. For the rest of her life, she will have to live with the fact that it took the death of one of her girls to bring her home. Maxie comes in disgruntled after hearing her mother's words. She asks her mother where she was anytime a child needed their mother. There was no mother of the bride when Georgie was married. Where was she when Georgie died? She was out saving the world. Maxie tells her that she lost both of her daughters and walks away. Mac follows her and when he comes back in Felicia is already hard at work on the shoe prints. It looks like a military issued boot. Harper comes in with pictures that possibly show gang retaliation. Felicia asks to see them but she is warned that once she looks at those pictures, the pictures in her head of her little girl could be gone forever. Felicia looks at the pictures. Mac comes in and tells her they found something. They will be serving a warrant on Johnny Zacchara.

Johnny comes home where Trevor has been waiting for him. Johnny tells him that he's not going to keep him locked up like his old man. He's crazy, Johnny's not. Trevor asks if Moreau would think the same thing. Johnny tells him that he sent Moreau a message. Trevor warns him that Moreau will swing back. Johnny says he wouldn't think that if he had seen the look in their eyes last night. Trevor says that look wasn't respect, it was fear. A lot of people do things out of fear, like his father. Johnny says his father wasn't afraid of anyone. His mistake was letting Trevor keep him a prisoner. Trevor made decisions that kept his ruthlessness alive. Johnny won't let Trevor or Moreau railroad him. They continue to argue until Johnny walks away. Trevor gets a call from Jerry. He says he's considering other arrangements. Jerry says it's not necessary. He's thinking about going to Corinthos. Johnny walks in and overhears the conversation. He grabs the phone. He tells Jerry they don't need him, but Jerry needs the Zaccharas. He will call Jerry when he needs him. He tosses the phone to Trevor, who tells him that was stupid. Detective Harper shows up to take Johnny to the station for questioning in Georgie Jones's murder.

Jerry goes to Alexis's house where she is trying to get Kristina to eat her oatmeal. She finally lets her leave the table and mentions to Jerry how stubborn she is. Jerry says she must get that from her mother, as well as her beauty. Alexis asks what he wants. He has business to discuss and is hoping they can talk over dinner. Alexis leaves the room to take care of the girls while Jerry takes a phone call. It's confirmation of Stan's death. He tells the caller that he is seen as the pretty face while Jerry is the one taking all the risks. You will have to show yourself sooner or later. Jerry tells the caller not to call him back. Jerry will call if he needs something. When Alexis comes back, Jerry asks her not to fight him to take her out. He wants to tag along to her awards. Ric walks in and says that's not happening. He starts to say something about if Alexis wants to date Jerry, but Alexis stops him and says they're not dating. Jerry seconds that opinion and says that she is just his attorney. Alexis says she is going alone but she will try to push his transaction through for him. Kate calls to talk to Alexis. While Alexis is talking, Ric says if he thinks he's going to have the chance to hurt his daughters...Jerry tells him he should think twice before threatening him. Jerry leaves. Ric, holding Molly, asks where Kristina is. Alexis tells him that she won't come out of her room. He tells her to have a good trip. She is surprised that he doesn't have anything to say about Jerry. He tells her that it's her business, not his. She brings up that Skye is also his business, and not hers. Alexis kisses Molly goodbye and then yells her goodbye to Kristina before leaving. Ric sits down with Molly and Kristina comes out asking where her mommy is. Ric tells her that she just left. Kristina tells Ric that she's hungry and she wants her daddy's waffles.

Jerry ends another call and tells a man that their boats will sit for a few days. They need to hook Johnny.

Kate gets a phone call from Diane. It's a matter of life or death. Diane further elaborates about the nomination and Kate offers to help with the dress. When they hang up, Sonny comes back in from a walk. He bought her an Empire State Building figure. She thinks they should go to the top of the Empire State Building today, but he tells her he can't stay long. It's not fair to Jason. He asks if there's any chance she will come back with him. Diane shows up and when she sees Sonny, she tells him he has 2 choices: go home or go to jail. Kate and Diane talk about the recognition award she was nominated for. Kate tells her the dress is in Port Charles. Diane turns to leave and tells Sonny that he needs to go with her now. He apologizes to Kate for not getting to have their day out. He kisses her before Diane whisks him away.

Liz calls Jason to try to get a dinner date. He tells her that he's been very busy since Sonny is out of town, but he will try. Max comes in and confirms that Stan's car was run off the road. It doesn't look like he was working for any of the other families, but it could be the Zaccharas. Max asks him why he's so hesitant to take down Johnny Zacchara. Jason explains that Anthony Zacchara had a reputation of going after families, but that doesn't mean Johnny is going to follow in his father's footsteps. No child should have to live up to their father's reputation. Carly barges in to talk to Jason and Max leaves. She wants Jason to talk to Michael about not turning into his father and ruining his life. Morgan was playing with one of Michael's toys and accidentally broke it. Michael took Morgan's action figures and broke their knee caps with a hammer. He told Morgan it was payback. Jason says that Michael has to work his anger out somehow. Carly worries that Michael thinks this is how the world works. Jason says he will try to stop by later, but it's been very busy at work. She tells him that the boys have another present for him, an antique globe. Carly doesn't know anyone who deserves to be a father more than Jason. She tells him about wanting to have a baby but doesn't know if it's a good idea if there's going to be a mob war. She asks him if Sonny's starting a war.

Luke pulls a cigar out of a bouquet of flowers, but he has to hide it quickly when Lulu comes in. He tells her he was taking a moment to smell the roses and asks if she's there to give him grief about the cigar he smoked. She tells him she doesn't want to wear black anytime soon. Lulu explains about the current investigation and how Anthony is paralyzed from the neck down. He asks about Anthony's offspring. Lulu says he doesn't have to worry about her and Johnny again. He asks if Johnny is through with her. She tells him that Johnny made it very clear that he doesn't want anything to do with her. She already got her Christmas wish, her father's surgery. It wouldn't be fair for her to go and get herself shot or something. He tells her to lay low. Things are heating up with the mob. Logan shows up to see Lulu. Before she leaves, Luke asks for some coffee cake but Lulu refuses. Once she is gone, Luke gets his cigar out again. Lulu walks back in saying she forgot something. She sees the cigar and the rest of them in the vase. She grabs them all. Luke asks if he can still get his cake, but she walks out. Logan tells her that he has some business to tend to, but he wants to meet up with her later. She agrees and they kiss before parting. Alone in her apartment, Kate sits on the couch staring at the Empire State Building statue. Back in Port Charles, Max finds out Sonny is back and informs him about a situation.

Liz and Dr. Ford both walk toward Epiphany. She sees Dr. Ford and tells him she can finish her work. He offers his sympathy and tells her to go home once she is finished and take as much time as she needs. Epiphany tells Liz that she knows who ratted her out. Liz and Nadine offer to get anything that she needs. Epiphany asks if they can get her son back. Liz tells her she needs someone to talk to, and Epiphany agrees. She knows just the person to talk to, also. Epiphany and Liz go storming into Jason's office, who is in the middle of telling Carly that he's not sure what Sonny will do with the potential mob war. Epiphany tells Jason that she needs him to find out who killed her boy. She believes him when he says that Stan wasn't working for him. Liz points out that they would never put Stan in harm's way. Epiphany tells him to find out who from his world ran her son off the road and put their hands on him. Spinelli walks in and notices the gathering. He and Jason both agree to do what they can to find Stan's killer. Epiphany and Liz leave. Carly points out to Jason that it was strange Liz showed up for all of that. Jason leaves and goes to the hospital to warn Epiphany that she may not like what he finds out. Liz tells him that Epiphany is on break, but he can wait for her. There's no harm in him standing there. He looks down, as Carly watches the conversation.

Maxie runs into Coop outside Kelly's. He asks her if she's ok, and she tells him that she just needs to find somewhere to hide right now. He asks if she wants him to call in, but she tells him no. Just find Georgie's killer. She goes into Kelly's and Spinelli tells her that Georgie would want her to be more careful. Georgie confided in him that she thought Coop was the killer. Maxie erupts in a rage about how if Spinelli had any brains he would have known that Georgie liked him. She starts to break plates as she screams about Georgie and Felicia. Lucky comes in and grabs her. He holds her and she breaks down and cries. He takes her to the interrogation room and informs Mac and Felicia about what happened. He tells them that Mike isn't pressing any charges. Coop sticks his head in the interrogation room and asks Maxie if she needs anything. Meanwhile, Johnny is brought in and demands to know what this is about. Mac steps forward and tells him that even though Georgie is dead it looks like she may be able to ID her killer.

On the plane, a stewardess offers to take Diane's dress. Diane tells her she will hold onto it herself. Alexis and Diane notice each other on the same plane and realize they are both up for the same award.

Trevor tells Jerry via phone that he can control Johnny. Jerry says he is a firm believer that kids need discipline. The best way to make them behave is to take away one of their favorite things. Meanwhile, as Lulu leaves Kelly's, she is grabbed from behind.