DykesVision / TV shows / All My Children / Lena & Bianca

written by Margaret Royal

Love, Lies and Voldemort

The Lianca Recaps

Thursday, August 7, 2003

Maggie is sweeping up her room in a hideous ensemble. Let me try to describe it: stacked heel shoes and a denim mini plus big denim belt, with a fitted yellow tee and a light blue tank top, except the tank top has been sewn onto the tee, so it looks like it's layered, but it's really all one garment. There's a knock at the door. She doesn't bother stopping her sweeping, but asks who it is. More knocking, this time more insistent. She finally answers, and it's—Lena! She's in a black v-neck sleeveless knee-length dress. Maggie says she doesn't think she can help Lena, whatever she's looking for. Lena says she needs to know what's up with Bianca. "Why don't you ask her?" says Mags. "I have," Lena says, "lots of times, and she always says the same thing, that she's 'fine.'" "Then, that's you're answer," Mags replies. She has to get back to "busting dust bunnies," and tries to close the door. Lena stops her. She knows something is seriously wrong: "If she's told you anything . . ." "Why should I tell you?" Maggie stonewalls. Lena swallows. "Maggie, I know what you think of me, but I also know that you care deeply for Bianca, just like I do." Maggie looks earnest, maybe uncomfortable. "I only want to help her," Lena continues, "don't you? If you know anything, I really think you should tell me." Her eyes search Maggie's face. Poor clueless Fox.

At Erica's, Bianca, just back from tossing her cookies on yesterday's ep, steps into the living room. There's a knock at the door, and she hesitates to answer it. But she does. It's Anna. She's looking for some help from Binks; it's a "case" that's stumping her, and since the "person involved" is "kind of around the same age" as Bianca, wink, wink, she thinks maybe Binks could give her some advice. Binks is hesitant but finally lets her in. So Anna b.s.es about how they've got this victim who's been assaulted but is afraid to press charges. Bianca's not defensive yet and instead plays possum: "I don't really see how I can help you . . ." Anna was hoping Binks could give her suggestions about how to get said victim to trust her so that she'll tell her what she knows, and Anna can arrest the perp.

Jackson's loft. "Begging for forgiveness, Mary?" Erica asks. "Just trying to beat the rush," replies Mary. Ahhh, Merica is so good. They snipe at each other for a few lines—including one in which Erica says that things between her and Jackson are even stronger—but Jack interrupts them and tells Mary that "[she] and [he] are finished" and asks her to go. She passes Erica but turns around with her arms on either side of the doorway to stare at Jack before he closes the door. "As for you . . ." he turns to Erica, but she stops him, saying with her finger in the air that they're "nowhere near finished." Commercials.

Jack wants to know why Erica is there. Not because of Jerica, she says: "I'm here for Bianca." Jack agrees that Binks has been upset, but he thought she was working through it. Erica disagrees, and thinks Bianca needs help that she can't give. Jack wants to know what happened. She's not sure, but she has a "horrible feeling." All she really knows, though, is that Bianca needs more help than she can give, and she needs Jack to help her. Jack thinks he knows what's going on. Help Erica? "Bianca trusts you," Erica says, "she opens up to you like nobody else." She wants Jack to help her talk to Binks. "Erica, you wouldn't be using Bianca to get to me, would you?" Jack says. She stares wide-eyed, then looks as if she's going to say something, but doesn't.

PVU hallway. Oh, HPF. I'm so sorry you had to stoop so low. She's still standing right outside Maggie's doorway, but Maggie has her come in and closes the door, then turns to face Lena. "I don't feel real comfortable talking about Bianca," she says. Lena understands: "It's okay, Maggie; I just want to help." Maggie doesn't think Binks wants any Hot Polish Help. Didn't she break up with Lena? "Well, yes, but she still loves me, okay, I know that much," Lena says. Mags: "It doesn't look like it." Ouch! "Well, no," Lena answers, "because something happened to make her pull away." Maggie thinks maybe it's the whole sleeping with Michael Cambias/going after Enchantment thing. Agh, Maggie, that's low—and old news. Lena agrees that what she did to Bianca was "terrible," but Bianca forgave her, and they "were planning a future together." "Well, looks like she has other plans," Maggie says, crossing and turning away from Lena, to fiddle with some papers. The Fox just doesn't think it makes sense for Bianca to "shut down so completely without any warning, any reasonable explanation"; she knows something is wrong. Maggie turns back around. "Maybe she just doesn't love you anymore," she offers. Damn, girl. Maggie is being harsh today. Lena freezes, with the all-too-familiar Hurt! expression. "Okay, look," she says, letting down her guard and in a completely different tone, "you're her closest friend. If she were to tell anyone, it would be you . . ." Maggie, frustrated but not really able to keep up her front, looks up at Lena from under her eyebrows. Lena sees it: "She has told you something, hasn't she?" "No, really, she's told me nothing," Maggie lies, which exasperates Lena even more: "Maggie, why can't you just tell me?" Maggie exhales. "Because Bianca needs someone that she can count on. No matter what. And well I just don't think that you're that person." Ohhh, burn, Maggie. Lena pulls back a little and sighs, part in frustration and part disbelief.

Erica's. Anna says that the victim in her case is terrified because the guy who went after her is still free. "Well, I can imagine that that would be very scary," Bianca says, wiping some crumbs off of Erica's coffee table. "So that's why I wanted to tell her that the police will protect her," Anna goes on. "Do you think it would make her open up?" Binks says it might. "What about you?" Anna asks. Binks: "Me?" Anna: "Well, yeah, if you had a friend in this situation, would you tell her to come forward?" "Absolutely," Binks says, in all sincerity. I can't tell if she's not making the connection to her own situation or if she's trying to throw Anna off. "I mean, a crime has been committed; it needs to be reported." And what about the victim's fear? Bianca would tell the friend that there was nothing to fear, that the police would "treat her with compassion and respect," and that she'd get the help she needed. Anna nods. "You're very wise." Bianca says she's "also late"—rrrr!—because, you know, she has that appointment. Anna understands. Binks asks if there's anything else. Anna says no, but tells her to take care. She steps out into the foyer. "And good luck with your case," Binks says. Anna goes. Inside, Bianca turns and exhales quietly.

Back at Jack's, Erica is incensed. "You think that I'm using my daughter to manipulate you? How dare you! I'm here because my daughter is in trouble—I mean real trouble—and you think this is about you? You think that I would use my daughter's crisis to, to bait you?" Jack bumbles a little apologetically and says something about "this one that just left here." Ugh, I hate when people refer to other people as "this one" or "that one." It's so creepy. At least Jack didn't do it with Mary in the room. Anyway, Erica is angry. "Oh, I see, well, if you can't tell the difference between me and Mary Smythe, then you know what, then I am glad that this wedding never happened!" She stalks towards the door, but Jack follows her into the doorway and apologizes. He says that he's "of course" worried about Bianca, but he's also worried about Greenlee, who's had "the shock of her life" and has no one she can turn to. He hopes he can help her. This just makes Erica madder. "Okay, you do that, you go to Greenlee, you help her, you worry about her. And while you're playing daddy to Greenlee, I'm gonna help the daughter that you said you cared about since the day she was born." Jack tries to protest, but she's gone. He throws his hands in the air, yells "damn!", and slams the door.

Maggie wishes she could help Lena, but says she can't. Lena tries to convince her. "Bianca took a chance on me when I didn't deserve it. She helped me when I was completely alone in the world, and now she needs me, and I want to be there for her—to give her the kind of strength that she gave me—" she stamps her foot at the end. Maggie thinks that the best thing Lena can do for Bianca—she opens the door—"is to leave her alone." Lena refuses. "She did not abandon me when I needed her, and I won't leave her now. Maggie, please, just tell me what I need to know." Maggie waits a beat before changing tacks. She says she can't believe that the HPF would "sneak behind [Bianca's] back." Lena protests that she didn't have a choice. "Well, you know, you could've saved yourself a trip, because even if I did know something, I will not betray her trust, I'm sorry." Lena: "Not even to help her?" There's a noise—the sound of somebody clomping around in heels. I'd know that clomp anywhere: it's Binks, of course. She appears in the doorway and looks freaked to see Lena. "What are you doing here?" she blurts. "Bianca," Lena breathes, "I just wanted to know how you are." Oh, the poor Fox. Olga is really selling this. "Well," Binks closes the door, "if you want to know something about me, then ask me—not my girlfriend." Heh. Although this is bullshit, Maggie takes her eyes from Lena for a second to look at Bianca without giving it away. Good job, Liz Hendrickson. Lena's mouth falls open and she looks from Binks to Maggie. Commercials.

Bianca walks to Maggie's chair and puts her purse down. "You and Maggie?" Lena says. "I'm sorry; I don't believe it." Rock on, Lena. Binks tells her to "believe whatever [she] want[s]; it doesn't change anything—right, Maggie?" ". . . Right," Maggie says obligingly. "Because Bianca and I—we are a couple." She crosses to where Binks is standing, and they both face Lena. "No, you're not," replies the HPF, in the same tone she might use disagreeing that the sky is green. "I'm sorry, Lena," Binks says snittily. "Look, if this—if this were true," Lena says, looking at Maggie, "you would've said something." Maggie b.s.es that it wasn't her place. Binks agrees: "she shouldn't have to deal with my ex." Goddamn! Lena stares, open-mouthed, before shifting her weight. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than this, because . . . I don't believe you." Bianca looks at her with a stubborn, unreadable expression. Lena looks back before turning to go.

As soon as the door closes, Maggie tells Binks she should talk to the Fox. "No, she's gone," says Bianca. "And thanks so much for playing along." "Like I had a choice," Maggie says. "Bianca, how many lies are you gonna spin here?" "As many as it takes," Binks snaps. Maggie thinks that Lena "loves [Binks] so much"; Bianca "[does]n't have to play mind games with her." Awww, Maggie. "Games!" Bianca says. Was Maggie playing a game when she promised to keep Bianca's secret, but then "sicced Anna and David on [her]?" Maggie didn't tell them anything! So what was up with Anna, Binks wants to know. "Duh, maybe because you were the one who freaked out at the Valley Inn when Michael Cambias came near you?" Maggie reminds her that she (Mags) pulled a knife on Michael and that he's gone after Kendall and Erica before. Heh. Elizabeth Hendrickson pronounces "Erica" almost like "Urica." Is she perhaps from a northeastern port area? Philly, maybe? "David and Anna are extremely intelligent people," she goes on, and I cackle. "How many dots do you think they really need?" "So you didn't say anything?" Bianca asks softly. Of course not, Maggie says, and reminds her that she had promised "on [their] love for Frankie" that she wouldn't. "I wouldn't give you up for anyone," she BAM BFFs. "But do you realize how scary it is for you to hold onto this?" Bianca looks like she's on the verge of it.

Erica shuts the door to her penthouse and drops her purse on a chair. She walks pensively out into the living room and sees a framed picture of Bianca (hee, it's totally an ABC publicity pic) on a table behind the couch. She picks it up and looks at it, then raises her eyes to the "ceiling." "Oh, Mom," she says. "How I wish you were here. Your granddaughter is in so much pain. She needs you. I need you. I don't know how to fix it. I don't know where to begin. Please help me. Please, tell me what to do." There's a knock at the door. Erica notices it, but continues. "I can't do it alone. I can't." Now there's a second knock. She stays where she is, and now we can hear Myrtle outside. "Erica, darlin', I know you're in there. Security said you'd just come home." Erica wipes some tears and goes to the door. Myrtle flashes a smile, but Erica apologizes and says she can't see her right now. "Well, what's so important you'll send me away without a cup of tea?" whines Myrtle. "My mother," Erica soaps. "I'm, I'm trying to talk to my mother. I've never needed her help so badly." "Yeah," says Myrtle. "Well, you stand back. Because I think I'm the help she sent." She scoots into the living room, and Erica turns thoughtfully and closes the door. Commercials.

Myrtle tells Erica that she knows Erica is hurting over Jack and wishing Mona was there to say the right thing, so she's going to try to do it for her: she says that Jack loves her and will find his way back to her. Erica thanks Myrt but tells her that in Jack's case, she knows she made mistakes and will do her best to correct them, but what she's really worried about is "beyond [her] control." She allows that it's Bianca she's worried about. Myrtle feels bad for poor Binks, who was so excited about the wedding. "And I should have seen it," Erica says. "But I didn't. Maybe because I didn't want to, maybe because I couldn't handle it." Myrtle is having none of this vagueness and drags Erica over to the couch to sit down. Erica says that "it was all right there in front of [her]"—Binks moving out of Fargate House, not eating, burning her clothes. Myrtle reminds Erica that a breakup can be very hard on "a young, tender heart." But Erica goes on, this time about how Binks "obsessed" about the wedding planning. Myrtle thinks Bianca's excitement was only "natural," but Erica disagrees ruefully: "There is nothing natural about what happened to my daughter." What's she trying to say, Myrtle wonders? "Bianca . . ." Erica gulps, but "can't even say it." She realizes that if she "won't let [her]self," she doesn't know how she can help Bianca. Myrtle tells Erica, "whatever it is," to "just say it." "Rape, Myrtle," Erica tearily gets out. "I think Bianca was raped by Michael Cambias."

Myrtle can't believe it. "Bianca? R . . . raped? Are you sure?" Erica exposits about David coming to her with his suspicions, and how "it all makes such perfect sense." Myrtle asks if Erica's talked to Binks. Yes, Erica says, she asked her, Bianca denied it, and she pretended to believe it. "I let her go because I was afraid, Myrtle, because I couldn't look in her eyes, I didn't want to look in her eyes and see . . . God, Myrtle, what am I gonna do, how can I help her?" Myrtle tells her she needs to get the facts, but Erica "can't bear to hear it." Myrt sympathizes about how Erica's spent so long trying to come to terms with her own rape, but "that hard journey has made [her] strong," and that's what Bianca needs. Erica cries that she can't. Myrtle says that she can, and she will. "You will dig deep and you will find out the facts and then you will help Bianca." Erica despairingly shakes her head. "I'm not that strong, Myrtle, I'm really not." Myrtle tells her very firmly that she's the only one who can help Bianca now. "Your heart, and the knowledge of what she's going through, now that's going to give you the courage you need." Erica looks like she's seeing it for the first time. "Of course I will. Of course you're right. Of course I'm gonna help her." "For Bianca's sake, and for yours," says Myrtle. Close-up on Erica drawing shuddering breaths. Are those real tears? Holy shit!

Back at Maggie's room, Binks sits on Maggie's bed with Mags reclining behind her. "I'm sorry that I put you in the middle of all of this," she says. Maggie tells her she doesn't have to apologize to her and that she needs to "stop thinking about everyone else" and start thinking about herself. "Do you understand that?" "David got to my mom," Binks says. "She asked me if Michael Cambias hurt me." "What? When?" Mags blurts. Did Binks tell Erica? "No," Binks says, turning to look at her in disbelief. "I'm not ever going to tell her, Maggie. There's no way that I'm going to put her through her rape again." Maggie asks if Binks will protect Erica forever, and wants her to think about what she needs. "This is what I need," Binks replies. "This is the way it has to be, Maggie; I don't have a choice." Maggie disagrees, but Bianca says that even thinking about the rape "makes [her] crazy." She can't sleep, she can't breathe; she gets sick; she throws up. Rrrrrrr.

Maggie tells her that she can't deny what's happened. "I'm not denying what's happened," Binks says. "I'm just so afraid that if I say those words out loud to somebody that I'm gonna disintegrate; I'll disappear." Maggie tells her that that's not true, but she disagrees. "Maggie, I just want to be the person that I used to be. And the only way I can do that is if everybody still thinks that I'm that person." "You're gonna pretend to be you," Maggie says in disbelief. "I have to; I don't have a choice," Binks answers. "I don't wanna disappear." Maggie steps toward her, takes her hands, and tells her that she won't let her disappear. "Thanks," Binks replies. Maggie jokes that, in her experience, the best way not to disappear "is to have a brain freeze." The hell? Binks is laughing. "I know, isn't that stupid?" Mags says. Hee, I think that was an ad-lib. She suggests they go to the park and have Fudgesicles.

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Screen grabs courtesy of Olga Online.© 2000-2003 (texts) are with the author. If not otherwise stated, the author is Ivanova. All rights reserved.