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Following recap: Damage (November 2)
David placed flowers on Amanda's grave as reporters looked on, and he told Victoria that she'd been right about the press not leaving him alone, but he'd needed to see the burial site for himself. David thanked Victoria for confirming his story with the FBI, and he imagined what the headlines would have said if they'd run away together. He said that thinking about their life together had kept him sane, and she promised that they would have it.
Emily took out her frustrations on a punching bag, and she grumbled to Nolan that Victoria hadn't left David's side in five days. Emily imagined how fragile David's mind was after the torture Conrad had inflicted, and she suspected that it was exactly what Victoria had needed to manipulate David. Footage appeared on the computer screen of David visiting Amanda's grave, and Emily pledged to get him away from Victoria. Nolan warned that David had tried to kill Emily, but she theorized that David had been looking for Conrad when he'd broken into the manor. Nolan cautioned that David might not be the man he had once been.
Later, Emily lurked among a crowd of reporters at a hotel as Victoria and David stepped out of a car. Another vehicle suddenly sped toward David, who tumbled out of the way as Victoria screamed his name. Victoria embraced David, and security officers escorted them inside. Victoria insisted that they stay at a friend's estate out of town to ensure David was safe, but David thought the information he'd gathered about Amanda hadn't made sense, and he was determined to find out what had happened to his little girl.
Emily theorized to Nolan that Victoria had been behind the stunt with the car to put a police line between Emily and David, and Nolan suspected that Victoria had thought through her plan with the same precision that Emily usually exercised. Nolan urged Emily to slow down, but Emily recalled that she'd never seen David in prison, and she relived the guilt every day. She said that she had a chance to make it right, but Nolan noted that Victoria had managed to block anyone other than family from getting through, and Emily didn't qualify -- yet.
Charlotte tried to hide her face from photographers as she entered the hotel, and she ran into Emily in the lobby. Emily asked for Charlotte's help to get her in to see David alone, and Charlotte dryly suggested that Emily scale the building and knock down the door. Emily questioned whether Charlotte was siding with Victoria, who Emily accused of being behind the attack that day. Emily argued that Victoria would do whatever it took to get what she wanted, including putting David's life at risk, so Emily had to stop Victoria by telling David the truth.
Later, Charlotte demanded to know if Victoria had been behind the attack on David, but Victoria denied it. Charlotte implored Victoria to tell David the truth like Emily wanted to do, and Victoria warned that Emily was manipulating Charlotte, since Emily resorted to violence and fear when her plans didn't work. Victoria asserted that if Emily had told the truth when she'd arrived in town, Amanda and Declan would both still be alive. David entered, and Charlotte rushed into his arms. Charlotte said that there was someone he needed to meet.
Reporters peppered Jack with questions about David, and Jack yelled for them to get off his property. Jack showed up for his shift at the police station, but Chief Sanchez told him to sit it out until David Clarke's return blew over. Ben sympathized that Jack was dealing with some heavy stuff, and Jack confided that he almost hadn't made it through losing Declan and Amanda, but Conrad had gotten what he'd deserved. Ben pointed out that Conrad's murder was a high-profile case that had been gathering dust, but Jack replied that justice had been served.
An officer secretly gave Ben a file, and Ben later interrogated a cop who had worked on Charlotte's kidnapping case. The cop explained that he'd never bought that Jack had planned it all, since Jack's wife and brother had been killed, and the operation had taken more money than the owner of a dive bar could have afforded. Ben asked if Jack had been a suspect in Conrad's murder investigation, but the cop revealed that Jack had been at the police station for questioning when Conrad had been killed.
Later, Chief Sanchez confronted Ben about pulling the files without authorization, and he lectured that a beat cop hadn't had any business accessing them. Ben argued that Conrad's murder case was still open, and Sanchez understood that Ben was hungry to make detective, but he advised that it wouldn't happen by getting involved with that case. Sanchez ordered Ben to hand over the file, and he warned that nothing good would happen by digging into it.
Jack grumbled to Nolan that he'd become a cop to get control of his life, but he felt the control slipping away. Nolan said that David had been the father he'd always wanted, but things had fallen apart when he'd thought David had been guilty, and he wanted to see David. Jack countered that he wanted David to stay as far away as possible, since David thought of Carl as his grandchild, and Jack couldn't imagine what to tell David. Nolan reported that while he hoped the truth would be revealed, he was afraid that Emily was in a rush to meet a man who didn't exist anymore.
Margaux left a voicemail message to urge Victoria to call her back, since they were family. Daniel quipped that Victoria was busy working a three-ring circus, and Margaux reminded him that Victoria owed her. Margaux offered to help change public opinion about the Grayson family, but Daniel said that he'd lived life with Emily in the headlines, and he didn't want to risk losing Louise as a client. Margaux advised him to keep Louise happy.
Emily paced in the hotel lobby, and she spotted Margaux handing a bellhop a thick envelope. Emily snatched away the envelope and accused the employee of sneaking into David's room to get footage, and she snapped that she'd expected better from Margaux, who defended that she had a job to do. Margaux questioned why Emily was there, and Emily claimed that she was there to fight on Amanda's behalf against the people who wanted to use David. Emily received a text message from Charlotte, inviting her to David's room.
Emily knocked on the hotel room door, and Victoria cheerfully greeted Emily and said that Charlotte had mentioned Emily would be stopping by. Victoria asked what Emily had planned to do if she'd found David there, and Emily barked that she knew Victoria was desperate to turn David against her. Victoria swore that she wouldn't destroy David's memory of his child, since she'd leave it up to Emily to do the honors. Emily hissed that Victoria had ripped David's child away and had poisoned Emily's memories of her father, and she ordered Victoria to tell her where David was. Victoria wondered whether Emily intended to tell David about the death Emily had caused in David's name.
Victoria taunted that Emily's plan had been perfect, except for the fact that David was still alive, and Emily had to live with the repercussions of what she'd done. Emily vowed that Victoria had to live with her own, and Victoria imagined that it would be fun to watch Emily either tell David everything or stay hidden in her pathetic identity. Emily said that she saw Victoria as a frightened woman who was about to lose the last person she could trick into loving her -- to his daughter.
Meanwhile, Charlotte and David arrived at Jack's home, and Jack claimed that Carl had a checkup, but Charlotte insisted that David meet his grandson. Jack obliged, and Charlotte commented that Carl had Amanda's eyes, but David said that it was hard to remember. Charlotte went to get Jack and Amanda's wedding album, and David remarked that Jack had a nice home. Charlotte wished Amanda had seen the place, since Amanda and Jack had lived in a cozy apartment above the bar. Charlotte showed David photos of Amanda, and David agreed that Carl had Amanda's eyes. Jack reiterated that he had to get Carl to a doctor's appointment, and David said that it was clear Jack had grown up to be an honorable man. Charlotte coolly called Jack one of the good guys.
Daniel met Louise at a dress shop, and as the other patrons stared at him, he suggested that she choose a more private spot the next time, since his family was the tabloids' top story. She said that it didn't bother her, and he caught a glimpse of her changing behind the dressing room curtain. Louise said that she was still trying to figure him out, and she referred to the feud between him and his mother. He called Victoria a control freak who had injected herself into his love life, and he joked that dating him was the sure way to get his mom's attention. Louise emerged in a sexy dress, and she inquired if it was "too much or hot damn," and Daniel said it was the latter. Louise asked if she'd been wasting her best flirting on him, and he assured her that he was unattached.
In Daniel's hotel room, Daniel and Louise toasted to her getting what she wanted, and she observed that his room had no personal items to remind him of his family or his roots. She surmised that he was a man in search of an identity, and he commented that she wasn't like anyone he'd ever met. Louise blamed it on the electroshock therapy, and she asked what part of himself he was trying to figure out. They hovered seductively close to one another, and she asked what the matter was, since she thought he was as attracted to her as she was to him. Louise asked Daniel to tell her what he wanted, and he pulled her into a passionate kiss as they collapsed onto the bed.
Nolan was surprised when David showed up at his door, and he imagined that David had questions about Amanda. David asked if Nolan had given the journals to her, and Nolan swore that he'd handed everything over to Amanda on the day she'd been released from juvenile detention, but David didn't understand why she'd been living above a bar. Nolan suspected that David had heard a lot of crazy things about Amanda, but he implored David not to take everyone's word as fact. Nolan urged David to trust what he knew in his heart to be true, and David confided that the problem was that the more he'd heard, the harder it was for him to remember his little girl. David added that it scared him that his memories were slipping away, and the men embraced.
Emily stood on the porch of the beach house, and Jack appeared and figured it had been a bad day for both of them. She revealed that Victoria had been waiting when she'd gone to see her father, and Nolan had been right to warn her not to go. Jack doubted that anyone could have stopped Emily, and she wondered if David would hate her for everything she'd done. Jack thought that she was letting Victoria get into her head, and he counseled her to have faith in David, since a father never stopped loving his child.
Emily worried that Victoria would influence David with a twisted version of the truth, and Nolan showed up and announced that he'd just been with David. Nolan divulged that David was afraid of losing touch with his memories of his daughter, and there was still a chance David and Emily could connect. Emily decided to take David back to a time Victoria couldn't touch, when it had been just father and daughter living at the beach house together.
Jack showed up and saw an inebriated Charlotte, who offered him a drink. Jack asked if David's return was a sick joke to her and Victoria, and he questioned what would have happened if he'd told David the truth. Charlotte taunted that a coward like Jack wouldn't expose them, and he compared her to Conrad for getting a power trip by torturing David. Jack caught Charlotte's hand when she tried to slap him, and he spat that it was no wonder she had to hide behind alcohol and drugs, since she couldn't live with herself.
Later, a heavily intoxicated Charlotte left a club with a stranger, and she rambled that she didn't even know his name, but it didn't matter because she didn't want to think or feel anything. The guy swore that he had what she needed back at his place, and he remarked that he'd never thought he'd go home with Charlotte Grayson. She corrected that she was Charlotte Clarke, and he led her to a cab.
Emily visited Margaux to apologize for the day before, and she claimed that she didn't think clearly in matters involving Amanda. Margaux swore that she hadn't intended to exploit David, and Emily called Margaux a good person, as evidenced by Margaux cutting ties with Daniel. Emily said that she wanted to do something to aid David with his recovery and to get Margaux around Victoria's media blackout, but Victoria would never accept a gesture from Emily. Emily asked if Margaux was willing to take full credit.
Margaux visited Daniel and complained that he hadn't returned her calls, and he said he'd been working. She contended that she could do something more to help him than Louise could, but he ordered Margaux to stay out of his work. Margaux told him not to push her away, since they were better together, and she had a way to put his father's scandal behind him forever.
David returned to the hotel suite, and he informed Victoria that he'd sent the police away, since he refused to live like a prisoner. She warned that they needed protection because not everyone had his best interests at heart, and he wondered who he could trust. Daniel arrived to personally apologize for what Conrad had done to David, and he handed over the deed to the beach house as a gift. Victoria argued that she'd already lined up a place, but David said that it was his home, and it was what he wanted.
David, Victoria, and Daniel entered the beach house, and Victoria privately asked Daniel how he'd obtained the deed, since she knew Emily never would have sold him the property. Margaux entered with a camera crew, and Daniel explained that it was part of the deal. Margaux suggested that they contain the gossip by having her cover David's story, and Victoria asked if David was comfortable with it. David said that he was, and Victoria claimed to be happy that he'd gotten his house back, but she glowered as she stalked away.
Later, Victoria admonished Margaux for the power play Daniel and Margaux had pulled, and Margaux proposed that Victoria repay her debt by granting exclusive rights to David's story to Margaux. Victoria said that she couldn't speak for David, but she agreed to facilitate an arrangement if she got final approval on all stories. Margaux balked, and Victoria implied that Margaux's competitors might uncover personal information that could tarnish Pascal's reputation. Victoria dared Margaux to call her bluff, and Margaux agreed to Victoria's terms.
Daniel ended a phone call as Louise sauntered into his suite, and she mentioned that she'd seen him on television with Margaux. Louise added that she'd confirmed with the concierge that Margaux had been sleeping up there for days, and she accused Daniel of lying to her. Daniel admitted that he'd lied to Louise and to himself, since she had been right about him trying to figure out who he was, and that day had reminded him that he and Margaux were good together. Louise asked what that meant for her, and Daniel offered to continue to protect her interests, unless she was no longer comfortable working with him.
Louise assured Daniel that she wouldn't go with anyone but him, and he promised that they'd make a ton of money together by starting over and keeping things strictly professional. Daniel told Louise that he was doing her a favor by keeping her out of his personal life, and he walked her to the elevator. Once alone, she stared into the mirrored elevator wall, and she slammed her hand into it repeatedly. She calmed down and smiled, and she called the press with a story about Daniel Grayson.
Nolan toasted to David's return home, and he asked when Emily planned to tell her father everything. Emily replied that she'd do it when David was ready, but she wanted to give him time to recover. She vowed to win David back honestly by telling the truth, and she heard some music playing inside the beach house. She recounted that she and David had danced to the tune. Meanwhile, David smiled and remembered playing on the beach with a young Amanda.
David flashed back to Amanda being pulled from his arms as he was dragged away. He wrote a journal entry about how evil existed in many forms, including the people he'd thought he could trust the most. He recognized that his anger had almost cost him his memories of the daughter he still loved, and he could feel her again and knew what he had to do. David wrote that Amanda had been wronged by someone he'd trusted, and he swore that there would be repercussions when he got his revenge.
Previous recap: Meteor (October 19)
Following recap: Damage (November 2)
