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1997
Erica Delivers Maria's Baby: It's
a battle between good Erica and not-so-good Erica this week on AMC when she is
forced to decide what to do when Maria goes into labor immediately after
confessing that she slept with Dimitri last summer. Erica is furious when she
realizes she was the only person who didn't know about Maria and Dimitri's one
night of sex. "A lot has happened to Erica, and she has every reason to be
very upset with Maria and Dimitri," AMC head writer Lorraine Broderick
says. "Let's just say Erica wronged is a very dangerous person to cross.
Erica will go to great lengths to defend and protect what's hers. She lost a
baby, and here she is now being asked to bring Maria's baby into the world.
That's a lot to ask."
Erica would
rather had this conversation with Dimitri. However, Broderick explains,
"He's out of the country, and she intends to make sure that she knows the
100-percent truth from Maria before she has it out with Dimitri."
Minutes after
Erica gets the confirmation, Maria doubles over in pain. However, Erica has her
doubts that Maria is really in labor. She is, and Erica is forced to deliver the
child she believes is Dimitri's son. Broderick explains, "Erica has never
delivered a baby before, but she's given birth herself, and Maria is a doctor.
Maria can talk her through it. Frankly, I don't know if Maria has a right to
expect that Eric would actually stay and help her. That's part of the suspense-
will the milk of human kindness be stronger than her loathing for this woman who
slept with her husband?"
Good wins over
evil, and Erica delivers the baby. Her good will is further challenge when the
baby needs immediate medical attention and Maria begs Erica to rush him to the
hospital. Then, an exhausted Maria passes out.
"Erica
drives off with the baby to get help," Broderick adds. "She's not
going to let the sins of the father be reflected upon the child. She's doing the
right thing, but it's very icy. She's very strung out. She's been thorugh a
terrible ordeal, and the car spins off the road."
At Wildwind,
Edmund and Dimitri are at wits' end about where their wives are and what they're
doing to each other. (SOW 3/11/1997, Gabrielle Winkel)
Erica Finds Maria's Baby, But
Will She Return Him?: Erica is determined to prove to Edmund, Maria and
Dimitri that she did all she could to save Maria's son this week on AMC. If
Wildwind was tense last week, it has become a hotbed of guilt, anger and
heartache this week.
Erica, who's
been in the hospital recovering from her own trauma, sneaks out to Willow Lake,
looking for clues. Erica has clearly taken the high road, according to head
writer Lorraine Broderick. "After what has been done to her, finding out
that Dimitri betrayed her with Maria... I mean, she's had the confrontation with
Maria up in the cabin, but she's really never had the chance to tell Dimitri
what she thinks of him." Despite her rage, Erica is still determined to
clear her name in the disappearance of the baby.
Viewers learn on
Monday's episode that the infant is indeed alive. Erica soon learns the news as
well and is ready to bring a happy end to the tensions at Wildwind; however, she
may change her mind when she gets home. (Gabrielle Winkel, SOW 3/18/1997)
Jack and Edmund Question
Erica's Adoption: Erica may have
fooled much of Pine Valley into believing her newly acquired daughter, Sonya,
came from Russia, but Edmund and Jack don't buy the story for a minute. This
week on AMC, both men begin to question Erica. She's able to keep them guessing,
at least for now.
Associate head
writer Fred Johnson explains, Erica holds to the belief "that there's no
hurdle she can't jump and that this is a very easily covered story."
Edmund is
concerned about the legality of the adoption; he thinks Erica may have bought
the baby on the black market. But, Johnson says, "Nobody is going
immediately to the fact that this baby could be Maria's child drowned, and that
it was a boy."
Jack's
"concerns are of a more protective nature. If she has done something that
is slightly askew, he feels that as her friend, as an attorney, he should
prevent her from doing anything that's going to cause trouble for her
later," Johnson says.
Later this
week, Jack asks to see the adoption papers. Viewers know there aren't any, but
Erica tells him they're being translated in New York by a professor of Russian
at Columbia University. (Gabrielle Winkel, SOW 4/8/1997)
 Erica Finally
Gives Back Maria's Baby on AMC: Through
tear-filled eyes and with a heavy heart, Erica returned Sonya to her birth
mother, Maria, June 24. It was a long-awaited resolution to a storyline that
many believe was not AMC's finest hour. Many viewers and SOW readers were
incensed that Erica had actually kidnapped a baby, and that Maria and Sonya, now
called Madeline, had been kept apart for so long.
But the scenes of
the baby's return, at Wildwind, were dynamite- and almost worth waiting for.
Both Susan Lucci and Eva LaRue Callahan (Erica and Maria) were magnificent. The
actressesm wgi gave always had good chemistry, clearly threw every ounce of
themselves into those scenes. Erica and Maria were at opposite ends of the
spectrum, from great sadness to great joy.
The scenes
were carefully crafted- read: played out very slowly- so that viewers could
watch Erica chip away at Maria's disbelief. At first, Maria denied the
possibility that her son (actually, daughter) is alive. She thought Erica was
back on pills and determined to subject Maria to cruel and unusual punishment.
Maria begged Erica to stop this torture, while Erica clearly wished she didn't
have to return the baby at all.
However, once
Erica showed the birthmark to Maria, all doubts vanished and all Maria could see
was the baby she thought she lost. "To have the baby be right there, and to
have had it be so close for so long, and not having known," Callahan says,
"she's dealing with surprise and joy and frustration. And, oh, my god, the
baby's here and back and let's just concentrate on this and forget Erica. Who
cares about Erica? The baby's here."
The mother and
child reunion was also a chance to hear, for the umpteenth time, Erica's
rationalization of why she kept the baby. At first Maria wasn't interested in
explanations. That soon changed. "I was glad that they did get to the point
where Maria got to say her piece, because I was going to be a little bummed if
Maria never got to take anything out on Erica," Callahan adds. (Gabrielle Winkel, SOW 7/22/1997)
Dimitri Wins Custody of Maddie: Edmund is crushed when Dimitri is awarded custody of
Maddie this week on AMC. The judge's decision stems primarily from the fact that
Dimitri is (or so everythong thinks) Maddie's biological father. However, thanks
to Dimitri's mechinations and provocations, Edmund went into a rage in front of
the judge, an incident that certainly harmed Edmund's standing as a responsible
father even more.
"After the
ruling, Edmund goes back to Wildwind and is surrounded by Skye, Hayley, Mateo
and Isabella. It's just very, very sad," associate head writer Frederick
Johnson says. It's a challenging time for Skye as well. She has to live with the
knowledge that she could have prevented this tragedy if she had only told Edmund
he is Maddie's biological father. "So as much as she wants him to be
happy," Johnson says, "the thought that he would be happy but hate her
and want nothing to do with her for the rest of his life puts her between a rock
and a hard place. She vacillates, and ultimately it's the love for Edmund that
prevents her from opening her mouth."
Many AMC viewers
wonder why Edmund didn't insist on a second blood test. "That's a good
question," Johnson says, but "Edmund does know where the paternity
test came from- he knows that it's a highly professional, extremely reputable
laboratory in Center City, the kind of place that's just above reproach, and it
never occurs to him that there could have been a mistake."
(SOW 10/7/1997)
 Edmund is On to Dimitri's Plan
on AMC: Dimitri
and Edmund are rocked by disturbing information this week on AMC. Dimitri learns
that Maddie is not his daughter. "They take Maddie to the hospital, and an
innocent slip by the doctor or nurse about blood types makes Dimitri realize
that he is not the biological father, because the blood types are
incompatible," head writer Lorraine Broderick explains. "He's
determined to find out how this happened and if there was some mistake. And, of
course, that trail has to at some point lead to Skye."
Meanwhile,
"Skye finds the pills that Dimitri used to get Edmund to act out in the
courtroom that day," Broderick continues. "Edmund has to get all of
his ducks in a row, but he suspects that Dimitri drugged him. He's been fine
since that day in the courtroom, and then to have the pills turn up at
Dimitri's..." Edmund, always the journalist, is determined to prove that
Dimitri set him up, while Dimitri will have to deal with whether to tell Edmund
what he as discovered.
"This is the
beginning of a big build in this brother story," Broderick teases.
"We're going to see a lot of Edmund and Dimitri in the coming weeks, and
each of them is on the trail of something different." (SOW
10/28/1997)
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