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A Lucky Break
by Soap Opera Digest, January 18, 2000

"Not a hint. Not even an inkling. So effective was the faking of young Lucky Spenser's death just a few short months ago that not even his never-to-be-fooled father, Luke, had any clue his beloved first born was still alive. But this week on General Hospital, the truth will be outed to a stunned Mr. Spenser- by Faison, of all people- who blows the big secret before taking an explosive turn of his own...

As the week begins, the biggest concern of Luke- as well as the denizens of Port Charles- is the escape from jail of archvillian Cesar Faison. 'Helena helps Faison escape,' notes Head Writer Robert Guza Jr. 'She holes him up until getaway plans can be made and put into effect.'

Which is done in a manner of days. But naturally, before the departing despot takes his leave, he contacts rival Luke for one last game of cat and mouse. Reveals Guza, 'On Wednesday, he calls Luke and basically says, "Come meet me. I'm at these docks at the northern end of the lake, and I have some very interesting information for you."'

As one might expect, 'Luke goes racing over there,' states Guza. And what he finds is eerily reminiscent of the scene in which Faison purportedly left the canvas back in 1992. 'Luke finds Faison in a boat. The motor is running and Faison is preparing to take off.'

But before he does, notes Guza, Faison has parting words for Luke: 'Faison essentially says, "I just thought you might want to know that your son, Lucky, is alive and...' In other words, there's more to the sentence.

Is there ever. But the arrival of Mac brings an untimely halt to that statement. 'There's a gunshot,' relates Guza. 'And Luke turns around to see Mac, who has tracked Luke there. Luke grabs Mac and keeps him from firing another shot, because Luke doesn't want Faison killed until he hears what Faison had to tell him.'

Unfortunately, that's not to be. The scuffle allows Faison the narrow window of opportunity he needs to escape once again. 'Faison takes off in his boat before he's able to complete that sentence,' sighs Guza. 'And just as the boat pulls away from the dock, there's this huge explosion. The boat is blown sky-high.'

But as we've learned before, Faison has an uncanny ability to survive boat explosions. 'Of course, this echoes- not accidentally- the previous explosion Faison was in with Robert and Anna,' admits the scribe. 'So, obviously, Mac is particularly concerned that Faison is dead, because he blew up once before and then returned.'

Before the investigating can begin, however, a stunned Luke and Mac turn on each other. 'Mac goes, "What the hell are you doing? You let him escape!"' bellows Guza. 'And Luke says, "Why the hell didn't you let him finish what he had to say!" Mac says, "Well, he's not going to say anything to anybody now- he's blown sky-high!"'

As is the secret of Lucky's 'death,' which the savvy Luke neither reveals to Mac nor completely completely believes himself. 'This is a tricky thing,' offers Guza, 'because in Luke's mind, he's going, "There's something funny here. Why would Faison tell me this? Why would he do me this favor? It doesn't make any sense. He's told me this and he knows it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life." So Luke does not necessarily believe it outright.'

But this doesn't stop the flood of emotions that Luke experiences in the aftermath. 'Lucky was a big, bright light [in Luke and Laura's lives],' smiles Anthony Geary (Luke). 'He was an angel sent to guard us.' Adds Guza, 'Luke starts thinking, "If Lucky's alive, how could I not know it? How could I not feel it? Maybe it is true... but what else was Faison trying to tell me?"'

And the answer to that is... 'What Faison was goint to say was, "Lucky is alive and... Helena has got him," reveals Guza. 'Had Luke heard this, then it would have made sense, because he would have said, "Okay, I get it. Faison told me this because he's p---ed at Helena and he wants to sic me on Helena. That's why he's blowing her secret to me.' But since Luke never gets to hear that second part of the sentence, he's left wondering.'

And still profoundly shaken. So shaken that he doesn't admit to any of his loved ones- including Laura- what Faison told him. 'Luke's arguement is that the chances are very good that Faison is messing with him,' explains Guza. 'So he can't afford to raise Laura's hopes again. She would just be shattered to find out it's not true. He says, "I have to prove it muself. I have to know it's true first."'

Which is just what Luke intends to do on Thursday when he resolves to take off in search of proof. 'He tells Roy and Felicia that he's leaving town,' shares Guza, 'but he doesn't say what he has to go off and do.' He also doesn't reveal anything to Laura, with whom he crosses paths before heading out of town. 'He cannot tell her at this point. But she knows something's up. Of course, she has no idea that it's at all connected to Lucky.'

Once Luke returns to town on January 28, look for the story to gather speed. 'This is going to build straight through to February sweeps in a very interesting way,' previews Guza. 'It's going to fold in Luke and Felicia on an adventure, and then later, Luke, Laura, and Felicia. It will have major implications for all of the couples on the show, including Luke and Laura, Mac and Felicia, Liz and Nikolas, Stefan and Laura, Luke and Felicia. You'll also see Helena start to believe Alexis is on to her. She is wrong, but she takes matters into her own hands to make sure that Alexis can't act against her.'

Teases the scribe, 'Once Lucky is found, it's not going to be the way it appears. The ultimately rescue of Lucky is not in any way the end of the story. You could probably argue that it's just the beginning...'

Getting Lucky
Speculation as to who will be lucky enough to fill the shoes of the kidnapped Master Spenser- and when exactly we'll see this beloved character again- has been rampant for weeks. Here's some insight into Lucky's second coming.

'You're not going to actually see the person [who plays Lucky] until February sweeps,' demurs Guza. And exactly what that 'person' is remains to be seen- for now. According to insiders, reports that Jacob Young (ex-Rick, Bold and Beautiful) has clinched the role may be premature. Yes, Young has inked a test deal with GH- but so have all the othe actors screen-testing for Lucky. (It's standard procedure on many daytime shows to sign up potential hires ahead of time in order to avoid messy contract negotiations once the part is offered.) Definative news of the recast is imminent, so stay tuned."

'I'm very lucky,' Hove says. 'Work-wise, I don't have anything to worry about, at least for now.'"

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