Next we see Amanda lying in bed and Taylor brings her a glass of water. Amanda shrugs off the kindness and wants to know the nitty gritty on Christine, the woman of Kyle's dreams. Taylor says Kyle had these same nightmares when he was married to her and then she explains what Christine meant to Kyle. She also says he has a trunk of old stuff stored somewhere, perhaps in the laundry room. She is about to continue when she is interrupted by Kyle as he arrives home, shocked to see Taylor in the room. He asks her where she was the past few days and she tells him she was in Las Vegas and "it wasn't the same without him." Kyle grabs Taylor and carries her to the door, demanding where she really was. Taylor squirms out of the question saying Kyle has no right to hear about "the great sex" she's been having (or who it was with for that matter!) Kyle pushes her out of the apartment and the screen fades out on his bewildered face.

The show starts with a dizzying view of LA as the camera zips around the streets. It is quickly noted that the episode is directed by Thomas Calabro - hey it's his second of the season! The show fades in at Peter's cond- hey wait, it actually starts somewhere else this week. Kyle sprints up the stairs, doing after some strenuous exercise I'll bet. Then we get to see something we haven't seen all season - Amanda's stomach! She pulls herself onto the couch and Kyle happily enters. He says he saw her physical therapist and heard Amanda was doing well on her therapy. She smiles and tells Kyle she can't wait to be up and walking and to walk down the aisle with him. He smiles a dorky smile and says, "it's the only thing on my mind," as he goes in for a kiss. They are stopped in the middle of their foreplay by a knocking on the door. Billy and Samantha come in to see Amanda. Billy has a nicer haircut, looking a lot less ragged then he did before. In fact everyone looks a little different now, this being the first episode back since they began filming again in January. A sort of "new beginning" for the show. Amanda reprimands Billy and Sam for spending 2000 dollars for the AIDS benefit last episode so they explain how they were trying to nail Jeff Baylor for an account. She says that the loss of money would be worth it if they bagged Baylor for the campaign. Billy says "almost," but he points out to Amanda that Baylor and Sam really "hit it off" together. Amanda tells Sam to take Baseball boy to dinner and show him a good time. Billy can't come but gives Sam permission to go but you can see he has second thoughts. He wonders exactly what Sam will do to get Baylor to sign on with them.

The scene changes to Lexi running around like a little school girl, laughing in a big office. She is absolutely giddy about her new digs and rushes to her dad hugging him and saying "thank you, thank you" over and over again. The camera moves over and you can see the name of the company is Sterling Conway. Who is Conway you ask? Beats me. Speaking of strange things, Coop wanders into the office, to see his "buddy" Tom for lunch. First these guys are playing tennis together, now they're going to lunch together? I wonder what else goes on in this "relationship" the two of them have. Is the aura of living in Matt's old apartment rubbing off on Coop? Daddy dearest then lets Lexi know that his "boyfriend", er, Coop, is going to be her new partner. Lexi turns with a frightened look towards her father. "WHAT!?" She questions. Coop remarks that his lover has recently bought out the "Cooper Glove Company" or whatever it's called. Now Coop and Lexi can be together again, which Coop says he has no problem with. Lexi turns to her father and smells a set up. She says that Peter whined about the comments that Tommy had said to him. Lexi wants to know if Tommy is trying to split them up. Daddy denies all charges being brought against him and says that if Lexi loves Peter, he loves Peter too. Why not? He already loves Coop, maybe he's got a fetish for doctors. Coop tries to get out saying he'll meet them later but his boyfriend tells him to stay, he didn't want to be late for the reservation. The two lovers then wander out, Tommy putting his arm around Coop as they head off for their little lunch date.

We now see a baseball field and Samantha walking around with Jeff. Baseball Boy shows off his magical powers as he raises his arms and the lights magically go on all around them. Sam is wowed to say the least by Baylor's power. He says he's got "connections". He then whips out a glove from his backpack that he for some reason brought with him and asks Sam to pitch a few his way. Sam says she can't do it in heels and Baseball Boy quickly helps her off with them. She walks up to the mound and pitches a winner to Baylor who easily bats it right out of the park. I bet Billy couldn't do that!

Micheal is wandering through the backstage of the strip club, looking for Amber. He wants all of his stuff back and will do anything to find it. He questions a dancer who tells him she quit. Micheal, not accepting that as an answer, continues his rampage and is stopped by the manager who tells him the same answer. With his lovely Mancini charm, he argues with the man and ends up taking a few blows for his comments. Security kindly grabs him and escorts him to jail, after throwing him into a few lockers. Luck has just not been on Micheal's side this whole season.

Boy when Amanda sets herself to something she does it real quickly. She is already walking almost perfectly, down into the laundry room, looking for Kyle's mystery trunk of secrets. She cracks it open and digs inside, trying to find something interesting. She finds the picture of the "three musketeers," Kyle, Nick and Christine. Amanda snoops around for more interesting tidbits of Kyle's past but is interrupted by the man himself. She quickly slams the trunk and stands next to the washing machine. Kyle comes down and asks her why she's down there. She responds with the clever excuse "I was doing some laundry." Kyle, oblivious to the obvious, doesn't seem to notice that she has no clothes with her, what did she plan on washing? Kyle picks her up and begins to carry her back to their love nest and on his way he glances at his trunk and notices it's been tampered with. Someone has been snooping - who could it be?

It's a nice new morning and Samantha arises and makes her way into the kitchen where Billy is already up and sipping some coffee. She remarks on how early he's up and he replies with "It wouldn't be if you weren't up so late last night." Sam apologizes for not calling but there was no phone at the stadium. Billy almost drops his coffee as Sam talks about Baseball Boy and how well he was hitting the ball. Billy thought that perhaps she was going a bit above the call of duty. She says that Baseball Boy will come in later that day to sign on with Amanda Woodward Advertising. Billy begins to cop a major attitude with her. He wonders why she has no wedding ring still and she claims she just forgot it. Someone knocks on the door and Billy answers it, Jennifer bursts in requesting 500 bucks from them to bail her poor brother out of jail. She says Micheal will pay them back but they still have to say no, they have spent too much money already. Billy then says angrily, "yea, on Samantha's wedding dress!" Jennifer ignores his comment, trying not to be involved in the newlywed's quarrels. As if 500 bucks isn't a burden, she then asks if she could borrow someone's car to drive around in because hers was stolen by the evil Craig Field. She tells the terrifying story of Craig holding her up and stealing her car, which shocks Billy and Sam. Billy then offers his car, saying he'll ride with Sam just as long as she doesn't have "batting practice" that day.

Meanwhile, at Manc-, no whoops, he got cut out. Meanwhile At Burns Cooper, Megan walks around shuffling papers and Coop follows her around, dragging his tongue. He begs her to go out with him again. Megan ignores him still and Coop wonders what's going on. Megan is still sore about Coop shoveling the alcohol down Amber's throat. Megan looks back and says she just needs some space and to give it some time. She then tells Coop about Micheal's arrest and he breaks into laughter. "What'd he do now? Rob an ATM machine? Ha Ha!" Megan tells Coop she feels guilty about not lending money to Jennifer to help pay bail for Micheal's release. Coop, an expert on how to treat Micheal, tells her she did the right thing. He should struggle through this on his own. He asks her out again and she denies him, telling him again she needs more time. Coop smiles and stares at her, "Then I'll ask again tomorrow." How come nobody ever gives up on a person on this show? Someone just picks a person and sticks to them for a few episodes. Also, why is no one ever in The Practice? How do they stay in business? Where's Peter?

Billy's awesome wheels cruise down the roads with Jennifer at the helm. In the passenger side sits Mama Rhoda Mancini who's more excited than ever to get to see LA. She wants to take in a show and of course meet Craig, Jennifer's fiance. But wait, Craig's gone! How's that going to work? Jennifer then has to find a way to persuade her Mom to put up some money for Micheal. She attempts to tell her mom but Mother Rhoda has already broken into Dean Martin songs, letting the viewers hear her poor singing voice. Jennifer stops and pulls up to the police station, while attempting to spill the beans about Micheal. Rhoda looks at the precinct and stares back an evil stare at Jennifer.

Micheal wanders out of jail, complaining on how long it took to get him out of there. He asks her who let him out of jail and she responds with "someone who loves you very much." Micheal, the dolt that he is, turns with a babyish smile and says, "It was Megan wasn't it?" Oh get over it Micheal! She turned you down already, you're history! Move onto another woman for God's sake! Jennifer turns him around to face this "loving person," and Micheal recoils in horror as he sees his mom glaring back at him. She curses at him in italian and Micheal says, "oh no, not Italian!" Yeah, I prefer Thousand Island myself. Besides, Michael probably doesn't understand the language. His mom slaps him on the cheek, leaving a nice red mark. She can join the list of I think now it's four people who have hit Micheal in this episode, although 3 were in the strip club.

We now shift to Amanda Woodward Advertising and Billy who hastily struts up to Sam and passes her wedding ring to her. "Here put this on before your meeting with Jeff Baylor" Sam hesitates and then slips it on. Billy then goes into yet another one of his famous hissy fits. "You're my wife! I'm going to go and tell him that!" He runs over to Baseball Boy as he comes out of a meeting. Billy stops him and says "Look Jeff I don't know if you know this but Sam and I are married!" Jeff shrugs it off saying he doesn't care. Billy idiotically says, "Oh c'mon look, she's a beautiful woman!" What does that mean? Is he trying to get Baseball Boy to steal his wife away? Baylor says he'll sign on only if Sam is his main consultant, otherwise known as his "lackey" or "sex slave." Billy, sucks up his anger and warmly shakes Baseball Boy's hand. "Welcome aboard" he says.

Amanda is with Kyle in the Jazz Club and he asks her about the trunk of secrets. Kyle then tells about Christine and what he thought of her. He begins to hold back tears as he mentions her death in an explosion. Amanda tells Kyle that she only figured this out because Taylor told her. Kyle's jaw drops to the ground and he races down to find Taylor in the restaurant. He forces her to spill all the dirt on Christine. Taylor coughs up the goods and then mentions that she is alive and that Taylor still has a letter sent to him by her. Does anyone else think this is unbelievable? If she was so jealous why didn't she just throw the letter away? Why keep it? Kyle looks back at her in his patented "I'm surprised" face. He only has one he uses all the time.

Billy goes over to Jennifer to get back his car keys but is accidently mistaken for Craig. Jennifer doesn't help the situation when she goes along with the ruse. She then finds a moment and begs Billy to play the part of "Craig" for a while, after all, they're both real bad actors. Billy is forced to decline the intriguing offer and he makes a quick retreat out of the apartment. Mama Rhoda tells Jennifer that she really wants to see Micheal's office but in reality he doesn't have one. Jennifer ducks out and calls Micheal at the beach house. Micheal realizes this is a major problem and tells Jennifer to stall Mom until he gets there. He hangs up the phone and high tails it to the apartment.

Kyle is glossing over the letter from Christine, staring intently at it. He looks as if he's been reading it for a long long time, even though it's just a small piece of paper. Amanda limps out and asks if their relationship will change now that Kyle has read this and Christine lives. Kyle goes close to her and says "no," he still can't wait to walk down the aisle with her. He then gives her the letter and tells her to read it or toss it, her choice. Amanda drops it in the trash, as Taylor arrives. She goes into some big speech about how Christine was the love of Kyle's life and she would burn that note immediately if she had it. She then mentions how there is a return address and not to let Kyle see it. Taylor exits and Amanda fishes the letter out of the trash.

Jennifer is still distracting her mother by showing her all of her cleavage ridden sweaters and asking her to pick one out for Jennifer to wear. Micheal bursts in bearing flowers and gives them to his mother. He apologizes because his office is being redecorated, so she can't come see it. It's a load of crap I know but his mom sems to buy it. Before he leaves, he reminds everyone of the big dinner at his house that night. Jennifer jogs his memory by saying that her fiance Craig is going to be there as well, even though he's not, in fact he's actually decomposing in Jennifer's car at the moment.

Amanda is sitting dangling her feet in the pool as Kyle comes by and sits next to her. He drops off his shoes and drops his feet into the water as well. Amanda tells Kyle that she wants him to go see Christine. Huh? First Billy hands his wife over to Jeff Baylor, now Amanda is passing Kyle onto Christine? What kind of screwed up lovers are these people? Kyle agrees to his rendezvous with Christine and probably starts to think dirty thoughts.

Jennifer, Micheal and Mama Rhoda are all preparing a nice Italian dinner. The police call and tell Jennifer they have found her lost car. The unfortunate news is that Craig was found inside with his brains splattered all over the upholstery. Jennifer breaks down and rushes into the next room. Micheal follows her and she talks about how guilty she feels. Micheal says Craig was "scum" and not to feel bad about his death. Jennifer then turns around completely and walks back out to have dinner. I hope someone cares a little more about me when I die!

Coop is working in his office when Lexi shows up with a peace offering. She says that she has a lover and he does too, so they should put all of their evil thoughts behind them. Coop, being the old softy that he is, graciously accepts. Lexi gives Coop a big hug, which no doubt pleases him. Megan turns around, looking very suspicious, at which point Peter walks out in a Craig-like cameo and stares at the two. Look closely at Peter, because if you blink you might miss his one second scene for the show. (He doesn't even get to speak!)

Kyle is prepping for his trip but has apparently packed Amanda's bag also. Why is he taking her on this trip? It's strange enough she wants him to go but it's weirder to bring Amanda with him. They're going to see his old lover for crying out loud! Amanda reluctantly accepts and gets ready for departure.

Billy comes home to a message from Sam on the machine. She says that she's spending the night in Palm Springs with Jeff. Billy then turns on the TV, which conveniently is on a station showing golf and Baseball Boy happens to be teeing off! He sinks a nice shot, I guess he's Golf Boy also. Then Billy watches in horror as Sam runs up and hugs him. The announcer says, "Man I wish I had a girl like that to hug me." Billy is clearly not too happy about any of this.

The Mancini clan arrives at Kyle's for dinner and is greeted by Taylor. Micheal and Jennifer are making up excuses for Craig's absence when Mama notices him at the bar. Of course she is just seeing Billy drinking away his sorrows after Sam went off jumping all over sports boy. Jennifer comes and pleads Billy to join them at the table. He tells her that it's morbid to "play" Craig. Finally he gives into her pretty face and agrees to do it, although he's very drunk. Jennifer snags the wedding ring, saying that her mom always checks for it on a man. Hmmmm, I bet she forgets to give it back and a plot develops when Sam notices. Billy doesn't even seem to remember Sam as he stumbles over to the table as the amazing Craig Field.

Samantha relaxes with the sports king on a nice comfy couch. They are chatting for a short bit when their eyes meet. Jeff moves over and plants one right on her lips. She leaps up and says she is going back to her hotel room. He offers to escort her but she turns him down, feeling very guilty about playing tonsil hockey with someone other then Billy.

Speaking of cheating on your spouse, Billy is helped into the gates of Melrose by Jennifer as they return home from dinner. He keeps talking as if he was Craig Field and blabbing his mouth off. Jennifer tries to get her mother to go but Billy just doesn't shut up, now he babbles on about Sam and her cheating on him with a sports player. Finally Mother Mancini heads up the steps and waits at the front door. Jennifer begs Billy to kiss her, saying that it would clearly show her mom that they were an item. Billy happily complies as he dives in for a little lip locking. Mama Rhoda goes inside and while Jennifer thanks Billy, he delves in for more, apparently not getting enough the first time. Jennifer stares back at him and Billy replies, "I think I saw your mom watching us from the window." Jennifer glances up and sees no one there, Billy goes inside admitting he was very drunk. Well, it appears Sam and Billy have both gotten interested in someone else. Don't they know marriage never lasts on Melrose.

Kyle and Amanda arrive in New Mexico and stop outside Christine's house. Amanda tells him to go inside and see her, so Kyle hops out of the car and walks towards the house. What if Kyle talks for hours with her? What will Amanda do in the car all that time? Kyle knocks on the door and a shadowy figure emerges. "Christine?" he says. "Kyle?" she says. Then it ends; yet again Fox has showed us the last scene on all of the commercials.

--written by David

Next week Melrose appears to be two hours. Amanda and Kyle's wedding happens but it looks like Kyle might not make it. Instead he is seen on a train track with Christine, diving away from a train. Oh boy, I can't wait! Also let's hope Peter comes back, don't want him to fade into the hole of plotlessness like Craig did.