Sam's Stunning Secret!

As the week begins, Sam's chugging vodka and flashing back to the night of Jake's kidnapping.  Turns out, "Sweet Sam," as she dubbed herself during the hostage crisis, has been anything but of late. having witnessed the tiny tot's abduction but done nothing to stop it.  Jason and Amelia head to the home of Maureen, the woman who made off with Jake, and rescue the child from his manic would be mama.  Jason's in for a bit of bad news, however, when he learns that his girlfriend saw the baby being kidnapped and did nada to intervene.  "With all the stuff that's been leading up to this and the whole Amelia thing, everything has just snowballed," marvels Steve Burton.  "At this point, I'm more inclined to believe Maureen's story than not believe it.  But I'm obviously going to need to hear it from Sam."

As Amelia later fills Sam in on the news that Jake has been recovered, Jason reunites the baby with Liz, only to have Lucky arrive and arrest him for having violated the terms of his bail.  "Lucky is a little ticked off", Burton admits. "He says,  'Ya know, even though you found Jake, I am going to arrest you anyway' and he does"

Thanks to buttinsky Scott, it's decided that Jason should be sent to Pentonville.  Before being carted off, the prisoner finds time to pull Sonny into a confab, eliciting a promise from his best bud that he'll keep a close eye on Jake without letting anyone know that Lucky's not the child's biological father.  The mobster then shares a very emotional good bye with the one woman who has always been there for him, Carly.  Unfortunately he's shipped off to the really big house just before Sam arrives to say farewell.  "They miss each other," Burton sighs. 

Brenda Returns:

Things aren't exactly rosy in the Spencer home, where Liz tells Lucky that she'll always stand by his decisions only to then chastise him for having arrested the man who has time and again rode to the rescue of not only her but Jake as well.  "It's getting to the point where it's beyond awkward," Burton admits.  "I wouldn't blame Lucky if he said, 'Hey, get away from my family'  "I think he's a little more upset that I found Jake and he didn't," he adds.

Despite being something of a newly-wed, Carly finds plenty of time to butt into the situation.  First, she swings by to suggest Sam make sure not to lose her job, because with Jason out of the picture, she might soon be kicked out of the penthouse.  After all, Carly delights in pointing out, Jason didn't even want to talk about, much less to, Sam before he was taken away. Next, Carly heads off to Pentonville to visit her best friend.  Knowing she may not be able to simply waltz in, the quick thinker claims to be Jason's wife - Brenda.  Knowing her word might not be proof enough, she even comes armed with their marriage certificate.  Once face to face with her pal, Carly promises to do everything she can in order to help clear his name, going out of her way to note how useless Sam has been throughout the ordeal.  When Carly mentions she's seen Ric on his behalf, Jason tries convincing her to stay far away from Sonny's half brother.  Carly mentions that Sam's been acting even more unusual than usual, suggesting she's got something to hide.  Always the gentleman, Jason suggests that the best thing Carly can do to help him right now is to stay the heck away from Sam.  Still, Burton notes, in character, "I'd always rather see Carly than not see her - no matter what she has to say".

Ric Makes a Move

Armed with the incriminating tape which seems to prove Jason shot Alcazar, Ric pays a visit to Sonny and strongly suggests that it is time for his brother to retire.  Instead, Sonny tells wily attorney Diane about the tape, prompting her to indicate she just must be able to wiggle around it's apparently incriminating contents. Realizing that her relationship is not in the best place at the moments, Sam confides to Alexis, who at first tries to offer comfort, but, as always, winds up suggesting her daughter's best move would be to make a clean break from the hit man.  At Pentonville, Liz once again betrays Lucky's trust by using his badge in order to gain access to Jason.  Before all is said and done, someone confronts Jason about his feelings for Liz, suggesting that they could wind up being what costs him everything, including his freedom.  "There's a lot of questions in Jason's head at this point, sitting behind bars,"  Burton says.  "But ultimately, what it comes back to is what is going to be best for Jake.  So, whether I think, "Yeah, I do want to be with Elizabeth, I'm still going to be thinking about what's best for Jake."

But even if Jason were to make the ultimate sacrifice and cut himself out of Liz and the baby's lives, would his actions be too little, too late?

Stay tuned