Season Recaps

Chapter 5: Spring of Devastation

In the aftermath of Javier Sanchez' suicide, Billy Clyde found himself under suspicion of murder by the FBI, who revealed that Javier was an undercover operative. The fact that he was pleased his lover's ex- husband was out of the way didn't help matters. Although Crystal barely recognized the man he had become in the end, she was deeply saddened by his death. Her grief was also mixed with a multitude of guilt. Javier was yet another casualty of her relationship with Billy. Nearly half a decade ago, Billy lost his own wife (Angela Sedwick) and their unborn child when the truth of his affair with Crystal hit the fan. Crystal later faced off with Angela's vengeful sister, Laura, who desperately wanted the restaurateur to suffer for her part in Angela's death. In the end, crazed with vengeance, Laura fell to her death after unsuccessfully trying to kill Crystal and Taneia Ralston. With all the death surrounding her relationship with Billy, Crystal wondered if the fates were not trying to send them a message? Needless to say, it took her a while to reconcile with Javier's suicide. Once she started opening up to Billy about her feelings surrounding the undercover operative's suicide, the two slowly began to heal. During this time, Alfonso Morgan grew bored with running a restaurant in Crystal and Billy's absence, and accepted a business opportunity in Seattle, Washington. Mindy was less than thrilled with her friend's decision, feeling royally abandoned by his pursuit for greener pastures. Crystal and Billy were not receptive to the news either, at first. They later came to realize that Alfonso was as much a victim of the circumstances that followed Billy's shooting as they were, and wished him luck with his new job. Mere minutes later, Billy and Crystal learned the investigation into Javier's death had been officially ruled a suicide. The couple were now free to finally close that chapter in their lives.

When Earl (Frank Grillo, pictured) returned to Hallandale, he realized how serious his brother was about cutting all ties with him: Matt moved out their apartment and left the family business. It wasn't until after Earl became gravely sick that Matt realized that having a living, overbearing big brother was better than a dead one.

After an extended vacation in Springfield with his son, Earl Pryce returned to Hallandale hoping things had calm down, but Matt was still angry with his brother and decided to move out. Evelin tried to reason with Earl, but he was convinced that telling his brother the truth about their father's death would only feed into his obsession with the world their father was apart of, and that was the last thing he wanted. Left with a ringing headache, Earl excused himself to retrieve some aspirin. When he failed to return, Evelin went after him, only to discover him passed out on the kitchen floor. Earl was rushed to the emergency room, where the attending nurse, Dr. Samantha Lombard, revealed that he contracted the lethal blackadder36 virus. When Samantha and her colleagues discovered a common link between Springfield and several of the infected patients, the nurse decided to look for answers in Springfield. Little did she know the bureaucratic minefield she would encounter at Springfield Medical Hospital, headed by Dr. Daniel Mayfield. But he was no match for her resilience. After she strong armed him into admitting how he cured his patients, Samantha went on search for the azalea plant. Unfortunately, the residents of Springfield were just as tightlipped about the azalea as he was, although she suspected their silence was at the order of the dodgy doctor. Bombarding his office with threats of uncovering whatever improprieties he was trying to keep buried at Springfield Medical, Daniel cracked and agreed to take her to the Azalea Garden. Back in Hallandale, Earl remained comatose while friends and family rallied around him. With every passing day, Matt lost hope that his brother would beat the odds. Dana performed a tarot reading, hoping to ease his mind, but they only confirmed his worse fears. The cards were also a let down for her brother, Brock, who came to Dana desperate to find his wife. Hoping the power of the trinity would give them a better chance, Dana and Matthew enlisted Crystal's help in tracking down Samantha. With the aid of her visions, they were able to determine that Samantha was headed to some sort of plantation and that a physician there posed as a threat. Meanwhile, Evelin got into altercation with Earl's former wife, Dalia Savoy, who warned the lawyer not to invest her time in a prospective romance with Earl--he would never be a true husband to her. Offended by her gall and lack of respect, she demanded that Dalia leave his hospital room. In the next hour to follow, Evelin received the surprise of a lifetime when Earl regained consciousness. She immediately called out for help, alerting Matt and Dana of the good news. While their reunion was awkward at first, Earl and Matthew exchanged a few words and finally reconnected as brothers.

Rochelle (Erika Page White, pictured) may have been ready to forgive her mother and call a truce with her new stepfather, but telling Dean Stone that the two of them were related--that was out of the question.

While the Pryce brothers were able to come together in the face of life and death, there was no reconciliation for former friends Lacreasha Dupree and Rochelle Desmores, who went their separate ways following Kavina Shah's sentencing trial. Still reeling from the revelation that Leonard and Dean Stone were her half-brothers, Rochelle tracked down her mother in Coral Springs. When she located Rachel Hatcher, she was horrified to discover her married to Leo Stone. After a heart-to-heart with her stepfather, Rochelle came to an understanding about the marriage and agreed to give the two a chance. However, she was not ready to welcome a new half-brother, and insisted they keep Dean in the dark for the time being. Although Rachel had her misgivings, she realized that she was in no position to argue after withholding the truth for over two decades. Meanwhile, after the last couple of months of drama and stress, Kyle and Lacreasha decided to get away from Hallandale for a while. While vacationing in Paris, Kyle proposed to Lacreasha following a candlelit dinner. She accepted. Upon returning to Hallandale, Kyle announced their engagement to friends and colleagues at Showtime Limits. Anton and Malina decided to arrange a more fitting celebration at Monte Carlos. Alexander Pierre, who wanted to track down Akeira and his child so that he could rebuild his family, found himself at odds with his daughter after orchestrating her breakup with Darron Wolek. The heiress refused to forgive her father, and told him to focus on building a relationship with his eldest son (Kyle) instead of trying to track down Akeira's spawn. The suggestion clearly struck a nerve as Alexander later crashed his son's engagement celebration at Monte Carlos, much to surprise and dismay of the party guests.

Sherri's (Sherri Saum, pictured) head told her to cut her losses with Romain, while her heart continued doing flip flops for the doctor. Unfortunately, her fixation on his past made it impossible for the couple to go anywhere. Was she really surprised that he would be drawn to her more rational and confident sister?

The night of Kyle and Lacreasha's engagement party was also a turning point for Dr. Romain Chandler and Sherri Reynolds, who were having trouble reconnecting due to her misgivings about the secrets he was keeping. Sandy and her sister were supposed to meet at Monte Carlos for dinner, but Sherri was running late trying to take care of some last minute hospital business. Sherri's friend and colleague, Jay Elkasinogen, convinced her to table her responsibilities until tomorrow and enjoy time with her family. Meanwhile, Romain showed up at Monte Carlos and spotted Sandy alone at the bar. He asked the PI if she wouldn't mind some company, but she refused, knowing her sister would be arriving soon. However, the doctor won her over with his charm, and she agreed to one drink. While making small talk, Romain found himself drawn to Sandy's fire and persistence. For the longest time, he had seen her through Sherri's eyes, but she was much more than the woman that slept with her sister's husband. Before he knew it, their lips were entangled in a steamy lip lock. Sherri, who arrived just seconds earlier, stood witness along with most of the restaurant to the kiss unfolding. In an instant, she was transported back in time to the moment she learned her sister had been sleeping with her husband. The surge of suppressed anger over her sister's betrayal compounded with the illicit kiss caused Sherri to go ballistic. She blasted the two for kissing one another, and then climbed onto a table and publicly branded her sister a slut in front of the whole restaurant. Although Romain managed to get her down, the damage had been done and Sandy slithered away in shame. When she returned to her apartment, she was stunned to get a visit from Mitchell Desmores, who recently returned to the city. Despite locking lips with Romain minutes prior, Sandy wasted no time picking up where they left off before she was shot. Mitchell, however, pulled away from the kiss, and told her they couldn't. Just as he was about to elaborate, Akeira and her son crashed their reunion. He was then forced to blurt out that the reason he couldn't was because he was now married to Akeira.

Harboring a secret crush for her best friend, Vanessa (Laura Flores, pictured) found herself at odds with Lucien's new, younger modeling partner, Danielle Marquez. Despite repeated protests from Danielle, she remained convinced that the amateur model was after Lucien. It wasn't until she discover the two kissing that she got her proof.

Former Nichols' Beauticon fashion model Vanessa Manthroll grew jealous of her best friend's (Lucien Cane-Mieraves) budding modeling relationship with Danielle Marquez. The two were also growing popular with the public, making Vanessa feel like the odd woman out. After Lucien turned down a dinner invitation with her to celebrate his and Danielle's successful interview with Illusion Magazine, a spiteful Vanessa burned a set of proofs Danielle had taken earlier that day. Danielle felt guilty that Lucien had to turn down dinner plans with his friend, so she convinced him to bring their dinner celebration back to the studio. Unfortunately, the act of kindness was only misconstrued and vilified by Vanessa's insane jealousy. Following their unsuccessful dinner celebration, Danielle was horrified to discover a tarred photo of herself amongst a pile of ashes. Shaken, she called Brett and asked him to take her home. After she explained her tenuous relationship with Vanessa, Brett advised her to remain on alert and call if things escalated any further. With the summer fashion show slowly approaching, emotions escalated when Lucien kissed Danielle following another successful photo shoot. Although they both agreed it was a moment of untenable excitement, Vanessa was not so easily convinced. Waiting until the model was alone, she angrily barged into Danielle's dressing room. However, before she could make another one of her vain threats, Danielle made it painfully clear that she [Vanessa] and Lucien were not a couple. Naturally, this fueled the flames. Meanwhile, rival modeling agency, Nichols Beauticon, launched their own fashion campaign, "Liberation," featuring Garrett Michaels as the spokes model. After her messy break-up with Dylan McCloud, she realized the modeling gig would be a great way to re-brand herself. She remained close to Brian Fieldings, who came to the realization that he wanted to be more than friends with Jennifer. Both Garrett and Darron tried to convince him to tell Jennifer, but Brian feared what his admission would do to their friendship. However, after she became entangled again with her sleazy ex, Romeo, he found it difficult to suppress his feelings buried and eventually made a declaration of love. Unfortunately, Jennifer found herself unwilling or unable to reciprocate those feelings, and tried to let down her friend gently. Nonetheless, he was still hurt over her rejection and decided to get away for a while to clear his head.

Determine to expose his best mate's wife as a fraud, Ben (Tyson Beckford, pictured) left behind his wife to uncover the truth about Shalia Mendez.

After failing to get through his friend about his wife, Ben flew to New Orleans to uncover the truth himself. When Shalia found out about Ben's travel plans, she ran to her partner-in-crime, Andrew Stokes, for assistance. He assured her Ben would not be a problem. Meanwhile, he used Ben's abrupt departure to get closer to his wife, Shanna. Under the guise of a "thank you" gift, Andrew offered to build a studio space for Shanna to store her art. Derek found the overture a bit much, and wondered if Andrew had an ulterior motive for hanging around. Shanna, however, dismissed his suspicions and thought he should be more inquisitive of the strange new woman in his own life. After learning that Ben was now en route to Coral Springs, Shalia confronted Andrew once again. Andrew reminded her that this was all apart of their original plan; he was not about to change it because she was falling for her husband. When Shalia threatened to come clean to her husband herself, Andrew shot her down quick. Against his better judgment, he made a call to his people to have Ben stopped. Derek grew concern for Ben when he failed to receive word from him, and shared those concerns with his wife. Unable to ignore the fact that her husband mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth while investigating his wife, Shanna pointed the finger at Shalia. Derek rushed to her defense without hesitation. However, in the interest of heading off her accusations at the pass, he later insisted to Shalia that she be prepared to account for her whereabouts once they took the case to the authorities. Nevertheless, no amount of sources, documented or otherwise, would convince Shanna of her innocence.