2017 Recap

Episodes 860 – 905

Ranking of Character Appearances

stats2017Following Paula’s confession that she was the one who shot and killed Philip Ragan, the charges against Molly were dismissed. With the truth about Molly and Sarah’s involvement in the cover-up exposed, Conrad worked tirelessly to get the sisters’ new charges reduced; ultimately, they were both given probation and a fine. The D.A. was determined to send Paula to prison, but Conrad negotiated a deal for Paula to spend one year on house arrest.  

Zane continued to ingratiate himself with Tori. Sarah was horrified when Tori brought him home, but Zane reveled in torturing Sarah, knowing that she couldn’t reveal the truth to her daughter. He demanded the blackmail money that she’d tricked him out of once, promising to leave Tori alone if Sarah paid up. Tori bristled when Sarah carefully tried to talk her out of the relationship, and Sarah’s persistence caused trouble between her and Matt, too. 

Spencer deduced that Natalie had switched his DNA sample with one from Samantha in order to rig the paternity test. He demanded another test, on his terms, and Natalie had no choice but to comply. Helen grew suspicious when she and Sophie spotted Spencer’s car leaving Natalie’s house. Spencer made arrangements with a lab at the hospital and had Natalie bring Peter in for a new DNA test, under close supervision. Meanwhile, he approached Sabrina about getting her help in accessing Philip’s files so that he could sell his notorious late brother’s work. Sabrina was appalled by the idea, but after her car broke down and Spencer offered her a cut, she reluctantly agreed to help. 

yvetteAfter Danielle opened up about her own experience with giving Elly up for adoption, Yvette reconsidered her stance. She told Tempest that she would give her baby up for adoption to give it a better life — a selfless decision that caused Tempest to soften toward her mother at last. When Diane caught wind of this, she had the perfect idea: that Alex and Trevor should adopt the baby. Alex was intrigued by the prospect. Trevor was resistant to the idea, feeling that they were not ready. Patrick advised him to listen to his heart and communicate with Alex. Diane enlisted Claire’s help in convincing Yvette to give Alex and Trevor a chance. Yvette, though initially resistant to a gay couple adopting her child, came around. Despite Trevor’s honesty about not being ready for parenthood, Alex decided to meet with Diane and Yvette in secret. Yvette was impressed with him and hoped to move forward with the adoption. Still torn over what he wanted, Alex lied to Trevor about where he’d been.

Molly bristled at seeing Brent and Claire together romantically, but she found solace in her deepening friendship with Conrad. Brent and Claire decided the time was right to disclose their relationship to the whole family. When Paula held a dinner party to ease her transition into her home confinement sentence, Spencer spitefully exposed Claire and Brent’s relationship before they could do it themselves, as payback against Claire and Tim for having suspected him of being the Footprint Killer. Tim was furious at Spencer for lashing out once again and made it clear he wouldn’t put up with Spencer’s antics forever. Paula was less-than-pleased with Claire and Brent, too. Tori brought Zane as her date, and Molly realized the pressure Sarah was under. Sarah wondered if it would be best to use the $100,000 to pay Zane off for good. But with Matt still upset at her over all the secrets she’d kept during the trial, Sarah was hesitant about how to proceed. She felt a surge of hope when Zane didn’t actually seem interested in Tori, but then the two grew closer, and Tori believed they were falling in love.  

Conrad planned to leave King’s Bay but attended Paula’s dinner with Molly first. Later that night, he got into a serious auto collision with Yvette, who had gone into labor and was driving herself to the hospital. Word of the accident spread, and Yvette’s baby boy was delivered prematurely as she clung to life. Alex admitted to Trevor that he’d lied to him and had actually met with Yvette to discuss an adoption, and he rushed to the hospital. Tempest was furious when she heard that Diane had told Alex that Yvette was close to death, and she accused both of them of wishing for Yvette to die so they could take her baby. Soon afterward, Yvette succumbed to her injuries and passed away. Tempest was plagued with regret over not having reconciled with her.  

At the same time, Trevor had another serious talk with Patrick and visited his late mother’s grave. He decided that he was ready to raise a child with Alex and told him as much. Their joy was cut short when Tempest intercepted the social worker assigned to the case and said that she wanted to raise her brother. Samantha tried to reason with her, but Tempest took her counterarguments as a lack of support, and Diane became concerned that Sam would go along with Tempest’s plan and throw away her future to become a parent too soon. Diane tracked down the child’s biological father, Hank Bassett, who could legally decide who adopted the baby. Tempest was aghast at the sight of the man who’d abused her years ago and blamed Diane for bringing her face-to-face with him, although Diane had no idea about their violent past. Hank selected Alex and Trevor as his son’s adoptive parents. Alex and Trevor began the process of officially adopting the boy and named him Chase.  

Conrad survived the accident but wound up with two broken legs. Wanting to repay him for all his help, Molly offered him her ground-floor guest room while he recuperated. They developed a routine and closer friendship during his stay. Molly opened up to him about her frustrations about returning to work at Objection, as her confidence was shaken and she encountered resistance from the team that had worked without her during her trial. 

Travis and Landon made plans to move into an apartment together. Rosie continued to be evasive about her estrangement from her family. During brunch with Travis, his biological mom Kathleen, and Jimmy, Rosie was spooked when she thought she saw a familiar face and excused herself, lying that she was needed at work. Travis was thrown when he found out from Brent that Rosie hadn’t actually been called in. He debated whether to call her out on it. When he and Landon spotted Rosie out again on a day she had said she’d be working, Landon decided to tail Rosie. She went to the cemetery, where she left flowers at a grave marked Manuel Jimenez. Landon and Travis surmised that it was her father’s grave and wondered about her extreme secrecy. 

samantha-2017Fueled by rage toward Diane and wild grief over her mother, Tempest got the idea to dig into Diane’s history. She discovered a bombshell: that Samantha’s conception had been due to Diane lying to get Tim to have sex with her. Tempest angrily revealed the truth. A devastated, furious Samantha forced Diane to confirm it. Diane had to face the shame of what she had done to Tim. Samantha’s world was rocked, and she questioned how Tim could have anything to do with Diane. Tim explained both to her and Diane how and why he had come to forgive Diane after his return from the dead. Samantha fully rejected her mother, and Diane feared that losing her daughter would be the price she paid for her long-ago violation of Tim. Tempest realized the gravity of what she had done when Samantha pushed her away, feeling she could no longer trust Tempest. Diane reached out to her old friend, Brian Hamilton, for support, and was grateful for Sarah’s friendship, too. Samantha went to live with Tim. Diane and Tempest continued to blame one another for the carnage. 

Sabrina continued to be grateful for Jason’s generosity and friendship as they got to know one another better, which made her feel even guiltier about agreeing to work with Spencer. The new DNA test revealed that Spencer was Peter’s biological father. Natalie pleaded with Spencer to let Jason raise the boy, but Spencer insisted on having his son know him. They argued and struggled over the test results. Spencer fell down the stairs at his home. Natalie panicked and left him lying there, unconscious. Sabrina, who was bringing over Philip’s passwords, heard sounds of a struggle and called 911. Spencer lapsed into a coma, but Natalie feared he would awaken and accuse her of trying to kill him, as well as expose Peter’s parentage.  

Jason planned to propose to Natalie during a romantic night out, but when issues with the kids cut their night short, he wound up proposing in the backyard. Natalie happily accepted but became more determined than ever not to have Spencer ruin her happiness. Spencer awoke from his coma but had amnesia; he did not remember the past two years, so he had to be told of Philip’s murderous turn. He also didn’t remember his rift with Tim and Claire or his fight with Natalie. Natalie went to see Spencer and fed him the version of the story that she wanted him to recall: that although they’d slept together, they’d secretly done a paternity test long ago and determined that Jason was Peter’s father.  

spencer-2017Tim insisted that Spencer come stay with him while he recuperated. Spencer accepted, and Tim hired a live-in nurse/physical therapist to assist in his care. The woman he hired, Sonja Kahele, placed a secret phone call to a mysterious boss who had arranged for her to interview for that very job. As Sonja helped Spencer work toward his recovery, she and Tim grew closer. Sonja covertly fed Spencer subliminal messages in his sleep so that he wouldn’t regain his memory – which she was being paid to do by her secret boss, Loretta Ragan. Spencer noticed the emerging feelings between Tim and Sonja, and he gave his father the go-ahead. When Tim had to tell Spencer about the falling-out they’d had that led to Spencer quitting Vision, Spencer surprised him by being understanding, and he grew closer to his biological parents than he had ever been. 

Helen was enraged when she learned that Jason had gotten Sabrina a job and accused her of pushing Spencer down the stairs. Sabrina, who was developing a crush on Jason, was upset to learn of his and Natalie’s engagement when she ran into Natalie coming out of Spencer’s hospital room. A suspicious Helen offered to accompany Tori to pick up some of Spencer’s things from his house to bring to Tim’s. She snooped around and found an appointment card for a lab at the hospital. She accused Sabrina of having given him an STD. Sabrina denied ever having slept with Spencer but mentioned that Natalie had rushed to see Spencer alone, a fact that got Helen’s gears turning.  

Paula’s family and friends rallied to help her pass the sentence. Tori gave her makeup contouring lessons, while Don taught her how to paint. Matt shared with Sarah a disturbing letter he’d received: the landlord of the building where Harbor Boulevard was housed was being sold at the end of the lease term. They’d have to close the restaurant in 90 days. Matt and Sarah carefully broke the upsetting news to Paula. Their attempts to buy the space outright were shot down. Sarah paid Zane the $100,000 in order to get him to leave Tori alone. She panicked when Matt then questioned whether they could use some of the money from the sale of Graham’s house to save the restaurant, fearing he would discover the discrepancy. She managed to cover her tracks. Matt and Travis came up with another plan at the last minute, however, and secured a space on the renovated Pier 22 — the former site of Bill’s first restaurant, The Fisherman’s Pier!  

Samantha focused on her new job at Objection Designs as a copywriter. Tempest, still reeling from their split, reached out to Alex and Trevor, who were raising her half-brother, and bridged the gap. She accepted their offer to be a presence in baby Chase’s life. Alex and Trevor decided to throw a party at their home for their family and friends, and then surprised their guests by announcing that it was actually their wedding! With Helen officiating, as well as Lauren and Josh visiting with their daughter, Annie, Alex and Trevor finally became husbands.  

zane-2017The Fishers banded together to get the new restaurant ready. Sarah was shocked when Zane reappeared, taunting her that now that he had his money, he still wanted to be with Tori — and there was nothing she could do about it. Zane lied to Tori that he’d been back in Fresno with family for a short period. 

The Fishers threw the grand opening of the new restaurant, Bill’s on the Pier. Paula was unable to attend because of her house arrest but gave a touching speech via video. Danielle performed a touching song that she’d written about the late Ryan. Jake and Mia attended with her teenage son, Marcus, to support Matt. Kathleen expressed her insecurities to Jimmy after witnessing his close friendship with Danielle, and Jimmy responded by proposing marriage. Kathleen accepted. Molly had to break up a heated encounter between Sarah and Zane, and Sarah vowed not to let Zane get away with ruining Tori’s life. Rosie was shaken to run into a busboy named Jesse, whom she knew from her past, and tried to hide the connection from Travis, but he later saw them talking covertly and realized she had lied again.  

Travis asked Sarah to investigate Rosie’s past, including the death of her father and her connection to Jesse. She discovered that Rosie’s father had been killed during an apparent home invasion, and that her mother had been the one to find him. When Travis confronted her, she asked him to respect her privacy with regards to family matters but insisted that was all it was. 

Caleb, Christian, and Bree all entered high school. Bree finished third at Sectionals, earning her a spot at the National Championships in her division. Conrad was able to attend the competition and, finally feeling better, planned to move out of Molly’s place. Molly questioned whether his eagerness meant she was mistaken about the feelings she sensed between them. She channeled Conrad’s inspiration and debuted a new capsule collection for Objection, titled Conviction — a cheeky take on her legal troubles for which she’d been so judged. The collection was a hit, and Molly regained her footing at work. 

Working hard to re-establish and maintain her sobriety, Danielle finished recording her album and released it independently online. The video of her performance at the grand opening went viral. Jake and Mia announced that, since Jake had accepted a job as athletic director at King’s Bay Academy, they would be moving to King’s Bay with Marcus in 2019. After weeks of limbo, Samantha broke up with Tempest. She went out with Alex and Trevor and feared the prospect of dating again. At long last, Diane and Natalie’s parents, Henry and Claudia Bishop, came to King’s Bay to spend Christmas with their daughters and grandchildren. After a disastrous attempt at a holiday brunch with her parents, Diane visited Samantha and pleaded with her daughter to talk through their complicated personal issues.