They Shoot Mothers, Don’t They?

Amanda and Peter's gamesmanship descends to new depths.

You thought a standard Season 3 episode of Melrose Place crammed in a lot of drama? STRAP IN, because here comes a for-no-reason midseason double episode, and it is a doozy. Amanda and Peter are still pretending to be a couple while secretly plotting against each other. Peter and Caitlin’s plan to pry Amanda out of her contract is to arrange for everyone at the agency to take a drug test for insurance purposes, and for Amanda to fail it because the “antibiotics” Peter’s prescribed her are actually THC…and since the only drug study at the hospital involving THC is the one Peter’s just put Michael in charge of, Peter’s hands will be clean. But Amanda finds one pill, gets Matt to have it analyzed, and confronts Peter with the evidence in order to keep her job. So then Peter has to escalate by arranging to “catch” Amanda and Michael in his office after hours, injecting her with a drug that will imitate the appendicitis cramps, and wheeling her into surgery she will not survive. Will Michael have the stomach to go along with it?! Jake insists on accompanying Jo to the Carters’ to get Austin back, even though she is completely unable to be cool and reveals herself to Mrs. Carter while she’s supposed to be waiting for the cops to come charge the Carters with kidnapping. Mr. Carter then shoots Jo in the back, which kind of complicates the emergency custody hearing set to take place when Jo still has an arm in a sling and Mr. Carter is still out on bail. Billy gets increasingly bitter and suspicious about what’s actually going on between Alison and Terry, until he finally confirms it by spying on her at an AA meeting and seeing them mildly PDA-ing. Little does he know how quickly Terry wants things to progress, even after he almost falls back off the wagon after a disastrous performance in his first game back after rehab. After Amanda informs Sydney she’s raising her rent by kind of a lot, Jane tells her to find a roommate, and Rikki — a fellow waitress — seems perfect! She’s full of opinions about all Sydney’s neighbors, and also about ways Sydney could improve her life if she just started attending the same self-help meetings Rikki does with her “guru,” Martin! And hey, if Sydney can’t afford his courses, maybe she could just work it off in his offices! Take aim at our latest podcast on “They Shoot Mothers, Don’t They?”!

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