Melrose Place - Season 1, Episode 31

Couples counseling with the Glums

"State of Need"
Original airdate: 5/12/1993

Episode summary: Michael agrees to couples counseling in an effort to win back Jane's trust. Amanda tells Billy she's pregnant and is keeping the baby.

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Recap: Billy and Alison return home from the D&D retreat in time to hand over the motorcycle loaner to Jake, who rushes it back to Jake's Bikes for resale. Alison tells Billy she's worried, now that they've hit the sheets, that their romance is moving too fast - but he assures her they'll take it slow and also be extra discreet in front of their fellow apartment dwellers. Not counting those already in the know - Jake and Jo - and anyone else who isn't blind and can easily put two and two together.

At the hospital, Kimberly pokes Michael awake and tells him he needs to stop hiding out at work, grow a pair, and resolve things with Jane one way or another. A few seconds later, Michael is paged to the nurse's station, where he gets a message that Jane is waiting for him in the parking lot. She admonishes him for being a sleazy adulterer and using the hospital as a convenient hideout...then points at the cluster of suitcases she hurriedly packed and tells him he can pick up the rest of his stuff later, preferably when she's not home. Michael hangs his head in shame and reaches out to touch her, but she snaps, "Don't ever come near me again!!" and jumps into her car and squeals off.

"Could you be any more shameless?"

"No, this hangdog look is as shameless as I can muster."

Jo and her model friend Karen arrive at Melrose Place...and Karen squeals excitedly at the sight of the courtyard swimming pool, promptly strips down to her bra and panties, and dives in. Jake emerges from his apartment to say hey and ogle at the near naked model, while Jo obliviously gabbles about her latest photography gig. Karen gives Jake an appreciative once over and urges him to join her for a dip - heh - and he blushingly declines.

At D&D, Alison tells Amanda she got a ride home from the retreat with Billy, then smugly adds, "I got that note after all." Amanda explains that she was simply looking out for her, since apparently Lucy frowns upon female subordinates who sneak boyfriends into executive retreat venues. She then says she really really needs to talk to Billy about something serious and life altering.

That evening, Alison encounters Jane as she's cleaning out the swimming pool. Jane tells her she was right about Michael's philandering and that she caught him cheating with Kimberly. She adds that since she threw him out of the apartment she's now the defacto building manager in case anyone has anything that needs fixing.

Billy is at work writing a schmaltzy love poem about Alison...and Cameron looms over his shoulder and says he should prolly spend less time writing romantic drivel for his girlfriend and more time re-editing his latest assignment. A few second later, Amanda drops by...and Cameron is so dazzled by her blonde hotness, assumes she's Billy's girlfriend, and tells her he's available if she ever tires of dating the bonehead. Once Cameron is out of earshot, Amanda comes right out and tells Billy she's pretty sure she's pregnant, but needs to confirm it with her doctor...and Billy 's all, "Wha-a-a-a-a?!" and contorts his face into an expression of hapless befuddlement.

"I missed a period."

"You came all the way here to discuss punctuation?"

Billy returns home looking dazed and wastes no time blurting out to Alison that his bun is in Amanda's oven. Alison stares at him in shocked horror...and as Billy attempts to comfort her with a hug, she whines, "It's not fairrrrrrrrrrrr.."

Michael has himself checked into a depressingly tiny hotel room and places a call to Jane, who's sobbing and ignoring the ringing phone. Kimberly drops by to tell Michael how much she hates seeing him wallow in misery, particularly when the situation is partially her fault. Michael tells her he just destroyed his marriage and probably shouldn't continue seeing her if he expects to patch things up with Jane...and Kimberly's all, "Seriously?" [um, seriously?!] and nonsensically accuses him of being an egoist who's threatened by a woman who's his equal. She snaps, "Bastard!" and storms out of the room.

The next morning, Alison runs into Michael as he's lurking outside the Melrose Place gate. He tells her that his affair with Kimberly is over and that he wants her to pleeeeeeeeease convince Jane to meet with him so he can beg for her forgiveness. Alison hems and haws about it for a few seconds, then decides 'sure, why the hell not jump right back into the middle of this marital quagmire?'

As Jo develops her photos in her bathroom, Karen coos about her superb photography skills and says she likes working with her - unlike most photographers who bore her after the first five minutes. She suggests they go clubbing tomorrow night...and when Jo says she already made plans with Jake, Karen urges her to bring the hottie along.

Over at D&D, Amanda tells Alison she assumes that Billy told her about the pregnancy, and a visibly irked Alison says she has zero desire to discuss it. A few second later, Billy arrives to escort Amanda to her doctor's appointment, and Alison glares after them as they head out.  

Alison lunches with Jane, who gabbles about what a mess her marriage is, and that she now thinks Michael proposed too soon. Alison tells her the reason for this lunch is to let her know that Michael wants to reconcile...and Jane mulls that over for a few seconds and ask her if she thinks it's a wise idea. Alison shrugs unhelpfully and says these days she has no idea what she thinks about anything.

"What do you think of Michael's attempt to reconcile so soon after doinking Kimberly?"

"In a word: yech."

Jane meets up with Michael that evening...and as the two stroll along the street, he says he loves and misses her, and admits to making a UGE mistake for which he wants her forgiveness. Jane says she's not ready to do that, but will contemplate giving their marriage another shot if he agrees to go to marriage counseling. 

Billy finds Alison drinking at Shooters and tells her that, yep, Amanda is definitely pregnant. Alison wonders aloud if Amanda really wants a baby and points out that there are options for an unwanted pregnancy. Billy nods and points out that that's Amanda's choice, and Alison grunts in exasperation and storms off.

Billy meets up with Amanda the next day and tells her that the two of them co-parenting a child isn't necessary the end of the world. He double-checks that the baby is actually his - ouch - and after Amanda bitchily assures him it is, she tells him she's A-OK raising it herself, and that he can consider himself off the hook.

Jane tells the marriage counselor she's so angry about Michael's infidelity that she can barely bring herself to look at him. The counselor chews on that for a few seconds before recommending twice weekly visits, urges them to keep the lines of communication open, and says they can decide for themselves whether or not they want to live together during this process. As the two head back to their cars, Jane tells Michael she'll let him move back in, but only if he agrees to sleep on the couch. Michael perks up at that and says he'll be home for dinner and promises to cook them a scrumptious meal.
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Alison rails to Jo about Amanda's surprise pregnancy, and what a giant wrench it's thrown into her budding romance with Billy. Jo tells her to think of this as a test of their relationship - just as Jake pops by to go clubbing for the evening with Jo and Karen.

Jake complains about the loud thumping music in the dance club, and Karen tells him to shut up and dance with her. As he accompanies her to the dance floor, she presses him against the nearest wall, plants him with a big smooch, and purrs, "Jo wouldn't mind." Jake gives her a strange look and counters, "I might" then storms back over to Jo and tells her he's outta here. Jo says she can't just leave her drunk friend in a club by herself, and Jake's like, "Whatever" and says he's heading home regardless.

Billy drops by Amanda's apartment while her father is over for dinner. He quickly pulls Amanda aside and asks her to please not tell her father about the baby 'cause he wants it kept quiet until he can get his tiny brain around the fact that he unwittingly impregnated the woman who's now his ex-girlfriend.

"Please hold off on telling anyone about the pregnancy until I can combobulate my brain around it."

"OK - but remember that the gestation period is only nine months long."

Karen drunkenly rambles at Jo, criticizing her boring apartment and her boring boyfriend. She says that her photographic artistry is a gateway to a new life, and Jo wryly says she's still getting used to the newness of her relatively new California life. When Karen leans in for a kiss, Jo stops her and says that non-hetero kissing action from other women is definitely not for her, then says she's going to order them some coffee from the bar. 

When Billy returns home, Alison tells him she's miffed that he spent the evening at Amanda's, then wails about all the emotion she risked when she agreed to leap into a romance with him. Billy hugs her and says he hates himself for raw-dogging it with Amanda and dragging her into this pathetic mess, but assures her that it doesn't need to change anything for the two of them. Alison solemnly replies, "It already has", then storms off to bed.

Billy tells Jake that Amanda has let him off the hook as far as the baby is concerned - but Jake cautions him against walking out, 'cause once he does that, the baby will belong solely to Amanda.

Michael sees Jane packing up some food and asks her if he can tag along on her beach picnic outing - just as his beeper goes off. He calls the ER, gets confirmation that there is indeed an emergency for which he's urgently needed, and tells Jane he can't go picnicking after all. Jane gets irked by his abrupt cancellation and tells him to leave already...then snappishly says she thinks they got married far too young.  

Michael rushes to the hospital and is asked to assist Kimberly with a patient...even though all she's doing is finishing up applying a cast and doesn't really look like she needs much in the way of assistance. Michael chuckles at the plaster smudged across her face...and the two grin at each other and agree that they've really missed each other.

Alison is rifling through Billy's stuff when she finds the poem he wrote about her, and reacts by staring contemplatively into space.

Billy arrives at the marina where Amanda and her father are about to go sailing on his gorgeous boat. Billy tells Amanda that after much contemplation he's decided he really wants to be part of the baby's life, and Amanda's all, "Yay!" and invites him to come along sailing. He declines to get on the boat...and Amanda stares sadly at him as she and Papa Woodward slowly drift away from shore.

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