Thursday, December 7, 2000
On today's show, Rose tries to make a deal with Henry to sell her story to
the Intruder. Meanwhile, Chris and Emily begin their investigation into
Henry's past, and find a clue.
Rose is talking on the phone at Lucinda's house. She tells the person on
the other end that she wants to make them a proposition. They must have
made a comment about what kind of proposition, because Rose responds,
"That's not funny, no." She says she can't discuss it on the
phone, and asks the person to come over. "I know you're a busy man,
but I'll make it worth your while, big time!" She hangs up the phone,
and we see Henry hanging up the phone too, sitting at Emily's desk at the
Intruder. He wonders what the proposition might be, and bets that it's a
scandal waiting to happen. "It's a good thing, too, since scandal is
our middle name." Henry doesn't look too happy about the direction
his career has taken.
Henry arrives at Lucinda's and Rose offers him a drink. He declines,
saying, "Well, as painful as it is for me to turn down free liquor, my
instincts are telling me that I should stay sober for this meeting." Rose
observes, "I get the feeling you don't like me very much."
"How intuitive," says Henry. Rose says she hopes it's not about
the videotape incident at the Endicott Awards. "Do you think I'd hold
that against you? Just because you destroyed a career I've been building
since birth?" Rose says it all turned out OK, he landed on his feet.
"All's fair in love and ... yada, yada, yada." "Yes I'm
well aware of that," responds Henry, "which is why I'm going to get in
my car and get out of here before I'm yada-ed even more royally than you yada-ed
me the first time." Rose stops him from leaving, saying, "You
play ball with me and I will hand you a Pulitzer Prize on a silver
platter." Henry asks how she's going to do that, and Rose tells him
she's going to offer him first crack at the story of a lifetime. Henry
asks her to give him the short version, and Rose says, "I can sum it all up
in one beautiful word, me!"
Henry tells Rose that "I'm a journalist, not a magician, OK? Even I
can't turn a culprit into a victim." He pours himself a drink as Rose
tells him he has to put a spin on it, focus on the romance. "Romance?
OK, that's the touching portion where you jump the bones of your sister's
husband." Rose explains about the Jersey girl who moved to the
Midwest, fell for the "hunk of a stable boy," and reunited with her
long lost family. Henry tells Rose that she could be onto something, but
the story hinges on making her the victim: "Clueless showgirl falls prey to
her two-timing brother-in-law." Rose indignantly tells him that's
disgusting, and Henry responds, "No, you wanted spin. What spins
better than some hick stable boy passing himself off as a media mogul?
Especially, especially if poor Jethro can't tell whether he's boinking his wife
or her sister!" Rose says that Holden is no fool, and she won't let
anyone make him into one. Henry counters that Holden made himself into a
fool, and that's where the story is. Rose observes that Henry's not really
interested in a story, he's interested in getting revenge on Holden because
"he let the whole world know what a creep you really are!"
"Is that any way to talk to the man that you're asking for a favor?"
Rose tells Henry she wants nothing from him, not if it means "dragging
Holden's good name through the mud." Henry says fine, he won't write
about Holden. No Holden, no story. "How do you like that spin,
Rosie?"
Continuing the negotiation, Henry tells Rose, "You wanna tell your story
the way it happened, then we've got something to talk about. You wanna
tell a fairy tale, call Mother Goose. Now do we have a deal or what?"
Rose says that she's given Holden enough headaches since she's been in town,
that she owes it to him to spare him a few now. She'll only agree to the
story if she can approve every word. "Rose, the day I dance in a
chorus line is the day you can edit my paper." He wishes her luck and
says it's too bad, the Intruder would have paid a pretty penny for this story.
"If you ever decide that you wanna tell what really happened, you know
where to find me." He leaves and Rose says she'll have to move on to
plan B, if she had a plan B!
Meanwhile, Chris and Emily are discussing their investigation into Henry's
past. Chris has a copy of Henry's resume. At first Emily is not
impressed, it looks like a typical resume. Henry has a B.S. in Journalism
and graduated summa cum laude. He worked as an assistant news director at
an affiliate in Chicago, then at the assignment desk in Rockford. Chris
points out that the Chicago job was a great job, and Emily agrees that only a
fool would leave that job for a less prestigious job at a smaller station.
Chris observes that "Henry may be lots of things, but he's no fool!"
They then notice the dates, that Henry left Chicago in Sept. of 1996 and didn't
start in Rockford until March of 1998; he was unemployed for 18 months.
Emily theorizes that he was forced to leave Chicago, and had to lay low for a
while. They decide that this is the key to finding the skeletons in
Henry's closet.
Later, at the Intruder, Henry walks in on Emily looking at his resume. He tells
her it's good to see the staff (what staff?) hard at work and asks her what
she's working on. She dismisses it as research and asks him where he's
been all day. He tells her he was in a meeting with Rose D'Angelo.
Emily asks why, is Craig going to hire her too? "She's about as
qualified as you were when he hired you." Henry explains that Rose is
considering selling her story to the Intruder. Emily is surprised, she
could never get Rose to talk. Henry says he must be a better negotiator,
"which is shocking considering my lack of qualifications."
Emily asks how much it's going to cost them. Henry admits that the deal is
not finalized yet, but it will be soon because "that woman is desperate to
sell. I'm stunned that you couldn't even get a nibble out of her."
Emily sarcastically tells Henry that "maybe she responded to you
differently because... because you're so manly, Henry." He laughs and
says, "Well, perhaps. Or maybe you would've had better luck if you'd
spent more time trying to get the story and less time rolling around on the
floor with Jimmy Olson." She takes a swing at him and he leaves,
laughing. Emily looks at the resume again and says, "Just you wait,
Henry Coleman, just you wait!"
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