1988

One memorable winter afternoon in February 1988 Erica Kane gave birth to a healthy baby girl, no small feat for Erica. Late in her pregnancy, she developed a searing pain in her head, causing her to collapse in her apartment. She was rushed to Pine Valley Hospital and diagnosed with toxemia. Joe Martin told Travis if it wasn’t treated, Erica could have a stroke, resulting in the possible death of Erica and her baby. Travis tended to her every need and gave her a wedding ring, promising to place it or her finger no matter what happened. Weakened by her condition, Erica lapsed into unconsciousness. In her dream state, Erica imagined she was on a movie sound stage. There, she encountered all the men she had ever loved and lost, including her father, Eric Kane. Erica returned to reality and went into labor. With Travis by her side, she safely delivered her baby. She named her daughter Bianca, and the child became the darling of Pine Valley.



View Complete Summary for "All My Children" 1988

Ellen and Ross’s marriage, destroyed by his affair and subsequent rape of Natalie, ended in divorce, but Ellen refused to give in to depression. Mark was waiting in the wings and they soon discovered love is sweeter the second time around. They married in hopes of a happy home life with Mark’s natural daughter, Julie. But Julie wasn’t so willing to accept Mark as her father. Having broken up for good with Charlie Brent, who returned to Stanford University, Julie turned her romantic attentions to Nico Kelly. Nico had recently been released from prison and placed on probation. By year’s end, Julie and Nico had married, facing the future together. Returning to Pine Valley as man and wife, they were blissfully unaware that their marriage was invalid because the small-town mayor who officiated their simple ceremony was not authorized to perform weddings.

The romantic triangle of Cliff, Nina and Matt grew more complicated when Nina became pregnant. Nina had slept with both men and realized that either man could be the father of her unborn child. Believing she truly loved Matt, the pregnant Nina sadly divorced Cliff and left town with her new man.

Angie broke the sorrowful news to Cindy that she had contracted the AIDS virus. At this point Cindy was romantically involved with Stuart Chandler, who vowed to stand by the woman he loved. The rest of Pine Valley was not as understanding. Cindy was harassed and nearly killed in a fire set by a vigilante group who wanted the young AIDS victim to leave town. Cindy would have died in the fire if not for the heroic efforts of Adam Chandler’s daughter, Skye, who was now married to Tom Cudahy. Skye raced into the burning fire and rescued Cindy. Having inhaled the noxious smoke, Skye passed out and fell into a long coma. Tom discovered his wife had been one of the AIDS-fearing vigilantes. He was shocked when he learned it was Skye who had arranged the fire, only to have second thoughts at the last moment.

With Skye in a coma, Tom turned to Barbara Montgomery for comfort. Before long, romance blossomed between them. Skye finally woke from her three-month-long coma on Stuart and Cindy’s wedding day. She lurked in the background and watched as they exchanged their vows. But something more caught her eye. The impact of seeing Tom with Barbara Montgomery sent Skye back into a coma. Only this time, it was a lie. Skye had devised a plan to keep Tom by her side, and it worked. He promised not to desert her, not knowing whether she could hear him or not. She was determined not to lose Tom to Barbara, even after she miracuiously recovered a few weeks later. Feigning paralysis, Skye’s scheme to keep Tom was failing. Tom had fallen deeply in love with his mistress. But that didn’t stop Skye. In desperation, she kidnapped Barbara at gun point and threatened to kill her. She might have done it if Sean Cudahy hadn’t alerted his brother to her actions. Arriving on the scene, Tom pleaded with his deranged wife to hand over the gun. A defeated Skye surrendered it and was carted off to jail where she slipped into a catatonic state and was taken to Oak Haven Sanitarium.

With that crisis behind him, Tom looked forward to happiness with Barbara. He never guessed that within a few short months, he would suffer the greatest loss of his life. Barbara was baby-sitting Tom and Brooke’s daughter Laura one night. Engrossed in her work, Barbara didn’t realize the gravity of her decision to let Laura play with a friend who lived across the street. As the little girl crossed the street, she was run down and killed by a passing car. The driver, police officer Josh Waleski, had just come from a party and was driving drunk. Numb with grief, Tom and Brooke donated Laura’s organs so others might live. Haunted by the memories of her last moments with Laura, Barbara worried that this tragedy would destroy any hope she had with Tom.

Having served his time in prison for killing Sybil Thorne, Tom’s wayward brother Sean resurfaced in Pine Valley determined to startanew. Sean assured Tom he had changed, but itwasn’t long before his money-grubbing ways took over. He had set his romantic sights on Cecily Davidson, whose attractive trust fund made Sean salivate. Cecily’s meddling motherBitsy stubbornly insisted that a former convict wouldn’t make a suitable husband for her daughter, but Cecily agreed to marry Sean. She didn’t know that Bitsy wanted Sean for herself. Bitsy even had the gall to suggest Sean dump Cecily and run away with her, an offer Sean needed time to consider.

Defying Adam, Stuart and Cindy married in a beautifully tender ceremony and exchanged personal vows. Soon after, Cindy’s weakening condition kept her in and out of Pine Valley Hospital. Stuart supported her while she bravely fought off the infections that ravaged her frail body. She tried to maintain as normal a life as possible for her family, considering the circumstances.

Now that their lives were free of the tumult that plagued their first year together, Jeremy and Silver tried unsuccessfully to resume their courtship. She soon became obsessed with the idea that Jeremy was still attracted to Natalie. Though she claimed she was through with men, having just divorced Palmer, it was clear Natalie still had eyes for her first love, Jeremy.

Erica encouraged Silver to toughen up if she expected to keep Jeremy and Natalie apart. Erica warned that Silver was dealing with a vulture, and Silver took her sister’s words to heart. Clad in black, she broke into Natalie’s house pretending to be a rapist. Repeated attempts to unnerve Natalie were all in vain. She was too late. Jeremy and Natalie had fallen in love.

Jeremy confessed his feelings to Silver, sadly delivering the news that they must break up. Angry and distraught, Silver confronted Natalie in her apartment. Natalie carried a gun because she feared the rapist was on the premises and was shocked to learn it was Silver Kane who had stalked her. Deranged with anger, Silver blasted Natalie for stealing Jeremy and lunged for her gun. A struggle ensued and the pistol went off. Silver fell to the floor dead. In a panic, Natalie hid Silver’s corpse, but she couldn’t keep the death from Palmer, who happened upon the scene, then placed a call to his lawyer. He calmly told Walter he and Natalie were ending divorce proceedings. Palmer took care of all the arrangements, making it appear that Silver had left town. With Natalie’s help, he dumped the body in a pond on his vast estate and blackmailed Natalie into becoming his wife again.

When Silver’s body surfaced weeks later, it looked as if Natalie would be charged with murder. Fortunately for Natalie, the telephone answering machine in her apartment had accidentally recorded the encounter with Silver. The tape, which Palmer had stolen, exonerated Natalie. The charges against her were dropped, but Palmer was arrested for obstruction of justice and sentenced to serve one-to-three years in prison. Using his power and money to its full advantage, he enjoyed special privileges at the prison worrk farm.

The cloud of scandal that hovered over Natalie finally lifted in the autumn of 1988 when she married Jeremy Hunter, whom she had loved for so long. After a year fraught with adultery, rape, murder and blackmail, she looked forward to a happy future with Jeremy. While walking down the aisle, Natalie didn’t notice that Palmer Cortlandt, who was on furlough from jail, was in attendance. Palmer’s plan to stop the wedding was thwarted when he suddenly took ill and retreated to the vetstibule where he collapsed. A mystery woman named Marissa Rampal came upon the stricken Palmer and rushed him to Pine Valley Hospital, where it a near-fatal heart attack was diagnosed.

Marissa had been secretly tracking Jeremy’s every move. She turned out to be a former flame Jeremy had believed was dead. He was understandably stunned to see her alive. She surprised him again with the news that they had a son. The following week, David Rampal, a strong and handsome teenager, arrived in Pine Valley. Meeting his father for the first time, a distant David was reluctant to accept Jeremy. Jeremy came to love the boy nonetheless and worked to earn his affection and admiration while David harbored a secret dream that his parents would reunite.

Angie and Jesse reconciled, but their happy time together was brief. Jesse, now a police officer, was gunned down by a bullet meant for a slick criminal character he was pursuing. Angie was devastated and many years would pass before she could think romantically about anyone.

Dixie Cooney and her brother Will left Pigeon Hollow in search of their late rich uncle, Pete Cooney. Pete had long since changed his name to Palmer Cortlandt and hired Dixie as a maid for Cortlandt Manor, not knowing she was his niece.

Erica, Travis and Bianca appeared to finally have it all, but Travis was too proud to admit to Erica that his financial empire was crumbling. With help from Travis’s envious brother Jack, Adam Chandler led a hostile takeover attempt of Travis’s company. Travis managed to survive Adam’s bid, but the ordeal left him in severe financial straits. To pay off his massive debts, Travis concocted a phony kidnapping plot in which his insurance company would pay $15 million for his safe return. When the plot backfired, Steven Andrews, the man Travis hired to execute the scheme, was hell bent on revenge and snatched Bianca, demanding the $15 million for himself.

Travis was able to get Bianca back, but lost his wife in the process. Erica couldn’t believe he could sink to such extremes. She took Bianca and secretly fled to Sea City in hopes of a fresh start, without lies and deceits. To keep her husband from finding her, she changed her name to “Sally” and applied for a waitressing job at Al Darby’s diner. Erica took a room at Jean’s boardinghouse, where in an astonishing coincidence, her fellow houseguest was none other than Steven Andrews, now using the name Dave Gillis. Unaware he was Travis’s former partner in crime. Erica struck up a friendship with the handsome and seemingly kind gentleman. Before long, they were lovers, and Dave begged Erica to run away with him to the Riviera. They might have been successful in their attempt to flee the country if Travis hadn’t raced to Sea City and stopped them. In a fight to the death, Andrews was shot and killed. Travis suffered a severe head injury and Erica, stunned by this incredible turn of events, realized she still cared for him. Calling off the divorce. she was determined to make a new start with her husband. But before leaving Sea City, Travis was mugged and beaten, leaving him disoriented. When Erica found him, he had no idea who she was.

Source: All My Children: The Complete Family Scrapbook


1988 Episodes / Clips: