It's not every day that I feel sorry for Melanie but as I've pointed out in the past, this character has definitely come into her own in the past few months or so. It's also not every day that you find out that your parents are not really your parents at all. But I think if Melanie would stop screaming and protesting long enough to hear Carly's side of the story, she will know that her mother didn't just throw her away. Phillip has already mentioned that Carly shot Melanie by accident and that the real nut job around here is actually Vivian, to say nothing of the visions of that creepy Lawrence. But alas, the fact that Carly kept Melanie away from her brand new daddy, Daniel, is just another brick to add to Melanie's wall of resentment against Carly.

Vivian finally told "Lawrence" goodbye after he reappeared to admonish her for not killing Melanie when she had the chance. Last week while I was watching, I was seriously wondering about Vivian's sanity, not to mention the fact that her determination to make Carly suffer seems to have taken on a life of it's own. Oh and that it's all really starting to get dumb, but never you mind. Vivian has convinced herself that Carly should pay in the worst way possible for sending Lawrence on a one way trip straight down, never taking into consideration what actually happened or what went on between Carly and Lawrence that brought the violent confrontation about in the first place. In other words, did  Vivian even stop to think that perhaps her nephew is nipping at EJ's heels for top honors in the slime contest? The guy was no prince, that's for damn sure.

Carly laid out the sordid tale when she admitted to Daniel that Melanie was his daughter too and made it pretty clear as to just what kind of a creep Lawrence really was. Carly's life with him was one of fear, threats and physical abuse, and I really think that once Melanie hears the whole story, her attitude towards Carly will soften, as will Daniel's. I half expected Daniel to run screaming for the hills when he learned he had a kid because Daniel has always been somewhat of an ill-defined character. But I guess his days of sleeping his way from coast to coast came to an end a long time ago, and he goes into Melanie's hospital room and just looks at her, in pure wonderment.

When Vivian goes to see Melanie to kill her, Melanie surprises Vivian by saying "Just do it." This is a kid that grew up being handed off to God knows who in order to pay off Trent's gambling debts. I have a feeling that Trent had to have known that Melanie wasn't his daughter and some guys do get kind of resentful when someone else's kid is pawned off on them. It reminds them of their won failures, or the costly mistakes of the other parent. In Melanie's case, it taught her that the seedy life Trent lived was pretty much the way it was, and she had to learn compassion and goodness on her own - and it took a long time too. We're starting to see more insight into Melanie, not only how her life has shaped her mind-set but how that life directly affects the way she feels about herself. I had no idea she was self-loathing, did you? That came as a surprise to me, but in the scheme of things, it made all the sense in the world, even for her.