Rick Bauer and Phillip Spaulding: You Gotta Have Friends
On the August 24, 2001 episode of Guiding Light, Rick Bauer (Michael O'Leary) reached out to his grieving, estranged best friend, Phillip Spaulding, and reminded him of everything they'd been through.
Want to know what that "everything" is? (And how the sins of the past seem to be coming home to roost -- big time! -- in the present?) Then hurry up and read the scoop!
Though they both grew up in Springfield, Rick and Phillip didn't become friends until 1982, when rich boy Phillip transferred from Lincoln Prep to Springfield High School.
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Phillip's dad, Alan Spaulding, gave Phillip a flashy sportscar and new buddy Rick promptly hopped behind the wheel for a joy-ride. When the cops stopped them for speeding, Phillip quickly switched places with Rick, who wasn't carrying his driver's license, and took the rap.
That summer, Phillip and Rick befriended a couple of new arrivals to Springfield. Spoiled rich girl Mindy Lewis, who instantly set her cap for Phillip, and shy, secretive Beth Raines, whom Rick favored. The happy quartet called themselves "The Four Musketeers," and even went to the Senior Prom together, where, even though they were there with other people, Phillip and Beth were named King & Queen.
Afterward, unable to stay away from each other, Phillip and Beth snuck away during Mindy's eighteenth birthday party, and declared their love. Unfortunately, Beth's vengeful stepfather, Bradley Raines, followed the teens and maliciously spilled the beans about Alan Spaulding not being Phillip's biological father. Hurt to discover that Rick had known the truth about his parentage all along, Phillip struck back at his friend by telling Rick about his secret tryst with Beth.
This pattern of Phillip horning in on Rick's girl would continue for some time to come.
In 1984, Rick convinced Mindy to marry him even though she was carrying Phillip's child, telling her they'd raise the baby as their own. However, once Phillip found out, he insisted on marrying Mindy himself. The couple divorced after Mindy miscarried, but, by then, it was too late for Mindy and Rick to recapture their romance.
Four years later, unlucky in love Rick thought he'd finally found the woman of his dreams in beautiful Dr. Meredith Reade. But, after an argument with Rick, Meredith ended up falling into Phillip's bed (well, actually, they were at the lighthouse). Rick and Meredith reconciled and planned to wed -- but, now it was Meredith who was pregnant with Phillip's child.
After Alan Spaulding spilled the beans to Rick about Meredith carrying a Spaulding baby, Meredith went into premature labor. At the hospital, doctors forced Rick to choose which life to save, his wife's or her unborn baby's. No matter how painful it was for him, Phillip urged Rick to save Meredith. Despite Phillip's sacrifice of his own child, Rick still punched out his best friend and spat out that he hated him. "I know," Phillip replied. "But I still love you."
After a period of estrangement, the pair reconciled in time for Rick to play hero and help Phillip out of his latest jam. In 1990, Phillip was accused of killing Neil, an unstable architect obsessed with a newly returned from the dead Beth. Rick stole a corpse from the morgue so that Phillip could fake his own death and buy some time to clear his name.
At the same time, Mindy was once again deciding that Rick was the man for her. She rushed to tell him the news, only to discover that Rick had wed a grieving Beth, who was (all together now:) pregnant with Phillip's child. However, even though they shared a kiss after Lamaze class, as soon as Beth found out Phillip was alive, she went running to her true love, and they left town with baby Lizzie.
Poor Rick was foiled again.
In 2001, though, the tables were turned. Rick slept with Phillip's estranged wife, Harley, and she became pregnant with Rick's (finally!) baby. Will their friendship be able to survive this latest turn of events? Watch Guiding Light and find out!
