First some background:  Gabrielle got close to Alicia Grande when Alicia was pregnant with her husband Michael's child.  Gabrielle was also close to Michael, the two had had an affair and still cared deeply about each other.  One night, Gabrielle and Alicia went for a drive and the brakes on the car failed.  Gabrielle, had to deliver Alicia's baby on the spot, and soon after, Alicia died.  Michael was crushed, but at least he had Garrick, who, despite the circumstances of his birth, seemed fine.

        A couple of days later after the accident, the storyline took an even more tragic urn for the worse when Gabrielle visited Garrick in the hospital.  While she was there, Garrick died, and Gabrielle, in a hysterical state, switched another live infant--Brenda McGillis's son--from the crib next to Garrick's, putting Garrick in Steven's crib.  At Brenda's expense, Gabrielle took the lives of others in her hands and carelessly manipulated them.  For months she kept that night's events secret.  Brenda mourned the loss of Steven, while Michael grew attached to a child that he thought was his.

     When the truth came out, Gabrielle was brought up on charges.  By now she was overwhelmed with guilt.  She wanted to plead guilty and redeem herself by spending her life in prison.  If it weren't for Max she would have.

    On Oct 13, 1989, Max convinced Gabrielle to plead not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, and the trial began.  Gabrielle sat in the courtroom and watched as those she had tortured for months took the stand and---ironically--defended her.  (Some didn't of course, Michael went for her throat).  Of all people, Brenda, in a moving moment on the witness stand, begged the jury not to send Gabrielle to jail, because despite the lies, Gabrielle nurtured baby Steven after he was born.  Brenda didn't want him to grow up knowing that the woman who first raised him spent time in jail.  gabrielle cried to Max, "How can she possibly forgive me when there is no way in hell I can forgive myself!?"

    Fiona Hutchison gave a brilliant performance as Gabrielle during the trial and it's aftermath.  She took a  character who was virtually hated by most fans and turned the seemingly incorrigible vixen into a noble heroine--not an easy task.  Those tears she shed during the trial were so sincere that we couldn't help but empathize with the baby switcher.

It's amazing the wonders good acting can work. *
                                                                ----Mark McGarry