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"Mike goes up there to give Carrie another chance to make the move," explains his portrayer, Roark Critchlow. "He has said, 'I love you,' but she hasn't said it back, and it's breaking his heart. He's insanely in love, he's gone over the edge and can't think of anything else." So Mike is in the mood for love when he arrives at Carrie's door. "He gets there and he's thrilled that he's right and figured out where she was," smiles Critchiow. "of course, she says to him, 'What are you doing here?' He asks where Austin is. She says he never came and that she thought they were close enough that he would know she was there. It's been going on so long, [where] Mike has been throwing his heart out and it has been stomped on by her, that he can't say, 'Yeah, but I did.' He just thinks it. She's rejected him enough times that he needs for her to come to the conclusion herself." Luckily for Mike, she does. "She finally says, 'Everything I thought about Austin, you just did. Everything I need from Austin, for him to come up here and be with me and understand me and know that I'm here, you just did it. I've been a fool, and I finally realized how much you mean to me."'
After months of denying the obvious, Carrie finally declares her love for Mike, and they kiss. But what they don't know is that Austin, who has battIed through an avalanche to get to his wife, is watching them through the window. "He's freezing, he has a big gash on his head, and he gets there and sees them kissing," says Austin Peck (Austin). Needless to say, this isn't the romanfic rendezvous he'd imagined. "He's angry and hurt," nods Peck. "It's not necessarily the fact that she's fooling around with another man; it's that Austin knows the man. He gave them his trust, they abused it and spit it back in his face" Before Austin has a chance to confront his wife and her lover, the cops show up in Carrie's room, looking for her fugitive husband. "Austin says, 'This is your lucky day, Mikey boy,' " laughs Peck, then returns to the cave and Sami.
It's a long way back in the car, though, as Austin comes to some harsh realizations about his marriage. 'i think it's something that he didn't expect, but once he sees it, it all makes perfect sense," notes Peck. "Now he knows exactly what the deal is and all his suspicions in the past are proven true." But this won't turn him against Carrie. "I think he's more in the 'kill Mike' phase," says Peck. "I think it's a lot easier for him to think Carrie was manipulated, rather than she went after another guy.
Exec Producer Langan concurs: "The guy is devastated, but when you're in love the way Austin loves Carrie, after the anger, you start to ask yourself, 'Was I neglecting her? She was trying to tell me that Mike was there for her, but I put Sami first.' He'll look for excuses to keep the relationship alive in his mind because he can't bear to live without her .. until he's maybe smacked in the face with something else?'
For the married Carrie, declaring her love for another man is definitely a turning point. "Her marriage is pretty much over," shrugs Christie Clark (Carrie). "Her husband deserted her; and if he gets caught, he's going to jail, so it's over then. But she realizes that she loves Austin, too, and she's very conflised. Mike's her best friend, he's always there for her and at this point in time, she would like to be with him. That's her fantasy." Not that Austin's out of the picture for good. "When she sees him and he has a chance to explain, he can work his way back in"' says Clark. "But he didn't listen to her, and he's taken Sarni's side so many times in the relationship. She's sick of that."
Meanwhile, back at the lodge, Carrie and Mike debate whether or not their kisses should turn into something more. "She definitely wants to kiss Mike and go finther, and those thoughts scare her," says Clark. Nevertheless, she asks Mike to make love to her, and they almost do, but stop before the point of no return. "They come to their senses," sighs Critchlow. "Mike feels like he's taking advantage of her and stops to think about the actual repercussions. He stops just long enough for her to say, 'Wait a second, how many people am I going to hurt?' They wind up falling asleep in each other's arms, but they don't make love because that means the world changes: divorce, mayhem...."
So where do they go from here? "We're trying to do a noble
love here and on television, sex is the grand prize, but we need to take
a long time to get there," says Critchlow. "For Mike, at least he knows
he's not insane and she does love him. The magnitude of her saying that
is huge." But a Carrie/Mike future is not necessarily certain. "One thing
will lead to another and there will be many twists and turns along the
way," promises Langan. "Will Carrie and Mike ever sleep together? Will
Austin find out and break them up? Will Sami and Austin have a
future? Will Sami ever get free? These are all possibilities.
There will be big payoffs to these stories."
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