Clarke's arrival interrupts Deacon's battle with the bottle.

At Jackie M, Deacon continues to eye the bottle of vodka. He puts the cap back on but then starts to take it off again. He stops himself and says he can't do this. Just then, Clarke pops into the office and startles Deacon. Clarke sees that Deacon looks a bit frazzled and asks if he's OK. Deacon says he's fine and asks Clarke what he wants. Is he here to put more dresses on the rack? Clarke says Deacon should be glad if he did, since Spectra's giving Jackie M a bigger piece of the pie to allow them to make more money. Deacon asks if he should be thanking Clarke and Sally for that. Actually, Clarke says, Thorne's the one behind their success. Deacon says he gets it: he knows their deal and has done his part to promote Spectra, so what does Clarke want from him?

Clarke thinks it's a question of what Spectra can do for Deacon. Deacon quips that he'd like two floor seats for the Lakers, but he has to get to work. Clarke apologizes for hounding him; it's just that Jackie M has been a huge part in helping Sally realize her dream of being on top of the fashion world. He promises to work on those Laker tickets. Deacon thanks him. Clarke then leaves. Once he's gone, Deacon looks back to the bottle of vodka. He struggles, but then throws the bottle against the wall, shattering it.

A disguised Darla reluctantly helps her boss lady sneak into Forrester.

At Forrester, the preview of the new collection is about to start. A red-headed woman wearing sunglasses wheels a Frenchman in a wheelchair in - but as we get close, we see that the FrenchMAN is a disguised Sally, and her assistant is Darla! Darla can't believe Sally talked her into spying on her in-laws; she thought they were past this since they went legit. Sally says it was necessary: she's persona non grata here since they're taking sales from Forrester. Darla wheels Sally next to snooty reporter Jarrett, who thinks the Frenchman looks familiar. Using a phony French accent, Sally throws Jarrett off by acting thrilled to be sitting next to such a prestigious fashion critic. While Jarrett eats this up, Stephanie looks in from behind the curtain. When she spots the "Frenchman," she sees through Sally's disguise and rolls her eyes in disbelief.

Backstage, Samantha and Caitlin get the models ready while Eric stands around in thought. He remembers the triumphs with his sons - congratulating Thorne on this stage at the fashion showdown, standing by Ridge's side in Portofino - and a tear comes to his eye. Stephanie asks if he's OK. She says it's not like him to be nervous. Eric worries that he pushed his sons away from the family business, and losing them has cost Forrester its edge.

Jarrett asks his new friend what he thinks of the collection.

As the first grouping hits the runway, the reaction from the audience is subdued. Backstage, Eric watches nervously. Stephanie tells him to relax, but he expected more applause. They're too busy taking notes, Stephanie suggests. Out in the audience, Jarrett asks his new French friend what "he" thinks. Sally, laying the accent on thick, says this seems too traditional. She thinks it's boring compared to the brilliance of Spectra Couture by Thorne Forrester and suggests that Eric might be losing his touch.

Caitlin and Samantha watch from backstage.

As Eric introduces the final design in the preview, the crowd's response still seems lukewarm. Backstage, Sam tells Caitlin that she's proud of her. Caitlin tells her mom that she's proud of her, too. They both note how little time they had to pull this together and figure that there's still time to make changes.

As the last bit of light applause fills the room, Eric comes out on stage and thanks the reporters for coming. He then introduces their two newest designers, the mother and daughter team of Samantha Kelly and Caitlin Ramirez. Sam and Caitlin join him on stage to mild applause. Jarrett asks Sam about her and Caitlin's lack of couture experience. Eric reminds Jarrett that Forrester has always taken pride in hiring designers with intuition and instinct, and he feels that Caitlin and Sam have that vision. He then sends the ladies back to work. Jarrett then points out how ironic it is that Spectra's designers have more years of training with Eric than Forrester's own do. Eric says he's proud of his children and former employees at Spectra. Jarrett asks Eric if Thorne's success at Spectra might compromise the Forrester name. Not at all, Eric says: he feels Forrester will always be there, even when Spectra's temporary notoriety has faded. With that, he ends the preview.

"Frenchman" Sally accuses Eric of grandstanding.

Sally speaks up in her phony French accent and tells Eric to admit that this preview is just a stunt to get his name in the press now that Spectra and Thorne have pushed him off the page. Stephanie rolls her eyes again. Eric asks security to escort this woman out. Hearing Eric call the Frenchman a woman, Jarrett realizes who it is! Sally says it's her, in the flesh and greets all the beautiful people. Eric says this is just a shameless attempt by the competition to steal the spotlight. See, Sally says: Eric admits they're the competition. Stephanie walks into the audience, wheels Sally's chair around and tells Darla to get Sally out of here. Darla apologizes to her mother-in-law as the crowd chatters about the spectacle. Stephanie and Eric exchange looks amid the chatter.

Stephanie tries to reassure Eric.

Stephanie finds Eric backstage and sees the look on his face. She hopes he didn't look this down when he gave his pep talk to the troops. Eric says everyone left in a good mood. Stephanie thinks it went well, other than Sally showing up. Eric however is starting to wonder if Ridge was right about letting Spectra use the Forrester name. Stephanie reminds him that they agreed they owed it to Thorne, but Eric sees the damage that's resulted now. Stephanie assures him that this wasn't a bad collection. But it wasn't a great one, either, Eric replies. He fears this may be the first flop in Forrester history.

Ridge makes his pitch to Thorne.

At Spectra, Ridge keeps trying to convince Thorne to come back to Forrester. He thinks Eric needs his sons by his side, not some design team he's had no time to train. He knows they'll disagree, but he thinks the most important thing now is to reunite the family. Thorne thinks they can do that working for different companies. He reminds Ridge how much he's accomplished at Spectra and isn't willing to walk away from his company. But it's not HIS company, Ridge says, unless Sally gave him a piece of the pie. Thorne says she didn't, since he was an unproven executive. However, he feels his salary reflects his accomplishments. Ridge guesses that Thorne's making a million a year, but thinks that pales compared to the $20 million that Forrester could get for licensing their name and trademark. Looking at it that way, he thinks Sally's getting a bargain.

Thorne considers Ridge's words.

Thorne tells Ridge that Sally respected him when his own family scorned him. He knows her history, but she's legit now. Ridge believes that: he knows Sally's shrewd business sense from working with her, which is why he thinks Sally knows what Thorne brings to the table. He bets Sally is laughing her way to the bank knowing what she has on her hands, which is why he wants Thorne to come back to Forrester, where he'll be appreciated. He pleads with Thorne to help him make Forrester the company their parents dreamed of when they founded it. As Thorne considers Ridge's words, Ridge adds that Eric's having a tough time. He points out how their dad is previewing a collection he doesn't believe in just to counter Spectra's press. Thorne thinks Ridge can fix that by going back and helping their dad, but Ridge thinks they both have to go back to really reunite this family.