Gay TV Recap: As the World Turns' big-ish gay-ish day

*-*-SPOILERS, for those of you not in the EDT-*-*

So as reported by us and touted by my cable guide, TV Guide, and the show itself, today was the big day where Luke confessed his true feeling to his friend Noah -- those feelings being of the "I want to wrap you in a tortilla and eat you with a dollop of guacamole" variety.

At the top of the episode, the old Austin from Days of Our Lives is giving Luke and Noah candy bars to thank them for helping out on the hotline for some kidnapped kid. (I've heard of Amber Alerts ... is this more of a Chocolate Alert?) Luke is distracted and doesn't seem to want to be around Noah, and when Noah calls him on it by asking if something is wrong, Luke makes a face that says "yes, viewers at home, there IS something wrong but you're not going to find out what it is until later" and we move to another scene.

When we come back a few minutes later, Luke brushes it off and Noah is still trying to hang out with Luke and reveals that he's going to Oakdale U instead of Northwestern because his dad won't let him go to NW unless he joins the Army first. Maddie shows up and Luke takes off, and she and Noah kiss just as Luke comes back into the room to grab something (a manila folder? his dignity?), and he rolls his eyes and leaves.

Other stuff: shirtless guy with scratches on his face, a guy in a diner that looks like he could be Peter Krause's overzhuzhed brother. A commercial that uses The Flaming Lips. Blah blah...

Nothing for a while, and then ...

Noah and Maddie are making out again. Eew -- the things I put myself through for my big gay job. Hey -- is it just me or does Noah have a Kyle XY thing going on in the eyes? Maddie's all "you're going to Northwestern or I'm not kissing you anymore" and basically nuh-uhs him into calling his father and standing up to him about the whole "sending me to Iraq" thing.

More missing kid stuff. If we had a drinking game where you had to do a shot every time someone said "J.J." I'd be David Crosby's twenties by now.

Noah calls his dad and gets the blah blah about being a man and serving his country and such and of course dad ends up on top again. Noah offhand refers to Maddie as his "girlfriend" and she kind of bugs and he says, "well, we are sleeping together, doesn't that kind of make you my girlfriend" and she's all, "I guess..." What, you mean he didn't make an honest woman by giving her his pin?! She makes an excuse and a hasty exit -- looks like she's not ready to be called someone's girlfriend and spooks at the thought like a horse in a lightning storm.

Yaaaaaay!

Oh, just kidding. But it does leave a convenient "out" for Noah if he's moved too fast and Maddie isn't all about it. Although it doesn't exactly pave the way for Noah's swinging in Luke's direction if he's all over Maddie and they're making the beast with two backs on a regular basis like they apparently are...

Hey, where IS Luke, btw? Last time we saw him he was rolling his eyes and leaving the hotline with a candy bar. Did he have some sort of blood sugar incident that we need to be concerned about?!

Ah -- there he is. Luke's refusing to work with Noah again, and Noah finally calls him on it, and the two finally have a breakthrough moment in the fabulous soap opera tradition of two people talking to one other while both facing the camera:

Noah: (to Luke's back) "Why are you treating me like I've got the plague? I mean, do you just not like me?"

Luke: "No, I like you Noah."

Noah: "Then why do you keep pushing me away?"

(Luke pauses, laughs to himself, and turns to face him)

Luke: "Because. i like you, Noah." (Noah looks hard at Luke) "Yeah ... like that."

Well THAT was fun! It's a testament to these two actors that this moment worked at all (particularly Van Hansis, who is seriously waaaay too good for the amount of screentime he gets). That's all for the episode, but the preview for things to come has a shot picking up where things left off. Noah says, "I'm not gay." And Luke looks kind of sheepish, like, "yeah, I know, but there's nothing I can do to help it."

So there we have it. We'll be keeping an eye on this one -- although I don't know if I personally can watch too much more until there's some more action and less missing toddlers. There have been rumors that the two will have a lip-lock within the month, which is certainly promising. Beats flirting with candy bars.