Don't miss the first eight minutes of the November 30 episode, urges MP Co-Executive Producer Charles Pratt, Jr. All will be revealed. "We incorporate a technique we started at the beginning of the year," explains the exec. "Black-and-white imagery to tell the old story with Heather and Rena playing themselves as teenagers." The pivotal episode is titled, "When Cheerleaders Attack" - a telling clue as to what actually went down that fateful night. "The event takes place in the empty, deserted bleachers after a high school football game. It's the two women versus a guy." Who was the guy? And why did they attack?
     Well, here's a hint. In the previous episode, Kyle confronted Eve just before she was about to marry Peter. Summarizes Pratt: "Kyle blurted, 'Fifteen years in prison and Amanda's somehow involved! What did you do, kill somebody?'" Amanda and Eve will then be forced to come clean to Kyle - after all this time.
     "The ramifications of revealing this 'secret' to everyone would have been disastrous for Amanda's advertising business, her clients and her personal life," explains Heather Locklear. "People will always believe the worst, whether it's true or not..."
     Especially when it involves Amanda. The revelation will show a side of Ms. Woodward that viewers have never seen. "We'll find out that Amanda, privately, out of both guilt and friendship, has supported Eve's family," previews Pratt, "and visited her regularly in a prison up in San Francisco."
     "There will be tremendous ramifications," adds Co-Executive Producer Carol Mendelsohn. "Amanda and Eve will convince Kyle to keep this secret from Peter. But as Kyle says, "Secrets don't stay buried forever." And he doesn't want to be around when Peter finds out."
     Neither does Amanda. But her reasons for keeping Peter in the dark actually turn out to be benevolent. "Peter is madly in love with Eve, and she knows if Peter were to suddenly find out that Eve had been keeping something from him, it would rock the foundation of their relationship," Pratt explains. "Amanda has been selfishly - and not so selfishly - rooting for Peter and Eve from the beginning. Selfishly, to get him out of her hair. And not selfishly, because she wants Eve to have the man of her dreams."
     The timing of Kyle's discovery could not be worse for the almost-bride. "With Eve about to marry Peter, Kyle is wondering why Amanda would want to continue to keep the secret - especially something that huge," explains Kyle's portrayer, Rob Estes. "Kyle says, `You've got to tell Peter.' But Amanda and Eve make him promise not to tell."
     "Amanda is very guarded," adds Locklear, "both in business and in her personal relationships, as you have seen. Amanda's trust level with people is always on guard - and at Melrose Place, her suspicions are usually warranted!" Her insistence on Kyle keeping this secret will cause big trouble down the line for Eve. "What will add tension," she previews, "is Amanda being able to convince Kyle - who is Peter's best man - not to tell Peter."
     "There are only four of us at the wedding [Peter, Eve, Amanda and Kyle]; it's very small and intimate," chimes in Jack Wagner (Peter). "Once the audience is let in on [Amanda's secret], it boils down to how Peter's going to find out. Will he find out from Eve, the woman he loves? Or will he find out through other means and feel deceived?" Our hunch is the latter. In which case, says Wagner, "Everything is based on a lie. That would probably affect most people's marriages."
     Though Peter and Eve's nuptials are expected to go off without too much of a hitch, several factors threaten to blow the lid off Amanda and Eve's vow of silence. Chief among them: Kyle, who will prove to be the weak link. "Kyle's life is about to take a turn," hints Pratt. "As Kyle's life starts to deteriorate, keeping secrets for these people becomes less and less important, and some big things start to blow up. He'll begin to suspect Peter's motives and Peter will suspect Kyle's motives. Our fearsome foursome, who seem so happy, have some real rough waters ahead."
     As the story unfolds, fans can also expect to see a gradual erosion of Amanda and Eve's tight sisterly bond. "Their relationship will definitely have more colors as the season goes on," says Mendelsohn. "Initially," adds Pratt, "Eve is so grateful to Amanda for standing by her all these years. But now, free of prison, and ultimately free of this secret that's hanging over her, she's going to start to realize that maybe Amanda always liked controlling her - being the puppet master, as she always has been with Alison and so many others before. Eve will come to seriously question Amanda's motives."
     As viewers have been doing all along. Pratt explains that this important missing piece to Amanda's puzzle fits in with MP's season-long theme of probing into the pasts of the show's core characters. "We approached this season with the idea of bringing the show back into itself by examining the origins of these characters to find out what made them who they are. That is what we've been accomplishing throughout every single episode."
     The scoop on Amanda's past will go a long way toward explaining the character's, shall we say, razor-sharp edge. "I think this whole secret has affected the way Amanda deals with the men in her life," theorizes Mendelsohn. "Being suspicious. Not trusting what people say at face value. Not believing in love and commitment. If a guy says, 'I love you and want to be with you,' she knows he could turn on a dime."
     "You know Amanda," smiles Locklear. "She is a woman with an incredible survival instinct. She would save her own hide before saving a friendship, no matter how much is at stake. And, given the ramifications of this secret, Amanda's life at Melrose Place could change more dramatically than ever before in this episode."