The good, the bad, and the ugly

A fairy tale from long ago and far away casts a spell on Genoa City residents. Billy bets a bundle on the queen of hearts. Doug Davidson gets some long-overdue recognition. A fan predicts the future. Plus, a report on how Father's Day was celebrated in Genoa City.

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Once upon a time in an alternate soapiverse, far removed in time and space from Genoa City, two handsome princes dwelt in a small kingdom by the sea. One was a good boy prince, who could do no wrong, as differentiated from his bad boy sibling, who could do no right. The bad-to-the-bone boy proved just how bad he could be by quaffing too much mead and then smashing his chariot, along with his good brother's pate, against a tree.

The result was irreparable brain damage, and instead of heading to med school, the too-good-to-be-true boy was seduced by an overlord of the underworld and then morphed into a dark lord. The dark lord subsequently helped his not-so-fair lady friend hide her child's paternity from the child's rightful father. The dark lord came to an ugly end and there are no happily-ever-afters for him. He is now presumed dead, though the dark lord's body was never recovered. It must be noted that resurrections are frequent, rather than miraculous, in that realm.

Not long after the dark lord's disappearance, Dylan, Mr. Too-good-to-be-true, even in a soap -- oh wait, this is a soap! -- turned up in Genoa City with the bland-as-skim-milk personality of the good prince and the dashing good looks of the dark lord. Dylan is unwittingly helping another not-so-fair -- at least to her ex -- lady hide her child's identity from its potentially bad dad.

Has the dark lord traveled through a wormhole to be resurrected as his good self, or are the parallels merely coincidental for this soapiverse-hopping doppelgnger? Long-time fan Bessie suggests that Dylan will get his wake-up call when Army friend and medic, Stitch, drops in for a visit and gives Dylan the bad news about his war injury. Bessie predicts that the ugly truth is that Dylan cannot father a child.

I hope she's right because this will give Dylan some depth, and he will have to decide whether 1) he wants to tell the truth about Chelsea's child, 2) continue willingly as Chelsea's dupe and surrogate pop, or 3) like countless -- well, at least three -- Genoa City residents before him, willingly participate in a paternity cover-up. Personally, I want Dylan to struggle because that will give Steve Burton a chance to act instead of phoning it in.

Believe me when I say that Steve can show more emotional range with a facial tic than a lot of actors can with a five-page monologue. And this guy is a master at shedding manly tears. I want to see what this veteran can do with a new character. I don't want to see version 2.0 of the character that he inhabited for nearly 20 years in that alternate soapiverse. Give Dylan some flaws, put a little bite in his bark, but don't turn him into a stone cold killer.

A belated happy Father's Day to you male viewers. Celebrations were sadly lacking for Genoa City dads this year, and it is pretty obvious why that is. Victor is doing what he does best: meddling and prying. He probably picked out his own cards and gifts.

Neil's private journal entries keep popping up to embarrass his kids, and even though they don't blame him, it's got to be humiliating for them, so even a sincere Father's Day wish was probably out of the question.

Fen is slowly sinking, and even a brand new car did not earn Michael a card or even much of a thank-you. It should though. Michael is really putting himself out for Fen, trying to get through to him. Michael is a good father, and I hope that Fen figures that out before he falls down the rabbit hole with Raven. If Kevin got a card from Delia, it was probably stolen -- like stepfather, like stepdaughter.

Jack and Adam have kids that they don't know about, and Nick has selfishly claimed paternity to a child that is not his. I have to say that I am very disappointed in Nick. A fan, Ruth, said it very well:

"Nick, hates Adam for what he did to Sharon & Ashley all those yrs ago with Faith. But what he has done to Phyllis & Jack with Summer is a lot worse. At least Faith was still a baby & didn't realize what was going on with her life. But Summer is an adult now. She's going to hate Nick, Phyllis & Jack for lying to her all of her life. But it's not Phyllis or Jack's fault. The blame all belongs to Nicholas Newman. Whom right now I hate to say is acting just like Victor. Over the years Nick has always been more like Nikki but right now with this Summer, this is a Victor Newman specialty."

This behavior is very out of character for the Nick I used to know. It really makes him look like a selfish hypocritical jerk, and that image is so different from the one I have carried around about Nick for years. The same goes for Sharon. I knew Nick and Sharon when they were a happy, loving couple and I would really like to see that magic again. When the fallout from this reveal finally happens, Sharon may be the only friend that Nick has left.

I received many, many emails about Summer's paternity. Most of you who commented indicated that you did not want a reprise of the Billy-MacKenzie or Cole-Victoria storyline because this would be the third time around, and we've been there and done that. I am a glass-half-full kind of gal, so I'm willing to wait and see with only a small "show me" chip on my shoulder.

I'm reminded that Shakespeare said that there were only a handful of plots and that, essentially, we tell the same stories over and over again. It's the characters and plot twists that make the difference. So who knows, maybe the third time will be the charm. I do believe that we are about to get a game-changing twist. Is it just me, or are the rest of you thinking that Phyllis is going to seduce Kyle (or perhaps just fool Kyle into believing that he did the deed with Phyllis) while Phyllis and Kyle are together on this business trip?

That would certainly keep Kyle and Summer apart, drive a wedge between Jack and Phyllis, lead to an estrangement between Phyllis and Summer, give Phyllis a reason to leave town, and make it a lot easier for Nick to hold on to this secret until he is forced to tell, or until Sharon spills the beans, which, obviously, as we observed in a recent conversation between Sharon and Jack, Sharon is very eager to do.

A character I could easily do without is Tyler. What a surly egotistical jerk! No one is indispensable. If he had worked for me with that attitude, he would have been fired long ago. He's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Quasimodo's hump (yes, I know I'm repeating myself) and I'm rooting for Devon to knock it off. Tyler may be bigger and stronger, but he's a bully. I hope that Devon gets to use his words and superior brainpower to take Tyler down.

Cane got in a couple of good verbal shots (pun intended) when he spotted Tyler headed to the bar at On The Boulevard. Both Tyler and Adam seem to spend a lot of time in bars, and both use alcohol to get numbed when things don't go their way. What will happen to these intrepid entrepreneurs first? Liver transplant or intervention?

I watched the Emmy awards last week. I am so glad that I decided to search my TV provider's channel list for the HNL network and not assume that because it was not in my "Musts" list, it was not in my package. I found the channel about five minutes before the show started, and I am so pleased that I tuned in.

Congratulations to Doug Davidson, who won the best actor award. His touching, sincere, funny acceptance speech showed that Doug is still that down-to-earth young actor I first encountered in a soap magazine many years ago. Doug made me guffaw when he said that the presenters were younger than his tux, and I shed tears when he said that the viewers were more than fans, that they were family.

I am pleased that Paul has done so well in Genoa City and that he and Christine found happiness together. He and his police force have had several successes, unlike the police in that parallel soapiverse, who are constantly duped and foiled by the overlord of the underworld.

I was aware that Billy Miller was a good actor before he tied for Outstanding Supporting Actor, but his gracious and humble demeanor made me like him even more than I already do, so I am all in and ready for the chips to fall where they will as Billy makes the inevitable descent into addiction. I will be watching this story closely because I have a two-soap-a-day habit of my own to deal with.

Addiction is addiction. How destructive it becomes and how you deal with it is what counts. Billy has told his queen of hearts the whole ugly truth, but she is in denial. Will Victoria toss Billy out with his dice, or will she double down and bet on Billy to win his struggle with addiction? I'm rooting for Victoria to wise up and stand by her man, not throw it all away and run home to daddy dearest.

Though nominated, The Young and Restless was shut out of the other awards. Its sister show, The Bold and the Beautiful, won four awards including Outstanding Lead Actress, tied for Supporting Actor, and Outstanding Writing and Diirecting Teams. I expected B&B to get Outstanding Drama Series, but inexplicably, that went to Days of Our Lives. I really don't understand how a show can be best drama without having the best writers, directors, or actors (well DAYS did win best younger actor). If anyone wants to take a crack at explaining that to me, please have at it.

Melody Scott Thomas showed her flair for both fashion and comedy when she announced the donation of one of the twelve wedding gowns she wore for her various Y&R weddings to the Smithsonian exhibition opening in 2016. The exhibition will honor the contribution of daytime television to American culture. Melody drew the biggest laugh of the evening when she speculated on whether her last name would still be Newman in 2016.

I absolutely love hearing from other fan-addicts! You inspire me with your intelligence and insight. It makes no nevermind to me whether you agree with me or not. I just like to know what you are thinking. And besides, I was a champion debater in high school, so I can argue any side of any question, and I can change my opinion as often as Summer changed clothes on graduation day.

The I-Could-Not-Have-Said-it-Better-Myself Award goes to Sandy for her comments about the Michael-Lauren-Carmine storyline.

"I just cannot figure out why Lauren does not change her cell phone number and have a restraining order against Carmine. After all Michael is an attorney and they both have friends at the Genoa City Police Dept. How dumb can they be? This makes me think she doesn't really want to sever ties with Carmine. Does she?"

In a strange coincidence, I noticed that the exact same quote from A Streetcar Named Desire was used in both soapiverses last week -- though in different contexts! Where soap opera is concerned, I am in wholehearted agreement with Blanche Dubois, who said, "I don't want realism, I want magic."

What does the future hold for Genoa City residents? Will it be good for Jack and bad for Summer when Nick finally reveals the ugly truth? Or will Kyle be seduced by a bad Phyllis and make an ugly situation worse? Will Leslie get the goods on Rose before Neil gets the bad news about another ugly journal post? Will Carmine ignore Lauren's good manners and prove Chloe's assertion that Carmine is too bad to bed? Will Carmine become Lauren's ugly stalker? Will Dylan-the-good go bad in the face of an ugly revelation? Will Devon's advertising ideas be good enough to overcome Tyler's bad attitude and prevent an ugly confrontation? Will Lily ditch good guy Cane for bad boy Tyler and start an ugly family feud?

A day without a soap is a day without strurm und drang. So, till next time, fellow fan-addicts, may the soaps be with you.

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