There seems to be an epidemic of anger in Genoa City these days, and from my point of view, quite a bit of it is downright misdirected. It just seems to me that if you're going to resort to revenge, retaliation, and retribution, you should really know exactly who to go after. Who really did you wrong!
Number one on this list of those with misdirected anger issues is Phyllis. For a few weeks, Phyllis was truly engendering sympathy. It seemed that she'd turned a corner. Her father's death showed us the never-before-seen back story to explain why her family had wrongly ostracized Phyllis. In that story, we learned, she had done the right thing by turning her father in. Phyllis had told the truth and suffered for it. Well, Phyllis is still telling the truth, but her motivation this past week was pure vindictiveness and rage.
Despite all the support and love that Nick has shown her, it only took Phyllis glimpsing Nick giving Sharon a gentle hug for Phyllis to flip out. Her fiery red anger was so intense that she wanted to lash out and hurt someone...anyone. So, she took Ricky's story and splashed it on the cover of Restless Style. She depicted Adam as the devil, Sharon as a naive naïve dupe, and had no concern about the collateral damage done to others in town like Paul, Patty, Jack, Victor, and the Abbotts.
Phyllis wasn't only angry with Nick because of Sharon. Phyllis was also furious about losing Lucy to Daisy. Since she had no way to reverse that situation, Phyllis decided to assert her power in some other way. She chose to inflict another tabloid rip job on the masses. No matter how you may sympathize with Phyllis about the Daisy/Lucy situation, you can't forgive her for being such a bitch to everyone else. After promising Nick that she would dump the controversial story, she decided to run it, and she even stole the byline from Ricky. As a writer, I can tell you that she is a horror! No editor pulls those kind of high-handed tactics just because he or she can. It's completely unprofessional behavior.
Speaking of which, if Billy is the man I think he is, when he returns to Genoa City he should fire Phyllis again -- and mean it this time! Phyllis overruled Billy's plans for that issue, chucking his cover story and costing the publication a fortune by changing in the middle of a print run. It doesn't matter that the new mag is flying off the shelves! Phyllis has a wanton disregard for Billy's authority and has shown that she uses the magazine as a personal weapon to harm others.
Billy has to stop her. Phyllis doesn't deserve a public platform like a national (we presume) magazine. She's not a journalist; she's a mudslinger! On this story, for instance, she took Ricky's material and ran with it. Where was her reporting? Did she fact-check? Did anyone go to the facility and see if Patty's story was credible about how Adam helped her escape? Granted, we as viewers know it's the truth, but Phyllis doesn't! In a real-world situation, editors don't just accept the interview ramblings of a deranged woman like Patty without doing some serious story confirmation.
By the way, if Billy makes the deal to turn Restless Style into a reality TV show, you know that Phyllis will be the star. That means she won't lose her job, and she'll never be called on the carpet for her shabby journalism. See, life is not fair! Although if you believe in karma, Phyllis is being punished by fate. The more evil she does, the less likely she'll be to have a good life with Nick and get Lucy back. Phyllis really needs to become a better woman...and fast!
There was justifiable outrage when the magazine hit the streets, especially by Paul. His fervent reaction, however, is laced with guilt. As much and as Paul is a good brother and cares for Patty, he dropped the ball badly here. Adam helped Patty escape, and she was on the loose for a long time. Remember the South America trip and the kitty tattoo on her leg? Despite the fact that Paul is a sharp detective, he never found a trace of Patty after she got out of Genoa City. Was he even looking? It's my contention that he wasn't, and that's why he's so guilt-ridden now.
Ricky, Paul's evil spawn via Isabella, is just plain rotten. He and Daisy will make a wonderful couple. They both lack a little thing called a conscience. They do whatever they want and justify the damage they inflict on their having been victims as children. This is Psych 101, and it's kind of insulting to the viewers to have to watch these cartoon villains succeed while good characters can't move forward.
While itIt was nice of Maria Arena Bell to let us know that Daisy has inherited half of Sarah's estate to finance her move into Lauren's building and all those diapers for Lucy. But it might have been better storytelling if Michael had suggested that Lauren go after Daisy with a civil suit to freeze those funds! Daisy is a convicted felon who was punished in criminal court, but she's also liable for civil damages if her victims decide to sue. If I know that and I'm not a lawyer, why doesn't legal eagle Michael Baldwin? If Lauren and Michael want to stop Daisy, go after the money! That would put a crimp in her plans.
Of course money is always a strange commodity on soaps. Characters who don't work never seem to be without cash in their pockets. Like Daniel, the artist! He's going to walk into court to seek custody of Lucy, right? Do you think he made $25,000 in 2011? I wonder, because as I recall, there was one show a long time ago and he sold a few paintings, but then he's done nothing since. How does he play for that gym membership at the Athletic Club? Who's buying all those beers at Jimmy's?
Apparently Lily is independently wealthy, because she hasn't worked in years. Does Neil support his daughter and grandchildren? Cane was a bartender as of a month ago, which is hardly the kind of profession that would support Lily's lifestyle. Maybe we're supposed to believe that Dru left her millions from her dancing career? Yes, that must be it....
Getting back to this anger business, what is Ashley so ticked off about? This past week, she turned on Genevieve and Jill. In the case of Genevieve, it would make sense that Jack is angry at her. He has a right to feel betrayed, although he should also really think about whether he cannot forgive Genevieve. She did go to him and ask for his forgiveness and when she offered to do anything, Jack should have asked her to give him Beauty of Nature! I don't think Genevieve would have done it, but at least Jack would have been justified in his feelings that she was unworthy of his love.
But why is Ashley -- and Traci and Jack, too -- more than happy to blame Genevieve for Jack's paralysis, to heap all their rage on her, while leaving Patty (and the people who brought her back into their lives -- Victor and Adam), off the hook? Genevieve continually gets blasted because of her decision to back out of the wedding after having chosen to put business before romance. That's a bad thing, but she didn't pull the trigger. If Genevieve had gone to the church that day, Patty may might have killed her to take her place at the altar.
Ashley's volatile behavior also extended to Jill. In the office, she flew off the handle at the 'head "head of marketing' marketing" for making a business decision. Isn't that Jill's job? Ashley's micro-managing came off as petty and nasty, like she cannot handle being in charge of Jabot with Jack stuck at home in the wheelchair. But here's a question: why can't they bring the work to Jack? Or why not have Jack wheel himself into Jabot to get back to work? Yes, he needs more physical therapy, but his brain is functioning quite well. Also, in this day and age, you don't need to be in an office to do your job. Everything could be transferred to Jack's home computer and he could set up a remote CEO office in the living room!
The younger characters are also beset with anger issues, in particular, Chloe. It doesn't take much for Chloe to turn into a shrew, and that's what is going on with her. It's understandable; she feels wronged by Kevin. Chloe was left at the altar and lied to by Kevin, so she had good reason to be mad. Chloe believed in Kevin, and he hasn't done anything to rationally explain why he broke her heart. Without his explanation for why he's done what he's done -- married Angelina -- Chloe is determined to be a vindictive witch to him. She wants to punish Kevin.
But Chloe and Daniel did kiss, and Kevin did see that picture. It altered his way of thinking while on the run with Angelina. Since being back in Genoa City, Chloe and Daniel have done nothing to dispel the idea that they are a couple. But here's what's wrong with this entire storyline; : it's based on the idiot notion that Kevin doesn't just tell Chloe the cold, hard truth. Kevin could confide in Chloe, tell her why he married Angelina and get Chloe to help him out of his predicament. But, instead, he confides in Angelina! This is pure nonsense and insulting to the viewers. Maria Arena Bell needs to stop this idiocy really soon. It's tiresome.
Finally, it's no surprise that Jeffrey will be Chelsea's father. That storyline was telegraphed early on and most readers picked up on it the moment Anita flinched when she saw Jeff's face. The only question about this tale involves Jeffrey's memory. What is it going to take for him to remember who he is, why he was run out of town, and tip off Gloria about Angelo's evil machinations? Maybe another blow to the head?
So, that's it for this past week. I'm anxious to hear more from you all - -- do you like the Two Scoops? What stories would you like to see "fixed," and what characters need a re-write? Write me! Till then, let's take a look at some letters from the mailbox: Till then, have you heard about our new Soap Central -– the Soapcast? Each week check out a viideo round-up of the latest soap opera news and comments about all the shows. Here's a reaction for our first effort, and please check out this week's broadcast on the Soap Central front page!
Best,
Allison
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