Unsolved mysteries and catfights

Unsolved mysteries, unexpected visits, and unusual clues united some and tore others apart. Our Two Scoops columnist attempts to unravel the unpredictable and shares her take on the unfolding stories.

It was a short and somewhat uneventful week, which was disappointing because I had hoped there would be movement on the mystery of what happened to Nikolas. As the week drew to a close, Nikolas remained missing, Alexis remained conflicted about Julian, Finn continued to require periodic injections of an unknown substance, and the Angel of Death kept a low profile as Lucas lingered in a coma.

In fact, the most interesting scene of the week was Friday's cliffhanger when Dr. Mayes asked if Lucas knew what had happened and Lucas replied, "Yes, I do."

Will the writers go for it and have Lucas remember who injected him with a deadly dose of a powerful muscle relaxer intended for Bobbie? Doubtful. I'm sure Lucas will remember everything except the identity of the Angel of Death.

The arrival of Hayden's mother Naomi at the end of Friday's show was the other twist, but if first impressions are anything to go by, I'm probably not going to like Naomi any more than I do Hayden.

It's not that I don't want to like Hayden -- I do because I have always adored Rebecca -- but it's really hard when we keep catching her in lies and she proves to be more self-serving than loving. Case in point was Hayden's back-and-forth behavior after it appeared that Nikolas had taken a header from his bedroom window and been pulled out to sea. She went from despair to desperately seeking diamonds in the blink of an eye. And once those diamonds were on Hayden's mind, it was all she thought about except when she had to play the concerned wife.

I honestly don't blame Elizabeth for suspecting that Hayden had a hand in Nikolas' fate -- directly or indirectly -- because Hayden is constantly up to no good, whether it's selling Nikolas' priceless family heirlooms or closing out a bank account and making plans to flee town the minute the authorities' backs were turned.

Hayden claims to love both Nikolas and Spencer, but at the first sign of trouble, she's gone. Even if her DNA were on the document that the FBI found, any attorney could have argued that Hayden's DNA is all over the house because she lived there. Instead, Hayden blatantly lied in front of Elizabeth by claiming that Nikolas had been obsessed with the idea that Hayden had the diamonds.

If I caught someone in such a direct lie and my best friend was missing, I would be just as tenacious and suspicious of Hayden as Liz is.

I think that's why I enjoyed Liz showing her feisty side and getting her hands dirty by physically stopping Hayden from skipping out of town. It was so much more fun to watch Liz and Hayden mix it up than Carly and Ava because Hayden and Liz's tussle was far more intense, and they ended up rolling down on the ground as they flung fists and fired nasty insults at each other. It was all very Dynastyesque and pure soapy fun.

Too bad for Liz, she's on the wrong trail this time, which I suspect Nikolas had counted on. I'm certain that Nikolas had intended to frame Hayden because it had all been perfectly set up for Hayden, not Jason, to take the fall.

I have no idea what Jordan found that points to Jason as the culprit when she has Nikolas' cell phone, which contains a very incriminating text message to Hayden along with a picture of the infamous missing diamonds the FBI is looking for, but I have a feeling it's just circumstantial. The arrest warrant Jordan asked for feels more like a plot point to make Jason and Sam fugitives from the law while they prove that Nikolas is alive and well -- likely hiding somewhere deep in one of the many caves on Spoon Island.

That said, I loved the scenes this week between Laura and Kevin because they have really nice chemistry, and I think there's a lot of potential for them as a couple because they both have a long and complicated history with the show as two beloved characters. I've always liked Kevin, and I think Laura is as perfect a match for him as he is for her.

The added benefit to a Laura and Kevin pairing is that Lucy would have to watch Kevin move on with someone who appreciates him and won't play the silly games that Lucy always played.

However, I think both Laura and Kevin are wrong about Spencer being in denial about Nikolas. My gut tells me that Nikolas let Spencer know about his plans, and Spencer is helping his father by trying to convince everyone that Nikolas is gone.

Jason was right -- Nikolas would never leave Spencer an orphan. Faking his death and not cluing in Spencer would essentially be doing just that. I can't see Nikolas intentionally putting Spencer through that kind of pain for any reason, except if Spencer's life was endangered.

Naturally, Jason and Sam figured things out within hours after arriving at Jason's secret safe house that was conveniently kept fully stocked with fresh food, cleaned, and ready for occupancy by little woodland creatures and pixies. The power is on, too, so Jason and Sam have a wonderful little place to hide out from the police while they do their super sleuthing.

Has anyone noticed that it's the criminals who seem to do all the crime solving these days, while the police drag their feet, bungle things, and jump to the wrong conclusion about absolutely everything? It's really hard to hear Andre singing Jordan's praises and Jordan talking about how hard she works when neither she nor her police department has solved a single crime on their own in ages.

Heck, Jordan knows that Lomax stole the election through fraud and hasn't done a thing about it. Jordan has also failed to investigate Paul despite Anna's repeated warnings that Paul is not to be trusted.

I can see why Janice hired Jordan -- Jordan and her detectives couldn't find their way out of a paper bag with Map Quest and a Sherpa.

Meanwhile, Sonny did the right thing for all the wrong reasons when he agreed to let Ava have visitations with Avery.

I was actually impressed and proud of Sonny until he explained to Carly that he'd learned from their past mistakes with A.J. not to cut a parent that Sonny and Carly have deemed unfit out of a child's life because it will blow up in their faces.

I wanted to reach through the television and punch Sonny when he had the audacity to even speak A.J.'s name, much less accuse A.J. of twisting the facts and playing the victim to manipulate Michael. Sonny murdered A.J. in cold blood and would be in jail if it hadn't been for a massive stroke of good fortune when Sonny escaped jail and landed in the right place at the right time.

I watched the story unfold when Sonny and Carly went after A.J. for custody of Michael, and nothing Sonny or Carly say will change what I saw or thought. Sonny, Carly, and Jason were wrong and did horrible things to force A.J.'s hand. A.J. was the victim, and it's Sonny and Carly who try to rewrite history by spinning things to make themselves look like saints. A.J. didn't get Michael shot in the head or expose him to a life were the bad guys were good and the good guys were bad.

In the end, Michael heard both sides of the story and made up his own mind. He loved A.J. because he understood that A.J. had loved Michael and had only ever wanted to be a part of Michael's life.

Carly's attitude bugs me more than Sonny's because Sonny has always been consistent about his hatred for A.J., while Carly not so much. I still haven't forgotten that Carly was warming A.J.'s sheets minutes after he returned from the dead the last time.

Back to Sonny and Ava, I don't think that Ava is any worse of a parent than Sonny or Carly. There's no denying that Ava loves her daughters and has the best of intentions, but she's notorious for making poor choices under the misconception that she can control things. Yes, she is drawn to the dark side much like Sonny is, but I give her credit for trying to get away from it. It's more than I can say for Sonny.

I think that's why I'm looking forward to Jax's return. A part of me wants Jax to have a chat with Carly about Josslyn's future. The writers are teasing that Jax will be part of a big story, which I hope includes a custody battle because I can't imagine that Jax is okay letting the man he detests above all others and who nearly killed him be a father figure to Jax's only child when Jax isn't around.

Meanwhile, Alexis and Julian's storyline remained in a holding pattern this week, as did Nathan and Maxie's.

Alexis decided that she would turn over Julian's shirt covered with Carlos' blood to the police, but then she got the call that Lucas was in a coma and fighting for his life. Alexis is not the type of person who would pull Julian away from Lucas when Lucas needs his father the most, so for right now, Julian is safe.

Will Julian go to prison for Carlos' murder? It seems unlikely because the shirt doesn't prove anything except that it has Carlos' blood on it. Carlos and Julian were friends and had a long association, which means that Julian was on hand during several occasions when Carlos was shot or wounded.

Of course, Alexis could also turn over the dagger Julian used, which would match the knife wounds that Carlos had sustained and there likely would be trace evidence of Carlos' blood inside the hilt, but Julian isn't foolish. I think he senses that Alexis is on the fence about what to do, and if he's smart, then he will make sure the dagger disappears. It's the only real physical evidence of Julian's guilt.

I'm crushed that Alexis and Julian are over, but I can't see them coming back from this. Julian has tested Alexis' trust one too many times, and he's now past the point of no return. I think Alexis could have accepted Julian returning to the mob to keep Ava safe, but ordering the death of Sonny's witness, murdering Carlos, and indirectly causing the death of a police officer -- although Paul is far more complicit in that -- is more than Alexis can handle.

I have no idea what the writers were thinking by destroying such a great and well-matched couple as Alexis and Julian, but I'm disappointed and feel that it was a huge mistake.

I fear the writers are doing the same thing to Nathan and Maxie because this whole secret that Nathan is keeping appears destined to drive Maxie away from Nathan and straight into Father Munro's arms. The writing is all over the wall with this one, and it's frustrating because Maxie and Nathan are as perfect as milk and cookies, peanut butter and jelly, and -- my personal favorite -- wine and cheese.

I don't want anything keeping Nathan and Maxie from having their happily ever after, even if it's a yummy priest/neurosurgeon who has Duke's blood running through his veins.

I'm also bummed that Finola Hughes will be taking a short break over the summer because the timing couldn't be worse. The writers had set things up for a very interesting love triangle between Anna, Andre, and Jordan. Not only does Jordan question Andre's feelings toward Anna, but there is real chemistry between Anna and Andre.

Thank you, Monica, for taking in Daisy/Annabelle II -- the puppy Franco hoped would save his relationship with Nina -- and giving her a home. It made me happy knowing the puppy would have a wonderful new home surrounded by love. The writers redeemed themselves.

Why were Liz and Spencer blocked from accessing Spoon Island, but a few hours later, Finn, Liz, and Hayden's mom were able to traipse into the castle with nary a word?

I'm baffled why the FBI stopped searching the castle once they found a list describing the missing diamonds. I would think they'd want to find the actual diamonds, not just a list of them.

Pot and kettle bickerLiesl: "Whoever did this is obviously comfortable acting outside the confines of the law."Carly: "Oh, we all know someone like that, don't we?"Liesl: "Indeed. It reminds me of the evening two interlopers came snooping around the records room."Carly: [Scoffs] "Oh."Liesl: "Who were they? Oh, yes! You and Dr. Finn."Carly: "Oh, yes! Because we all know that sneaking a peek at medical records is a gateway to attempted murder! You poisoned Duke Lavery."Liesl: "I did no such thing! It's not my fault he drank from Anna Devane's glass."

I often talk about the great messages and thoughts that readers share. This week, I wanted to include some of them in the column!

• I appreciate the humor on the show and totally agree -- I LOL'd, rewound, and LOL'd again when Finn jumped seeing Obrecht. I like this character much more than I did Silas. -- Kymba O

• Did anyone think for one second that Sabrina was in any real danger, or that Michael wouldn't be the one to save her? Frankly, Sabrina's return would've had MUCH more dramatic impact if she had simply showed up on the Q doorstep at the same time Eduardo did. Her contrived "hostage" situation was totally unnecessary, and a complete waste of time, especially since Marcos proved useless as far as helping Sonny get the goods on Julian. -- Scrimmage

• When Ava took off her earrings and shoes, I just died...it was such a great soap-operaish moment -- the ensuing fight though was pretty lame. -- IK

Who Is the Angel of Death?

• I think the serial killer is Dr. Mayes. Ticked off that his diagnosis was proved wrong. -- Colleen

• @tamilu40 @LizMastersSC early speculation on my part ... TAOD ...Dr. Mayes -- Garth Kroitzsch

• I just hope they are not thinking of copying Y&R's misguided doppelganger story with Finn and the mysterious killings -- Toni Leskovar

Now, I turn the spotlight on you, dear readers. Please, share your thoughts about the show in the comments section below. I love reading what everyone has to say.

Until next time, take care.Liz Masters

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