Great balls of fiery lies

Phyllis has the fire to take on Victor, but does she have the balls? Adam tried unsuccessfully to lie to Chelsea, who was fired up about his secret agenda. Will Hilary ricochet to Devon now that Neil has forced her to face reality? Will Adam finally trust Victor and vice versa? Will Sage's crazy act expose Dr. Anderson? Boone tells all in this week's Two Scoops.

There was a time when strong female leads could only be found in soap operas, because primetime was reserved for heroic men. Now the new trend in television calls for strong female characters -- Supergirl, Quantico, The Good Wife, Blindspot, Jessica Jones, and Madam Secretary are a few that pop to mind. I don't think these show would be popular today if actresses like Jeanne Cooper, Jess Walton, Eileen Davidson, Melody Thomas Scott, and now Gina Tognoni had not led the way with the strong women that they have and do portray in daytime.

Phyllis is about to challenge Victor, and I say, "Go, girl! You may not win, but at least you have the balls and the fire to take on the Victator!" It's certainly clear that Jack doesn't! Jack had the opportunity to take Victor down. All he had to do was tell the truth. Yes, Jack might have had to face some kind of inquiry after he escaped the freighter, but the consequences to Victor would have been much worse. Jack used the excuse that he was protecting Phyllis, but covering up what had happened to Phyllis not only gave Phyllis no closure, but it left her with a festering fire fed by plans for revenge.

Phyllis' only confidant is Billy, who wants to bring Victor to his knees as much as Phyllis does. I have no doubt that the plotters will turn to each other for more and more comfort as the lies they tell put more and more distance between them and their significant others. I'll be surprised if Billy and Phyllis haven't bedded each other before July sweeps is over. Billy and Natalie might also connect once she transforms by removing her glasses, getting her hair styled, and wearing a formfitting dress with ultra high, wobble-worthy heels -- though it's more likely that Kevin will be the one with fire in his gut once Natalie transforms, and Mariah will be the one to smolder with envy.

Even though Phyllis wants to believe that Jack will keep her safe, how can she trust him under the circumstances? I wouldn't. I'd do what Phyllis is doing. I'd take my protection into my own hands, and I'd definitely hold a grudge against Darth Victor for pimping me out -- and I'd hold one against Jack for letting Victor get away with it. Jack should have taken one for the team, if that's what it took to get Victor locked up for his crimes and save Jabot. If Genoa City were the Emerald City of Oz, then Jack is the cowardly lion. Jack is no better than Noah or Adam, who made the choice to leave their crimes unreported as well. Let's hope that Phyllis shows more resolve and does a better job of holding Victor accountable than, Jack -- the perpetual Wile E. Coyote -- has done.

Noah's puppy dog love for Marisa is bringing out his dark side. He may very well be the "inside man" that brings about the Victator's downfall. Adam appears to be playacting as Luca's co-conspirator, but now that Noah is in the mix, Adam may go after Victor for real, especially if Noah is the one that pulls the pin on the grenade that Luca and Adam are preparing to launch. Poor Noah; he's not having any birthdays, and Marisa's self-proclaimed past experiences are making her old enough to be Noah's mother! (Right, "It' only a soap!) Noah really needs to move on, but where? He's related to all the other single women in town except Natalie!

Adam, though fiery in his love for Chelsea, is still a lying liar. He should have told Chelsea about his one-night stand with Sage and also that baby Christian was his a long, long time ago. Chelsea would have accepted it then and probably now, but she won't later on if Adam doesn't tell the truth immediately. If Adam does tell the truth, it would free him from Victor completely, and he could finally make decisions about his life without being under duress. Will he? I don't think so!

Secrets and lies are the foundation of drama, especially soaps, where no secret is safe, where the good guys can be heard whispering secrets through closed doors 20 feet away from where the bad guys are sitting, and yet the good guys are deaf to the loud plotting of serious adversaries just one barstool over. In fact, the only group that everyone can keep a secret from is the police.

I do think that Chelsea is making too much about Adam keeping business secrets. Nikki gave Chelsea some good advice when she said that both their husbands were addicted to their work, which was more like a mistress than an actual mistress. Nikki said the only thing to do was to fight back or fight dirty. I think there is another way to look at the situation. In high school, I was a cast member in Oklahoma! I've never forgotten my big number, which contained the phrase, "Take me as I am or leave me be." That phrase has influenced my life and become my definition for unconditional love. We all expect others to take us as we are, but, like Chelsea and Nikki, we want our significant other to change for us. I've always thought of it as a two-way street. If I don't want to change for someone else, then I can't expect that person to change for me. Hmm, maybe that's why I'm single! Duh!!

If I were Chelsea, I think that it would be easier to remain ignorant of business details. I would not want to be guilty of sinking the Newman ship because of loose lips. Chelsea has not proven herself to be a good secret keeper. If she's going to stay with Adam, she should probably stay out of the business unless it's need to know. On the other hand, she should be in the loop about Sage -- and Christian's paternity.

Dylan makes an admirable and suitable police officer. He never struck me as the sharpest knife in the drawer, and now that he's suspected Ashley, overlooked Phyllis, and is off to chase red herrings in Switzerland, he is making his daddy Paul proud because Dylan is certainly following the grand tradition of obtuse and oblivious policing, which is the hallmark of the Genoa City Police Department and soap police everywhere.

Dylan has had his fifteen minutes of happiness, and so has Sharon. Their idyllic little family is about to explode because the bough is about to break, and the baby is going to come crashing down. Sharon, like always, is going to lie when she finds out that she is not related to Sully. Naturally she won't tell Dylan because she "doesn't want to hurt him." Of course, when he finds out, he will be hurt even more, so Sharon will likely lose her husband and her child. I sure hope someone realizes that the devious doctor not only manipulated Sharon and abused Sharon's trust, but she also took Sharon off her medication. Sharon needs support instead of guilt, shame, and blame. Maybe someday Sharon will learn that "truth will set you free" and that delaying the truth only makes the pain worse.

Who is the duplicitous doctor? My money is still on the teenaged girl who took a header in the Newman pool when Nick was in high school, more than 30 years ago. That seems like a long time to carry a torch. I think the doctor is nuttier than her patients. She must be good at faking the psych evals that many therapists have to take and pass before they are allowed to treat patients. Like the song says, "One bad apple spoils the whole bunch." Just how spoiled the deranged doctor has become will be made clear to Sage once the deviant doctor gets Sage in her clutches.

Kudos, by the way, to Kelly Sullivan for her very honest, believable emotional response as an angry, out-of-control Sage. I am sure that I am not alone in recognizing the depth of that anger when Sage learned that Doctor Anderson was sabotaging her relationships. Been there, done that! Sage's anger reinforced to Sharon and others that Dr. Anderson was correct about Sage being out of control. Sage's frustration boiled over, but like the boy who cried wolf, nobody (except Nick) believed her.

I'm glad that Nick is standing by Sage. It's more than he did for Sharon. I do think that Sage is jeopardizing everything by putting herself in Dr. Anderson's institution, where, apparently, Dr. A is the only therapist. It does seem like a conflict of interest for her to treat Sage, who neither likes nor trusts the doctor. Did either Nick or Sage consider that once Dr. Anderson has Sage in Fairview, she can have Sage restrained and administer any kind of drug she wants to, including something fatal?

Whatever happens, I'm confident Sage will survive and get her baby back because Sage is a strong, fiery woman who doesn't take guff from anyone. I admire that, especially because I'm an "uppity woman" myself, something that was not a compliment in my youth!

My pen pal Bessie noted that Billy was already up to his old tricks, and she wondered how long he could hope to fool Victoria. I figure for a while, but as sure as "God made little green apples," Billy and Phyllis are going to end up playing mattress tag. Will that be another speed bump in the road for Billy and Victoria, or will their love conquer all? Ditto Jack and Phyllis. I'm a sucker for true love and ricochet romances -- patience dear readers, only one more old-fogey song reference to go!

The Winters clan is the epitome of ricochet romance. In fact, Neil, Hilary, and Devon have bounced off each other so much that I don't care who ends up with whom. I just want a different storyline for these folks. Hilary is another strong, fiery woman. I really liked her when she was nice and truly in love with Devon. She has a harder -- and maybe not so nice -- personality since she woke up from that coma. Will Hilary revert to the cold, heartless blogger, or will she remember the love she shared with Devon and let her good side take charge? I hope we finally get something original and interesting for these characters, or I will have to start fast-forwarding through their drivel on weeks I don't write.

Ashley, Ashley. Ashley! Another strong, fiery woman with buns and balls of steel, but can she tell the truth? Not to her family about the life-threatening tumor in her brain. I don't know how she does it. I'd be babbling to anyone that would listen, though maybe not if I had the delicious Dr. Neville on my side like Ashley does. I'm looking forward to the pairing of Ashley and Neville. So far, so good.

Poor Abby, whose happiness has already been dashed by the untimely arrival of a stepson who makes Faith (at her worst) look like an angel. Yes, he is a kid and he is hurting due to the death of his mother, but is that an excuse for rudeness? I think not, but I never had kids, so what do I know? I guess we'll get to see what Stitch knows. I'm betting that Max will like Ashley better than Abby and will eventually push Ashley at Ben. Will Abby catch Ben and Ashley having sex some time in the future? Bet on it when Ben gets wind of Ashley's tumor!

As February sweeps falls on Genoa City, so do great balls of fiery lies told by the lying liars to the gullible. Who will get burned by the light? Who will get blinded by the light? And who will see the light? All will be revealed when we meet next at Crimson Lights for our biweekly -- or is that bipolar -- meeting of Soap-aholics and Proud. Until then, fellow fan addicts, be safe and happy, and love your real friends even more than you do your imaginary ones.

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