All roads lead back to Victor

Victor's trial proved to be a joke, but not in the laughing, ha-ha kind of way. Seriously, is it possible for anyone to ever have a fair trial in Genoa City? Since Nikki turned to drink, and Phyllis to Billy for comfort, who will wind up having the most regrets in the end? Hey, there's no fooling around (well, okay, maybe a little) in Two Scoops.

If nothing else, Victor's trial proved what we had suspected all along. Everything really is all about Victor. I mean, his trial wasn't even a poor April's Fool joke, as much as we may have preferred to have someone pop up to suddenly embarrass us. Victor just made it so painfully obvious who would always call the shots in each and every situation. Victor rules his family and all of Genoa City with a heavy hand, and he always will. He is king, and his family and his enemies alike are all his not-so-faithful servants. Betray him or slap him in a jail cell. It doesn't matter. Victor will always be...well, the victor. Hey, he didn't give himself that name for nothing.

I have to wonder how many of the trial attendees and viewers rolled their eyes when Victor talked, for the one million, ninety-nine thousand, five hundred and fifty first time, about being raised in an orphanage and persevering to start his own very successful company. I was surprised to not hear some snores from someone sawing the logs through the boredom of hearing that age-old yarn again. His family probably has that particular speech of Victor's engraved in their hearts, since they've heard it so many times. That seems to be Victor's excuse for everything: I was raised in an orphanage, so I have every right to bring a murdering con artist to town and put him in the midst of those I claim to love. But, really, I was just protecting my family. Okay.

That's the part I have always had problems with. Victor claims, claims, claims to love his family to where he will do everything in his power to protect them. But how did placing a thug like Marco into his loved ones' lives protect them? Did he even foresee that Marco might prove to be a threat to the very people Victor was promising to keep safe? Could Victor even consider the notion that he might actually be wrong? Has Victor ever accepted the responsibility for a bad decision or action he has made? From his behavior in the courtroom, obviously not.

Come on, the entire so-called trial could have been an April Fools' joke, except it took place in March and wasn't very funny. You almost had to laugh at the testimony delivered by Victor's witnesses. Oh, wait...there wasn't really any testimony. It was pretty much just Victor grandstanding, while his witnesses sat quietly on the stand, nodding. Victor designed his statements as questions, while his family members and his adversaries could only agree with every word he said. And everything was fair game, whether it was relevant or not. Man, that was one lenient judge. After seeing the way the trial was run, I wonder if maybe Victor paid him off. There could be no other explanation for the judge to run his court in such a deplorably unethical way.

And I kept asking myself over and over why Christine did not cross-examine Victor's witnesses after Victor squeezed what he wanted out of them. Nor did Christine bring in any rebuttal witnesses to refute any of the claims Victor made during his direct questioning for the defense. And Christine did not once object to any line of questioning, even when it was totally irrelevant to the case at hand. Not one single time. It was ridiculous.

Victor kidnapped Jack and had an impostor take Jack's place. The impostor then raped Jack's wife over and over again, because Phyllis had never consented to sex with a stranger. But somehow Victor justified it as being all Phyllis' fault anyway. What?! Victor's whole defense ended up being that he and Phyllis had once worked together to take Ian Ward down, that he had brought Phyllis out of her coma several years ago, that he had praised and encouraged Abby as chief operating officer of Newman Enterprises, that he had helped Nick prove he was innocent in the shooting of Matt Clark, and that he had taken Nikki out of the strip club to give her a good life. What does any of that have to do with Victor's crime involving Jack, Marco, and Phyllis? Absolutely nothing.

I guess past good deeds, if that's what they were, can erase any future wrongdoings in Victor's eyes. And apparently, in the court's eyes, also, since that line of questioning was allowed, and Christine never objected to it. Crazy! Adam tried when he pointed out that Victor had only offered to help Adam with his multiple felonies because Victor had no integrity. But Victor, being Victor, took that as a compliment. Sure, both Adam and Victor may be ruthless and ambitious, but at least Adam has a heart. Victor seems to have lost his a long time ago. But he must have had a heart filled with love at one time, or how would Nikki have ever fallen in love with him? The man she loved may be gone for good, but she sure won't find him at the bottom of a vodka bottle.

After hearing his final instructions to the jury, I thought the judge really seemed to favor victor. Boy, were those instructions for deliberation slanted. No wonder the Newmans and Abbotts all thought Victor would be set free in lickety-split time. The judge stressed the jury had to be totally convinced Victor was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, which I understand is the legal standard. But then the judge stated that even if the jury found Victor guilty, they also had to look at the mitigating factors. Oh, you mean the part where Victor grew up in an orphanage and had to fight and claw his way up to respectability. Wow, mitigating factors like that could always ensure that Victor gets away with any crime he commits in the future. That's what Victor was counting on anyway.

Oh, my gosh! I can't believe it! The jury found Victor guilty as charged. No! What's this world coming to when a man actually has to pay for his crimes? I truly was sitting and waiting for the judge to reject the jury's decision and make a directed verdict by declaring Victor not guilty. But instead, the judge immediately sentenced Victor to ten years in prison. Only on soaps would the sentencing phase be done so quickly after the trial. But we sure didn't want that to be played out forever and a day anyway.

In true Victor fashion, he delivered his last zinging shots to his family before the judge sentenced him. Victor pretty much blamed everything on the family he loved so dearly because they had betrayed him. Again, he reminded them of his past kind deeds to each of them, which I suppose should have excused his actions? I'm still not seeing it, Victor. From what I can recall, his family had no idea that Victor had brought an ex-con to Genoa City to replace Jack. As Adam stated, Victor has a warped sense of the truth. I had to admit it was pretty dramatic when Victor declared, before he was led away in handcuffs by the guard, "I don't have a family anymore. You're all dead to me." Maybe they would be better off if we believed for one minute that that was true.

Oh, well, once he's out of prison, Victor will have a handy-dandy battle cry for his next round of terror: Blood is thicker than water. Blood is thicker than alcohol. And blood is thicker than a phony business betrayal. Ah, yes, words to live by. My guess is Victor will not be behind bars for too long. Shoot, he'll probably get some kind of governor's pardon. Then Victor had better get busy and quickly find something to hold over the governor's head.

But in the meantime, Victor has to serve his stint in prison, and it didn't take long for some scum-of-the earth con to offer Victor his protection for a price, which Victor flatly rejected. Then Victor, at his ripe old age, beat up the much younger Bobby Boy single-handedly, without even breaking into a sweat. Talk about suspending disbelief...that was just a teeny, tiny bit far-fetched. You can always tell when Victor looks down his nose on another man. He just adds "Boy" to the end of the guy's first name. After the smackdown, Victor greeted a visitor, but who could it be? Ian Ward, possibly? The last I remember, Ian's residence was still behind bars.

Through all of the legal drama, Victoria seemed to be the one most hurt by it all. Victoria has always felt she was most like her dad in a business savvy way, so it must have pained her to hear Victor gloat about how Adam was just like him. And this was after she knew Victor had already told Adam he would take a plea if Adam took over at Newman Enterprises. I realize part of it was revenge because Victoria had turned Victor in, but Victor also seems to always underestimate his older daughter. Is it because she's female? Nick has been the lucky one not to care about the family business and to have escaped with a more normal and healthy way of life. I feel for Victoria.

I truly do. Victoria has always wanted her father to be proud of her, and she finally had the chance to prove that with a successful run as head of the family business. But, ironically, this grand opportunity for her was the straw that broke the camel's back, since it resulted in Victor's disowning her. Victor wanted to be reinstated and to have business back as usual -- lies, deception, and all -- but Victoria would have no part of it. So, basically, she chose the company over her father. Hey, she really is just like her dear old dad. But she actually chose her soul, and I can't blame her for that. Maybe she finally saw what Nick has seen for years.

Yes, Nick chose a life without Newman Enterprises, and he seems to have made the right choice, although there appears to be trouble in paradise from time to time. Actually, I am starting to wonder just who is calling the shots in his personal adoptive baby-mama drama. I had originally believed it was Sage, but now I'm not so sure. Shawn sure has been getting everything her way since the whole thing started. But I have to admit she does have the best leverage. Shawn went from finding good parents for her baby to moving in and being part of their family, and then she even got to name the baby David. Well, actually Little Dave after her gramps, Big Dave, but Sage changed it to David. That didn't stop Shawn from calling the child in her tummy Dave, though.

When Nick tried to wipe the paint off of Shawn's cheek, I thought to myself, here we go! Shawn has obviously favored Nick over Sage, but she may want to be a part of Nick's life in a more permanent fashion. Maybe as his wife? I think Sage even sees Shawn's crush on Nick, however, she's afraid to say anything. Sage didn't want to risk losing her child, but that may happen anyway. Shawn could be more calculating than what she appears.

Well, if Sage doesn't get Little Dave, she will now have someone to blame, since Sharon spilled the beans to Shawn about giving up Cassie for adoption. To me, Shawn was searching for any reason not to give up her baby. Sage wasn't very observant, or she would have noticed the teen's hesitation to sign the adoption papers. Shawn found a nice home to stay in during her pregnancy, but could she be ready to take her tiny tot and move on? Surely she didn't think that the two of them could live with the married couple indefinitely.

And if matters weren't bad enough for Sharon after she slipped up about Cassie to Shawn, Dylan informed his wife that he wanted more information on Dr. Anderson's death, so he visited his Aunt Patty, who could only babble, "the baby, the baby." Dylan really doesn't want to have his happy family, after all, does he? He is the only threat to his life with Sharon and Sully. No one else was even giving it a second thought. Well, that's as long as the mysterious nurse kept her mouth shut. But that would never happen. There would be no drama in it.

And speaking of disappointments, the way Summer clung to her grandfather after everything he did to her mother was truly outrageous. How could Summer not understand the pain and humiliation Victor caused her mom by having Phyllis unknowingly have recurring intimate acts of sex with a total stranger who turned out to be a killer? That's rape, Summer. Grow up, little girl. My view of Summer has definitely gone down quite a few notches. She could actually see the pain in her mother's eyes, but it was like she didn't even care. Victor saved Phyllis' life, so he gets a free pass. Only Victor's life-saving technique wasn't all that chivalrous of an act, since, at the time, he had just wanted information from Phyllis about Sharon. Again, Victor's motive was selfish, not selfless.

To get through it all, Nikki turned to her favorite crutch, vodka. After all, it was her turn, since Neil had hopped back onto the wagon again. And Phyllis reached out to Billy for comfort after Jack noted that Phyllis was consumed by her revenge against Victor and that she kept pushing everyone she loved away. Phyllis was the one still suffering, but she needed to find a healthier way to get over it. Billy's suggestion that Phyllis forgive Victor was really out there, however. What Victor did was just too despicable in my eyes. But Phyllis does need to get over her anger and to move on, otherwise she may end up losing her husband. Turning to her hubby's brother, however, was probably not the solace she needed.

And Billy can't use the fact that Victoria returned her engagement ring to him as an excuse to pursue his brother's wife. Billy and Phyllis drew closer to each other because they thought no one else could understand them. However, I rather think it's the other way around. I believe Jack and Victoria understand them all too well, and that's what worries both Jack and Victoria. That probably worries even Phyllis and Billy, who seem to use each other as a way to justify their actions, although Phyllis probably had a good point that Jack tends to judge her. However, any time Jack and Victoria try to save Phyllis and Billy from themselves, all "the comrades in revenge" could see was that their significant others didn't get where they were coming from.

So, now with Victor out of the picture, PassKey was back on, and Billy was ready for the big rollout shindig for the launch. However, Jack was less than enthusiastic, to say the least. Jack was so right about wanting peace between the Newmans and the Abbotts, but he was so very wrong about not wanting the launch of PassKey. Victor did fire Natalie, so there should be no legal ramifications for the project. Jabot owned it, fair and square. Well, actually, there was nothing fair about how the whole thing went down, but the right person ended up with the project. Billy. It should have been his from day one.

Besides, if Jack wanted Phyllis to move on, what a great way to do it. Maybe focusing on PassKey would take Phyllis' mind off of her revenge and give her a cooling-off period. Phyllis was dwelling too much on her pain, and she needed to find a way to heal. Phyllis doesn't realize that she is at the point where her vengeance is hurting her more than it is Victor. When is it enough? She got her revenge, and Victor is in prison. If she goes after Newman Enterprises, she will be the one destroyed, and Victor will win. Again.

And Victoria was not the least bit thrilled about Billy's launch of PassKey, either, because she felt Billy had stolen the project by triple playing Victor into firing Natalie. Are you kidding? Since when has Victor become some innocent, nave waif, who never has a clue about what's going on around him? Never. Victoria was way out of line and seemed to only be looking for an excuse to declare war against Jabot and especially against Billy. Sniff, sniff. Victor would be so proud. Tears are welling up in my eyes when I think about it. Victoria is truly proving to be her father's daughter.

Christine was right about one thing -- Phyllis really had been "a crappy friend" to Michael. And in his own game of craps, he certainly laid all his chips on the table for the gamble of his career and lost. Although he tried to avoid having a pity party with Lauren, Michael couldn't help but break into tears when he thought of the loss he had suffered. Christian LeBlanc again showed us the reason why he has won numerous Daytime Emmy awards. But Lauren was right. Michael was more than just a framed piece of paper on a wall. It will be interesting to see what's in store for Michael next if he does lose his attorney's license to practice.

When Billy referred to Victor's defense strategy at his trial as the second act of Victor's melodrama, Billy Boy wasn't just whistling "Dixie."

It was good to hear Jack say he had lost the taste for the Newman/Abbott feud, but sadly, he was also right that Victor's taste had only grown. And grown. And grown.

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Christine say Phyllis and Michael had blown the case for her. Any decent district attorney wouldn't have lost so many opportunities to tear down Victor's defense strategy.

I loved Chelsea's vision of seeing Billy sitting with a Victor voodoo doll, poking and praying for a maximum sentence. Now, that would have been quite the picture.

When Mariah, a former con herself, referred to Luca as a slippery con artist, I had to wonder what percentage of the Genoa City population could claim that as their occupation at one time or another.

Sharon and Nick still seem so close, and I am glad about that. I especially appreciated when Nick pointed out to Sharon that Summer had stuck by her grandfather's side, even after what had happened with Austin, Courtney, and Harding, thanks to Marco, which went right back to Victor. Oh, yes, all roads really do lead back to Victor.

Teddi

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