Never can say goodbye

The Young and the Restless celebrated 11,000 episodes as Chloe gloated, ''I'm gonna watch you die,'' and a fiery explosion rocked the night sky, after which Adam went missing. Nikki stood by her man, Victor, as Nick delivered news of Adam's possible demise and demanded answers. Chelsea refused to lose hope. Neil found his estranged mother and reconciled. Catch the latest twists in this week's Two Scoops.

With 11,000 episodes under its belt and still going strong, The Young and the Restless must be doing something right. Otherwise, it wouldn't stay at the top of the soapiverse food chain, year after year after year. I loved all the vignettes that have begun each episode during the past two weeks. I particularly liked the comments by Eileen Davison, who remarked that the Bells -- the show's creators -- had wanted to write stories that were meaningful and honest and that would help change people's lives. In my humble opinion, they succeeded!

That was a lofty undertaking on the Bells' part, and I believe that their vision is still well served by Y&R and its remarkable cast of actors. I think many of us felt that the show lost focus for a while and made some questionable casting and storyline decisions, but with the 11,000th episode, which I thought was terrifically appropriate and a super send-off for Justin Hartley, it really feels like Y&R is getting back to its core values.

As Adam was presumed dead in a fiery explosion for the second time in two years, all I could hear in my head was that old song, "Never Can Say Good-bye." To the same tune I heard, "I-I-I'm gonna watch you die!" as Chloe gloated and spoke those words to Adam. Chelsea was totally loyal to her man as she stood her ground and refused to leave Adam behind. How traumatic for her. How will Chelsea ever move on and know that dead means dead, or will she forever be expecting Adam to come back with a new face every time she makes eye contact with a stranger across a crowded room? Gosh, I hope not.

I did wonder how Y&R would write Hartley out. I assumed they were going to send him off to prison to rot until either Hartley returned or enough time had passed that his legion of grieving fans -- of which I am one -- could accept a recast. This ending is even better because there are so many ways it can go. Adam could be dead, imprisoned, or rescued and on the run. I don't know how much we will be told. I was preparing to make a mockery of about how Chloe found Adam in the cabin when the police couldn't, so I thought that showing us the GPS tracker that Chloe secreted in Connor's toy was a nice touch and an acceptable explanation.

I do wonder how Chloe knew that Adam would escape and what Chloe would have done if Connor hadn't conveniently gotten sick so that Adam was left alone to give Chloe the opportunity to shoot him with a drugged dart. What would Chloe have done if Adam and Chelsea had not separated. Would she have shot Chelsea also?

Chloe's explanation for her vendetta against Adam -- when she stated that one of her reasons for killing Adam was that he had driven away from Delia without checking to see if he had hit anything -- didn't make sense to me. I remember clearly -- and please, dear readers, correct me if I'm hallucinating -- that Adam got out of his SUV, looked behind it, saw nothing, and then got back in the car and drove away. Chloe's overwhelming need to take Adam's life, for what we know was a tragic accident, seems extreme, even for Chloe.

Delia's death was a cruel, senseless tragedy, but it was not deliberate or intentional. It is clear to me that Adam tortured and punished himself long before Billy shot him and Adam disappeared in a fiery car crash, only to emerge a better man in the guise of Gabriel Bingham. Now Adam, like one of those mythic Greek heroes with a fatal flaw -- think Brad Pitt as Achilles -- once again seems to be the victim of a fiery explosion, though this time in a cabin instead of a car and felled by a dart instead of a bullet. What is it they say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same"?

Our illustrious leader and soapaholic extraordinaire, Soap Central founder Dan Kroll, sent out an email directing our -- writers' and staff's -- attention to an article about Justin Hartley's exit. He asked if we thought that Y&R would keep Adam "presumed dead" until it was definite that Hartley would not be returning or if a recent casting call for a "Dean" was actually for a recast of Adam, and he asked what we thought about that.

Right now, I'd prefer to wait and see what happens -- Hartley's show is on NBC, after all. Even if there is no chance that he'll return to Y&R, I'm still gonna need time to grieve and get used to the idea that someone else is going to play Adam. I feel that a quick recast will result in the same kind of firestorm that happened when Billy Miller was replaced so quickly. It is very hard to accept another actor in place of our beloved actor unless the new actor is so good that we forget the one before. Each actor puts his own stamp on the role. Justin Hartley's "stamp" has been incredible and written in indelible ink. I would love to know how my readers feel, so please share your comments about Justin Hartley's departure, a recast, and whether or not you will watch his new fall show, in the section below.

I don't remember Chloe being such a clever girl before Delia died, but I sure have to give her kudos now. Getting vengeance on Adam, outmaneuvering Victor, conning Chelsea, and coordinating all that while juggling Bella, Kevin, and a job is remarkable multi-tasking for a woman who, once upon on a time in the not-so-distant past, could barely organize a sock drawer. Maybe that's the upside of mental illness, or maybe Chloe is what's referred to as a "mad genius." Either way, she's not the comic relief this time around.

I loved, loved, loved the scenes between Nichelle Nichols and Kristoff St. John. When Lucinda said to Neil, "If you want to be angry for the rest of your life, just keep yelling," it sounded so honest, so real, and so down to earth. It made me feel that Y&R was hitting all the benchmarks that have made it so enduring. And while I did find that Neil gave up his grudge very easily after carrying it for so many years, it was clear that Neil got a new understanding of his own disease and gained respect for his mother's understanding of her disease and for her decision to protect her son from it, even as she was unable to control it. I thought the acting was very good, and I will probably cry if Lucinda dies before she meets all the grandkids and great-grandkids.

The current Billy is not my friend Bessie's favorite character. She absolutely despises what he is doing to Jack because of Phyllis. She doesn't like Jason Thompson in the role -- she says I like him because I watched him on GH (and she's right) -- and she yearns for Billy Miller back. I don't, and before I cause an uproar, let me explain that before I saw Billy Miller on Y&R for the first time, I had already seen him in two unforgettable performances, one as a pedophile serial killer and the other as a wife-murdering sociopath. Those performances were so compelling that I always suspected his Billy persona was a cover for the psycho lurking underneath. As it turns out, the guy is really a very fine actor and doesn't have to be a psychopath to play one on TV.

In my opinion Jason Thompson is also a fine actor. He was great on GH as the upstanding Dr. Drake. He is equally good at playing Billy, the man-child rake, bent on disrupting his brother's marriage. I like Billy and Phyllis together because Jack isn't being written very well -- he's so blah and boring. Jack is completely dense about what is going on with Phyllis, and that is not the sensitive Jack that we know and love. He is dull, and so is his relationship with Phyllis. When Phyllis and Jack got back together during his pill crisis and before her coma, I felt like Phyllis wanted to be madly in love with Jack, but I didn't think that she was. I thought that she stayed with Jack because she feared he would revert to the pills if she didn't. They were comfortable together, but not crazy in love.

Now, I think that Phyllis feels trapped, and Billy feels manipulated. Both are angry and rebellious. Phyllis is still suffering from PTSD after her ordeal with Marco. What Billy and Phyllis feel for each other is more akin to a comfortable port in a raging storm than a forever love. I don't think that what they are doing to Jack is any worse that what Devon and Hilary did to Neil. Cheating is cheating, don't you think?

Have you noticed that when a new actor takes over a role, writers often use that as an opportunity to take the character in a new direction? We're seeing that with Billy now, just like we saw it with Adam when Justin Hartley took over. I have no doubt that Victoria and Billy will get back together because they have children to bond them, the same as Nikki and Victor do. Honestly, I'm glad that Victor told Nikki what he was doing and that she backed him up. I'm not saying that what they did was right -- Victor took a bad situation, tried to fix it, and ultimately made it worse -- but at least Nikki stopped biting the hand that feeds her -- you know, the one that keeps her in diamonds and stilettos. Billy and Victoria will get there, as well, especially after they have been married and divorced as many times as Victor and Nikki have!

Let's face facts. We've been through the breakup and reunion of Victoria and Billy four times during the last three years. How many ways are there to dance that dance before it becomes boring? Last time, Victoria turned to Dr. Ben before reuniting with Billy. This time, she's having a fling with Travis, who, as Bessie says, is cute and worth watching.

I'm not sorry to see Luca exit for a timeout in the pokey. Snowflake is well rid of him. For a Newman, Summer is awfully trusting and has apparently learned nothing from her past peccadillos. We will be seeing much less of Summer this fall because the actress, Hunter King, has been cast in a recurring nighttime role, where she is intentionally funny.

Speaking of funny, I thought that "secret tunnel" was plenty funny. I could accept that it somehow connected to Sage's place, even though her apartment was on the other side of the corridor and down the hall from Adam and Chelsea. I also suspended disbelief as to how the tunnel was constructed without noise, debris, or workmen. What I couldn't fathom was how Chelsea and Connor used the secret tunnel to get to the elevator, stairwell, or parking garage without passing Chelsea's apartment door -- where police were stationed -- and how the heck did Victor know about it if Chelsea didn't know? You'd think that once Dylan discovered the tunnel, officers would have been stationed near the exit and entrance to make sure that no one else accessed the tunnel or exited it. Apparently not, since Chloe was able to come and go undetected as well. Maybe there was a secret elevator in Nick and Sage's apartment that went from the penthouse to the basement... I know, too picky.

It's been a great week to watch Y&R, and I can hardly wait to see what the next episode has in store. I really hate saying goodbye to the departing and soon-to-depart actors, including Justin Hartley, Hunter King, and Miles Gaston Villanueva, but I wish each of them every success in their new endeavors, and I look forward to seeing how Y&R will fill the void they leave.

Please join us in two weeks at Walworth prison for a special seminar presented by inmates Victor and Adam Newman, who lost their fortunes and their freedom but learned to express their love for each other constructively. Their new book, Adjoining Cells: Framed and Loving It, tells the true story of betrayal, revenge, reconciliation, and redemption that occurred after Victor's attempt at "tough love" went horribly awry. Copies of this touching memoir are available in the prison gift shop. All proceeds will be used to purchase "Get Out of Jail Free" cards. Adam's participation is strictly imaginary, since his current whereabouts are unknown, and he is presumed dead as a result of Victor's latest shenanigans. As always, imaginary friends are welcome to attend but must wear nametags at all times while on prison grounds.

'Til next time, dear ones, with tongue firmly in cheek, I urge you to enjoy the Labor Day holiday with your friends and family, especially your BFFs in Genoa City.

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