Requiem for a heavyweight

As Adam's loved ones mourned, Victor claimed responsibility and was on the brink of confessing when Jack stepped in and stopped him. Phyllis refused to show Victor sympathy and turned to Billy. Jill was furious when her plans for Billy and Victoria went awry. Neil found, reconciled with, and lost his mother on the same day. Catch the Two Scoops roller coaster and take a wild ride with Boone.

Sometimes, losing an imaginary friend is as hard as losing a real one. Not only has my beloved Adam been taken too soon, but also, coincidentally, he was presumed dead on the birthday of a very dear friend, also lost too soon 11 years ago. I mourned both of them as I watched Adam's heartfelt memorial prove that Justin Hartley is not the only heavyweight actor on The Young and the Restless.

Eric Braeden as Victor was amazing. He seemed broken and genuinely regretful for his actions. I admired Victor for being willing to take responsibility and accept the blame that he so clearly deserved. It seems to me that losing Adam and seeing his plans for Adam go up in smoke is as much punishment for Victor as jail would be. Victor has had to admit his own fallibility, and that's a hard thing to do, even for the most humble among us, which the Victator is definitely not.

Victor seemed on the point of confessing everything before Jack stepped in and stopped him. That was a very compassionate act for Jack, when you think about how horribly Victor has treated him. Jack has a big heart, and he wears it on his sleeve. Victor seemed vulnerable and sincerely grateful for Jack's support. I would love to see those two bury the hatchet-- just not in each other. Now that Dylan is hot to nail Victor for Adam's escape, it's only fair that Dylan be the go-to scapegoat for Victor, instead of Jack, when Victor recovers and reverts to his Darth Victor ways.

Peter Bergman gave a very nuanced performance, and Melissa Claire Egan had me bawling my eyes out as she described the Adam that she knew and loved. Everything Chelsea said about Adam and her comments to Connor about his daddy's love were so touching and felt so real. Joshua Morrow was appropriately sorrowful and filled with deep regret that he had not bonded with Adam sooner. Stellar acting all around.

I was gratified when, almost verbatim, Jack quoted the psychobabble from my June 20th column, "Risking everything," to explain Phyllis' motivation for turning to Billy. I thought, "Wow," kudos to my new best imaginary friend -- "He reads me, He really reads me!" Hmm, wonder if I could use Jack as a reference when I apply to scribe the "Dear Maggie" advice column at the GCBuzz.

I do wish that Jack had been able to work out that Billy and Phyllis are doing more than talking when they are together. I can understand why an honorable man like Jack would not be suspicious. Jack would never even consider cheating with his brother's wife, so of course he doesn't suspect Phyllis and Billy. The question is, will Phyllis fess up or continue to cover up? I'm guessing cover up, but I don't for a minute believe that the affair will stay a secret. By the way, thanks, commenter, for another point of view on a marriage I called boring. You made me reconsider my opinion.

Jill the pill has obviously learned nothing from Victor's mistakes. She thinks that she knows what is best for Billy and Victoria -- and maybe she does -- but both Billy and Victoria are adults, and they have to make choices and take responsibility for their decisions. I have no doubt that they will eventually find their way back to each other, but not until other stories have played out and both Billy and Victoria have had the opportunity to play around and play nice with others. No matter how much Jill threatens, bullies, and manipulates, she can't make them love each other again if they won't.

I really appreciated all your comments on my last column, which were honest, heartfelt, and well spoken, even when your opinions didn't agree with mine. Most of you said that you would miss this version of Adam, who, at the moment, seems as irreplaceable as the previous Adam did. Some of you did prefer the previous Adam and hoped that he would reprise the role, because after this frightful, harrowing miscarriage of justice, one could expect Adam to be darker, less trusting, and more cynical.

Despite all the evidence pointing to Adam's death, I'm pretty sure that, like the original Terminator, he'll be back. Adam is a core character, and I can't imagine that he won't return from the dead in a year or two.

Jason Thompson would have been an acceptable recast for Adam -- in my opinion -- if he had not been rushed into the role of Billy. Unlike some of you, I have no difficulty with his acting or his performance as Billy, but his dark looks are jarring because the Abbotts and all the previous Billys have light hair. (Physically speaking, Travis would have made a much better Billy.) Acting-wise, Jason Thompson is another heavyweight, and I don't think that anyone who watched him on General Hospital would disagree. He proved it on Friday when he clashed with Jill and told her exactly what he thought about her parenting techniques.

Thompson's scenes with Jess Walton were very real. She showed more emotional range and less scenery chewing than in the past. Jill's newly darkened hair has given Billy and Jill more familial resemblance. They make a good acting tandem, and there is still a lot of story to tell in their ambivalent relationship.

Meanwhile, I think that we forget how the characters always seem to go in new directions when actors leave their roles and new ones take over. I could never have imagined Michelle Stafford and Billy Miller together or Michelle Stafford and David Thom (the first time around), but Gina Tognoni and Jason Thompson are hot, hot, hot! And before Amelia Heinle and Billy Miller got together, could we have ever accepted Heather Thom and David Thom -- oops, I guess not, for obvious reasons -- excuse me. But you get my drift. Once upon a time, Victoria was married to Ryan and Cole and had flings with a few others. Then the actress changed, Billy was aged, and once they got together, Billy and Victoria became the perfect couple, and we forgot every other relationship that had been before.

In some respects, this spoiled, selfish man-child, as play by Jason Thompson, is the true Billy, the Billy who is the poison fruit of a selfish, grasping mother; a mother who spent time with him when it was convenient for her, not when Billy needed her. Jill wants to control Billy now to make up for her inattention, but as Billy told her, the time for that has long past. Jason Thompson and Jess Walton have a strong dynamic, and I look forward to their scenes together as much as I do those of Phyllis and Billy, who I wish could find a decent bed once in a while. All that rolling around on the floor looks uncomfortable to me, and frankly, I like their conversations even more than the "lust" scenes.

It hadn't dawned on me that Chelsea and Nick were on their way to becoming the next big couple until Bessie mentioned it. Then I had one of those "Of course!" moments. It makes perfect sense. Baby Sully is going to need a mommy when he is revealed to be Christian. Chelsea will honor Sage's request and not tell Nick that Adam is the real father. Chelsea and Nick will take over as parents and live happily ever after until Adam returns or Nick finds out that he is not Christian's biological father and that Chelsea knew and withheld the truth from him.

Poor Sully/Christian. How awful to have spent so long with people who love you but are not your parents. Like I've said many times, this happens to so many kids in Genoa City that the shrinks there must be making a fortune in therapy and retainer fees.

I do think Mariah was correct when she told Sharon that Sharon's own paranoia would be what caused Sully's secret to be revealed, and not the all-knowing, currently broken, Victor Newman, as Sharon feared. I do have to wonder about Dylan's determination to bring Victor to justice, when everyone is telling him to let it go. He seems so dogged and determined, one might say "pigheaded," and I ask why? It seems out of character for Dylan, who used to be easygoing but has suddenly become a hard-nosed Mr. Law and Order type. Maybe Dylan needs to stop drinking his own coffee and listen to his wife and father.

Despite everything that Victor has done to earn a trip back to Walworth, no one, including Paul, Nikki, Chelsea, and the rest of the Newmans, seems inclined to see that happen. Victor is suffering and will continue to suffer. Locking him up won't bring Adam back or make Victor's regret and self-recrimination any greater. Sometimes the punishment we set for ourselves is harsher than what may be imposed by others. I believe this is true for Victor. He is guilt ridden and a little less sure of himself now than he has been in the past. Victor has a heart, and it has been broken, painfully, which is why he guards it so carefully and hides it most of the time, but in moments like those at the memorial, we get a peek at the pain and the love.

If Dylan really wants to know what happened to Adam, he should start by looking at Connor's favorite stuffed animal -- the one found on the runway -- and see if he can discover that enormous tracking device that Chloe hid in it. He might also start wondering why they could find traces of DNA and tissue samples, but no bones, bits of charred clothing, or personal effects, like a belt buckle or Adam's wedding ring. I expect that Chelsea will start asking about the missing ring and then start believing Adam must be alive because there was no wedding ring found. Am I getting too picky again? I just want to give Dullen a little push in the correct direction. Dullen means well, but as we all know, he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I'd rank him right below the butter knife.

Summer said goodbye to Luca (no great loss) as he was carted off in handcuffs. (Summer is moving to recurring status as both actors take advantage of primetime opportunities.) Later, at the coffeehouse, when Mariah said to Summer, "You just threw shade at me, Snowflake!" I wasn't sure what she meant, and it made me realize that I am not up on current slang. I have officially jumped the shark and lost touch with people under 30! In deep distress, I turned to the Internet for guidance and counsel. I soon found out "throwing shade" means talking trash. I understood. We said "dis" or "trash talk." Does that give away my age?

That scene in Crimson Lights between the almost stepsisters was a cute exchange, and I thought it was too bad that Mariah and "Snowflake" never became roommates. I think they would have been great as the comic relief with their witty bickering, much like Kevin and Mariah used to be before Kevin put on his blinders and fell back under Chloe's spell. The mere fact that Kevin doesn't have a clue about Chloe's insanity says to me that Kevin doesn't know Chloe nearly as well as he thinks he does.

Chloe is scary this time around and definitely can't be counted on for comic relief -- at least not on purpose, like she was before Delia's death. Chloe is clearly not clicking on all cylinders. I'm not sure if it was her gloved hand that hid away Adam's wedding ring, but it sure looked like she was holding a small round object at Delia's roadside shrine when Chloe told her dead daughter that she had kept her promise to avenge Delia's death. Like some of you, I am convinced that Adam was not the hit-and-run driver. As one of you said, you can't hit an eight-year-old child and not feel a thud or see the child when you get out of the car and look. Another said, and again I agree, that if you are going to assign blame, then Billy was the real guilty party, because what kind of parent leaves a child alone in a car in the dark?

Billy's guilt and remorse caused a lot of bad behavior in the past -- like sleeping with Kelly -- and there is every reason to believe that Billy's behavior now is calculated to cause maximum self-destruction and estrangement from his family -- as a result of his affair with Phyllis -- and this is Billy's subconscious way of punishing himself for Delia's death and the part he played in it.

It was so sad that Lucinda died before Neil's children could meet their grandmother. Her letter to Neil was so touching that I shed tears along with everyone else when they found out that Lucinda had passed. Neil didn't have much time with his mother, but at least he got a lot of his issues resolved and gave his mother great comfort in her final hours. Since Y&R has been seeking an older African American man for an upcoming role, I think it is logical to infer that we will soon be seeing Neil's father as well. That sounds like an interesting story to me.

Please join us in two weeks at Crimson Lights for coffee and cookies at the next Soapaholics meeting. The topic will be "Getting away with murder: third time's the charm," with guest speaker Chloe Mitchell. Chloe will explain how to hide in plain sight, smirk, escape suspicion, plot revenge, outsmart the heavyweights, betray your best friend, and get artificially inseminated, all from the comfort of the funny farm, though no one's laughing. As always, imaginary friends are welcome but are encouraged to leave non-imaginary tips for imaginary food and drink.

Until we meet again in Genoa City, dear ones, I will keep my tongue planted firmly in cheek. Meanwhile, football season is starting, and imaginary RSVPs are pouring in from my imaginary friends for the kickoff party. I imagine it will be a doozy! Hope yours is, too!! Meanwhile, I'd better stock up on imaginary booze.

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