Will the real Adam Newman please stand up?

For the Week of May 13, 2019
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Chris Engen, Michael Muhney, Justin Hartley and Mark Grossman as Adam Newman on The Young and the Restless
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Even with no memories of the past, Adam Newman was back playing the same old games. Will he disrupt Sharon's life and her relationship with Rey? And when Adam's memory returns, will the feelings of love and hate for his father reawaken, also? It's the three (or four) faces of Adam in Two Scoops.

Okay, I am wondering if my memory is just as faulty as Adam's apparently is now after hearing Victor's declaration to Sharon about her all-consuming relationship with Adam. Because Victor was desperate, he reached out to Sharon, so she could help Adam retrieve his memory. Victor felt that since Adam had been so obsessed with Sharon at one time, his deep love for her would bring him back to reality. Victor needed Sharon's help because Adam had gone into hiding after Victor pushed him too hard. Well, nothing's changed there, has it? Maybe Victor shouldn't be in too big of a hurry for Adam to remember everything, since it could reawaken his feelings of love -- and of hate -- for his father.

Well, I do remember Adam's very unhealthy obsession with Sharon, back when he was being played by Michael Muhney, but the last time Mr. Muhney played Adam Newman was in 2014. So, what happened to Justin Hartley's version? I don't remember this obsession carrying over to my very favorite Adam from 2014 through 2016. Actually, there was very little interaction between Adam and Sharon during Mr. Hartley's tenure on the soap, since his attention was directed mainly toward Chelsea. If anything, when Adam and Sharon would run into each other, from time to time, they would wish each other well. But Sharon's memories of her love for Adam were suddenly so strong, they resurfaced, even though Adam had moved on with Chelsea, and Sharon had moved on with...well, several men. It was just strange.

Oh, all right, I did read that Melissa Claire Egan will be returning soon as Chelsea, which would only make sense, since she has a son, Connor, by Adam. But since Chelsea and Adam were married and were friends, too, why didn't Victor start with Chelsea, especially since she had been the most recent love of Adam's life? It's possible that he couldn't locate her. (Victor's top-notch investigators must be losing their touch.) I mean, Chelsea did everything she could to keep Connor safe from his lovingly possessive grandfather. But for Victor to turn to Sharon was a bit of a stretch, since so many things have happened to Sharon since then. Sharon had supposedly gotten over her deep and abiding love for Adam years ago...but apparently not.

I couldn't stand Adam when he was obsessing over Sharon. I mean, when Chris Engen played him, Adam was somewhat of a jerk who was trying to get to know his father. Then, Michael Muhney took that jerkiness to the next level with his thing for Sharon. I could never forgive Adam for stealing the first months of her baby's life from Sharon and handing them over to Ashley. Sheesh, that seems like a century ago. But Sharon had no problem forgiving Adam for doing that, which I never understood. To me, that was a sin that could never be forgiven, but back then, Sharon had a tendency to put Adam before Faith, anyway. Then again, Sharon never got the chance to bond with her baby immediately after she was born, so she always could have used that as an excuse.

Although it will be hard for anyone to replace Justin Hartley's Adam for me, I am willing to give Mark Grossman a chance. Adam is just too vital and critical a character not to be alive and well in Genoa City. Victor needs his youngest son around to constantly push his buttons, even as Adam makes his papa proud by being so much like him. What I truly liked about Justin Hartley's Adam was that he was constantly trying to do right by doing the wrong thing. I hope Mark Grossman's Adam is more like Justin Hartley's than that of either Chris Engen or Michael Muhney. It's almost like waiting for the big reveal on the TV game show To Tell the Truth. Will the real Adam Newman please stand up? But, of course, Mark Grossman will need to find a way to make the character his own.

Now, if this new Adam with his usual "complicated nature" wants to mess with Sharon and her relationship with Rey, I'm all for it. Sadly, I'm about ready to give up on Sharon and her poor choices, anyway. She has had some sparks of brilliance along the way, but then she would just get dragged back down into the muck with the next clod she was paired up with. Sharon's identity tends to be fine-tuned according to the man she is seeing at the time. She witnessed for herself how little regard Rey had for his wife, Mia, but that only made Sharon desire him all the more. Rey probably reminded her of Adam when she was with him, since that Adam always put himself first, before Sharon or her family, too. Shoot, it might just be interesting to watch Adam and Rey duke it out for Sharon.

You know that Adam will have some tricks up his sleeve if he decides to once again pursue Sharon, and he already started with a game of hide-and-seek with Sharon in the park. But with Victor around, he was reduced to playing phone tag with Sharon and refused to come out of hiding, so Victor agreed to take his marbles elsewhere and keep a low profile. It was only then that Adam finally revealed himself to Sharon. Her gasp of "Oh, my God, it's you," pretty much said it all. Adam was back and ready to roll.

Sharon wasn't too concerned about telling Nick that she had dashed off to Las Vegas, even though he had physical custody of Faith at the time. Shoot, Mariah should consider herself fortunate that Sharon gave her the heads-up of her travel plans, since they hadn't been able to bond when Mariah was a baby, either. Between her current love for Rey and her past infatuation with Adam, will Sharon be able to see that Mariah is being threatened by some "unknown" person? "I won't be ignored. Someday soon you'll know my pain." Gee, what did Mariah ever do to the person behind the text? But of course, it could be a celebrity obsession, just as Lily had once suffered through.

Mariah hasn't really done anything nasty to anyone in a long time, probably not since she was pretending to Sharon that she was the deceased Cassie. But Victor was behind that charade. Mariah's not a mean person, so it somewhat boggles the mind. Maybe Tessa was doing a little payback after what she perceived as a wrong that Mariah had done to her in the past, but I doubt it, although I do always like blaming things on Tessa. However, Tessa wanted to send a threatening text of her own to the unknown culprit, but Mariah had other ideas.

In the meantime, Tessa was busy singing and coughing over her career with Ana as producer. Then Devon entered the scene, telling Ana to "watch and learn, grasshopper," and suddenly, Tessa's singing, singing, singing was perfection. It was a miracle! Yet somehow, Ana took credit for it all on how "we" (meaning Tessa and Ana) were able to pull it all together. It's becoming more and more common for an episode to have someone singing, sometimes just for the sake of singing. You could almost make a drinking game of it. Who will be the one singing in this episode? Fen could come back to make it more challenging, or maybe Elena is a star in the making. It could become quite tedious switching from Tessa to Ana to Jett all the time. Okay, I didn't say it would be a good drinking game.

But why was Ana so dead set on giving Tessa a complete makeover that would pretty much wipe out her own distinctive identity? Even American Idol and The Voice look for someone who can offer something different with a unique style. Sure, Ana was trying to do some damage control, but Tessa needed to own up to the public about her past misdeeds. She would get more respect from fans that way, rather than trying to cover it up with "a little skin" and red hair. Let's face it, Tessa would just look weird with red hair, anyway, especially next to Mariah.

Elena's drama about her part in her mother's death was that she hadn't been around to give her mother the pills for her epilepsy. Really? That's it? I was expecting something earth-shattering, but it's just another so-so soapy story. Ho-hum. Hilary fans should be happy, though, with Devon's visions of his deceased wife. Shoot, the writers could probably keep the romance building between Devon and Elena forever as long as Mishael Morgan's image could pop up on-screen from time to time.

Summer still showed her desperation by keeping Kyle tied to her through Jabot and an out-of-town business meeting of her own making. By golly, if Summer couldn't have Kyle, she would make sure that Lola couldn't, either. And Phyllis continued to champion Summer's insecurities, since they gave Red a connection to Jabot. Phyllis was determined to be a part of the Jabot Collective line by hook or by crook. Really, both these beautiful and intelligent ladies need to move on. A loving and caring mother would not want her daughter to be with someone who doesn't want her. Neither one has learned they can't force something that's not meant to be, which is so, so sad.

Yep, Summer still had the bridle on Kyle and did everything she could to keep reining him in. It didn't help any when the social media dude at the out-of-town business meeting saw a killer chemistry between the two. But it was outrageous for Summer to yell at Kyle for not wanting to socialize with him. She was just using their work relationship to try to control the man she still coveted. Jack had reason to worry about her motives, although he also unwittingly played right into her hands by insisting that Kyle's priority should be all about business, not about Lola. Summer just couldn't let go.

Cane needs to learn that lesson, also. Seriously, he really needs to look up the meaning of divorce. Once the proceedings began, it was time for both Iris and Flynn...uh, I mean Lily and Cane to move on and try to find a new life without each other. Lily made it perfectly clear that she wanted to find her own way in the world without Cane, and he really needs to let her do that. He can't change his life to suit her. He would only be giving up everything that he already has to get nothing back in return. Splitting up with a loved one is always hard, but in this case, Cane needs a clean and final break, which is what Lily desired. Yes, indeed, "heartbreak was back."

Oh, yes, and Arturo had sex with Mia -- again. Man, hasn't that guy left town yet? Arturo really had no reason to stay in Genoa City any longer, and he finally agreed with Mia that they should head back to Miami. Together. So, it seemed like Arturo and Mia would be able to walk together into the sunset, hand in hand, to a brand-new life, far, far away from Genoa City, to live happily ever after. And baby could have made three, except that Mia doubled over in pain after blurting out the truth to Paul about her part in Lola's little "accident." Shoot, Mia may end up in the slammer, after all, especially if she loses the baby.

It's funny how Rey completely quit caring about the baby, who would either be his child or his nephew or niece. But that's Rey for you. Selfish to the end. It's no wonder why Rey and Arturo were never close as brothers; but, of course, Rey blamed all that on Arturo. It's always someone else's fault with Rey -- never his own. At least, after Lola learned the truth, she realized she didn't want to see her niece or nephew born behind bars, because no matter which brother was the daddy, Lola was going to be the baby's aunt. At least she cared, which was more than Rey did, although it was still possible that he was the father. What a dreamboat. Oh, I can see why Sharon wants him.

Other notable (or humorous) items that happened during the week

Ahh, Nate may have been recast with a man who has more on-screen chemistry with Abby. He seems to be the direction that Abby is headed. In typical soap fashion, Abby appeared to be jumping from one guy to another before even giving her poor broken heart a chance to heal.

Wow, the mere mention of Adam's name suddenly had Christian crawling out of the woodwork.

I appreciated Devon's advice that the producer needs to manage everything by bringing all the pieces -- both human and technical -- together and turning chaos into something great. I will be the producer of a melodrama at our community theatre in September, so I will be sure to keep his words in mind. With his attitude (and mustache!), Victor would so be the perfect villain of any melodrama, wouldn't he?

Congratulations to The Young and the Restless for winning the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Drama of 2018! And congrats to the Y&R Directing Team and the Y&R Writing Team for their wins, also. Bravo to all the winners! They were all very deserved. You can check out all the winners and our own Dan J Kroll's Red Carpet interviews with some of the stars of Y&R in our 2019 Daytime Emmys hub.

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