Father knows best

Victor managed to trump himself when it comes to being a truly despicable parent.

He did it again. Victor trumped himself when it comes to being a truly despicable parent. It was bad enough when he blamed Victoria weeks ago for the Japanese/gun bribe, which, as she pointed out, was a case of her doing Victor's dirty work, but this past week, he used the incident to truly hurt his daughter. It wasn't enough to simply have her arrested by the SEC for bribery. No, Victor had to spoil the wedding. He could have had the arrest made before Victoria was ever in the wedding gown, couldn't he? Instead, he chose to be as punitive as possible. I hope Daniel got a photograph of Victoria in handcuffs because that's an image that should go in Victor's family scrapbook. Way to go, Pop!

I'm worried about Nikki now. There's a long-defunct soap opera called How To Survive A Marriage, and I'm wondering how Nikki is going to survive a marriage to Victor ... if they ever get hitched again. Victor's cruelty is out of proportion. It's one thing for his hatred to be turned on the Abbotts. That irrational hatred is something we've observed for years and even when it blows up in his face -- Colleen's death and his need for the heart transplant -- we get it. We can even understand how he could disown and discard Adam. Victor didn't raise Adam. He never took him horseback riding or helped him with his homework or taught him how to drive a car. Adam is a virtual stranger, and an evil little bastard to boot.

But Nikolas and Victoria are the chosen ones. Victoria, especially, is Victor's little princess. All those clips of family scenes when Victoria was a child reinforced that Victor always had a special relationship with his daughter. And I'm sure that was the point of the producers showing us those clips. How could Victor ruin Victoria's wedding because of his Abbott hatred? The answer to this question needs to reverberate, if you ask me. Life can't return to normal. What Victor did cannot be forgotten in the next few weeks. Victoria should not forgive and forget. She should remember and relive the memory of that painful day so that she learns that her father is not -- necessarily -- her friend.

Abby is likely to learn that lesson, too. Her alliance with Jack and hiring Vance to be her attorney has not endeared her to her daddy. Does Abby deserve to have access to her trust funds? No, probably not. She's not responsible enough to handle that kind of money, but if her family didn't want her to be financially secure, why did they create the trusts? And why can't anybody in this family compromise? Would it be so outlandish for Victor and Ashley to hire a mediator and create a fair solution to the problem? Considering how pig-headed they're all acting, it's hard to sympathize with either side. Sure, Abby seems like a spoiled brat, but who made her that way?

Back to Victoria. ... I'm really worried about the future of her relationship with Victor. His decision to act on her wedding day is not something that Victoria will simply get over. Victor doesn't want to see what Nikki has, that Billy makes Victoria happy. Victoria has needed a man like Billy in her life, someone who can free her from the constraints of being Victor's child. And, truth be told, J.T. was a prig to her, too. When did that guy become so judgmental and uptight?

You might think I'm off my rocker for waiting until now to mention Chance's death. Well, it's not that I'm heartless or uncaring, it's just that there was no surprise. The character was killed months ago when the writers started this ridiculous storyline about corrupt cops in Genoa City. I'm not sure why they brought John Driscoll into the show if they had no intention of making him part of the fabric of the soap. He's a good actor, but Chance was a terrible character. He was a one-trick pony. It was boring to hear him drone on and on about dirty cops and the investigation. Yawn!

It was telegraphed for weeks that the drug bust was going to be the end of Chance. I hoped that they would have staged it better than they did, because it was just lame. Ronan, who as an FBI agent should have known better than to point a loaded gun at Chance, acted like a neophyte. As soon as Meeks made his move, Ronan shot Chance. And what kind of a rookie is Chance that he went into a sting without a bulletproof vest? If he'd had one, he wouldn't be dead.

But why on earth did Ronan pull the trigger? He had the opportunity to pull the magazine so that the gun wasn't loaded. And why didn't he have a bulletproof vest? Anyone who watches crime procedurals -- Law and Order or CSI -- had to cringe at the ineptitude of that gunfight. It was just amateur hour.

By the way, what the hell did Paul and Nina think they were going to accomplish when they showed up at the warehouse? They were unarmed and completely unprepared for what they might encounter. Here's a thought: they could have called 9-1-1 and sent real cops to the scene! And if they didn't think the cops could be trusted, why not call in a fire alarm or a bomb scare? Sure, it's a violation of the law, but it might have been a distraction, and Chance might not have wound up dead!

There is something that I'd like to see expire immediately on The Young and the Restless and that's Phyllis' blog. The voiceover commentary is a rip-off of Desperate Housewives, and it doesn't work. It's well-written, but where does Phyllis come off being the voice of justice and wit in Genoa City? As Nita wrote last week, Phyllis is the original home wrecker. I don't even understand why she's so angry, do you? Are we supposed to feel bad for Phyllis that Nick loves Sharon and wants her more than he wants Phyllis? Nick has been a decent husband to Phyllis, but he can't help how he feels. What's Phyllis's problem? Does she forget that she was the one who threw him out of the house?

One last thought... it was a nice touch having Elinor Donahue appear as Judge Anderson to marry Billy and Victoria. She was the original "princess" on Father Knows Best, and she really still looked like that girl from the old TV show. It would have been sweet if there'd been more of a tie-in to the show, but that canned music when the ceremony began was just awful. It sounded like bad karaoke. Could they not get an arrangement of the real TV theme or create something more appropriate? Considering how they created the set as a replica of the TV show, why not follow through with all the details?

Here are some letters from the mailbox -- keep 'em coming, fans!

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