You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

Although she gets plenty of screen time, Sharon Newman's storylines are often the pits! For the writers, it may be a labor of love, but the fans don't seem to be feeling the same. Do the writers love Sharon or do they just love to give her a hard time?

Mr. Grinch, in this instance, is referring, of course, to one mean and vindictive Mr. Victor Newman.

So, this was Victor's plan. Adam: hated by the only family members he has; friendless, unemployed, and completely unloved by all but Sharon -- wasn't enough to satisfy Victor's unquenchable thirst for revenge. No, it wasn't enough that he subtracted his presence from Adam's entire childhood. And no, I haven't forgotten the hands-off attitude was at Hope's request. But since when has Victor ever done anything he didn't want to do, no matter how he felt about the person doing the asking? As far as Victor is concerned, Father, meaning himself, really does know best. And the rest of the family can like it or lump it.

But, I digress, as I usually am prone to. So, Victor, having decided, in his role as ruler of everything, decrees that Adam, already a desolate island unto himself, has not been punished nearly enough for the dastardly deeds he's admittedly done. After all, though the father has spent his lifetime treating people like pawns on his personal chessboard, he still believes he has room to pass judgment and mete out punishment on all others.

So, into Adam's unfortunate life Victor stalks, hands in his pockets. "Come back to the company and work for your father," Victor insisted, forcing his Grinch-like mouth into what was presumably supposed to be a welcoming grin. But to this fan, it looked more like the mouth a person makes when they are trying really hard to go, but can't, if you catch my delicately worded drift. Adam is, of course, understandably suspicious, as he checks this unexpected gift horse's mouth for decaying teeth.

But, in the end, Adam's insatiable desire to somehow make his father proud, despite the damage each has done to the other, outweighed his better judgment, and one carefully worded, signed contract later, Adam was back aboard the Newman express. Of course, as we all know, even as the ink was drying on the dotted line, Victor was assuring Victoria their newest hire's name wouldn't appear on the payroll for long.

I guess we will never know what Victor's original plans were for Adam's destruction. He couldn't have known Diane was going to be murdered by his ex-wife, or that he would take the fall for it, leaving Beauty of Nature exposed and unprotected from Adam. But, be that as it may, the universe bowed to the all-powerful Victor, as it almost always does, and from his private office, oops, I mean, the prison visiting room, he proceeded to plot out Adam's plummet from prosperity.

Enter Sharon, the first pawn Victor placed on the chessboard. Using custody of Faith as the proverbial carrot, Victor led Sharon straight into bondage, I mean, marriage, to him. He then immediately used her as a knife to plunge into the back of his hated son and twisted it cruelly. Slapping down three more pawns -- Michael, Tucker, and the SEC agents -- and Vic's sting parameters were all in place, with Beauty of Nature, as the seemingly unprotected prize, waiting enticingly in the center.

And then ... the universe frowned ... and Victor's plan fell all to pieces. In my worthless opinion, by both repeatedly telling Sharon he was all she could count on, and using her need to be free of Nick's arbitrary restrictions regarding Faith, Victor pulled Sharon from the frying pan and practically flung her into the fire itself, solely to use her for his own agenda against Adam.

I understand that Victor, along with all of Genoa City, apparently, finds loving Adam to be a masochistic exercise in futility, but who are they to judge who is worthy of love. Once Sharon has served her purpose, Victor clearly plans to dissolve their May-December union to reunite with his true love, three-time killer, Nikki, and could care less what anyone thinks about it. In fact, certain that Sharon has done the bulk of his dirty work for him, Victor's already loving up Nikki in the very house he insisted Sharon move into. What a man!

Then there is Nick, once again unemployed and living off Daddy's hard-earned dough. Having decided he likes the other sister best after all, he's joyfully thumbing a video game console while playing perfect family with Phyllis. And it matters naught to him that the spiteful filly he's wooing once again has personally skewered just about every member of his family in the Useless Pile, and snatched his sister's adopted child from her perfectly happy home just because she could. But, despite her bad behavior, no one's going to tell him he's not allowed to love her.

So yes, like fan Flora below, along with every other fan who feels the same, I, too, was on my feet cheering, pumping my pom-poms like a woman crazed, when Sharon spilled Victor's beans. At this point, baby stealing notwithstanding, I don't care that she finds herself drawn to Adam. Because to the hypocritical crew who call Genoa City home, neither Sharon nor Adam will ever be good enough. So they might as well love and live their lives.

Having said that, though, I'm sure this is not the end of the story. There's no end to the rabbits that the entitled one, Victor, with the help of his malleable marionette, Michael, is able to pull out of his Snidely Whiplash top hat. Thanks to Sharon, Adam may have dodged this particular bullet, but Victor will only reload and take aim at him again.

Every soap seems to have that one person who, no matter how heinous their offense, still manages to land on their calculating feet, without really losing anything of significance. In Genoa City, that person is clearly Victor, although there is at least one female runner-up for that dubious honor. That insults my soap sense of fair play and balance and makes it nearly impossible to invest in anything they do.

Some fans might say that Victor has paid, but I just can't see it. Yes, he's spent time behind bars, but come on, with the unending parade of visitors, he's been more like a King receiving his royal subjects than a man imprisoned for a vicious and brutal murder. And yes, his kids won that ridiculously exorbitant settlement, but he shrugged off the loss of that billion and a half the way us regular folks might overlook an unpaid five-dollar loan. No matter how badly he's treated his family, eventually they always come scurrying back to work for him or otherwise worship at his feet. Until the next time he hauls off and kicks them in the shins.

Since Victor's SEC plot was foiled, I assume that means the sale of Beauty of Nature will stand. The new owner? My guess is it will be Genevieve. What else would be the point of her knowing Jack's exact bid, or for us to understand she's worth so much, it even caused Jack's eyebrows to jump in astonishment? I'm also guessing she bought it, not for her own personal gain, but to make sure her hubby-to-be could get his heart's desire without going broke. How Jack will take it and how it will play out from here, though, is anybody's guess. But something tells me a visit from Victor will be in Genevieve's very near future. I have to admit that Genevieve has definitely grown on me once she shed her Colin-craziness. She's come a long way from that chalk outline of her dead daughter. I'm looking forward to what happens next.

But what is in Adam's future? Besides unemployment, I mean. Will he be arrested for backing up Victor's lies with lies of his own? I would think if that were the case, however, they'd need more jail cells because all of Genoa City would be headed for the pokey. Can he be fired from Newman -- think loophole in that contract -- for even making the illegal offer to Tucker? Or would that be Tucker's word against his?

By the way, what say you all? Was the Beauty of Nature sale all about stinging Victor? I know I have a soft spot for Adam sometimes, but although at first I was certain it was all about payback, when he visited Victor, I was convinced Adam sincerely hoped to make Victor proud. Those tears he was swiping away seemed as real as any I've shed. Or maybe I'm just as much of a sucker for Adam as Sharon is.

Whatever price Adam might have to pay for his Newman endeavors, rumors are swirling about what might befall him during February sweeps. Sounds suspiciously like comeuppance for one of his past bad deeds to me, and it doesn't sound at all pretty. For those inquiring fans who want to know, head for the message boards. You won't have to look far to read what I saw.

I feel cheated!

Like fans, April, Ruth Anne, Michael, Suzan, Lenore, Dustin, and I'm sure scores of others, I am crying foul about the identity of Diane's murderer. Nikki? I was tossing old maids from my popcorn bowl straight at the screen for that one! This can't possibly be the real end of this. Like so many others, I say, if the film is true, what happened to the other six or seven head smashes Diane supposedly suffered? How did she get from the grass to the pond? Did she crawl there, pass out, and drown herself? Or, since Deacon allegedly witnessed it all, did he finish what Nikki began then pitched Diane into the pond? But why would Deacon kill Diane, someone he seemed to like? Did she promise him something she later reneged on, enraging him enough to kill her?

And where does Patty fit into this puzzle? I still think she was the person lurking outside Jack's window, watching Diane drop her dress. And what about those embroidered pillows? Obviously, Patty put them in the suite after Diane's death. But for what reason? Presumably, she also found the camera depicting Diane and Deacon doing the lovemaking deed while planting the pillows. Then, she just happened to be behind Gloworm in time to spot Deacon rummaging around behind that dumpster. Did she also just happen to be at the park at the right place at the right time and has just been using whatever she saw there? Or did she finish Diane off and roll her into the water?

Holes and questions surrounding this murder are driving me batty. Why would Nikki confront Diane in the first place? She said she saw Victor leave. So what made her think he was going to come back in order for Diane and Adam to drug him and frame him? Why didn't she just go find Victor herself? As for Ronan hypnotizing Nikki, that was so laughable and unbelievable, I refuse to waste good words poking fun at it. It served its purpose, though, believable or not, since it brought out the exact details of what happened during Nikki's blackout.

Lastly, though Victoria and Billy have probably opened a large can of slimy worms by bringing Chelsea into their home, I'm enjoying this story. Chelsea easily suckered the gullible Abbotts. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite them in the future custody hearing. Thanks to their generous care, they are helping to make Chelsea appear a loving, caring, mother-to-be whom the court wouldn't dream of depriving of her child just because the Abbotts have the means to give her a more luxurious life. Huge monthly child support payments would likely accomplish the same. Billy and Victoria might have been much better off letting Chelsea live her unsuitable lifestyle during the pregnancy so they would present the best and only alternative.

All in all, there is a lot I'm enjoying these days, and the Young and the Restless continues to be my mostly-sweet early evening treat. When I hate more than I love, I'll delete it from my DVR. Until then, I plan to keep right on watching and commenting!

See you next time. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy what some of your fellow soapies had to say. I certainly did. Keep your opinions coming, fans. This is your space too!

* * * * * * *

While a lot of people are appalled over Sharon and Victor's engagement, I am more upset over Billy giving Phyllis her job back. She stole Billy and Victoria's baby out of their hands. If I were Vicky, I would be more upset with Billy about that than this whole Chelsea ordeal. Lucy should be back where she belongs, with Billy and Vicky. - Timothy

What's with this film Deacon made showing Nikki supposedly murdering Diane? Diane was found FACE DOWN IN THE WATER, was she not? We were told she had been "bludgeoned repeatedly" with a rock. So, let's review: the film shows Nikki hitting her once or twice with a rock, and them pushing her body off her, ONTO THE GROUND! Maybe I'm ranting for nothing, since someone did say this week they are still waiting for forensics to finish "authenticating" the film. This story gets more ridiculous every day. They fired Maura West so we could watch this drivel? Maura deserved a lot better than Y&R gave her, in my opinion. - April

Why can't Y&R move forward instead of backward? Nick and Phyllis - AGAIN? I am so over them, and I am sick of Phyllis being in every scene, plus being the bestest editor, sleuth and mother that ever lived. And then there's Adam and Sharon. I am over them as well. I would love to see Adam fall for someone else and have a relationship that has nothing to do with the Newmans. As for Nikki and her alcoholism, I am quite familiar with the disease and, first, the way she was drinking, it is almost impossible to pull yourself together that fast. Withdrawal anyone? Second, it is a disease, and "willpower" won't stop it for long. This is a disservice to anyone who suffers from the disease. You can't turn it off and on like Nikki does. And she was in a blackout during the murder. How does she remember what Diane said on the phone just because Ronan tells her to shut her eyes? People don't remember things in a blackout! Are they trying to ruin Y&R? That's how it seems. - Lynne

This week I found myself screaming "YES!" at Y&R more than once, all aimed at Sharon. It was so frustrating to watch her try to figure out what was going on, but once she had, she did what I was hoping and went to Adam. She proved that she does have a spine and she is NOT just another daft blonde. Finally, the writers are starting to come around, or paying attention to what the fans want! I only implore them to put the Patty Cake story to bed sooner rather than later. All the disjointed story telling with her involvement in Diane's murder is giving me whiplash. The theory that she did Diane in after seeing her with Jack made a lot more sense and was heaps more entertaining than this pile of horsepuckey we got served up concerning Nikki having done it in self-defense. WHAT? Hopefully next week will shed more light on Patty and her plethora of pillows, because I am still trying to make sense of that one. - Flora