It's all about the Beauty (Of Nature, that is)

The battle continues for Beauty of Nature. My money is on Victor, for now. Because in this town, what seems to be a period at the end of a sentence usually turns out to actually be a semi-colon. Love might be a many-splendored thing, but for most of these residents, it's business, not love, that rules!

For yet another week, Genevieve has continued to bask in the warming heat of center stage lights, as cosmetic-company seekers clamor for her attention. Running the gamut from wine coolers, scraps of paper on which astronomical purchase prices are presumably printed, and marital agreements, Tucker, Victoria, Victor, and Jack vie for ownership rights to Beauty of Nature.

Tucker hopes his long-ago romantic connection to a less-worldly Genevieve will give him an edge in the negotiations, along with a good many of McCall International's dollars. Victoria is relying on a straightforward exchange of funds, gleaned from the 500 million she won from Daddy. Victor is offering money, as well, though he's promised to sweeten the pot by providing a presiding place in the company, with Nick and Sharon acting as her underlings. Although I don't imagine My Boy and Sharon will be too thrilled with that unexpected turn of events. If I were Genevieve, though, I wouldn't hang my handbag on that particular hook of a promise. After all, we know Victor has a way of simultaneously making good on and reneging on his promises.

Jack, however, is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Marrying a woman he admits he doesn't love and actually can't stand. I guess sitting in that wheelchair, his legs an unresponsive dead weight, isn't enough of a reminder of the perils of wedding a woman for company gain. Note to scribble on your desktop memo pad, Jack: "Race toward the future, but be ever-mindful of the past."

One more thing. Since Genevieve has been served with papers contesting her purchase of Beauty of Nature, if Jack decides not to marry her, can he still pursue his court case against her? Even if she has sold the company to someone else, for instance, wouldn't that sale be nullified since the company rightfully belonged to the next highest bidder, which is Jack? Just a thought that made me go ... hmmm.

Moving on to non-Beauty of Nature matters ... for fans of Adam Newman, the week contained plenty of moments to appreciate. I have no idea how long this new and improved Adam will be allowed to exist, but I'm certainly not complaining. After years of his vicious villainy, Adam's current walk on the good side has been pure pleasure to watch. My fingers are crossed that nothing happens to send him racing back to his former unrelenting darkness.

I'm also thoroughly enjoying the dynamic between Adam and Chelsea. I love the way she quickly jumps to his defense when the surly citizens of this town pull out their pitchforks and start poking at him. In fact, I practically stood up and cheered when Chelsea ripped into Victoria for the nasty way she treated Adam for merely looking through the glass at her soon-to-be-son. In return, Adam handles Chelsea with gentleness and understanding. His lack of judgment for others' weaknesses and mistakes is one of the most refreshing things about him.

I know, I know, fans. You are about to angrily remind me that Adam has done so much wrong, he hasn't an inch to spare when it comes to passing judgment on anyone else. I agree. But, given their own behavior, few in this town have any room to pronounce judgment on others. But they hypocritically do so just the same.

As for Adam, he handles all character attacks with just the right mix of tolerance and resignation. Though the self-righteous residents have sometimes hurled some hurtful and untrue insults at him, Adam has refused to wound them in return with cutting words of his own. Now, don't get me wrong. Considering the depth of his past deceptions, I don't blame Adam's fellow city-dwellers for their distrust or dislike of him. He has committed some pretty heinous crimes. But, hopefully, he has turned a corner and can continue down a path toward bigger and better acts.

Now that Chelsea has delivered her baby, will the friendship between Chelsea and Adam take a right turn toward romance? Or does Adam's heart still belong to Sharon, even though at the moment she's working hard to convince everyone she no longer wants it? I don't buy her act. I think she chose to walk away from Adam because the weight of practically the entire towns' disgust and disapproval was too heavy to balance on her slender shoulders.

Like other fans, all the baby John stuff had me cooing at the screen along with all the other baby-smitten residents. John was, of course, adorable, and already owns my heart. Chelsea has completely won me over with her generosity and maturity, wanting her baby to have the best life possible. I know every soap watcher isn't a fan of Billy and Victoria, but these two continue to get my vote for best couple, though Victoria did activate my "annoyance" button occasionally with her sharp tongue. Now that she knows the truth, though, I hope the coming week will perhaps find her softening a bit toward Adam.

Soft, and warm and fuzzy, however, are not exactly the emotions I felt when I learned the full extent of Victor's meddling in his daughter's marriage. All the brownie points he'd earned by ordering the helicopter at Victoria's request were erased when his conversation with Chelsea proved he was indeed the puppeteer pulling all the strings in Myanmar. Not that his involvement was exactly a surprise or shocking lightning bolt out of the blue for me or many other fans, who have long suspected he was feet-deep in that mess from the beginning.

But for a smart man, Victor has a convenient way of ignoring some rather glaring truths when absolving himself of any blame in future events occurring as a direct result of his initial interference. He keeps pointing to Billy's lack of character for sleeping with Chelsea. Newsflash, Victor, the man was drugged unconscious and sexually assaulted! It wasn't as if he willingly cheated on Victoria. Do those facts have to be splashed across the cover of Restless Style in lurid red letters in order for you to get that?

Unlike Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, it seems clear that their Genoa City counterparts -- Victor and Genevieve and Jack and Nikki -- might not be coming to their senses before any actual deeds are done. It has been rumored for months that the romance between Jack and Nikki might be resurrected. When disappointed in Victor, Nikki almost always looks for love in all the usually wrong places.

After overhearing the moral violations Victor committed hoping to end Victoria and Billy's relationship, a disillusioned Nikki tracked Jack all the way to Vegas, curling his toes, allegedly, with a passionate lip lock. Meanwhile, Victor will clearly do whatever is necessary to retrieve the Beauty of Nature jewel he feels was stolen from him. By the way, that's another example of Victor ignoring a fact or two. Though Victor pretends amnesia, I certainly haven't forgotten that the sale of Beauty could never have happened had Victor not instructed Sharon to change her nay vote to an emphatic yea.

Although the Winters family often get the sorriest of storylines, I still managed to enjoy the resolution of Devon's surgery. There were some very nice family moments without a lot of words being spoken. Neil and Devon's interactions are almost always well done, and the hug they exchanged seemed heartfelt and entirely believable. Now that the chip on Devon's shoulder has been whittled completely away, his relationships with both Tucker and Kay have become enjoyable to watch. I look forward to more from all of them.

I'm still on the fence about Harmony, however. First of all, I really wish the scribes would give her back her old name of Yolanda. Secondly, a little street slang really does go a very long way. You won't hear me complaining if I never hear her call Devon "boo" again. I get that she's hip and all that, but at the age she presumably is supposed to be, talking like an urban 20-something isn't working for her. Finally, scribes, does she have to talk so much louder than everyone else? Despite those minor complaints, I do see chemistry and heat between her and Neil. Too bad any relationship between them will likely come at Sofia's expense.

Speaking of Sofia, she is yet another resident who apparently doesn't take the past into consideration when sailing forth into the future. Did she not learn a single lesson about deception when she hid Cane's lies by lying to everyone else? Her marriage to Neil already seems to be platonic -- one in name only. I hardly think things will turn hot and steamy when Neil discovers she's been lying to him in preparation for infiltrating Newman to illegally obtain information. It was a dumb plan, anyway, because who actually believes Victor would allow a former top McCall employee anywhere near information that would be of any use?

Finally, Cane has deigned to forgive his mother. Fans have long criticized Cane's stubborn stance of unforgiveness given the uncountable times he's been forgiven for much worse. Upon Mommy's direction, he drove his own wife, the mother of his adored children, nearly out of her mind. Yet he looked down on Mommy for sneakily buying a company out from under Jack.

No forgiveness will be forthcoming now, or probably ever, when it comes to Lauren and Daisy. True to her past, Lauren has again banished her child from the family because of a perceived threat from a descendant of her long-dead nemesis, Sheila. I want desperately to feel Lauren's pain. She did indeed suffer greatly at Daisy's hands, and I can't honestly lay all Daisy's bad deeds at Aunt Sarah's door. But, sending Fen away seems a bit of an overreaction.

At the moment, Daisy has her hands full with caring for Lucy and trying to fend off the hostile takeover efforts of the formidable foursome of Phyllis, Daniel, Michael, and Avery. If she succeeds at that, which is highly unlikely, then Lauren could take whatever action she thought necessary to keep Fen safe. But being miffed with Michael because he doesn't agree with her doesn't seem to be the way to go. Unless it's to give Michael a reason to turn to some soft shoulder for solace.

Lastly, are the scribes heading anywhere in particular with this budding friendship between Avery and Michael? For years, there have been no extramarital threats to the perfect union of Lauren and Michael, but is that about to change? Or, is it just something to do with Avery while they figure out another way she can kowtow to her cynical sister? I admit I was happy to see the scribes throw me a bone by having Avery open up bit about her feelings about her father. He might have been a donkey's behind in business, but surely there was more to the man than betraying his clients and throwing his oldest daughter to the wolves.

Nice mini-moment between Jill and Kevin when she helped him convince Chloe to consider married life outside the mansion. I'm going to miss Jill when she's gone, but can't wait to see what the scribes might have in store for her (and Colin, presumably) upon her return.

With so many storyline oars in the water, spring has gotten off to a great start, and summer has the potential to be even better with an older, probably slightly bitter, Kyle on his way back. I don't imagine he will be one bit pleased if he returns to find Daddy playing footsies with the woman who murdered his Mom. Add a conniving, probably-crazy-as-his-Mom-and-aunt, Ricky to the mix, along with rapidly aged Summer and Fen, and there could be all manner of shenanigans afoot. Can't wait!

Well, it's time for me to return to my real life now. Until my return, as usual, I offer for your reading pleasure, a thought from one of your fellow soapies. Enjoy, and keep your opinions flying our way, fans!

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Would it be so difficult, just once, for the pregnant woman to deliver in a nice, safe hospital? And to top it off, there was snow on the ground! Really? It's April already and we just had the warmest March on record. Sometimes, the writers leave a lot to be desired. - Colleen