Cracking up in Genoa City

Is Daniel having a nervous breakdown? What about the other characters who are cracking up in Genoa City? Is Ricky turning into a serial killer...and will we care if he kills Phyllis? And what about Jack's proposal to Nikki, and Victor and Sharon falling into each other's arms?

Ever since Daniel returned to Genoa City a couple of weeks ago, he's been spinning out of control. It's like he's a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and I don't think he's the only character in town who's cracking up. In fact, there are a bunch of folks who are in need of the "Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous" (you have to rent the Mel Brooks comedy High Anxiety to get that joke!).

But let's start with Daniel Romalotti. Exactly what happened to him when he left town? Was he given a personality transplant? While I admire how focused and determined he is to be a father to Lucy, he can't be so nave as to think he can live with Daisy and somehow keep Lucy from being contaminated by the toxic relationship between mommy and daddy. Perhaps Daniel realized that, because by the end of the week, he went to see his father. Maybe the reality of Daisy showing up at the garret with Lucy in her arms, moving in without so much as a call saying, "We're on our way," sent a shock through Daniel and made him reconsider his choices.

Daniel grabbed Lucy and headed out of town to find his father and ask one pertinent question, "Was it worth it to be married to Phyllis just to be close to me?" It's an apt question at this moment in time because this is most definitely history repeating itself. Phyllis trapped rock star Danny as surely as Daisy has trapped artist Daniel. The only difference is that Daisy is a deranged psychopath. Phyllis is just a neurotic, dangerous bitch on wheels...with a soft side.

It was so telling to me that even as Phyllis is enjoying this bliss with Nick -- having a baby, getting cravings and hormonal mood shifts, talking about wedding plans -- she still managed to be as nasty as a snake when she saw Christine. It was so immature. At this point in her life, why would Phyllis take a shot at Chris? What does Chris/Cricket/Christine have that Phyllis could possibly want? Instead of being a bigger person and offering her hand to Chris in friendship -- you know, let's let bygones be bygones -- she was snarky and mean. It just reminded me that Phyllis is a character that can never be trusted.

Speaking of blissful love bubbles, what is going on with Jack Abbott? Maybe he's having a midlife crisis or has been taking too much ED medication. He's love-crazed. Do you realize that in less than a year, he's proposed two times to two different women? If Patty hadn't screwed up the first wedding -- and Genevieve backed out -- he'd have married her. And he was completely head over heels in love with Genevieve, too...until she outbid him for Beauty of Nature. Now, with Nikki, he's all gooey again and ready to start over. Maybe it's the real thing for Jack and I'm being too suspicious, but why is he so gosh-darn anxious to have a wife again?

Do you think there's any doubt that Kay wants Nikki to wind up with Victor? Kay was like the anti-matchmaker after seeing Jack and Nikki at the coffeehouse. She couldn't get to Victor fast enough to urge him to stop Nikki and Jack's romance. Considering that Kay has been ringside for every iteration of Victor and Nikki's relationship and has seen it blow up more times than a nuclear test site, why is she advocating Victor and Nikki once again? Sure, she may think they belong together, but she has to acknowledge that there are big problems in Nikki and Victor living together in peace.

Peace is something that Miss Harmony is not apt to find anytime soon. Yes, it takes two to tango and Tucker shares the blame for their indiscretion, but Harmony has less of an excuse for her actions that night. Tucker was drunk and out of his head. Harmony wasn't. Furthermore, for someone who's working the program, she violated one of the main tenets. I looked it up; one of the twelve steps is to learn to live a new life with a new code of behavior. Did Harmony do that when she fell into bed with "Mick"? Um, no.

That's why the guilty feelings she has now are well deserved. And Kay was right to throw her out of the mansion. By the way, what happened to Kay and Nikki seeking out Harmony to take her to a meeting? Remember when they agreed to do that...then they did nothing. Nice, ladies, that was really classy. If Harmony hadn't been able to say no to that pusher who offered her a "freebie," she might have wound up strung out and sleeping in a dumpster behind Jimmy's Bar.

Tucker is certainly no innocent. But to me he's always been a flawed character. He's had issues from day one, all stemming from his lack of a relationship with his mother. But I'm also fed up with Ashley, the hopeless romantic. At this point in her life, after all the crap she's dealt with, it's inane for her to expect a traditional "happily ever after." Imagine if she were to consider a different kind of marriage? Maybe she needs to forgive Tucker, flaws and all, and try to find happiness with the reality of a marriage instead of wishing for the fantasy.

It was great to see Devon blast both his parents. He was totally justified feeling let down by their selfish behavior. Of course, Devon should be used to the adults in his life disappointing him. Harmony did in the past, and even Neil proved he wasn't a paragon of virtue by having sex with his brother's fiance and getting her pregnant. Devon might have a hard time looking up to any of these role models!

It's nice that Chelsea is trying to turn over a new leaf and make her own way in the world, but -- I have to say it -- she's an idiot. Seriously. What kind of a person, who's never had stability or security in her entire life, turns down ten million dollars? And even if you think that Victor's money would have had strings attached, she also rejected the generous offer from Billy and Victoria to pay her way through school or give her the money to start a business. In this day and age, who says no to an offer like that?

It's all well and good for Adam to tell her about how wonderful it is to not be indebted to anyone and to go your own way, but Adam has never had to struggle. His mother provided for him on the farm, then he was a Harvard brat. He always had Newman money, and aside from the time he was in prison, Adam's had an easy life. Somebody's always taken care of him. Who's he to tell Chelsea to turn down the opportunities offered to her?

Of course, he's talking out of both sides of his mouth because as soon as he convinced her to go out on her own, Adam invited her to live with him. Yes, that's being an independent woman; take help from a guy that you're having occasional sex with and convince yourself that you're not beholden to him.

At least Chelsea is having sex at all (although as one reader pointed out, it hasn't been six weeks since she gave birth and that's not allowed according to the doctors!) I think Sofia is desperately horny. Living with Neil, sleeping in the same bed, but getting nothing resembling romance from him has to sting. In past weeks, I wrote that Sofia should leave Neil, and I stand by that. In fact, considering how he's panting after Harmony, Neil doesn't deserve Sofia. He's done nothing to make their marriage work. I have lost so much respect for this man. If he didn't want to be a real husband to Sofia, he should have never proposed.

I never believed for a moment that Paul really thought investigating the death of Ricky's college girlfriend was going to lead to a bonding experience with his son. Paul is an experienced private detective. Most of his searches uncover bad stuff, not good. Sure enough, Ricky was showing homicidal tendencies while in school. He probably had a hand in Rachel's "suicide." It was fortunate for Paul that Christine happened to be in Genoa City to listen to his confession that something might be wrong with his kid. The more Paul digs into Ricky's life, the worse it's going to be.

We know that Ricky is out to get Phyllis, but if I were Eden, I'd be moving out of that apartment. Maybe she should bunk with Michael and Lauren again since they're finally going to be able to go home again. Of course, Fen will be coming back from Canada soon, apparently as a teenager. Is that supposed to make us want to watch more?

Another victim of rapid aging is Kyle, but at least this week we discovered that Kyle isn't such a jerk after all. He actually showed some compassion for his father after watching how Jack is struggling to walk again. Kyle allowed Jack to go after Nikki, which is a big concession for Kyle, considering Nikki killed his mother (albeit in self-defense).

However, I'm a little worried about Abby; she seems at loose ends. Maybe she needs a storyline? Attention, Maria Arena Bell, there's a character on the canvas in need of something to do. Could you give Abby a plot?

Finally there's Sharon and Victor. Has anybody noticed that they are both on the rebound? Victor finally heeded Kay's advice and went to see Nikki. What he saw was like a knife in the heart...Jack proposing to Nikki and her kissing him in return. Is it any wonder that he went home to the ranch, feeling a void in his life?

And Sharon was there to fill the void. Sharon had her own disappointment. She's been working daily with Nick, who's gaga over Phyllis (again), so he's out of Sharon's life. And then when she ran into Adam, he was happy to be getting Chelsea as a roomie. That had to be painful for Sharon, but Adam's cool summation that their romance was over had to hurt.

Adam wasn't even sad about the fact that there was no future for the two of them. He just announced that they were done and told Sharon he'd moved on without her. Ouch! Even though she was the one who ended it with Adam after they returned from the farm, Sharon knows that what she had with him was intense and real.

So that's it for this week... What do you think is going to happen? Will Ricky become a serial killer? Is Chelsea really pulling a con job on Adam, or is she better than that? Is Ashley leaving Genoa City since Eileen Davidson has been released from her contract? It looks like Daisy is on the way out...but how? And are Victor and Sharon going to do the deed? So many questions and so many possibilities -- so drop me a line and your thoughts may appear in a future column!

• Sharon and Victor are absolutely sickening. Nikki going around with all looses ends does not work either. It was great when the two female characters were working on community service or in the business. It gave some "meat" to their character. Now you have them as two bobbling airheads bouncing from one man to another. How about putting some true life facts to the characters. And then there is Phyllis. She has lied, used and abused everyone on the show. She needs double payback. Let Victoria and Billy be the anchor family to the show. They can add quick humor to the show that is much needed. » Dee

Best,Allison