A pair of Jacks to open

Will Jack's gamble, that Phyllis can handle the truth about his doppelgnger, pay off? Did Victor gamble unwisely by blackmailing Jack? Will Adam's gamble on Chelsea pay off big for him? Will Hilary be devastated by Devon's supposed betrayal or beat the odds and know instantly that Colin and Neil were in cahoots. You can bet that these burning questions will be answered in this week's Two Scoops.

For the second time in as many weeks, a great big secret is about to be revealed. Will Jack fare better when he tells Phyllis about his impostor than Adam did when he shared his identity with Chelsea? I think Phyllis will be devastated but sympathetic, and then she'll get angry -- at Victor. She will certainly want a piece of him, and I hope she gets it! No matter how much Victor protests that Jack started it by coming after him, that is no justification for how far Victor was willing to take the fight without giving consideration to the people who would be hurt, including Victor's own wife and children.

I can't imagine that Phyllis will feel any way but used when she learns the truth. If I were she, I'd get in a shower and scrub for about a week. The guilt at not being able to tell that she was being duped by a double will likely overwhelm Phyllis. The fact that she enjoyed her sexual intimacies with the impostor will haunt her. The only thing that could make it worse is if Phyllis realizes that she prefers Marco in the sack to Jack.

Phyllis is not the sort to take this uncomfortable situation lying down (LOL), so I expect that her resilience in the face of unexpected revelations will serve her. And Jack, ever the gentleman, unlike some, will forgive Phyllis instead of blaming her for not knowing that he had been replaced by a double and, therefore, not searching for the real Jack.

Adam's plan for an idyllic existence with Chelsea and Connor came to a screeching halt when Chelsea blasted him after finding out that he was Adam instead of Gabe. So far, Adam's gamble has not paid off. The truth did not win true love, although Chelsea continues to protect Adam and thwart him, even accidentally, from confessing everything to everyone. I believe that Adam is genuine in his desire to repent and bring his family together. I think Adam would rather take his punishment and live as Adam than to continue safely in hiding as Gabe.

Adam is proud of who he is and his Newman heritage; he just doesn't want to admit it to Victor. I like how Adam is bonding with Abby. I hope that they develop the same sibling bond that Nick and Victoria have. That's a wonderful thing. I love the relationship that I have with my brother, and there is no one that I trust more. I wish the same thing for Adam and Abby.

Abby is going to need a shoulder to cry on when Dr. Stitch dumps her for her mother, an event I expect soon! Poor Abby, she just can't seem to hold on to a man. Soon she's going to need someone to talk to about that dog, Stitch? It won't be her mother, Summer, or Victoria, that's for sure. She's been through a lot of men in the past two years. I think Abby needs a less polished guy like Detective Harding. I've seen him in several roles recently, including a couple of commercials, and I'd like to see him get more of a story. Maybe Abby could soften him around the edges or -- tongue planted firmly in cheek -- they could find out that he's another long-lost son of Paul's, and then Det. Harding could form a brother bond with Dylan.

Just a quick aside before I get back on topic. Are Bessie and I the only ones who think that Dylan has been dropping hints that he is about to give up working at the coffeehouse to go into law enforcement? I think that Dylan will soon be toiling alongside Paul, not solving the major crimes in Genoa City. Y&R has desperately been trying to move Dylan to the front burner, which is why, I think, he turned his affections from Avery to Sharon so quickly. That happened so fast that my head is still spinning. One week Dylan was declaring his undying love for Avery and the next he was saying the same thing to Sharon. I know, fellow frustrated fan addicts, "It's only a soap!"

Flashbacks, the soap equivalent of reruns, have started. Both Devon and Hilary had flashbacks to the same conversation they had earlier in the week. I got a huge chuckle from one of those conversations. When Hilary asked if they were going to end up like Cane and Lily, Devon replied with a straight face, "We're going to last." Good luck with that. Now that Devon has decided to take the gamble and lie about his bachelor party, he's put himself at the mercy of Colin. I don't know about you, but if I had had the same dealings with Colin that Devon had previously, the first thing I would suspect is that Colin had drugged me, not that I had cheated with a hooker.

If I couldn't tell whether or not I had had sex the previous evening -- and I think I could -- I would have looked for evidence in the room -- condoms, rumpled sheets, or the smell of sex that exists in a hotel room after a torrid night. (Yes, I've had one or two!) You don't get falling-down drunk and black out on as little alcohol as Devon had. Anyone who has watched a cop show on TV or read the news about coed assaults knows that! Apparently Devon lives in a vacuum. It's a good thing he has all that money, because he sure doesn't have any common sense where Colin is concerned, or he'd realize that Neil and Colin are in cahoots.

I do like Devon and Hilary together. In real life, as you probably know, the actress who plays Hilary is pregnant. I am astounded at how well they are hiding Hilary. The big purses, coats, and close shots hide the pregnancy pretty well, but I'm afraid she's going to pop before she and Devon have their big day -- or at least try to get to the altar. I suspect that Neil will succeed in disrupting the wedding, and Hilary will flee, giving Mishael Morgan, who is glowing, a chance to exit the canvas for her maternity leave.

Neil is gambling that his revenge plot will somehow make him feel better about being betrayed by his son and his wife. It won't. Neil doesn't personally have to extract his revenge. Karma will do that for him. Neil needs to get back to A.A. and work the program. Besides, he's got Nikki to romance, and we all know that's coming. As I recall, it's not the first time he'll romance a Newman; Neil and Victoria were once engaged.

Don't you just love SOSAD, Soap Opera Strange Aging Disease? Here we have two mother-daughter combinations, each romanced by a man who is old enough to be a contemporary of the mother, but young enough to share interests with the daughter. How many real life threesomes do you know like that? Off the top of my head, I can't even think of one. What about the rest of you?

I don't like Neil's behavior, but at least he's in a story where he's not playing the doormat or the clown. I still don't understand why he backed Victor and got Nikki to sign that document attesting that it was Jack's signature or why he suddenly developed a conscience and turned on Victor. These are the kinds of annoying, nagging questions that Y&R scribes often let go unanswered. I've done my head-scratching best to figure it out, and I'm still puzzled.

Another puzzler is how Lily and Hilary became BFFs. I understand Lily's humbleness in the wake of her own spectacular fall, but going from shrewish animosity to contrite support is a big turnaround. Mind you, I'm not complaining. I think Hilary and Lily make very good friends, and I hope it stays that way. I also hope that Lily has learned a valuable lesson about getting on her moral high horse. As often happens to those who live in glass houses and throw stones, Lily's world came crashing down when one impulsive decision in the throes of an alcohol-fueled fury led to an action that could not be recalled.

Sleeping with Joe, though, seems very self-destructive. Lily had his number way back when, when Joe first arrived in town and put the moves on her. Lily was very quick to put him in his place. Sleeping with him seems very needy and not Lily-like at all. Even though Lily thought that Cane had slept with Lauren, that was no excuse for Lily to sleep with Joe, no matter how much alcohol was consumed or how hurt she was. Lily had children and a family to consider. If both she and Cane spent more time with their children and less time drinking in a bar, infidelity might never have become an issue for either of them. The lesson here is that too much alcohol is not generally a good thing!

The Scooby gang is still in about the same place that they were when their adventure began in February. The gang members are still spinning wheels and jumping to incorrect conclusions. I wonder how much longer before Marissa finally blurts out that Marco is a dead ringer for Jack, especially now that it is apparent that Marco is still alive. Everyone who helped her is in danger as long as she keeps that secret.

If Marco is the same age as Jack, then he's got to be at least 40 years older than Marisa, or else she's 20 years older than Noah, or this is just another shining example of SOSAD! In a way, I admire how all these characters can be moved around the canvas and used with no regard to age. It keeps the stories moving -- well, as much as they do on Y&R -- and the characters fresh.

As I said earlier, summer reruns have started, and we won't have another sweeps month until November. In the meantime, I think we can expect some kind of wrap-up on the "pair of Jacks" story, very soon -- I still expect Marco to go out in a blaze of glory and all the evidence against Victor to be "hearsay." I don't doubt that the animosity between Jack and Victor and the bitter struggle for Newman-Abbott will continue to play out with all the Newmans and Abbotts working side-by-side. Victoria and Billy should get back together any minute now, giving Victor reason to focus on "Billy Boy."

Bessie expects Victor to tumble to the fact that Gabe is Adam, and I believe that it is a real possibility -- Bessie's pretty sharp. I don't think Billy will find out until closer to sweeps so that Billy and Adam can express their emotional range and cause us to bring out the hankies when that reveal is made -- and put the ratings through the roof. Hopefully, by then, the writers will have figured out a way to get Adam out from under Delia's hit-and-run death.

Maybe they'll even tell us who killed Kelly, or how Jack was snatched so easily, or why Victor got so suddenly vindictive and treacherous, or _______ (You fill in the blank!). Whatever happens, Bessie and I are both tuning in, because we admitted to ourselves that, no matter how outrageous, Y&R has "got it going on." We are glued to the tube and tuning in for more.

If you are tuning in, too, then you are a fellow fan addict and a prime candidate for Soapaholics Anonymous, where we don't try to cure your addiction, we encourage it! Our next meeting will be in two weeks at Crimson Lights. Bear in mind that we don't discuss our problems, but those of our imaginary friends. One would think that being imaginary would be less problematic than being real, but, sadly for the residents of Genoa City, that is not the case, which is why we meet to help them out by discussing their problems behind their backs!

That's a wrap! Until next time, you maniacs, enjoy the summer and your family and your friends -- even more than you enjoy your imaginary ones!

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