Rush-to-judgment day

Despite Adam's obvious remorse and Billy's forgiveness, Adam was in the crosshairs as he entered the crosswalk. Cane wrested the ''hothead'' crown from Devon with angry demands for trust when presented with damning evidence of guilt. Will Hilary's new doctor continue her treatment in a damp boathouse or upgrade her to a U-Store-It cubicle? Catch up with Boone as she tells all in this week's Two Scoops.

It was rush-to-judgment day in Genoa City as Delia's friends and family, with the exception of Jack, and, surprisingly, in a last-minute epiphany, Billy, charged out of the courtroom to buy tar and feathers as soon as the jury returned a verdict of guilty and the judge sentenced Adam to ten years for Delia's death. And talk about your swift justice! I have never seen a trial start, conclude, and reach the sentencing phase so quickly. Even Matlock takes longer than that in a trial, but then Matlock, or his pal, Perry Mason, would have fingered the real killer -- have I mentioned over and over again that I still reuse to believe that Adam drove over Delia?

Chelsea and Adam were devastated by the ten-year sentence, but in most of the country, that equates to about two years with time off for good behavior, so I don't think they have much to worry about. In Genoa City, ten soap opera years attached to a ball and chain while swinging a sledgehammer to break big rocks into little ones hardly ever happens. More likely, since just about every character over 30 has been on trial or convicted of something, Adam will get off on a technicality or he will get community service because of prison overcrowding or some such reason. He will definitely not be off to the slammer for very long, if at all. He might even perform some heroic action that will get his sentence commuted -- like Sonny did on General Hospital.

Vigilante justice was also swift as someone put Adam in the crosshairs, ran him down, and left him unconscious and bloody in the crosswalk. And just who took justice into his or her own hands? Had to be Chloe, don't you think? Billy is the only other one not accounted for who had motive, and he was with Victoria. Besides, wasn't that a female-booted foot we saw just before the car revved up? Adam may be down, but he is definitely not out. With Dr. Stitch on the case, Adam should be up and around in no time at all. According to my friend Bessie, Adam will be redeemed and back on top before Halloween is over!

I do think that things are thawing between Victor and Adam. Dare I hope that the story of forgiveness and redemption that I wanted to see last summer between Sharon and Nick will now play out between Victor and Adam? I hope so. I hope so. Watching the interplay between Justin Hartley and Eric Braeden last week was a joy. They are delightful together and so real, so heartfelt. I had forgotten how much Eric Braeden could communicate with a raised eyebrow or a subtle facial movement.

It was very easy to forget that these two men were acting, especially as Victor expressed his regret at acceding to Hope's wishes. When Adam said, "I'm sorry," to all the people that he had hurt, his sincerity was obvious, especially as he glanced at Victor. Adam was sorry, and he wanted Victor to know it. This Adam is just too good to be bad (unlike the previous Adams who were better at being bad). I really want to see Adam and Victor form a strong father-son bond. Those guys would be unstoppable in business. They could own the world in a Genoa City minute. Compared to Adam, Nick is a lightweight party boy. Let Nick play bartender in his empty saloon and leave the business of business to the grownups.

Speaking of grownups, I think Billy finally stepped up and accepted his share of the responsibility for Delia's accident. A couple of viewers wrote in that they would never have left a child alone in a car the way that Billy did. Both felt that Billy had to bear at least as much responsibility for the accident as Adam did because it's on every parent to keep his child safe. I can see it from both points of view, and as we fans watched the tragedy unfold, we knew that whatever happened was a senseless accident. We know that Adam stopped and looked to see if he had hit anything. He did not knowingly leave the scene of an accident. Adam's only crime was not reporting the accident once he understood that he was responsible for it.

Victoria gave Billy, and anyone else suffering from an overdose of guilt, very good advice when she told him to forgive himself. As Delia's tree shook and we saw a ghostly Delia, Billy hugged Victoria, and it seemed like Billy did forgive himself and find closure. It was wonderful to see cute little Delia again, and for a moment or two, I was ready to accept any outrageous story that would bring that cute little angel back to the canvas.

I decided, though, that maybe we are already overstocked on outrageous. Right now, "Sharon, Patty Cake, and Dr. Anderson in the loony bin" is running neck and neck with "Comatose Hilary in the boathouse" for most ridiculous. Coming in a close third is the "Framing of Cane" and the rush to judgment by his family and friends. While we're at it, let's give "Marisa's Baby" an honorable mention.

I'm beginning to think that Dr. Anderson has some, possibly familial, connection to Sage. I'm almost positive that Dr. Anderson will take Sage's baby and convince Sharon that the baby is hers, while Nick and Sage will be told that their baby died. Sage will not believe it, and Nick will not believe Sage at first. Patty will be the eventual whistleblower, and Dylan will once again be devastated to learn that he has bonded with another child that is not his. I hope that Nick, Sage, and Dylan don't blame Sharon because clearly Dr. Shrink is using meds to mess with Sharon's head. Not only does Sharon think that she is very pregnant, but she is hallucinating and does not even seem close to being in her right mind. So about this story, I say, "Baby swapping -- ho hum -- been there done that, over and over again -- blah, blah, blah." Please, writers, give us something that is fresh and original, not tediously redundant, as you play this story out.

What can I say about comatose Hilary in the damp, dank boathouse? Only this: who needs a hospital if you've got a boathouse. Obviously families of comatose patients should not spend thousands of dollars on specialists and hospitals when they can take their relatives home, park them outdoors, hook them up to an I.V., and let nature take its course. If Hilary is any example, patients who fall off mountains can live almost indefinitely under the most unsanitary conditions, as long as they are cared for by people with little or no medical knowledge. Now that Hilary is being treated by an actual doctor, she might wake up in time for her first anniversary, though she will probably have amnesia and think that she is still happily married to Neil and celebrate her second, (or would it be third?) anniversary with him.

I was looking forward to Michael E. Knight's debut, but I was disappointed. I'm not sure what I expected, but whatever it was, I didn't get it. There was no oomph, no pizazz, and no jazz. I could tell that Knight was "acting." I'm assuming that he's a little rusty, especially after reading his interview in TV Guide, and that he will ease into his role as he gets more comfortable with his character. I sure hope so because this story could use some intentionally funny scenes. It's already unintentionally funny.

Moving right along to fantastical story number three, "Framing Cane." What can I say about this silly story that you out there in fan addict land haven't already thought about. I noticed that Cane has apparently wrested the "Hotheaded" crown from Devon, who is too busy rushing to judgment to use any common sense. Cane keeps making himself look guiltier by his actions and behavior, but he's also not getting much trust or support from his nearest and dearest, who want more than Cane's word that he's innocent. When Cane was arrested, I wrote to Bessie that I thought that Joe was framing Cane to get Lily. Now that Joe is skulking around and eavesdropping, I am more convinced than ever that creepy Joe is the culprit responsible for setting Cane up.

What I don't understand is how Devon can think that Cane would be capable of kidnapping Hilary and extorting money. Cane has been loyal to Devon and has kept Devon's secrets at the risk of Cane's own marriage. I think Devon's first impulse should have been to believe Cane, not to blame him. Cane couldn't have taken Hilary off the island because Cane was not there at the time. Devon might as well suspect Neil as to blame Cane. Oops, Neil is to blame!

Picky, Picky, Picky: Oh, and by the way, did Paul go through a wormhole to get from serving a warrant at Cane's house to the courthouse in time to hear the verdict in Adam's case? I ask because it appeared to me that Paul served the warrant as the foreperson handed the jury's decision to the bailiff, yet Paul was back in the courtroom before the verdict was read.

In other head-scratching plot twists: so now, Marisa has a child with Luca, and that child was given away by Marco when Marisa was with him many years ago. I think Marisa was as surprised as I was to find out that she had a child out there. Also, Marco did not pluck Marisa from poverty as we first thought, but she had been married into a wealthy family, which she'd left before eventually ending up with Marco (The Y&R scribes are busily rewriting history even before the ink dries on the script!).

Riddle me this. If Marisa was pregnant by Luca when she met Marco, can you believe that selfish Marco would have had anything to do with her? If the child was Marco's baby, I think that would go double ditto for Luca. I guess Marco could have spotted Marisa when she was barely pregnant and then taken a shine to her before she got bulky. For me, that's as big a stretch as accepting that Marisa is young enough to be with Noah and yet was older than jailbait when she was married to Luca and when she was living with Marco.

This is one time that Noah might ought to listen to Grandpa Victor. Marisa is street smart and incredibly wise in the ways of the world. She is much older than Noah in experience, and what they have in common -- sex -- won't last. It rarely does, particularly in cases like this (Demi and Ashton come to mind), where the lovers have so little in common and the disparity between them is so great. I'm sure that Noah and Kevin will find Marisa's baby and that Marisa and Noah may even have a brief period of happiness. Ultimately, though, Noah is like Little Joe Cartwright, who fell in love easily, was always true blue, but had the alarming propensity to fall in love with women who were felled tragically just before or just after the wedding. Little Joe was not user friendly, and neither is Noah, though he tries.

That's all I've got for this week. Until next time, dear friends, take Victoria's advice and make forgiveness a priority, because, like she said, if we don't forgive ourselves, we won't be able to forgive anyone else. I'll see you in two weeks at Crimson Lights for coffee and Esther's cookies, when our topic will be "Imaginary friends: when too many is not enough." Our special guests will be Ted the bear, Harvey the invisible six-foot rabbit, and Harvey's best pal, Elwood P. Dowd.

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