In the grand scheme of things

Billy hovered between life and death after Noah backed over him in the parking garage. Will Billy's new calling as a parking block deprive the Abbotts and Victoria of Billy's big heart? And will the deceitful Marisa's worldly influence convert Noah into a younger version of his diabolical grandad? To thwart those temptations, divert your attention to Two Scoops, while we keep our New Year's resolutions.

Ringing in a new year always seems to bring out the best intentions of many, as each one resolves to become a better person, in one way or another, throughout the coming year. Sadly, the majority of those resolutions normally get dropped pretty quickly, once real life enters the picture. Sure, it's easy to say you truly desire to lose all those extra pounds hanging around in areas where they're not needed. "Love handles" may be a cute expression, but it's not so adorable on your waist and hips. So, while there may be no doubt about a person's sincerity to improve in the weeks ahead, reality tends to interfere and become an obstacle that just can't be hurdled.

If it's that difficult for us normal folks in our everyday, humdrum lives, just think how close to impossible it would be for our soap characters to be able to fulfill their New Year's resolutions. With all the drama and angst they go through from minute to minute, they would never find the time to improve physically, mentally, or spiritually -- luckily for us because that would make for some boring storylines. The Abbotts would never even have a chance at taking baby steps toward refinement with Victor always lurking around.

Just ask Billy. I tend to agree with Phyllis that Billy was honestly trying to turn his life around for Victoria and for his kids, and I give him a whole lot of credit for that. Unfortunately, gambling was probably not the best way to accomplish his goal, as he found out after he got beaten up for his efforts and then run over by a car -- in yet another hit-and run. Okay, everyone in Port Charles, Los Angeles, and Salem, heed my warning: do not move to Genoa City! The chances of being a victim of a hit-and-run in GC are pretty darned good. In fact, your biggest aspiration would be to not be plowed over more than once. Christine should know all about that.

Once he learned the parking block he had backed into was actually Billy Boy Abbott, Noah wanted to come clean with what he did. That's rather a funny phrase coming from the grandson of Victor Newman, isn't it? "Come clean." Not exactly something Victor is all that familiar with. So, if Noah wanted to be honest about being the driver of the car, why didn't he just go to Paul? It wouldn't have been too hard to find the chief of police, since Paul pretty much lives at the Genoa City Police Station. Seriously, what would have happened to Noah? It's highly unlikely he would have been treated with the same anger and repulsiveness that Adam received.

Poor Noah. I can just hear it now. Noah hadn't meant to cover Billy's body with all those tire tracks. He didn't even know Billy was there. It was just a horrible, tragic accident, and Noah honestly meant no harm. So, how is this different from Adam and Delia? Adam never knew Delia was there when he ran over her, but that never seemed to matter. Adam's crime was he covered up the tragedy once he learned he was the driver of the car that had run her over. Actually, neither accident was a hit-and-run. Noah never knew Billy was there, just as Adam did not know he had run over Delia. If Noah had unknowingly run over Billy and then knowingly left him to die, it would be a hit-and-run. But that was not the case.

However, Billy (and others) still blamed Adam for the "hit-and-run" that took Billy's daughter away from her loved ones, even though Billy professed his forgiveness at the trial. Will Billy be more understanding with someone he doesn't already have animosity toward? It is curious that both Billy's and Delia's sad destiny led each of them to what was referred to as a hit-and-run, isn't it? Hopefully, in Billy's case, it won't be fatal.

Never fear, because both Victor and Marisa will ensure the truth about Noah's part in Billy's accident will never come out. Wouldn't this kind of cover-up in an investigation constitute accessory after the fact, which is a crime? It's funny that the actual act may not be a crime, but hiding it would be. Leave it to Marisa. She never met a lie she couldn't tell. She's one person who would never be in danger of being able to keep a New Year's resolution. There would be no point in Marisa even putting on the charade of promising to improve. And Marisa's plea for Noah not to tell the truth was for her sake, not his, so she wouldn't be without him. What happened to her deep connection with Luca? Oh, I get it. She wants to have her cake and eat it too.

The more I learn about Marisa, the more I dislike her. And I rather liked her when she first met up with Jack and tried to help him. But she is a liar, through and through. Shoot, Adam could probably take lessons from her. He would be impressed with all the lies she has kept from the ones she supposedly loves. What right did she have to keep her daughter from the child's father for all those years? Marisa always acts like she is the only one who lost all those years of her child growing up, but that was her own doing. She chose Marco over her own daughter! As weird as it sounds, Luca was the innocent victim of Marisa's deceit. He paid the price for what his family supposedly did to her. As Luca learned, when Marisa tells a lie, it can be a whopper.

For once, I totally agree with Victor. It's a miracle! But Noah needs to get away from Marisa as soon as possible. He is way too good for her. The issue is no longer that he's just a pup compared to her street-savvy ways. (Sorry, Adam, Noah's the lovesick puppy, not Luca.) Noah's a good guy, and Marisa wouldn't know the truth if it smacked her in the face. Sure, she told Noah the truth about witnessing him as the driver of the car that backed into Billy, but she had an ulterior motive. Oh, look at how loyal I am to you, Noah, by staying at your side. Oh, please! Puke! It would be more like Marisa was pulling Noah over to the dark side. Believe me, if Victor continues to try to keep them apart, I will be cheering from the sidelines. V-I-C-T-O-R. Oh, okay, and Y.

So, while Victor and Marisa covered up for Noah, Paul learned that Billy's bookie, Gil, had not used Billy as a speed bump in the parking garage. I loved that phrase. Billy has a funny bookie, although I doubt if he was laughing a lot while the guy was "roughing" Billy up. But, hey, Gil has scruples. He can pound the daylights out of someone, but he refused to cross the line by running over the guy. After all, he wouldn't want to hurt his car. I laughed when Paul vowed to "nail the scum who did it." If Paul only knew the filth he referred to was the normally nave nice-guy Noah Newman.

I have been wondering whose side Adam is really on and which person he will end up double-crossing -- Victor or Luca. And I came up with the answer: both, of course. Silly me. Adam is always on Adam's side. When Adam stated, after his plan was complete, that Newman Enterprises would be "in the hands of the man who deserves to run it" and flashed Victor his wily grin, I knew Adam was referring to himself. And Victor was probably well aware of it also. I would hope Adam knew his dad well enough to realize Victor will only trust Adam as far as he can throw him. And at Victor's age, I doubt if that would be very far.

But like father, like son, and they both enjoy a good challenge, especially when they are faced with such crafty opponents. Victor and Adam are a lot alike, and that would make the game even more fun for them to play. Victor must have grown weary of battling Jack, someone he could so easily trounce. Adam will give his father a run for his money in every sense of the word, and Victor will truly enjoy the skirmish.

Adam showed his hand to Chelsea about his intentions for Luca and Marisa, when he insisted Chelsea have nothing to do with either of them. How on earth did Luca think he could ever trust Adam? Sure, they both have a common cause, but each one has his own agenda too. As much as he has tried to protect himself, Luca would never be able to see what Adam has in the works for him. It sounds like Luca is the white sheep of a very black flock, anyway, since he claimed he had only ever worked on the legal side of the Santori business. But is he also as gullible as Noah? Of course, Adam could make almost anyone appear credulous.

Apparently, Marisa can also give as good as she gets. No wonder why she likes Noah. He and Luca have more in common than they could ever think. If Noah actually did the right thing and admitted his part in the accident, Luca would have nothing to hold over Marisa's head. I laughed when Marisa threatened to leave Luca if he disclosed what he knew. That was a threat? Both he and Noah would be better off without her. I just hope the reveal of Marco's location does not mean a return of Marco in the flesh. That is one story we really do not need to revisit. I don't mind Ian's returns but Marco was a little too much. We are already having enough fun with Marisa and Luca, we really don't need Marco too. This story is already convoluted enough with too many villains and not enough heroes.

Boy, Victor can't take his talons off any business venture, once it is set in his sights. He truly is like a vulture, waiting to pounce and prey off of any carcass, once his nostrils pick up the scent. Only sometimes the cadaver isn't quite yet dead. Look what it has cost Chelsea to get creative freedom over Chelsea 2.0. She will always have Victor looking over her shoulder, making sure her fashion company is financially viable to bring in those profits. She really has no control over her company at all. It's just a faade Victor has created for her.

And once he learned of Billy's opportunity for an investment, Victor wanted to swoop in, as Victoria put in, to wrestle yet another opportunity away from the Abbotts. He was aware when he demanded the payoff that he crippled Jabot, and he looked to be doing everything in his power to ensure the Abbott business would never recover. If there's any chance for Neville's projects to ever make a buck, Ashley had sure better keep it under her hat.

Of course, Jack wished he had loaned Billy the money for the business investment. If Jack had, there would have been no bookie beating Billy up in the parking garage and, therefore, no unconscious Billy lying on the ground for Noah to run over. Hey, Phyllis was right. It was all Jack's fault. In the grand scheme of things, Jack regretted not giving Billy another chance to prove himself. Jack is always the first one to admit he had help from Phyllis when he needed her. Couldn't he have considered paying it forward, especially for his own brother, at that time?

Jack relented and decided to invest in Kevin's secret, revolutionary, high-tech project with Natalie. I have a feeling Mariah will become even more jealous of "hacker chick" once she actually meets her. It's sweet that Jack wanted to invest in Billy's name, but it's probably too little, too late. He needed to jump before word leaked out and before Victor got wind of it. Despite what everyone else believes, Billy has not been the sole source of Jabot's financial problems. Jack sometimes refuses to take advantage of a golden opportunity, which has hurt his family's business time and time again.

What I really don't understand is that even after he became well aware that Victor knew of Kevin's hush-hush project, Jack did not make a wild dash to the bank to withdraw the funds so he could hand them over to Kevin on a silver platter. Why the wait? Jack had already decided to invest on Billy's behalf, and he should know Victor well enough by now. Victor is all business all the time, and Jack should have realized Victor would go calling to snatch the deal out of the Abbotts' clutches. It would be a double win for Victor. He could make even more millions while sticking it to the Abbotts at the same time. Ahh, what a sweet life it would be for the mustached one.

Mariah suggested Kevin not wait for Billy to come out of the surgery because something might happen. Like Billy might die. How nice. Well, Mariah wasn't in a good mood, anyway, because it was her birthday, so we will forgive her for that. Sure enough, Victor hightailed it straight to Kevin, leaving Jack in his dust. If the Abbotts lose this opportunity, it's all on Jack. Like my husband always says, "If you snooze, you lose," and Jack was almost in a coma. (Sorry, Phyllis.)

Kevin refused to let Victor's death stare influence him, even after Victor pointed out that Kevin needed to make the choice between intelligence and sentimentality. But Max reminded Kevin later the number one rule in gaming is to never leave a man behind. Seriously, does Victor always have to win? It gets a little tiring after a while. Victor always breaks all the rules of ethics, and he always comes out smelling like a rose. He's notorious for preying on other people's vulnerabilities, as Jack pointed out, and he knows no shame. Billy was Kevin's partner and Kevin should remain loyal to that.

It seemed like nobody besides Jill even cared about Billy the person while he lay broken and bleeding in the hospital when he first arrived. Jack and Victoria only cared to tell anyone and everyone that they were not to blame for Billy's state. Victor probably really was at the hospital to smirk and dance on Billy's grave, as Jill insinuated. Nikki was there to pretend to keep Victor somewhat in line. Phyllis and Ashley were the only ones who seemed to genuinely care. Simon Neville, of course, just saw Billy as another lab rat or pet project.

But when Jack and Victoria heard Billy only had a 50/50 chance of surviving surgery, they apologized to an unconscious Billy and pleaded for him to return to them. Really? It took surgery to make them realize they loved him? How sad. It was a good thing Jill was the one who needed to make the decision about the choices for Billy's medical condition. Jill was guided by a mother's unconditional love, and the last thing Billy needed was for someone who was bent on judging him to make the essential choice that could mean the difference between life and death. Oh, by the way, it's great having Jill back for a while, even in these sad circumstances.

And at least, Billy still had Dr. Simon Neville, even if he didn't know it. Since Jason Thompson is coming to Y&R to play him, we know Billy won't die. Will this be Simon's chance to prove again what a genius doctor he is? Apparently, Dr. Shelby didn't have a clue. Billy's only chance may be as Simon's guinea pig, except Dr. Delafield refused to let that happen.

I am a bit confused. I mean, Jill was the one who had the next of kin rights to determine the next medical step for Billy. So, why, all of a sudden, was Ben allowed to decide for the family if Billy should have surgery or if he should try Dr. Neville's compound drug therapy? Shouldn't Jill have been the one to decide Billy's fate? It almost made Jill's tirade moot. Oh, well, at least Simon still has Ashley to save.

However, Billy went into cardiac arrest during surgery, which left him with little brain activity. I guess Simon had the last laugh, after all, but I doubt he felt like chuckling. I got the feeling we have seen the last of Burgess Jenkins in the role of Billy Abbott, once we began seeing only an arm in his hospital bed. Jess Walton really brought her A game, as Jill anguished over Billy while her son hovered on the brink of death. Jill was so right when she said Billy could really shake up a room -- just like his mother, which Jill did in these scenes.

Since Nick was at the hospital, supporting his sister, Sage decided to take Faith to Sharon's surprise birthday party for Mariah. And it was a surprise for Sage, too, since unexpected guest Dr. Anderson was there to torment her. Wow, Sandy must be slipping. For someone who either wants revenge on Nick or wants Nick for herself, Sandy seems to have lost track on Nick and Sage's relationship. After all the trouble she went through to take their baby away to give to Sharon and Dylan, she should have been more alert. It must have taken a lot of planning and conniving to break Nick and Sage up in the first place.

Tut, tut, Sandy. I thought better of you. Now she'll have to convince Nick again that Sage was unstable, because she had acted in an agitated and defensive way. Only Sage was onto her and knew something else was up.

Never make a call on a cell phone while driving, which was the lesson learned by Max's mom, Jenna. Sadly, the lesson was learned too late, since she died. Apparently, when Abby called Jenna to invite Max to Ben's wedding, Jenna was involved in a fatal car accident that left the poor boy without a mother. Now Abby will have to live with that for the rest of her life. But our dear Abby always bounces back quickly, and she realized she was going to have an extended family with Ben and Max. Paul and Dylan cautioned her to take it slowly and to have patience, but those don't seem to be Abby's strengths. Since Max hates Abby for killing his mother, I don't think this is going to go well, even if Dylan tried to "slap a happy ending" on it.

Mariah and Kevin entered the New Year the proper way -- with their humor and camaraderie. Mariah was her usual candid self when she referred to Victor as Noah's "bloodsucking grandfather" and Kevin noted that Billy's bookie had probably not been interested in a layaway plan. Could there be more than a New Year's Eve kiss for them down the road?

I loved Adam's quip to Luca that Victor's "skeletons have skeletons." And Adam should know.

Since everyone agreed that Billy had a big heart they couldn't live without, thank goodness the surgery was for his brain. Of course, any mishaps while operating on a brain could affect what's in a person's "heart," which would not happen with actual heart surgery. It's just weird when you think about it.

Sorry, Luca, better people than you have tried to wipe the smug look off of Victor's face, and it never lasts long. I believe it's almost a permanent expression now.

Victor's description of Luca was pretty dead-on, and I could almost picture the Santori peacock going up in flames.

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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