It's winner takes all

In a winner-take-all competition, Victor always rises above the rest to take the gold medal. Will Adam and Chelsea ever wise up and realize they are being played by Victor's mystery lady, Chloe? Phyllis and Billy continued to play a cat-and-mouse game at work. Will Jill dash to tell Jack the truth about the affair, or will the fans be left with a marathon, waiting for the huge reveal? Let's grab the gusto and the glory in this Olympic-themed Two Scoops.

The Olympics in Rio are finally upon us, when we can look forward to genuine competition among the best athletes from countries all over the world. The most fit and able men and women will participate in various sports in order to win the coveted gold medal that symbolizes valor and honor, all in the name of their homeland. Even if they fail to stand upon the podium and be awarded a medal, these gifted and talented individuals can take pride that they did the best they could for a sport and for a country they love.

It's too bad some of the characters on our favorite soap don't have the same kind of courageous drive and integrity the Olympic games represent. However, that's not to say our beloved Genoa City patrons aren't playing their own version of the Olympic-style sporting events. Victor seems to represent some sort of a decathlon expert, since he has his hands in all the happenings these days. And he was right to warn Chloe about playing a dangerous game with him, since he was well aware that Sage's journal pages were too big a bargaining chip for Chloe to destroy. I mean, really, what is Chloe thinking, trying to cross Victor in that way?

Chloe seems to still be diving off the deep end -- and not in the good, competitive kind of way. If she's not careful, she will end up doing a belly flop that will ruin not only her life, but her darling daughter's also. Chloe is just lucky she still has Chelsea as her friend, even if Chloe's former BFF has her own agenda. Adam convinced Chelsea to do her own fancy brand of gymnastic tumbling to shake out the truth from Chloe about the evidence that would prove Adam's innocence. And, seriously, it would have been a great scheme if Chelsea hadn't lost her con artist mojo.

So, Chelsea was supposed to be playing her friend to get Chloe to reveal she was Victor's mystery lady -- but the only person pulling a convincing con job was Chloe. I could not believe Chelsea fell for Chloe's garbage about letting go of her rage for Adam -- hook, line and sinker. The more Chelsea tried to synchronize her moves with Chloe, the more Chloe swam to the beat of her own drummer. Adam had better find another way to get out from behind bars, since Chelsea's strokes wouldn't even make a good doggie paddle.

Don't tell me Adam fell for Chloe's claim that she had no more hate in her heart for Adam too?! That would just be too much. The lady's known for being a wacko. How could Adam and Chelsea trust anything Chloe says, especially after everything she did to them? Can they both really believe all is forgiven, just because Chloe gave birth to another daughter? That's insane. Chloe said herself that she thought of Delia every day, and that the pain would never go away. At the very least, Adam and Chelsea shouldn't let their guards down. Chelsea has welcomed a venomous viper into her home, along with Chloe's precious Delia 2.0, Bella.

In the meantime, Kevin realized he would love to be Bella's father, as he waited for the paternity results from the lab. Mariah noted that Kevin seemed to be handling his own kind of weightlifting, since he felt he was too overloaded to even tell Natalie about the newest addition to Chloe's family. Even though Chloe stressed that Kevin was not Bella's father, he wanted to know for sure. Kevin's such a good guy, and I have always said he loved Chloe more than she ever loved him. Sadly, that still appears to be the case.

And in a real clean-and-jerk way, Kevin learned that he was not Bella's daddy. But Kevin should still be suspicious, since Chloe preferred saying Bella's baby daddy was a one-night stand rather than letting Kevin believe he was the father. He should know Chloe well enough to realize something else was going on. And that something else's name would be Billy Abbott. Of course, Kevin had to break up with Natalie because he no longer needed the look-alike of his ex, since the real thing was in town. Plus, Kevin needed to be available so he could get trapped in Chloe's looney world again. Just, please, not romantically this time! With Mariah as Kevin's best friend, maybe he can be safe from Chloe's craziness -- but probably not.

Victor didn't waste any time taking over at Newman Enterprises again, which left Nick and Victoria in the dust. Victoria has been leaping her own hurdles, forever trying to please her father. Luckily, Jill offered Victoria a chance to take charge of her "passion project," however, Victoria was disappointed to hear her father say she should grab the opportunity. Actually, if Victor were still trying to get back at Victoria for testifying against him, wouldn't he advise her not to jump at the chance to be at the head of Brash & Sassy?

Jill was also all into her son's business, but only as Billy's loving mother (I am sure) when she threatened Phyllis into staying away from her boy. However, Billy and Phyllis were playing their own cat-and-mouse game, which resulted in having Phyllis throw a javelin right into Billy Boy's heart. Although Billy might suspect that Phyllis is being forced to drive him away, what he doesn't seem to see is that Phyllis hasn't exactly been trying to dash out of her marriage to Jack.

Red even admitted to Jill that she still loved Jack and just wanted to make things right by him. If she really wanted out of her marriage, why not just let Jill tell Jack everything? Then Billy and Phyllis could be together forever. Let's just hope the resolution to this ill-fated tale doesn't turn into a marathon. Jack is going to be hurt, no matter how or when the truth comes out, and he will totally look and feel like a fool. Surely Phyllis must realize that she has dug a hole that both she and Jack will be unable to get out of. And there's no Olympic event of hole digging, so they will both be losers.

Billy sure must be carrying a torch for Phyllis to agree to join Jack's foundation board -- for the sole reason that Phyllis was also a board member. Billy is so obvious. How can Jack not see through him? Billy has done everything, up to announcing his love for his brother's wife at the top of Newman Towers and skywriting it by using the Abbott jet. He follows Phyllis everywhere and laps up every little crumb she drops for him. It's getting pretty sickening, actually. Again, I have to wonder if his obsession for Phyllis is really love or if he just desires to win the prize -- Phyllis -- away from his brother. Is this one of those "you only want what you can have" scenarios?

And Hilary and Ashley were still wrestling for position and control over the best way to handle the tampering of the drug trial results, which resulted in a class action suit by the participants. Ashley thought they should settle quickly, since the drug trial patrons had been wronged. But, of course, greedy Hilary only saw that Devon would be giving away his money, so they needed to fight to clear her name - oops, I mean, their names. Devon was willing to pay the money, since they were legitimate claims, but you know Hilary couldn't let that happen. I would feel sorry for Devon, but he is just sticking it to himself. He knows how Hilary is, but he stands by her, no matter what. Devon has turned into such a wimp. Even when he tries to make a decision, he can't, and that's just sad.

Hilary doesn't even pretend to check with anyone first anymore before she takes action. She called together an impromptu press conference to place the blame for the entire drug trial mess at Simon's feet. Hilary is obviously of the mind that any publicity is good publicity, even if Devon's attorney disagrees. Hilary has been riding off the rails for quite a while now, and it's about time Jack finally realizes how far she will go to get and keep what she wants.

But Jack did notice when the board decided it was time to take action. The board members had some voting to do, and getting rid of their problem child, Hilary, was the first order of new business. It's about time! I can't believe a foundation board over a charity would keep such a loose cannon around. Positive energy would be required to accomplish the board's mission, and Hilary only gives off negative vibes. There is no way such a selfish, greedy, self-centered person could ever think beyond her own agenda to further the cause of anyone or anything else. And because Devon lets Hilary control him, he's become a nonentity.

Phyllis was surprised to see Billy at the board meeting, at first, but covered and claimed Billy would know better than anyone about needing to "break the cycle of bad choices and reckless behavior." Ouch! That probably would have stung more, if it hadn't been so true. But it was time to vote, and as soon as I saw that Jack had the deciding vote to kick Hilary off the board, I knew she wasn't going anywhere. Oh, sure, he was going to vote to remove her -- until she switched gears and said Devon would settle the lawsuit to avoid any more negative publicity. Her change of mind was done in record time. Hey, maybe she even broke the world or Olympic record.

Hilary's such a phony. Phyllis was right when she said Hilary only wanted the Abbott name to salvage her rapidly tanking reputation. That was the truth staring Hilary right in the face, but she refused to see it. Or she pretended not to. Either way, for a self-proclaimed brilliant businesswoman, Hilary is really pretty stupid. Her total disregard for everyone else caused her to almost be tossed off the board. Hilary thinks she can railroad her way over anybody that gets in her way and that it will always be all hunky-dory. If she was as intelligent as she always claimed, Hilary would play the game to seduce her fellow coworkers into her way of thinking instead of trying to bulldoze over them. The old saying is true: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

So, the syrupy-sweet Hilary oozed her sappy devotion all over Jack after he voted to keep her in, and she later batted her pretty eyes as she expressed her gratitude to Devon for his money -- uh, I mean, love. This nicey-nice act won't last long though. It only pops up when she realizes she has gone too far in her indifference for others. And Hilary realizes that kind of fake charm only works on the men, so she doesn't even bother to try to be nice to the females in town. Maybe that's why they all hate her. But it's almost like Devon realizes what she's doing, but he's so madly in love with her, he doesn't care. Devon can only see the beauty outside, and he ignores the ugliness inside Hilary. I would think her saintly mother would be rolling in her grave if she knew Hilary constantly used Rose's name for her own selfish means.

Now that Phyllis has told Billy for the umpteenth time that they are done, maybe he can turn his head back in Victoria's direction, which is exactly what his mother wants. The funny thing was that Billy believed Jill plotted to have her son prove himself at Brash & Sassy when she was really planning his reunion with Victoria, by hook or by crook. Jill probably even had a checklist. Force Phyllis to stay away from her baby boy. Check. Share some of her smooth rum with Victoria to get her tipsy and then encourage her to talk turkey about her pet project with Billy. Check. Jill looked like the cat that ate the canary each time she accomplished another step in her mission. And her scheme was working. Didn't Billy and Victoria look cozy together?

Even though Abby told her mother that she and Ben had pole-vaulted over their problems, because Stitch was ready for them to have another baby, the progress in the newlyweds' relationship had been more of a long jump. Clearly, Stitch still needed to heal from the loss of his two children. It's not going to get Abby anywhere, if she keeps pushing Ben into having another baby. He's obviously tormented about his part in not protecting both kids, and he still feels like a failure as a father. Ben just needs time and space, at this point, and Abby will only wreck her marriage in hurrying another pregnancy.

And, thank goodness, Stitch finally told Abby just that. Ben appeared to be secretive around Abby, but he was only trying to protect her. As much as Ben wanted to give her what she wanted, he just couldn't. Raising kids is tough, at best, and a baby should never be used to make a bad situation better, because that almost never happens. Nick could have given his little sister the same advice he gave Luca when he said that a parent has to learn the lessons along the way: "Some of those lessons are beautiful. They're amazing. But some of them rip your heart out." It looked like Abby finally understood that both she and Ben needed to be completely ready before they tried again.

Summer wasn't in the same kind of hurry, though, although it appeared Nick's Supergirl was in a family way. The writers still don't seem to know what to do with Luca because they just keep batting his storyline ball across the net to see which way it will land. First, he's selfish then he's selfless. Back and forth. No matter where the ball falls, you can bet Luca will be in a position to score. Would Summer's potential pregnancy interfere with his latest decision that Summer should return to Newman Enterprises after all? But seriously, if he were to think about it, Luca could come out ahead by being the father of a Newman heir. Great-grandpa Victor!

But, alas, it was not to be, since Summer learned she did not have a bun in the oven. So, the brouhaha was all for nothing. Or was it? Apparently the pregnancy scare pushed Luca into action, and he proposed. So Luca didn't drop the ball after all. Somehow I doubt if Nick and Phyllis are going to be wishing the couple a long and happy life together. I can almost picture Phyllis squishing the slimy worm with the heel of her black pump, if she ever got the chance. In fact, Nick declared Luca was going down, so it will be interesting to see what he has in mind. And let the games begin!

Sharon looked to be trying to tackle several sports, from swimming to maybe even archery, if her camping experience went badly. A bow and arrow stashed in her sleeping bag could have come in handy. And it's too bad fishing isn't a summer Olympic sport. Sharon and Mariah had plenty of chances to get some practice in it.

Wow, what a coincidence Faith's ghost story about Sheila Carter was titled, "The Tale of the Baby Switching Ghost." I am sure that alone had both Sharon and Mariah shaking in their boots at the campfire.

Dylan may be a superhero when it comes to rescuing damsels in distress, but apparently it took another kind of champion -- medication -- to battle Sharon's poison ivy. That was one ugly rash.

Chloe said it best -- she is a screwup, sometimes a little shady and selfish basically all the time. Nothing's changed.

Come on -- Chelsea quickly flipped through the pages of a couple of Chloe's books and instantly decided that Chloe was done with her revenge on Adam? Really?

Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem like Y&R has been incorporating more flashbacks into the episodes lately?

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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