Well, we finally got our first glimpse of the Restless Style TV show. Clearly, they're trying to imitate the style of TMZ, but are Billy and company really convincing as gossip-mongerers? Are they going to talk about the stars? This looked like it was just a celebrity show about the people in Genoa City. In other words, local news. Are viewers around the country fascinated by life in Wisconsin?
Doesn't it seem more realistic that Billy would be throwing in some scoops about Madonna and the Kardashians? It's unrealistic that Billy's show is so insular, especially because this is the Midwest. It's not even Chicago! It's also strange to me that Billy would let Abby blab the way she did. He didn't even dress her down for speaking out the way she did about Victor and Sharon. He is in charge, isn't he? Aren't there rules about what you can and cannot say on a talk show? Sharon could sue Restless Style for slander based on the way Abby denigrated her.
As for Billy's claim that he'll have a bombshell next week, that was just smart television. Of course he has to tease that he has a big scoop coming. It's his job as publisher of the magazine -- and executive producer of the television show -- to go out and find the news!
Speaking of realism, don't you wish the Adam and Kevin website story was more real? How can we take this enterprise seriously when Kevin, Adam, Chloe, and Chelsea haven't even discussed how to maintain and operate the site? They're not working out of an office? Where's the staff? Do you think Amazon and eBay are operated by two people in a house or from the bar at Gloworm?
Adam went to Harvard, so how come he hasn't covered all the legalities of what they're proposing. They got the site up in two weeks like it's one of those "do-it-yourself" web creation sites. I love that idea, but it's really naïve. I know this is expedited storytelling for the sake of television, but it would really make more sense for Adam to take the lead and create a professional situation, starting with office space.
Speaking of realism, Paul's martyrdom is ridiculous. I get it; he's guilt-ridden over Ricky. Paul blames himself for having been a terrible father. But Paul wouldn't be willing to throw his life away, and he knows that a guilty plea will be the end of freedom for the rest of his life. And how come Father Todd hasn't come to counsel his brother? Corbin Bersen should be doing a guest spot. It's time for Paul to get some brotherly advice.
The other thing about Paul's storyline that's bugged me is how manipulative it's been. The writers have lied to the audience. We saw the scene in which Ricky had a big, scary knife and held it to Eden's neck. For the powers that be to tell us that what we saw really didn't happen is baloney. It wasn't shown from Paul's point of view. We all saw the entire scene, and Ricky was shown with the knife more than once.
Also, why were there no marks on Eden's body from the way Ricky had handled her? She should have had bruises, black and blue marks, maybe a scrape on her neck, to back up Paul's account. Instead, Eden was sent to the hospital, and nobody noticed anything other than her memory loss. That's not logical. Ricky treated her roughly. Heck, they brought up the fact that Kyle had a bruise after Eden lashed out at him during the hypnosis session.
But the biggest thing wrong with the Ricky story is the lack of a thorough investigation. Remember Ricky's computer? He had all kinds of evidence on the laptop, including a video of his murdering Rachel. It was right on the hard drive. Daisy saw it with very little searching.
As a reader pointed out, no one can ever completely erase computer files because a computer geek like Kevin can always find them again. Since the computer was in Ricky's room along with all the documents that Heather inherited, why didn't the cops look at the computer? When Daniel was arrested for suspicion of causing Daisy's disappearance, the first thing Ronan and the detectives looked for was Daisy's laptop. Based on one email, Daniel was thrown in jail. But for Ricky, who has far more incriminating evidence on his computer, there's been no mention of the police even analyzing the data.
Speaking of technology, Ricky also had damaging evidence on his phone. Have they looked at the calls he made? Have they done anything on Paul's case except look for the missing knife? This must be the worst investigation of all time. If Paul would simply stop wallowing in self-pity, he could contribute to the case... Explain why he suspected Ricky of killing Craig and Rachel. Instead of hypnotizing Eden, they should hypnotize Paul! He knows more than he's said, but he's too emotional to get it out.
Regarding Eden's session, I have a question. Were they selling tickets? Why did the forensic psychiatrist allowed an audience for Eden's highly traumatic and intense attempt to retrieve her memory via hypnosis? Kyle, Christine, and Daniel were all listening in on what was supposedly a confidential session. What if the revelations from Eden included her hatred of Daniel for using her or that she was disgusted with Kyle for not being more serious about their relationship? Maybe she had a secret crush on Christine and wanted to come out? In other words, the shrink should have told them all to get out of the room. He could have videoed the session for Christine in case Eden said anything that would help Paul's case.
Does it seem like things are too happy for Chelsea and Adam? Something has to go wrong, and my guess is she's going to have trouble getting pregnant again. If that's the case, all of Chelsea's good words to Victoria could be for naught if she wants Johnny, after all, which would be a heartache for Billy and Victoria.
In a complete change of character, something like personality whiplash, Sharon's gone from a sane, rational woman who wanted to get her life back with her baby daughter after nearly a year in and out of prison and on the run, to a complete ninny. I never thought I'd use that word in a Two Scoops column, but what else can you say about Sharon? She's a nitwit.
Sharon impulsively married Victor on the Newman jet, and then just as impulsively lied to Avery about the existence of a pre-nup which she'd signed. Why? According to the scene on the jet, Sharon was in line to make a fortune from her marriage to Victor. I mean, yes, she remembered there was a time requirement, but that was after she'd already lied to Avery about ever seeing the document. Are her bizarre actions supposed to be like the shoplifting? The sign of her being in distress?
Denying that there's a pre-nup would never hold up in the long run, as Tucker pointed out. The document was notarized. Burning the agreement will only delay the truth coming out, and it's going to open up a big can of worms about her legal status if Victor doesn't return. Or can't return...or chooses to become a wandering business tycoon looking for a company in need of his corporate expertise.
But then we know that Victor is just fine. He's doing one of his walkabouts. He's taking a vacation from life as Victor Newman. I think it's just like Victoria said; this is Victor's way of testing everyone. He disappears to see how Sharon and Nikki will handle it. When he comes back, there will be retribution!
Don't even get me started on Nikki because she's ninny number two. What on earth was she thinking with the text message to Sharon? Here she was, supposedly scared out of her mind about Victor's disappearance, right? In that instance, she should have rushed to the Genoa City Police Department with the phone to try to find a trace of where Victor had gone.
Instead, she opts to pull a fast one on Sharon? Why? What was her motivation? Just to be a bitch and stick it to Sharon? Nikki is too old to act that way. Those are the actions of a child, not a mature woman. Nikki really has her priorities out of whack. Kay called her on it, too. Nikki should be concentrating on her new husband and leaving Victor to Sharon. And for Jack not to call her out on that fact is ludicrous. It makes him look like a patsy.
I realize Maria Arena Bell's already been fired, but could we fire her a little more for the Phyllis storyline? Just the idea that Phyllis would rob Summer's trust fund to get the blackmail money for Tim is beyond reprehensible. Generally speaking, Thomas, the financial advisor, should have never allowed her to do what she did. Why wouldn't he have called Nick before the transaction? If Phyllis wasn't covering up a lie, she couldn't have objected if Thomas had said, "Let's call Nick."
The moment Phyllis said that Nick didn't need to know, it was when a red flag should have gone up. Thomas has a fiduciary responsibility to Summer (it's her trust) to question what Phyllis did. He could lose Nick as a client and probably will!
I'm really hoping that now that Avery and Nick are aware of the mountain of lies Phyllis has told that they will finally stop with the unconditional support. It's one thing for the two of them to love Phyllis, but love is not blind. Avery reached her breaking point and quit the case. Good for her. But what's Nick going to do?
It's clear that Phyllis is too headstrong and stubborn to listen to anyone or to play by the rules. She's acting like a woman who's very, very guilty and very, very desperate to continue getting away with her misdeeds. By the way, does Phyllis realize that paying blackmail is against the law? She's already out on bail, she's damn lucky that Avery doesn't turn her in for that transaction. As an officer of the court, she really should be telling Michael what he sister did.
It was kind of ironic that Nick actually went after Sharon for acting irresponsibly about Victor, telling her to straighten herself out -- but what about his own wife? Nick should stop worrying about Sharon's actions and get his own house in order. For starters, he better replace the missing money in Summer's trust fund. If she ever finds out what her mother did, Summer would never forgive her.
Speaking of kids, where is Faith? Ever since Sharon ran off with Victor, I've lost track of her. Was Nick taking care of her? Maybe the servants? Considering how important Faith was to Sharon when she was on the run and living in New Mexico, she certainly doesn't act like the kid's a priority now.
Finally, I guess we should say something about Harmony and Neil's first date. Hilarious! Brilliant! What a riot! ...Yawn. Sorry, but I didn't buy for a second that they were nervous and wouldn't have any idea what to say on a date. They've slow danced and kissed. They've been yapping for months. It was silly to suggest that two mature, sane adults would act like silly high-schoolers on their first "official" date.
And in other news that's of little importance, Cane was given a promotion, since Jill is still in Australia and Jack's now the King of Jabot and Beauty of Nature.
So, that's it for now. I'm anxious to hear more from you all. What's your opinion about the change in leadership? Are you excited about the end of the Maria Arena Bell era? Send me your thoughts and they might be posted in a future column -- just like these!
Best,
Allison
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