I was really quite touched by the scenes between Angie and Madison. First, it's horribly ironic to me considering all the grief that Madison caused the Hubbards a few years back. Angie often talks about her faith and how important God is in her life -- and she's one of the few characters to regularly mention God or anything having to do with religion. While at first glance it may seem unbelievable that Angie would embrace Madison, I suppose it is a further indication that Angie practices what she preaches, so to speak. At least she's much better at it than the woulda-coulda-shoulda-but-wasn't Reverend Ricky Torres.

There are so many things I love about the soaps, but there's one thing that always makes for good viewing: when a character says something to another character and has no idea that what they're saying applies to themselves. In my head, that statement makes sense, but I have no idea if it's clear now that I've typed it out. So let me give you an example. While Angie was consoling Madison over the death of little Sarah, Angie had no idea that her own baby had died. Later, Angie met up with Jesse and questioned why their baby had been chosen to live while Madison's had not. If and when Angie does learn the truth -- and I am really hoping that she doesn't -- it will be very interesting to see how she reacts.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by Ricky's big exit -- and it's probably not for the reason that you think. I got very amped up as Ricky was being wheeled down the hospital and crossed paths with Griffin. He said something like, "Don't you wanna know what it was like?" I honestly thought Ricky was going to go there. You know, there. I'm not entirely sure I expected something as graphic as the first prison scene in The Silence of the Lambs, but I kinda thought Ricky was going to stick it to Griffin one last time by implying that he and Kendall had engaged in... relations.

It was still interesting, though, to hear what he did have to say: Kendall will never love anyone other than Zach. Am I the only one that wondered if that script was written before or after the show reached out to Thorsten Kaye about a possible return? The official first airdate of the material Lorraine Broderick wrote as head writer is June 26 -- but that doesn't mean that the show didn't rewrite some stuff. Anyway, there was a point in all of this. Let's say All My Children hadn't been canceled, and the show didn't ask Thorsten Kaye to reprise the role of Zach. Does anyone really think that Kendall wouldn't eventually move on with someone? (Cough, Griffin. Cough) I don't think anyone on the soaps has stayed celibate after the death of their partner. Heck, there are a few instances in recent AMC history when people have hit the sheets the day they found out their spouse/partner had died!

So did Cara finally admit that she returned to Pine Valley to get Jake back? Well, not quite, but it was pretty close to an admission. I like Cara, but she's become awfully weepy lately, and it's not a good look for her. Why can't she just live unhappily ever after with Tad and be thankful that someone is keeping her safe? It's kind of sad to me to see that Tad is legitimately falling for Cara, and she's just sort of going through the motions because she is still in love with Jake. That's my take on it, anyway. These are the tortured love stories that make soaps so great. Who hasn't longed for someone who didn't return the sentiment?

Backtracking a bit, I really, really enjoyed the heartfelt chat between Kendall and Tad. First of all, I am hard-pressed to come up with another meaningful scene that Tad and Kendall have shared -- ever. Kendall asking Tad how hard it was for him to move on after Dixie's death was one of most honest questions anyone has asked in Pine Valley. This is the type of discussion that makes me think that someone actually knows All My Children history. The same can be said for David and "Erica's" walk down memory lane and the wonderful flashbacks we got to see during Dixie's nightmares.

At least I am assuming that the Dixie-looking woman was Dixie. First there was the star she carved into the wall. Then there were the flashbacks of things that only Dixie could know. But if that wasn't enough of a giveaway, ABC has been airing commercials announcing that Dixie is back. I guess they figured the show is ending, they might as well spoil all the surprises.

I never thought I'd see the day that Erica Kane would order chicken wings and take a bottle of ale to the head. It is so obvious to viewers that "Erica" isn't Erica, but apparently not to anyone else. Except for David. I have to wonder if we'd never been shown Jane, if the story would be more or less appealing. There are still viewers who would oppose a look-alike story of any kind, but it certainly would be an entirely different story if viewers had just been left to wonder what was going on. Let's say we go back and nix all the kidnapping stuff and knowing that there was a Fauxrica out there. So after Jack pulled "Erica" from the rubble, viewers wouldn't have known why Erica was suddenly acting so oddly, and maybe we'd all attribute it to a bump on the noggin. What do you think? Would that change have made the storyline better or worse? Let me know your thoughts by using the feedback option.

We can't undo what's done, nor can we unring the bell. So, who the hell is Jane Campbell? I'm sure there will be a very clever answer given when Monday's show picks up. "I use a pseudonym when I get my medicine so that people won't know that Erica Kane is ill or has an allergy." Whatever the excuse, it's so nice to see the scenes between Susan Lucci and Vincent Irizarry. Erica and David were very much a supercouple during their romance. It's very smart to have David be the one who senses that something isn't quite right about "Erica."

I've gotten some very creative emails from readers lately about who they think Jane really is. One that really popped out to me was an email that suggested that Jane is really Asher's mom (and Caleb's ex-lover). That would be too many back-from-the-dead plots at one time, but The Young and the Restless did have two look-alikes on their canvas at the same time. I also received another message from Megan who had a unique take on Jane's identity: "I think the new Erica is actually Opal's Little Petey after a sex reassignment surgery." I'm not sure why 20-something Petey would want to be transitioned into a 60-something woman, but I also didn't think human cloning and fetus transplants were possible until Guiding Light and All My Children showed me the error of my ways.

Before I sign off, I wanted to share a few of the emails that I've received over the past week:

• In your most recent column, you mention that you can't understand why Jake cannot move on from Cara and focus on Amanda. You mention that Amanda is sweet and fun to look at. Unfortunately, that is the only thing Amanda has to offer. Cara on the other hand is sweet, fun to look at, spunky, motivated, and she has a brain. Amanda is a trophy wife, but Cara is an intellectual equal. Personally, I never understood what Jake saw in Amanda other than the fact that she is pretty. They hardly have conversations about anything other than sex. They are either making out in public or they are having a meal together and a minute in Jake gets called away. Had they given Amanda some other quality other than her looks I could get on board with them, but I never saw them as a viable couple. -- Melissa

• Great column, Dan, but one correction: Zendall fans STILL haven't cooled down that Zach was whacked. Thanks for recognizing that we still care, though. -- Elizabeth

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