Bye-bye love... bye-bye storyline

Jack was back to being the lone wolf with no lovely lady to call his own! Will he go back to being on the back burner, where he'll only be around to offer advice to Kyle, Abby, Billy, or anyone else who will listen? Was Sally really in love, or was she only infatuated with Jack? Will Rey ever admit that he might actually have contributed to the problems in his marriage? Should Lola give up her newfound career as a matchmaker and just stick to being a chef? Follow the bouncing ball in the continuing fight to the death (almost!) over a media company in Two Scoops.

Poor Jack! That guy really can't catch any breaks, can he? After a years-long drought, Jack finally had a chance to have his own love in a May/December relationship, just like his dad had with Jill, and it all came to a screeching halt. Well, at least he had a taste of it for a while. It only goes to show that nice guys really do finish last. It had been so much fun seeing Jack smiling and having fun again. His eyes would twinkle each time Sally was around, and he almost acted like a teen on a first date. Jack was so cute when he was around the vibrant, ambitious redhead. He appeared to be on top of the world until Phyllis made sure to have all his joy come crashing around him. Wasn't that just like Phyllis? She didn't want Jack, but she didn't want anyone else to have him, either. Figures.

Yeah, there's no denying that Sally reminded Jack of the lady he has always so lovingly referred to as "Red." But that's what bugged Phyllis the most -- a more youthful version of herself had bewitched Jack and made him happy again. Well, Phyllis sure couldn't let that happen, so she torpedoed it, not caring what happened to her ex after the damage had been done. Because in the end, Phyllis was still with Nick, and Jack then had no one again. So, he was back to where he started, alone and lonely. Hey, what are friends for? So, it was bye-bye, love. Bye-bye, storyline. Hello, back burner. He might as well eat pie. (Hey, I did my best to create new lyrics for the song "Bye Bye Love" by the Everly Brothers on short notice.) Jack was back to a ho-hum life, which pleased Phyllis.

So, as I feared, the writers had swapped out Theo for Sally and pretty much gave Jack the same story, only with a feminine twist. Just as Theo could do no right, the same could be said for Sally. Kyle never had to pay for his bad behavior with Theo, just as Summer will never have to pay for hers. (There's no point in mentioning Phyllis' wrongdoing. It seems she never has to pay for anything wicked that she does these days.) Summer didn't even get a slap on the wrist, but Sally almost lost everything, including her job. Theo had been close to Jack until he was practically chased out of town. I just hope that Sally's stay in Genoa City won't be coming to an end soon. I like the feisty girl who refuses to let the world get her down, even after all the adversity. She's a real trooper!

Thankfully, Lauren still considered Sally a friend and her employee, and she was pleased with the work the misguided girl had done. So, Phyllis hadn't succeeded in turning Lauren against Sally. Yet Lauren worried about Sally's feelings after the fiery lady announced that she had fallen in love with Jack. Because they hadn't known each other long, Lauren suspected that Sally was only infatuated with the charming older man. Yeah, when you're young, infatuation can feel like love. Lauren also told Sally that Jack didn't appear to feel the same way. Jack may have been burning, all right, but his feelings for Sally apparently were not. I'm glad Sally changed her mind about texting him. She really didn't want to grovel. At that point, Sally just needed to hang onto her dignity.

Jack returned to simmering on the back burner by congratulating Abby on the happy news of her expectancy...well, by way of Mariah's tummy. Hooray for Abby, who will get to experience all the joys and excitement of childbirth, while Mariah gets left with the pains and morning sickness of being pregnant. It hardly seems fair, yet Tessa was on hand to help Mariah through it with her support and her song. I have to give Tessa credit. She was finally putting Mariah first over her career, which was something that she had never done before. Tessa was there for Mariah when she really needed her, so there may be hope for them as a loving couple yet.

In the meantime, Abby was ecstatic as she merrily anticipated all the joys of motherhood, even if Chance wasn't there to share it with her. Since it sounds like the character may be recast, Chance probably won't be gone for too much longer. Jack was fortunate to be around to witness Abby's joy when she talked on the phone with Chance and to listen to Abby talk of Chance's excitement about the news of their coming baby. Hey, Jack's got sitting on the back burner down pat, since he's seemed to have spent so much of the last few years propped on it. And Billy will surely need Jack as a sounding board soon, since he's found himself still caught up in the center of the two women he loves. Thank goodness Jack will be around to possibly rescue his screw-up brother once again.

Judging by Lily's expression, she wasn't too happy with some of Billy's actions and discussions. She could be considering that she might have gotten in way over her head in thinking she could curb Billy's bad decisions. Yeah, good luck with that. Billy seemed to be back to his every thought being about the Newmans, whether it was to adorn his ex-wife with flowers after her successful acquisition of Ashland Locke's company or to point out to Victor that his immoral son would eventually have to pay for all his sins. And just when it looked like Billy was ripe for the picking, Victoria called to invite him to another family and game night. But Lily wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel when she suggested to Billy that they get off the Cyaxares roller coaster to go be dazzled on a proper date.

At least Kyle was keeping Jack busy with all the shenanigans involving his past. Thanks to Kyle's brief fling with Tara, Ashland was out to wreck the Abbott family business by spreading the rumor that Jabot treated its employees unfairly. After Tara warned him that Ashland could be cold and calculating when threatened, Kyle decided that being indirect and sly just wasn't cutting it with the conniving mogul, and he wanted to try the direct approach by admitting to his affair with Ashland's wife. He stormed into Society to confront Ashland; however, Tara convinced Ashland to walk out, leaving Kyle frustrated and Jack relieved. But Jack then received a call that all the Jabot plants were being shut down due to violations of health and safety regulations. That sounded like Ashland's dirty work.

Even as Victoria celebrated her victory of snapping Ashland Locke's company right out from under her father's nose, Ashland was playing his own games with her. Shoot, Ashland must have gotten bored from toying with Kyle. No, Ashland wasn't done with the Newmans just yet, as he continued to pit father against daughter. He must have some need for revenge against both the Abbotts and the Newmans. Since Victoria's deal for the company wasn't yet final, Ashland offered the media business to Victor again for a higher price, not having any real idea of the person he was dealing with. Okay, let's follow the bouncing ball...first it's Victor's, then it's Victoria's, then it's Victor's. It can make one dizzy.

Shortly after he accepted a double bourbon from Victor, Ashland collapsed onto the sofa, clutching his chest. Victor exclaimed that he didn't like it when people reneged on a deal, and he demanded that Ashland sign the contract, so it appeared that Victor had drugged his booze. Maybe Victor was taking tips from Adam. See, Rey should have realized that if Adam was going to poison him, he would have put a substance into a drink, not into jars of men's bathroom products. But even if Victor didn't drug him, he used Ashland's pain to his advantage by forcing him to sign the contract. Yep, our vicious Victor was finally back, and it's about time. He had become way too much of a kitty cat lately. The tiger in the Mustache was finally showing his whiskers and growling again.

Yes, Victor was back to play, and he meant business. Although Ashland appeared to have suffered a heart attack, Victor refused to call for help until after the mogul had signed the contract, and Nikki was outraged. She was just happy that Ashland hadn't died during Victor's so-called negotiations. But Nikki was wrong when she accused her husband of stealing a company from his daughter. Why should Victor be the one to stop chasing after the bouncing ball? It was his first. He wasn't getting the media company for Adam to protect him from Billy, as Victoria had claimed. Victor wanted to give Adam a fresh start, which is something a father would do.

Victoria was upset when Nikki announced that Victor had won again, and she realized Ashland had only used her as a pawn to get Victor to raise his bid. Victoria has become like a spoiled child wanting her father's attention every second, and when she doesn't get it, she throws a tantrum. She already has her coveted Newman Enterprises. Even Nikki pointed out that Victor was only trying to secure a future for his son. Why can't Victor help Adam in business, too? Nikki attempted to coddle Victoria as she also advised Victoria to let Victor and Adam have Cyaxares. Really, Victoria didn't even want the company until she found out that Victor wanted it for Adam. That was when Victoria decided that she had to have it, and when she did not get it, she threw a hissy fit. Boo-hoo.

Even as he suffered in pain, Ashland vowed that his business with Victor was not yet done, and Victor responded for him to bring it on. That would be one interesting battle, since the two powerhouses are pretty evenly matched. However, Jack was more concerned about Harrison if something were to happen to his father and expressed that to Kyle. Victoria used Ashland's medical condition as an excuse to mess up another one of Billy's dates with Lily, but at least Devon didn't tell Lily, "I told you so." Victoria and Billy confronted Victor, as they played tug-of-war for the company. The three of them sounded like kids in the schoolyard as they fought over the Cyaxares pail in the sandbox. When they didn't get their way, Victoria and Billy picked up their shovels and went home. Sheesh.

For a couple that isn't together romantically, Nate and Elena sure spend a lot of time together. Elena regretted that she had gone from two guys to zero in record time, while Nate admitted to Lola that he still cared very much for Elena. And speaking of a character that's been lying on the back burner, Lola's been there for quite some time now. It's a good thing that Sasha Calle's been busy with other acting projects, since she's gotten so little screen time on Y&R lately. But it's probably been because she's so busy being the first Latina to play Supergirl in the movies that she hasn't had much time to tape scenes as Lola. Ms. Calle's going to save the world on the silver screen, and she hoped to save the day for Nate and Elena on the boob tube. Cool!

But Lola was suddenly being Miss Goody Two-Shoes or Miss Buttinsky, whichever way you prefer to look at it. If she couldn't have a good man of her own, Lola was going to play Cupid and help her friends with their love lives. Genoa City's new matchmaker targeted Nate and Elena by arranging to have them meet her at Society, where she gave the estranged couple details about some suspiciously bizarre and quite puzzling medical case that required both of their attention. However, when the details of Lola's case kept changing, Elena and Nate didn't need to be detectives to catch on to her motives. While they were both very appreciative of Lola's effort, Elena explained that it was too late for her and Nate as a couple. Oh, well, what else was Lola to do with her short time on our screens?

However, if Lola and Mariah think they can rescue Sharon and Rey's marriage, they should know better. A Band-Aid won't heal the lack of trust those two have in each other. And really, Mariah's only motive to keep the hapless pair together was to prevent her mother from seeing Adam. I mean, come on...Rey and Sharon's relationship has been far from healthy, and it escapes me why the writers are so determined to cement this pair in their wobbly union. Rey consistently refuses to accept that he could be a problem in their marriage, since he continues to heap the blame for any troubles on Sharon's shoulders. And Sharon keeps insisting that she will fix whatever problems they have and claims that she will change for him. What?! This could set women way back into the caveman days.

Me, Tarzan. You, Jane. Me want. Ugh. Ugh is right, since that's the way Rey sounds most of the time. Rey's the one who makes everything all about Adam. Other than the infamous kiss, which Adam had instigated, Sharon's been nothing but a friend to Adam. She never cheetah-ed with Adam. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) If Sharon had made the exact same decisions and had taken the exact same actions with a female friend, Rey wouldn't have batted an eye. Sure, Sharon lied about some things, but Rey forced her to with his control-freak ways. When he started following her around like a little puppy, it was too much. Rey's being borderline abusive, which the soap should acknowledge. It is never right for a man to control a woman like that, especially one he's supposed to love.

So, Nate's relationship with his prior, deceased girlfriend, Caroline, had been ideal -- consistent and supportive with no secrets or drama, eh? Gee, Nate made it sound like Caroline had been perfect in every way, just like Devon has always done about Hilary after she died. Oh, I can just picture Caroline (which is rather difficult to do, since we never saw her) and Hilary sitting together up in heaven as celestial angels plucking their golden harps. It's funny how the death of a soap character can erase all flaws of the person, who then becomes pure as the driven snow.

Since Amanda agreed to represent her grandfather in court for the Newman Enterprises case that involved murder, extortion, blackmail, and a whistleblower, everything seemed to be all hunky-dory with her long-lost family, who hadn't given a holy ding-dong about her before. It's the stuff that dreams are made of. Sniff, sniff. It's just brings tears to my eyes.

Hmm...the last time I checked, that was Sharon's home, yet Rey was calling all the shots on when he would leave, and he was using Sharon's daughter as the excuse? Are you kidding me? He wasn't Faith's father, so I'm sure she would recover from his moving out. But, hey, it's free room and board, so why would he be in any hurry to leave?

Abby sure had me scared when she almost insisted that Mariah not fly for her job because she was pregnant with the Newman-Abbott-Chancellor baby. Did she really expect Mariah to just sit around and play tiddlywinks for nine months? Thank heavens, Abby saw reason and admitted she was being ridiculous. Whew! I was afraid that we had a female Rey on our hands.

As Nikki said, "If you want something to be different, you have to do something different." Words to keep in mind as we go through the trials and tribulations of life.

Until next time, please stay tuned. And take care and please stay safe!Teddi

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