Love doesn't always conquer all

Summer moved out of the country, leaving Kyle vulnerable to Tara's seduction. But is Summer gone for good? Is Tara targeting Kyle to be the next husband in her new family -- or is she after his father? Does Victoria care at all about Ashland or only about his company? Just who leaked the news about Ashland's health to the media? And why in the heck was Stitch peering into the Chancellor mansion window? Congrats to the Y&R Emmy winners, all this and more in Two Scoops.

Congratulations to the writing team of Y&R for winning a Daytime Emmy Award! They truly deserve the honor for 2020. I honestly can't think of one story this past year that was either too boring or so ridiculously stupid that the writers shouldn't have even bothered to put it on the air. That normally isn't the case for any of the soaps, so this was a grand accomplishment. And no, I don't count the whole Rey/Sharon thing, because it's the character of Rey who gives me grief, and if I'm constantly complaining...uh, talking about him, then the writers must be doing their job. For writing, apathy from the fans would be a more dreaded outcome than anger. As long as the viewers are talking, whether positively or negatively, the writers have caught their attention, which means viewers are tuning in.

And, also, a big congrats to Marla Adams for receiving the Daytime Emmy Award for her remarkable portrayal of Dina as she suffered through the end stages of Alzheimer's and brought us to tears in her final farewell. We will truly miss her! Dina was a force to be reckoned with, but in her last moments, she made sure to let her family know that she had always loved them. Honestly, I thought that Ms. Adams had been robbed of the win the last time she was nominated as Dina, so I'm glad they got it right this time. Dina's was an exceptional story in that even though she hadn't been around much when her children were growing up, she was still able to make it right by them before she was gone from their lives forever. That was the biggest gift she could ever have left them -- her love.

Okay, is Summer really leaving, or isn't she? That is the question. She sure appeared to be leaving for good as she jetted to her new prestigious position with the illustrious fashion company in Milan. Hey, what young lady wouldn't want to work in Italy, even if she had been forced into it? But even so, I still believed that somehow Kyle would be able to talk her out of leaving before she boarded the plane...well, until Jack bid her a touching goodbye, which was the first inkling that I had that Summer might really be leaving. I mean, that sounded like a real goodbye, not just the soapy, fakey ta-ta for now when the character never had any intention of going anywhere. And when Michelle Stafford and Hunter King were in tears as they hugged each other, I was really wondering.

Usually, I read something beforehand when a beloved character is leaving a soap, so I'm somewhat prepared, but I had no advanced warning this time. It turns out Hunter King was in the middle of contract negotiations that didn't go well -- and Michael Mealor (Kyle) is also leaving! My hope is that Summer will be back before we have a chance to even miss her. There's still plenty of story left to this, since Tara and Sally both got what they wanted by Summer's departure. Once Kyle learns that Tara had threatened to take Harrison far, far away from him if Summer didn't leave town, he's not going to be happy. To say the least.

What a surprise that Summer actually recommended Sally as the new interim president of JCV. Nobody saw that coming, especially not Sally, and you have to wonder why. Why did Summer recommend Sally, when she had always made it clear that she couldn't stand the sight of the redhead and had even tried to chase her out of town. Maybe Summer genuinely believed that Sally had the ambition, savvy, and talent to be able to lead the company. Sally certainly was determined to get Summer's position by hook or by crook, and she was able to succeed. But was Summer just setting Sally up to get back at her later? That could very well happen.

So, while Kyle's heart was breaking, at least he had Harrison to comfort him. And Tara. Boy, she sure had the men of Genoa City completely snowed. All Tara had to do was to turn on her sweet smile accompanied with a totally innocent expression in her big eyes, and they were goners. Jack seemed to be more taken in than even Kyle. So, was Tara gunning for the father or the son in the quest for her next husband? Gee, if she were to marry Jack, he could be Harrison's grandpa and stepdaddy, too. Well, the Abbotts have always been known to be quite complicated. Or was Jack only Tara's pawn to get Kyle to the altar? Hey, Kyle could always give her the ring that Summer just returned to him. One-stop shopping -- the same ring for whichever lady he ends up marrying.

Yeah, even the Newmans made it sound like Summer was going to be gone for a while, as they wished her well in her new endeavors. Grandpa Victor didn't even try to make her stay, which was quite a change from his puppet master days. Victor appeared to finally cut the strings to let Summer fly away to make her own way in life. This was quite a change for Victor. He didn't even lecture his granddaughter. Victor only wanted Summer to be happy. This was a drastic change! Maybe he had a different standard of rules for his grandchildren than he had ever had for his children. Or maybe Victor was mellowing out just a little. No matter the reason, it was a very welcome change.

Jack stated, "Love does not always conquer all," and not only did that apply to Summer and Kyle, but also to Adam, who reflected on how things had gone so badly between Chelsea and him. One minute, they were in love, and the next, Chelsea accused him of every bad deed on the planet, which might have been true at one time. Ironic, isn't it? She had stood by Adam when he was the most despicable but called him out on trying to steal her son when he was only trying to do the right thing. So, Chelsea revealed to Chloe that she had a new plan to get out of the mental facility, which was to "act" mentally healthy, although her bestie thought that two miraculous recoveries would be going a wee bit overboard. Chelsea then turned on the charm to her doctor. How could he not see through that?

Because he was haunted by the ghosts of his happy days with Chelsea, Adam desired to get out of the penthouse and take his son to another home that didn't carry so many bittersweet memories of the boy's mother. So, Victor offered to have Adam and Connor move into the Newman Ranch -- without even clearing it with Nikki first. Uh-oh. Usually that means trouble with a capital T. Nikki hasn't exactly been Adam's biggest fan, so it's very possible that the ranch may not be big enough for both of them. There's certain to be some stormy times ahead with Nikki and Adam vying for Victor's attention -- and Victor will enjoy every moment of it.

Well, the National Inquisitor certainly did its job and stirred up the hornet's nest by publishing the gossip of the town when it announced that Ashland Locke's days of life on this earth were numbered. Ashland immediately ran to Tara's place...oops, I mean to the Abbott mansion to confront her about leaking the news of his condition. Come on, Tara has been acting like the Queen Bee of the house, so it's easy to forget that she's not the mistress of the place. Without meaning to, Ashland helped Tara with her little scheme, since his vocal attack on his soon-to-be-ex only caused Kyle to defend her like her white knight in shining armor. Then Tara had that self-satisfied smirky smile on her face again when she knew that no one was looking. Why, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

And Lily and Billy realized that Ashland's health could be big news in the corporate world and wanted to take advantage of it by trying to get the scoop. Hmm...it seems they might be a little late for that, since the National Inquisitor had already spilled the beans. But instead of worrying over that piddly little detail, Lily and Billy decided to divide and conquer, where Lily would fish to try to get any kind of a nibble from Victoria, who refused to bite, and Billy would go casting after the big flounder, Ashland Locke. Sadly, Ashland only seemed like bait to the pair of piranhas, Billy and Adam, who tried to worm their way into his good graces just to get the juicy details. Ashland had already caught on, though, when Victor offered to buy out any division that Ashland was willing to sell.

I'm starting to feel sorry for Ashland. All anyone ever seems to want from him is his company or parts of his company. Victoria wants the entire package of Locke Communications, so she's been playing nice so Ashland will merge his company with Newman Enterprises. Too bad she neglected to tell her mother, who was only Chief Operating Officer of the family business. Nikki was in the craziest position as an officer of one company who was in competition (thanks to her daughter) with another company that was run by her husband. In fact, one motive Victoria had to join her business with Ashland's was so she could be over Newman Media to get back at her dad and brother. It's sad for Ashland, because he may never know if Victoria had ever truly cared about him at all.

But Victoria appeared to care when she advised Ashland to take it slow and to appreciate the important things in the time he had left, while he thought that he should go at a breakneck speed to get everything done before he was gone. And after wining and dining her in New York City, Ashland was ready to jet her off to Los Angeles for more of his romantic gestures. So, was Victoria only pretending to care to get her hands on Ashland's company? She could have been the one to leak the news of Ashland's health to the gossip column to push him to get the deal done for the merger to stop Locke Communications from becoming unstable. Or maybe, even after all her denials, Tara had been the culprit to get back at Ashland for his past neglect. Or maybe it was Ashland himself. Could be.

Ashland could have faked the news of his impending doom to get what he really wanted, which was sympathy from Tara to share joint custody of Harrison and from Victoria to have her ongoing affection and possibly more. That would explain why Billy was unable to find any evidence to back up the rumor in the gossip rag because it was just that, a rumor started by Ashland. Since Billy had failed to get verification by going straight to the source, he decided to do the next best thing, which was to go to the source's wife. Although Jack believed that his brother's intent was self-serving and that Billy was only exploiting other people's pain, Billy swore up and down that he would treat Tara's story with compassion. So, Tara agreed to do the story, if only to promote her new shoe line.

When she heard of Ashland's offer of a trip to Los Angeles, Nikki cautioned Victoria that the powerful mogul may just like to play games and warned that he could change his mind and sell his entire company to Victor and Adam. However, Victoria refused to listen, since she had become friends with Ashland. Still, it was surprising that Victoria told a direct lie to her father when she denied that Ashland was dying. (I mean, as far as she knew, Ashland was being completely honest with her.) However, Victor could see that, through all the smoke, there was most likely a fire, yet he wasn't bothered in the least that his daughter had just lied to him. But that's the Newmans for you. However, all Victor ended up accomplishing was to convince his daughter to go to Los Angeles with Ashland.

But first, Victoria had some news for Ashland before their departure -- her dad was probably planning his next move against Ashland's company. Although Ashland was grateful for the warning, he wasn't too concerned. But Ashland did not want to appear vulnerable, so Victoria believed the best thing to do would be to push full steam ahead with the merger; however, Ashland thought that caution would be the safer way to go. Victoria was not patient. She desired to have one of the mightiest conglomerates on the whole earth and wanted Ashland to share it with her during his short time left. Ashland then asked her to spend the night. Aha! I still think this has been a ploy to get her into bed. And although she turned him down, Victoria dangled the hope of more in Los Angeles.

Shoot, Victoria probably could marry Ashland if she wanted to, since his divorce was going through in full force as Tara received the paperwork granting her joint custody just as Ashland had promised. And Kyle knew about the official documents, since he was moving into the Abbott mansion at the time of their arrival. Just as Adam couldn't bear being in the penthouse without Chelsea, Kyle couldn't stand staying at Phyllis' hotel without Summer. Somehow, it's almost touching. However, Kyle had the added plus of having his son living in the family home, so he could find comfort there with Harrison -- and with some brownies. Hey, chocolate can brighten up almost any dark day, right?

Then we got to accompany Tara and Kyle down memory lane, as they spoke of their brief affair in the past that had led to the eventual birth of Harrison. There would be no more sneaking around between the two; however, Tara was still unable to sleep at night. After a few insomnia tips, Kyle remembered that he could have a life without Summer. After all, it wasn't the first time that Summer had dumped him. Kyle realized that he could still find happiness, and since his son was his top priority, he only wanted to focus on what was important. His words were music to Tara's ear as they tugged on her heartstrings. But did Tara really look at Kyle with love in her heart or was he just a decorative ornament to complete her new family tree?

Although Victor and Adam had called a truce with Billy and ChancComm, the Mustache let Billy know that he was just sitting back, waiting for Billy Boy to dig his own grave. It's interesting that while Billy saw Victoria's possible new love interest as being just like her father, Victor was just happy that Ashland was nothing like her most recent ex-husband. So, Victor was able to still get his digs in even during the truce. I don't know how long Victor could have lasted if he was unable to get in his jabs at the ex-son-in-law that he so despised.

Phyllis just couldn't help herself and had to butt into Jack's personal life again. She must have been bored with Nick away. Well, as the saying goes, when the cat's away, the mice will play, and that's Phyllis' favorite game. But really, did she expect Jack to be sorry for wanting his grandson living nearby in his home? Phyllis sure wouldn't be if the shoe were on the other foot. But since she has trouble seeing points of view from other people's perspectives, Phyllis blamed Jack for that causing the entire problem with Summer. Hey, get over it. But when Sally asked Jack to join her for a maybe-one-day-we-can-be-friends drink, Phyllis went ballistic, and Jack told her to mind her own business. Good for him! It was about time. Jack then met Sally at Society's bar for "just one drink."

While Sally was ready to learn more lessons from Jack, he believed that she could teach him a thing or two, especially about tenacity and not taking no for an answer. Jack sure seemed pleased and happy to be around the redheaded firecracker again and admired her zest for life. But Jack also wanted to know what Sally really wanted, which she claimed was his forgiveness. Sally stated that she was ready to return to her designer roots and would love to share her life with a special partner and with a furry pup. Jack was impressed with the new, improved Sally, but she feared that her bulldozing ways had turned him away. Sally regretted losing her mentor, friend, and more, yet Jack was open to another "harmless" evening with Sally, even if she could never really be considered harmless.

Amanda expressed to Devon that while her grandfather may have an "iron grip" on the rest of the family, she was no pushover. When her efforts to talk to her mother failed, Sutton "accidentally" ran into Amanda in the park, where he promptly threw Naya under the bus by suggesting that she was the one who had set up Richard's murder. However, Amanda sided with her mother and truly believed that Sutton had done the deed and was determined to find proof of it. I have to wonder if Amanda regrets that she had ever wanted to know the truth about her biological family, which reminds me of the saying, "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it." Well, at least she learned that her father had really loved her and Hilary and that he had tried to find them. Unless that was a lie, too.

Stitch was certainly a welcome sight to Abby, Devon, and Mariah. I have missed Stitch, and I feel bad for him, since his son, Max, has always made Connor look like a totally sweet and innocent kid in comparison. Abby felt very guilty in seeing Stitch, when he was obviously miserable while she was so happy. Later, Mariah got the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Stitch, and he admitted that his days weren't too exciting but that he still practiced medicine while also keeping an eye on his son. It had to be tragic for the guy to have his own boy not able to recognize him anymore. Sadly, while most folks can witness the joys of having a child, sometimes being a parent can be filled with sorrow and pain, too, and Stitch was one of the unfortunate ones.

I was unclear why Stitch was so worried over Abby's welfare, when she was obviously surrounded by her loved ones, even while Chance was away for his job. Stitch should save all his concern for his son, who still struggled even after having had brain surgery. That was the real tragedy, yet Stitch seemed to be taking it as well as could be expected. But still, he was just a little too interested in Abby and in Mariah once he learned that she was carrying Abby's child. A huge red flag waved wildly when Stitch peered through the Chancellor mansion window. Oh, he was probably the one who had spied on Abby as she slept on the couch a few weeks ago. The hardship with Max may have pushed him over the edge, especially after he saw Abby's happiness over her upcoming bundle of joy.

It was quite touching when Billy and Summer wished each other well after their troubled past together. There's no doubt that Billy regretted the way he had treated Summer and that he only wished that he could make up for it. But Summer held no grudges, and it was clear that she only wanted bygones to be bygones, so they could both move forward. Yes, it was time to let that past go.

Devon was thrilled that Victor wanted to shine the light on the Winters' Mood talented singers, and Victor was even willing to share that spotlight with Lily and ChancComm. Who is this magnanimous mustachioed man?

It would be so cool to have Nina join the writing staff of ChancComm, even if it's only for a short-term research project. Why do I have the feeling that it has something to do with the Ashland's six months to live story?

Regarding the battle over control of Locke Communication, Nikki warned Victoria that Victor was very capable financially of doing a hostile takeover. Well, he's certainly got the hostile part down pat.

Mariah should cut herself a little slack. Even if Abby couldn't experience the joys of pregnancy, she was getting the chance to witness them through Mariah, since they lived in the same house, so Abby was able to take the journey with her. Not all mothers using surrogates can do that.

It's rather sad that the only topic Lily and Billy could think to talk about during their romantic time alone was Ashland's relationship with Victoria, although it was interesting to hear that the reporters perceived that Ashland was with a male version of herself.

Yes, Victor and Nikki certainly have been on an extraordinary adventure throughout the years, and I'm just so glad that we got to go along for the ride.

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

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