Clash of the titans

"March Madness" is her, and it hit Genoa. Titans are in a head-to-head battle. Victor wants to destroy Ashland while Ashland is crying victim. Can Victor win? Ashland is as strong-willed and has some dirty tricks up his sleeve. Jack searches for answers, and Sally sticks her nose where it doesn't belong. Join our columnist who seeks answers and sticks her nose where it doesn't belong in Two Scoops for this week.

My word, there is such a battle of the wits going on, and one has to wonder which titan will come out the winner. Victor is on the warpath with Ashland, and who can blame Victor? He has been a wary of Ashland from the moment they met, and I guess we are all wondering if Victor can win this battle. Ashland arrived in Genoa City full of bluster, and he let everyone know he was a force to be reckoned with.

It appeared that all had been forgiven after Ashland admitted his real name was Bobby DeFranco and how his career had evolved, but Victor has had his suspicions and has discovered more unsavory information about Ashland. Victor has wondered about Ashland's health and the miraculous protocol that put Ashland's cancer into remission. Far be it from Victor not to investigate his suspicions.

Michael had sent proof to Victor about a money trail to the Peruvian clinic from one of Ashland's companies and a video of a doctor confirming Ashland had paid big bucks to lie about Ashland's illness. Suddenly, the doctor and Michael have disappeared. Well, that doesn't make Ashland look guilty at all, does it? Victor has been looking for the smoking gun with incontrovertible proof of Ashland's duplicity.

Ashland is a crafty old buzzard. He has obviously been able to extricate himself from some nasty situations in the past, and he's probably full of confidence that he will get out of this one. Victor has been around too many corners not to succeed in bringing Ashland down and protecting Victoria from the fallout. I have always wished that Victor would lose a battle or two from time to time, but not this time. I hope Victor brings Ashland down for good. From the beginning, I, too, have doubted that Ashland had cancer, and our boy Victor has found the proof. Ashland is now scrambling to cover his tracks.

Victoria is so in love with Ashland that it's going to take some doing to convince her that he has an agenda and has been manipulating her. As much as I want to see Victoria knocked off her pedestal, in this instance, my heart goes out to her. No one wants to discover they have been betrayed by the one they love the most. It's too bad she refused to believe what Victor had tried to tell her about Ashland, but in watching her, I can tell she does have doubts. Victoria is in turmoil. She honestly wants to believe that Ashland has told her everything, and it will be a bitter pill for her to swallow when the truth comes out. We all wanted to see Victoria brought down from her high tower, but it is very cruel to discover she's been manipulated by the man she is so deeply in love with.

I loved the scene between Nick and Victoria. Nick really loves his sister, and he was so gentle with her. He kept assuring her that he only wanted to listen, not judge. He didn't want to see her hurt. I think he would have convinced Victoria about Ashland's manipulation if Ashland hadn't arrived. When Victoria saw him, she became a puddle and ran into his arms. You could see Nick's disappointment.

Hats off to Nate! There was no way that Nate was going to be intimidated by Ashland. I just loved the way he stood up to Ashland, especially when Ashland threatened to discredit him. Nate told Ashland that if Ashland didn't come clean immediately to the Newmans, Nate would tell Victoria and the Newmans himself that Ashland had never had cancer. Ashland is being backed into a corner, and like any cornered animal, he will do whatever he feels is necessary to convince everyone that Victor was setting him up because Victor wants to regain control of his company.

Too bad Victoria didn't listen to Nikki's advice about waiting to make Ashland co-CEO of Newman Locke. Being headstrong and wanting to prove to Ashland she believed him, she had him sign a contract making him co-CEO. Victoria isn't stupid, and I think she might have amended that contract by adding a paragraph to protect herself and the company should any unsavory information about Ashland come to light, then the co-CEO position could legally be rescinded. Victoria has some niggling doubts about Ashland, but she is hoping they aren't true.

Looks like Ashland's house of cards for taking over Newman Locke is beginning to topple slowly. I wonder if he will be able to stay ahead of Victor. That sly dog will get his comeuppance in the end, I'm sure

Let's turn to our resident sniveling crybaby, Adam. Adam is blaming Victoria for the current fiasco with Ashland. Victor has warned Adam not to point his finger at Victoria because she'd been duped by Ashland. Adam was really miffed that Victor asked Nick to speak to Victoria instead of him. I was waiting for Adam to pound his fists on the desk in a tantrum. Once again, Adam doesn't feel like he's the apple of Daddy's eye. I think Adam is pushing his luck, especially when he questioned Victor about it being part of Victor's grand plan to regain control of his company. I have a feeling that in the not-too-distant future, the new and improved Adam is going to revert to the old Adam.

Look at Sally go! I have to wonder if Sally only opens her mouth to change feet. She eavesdrops on every situation she can and then sticks her nose where it isn't welcomed. She believes she should be privy to everything going on in the business, including personal information. Sally overheard Victor and Adam discussing Ashland and what he was planning.

Sally sought out Sharon for more information about Adam because she wanted to be the best support for Adam. When she was about to leave the coffeehouse, she overheard Lauren, Chelsea, and Chloe discussing Michael. Leave it to Sally to insert herself into everyone's business. She managed to stir things up by telling Lauren that Victor had his people looking for Michael. Victor had previously told Lauren that Michael was fine and that Lauren shouldn't worry. In one sentence, Sally undid all the assurances Lauren had received from Victor, Chelsea, and Chloe. Lauren realized Victor had lied to her about Michael being okay. Sally's comment left Lauren more worried than she had been. Good job, Sally! My guess is that Lauren will confront Victor.

Poor Jack. Not only has his love life tanked, but he was also receiving some mysterious cryptic text messages to come to Los Angeles. Phyllis to the rescue. She convinced Jack that they needed to go to Los Angeles and get to the bottom of this mystery. Peter Bergman's acting was outstanding during the scenes at Keemo's house. You could physically feel the pain he was going through while reading Keemo's letters and reflecting on his tumultuous relationship with his son. You could also feel the shock and joy when he discovered he had a granddaughter, Allie Nguyen. Phyllis was Jack's rock through the whole ordeal. If this isn't the beginning of Jack and Phyllis reuniting, I don't know what would be.

Phyllis stopped Jack from returning to Genoa City because they still didn't know who had been sending Jack the cryptic messages. Phyllis felt there was more to the story, and they needed to know who and why the messages had been sent to Jack. Obviously, it wasn't Allie because she was as surprised to see Jack in Keemo's house as he was to see her. The mystery continues. Why did someone want Jack in Los Angeles? I can't even speculate on this one. Could it be from someone in Jack's past or from someone within Keemo's family, and there again, to what end? I really hope this mystery unravels sooner rather than later because, at the moment, I don't see its purpose other than to bring back some very painful memories for Jack, and again, to what end?

I guess it's time that we touched on this never-ending baby storyline. Did everyone enjoy those scenes with Devon talking to Dominic? I found them to be a waste of time. Devon seems to be taking over as a single parent and rearing this child. He looked reluctant to let Dominic go home with Abby and Chance. I mentioned in one of my last columns that if Devon was granted shared custody and had Dominic one night a week, there would come a time when he would want more time with the baby, and sure enough, it came to pass.

Devon now has Dominic for two nights a week, and I'm wondering if he is even going to give Dominic back to Abby and Chance. Are the writers going to do a flip and give Devon full custody of Dominic and allow Abby and Chance to have Dominic once or twice a week? At this point, I'm really hoping there was a mix-up at the clinic at the time of insemination and that Devon isn't the biological father. Amanda asked if Devon wanted to have full custody of Dominic. Devon's mouth said, "No," but his heart was yelling, "Yes, yes, yes." At least, that was the way I saw it.

Why does Devon believe he is qualified to analyze Chance's behavior just because he went through his own crisis? Everyone reacts differently to various circumstances. We don't know what Chance is going through or why. Does he feel he was a coward for pretending to be dead after the explosion so that he was able to escape? Why wasn't Chance in the safe house at the time of the explosion? Where had he been? Could that be playing in his head? We just don't know, yet Devon feels he knows exactly what Chance is going through. I like Devon, but at times, I find him a bit too judgmental and a know-it-all.

I'm having a little issue with Lily being CEO of a major conglomerate. She hasn't had any experience in that field, and they are painting her as the whiz kid of the corporate world. Lily managed the Genoa City Athletic Club for a while. She became a model and then formed her own rinky-dink modeling agency under the Hamilton-Winters umbrella. Later, she became co-CEO with Billy of ChancComm, a media news publication. How do any of these qualify her to be CEO of a major conglomerate?

She is wheeling and dealing, and it seems that everyone thinks her plans are brilliant. She wants to merge Hamilton-Winters with Chancellor, and she wants Nate working at Chancellor, as well. Does she have some magic fairy dust she sprinkles, and people can't resist any of her brilliant ideas? Don't get me wrong, I love Lily, but I think she has been misplaced in this role. I would rather have seen her open a modeling agency and watch it flourish. She could have collaborated with Fenmore's to use her models for Fenmore's latest designs. I'm just not buying Lily as the CEO of a major conglomerate, with a criminal record to boot.

Perhaps Devon is reluctant to merge with Chancellor for the same reasons I just mentioned, or is he afraid of losing control of his company to Lily?

I have noticed that Nick and Sharon appear to be spending a lot of time in each other's company. Is this a prelude to an eventual reconciliation? Possibly, since Rey seems to be feeling left out of Sharon's life. He is always happy to see Chelsea. He has also bonded with Connor. At first, I found it odd that Rey seemed to have forgiven Chelsea for her attempt to kill him, but I think he realized that it had been the mental state she'd been in after her stroke. I wouldn't mind seeing a union between Chelsea and Rey.

Those are my thoughts about what has been happening in our little town, Genoa City. I would love to read your thoughts, comments, and opinions. In the meantime, until next time, stay safe!Nel

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