Clash and burn

It's the holidays -- time for silver bells and silent nights, but not in Genoa City! Well, Diane is silent as she hides from a dangerous grinch. Elsewhere, there are sounds of bickering and meddling, and the halls are decked with pink slips. Will the season be merry, or is it destined to clash and burn? Let's dish in Two Scoops!

Diane is backtracking like crazy to get out of her situation, and she is now in hiding. You have to give her credit for thinking fast on her feet. I guess she's had a lot of practice in dancing the quick step. She tells only half-truths to make herself appear the victim, but Diane has never been the victim. She has always been the main player action figure.

Jeremy is in town, thanks to Phyllis, and his threats have just begun. Aside from Diane, Phyllis also seems to be in the line of fire. Jeremy recognized Phyllis as being the caller who had tipped him off about Diane. Diane has now run for the hills, and Jeremy wants answers to her whereabouts. When Phyllis comes up with a plan, she charges in without any forethought of the consequences. Case in point: Phyllis thought bringing Jeremy to town would scare Diane, and Diane would leave town. Well, Diane has left town and is secretly hiding in the Abbotts' cabin, but she will return. Did Phyllis really believe that would be the end of it?

Had Phyllis given her plan any thought she would have realized how many people she'd put into Jeremy Stark's crosshairs. Diane is, of course, the primary target, and so is Phyllis now that Stark knows she made the call to him. As Diane's son, Kyle is in danger, and so is Harrison -- all of Diane's immediate family is in danger. As Kyle's wife, Phyllis' own daughter Summer is also in danger. Kyle's father and Diane's defender and protector, Jack, who Phyllis wants back, is now likely a target. By association, Jack's sisters, Ashley and Traci, are also targets. Phyllis has done an excellent job endangering the Abbott family. I would like to know how Phyllis saw contacting Jeremy Stark as protecting the Abbotts.

Jack is so angry with Phyllis that you could almost see him spitting nails when he warned her that if he discovered she'd brought Stark to Genoa City, he would fire her from Marchetti. Oh, Phyllis, you should have kept your hotel because unemployment is a bitch, especially for you. Everyone has your number, so there aren't a lot of people who would hire you. It looks like Phyllis' machinations are biting her in the ass.

I have a love/hate feelings about Phyllis, and with recent events, I'm not on the love side. Somehow, Phyllis doesn't feel she's accountable for anything that has happened. She is laying all the blame at Diane's door. I've never been a Diane fan, but other than lying and manipulating, Diane hasn't endangered anyone. Phyllis has been solely responsible for endangering those she claims she loves. Since Phyllis has been on the warpath with Diane, Diane has had to do a lot of fancy footwork to stay ahead of Phyllis.

This whole Stark scenario is on Phyllis. She had no business making a unilateral decision to call Stark about Diane. That should have been between the three amigas, Nikki, Ashley, and Phyllis. She was smart enough to use a burner phone, but not smart enough to take a page from Thomas Forrester's book from The Bold and the Beautiful and use a voice-altering app when she called Stark. Phyllis can't blame Diane for Stark's arrival in Genoa City. Stark might never have found her had it not been for Phyllis' brilliant plan.

Summer has had enough with her mother's vendetta against Diane. Summer pointed out how Phyllis had endangered so many people, and with Kyle on a business trip (he was really driving Diane to the Abbott Cabin), he didn't get the chance to say goodbye to Diane. I had to laugh when Phyllis said Diane should have stuck around to do that. What does Phyllis want? She wants Diane out of town but tells Summer that Diane should have stayed to say goodbye to her son. Phyllis can't have it both ways.

It seems that Phyllis had an answer for everything Summer pointed out to Phyllis, and she was very nonchalant about the whole situation. Phyllis didn't believe she'd put anyone in danger. Phyllis has a very skewed concept of right and wrong. She believes that everything she did was on her own time and not on Marchetti turf, and therefore, she was wrongfully let go. She downplays the severity of everything, and acts like she did the right thing. She claims the whole situation was Diane's fault, and since Diane was MIA, she'd told Stark to return to L.A. She believes she's fixed everything; Diane was gone, and Stark would probably leave, so it was all over. Phyllis was very cocky in her discussion with Summer because she believed Summer would never fire her. I cheered when Summer fired her mother, because Phyllis certainly had it coming.

I loved the look on Phyllis' face when Sally innocently added insult to injury, when she announced that her new venture would be interior decorating and for Phyllis to sharpen her pencil because Sally was going to be Phyllis' biggest competitor.

After Sally said that, my first thought was how much crow Phyllis would have to eat before she asked Sally for a job, but it looks like good ol' Phyl was saved by Daniel. However, here is something to chew on. Sally told Adam she wanted to partner with Chancellor-Winters to design their hotels, offices, and entertainment venues. I'm pretty sure Lily and Devon will probably hire Sally and Chloe. But wait -- Chancellor-Winters already hired Daniel for his gaming platform, and Daniel has hired Phyllis because she's a huge gamer and this is right up her alley.

If all goes as planned, then Phyllis will be in the same scenario at Chancellor-Winters as she'd been in at Marchetti, only this time, her target will be Sally. These two are like nitro and glycerin. Boom! This could become quite interesting.

Confession time, though. I really wish Phyllis had been unemployed for a few minutes more. She isn't really going to learn any lessons if she doesn't have to sit with her discomfort for a little while. But if she learned lessons, I guess she wouldn't be Phyllis anymore.

I don't understand why Abby would be worried about her future without Chance. She is rich and beautiful, runs a successful business, and has her whole family supporting her. Is she worried that fairy tale lives don't exist, and she finally realized she'd been living in a delusional bubble? If Abby was a person of very modest means, I could understand her being worried about a roof over her head, food on the table, and Dominic's well-being. I can't sympathize with her over any of it because she is well established, and she brought the divorce on herself.

I agree with Chance; they got married too quickly, and they didn't have the same perspective of what their life should be. I'm still scratching my head over Abby's decision to finding a donor and surrogate to carry her child while Chance was on an assignment with no expiration date. Why didn't she wait for Chance to come home (or find him, as the case may be) and wait to see if his swimmers had improved so they could have a child truly their own rather than Abby and a donor's (who wound up being Devon)? Having a child is an experience to be shared as a couple, but Abby did all this on her own, and Chance arrived home to a five- or six-month old baby he had no connection to. They had hardly been married a minute before it was all in play. Everything about their relationship felt rushed.

I have always found Abby's actions to be selfish and self-indulging. They never made sense to me, especially this latest episode where she felt so sorry for herself that she had to go dinky dunking with Devon to ease her pain. Oy!! Another example of her immaturity. How did Abby think this would solve her problems?

Besides Phyllis, Abby is another one who doesn't stop to consider the consequences of her actions. Even if she and Devon hadn't been caught in the act, how long would Abby have been able to keep that secret from Chance before it ate her up? I would say 3.5 seconds before she blurted it out to Chance, and then she would immediately begin apologizing, believing her apology would fix everything. Yup, Chance is right, their marriage was doomed from the start, and the sooner they divorced, the better. They say wisdom comes with age; I hope Abby matures after this experience and that she can remove those rose-colored glasses and see what the real world looks like. Hopefully, Victor will keep his nose out of their business.

I am happy to see that Chance has turned to Sharon, who can help him work through his feelings and put his thoughts into perspective. Can we see the fluttering of a possible romance between these two? If that happens, wouldn't that just burn the Naked Heiress' ass. It might be fun to watch Abby tie herself in knots. I'm surprised Sharon hasn't hung out a shingle "Coffee and Psychological help available on the premises." I swear, Sharon doles out more psychological help from the coffeehouse than coffee, or so it would appear. Nevertheless, and kidding aside, she is helping a lot of people. Does she even work in an office? The therapy gig mustn't pay well if she's always at Crimson Lights.

Billy just seems to jump from one obsession to another, and I really believe that Lily has his number. Is this man child ever going to become an adult? I understand why Jill is always worried about him. Lily is right -- Billy has slipped into another one of his obsessions. This time, it's helping Chelsea. Lily should be his priority, but it seems Billy thinks Chelsea can't do anything without his help. He is constantly checking on her, almost to the point of suffocation.

It was fantastic that he was there for Chelsea at the moment her mental health reached the crisis point and for the initial few days after her release from the mental health facility, but Billy has gone over the top with his help. Chelsea has her therapist, Sharon, Adam, and countless others who are looking out for her, but it appears Billy believes he is the best person to help her. I can understand Lily's concerns about Billy spending so much time with Chelsea, even though she knows it's not romantic (yet, at least). At this point, I'm wondering who is in more desperate need of a therapist, Chelsea or Billy. My vote is for Billy. Chelsea is holding her own, owning up to her guilt from past actions, and feeling good about it. I can't say the same for Billy.

Lily opened up to Daniel, which I thought was a good move on her part. She and Daniel had been married and had always been very open with each other in the past. Opening up to Daniel did help her

Billy is unsettled about Daniel being back in town. He knows Lily and Daniel's history and how quickly they have reconnected. Billy can't help noticing how much time Lily and Daniel have been spending together, although some of it has been to interest her and Devon in launching Daniel's gaming platform idea. It looks like Devon and Lily are going ahead with Daniel's idea, and Billy is concerned that Daniel will be staying in town in too close proximity to Lily.

Billy is insecure because he and Lily haven't been getting along very well lately. They've had a few arguments over him helping Chelsea. Lily understands he saved Chelsea's life, but because Billy is so focused on helping Chelsea, Lily is pulling away from Billy and pulling closer to Daniel. Billy senses he's losing Lily to Daniel.

Lily had had a long chat with Traci, the one person in Genoa City who seems to always give good advice. Traci encouraged Lily to go to couples counseling with Billy because she knew how in love they were and that Billy needed Lily. I'm happy I was sitting down, because when Lily broached the subject with Billy, without any argument, he agreed to couples counseling. Will it help? I'm not so sure because I think Lily is being drawn to Daniel. Every time she sees Daniel, her face lights up in absolute delight. I have never saw that face while she's been with Billy. I have a feeling we will see a Lily and Daniel pairing again, especially with them working so closely together.

I enjoy reading everyone's comments, but I have recently read some comments that have accused me of Adam-bashing. I have always admitted he wasn't a favorite of mine, but I have given Adam credit where it was due. I'm offering my own opinion about the characters and how I perceive them, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me. How dull and boring would it be if I only wrote sunshine and lollipops about every character?

Why is Adam so adamant for Billy to discontinue helping Chelsea? Has he forgotten that Billy and Chelsea are Johnny's biological parents, and for that reason, Billy might want to help her? Adam sounds jealous, and I wonder why. Since Adam and Sally's breakup, I wonder if he is hoping to reconcile with Chelsea. If that is where his head is, the big question is, would Chelsea want to have a life with Adam again? She has grown a lot. I think it's time Adam moved on, but not with Chelsea. Those two were like oil and water. Adam already said he didn't want Chelsea romantically, so why does he want to ban Billy from Chelsea's network of support? He has no say in who Chelsea choses as her friends or who should be her supporters. Chelsea appears to value Billy's friendship.

Adam and Sally realized that what they'd had cannot be rekindled. Adam has been lashing out at everyone with his insults, and I just see him going down that rabbit hole again and revisiting his dark place. I would love to see Adam eventually be with someone who could keep him on the straight and narrow, make him happy, and tone down that ginormous ego of his.

What is with Nate? How does he walk through a doorway with that ego? He betrayed his family in the worst possible way and teamed up with Victoria. Does he really think he should be privy to everything going on within the family that has disowned him? He is so desperate to find out what happened between Devon and Amanda that he has been doing his own investigation with those in the know and blatantly asking Lily and Devon what happened. I cheered when Devon told Nate that he was no longer part of the family and instructed Nate to stay out of their business.

Imani was the one to give Nate a clue that something had happened, but I don't think Amanda told anyone she'd caught Devon cheating on her with Abby. If Amanda had told Imani, I'm sure Imani would have passed that little nugget along to Nate. I've said it before, and I will say it again: I want to see Nate fall flat on his face and Victoria eating crow for hiring him.

Jack really tried to lay a huge guilt trip on Nikki and Ashley about Diane leaving town. I wonder how guilty they really feel. If they felt any guilt, the guilt was superficial because they accomplished their goal -- or so they thought. Diane was gone.

Where does Nikki get off warning Nick about Sally? He isn't an 18-year-old with raging hormones; he's a grown man, and if he chooses to spend time with Sally, that is entirely his decision. I'm surprised by it, but I have to admit, I like this pairing. Like Victor, Nikki has to stick her high and mighty nose into everyone's business. Stick to your guns, Nick!

Those are my opinions for this week. I'd love to hear yours. Feel free to drop them off in the Comments box just below this column. And until next time, stay safe, merry Christmas, and happy holidays.Nel

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