Oh, my gosh, the major news of the week didn't take place on-screen -- but it will soon. Michelle Stafford will be reprising the role of Phyllis Summers, meaning Gina Tognoni is out. This is a huge shake-up for the soap world, since this not only affects Y&R but also General Hospital. As a GH viewer, I am so sad to see Michelle Stafford go as Nina because I absolutely loved her chemistry with her leading men, first with Roger Howarth's Franco and then with James Patrick Stuart's Valentin. As a Y&R viewer, I've always thought that Gina Tognoni proved she had the acting chops when she was able to make the role of Phyllis her own after the role had been played brilliantly by Michelle Stafford for so many years. I will truly miss watching Gina as Phyllis and Michelle as Nina, since each brought their own unique spin to these wonderfully complex characters.
But with what seems to be an unofficial rivalry with casting going on between the two soaps for several years, maybe General Hospital should grab the Daytime Emmy Award-winning Gina Tognoni to play Nina now. I've no doubt she would do the role of Nina justice, and it would be so intriguing to see the chemistry between her version of Nina and Valentin. I will be watching for new developments regarding Nina, as I look forward to seeing Ms. Stafford's return as Phyllis. It's actually perfect timing for the recast, since Phyllis seems to be at somewhat of a crossroads in both her career and her personal life. Michelle Stafford will be able to return as the new chapter in Phyllis' story develops. I wish the best of luck to both actresses!
Now, let's get back to our regularly scheduled Two Scoops so I can share my thoughts on all of the action that played out last week.
Although Kyle and Rey appeared to have something in common, making the ultimate sacrifice for love, each one's motives seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. While Kyle seemed genuine in marrying Summer to ensure that she would donate part of her liver to his true love, Lola, Rey took full credit for the rescue of our troubled trio, Nikki, Victoria, and Sharon, from the diabolical clutches of the very much alive although quite unconscious J.T. Kyle was selfless in only wanting the lovely Lola to live; however, the selfish Rey supposedly risked his job just to score some major points with Sharon. But the way the writers are penning it, Rey and Sharon will be the greatest love story of all time.
Sharon must find an unemployed, obnoxious, self-serving man with a wife and possibly baby on the way to be very attractive, because she flew into his arms once the charges were vacated and the ladies were set free. Oh, yeah, it was romantic, all right. So much so that it practically made me nauseous. Since I expect we will be seeing much more of the newly anointed lovebirds, I'd better keep the Pepto-Bismol nearby. Yes, Rey was so noble that he was willing to risk his career all for the sake of love, and Paul was happy to oblige by firing him on the spot.
Hooray! Paul Williams is finally back, running the PCPD. We missed you, Paul! And his first order of business of canning Rey received a thumbs-up from me, although I'm sure that Rey will worm his way back into a job with the police department soon. Paul had me admiring him once again when he told Sharon that Rey wasn't worth the price of her quitting her job. Luckily, Sharon had Crimson Lights to fall back on, but really? She gave up a terrific job for a man? Sharon must be back in the caveman days. Today's woman knows not to let affairs of the heart rule over a successful career. Even if she ends up losing the man, she will still have the self-respect earned through her profession.
J.T. sure looked like he was suffering from some major migraines before he passed out on the floor, and of course, there was a reason for it, and one that soap fans have heard before. J.T. may have been suffering all along from a brain tumor that had turned him violent and abusive, and the removal of the tumor possibly had J.T. back to the mild-mannered, rational person that he used to be. Okay, that's not very definite. But wow, that's just like a storyline straight from General Hospital. J.T. could get plenty of advice from Franco Baldwin about living life after a brain tumor removal. It's too bad for J.T. that Christine still intended on charging him with the attempted murder of Victor Newman, and that Victoria could never forget what he did. It was good news/bad news for the guy.
I'm not really understanding the cold shoulder that Victoria was giving Billy, though. He was with her throughout the entire ordeal and helped to gain her freedom. She acted almost like she was piling J.T.'s sins onto Billy. But it's very possible that she was back to having no faith in her own judgment of men. However, Reed was way out of line to turn his anger on Victoria after all the turmoil she has gone through due to his father. Reed demanded that she stop treating him like a kid, but that would be easier for her to do if he would stop acting like one. Reed's young and immature. Hopefully, he can "plug" his life back in soon, and the first step would be for him to grow up.
It was so laughable when Rey told Christine that he had been the one to set a trap to smoke out the living J.T. Thank heavens, he came in like the cavalry, riding on his white steed to rescue his fair maiden from a fate worse than death -- or even from death. How virtuous and selfless! And Sharon has been so blinded and smitten with the guy, she fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. Forget that Nick and Billy had come up with the whole scheme to begin with. Rey couldn't let those piddly, little details matter when he was targeting the bull's-eye of Sharon's heart. Nick and Billy had put the plan in motion to get J.T. to reveal himself, and Rey's part was to arrange for the girls to escape before they were imprisoned. But in Rey's eyes, he was the hero of the hour, day, decade, and century.
Rey claimed over and over that he had to make things right, but you know he only meant for Sharon. When Rey first hit town, he was roaring like a lion, vowing to find the missing J.T. But since then, he's turned into a bleating lamb with his goo-goo eyes always glued on Sharon. She deserves so much better. Why do the writers always stick her with jerks like Rey? It makes Sharon look like an imbecile instead of an intelligent lady who has battled her way through her bipolar disorder and then continued her education, so she could live a resourceful life on her own. But even after running straight from the passionate arms of his wife to search Sharon's place for evidence under the pretense of love, Rey still had Sharon dancing to his very off-key tune. It seems he got exactly what he wanted.
Rey was such a champion that he even kicked his wife and his supposed unborn child out of his apartment. It didn't matter if Mia was truly pregnant or not, because Rey believed that she was. But he's such an inspiration, he threw her right out, bag and baggage. If Mia really was preggers, she was all on her own as far as Rey was concerned. How gallant! Rey certainly has not been proving to be a role model for anyone. He was a married man chasing after a single, attractive woman, even while he promised his wife, during most of that time, that he would make his marriage work. He's despicable and most certainly no hero.
But Sharon will be stuck with him. Lucky her. More than likely, though, she won't have to worry about a baby making three -- or in this case, four. Mia has probably been lying about the whole bun-in-the-oven thing anyway. I mean, she never mentions her ongoing pregnancy with anyone except Rey. But even if she is pregnant, the baby could very well be Arturo's after their little one-night stand. However, with Jason Canela on his way out as Arturo, it's unlikely that Mia's baby, if there is one, would be his. No, Mia was probably only pretending to be pregnant to hold onto Rey, but she was desperate, since her husband was constantly chasing after a blonde tootsie right in front of her face. Even without sleeping with Sharon, Rey had still been cheating on his wife in his mind and in his heart.
It was rather strange that what was first just a not-so-innocent kiss between Mia and Arturo suddenly turned into a heated, passionate roll in the hay later. But after hearing of Jason Canela's upcoming exit, it all made sense. Arturo needed a reason to leave, and Abby kicked him to the curb and broke off their engagement once the "lying, backstabbing serial cheater" confessed his sexual romp with Mia. Arturo was free to fly like a bird, which was good, since his "poor, innocent truck" was all smashed up after Abby took a hammer to it. With that swing, she'd be great in baseball. Hopefully, Abby pounded all her hurt out -- but probably not.
It's just too bad that the wrong brother is leaving Genoa City, though. If only Rey was like March and was in like a lion and out like a lamb. Sigh. But the April showers couldn't bring enough flowers to entice Abby to give Arturo another chance. And he should know. He had the rose petals to prove it. Oh, well. Arturo wasn't really creating enough drama, anyway, although it's funny that he's finally getting interesting on his way out the door. Isn't that always the way on soaps?
Mia is just like Phyllis in that she tends to be her own worst enemy. No wonder they are such good friends. Nick said it best when he stated that Phyllis' motto was "take me as I am" and that she never bothered to figure out the right and wrong of her logic. But the wily Red had better beware, because Kerry, under the guise of her own new secret intern, will hopefully help end Red's reign as CEO at Jabot. Really, an Abbott needs to be in charge again, even if it's Ashley -- who's back! There's a new non-blood Abbott in town (again), ready to take control.
Poor Jack, though, will no longer be the Jack of Kerry's heart, since Kerry ensured that Ashley's cosmetics company had acquired the patent to Jack of Hearts. Man, he was burned by her, both professionally and personally. That had to scorch his behind. Kerry preferred women power, and her partnership with Ashley should be vicious. Phyllis will finally be able to see the benefits of working together as a real team. Hopefully, her fire will be doused, and she will go down in flames. This is one emergency board meeting that should be fun to watch.
I felt for Kyle when he came clean with Lola about Summer being her donor. Maybe Lola was right, and Kyle was still in love with Summer, but he sure didn't seem to think so. Kyle was probably right, too, in not telling Lola about Summer's part in it all until after the surgery. Lola needed her strength for the procedure, and she sure didn't need any negativity beforehand. I don't know if Kyle could have found another way to convince Summer to do the right thing without risking Lola's life. There was so little time, and Kyle was willing to do anything so that she would live, even if he had to live without her. To me, that was totally selfless. Rey should take a lesson from Kyle.
Lola was gracious enough to thank Summer for her liver donation that saved Lola's life, although Lola expressed that she never wanted to see Summer again. Hmmm...what are the odds of that happening? Just the fact that Lola made her wishes known to Summer guaranteed that she will see both Summer and Kyle often. And Kyle wouldn't have it any other way, since he couldn't get the lovely chef out of his head and his heart. But Kyle made his bed, and he will have to lie in it with Summer, since Summer believed she was in love with him. However, that love may only last for as long as Kyle continues to be drawn to Lola. Heaven help him if he falls for Summer again.
As concerned as Jack was over his son, he was worried that Summer might end up being collateral damage, since Kyle made it very clear to his dad that he was still in love with Lola. Jack has always thought of Summer as his daughter -- and now she's married to his son. It's almost weird, yet fitting at the same time. Even if Kyle was willing to marry Summer so that she would fulfill her end of the liver bargain, she can't force Kyle to love her. Her many declarations that she and her new husband could move on with their married life together won't change that. Jack was right to be fearful, if their "eternal" bliss can't last past Thursday, as Abby predicted.
But Abby and Lola set the perfect example of how to move on after losing what they thought were the men of their dreams. Because they each had a career of their dreams, also, which was Abby's new restaurant with Lola as the chef. They didn't need a man to make their way for them (although having Devon's money certainly didn't hurt). And they sure wouldn't consider giving up their dream to prove a point to the men they love. Sharon seems to take one step forward and two steps back. She quit...okay, resigned from a job she loved, for Rey's sake, but his firing had nothing to do with her job. It was a stupid "grand gesture" and done for no real reason other than to prove her loyalty to Rey. Stupid.
Devon welcomed Jett and Elena with open arms into his penthouse and then threw money at them so Jett could have the best specialists to repair his vocal cords. Could Elena be Devon's next love interest? Even though Elena is related to Ana, she has no blood ties with Devon. She's certainly nothing like Hilary. Devon recalled that he had let Tucker pay for the surgery to restore his hearing. I had forgotten about Tucker McCall. Y&R should bring him back now that Stephen Nichols in no longer on Days of our Lives. It would be great to see Tucker and Devon interacting as father and son now that Katherine is gone -- and now that Neil is also gone. Neil Winters will be so terribly missed. Lily and Cane could sure use his wisdom and advice with a possible divorce in their future.
Dina's statement to Jack was so heartbreaking. "It's almost...it's almost like I break your heart every time I go." And the saddest thing was that it was probably true.
Nikki was the lucky one because, not only did she get to appreciate the simple pleasures in life after being in the slammer, but she also got rewarded with a lovely necklace, compliments of Victor. He did good.
Who says Summer is spoiled? Nick decided to build his daughter a house as a wedding gift. What? Most people are lucky if they can get a small appliance that isn't a toaster. All I can say is that it must be nice.
Reflecting on her relationship with Arturo, Abby regretted not seeing "the red flags -- they couldn't have been bigger or redder." If those flags had been as bright as the dozens of red roses in the room, Abby must have been almost comatose not to have seen them.
The news is out that Sean Dominic has been recast as Nate Hastings, taking over the role from Brooks Darnell. Although this was sudden, and there was no reason given, sometimes a recast is done just to take the character in a different direction. I bid Brooks Darnell a fond farewell and wish the best for him in his career.
What are your thoughts on The Young and the Restless? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
