Restless Rant
Week of December 6 – 10:

While I’ve been drawn in by the drama this past week, it brings me down a bit when every character on the canvas is either mentally unbalanced, targeted by someone mentally unbalanced, evil, targeted by someone evil, or experiencing negative emotions. As I’ve said before, the best soap writing makes you laugh, cry, swoon, and get angry – sometimes all in the same day! I’ve certainly indulged in a few giggles this week, but it would be nice to have something positive or upbeat happening storyline-wise to offset all the misery. Here are my points on the week:

Ronan’s potentially fatal disease.
While I’m finding this rare disease a little convenient and ho hum, I do like the character of Ronan, and wish they would use him more effectively. Building a relationship between him and Chloe (who believes he killed Chance), for instance, would be something worth tuning in for. Frankly, I think having Heather obsessing over him is a far more serious affliction than the disease – if he can’t shake her, he may as well just succumb and end his/our misery.

The unmasking of Sharon and the chocolate-covered catfight!
From my point of view, Sharon isn’t being so much ‘unmasked’ as humanized. She’s no longer the perfect fair maiden in the castle window, and that’s fine – that depiction has been unrealistic for quite sometime now. As much as I could understand Sharon being torn about Adam, I think it’s far-fetched that she would take things this far. That said, there’s no denying some powerhouse scenes have come out of it – who didn’t hoot when Nikki laid into Sharon at the Club, or relish the Jack/Sharon and Ashley/Sharon confrontations? And if not for Sharon’s ill-advised foray back into the Land of Adam, we would never have had the chocolate-covered catfight – such a great little scene – which led to two other great little scenes: between Jack and Phyllis at the penthouse, and between Adam and Sharon at their hotel room. When Sharon walked in dripping with chocolate, Adam’s barely concealed amusement as he tried to convey serious concern made me laugh out loud. Bottom line – I feel weirdly compelled to watch what happens next.

Penthouse Phyllis.
I may not be a fan of Phyllis and Jack as a couple, but I appreciate that Jack accepts and enjoys Phyllis being back to her ‘old self’ as much as viewers do. I prefer outspoken, naughty, and sometimes-nasty Phyllis, who makes no apologies for herself, and I like that the writers have been able to go there without erasing the character’s growth. Her warnings to Daisy and Kevin this week were a nice wink to longtime viewers who remember what Phyllis is capable of when ‘pushed’ to ‘throw stones’!

Dialed down.
I was glad they dialed Lauren’s drama down a few notches this week. It was refreshing to see her interact with Phyllis and Jill on a more composed level after the scenes in the courthouse. The new dynamic between Jill and Lauren is great – and I love that Jill acted on Katherine’s advice.

Little ditty about Nick and Diane…
So, the writers threw them together again this week- this time in the bookstore with the kids…hmm. Methinks Diane might just be formulating the perfect way to stick it to Phyllis – by shagging her ex and hanging out with her kid! Look. Out.