Genoa City for the week of September 22 – 26:

“Y&R” has some storylines that have been quite entertaining and really are building momentum and anticipation in the audience. At the same time, issues continue to pop up with show history and dull, drawn-out dialogue. Thoughts:

Check please!
The build up surrounding Sharon’s secret (drink!) continues to bring us excellent scenes and anticipation. As predicted in last week’s rant, Mariah assumed Sharon’s paternity sleep-talk involved Faith, which led to several fun scenes, including Nikki catching Victor paying Mariah off, and Victor faking a headache at Nick’s in order to make off with some DNA samples. Love! It’s interesting that they have Victor doing the testing overseas – and what will he find out? Imagine if another revelation came out of this unexpectedly and Nick isn’t Faith’s father. Juicy. Anyway, the wedding planning has continued happily (except for Nick seeing the dress – oops!) and next week brings Nick and Sharon’s bachelor and bachelorette parties, which look like they’re going to be an absolute riot!

You’re awfully quiet.
Fueled on sheer determination alone, with not a single physical therapy session required, Phyllis continued to make her way back home from Georgia. Having to beat off the touchy-feely driver and cope with having the cops on her trail were obstacles, but the truck driver who took her the rest of the way to Genoa City was a gem. Loved the throwback to the first scene of “Y&R!” For more on the original cast member who played the truck driver, read my interview with Tom Hallick. Can’t wait to see what Phyllis remembers and where she’s headed first!

I want you to be happy here.
Happily, the arrival of Phyllis ‘in the flesh’ will force Jack and Kelly to stop playing out the same scene each time they deal with a memory of her.

Don’t drink that!
Loving drunk Nikki, her secret little friendship with Maureen, and her near misses with Paul and Dylan while tipsy! Thanks to Dylan, she has now realized that she can pass off her slurring as an MS symptom. Gah!

Looking at me for murder?
Many viewers aren’t quite feeling this Ian Ward stuff. It’s irritating that not one person involved has twigged on the idea that Dylan could be the victim of a set up. Considering what Ian has shown himself to be capable of, it should have been everyone’s first thought – it certainly was for viewers. Meh. They’re also not thinking outside of the box or looking at other suspects. Case in point below…

The man in black.
Is Kevin going squirrely again? That seems to be the question. My ‘just for fun’ theory is that maybe he’s somehow involved in Ian Ward’s disappearance and is flying completely under the radar. It just seems he began writing this murder mystery screenplay right around the time Ian disappeared. He also alluded to having a reason to stick around that had to do with his new friend, Mariah. He could be keeping Ian somewhere and manipulating the whole thing from behind-the-scenes, knowing the police aren’t even looking at anyone but Dylan. The evidence against Dylan is circumstantial and he certainly seems to believe he’s innocent, so there has to be something else going on. What do you think about Kevin? Vote in Soaps.com’s Y&R Poll: Kevin and Ian’s Disappearance.