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Credit: Howard Wise/JPI (5)

Wow. OK. We get it now.

A fierce debate has erupted among fans of The Young and the Restless over Phyllis, whose vendetta against Diane had led to the nefarious Jeremy Stark’s arrival in Genoa City. On one side of the argument, you have viewers who altogether understand Phyllis’ actions. They remember the havoc that Diane wreaked and the lengths to which she went to remove her rival from Jack’s life.

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On the other side, you have a portion of the audience that marvels at Phyllis’ hypocrisy. She is, after all, a paternity-test-tampering attempted murderess. It doesn’t seem to occur to her at all that she is doing to Diane exactly what she herself would be outraged if Christine did to her.

Michelle Stafford, Lauralee Bell christine cricket phyllis ss

“Seriously, though — how do you still have a driver’s license?”

Credit: Sean Smith/JPI

And us? Our take is that Phyllis has sped past the point of no return, making it clear that Jack is right: She hasn’t changed. She can’t change. And from a soap-watching perspective, that’s great. A Phyllis who lacks the ability to troubleshoot a scheme and uses the second chance that she’s been given in life to decide who does and doesn’t deserve the same is a Phyllis that will not only always stir the pot but keep it boiling.

It also solidifies her position among Genoa City’s resident paradoxes: She is an antagonist who is so convinced that she is right that she sees herself as a heroine. This allows her to make whatever trouble she likes for whomever she doesn’t like and still expect karma to smile down upon her.

On which side of the debate do you fall? En route to the comments, check out our fun new photo gallery of behind-the-scenes moments from Young & Restless and all the soaps.