11,000 episodes?! You don't look an episode over 10,996...

As Y&R prepares to celebrate its 11,000th episode on September 1, 2016, things in Genoa City remain just as dramatic as always. Jailbreaks, doomed engagements, and mommy issues were on the agenda this past week, and there was even room to squeeze in the return of two familiar faces. All that and more in this week's edition of Two Scoops!

I almost titled this column "The blame game," but that's been done before in Two Scoops history -- more than once, in fact -- and Y&R is in the midst of celebrating a monumental milestone, so it seems appropriate to give this column a slightly more special title. But blame was the name of the game this week in Genoa City; Adam accepted it, Luca tried to avoid it, and Victor, once again, took the brunt of it.

So, let me get this straight: Adam starts to crack while imprisoned at Walworth, stops eating and sleeping, nearly chokes a prison guard to death while hallucinating (sidebar: nicest fictional prison guard ever, right?), and somehow it's all Victor's fault? I know I've said this before, but the poor guy really does get blamed for everything. And you know what they say -- if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So, with that in mind, I have decided to blame Victor for Neil's issues with his absentee mother, the scheduling conflicts that kept Heather and Lucy stuck in Savannah, and Daniel "Hulk Hogan" Romalotti's unfortunate facial hair grooming techniques.

Kidding aside, I was glad to see Adam take responsibility for his actions. Granted, pleading guilty was a pretty foolish thing to do -- the temporary insanity defense does exist for just such situations, after all -- but at the end of the day, he put a guy in the hospital, and there's still a chance that guy might die. Extenuating circumstances or not, anyone with a conscience would have to feel guilty about that. The old Adam would have jumped at the chance to shirk responsibility, just as he tried to hide his role in Delia's death, but he has grown as a person since then.

Of course, now he's considering going on the run, so, uh...two steps forward, one step back? But it's a start, and isn't that sort of character development one of the many things we love about soaps? Even Victor showed growth this past week. He didn't just confess to Nikki (more or less) that he had framed Adam for Constance's death; he actually let her help him stage Adam's prison break! (Hey, I didn't say it was all positive growth.) Let's hope being an accomplice to one of Victor's crimes doesn't send Nikki back to the bottle again, as it did when she agreed to lie about him forging Jack's signature on the Newman-Abbott merger documents.

And while character development is one of the many things we love about soaps, character development that makes sense and doesn't completely change the core of a character is even better. I enjoyed Victor and Adam's scene at the cabin for several reasons, but the thing I liked most was the apology Adam got from Victor. It was a very Victor apology. He didn't really say "I'm sorry" at any point. And he certainly didn't indicate that he has any intention of changing who he is at his core. When someone punches him, he punches back twice as hard. That's who he is, and that's why he framed Adam in the first place.

But he acknowledged that he went too far. And while his life experiences have taught him to strike back mercilessly at those who wrong him, those same life experiences have also taught him the importance of family. Victor wouldn't be Victor if he were willing to let people get away with betraying him -- even when the traitors are members of his own family. But he also wouldn't be Victor if he were willing to let Connor grow up without a father. And letting Connor instead grow up without a grandfather is kind of like the ultimate sacrifice for Victor. In a way, that resonates more than any "I'm sorry" ever could.

So now, thanks to Victor and Nikki's help, Adam and Chelsea have the chance to leave Genoa City with Connor and start over as fresh-faced fugitives in some strange new land. (Pro-tip: maybe choosing a less obvious place than Paris would be a good idea? Just saying.) I liked Nikki's involvement in this scheme, especially because it gave us that priceless shot of Kevin -- proving once again that he makes any scene better just by being in it -- giving Nikki a wave as she barged into Chelsea's penthouse, then questioningly turning the wave into a drinking gesture once she looked away. And really, can anyone blame him for suspecting that?

Surprisingly, for once, alcohol wasn't responsible for Nikki's odd behavior. Chloe made a good point, though: it was kind of weird for Chelsea to have such an abrupt change of heart where Nikki was concerned, complete with a suspiciously long hug! It's a good thing that Dylan wasn't there to witness that; surely his Spidey-sense would have started tingling if he had been.

Because of course Dylan is all over this case like white on rice! I had to laugh when Phyllis wondered if he was the only detective on the police force. It certainly seems that way sometimes, doesn't it? (Then again, if they had another detective, he or she might turn out to be a serial killer, so maybe it's for the best that Paul keeps the roster slim.) And Dylan apparently doesn't know how to multitask, nor does his list of superpowers include being able to be in two places at once, so taking down Luca has to wait, because that's not nearly as fun as going after Victor.

Luckily for Summer (who, unfortunately, isn't really Supergirl), Jack's not really getting much playtime with Phyllis these days, if you know what I mean, so he's free to step in and save Summer from Luca, who seems to have something against the idea of confessing his crimes to people who could put him in prison for committing them. Yes, that's right -- as it turns out, Luca was behind the oil crises, after all. Who could have guessed that? Oh, right -- practically everyone but the adorably nave Summer.

I'm thrilled that the writers decided not to make Victor responsible, but I'm bummed that I won't get to see Phyllis' head explode during Summer and Luca's wedding ceremony, which Summer will surely call off now that Luca is about to get really desperate next week. Then again, Austin once held Avery hostage, and Summer found a way to get past that, so maybe there's still hope for Luca to become Mr. Snowflake (and for Tumblr to be flooded with Red-Exploding-Head .gifs) yet!

It seems that Luca will be sticking around for a while longer, unless the writers have managed to keep Miles Gaston Villanueva's departure under wraps, but I'm not sure we can say the same about Adam. Because as you're probably already aware, his current storyline is presumably leading up to Justin Hartley's maybe-temporary, maybe-permanent departure from Y&R, coinciding, conveniently enough, with the fast-approaching premiere of his critically acclaimed new NBC show This Is Us.

I'm curious, readers: are you secretly rooting for This Is Us to fail? Because, to be honest, I'm...kind of looking forward to its debut. It looks really good. And NBC seems pretty confident about it; in fact, it was practically the only new fall show they bothered to advertise during their Olympic coverage (the other, Timeless, also looks good, but I digress).

But since Melissa Claire Egan, like Villanueva, seems to be staying put, I think it's safe to assume that the writers have a few more twists in store for us in the coming weeks that will put a kink or ten in Adam and Chelsea's plan to flee into the extradition-proof sunset together. In fact, if the rumors are to be believed, plans might already be in place to keep Adam on-screen in the form of another actor -- perhaps Aiden Turner of AMC fame (not to be confused with Aidan Turner of Being Human and Poldark fame).

And, with all due respect to Turner, I'm not looking forward to that. Hartley has done wonders for the character of Adam Newman. I actually like Adam now, and I didn't when Michael Muhney was playing the character. Hell, I might even -- gasp -- miss him if he were written off. Of course, Hartley can't be given all the credit for that; there was also a notable shift in the writing for the character that coincided with his change of appearance, and that played a big role in making him more likeable.

In fact, that seemed to be a common theme in the anniversary retrospectives that began airing this past week. For many of Y&R's most beloved characters, there was a specific moment when they became an indelible part of the show's history. Pairing Michael with Lauren. Pairing Victor with Nikki. Pairing Jill with Katherine. Kevin's gradual shift from a creep to a loveable geek trying to escape a tragic past.

Adam's moment, I'd argue, began with the casting of Hartley. I just hope that if the role is recast, the character doesn't revert to who he was during the Muhney era. But let's not say goodbye to Hartley just yet. Who knows -- with NBC's track record, This Is Us might not even make it through its first thirteen episodes, right?

Meanwhile, by the time next week's Two Scoops column is posted, Y&R will have aired its 11,000th episode. Regrettably, I can't say that I was there for all of them, so I've really enjoyed seeing the old clips in the anniversary retrospectives. And it's always fun to hear the actors talk about their fondest memories of the show. I particularly liked Greg Rikaart's choice: his first scene, because that's the one that spawned all the favorite moments that came afterward. Makes perfect sense, right? (Perhaps one day I will stop having a man-crush on Rikaart/Kevin. Today is not that day.)

With that many episodes under its belt, you'd think the writers would start running out of untold backstories for all but its newest characters, but nope -- as it turns out, even after twenty-five years on the show, there are still things we don't know about Neil's past. Apparently, his mother has been trying to reach out to him for years, and he has shunned her each time.

Setting aside the suspension of disbelief that was needed to buy the idea that Hilary would have kept this information to herself all this time out of the goodness of her increasingly opportunistic heart (then again, the writers don't even seem to be able to figure her out sometimes, so how can we?), it does help explain his extreme reaction to her infidelity. But that wasn't Neil's first experience with an unfaithful partner, so I do have to wonder why this is just now bubbling to the surface. Still, since this story could help repair some of the damage that was done to him last year, I'm willing to give the writers some leeway -- at least for now.

But while I'm somewhat interested in learning more about Neil's parentage (I get the feeling that his mother's going to have a much different story about what happened with his father), what I'm really looking forward to right now is the continuation of that scene between Mariah and "the reason [her] sister [Cassie] is dead," Daniel. I was hoping the writers would think to play up that beat of history while Daniel was back in Genoa City, and they didn't disappoint. It almost makes the Hulk Hogan 'stache excusable. Almost.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is waiting impatiently for the anniversary celebration to continue. So, in the meantime, tell me, readers: what are your favorite moments from the past 10,996 episodes of Y&R? As you might have guessed, many of mine involve either Kevin or Victor, but I've also always been a sucker for a good bout of old-fashioned bickering between Jill and Katie-Kins. (Colin's return was worth it just to hear him refer to Katherine using that nickname.) Share your own memories below, and be sure to check back next week for leftover birthday cake and a side of Two Scoops!

Exchange of the Week:

Sharon: [while seizing a glass of whiskey from an extremely intoxicated Noah in the aftermath of Summer and Luca's disastrous engagement party] I'm cutting you off.Noah: I'd like to cut off Santori's --Sharon: No! Summer is your sister. We have to support her.[Mariah arrives and observes that the vibe is more reminiscent of a funeral than a party.]Noah: That's because we are mourning Summer's good sense. Time of death: now o'clock.

I think Drunk Noah is my favorite flavor of Noah.

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