The never-ending battles, betrayals, and retaliation

Were the old sets gloomy or was dark lighting the style of the day? Perhaps the gloomy lighting was the reason there were so many negative feelings that led to the physical and verbal altercations we saw in Genoa City last week. These dark and gloomy rooms could have put angels into a depressive state. Let's invade these people's personal lives and see if perhaps they had a good reason for their bitchy tempers.

COVID-19 is still plaguing (pardon the pun) us, but it certainly gives us a chance to see how things had evolved in Genoa City. Did anyone notice how dark the sets were back then? When I watched these episodes when they first aired, the dark sets seemed to be the norm, but watching them now, I find it funny that now those sets strike me as being quite depressing. I guess they were supposed to represent the popular dcor de jour. I personally love the airy style of the today's decor. Let's see how the darkness impacted the drama back in the day!

I have always seen the Victor/Jack and Katherine/Jill rivalries as the most epic, and I'm still scratching my head, trying to figure out which one was worse. A distant second would be Sharon/Nikki and their ongoing battle of constant put-downs, and the same could be said about Lily/Hilary battles. Victor/Jack and Katherine/Jill's rivalries seemed to have begun about the same time, but I believe that Victor and Jack's altercations had always been the most volatile and mostly about business. They were always attempting to usurp each other's company.

When Victor arrived in Genoa City, he sported a very dark personality accompanied with a mile-wide mean streak. When he started his own company and it succeeded, he wanted to be king and rule Genoa City. He built Newman Enterprises from the ground up (as he often reminds us), and it wasn't surprising that he and Jack would become rivals. Eventually, Victor did acquire Jabot in a hostile takeover, and this led to the epic battles we have seen between Victor and Jack throughout the years.

Jack had never been a slouch, and while Victor had made it known that he would step away from Newman Enterprises temporarily, Jack saw his opportunity to take over Newman Enterprises, with Brad's help. What followed, after Victor's return, was the most epic battle between these two men, in my opinion. Victor actually scared me with his threatening look. I jumped when he smashed the portrait of Jack and Brad over the bust on the table. I have seen Victor in the heat of anger, but not like that. Jack appeared to be stoic during Victor's rampage, but I believe Jack was a quivering mass on the inside, especially after Victor threatened to destroy him, no matter the time or cost. The way Victor threatened Jack, I believe it would have unnerved the coldest heart.

Over the years, I have noticed a mellowing out between these two rivals, and I'm not sure whether I like this frenemies relationship or not. (It's hard to argue with yourself, but, yes, I'm having that argument.) Did I enjoy the tension created by these two high-powered men, or do I like that they seem to have settled their differences and can actually have a "friendly" drink together? I think my devilish side is winning because I'm leaning more to the tension-filled encounters between these two men. I liked watching and wondering who was going to outdo the other. I don't believe Jack would ever be able to outwit or outmaneuver Victor, but they were fun to watch when there was that great tension between them.

These fights between Victor and Jack were epic, but then we have Mr. Bad Boy, Michael Baldwin, who was out to destroy Victor, as well. These battles between Victor and Michael were few and far between -- and honestly, no match to the rivalry between Victor and Jack. Nevertheless, Michael would stop at nothing to prove that Victor's marriage to Nikki was invalid, and he helped Jack and Brad win a seat on the board for Diane and himself.

In the meantime, Victor was busy making sure that Michael would pay for attempting to destroy his marriage to Nikki and helping Jack in the hostile takeover of Newman Enterprises. Methinks Michael was going to wind up being Goliath to Victor's David. Michael would discover that you don't take on the Great Victor Newman unless you have a 100% chance of winning! Does anyone believe that anyone will ever outsmart Victor?

A big shout-out to Eric Braeden's performance in those scenes with Jack. He was stellar. It appeared that every pore of his being oozed outrage at the situation Jack and Brad had created. Amazing acting!

Then we had the continuous catfights between Nikki and Sharon. I never understood why Nikki, of all people, disliked Sharon so much. Nikki's background was nothing to write home about. She'd been a stripper when Victor met her, and she had the audacity to call Sharon a tramp! This was a clear case of the pot calling the kettle metal! Nikki has had 20 affairs (I swear, she would have had a conjugal visit with a snake if she could jack it up), and she was married about twelve times, four of which were to Victor.

Sharon, on the other hand, had a child when she was 16 (that isn't out of the ordinary; it happens), she's been married five times, and she's had 19 affairs. I have to ask, why does Nikki think she is so much better than Sharon? Is it jealousy, or would no one be good enough for her precious son, Nick?

Nikki really has no problem with fighting dirty, especially with her background. Nikki started that catfight in the barn. Victor tried to surprise Sharon with a new horse, but in walked Nikki with Sharon's horse and caustically stated that she didn't think Sharon would mind if she rode him first because that sort of thing didn't seem to bother Sharon. Rather than taking the bait, Sharon smiled sweetly and said a racehorse wasn't accustomed to carrying that much weight, and the barbs went downhill from there. The barbs thrown back and forth had my giggle factor on high.

All that trash talk wound up with both woman scuffling in the hay, which was akin to a street brawl and most unbecoming. Oh! I know, my "prude" is showing. I'm old school and I was brought up that women should never got down and dirty or brawl. This catfight consisted more of hairpulling and water games, since there were no punches thrown, but I had to laugh when Victor had his problems restraining Nikki because she was determined to get to Sharon, who was being held by the police officer and also struggling to get to Nikki.

It was hilarious to see them both in the same cell. I saw this scene back when it originally aired, and I wish they could have shown the following episode because I don't recall the outcome of their togetherness in the one cell. These were great scenes, and kudos to Melody Thomas Scott and Sharon Case for pulling off the scenes. Well done!

Again, I have noticed that over the years, the barbs are still there, but nothing like they used to be. Now that Nikki and Sharon have called a truce and have become friends since Sharon's cancer diagnosis, I think I like it, but I hope that when Sharon's crisis is over, they will go back to being enemies once again. They were fun to watch, but who knows, they might be fun to watch as friends. With everyone mellowing out, is all this drama going to disappear? We seem to have lost the constant build-up to confrontations now that Victor and Jack are frenemies of sorts and Nikki and Sharon have become buddies.

Like Victor, "The Duchess" can certainly hold her own in in any fight, especially with Jill. Jill was in the attic at the Chancellor mansion, looking for proof that Katherine had stolen everything from her that Philip had left for her. Jill found a folder with her name on it, but she'd been unable to open it because Katherine had arrived. Katherine saw what a mess Jill had made with the opened boxes. Katherine demanded that Jill clean it up and get out of her house, but Jill claimed she'd been looking for a memento of Philip because Katherine had left her with nothing. Katherine stated that Jill deserved nothing.

When Jill accused Katherine of killing Philip and claiming he'd never loved Katherine, that was enough provocation for Katherine to slap Jill across the face. Katherine stated that Philip had never loved Jill, but he'd used her like a common whore. That was enough to start a catfight between these "ladies." I'm not a fan of women fighting, but hats off to Jeanne Cooper and Jess Walton for making it look so real. Like Victor, Katherine wasn't someone to be trifled with because she held her own, and I doubt whether she could've been beaten in any altercation. You are still missed, Jeanne Cooper.

Lily Winters and Hilary Curtis never saw eye to eye. From the moment that Hilary arrived in Genoa City, Lily had her suspicions about her. Lily had been proven right -- Hilary was trouble, and Hilary was after Lily's husband, Cane. Things never changed between Lily and Hilary. Lily became enraged when she discovered that Hilary had become a part of Neil's life, and that was enough to prompt Lily into action.

Lily was determined to get Hilary out of their lives, especially Neil's life. As manager of the Athletic Club, Lily had access to all the rooms. She went to Hilary's suite, and while Hilary slept, Lily dumped a pitcher of water over Hilary's head. Lily said they had a score to settle. Lily claimed that Hilary had torn her family apart and seduced Neil when he'd been at his most vulnerable. Lily called Hilary a lying and manipulative tramp. Hilary accused Lily of being a spoiled brat, and she reminded Lily that Neil was capable of deciding who he wanted to be with.

Lily's hatred of Hilary never died, and she called Hilary out every chance she got. Lily knew that Hilary was, in fact, Ann Turner, and that she moved to Genoa City to get revenge on Neil for what he'd done to her mother. It was later proven that Neil had had nothing to do with her mother's death. I don't believe that the rivalry between Lily and Hilary ever got physical, but the anger and the barbs were always present. Lily would have done anything to get Hilary out of their lives.

As we all know, Lily served twelve months in prison for Hilary's death because she'd been driving and had become distracted while arguing with Hilary; she ran a red light, and they were T-boned by a truck. Hilary died from her injuries, and Lily paid the price.

I never cared for Hilary. She was too self-absorbed, and to me, it felt like she always thought she was better than everyone. There were too many sides to Hilary, and most of them weren't pretty. She reminded me of a wolf in sheep's clothing, and you never knew which side of Hilary would emerge, the caring Hilary who loved Devon, the conniving Hilary who schemed to get what she wanted, or the self-indulgent television star who believed everyone was subservient to her.

Christel Khalil is a great actress, and I love how she portrays Lily, strong and mostly unflappable. Mishael Morgan played Hilary beautifully. She made all the different shades of Hilary believable, from being completely in love with Devon to the entitled television star.

Since they are showing classic moments, like Teddi, I would love to see the episode when Billy held Adam at gunpoint while making Adam drive to where Delia had been killed. I think this was their last scene before the actors left the show.

The catfight between Sharon and Nikki had me in fits of giggles because of some of the barbs they hurled at each other or the things they did.

After Nikki returned the horse to the stable, Sharon stroked the horse and said she hoped that "mean old bag" hadn't hurt him.

I couldn't believe Sharon telling Nikki that he was a racehorse and wasn't accustomed to carrying that much weight.

After Sharon suggested that Nikki go to Jimmy's, the nearest bar, Nikki retorted that if she went, then it might give Sharon a chance to earn another horse. Sharon claimed that Nikki didn't have enough prowess to earn a donkey.

I loved Sharon dunking Nikki's head in a bucket of water after Nikki poured a bottle of water over Sharon's head.

Sharon throwing some hay at Nikki reminded me of some kindergarten kids angry at each other, and this was their ultimate threat.

Next week, keeping with the themed classics, they will be airing episodes about the Winters family. There will be an episode of Kristoff St. John's debut (we are all still sad that he is gone, but he hasn't been forgotten) and Shemar Moore as Malcolm Winters (Mr. Yummy) in his first appearance in Genoa City. Other episodes will include, Lily running off with Daniel, and Devon's adoption by Drucilla and Neil. This should be another fabulous week. And only one (or two, now that Lily has semi-returned) of these people is still on the show, so this will be a real treat. They were such important people on the canvas for so long. Enjoy!

And that's a wrap from me for this week. Until we meet again!Nel

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