Yep, Pete Cooney has plan, with Adam no less! Erica and David have a plan. Jack has a plan. Kendall has endless plans. Lena has a plan. Boyd has a plan, but alas no real screen time. Opal had a plan. Ryan is a man with a plan. I bet Myrtle has a plan up her sleeve. In fact everyone in Pine Valley seems to have a plan for Michael Cambias.( Except for the Santos-Grey clan, but they seemed to have joined Sammy in the attic for the rest of the summer.)

I think not only does everyone have a plan, but everyone will suspect everyone else of following through on a plan.

What will really happen? I don’t know. I do think that Michael is as evil as Rasputin was. And Michael may prove just as difficult to kill. Maybe they will go the Agatha Christie route and have everyone kill Michael. A little poison here. A little stabbing there. Quite a few gunshots everywhere. Works for me.

Maybe Michael won’t really die. It is Pine Valley after all. That would be disappointing to this viewer. I get letters insisting that Michael should be redeemed. I think Michael is beyond redemption. That is how he was written and that is how William DeVry has played him. Michael has no redeeming qualities. He has nothing but loathing for his fellow human beings. Perhaps it is true that Mr. DeVry has played him so well that he has played himself out of a job, but I do not imagine he will be unemployed for long.

And if evil characters are constantly redeemed, where is the drama? Traditionally, soaps have been the modern spin on morality plays. If no one were ever punished for their crimes, wouldn’t it all become boring after awhile? Evil cannot always win, any more than good can always win simply by virtue of being good.

Let’s take Ray Gardner. Rapist, wife beater, child beater. Being blown up by his own bomb was perfect retribution. It would not be satisfying nor would it be good drama, to see a “redeemed” Ray walking around PV.

Most soap characters are drawn in shades of gray. We understand why they do the things they do. And they quite often suffer the consequences of their misdeeds. Adam always winds up isolated from his family. Tad destroyed his marriage to Dixie. Nina could not get away from Palmer fast enough. Opal knows she will never be the first mother in Tad’s heart. Trey is in prison.

Yet these characters are not all bad, or else why would we spend so much time with them? Adam and Palmer would walk barefoot on ground glass to save their families. Tad struggles to be the father Ray never was. Opal is the most loyal gal pal in the universe. And even Trey managed to see that Reggie got a good life before he left for the Big House.

And isn’t it enough that the repercussions of Michael’s evil acts will be felt in the Valley for years to come?

There is something about a man who uses the word “ponder.” A cross between intriguing and adorable. Maybe that is why I like Juan Pablo. I even like his accent. And props to Tomy Dunster who memorizes pages and pages of dialogue in a language in which he is not fluent. Juan Pablo is charming. He is also liar. Who knows what else he is? But right now, for me, it is enough that I don’t have the urge to fast forward his scenes.

I have gotten a few letters about Juan Pablo. About how he goes around rescuing everyone and isn’t that annoying? It reminded me of another character who had a similar introduction on AMC. I remember being slightly annoyed that this character was going from solving Liza’s ad revenue problems at WRCW to helping Kelsey with her love life to giving marriage tips to Tad. And he hadn’t even been in PV for a month! And who was this character? Ryan Lavery. And see how well that worked out?

Back to age old AMS question: Why do the wardrobe people hate Liza? Why else would they dress her in a red pants suit with the jacket buttoned up all the way in August? Why do they feel compelled to make such an attractive woman look frigid and dumpy?

Pine Valley not only knows how to dress for a wedding, they know how to dress for court, too. Opal and Myrtle looked especially good. I also loved the Mata Hari outfit Opal wore to “score some blow.” I have to love a woman who has an outfit for every occasion.

I do wonder why Maggie is wearing the maternity clothes when Bianca is the one who is pregnant.

Damn, Adam looks good in jeans. I vote for Casual Fridays at Chandler Industries starting immediately.

And finally. The All My Schmattes’ Accessory of the Year Award goes to the knife strapped to Kendall’s inner thigh. Practical and sexy!