HOLLYWOOD—The great thing about the February sweeps is seeing epic storylines meet a climatic shock.  Two soaps this week have built a ton of suspense around climaxes the audiences have eagerly waited for. First on “Young and Restless” after weeks of searching for the driver who struck and killed little Delia, Billy (Billy Miller) finally pieced the clues together that Adam (Michael Munhey) was responsible for killing his daughter.

The tension in the room between Adam and Billy was unspeakable. Billy slowly toyed with Adam to see if he would confess to the murder; Adam knew Billy was onto him, and nothing is more frightening than a parent grieving for the loss of a child. When Adam attempted to flee, Billy pulled a gun on him. Billy had rage in his eyes and his plans to force Adam to revisit the place where his daughter died could not bode good news for the wicked Newman child. Could Mr. Devious finally see his maker?

The person that audiences should worry about most is Chelsea (Melissa Claire-Egan) whose world came crashing down when she discovered Adam’s ultimate betrayal.  Not only will she have to come to the realization that her son’s eye transplant came from her best friend’s daughter, but the man she loves has committed the most unspeakable crime of all. If Billy, Kevin or Chloe doesn’t put a bullet into Adam, it could be Chelsea to place him out of his misery. Seeing her watch that video of him confessing to Delia’s death nearly broke my heart. The reaction on her face was unsettling and almost improbable to grasp. The walls are caving in around this mastermind, but this is one situation Adam cannot escape or can he.

“Days of Our Lives” may have pulled one of the biggest surprises in soap opera history to some (I saw this coming a mile away) by bringing a presumed dead character back to life. For nearly two months the “Days” arena has been heated ever since Gabi (Camilla Banus) struck and ‘killed’ her former boyfriend Nick (Blake Berries).

It was a game-changing moment, when a very much alive Nick, crashed Ariana’s christening. The most shocking moment was not realizing that Nick was back from the dead, remember in daytime television if you don’t find a body that means the dead may not be so dead. The giddiness came from the looks on Gabi, Sami (Alison Sweeney) and Kate’s (Lauren Koslow) faces. The ladies nearly had a mental breakdown.

For weeks they have been clamoring to keep a major secret that happened to not be a secret to begin with. Nick strolled into the church as if nothing ever happened, at least that is what he wants his perpetrators to think. The whole memory loss thing is quite common, but Nick is using this as a way to plot his revenge. The big question is who is at the top of his list, I’m guessing Gabi, considering Banus is leaving her role as the character on the soap, could her demise be on the horizon and what does that mean for Kate and Sami? Audiences should also prepare for the return of crazy Kristen DiMeria (Eileen Davidson) who is set to create more chaos inSalemafter fleeing after her disaster of a wedding.

Soap lovers should also be on the watch-out on “The Bold and the Beautiful” as Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) gave his decision to a nagging Broke (Kelly Katherine-Lang) about marrying him. This makes me sense that a tryst will occur between Ridge and Katie (Heather Tom) in the near future. Heck, they’ve both been betrayed by the people they love most, so it’s only fitting they feel a bit of heartache also. “B&B” lovers will also be satisfied with the breaking news this week that Hunter Tylo will reprise her role as Dr. Taylor Hayes Forrester at the end of February.  Looks like the Ridge, Katie, Brooke and Bill love triangle is about to get even more complicated.

For those “General Hospital” lovers the mob war between Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Julian (William DeVry) is reaching a fever pitch, so expect a body or two to fall in the coming weeks. The biggest surprise capped off on Friday with the return of Victor Cassadine (Thaao Penghlis) who returned to the canvas with a bombshell that shook the residents of Port Charles.  “The Young and the Restless” airs weekdays at 12:30 p.m. on CBS, while “The Bold and the Beautiful” airs weekdays at 1:30 p.m. on CBS. “Days of Our Lives” airs weekdays at 1:00 p.m. on NBC and “General Hospital” airs weekdays at 2:00 p.m. on ABC.

By LaDale Anderson