The clock is counting down to the departure of the deviously, devilishly, delicious Doctor David.  How ironic is it that, after the fans have begged and pleaded for a storyline (or FOUR) worthy of the amazingly talented Vincent Irizarry, we only now get to see more of him right before he leaves Pine Valley for good?  Further still, these scenes we are being treated to only serve to illustrate what a wonderfully deep, multi-faceted, tortured character David Hayward is, and how gifted his portrayer is.  It is even MORE ironic that as it becomes more and more clear every day that Doc Dave is intentionally being written as evil incarnate and completely irredeemable so that fans will be only too happy to see him go, but it’s having the reverse effect instead!   Unlike poor Rick Hearst over on General Hospital, who people are all too happy to see get killed off (if only just to put him out of his misery) I am rooting for David to do his worst! 

We are supposed to sympathize with Babe and Krystal (with a K) and see them as victims of the devil himself, but I find myself and, from what I hear, multitudes of others, who are cheering him on as he methodically sets out to blow their respective marriages to Kingdom come.   What’s even better is that Vincent Irizarry is playing the role as a man who is so…tired and beaten down, rather than as a crazed lunatic, shouting at the heavens.  The utter desolation in his eyes as he calmly asks Krystal what it is he has left that is worth living for was nothing short of heartbreaking.  Even Krystal could see it, and it scared the hell out of her.  Not because this man is the father of her beloved tramp…erm…trollop, uh…daughter, but because she was worried about what he was going to do to her and Babe.

Well, I’ll tell you this much, Krystal (with a K) had you and your ungrateful, snot-nosed, lying, cheating, tramp of a daughter treated David with even one-tenth of the respect he deserved, you’d have nothing to be worried  about right now.  I don’t advocate revenge, just for the sake of revenge, mind you, but these two have treated David abominably right from the start.  Almost from the SECOND that David learned Babe-ho was his daughter, he has done nothing but try to help, love and support her - even through some of the most bone-headed schemes anyone could pull.  Does she remember that?  NO.  She has used her status as his daughter to blackmail and manipulate him into doing or behaving how she wanted him to.  “If you tell Bianca that Bess is hers I will never speak to you again,” was one of the first threats, and they have been flying fast and furious ever since.  The only time she isn’t yelling at him or threatening him are the times that he IS doing something she wants him to do (like helping her skip town with not-so-dead Lil A).  Even then she’s every bit the ungrateful, spoiled little snot that Colby Chandler is! 

What exactly did David do that was so wrong that he deserves to be treated as less than pond scum by someone like Babe Chandler?  Has David ever tried to kill Babe?  Um…lemme think…. NO.  Has he taken her child from her?  No, again.  Has he tried to keep her from getting a job or a place to live? Nope.  Was he willing to take the heat for HER crimes so that she could still be with her son?  Absolutely!  Did she ever once express any gratitude for that?  No.  Instead David gets a daughter who would much rather be married to a man who has hurt her time and time again;  man who tried to kill her (would that he’d succeeded!) for crying out loud than to be David’s daughter!

Now, to clarify, I do not believe that JR is evil incarnate either.  He is one messed up individual to be certain, but he is not evil.  In fact, much of JR’s “trouble” can be attributed to Dixie AND Babe.  Both women have done a real number on him over the years.  This does not excuse his behavior, of course, but it goes a long way toward explaining it.  There are those who prefer to believe that it is Adam who screwed JR up and, while it’s true that Adam has contributed to JR’s screwed-up-ishness, he is by no means the sole cause of it.  Adam is a devoted family man.  No one can argue that. His parenting skills are a bit whacked, but who in Pine Valley can claim to be parent-of-the-year? 

Personally, I would LOVE to have seen JR and David bond over the way they’ve both been treated.  They actually have quite a lot in common if you think about it!  Imagine how fun that would be?  How horrified would Babe and Krystal be to see David and JR grow close and become real friends?  How fun would it be to see DAVID actually kick Babe to the curb for a change?  Makes me giddy just thinking about it!

…have decided that we can do without a wonderfully rich, vibrant, multi-faceted character like David Hayward and are happy with characters like Colby, Sean and Sydney…After all, it’s not like we’d even NOTICE the