Greenlee Smythe is one character that fans either seem to love... or hate.

Even if you dislike Greenlee, you have to appreciate the fact that she forced Kendall to try to explain why she and Ryan ended up in bed together so soon after Greenlee's death. I read your emails. I check out the Soap Central message boards. I know how many of you questioned how Kendall (or anyone, for that matter) could end up having sex with their best friend's man so soon over that best friend's death. I am not entirely sure that Kendall offered an explanation that I could swallow.

"I didn't want [Ryan's] last memory of you to be decomposing on a table in a morgue," Kendall explained. "We were in pain. We were trying to numb it. We were trying to get rid of it. It sounds stupid, but that's the truth."

Mm hmm. I don't know if it's the truth, but it certainly does sound stupid.

Now, I've never made it a secret that I am a fan of Rebecca Budig. She and I have always had a really nice rapport when we've chatted. But I have to tell you, Greenlee has become really snotty lately. Okay, okay... you were in a coma for a year because your best friend ran you off the road. You are alive now and apparently suffered no lasting ill-effects from the crash. Carve a turkey and be thankful. But, no, that would be the right thing to do.

A wronged Greenlee is more entertaining to watch than the wimpy Greenlee that we saw the last time Budig was in Pine Valley. I spoke recently with Rebecca Budig and she discussed why she made her much-talked-about exit from All My Children a little over a year ago. It wasn't that she enjoyed hopping in and out of the show; she had lost some of her love for Greenlee.

"She lost her edge," Budig explains, noting that she didn't think she'd ever return to AMC. "I kinda felt like I was going to move on and move forward. But daytime is really one of the only places where you can kind of stretch as an actor. You can do so many different things -- and it's really fun and I missed it."

Still, the scenes between Kendall and Greenlee were actually really good drama, particularly when Greenlee realized that Kendall was the one that ran her off the road. There was even a good Erica vs. Greenlee scene in which Erica tried to bury the hatchet by asking Greenlee to summon some of the humanity she's shown rare glimpses of in the past.

"It's there," said Greenlee of her humanity. "Ground under the rubber of Kendall's tires. Burned in the fireplace that you and Ryan had sex in front of. But it's there."

David's trial was a sham... a farce... a travesty of justice. I didn't go to law school, but there are enough court shows, both reality and scripted, to know that you can't argue jury nullification. Liza's entire summation was basically a wink to the jury, saying, "Yeah, he committed a crime, but the end result was something good." Perhaps the biggest surprise of the week was that the verdict wasn't part of a big cliffhanger. The jury reached its decision quickly and the verdict was delivered all in the same episode. Did anyone really think that David would be sent to Statesville for his crimes? I know that many of you love David and all his evilness, but I know that many of you also hate the fact that he gets away with crime after crime after crime. By the way, do you even remember exactly which of David's crimes he was standing trial for?

In other legal news: I find it interesting that any time someone wants to try to scare someone straight, so to speak, they make sure to scare them with tales of gay sex in prison. Invariably there is a cellmate named "Bubba" who will make you his prison wife or pass you around to all of his friends in exchange for cigarettes, the universal prison currency. I think movies, soaps, and talk shows use the same line. It must be in a "How to keep your kids out of jail" manual somewhere. I was a bit surprised that Jesse added "disease" into his talk with Damon. But the good cop, bad cop routine with Angie apparently worked. Damon is running for the hills and singing a whole different tune.

How ironic was it that as Adam was collapsing to the ground from a heart attack, his son and his wife were falling into each other's arms. His heart was breaking twice. I'm not sure how I feel about a JR and Annie pairing. Had Annie never gotten involved with Adam, it would probably work. JR is a schemer, Annie's a schemer... it's would be a dream scheme team. But I find it more than a little icky that JR is bedding his stepmother (even if she is the same age as him). It is entertaining to watch someone fall for a person that they loathe, and Jacob Young does that self-loathing so well. The whole DC debacle was made even better by Marissa showing up at JR's door before he even had time to rinse the taste of Annie out of his mouth. I suppose the whole affair is setting up the interesting triangle dynamic of having JR choose between the woman who saved his life and the woman who stood by his side while he was dying.

Side note: It didn't look like JR and Annie's roll in the sheets lasted all that long, did it?

Okay, the writers have never painted Amanda as the brightest bulb, but why on earth would she send out a suggestive email to someone she didn't know. C'mon, I am sure Amanda wasn't the only person to think that Jake might be her secret "Amandafan." It crossed my mind briefly, but then I realized that plot device would be too easy -- and it wouldn't make for any drama. Despite Randi's pleas, Amanda took it upon herself to send an email back to her unknown admirer. I guess we should be happy that it wasn't a suggestive Twitpic or something. But just who is Amanda's netstalker?

I have to tell you that I am very excited that Kate Collins is headed back to AMC as Janet Green. I'm sure she is still technically Janet Dillon, but she'll always be Janet Green to me. For those of you who don't know, the whole Natalie-in-the-well storyline was what got me hooked on All My Children in the first place. I thought that Kate Collins did an incredible job in the dual role, and I'm a bit disappointed that she didn't get an Emmy for her work. If this site had been around back then, I'm sure she would have at least won a Dankie. [Click here for more on Kate Collins' return as Janet]

I do hope that Janet isn't butchered too much this time around. I am still disappointed that Janet killed Trevor (off-screen), because that pretty much doomed the character. I am sure there was something else that could have been done to explain why Trevor wasn't going to be seen on-screen. Heck, they killed Travis Montgomery off-screen, and I don't even recall if they had a funeral or memorial service for him.

This is going to be an emotional week on All My Children. On Tuesday, be sure to tune in or set your TiVos because All My Children will be airing a special tribute episode to the late James Mitchell (Palmer Cortlandt). The actor passed away in January at the age of 89, and All My Children has now put together a very touching episode to honor Mitchell and his legacy as the feisty Palmer. In a somewhat amazing twist, when James was taping his scenes for AMC's 40th anniversary, he apparently also filmed some "improv" scenes after his scripted material had been taped. That never-before-seen content will air during Tuesday's memorial. [Click here for more on AMC's plans to honor James Mitchell]

I know that AMC has parted ways with Cady McClain (Dixie Cooney), but how great would it be to have some sort of special final scene between Dixie and Palmer. Remember when Harold, the Dillon family dog, died? The show filmed a new scene where Natalie called out to Harold to welcome him to Heaven. We never saw Natalie, and heard just her voice. Perhaps ABC can splice audio out of some old scenes and have a heavenly reunion between Palmer and some of his already departed loved ones. Talk about needing to have a box of tissues nearby...

If saying goodbye isn't enough to get the tears flowing, we also bid farewell to David Canary (Adam Chandler) this week. David announced back in February that he'd be leaving the show in April. Back then, it still seemed so far away. Now... that far-away time is here. Adam leaves Pine Valley on Friday, April 23. [Click here for more on David Canary's retirement plans]

I'll have more on Canary's exit and the memorial for Palmer next week.

And one other programming reminder before I close the column. Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake Martin) will be my guest this week on Soap Central Live. Ricky is going to talk about his 20 years on the soaps, plus his brand new primetime series, Seeing vs. Believing. The show looks to be both spooky and funny -- all at the same time. [Click here for more on Ricky's new series]

Soap Central Live airs live every Friday at 600pm Eastern/300pm Pacific and you can listen to it for free online. If you miss any part of the show or just want to hear it again, every show is archived -- and that means you can stream it on your computer later, download it to listen on your MP3 player or computer, or listen on iTunes. For more on Soap Central Live, how to listen, or to check out past shows, click the Soap Central Live option at the top of any page of the site or head to https://www.soapcentral.com/radio.

dan