that when Nicole (Ari) comes back – that they will end up rehabilitating her and Nicole will be redeemed as a good person in her next SL – this is just speculation, but I just have this feeling that the writer’s will let someone else be ‘the baddy’ for awhile.
Maybe have Hope go off the deep end this time because of her stress with Bo and Carley? I’m not sure if she’s ever been the ‘bad guy’ (other than Princess Gina – and that was a entirely different "person" or so she thought). Marlena and quiet a few others over the years have done both sides of the coin…