Broderick

Y&R has made some awfully dumb decisions with its younger characters. We can all list several of them. Josh Griffith seems to be saying to us, "Not much future left in this dying shell of a show. This tired ole horse is about ready for the glue factory, folks!"

That did look like a Magnum wrapper Tomas left behind. And instead of being ripped from a corner, there was a slit down the very CENTER of it, as though he intended to take it home and reuse it as a coin purse. Maybe this will be a breakthrough storyline about a boy with a small johnson whose vanity led him to purchase an oversized condom, it slipped off on the third thrust, and he inadvertently impregnated his bored girlfriend who believes his Humpin Prowess is as "lovely" as her auntie's potato salad.

It's a popular (and controversial) You Tube channel, and I don't wanna "plug" it here in this thread, because I find it exploitive as hell. Harsher critics refer to it as "poverty pornography", because all of the subjects interviewed are marginalized members of society (like June). Mark Laita isn't a social worker or a therapist. He's a photographer. About 20 years ago, he photographed many individuals who were homeless in Chicago. He interviewed each of them to discover their "voice" --- who their families were, how long they'd lived on the street, what their aspirations & goals were. The result was a coffee table book called Created Equal. Years later, he moved to Los Angeles and established a studio on Skid Row. He pays some amount of money ($100, I think) to anyone who'd like to be interviewed. His channel effectively becomes "continuing drama", because many of the subjects return for additional interviews, offering the viewer deeper insights into their unique situation. During the interviews, Mark comes across as naive & stupid as Naomi & Jacob, because he's a photographer, with no professional training in dealing with their often harrowing situations. I couldn't believe when June appeared on BTG, because she's so similar to many of the individuals he's interviewed on SWU. June is quirky as hell, as are most of his subjects. (Some of them even bring him "gifts", like June's toy money.) If the writers on BTG have created a genuine character profile for June, it'll likely be the first time a daytime soap has been brave enough to dive into something that potentially complex and off-beat. (If it's handled with a quick therapy session, it'll be horrible, because that ain't the way it works with the real-life individuals who've offered their stories on SWU.)

I've got no problem with how June is presented. Most of us who are online have probably run across that (exploitive) Soft White Underbelly, where Mark Laita interviews various individuals he's met in homeless encampments in LA's Skid Row. Probably the most "famous" of his subjects is that boy Ismail Seoudi who calls himself "Rebecca". It's a case of gender confusion meets body dysmorphia meets drug addiction meets mental illness meets homelessness. How long has that "saga" been going on? Two or three years? "Rebecca" pops in, makes perfect sense, carries on thoughtful, intelligent conversations, Mark buys him a phone to stay in touch, provides him a motel room, arranges an appointment with a therapist, and sets up a meeting with an immigration attorney to make sure "Rebecca" isn't detained by ICE. "Rebecca" sells the telephone, abandons the motel room, skips the appointments with the therapist, skips the appointment with the immigration worker, and vanishes into thin air. A month later, he reappears, stoned out of his mind, claims he went to a party in West Hollywood, was sexually assaulted, then was hospitalized for a drug overdose. But he wants to change, so Mark buys him a phone to stay in touch, puts him in a motel room, and the whole bizarre disappearing act starts again. Obviously there all kinds of homeless people in the world. Some are nice folks who lost their house, some are mentally ill, some are drug addicts. Some are a combination of all the above, plus more. To me the "stereotype" is what we usually see on TV -- the person voluntarily meets with a therapist a few times & gets "cured" in an hour. Or kicks drug addiction during a commercial break. June seems to be an amalgamation of SEVERAL of the interesting & unusual personalities we've seen on Soft White Underbelly. I just hope the show doesn't go the tired, trite route of having a "savior" pop in and "cure" her of whatever is wrong with her in a few episodes. I'd rather see a more "real-life" step forward/step backward trajectory for her.

The Articulettes should sing "Never Can Say Goodbye" at some point. Vernon Dupree would enjoy that. June's "money" was the star of the show today. Not sure how much she "paid" for that lunch, but that bill on top with a big yellow smiley-face on it was a "fifty".

I thought Nicole & Bill's scenes were really good. Ironic that everyone pulled out their "professional privilege cards" today. Nicole is now Martin's therapist so she can't squeal on him, and at the same time, Vernon waved that $1 bill in Naomi's face as a "retainer" so she can't tell Jacob squat. They're all so flawed (but not in a horrible way), and I like that. Looked for a minute like Gran wasn't even gonna let Martin go see Nicole. Vernon was passively/aggressively encouraging him to go clear the air with his mother, but not one WORD from Anita. She just stood there looking at him like, "Awwww, you just stay right here with Gran, Sweet Baby. You don't have to go see that mean ole mama of yours." 😅 She kills me.

Looks like Ted would tell Leslie, "Look. Your voice carries. I can hear you from across the room. You don't gotta put your NOSE right up against mine to talk to me."

Those two Articulettes that Anita is always running away from. Sharon's the tall one. Tracy's the short one who only bows to Jesus.

Sharon & Tracy remind me of the Fox & the Cat from Pinocchio.

Nicole certainly didn't lavish much DuPraise on High Command Vernon & High Command Anita when she breezed in. Must be nice to work at Garland Memorial Hospital where your job duties mostly include faux flirting.

Anita was definitely ready to kick Smitty to the curb, if need be 😄 When Nicole stormed off into the night, Anita pretty much just shrugged it off. "There goes Nicole. Who needs her? Where's my Sweet Baby? I need to pat on him some more before I tuck him in for the night!"

"My name is Victoria Winters ..." that cute ALEXANDRA MOLTKE ISLES, who's about 78 now.

I've finally accepted the wisdom of Martin being the Dupree grandson instead of the son. When Nicole walked into the house at the end of Thursday's show and saw Anita & Vernon hovering all over him and patting on him, I laughed my butt off. You could tell how incensed Nicole was that her (overbearing) parents had pretty much taken over the parenting of her kid. Anita's lines were hilarious. "You can stay here as LONG as you want, baby. And bring the children!! They can stay here too!!" She acted like her world was complete, now that Sweet Baby was in her grandmotherly clutches. She never once suggested that he take his ass home where he belongs. "You're my HEART!" she cooed as she hugged him till she nearly strangled him. I think the (dark) humor of their entire relationship stems from the way they shoved Nicole & Ted aside and just took over Martin for themselves.

Two boys from "Dark Shadows" are still kicking -- Roger Davis and Jerry Lacy, who are in their late 80s now probably. Barbara Rodell (who was on about everything in the late 1960s & early 1970s) is still around, I think. Christina Crawford from "Secret Storm" 🤣

When I was a young kid, 25% of the girls in my homeroom class were named "Lisa". No exaggeration. I think it's difficult for people born after 1975 to understand the impact Eileen Fulton, the character she played, and that TV program had on the landscape of small town America in the 1960s & early 1970s.

I think they're intentionally portrayed that way, too. Nicole pretty much spat it out today when she basically said, "You're not parents; you're a Crime Syndicate of mobsters!" From Day One, they've tut-tutted that Dani is a little bit "volatile". But what they really seem to think is, "Nicole, dear, we're finding it MUCH easier to manipulate you and walk all over you, because you're so even-tempered." Anita & Vernon probably don't mean to be that way, but they are. And that's what makes them interesting instead of just a couple of sappy oldsters. They sometimes remind me of a rich version of Frank & Marie Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond", lol.

Hopefully, Smitty & Jacob will kiss & make up, lol. I think it's interesting that Vernon and Anita basically just took Sweet Baby away from Nicole & Ted and act like he's theirs since he's a politician. I've always thought he should've been written as their son, but honestly, the way it's being handled makes better sense from a dramatic standpoint. It reveals yet another "family flaw" hiding beneath the surface of a family that attempts to put on such a pretty facade. Odd man out probably, but I thought Anita & Nicole's scenes were extremely good.

I expect Vernon will tell her why. My guess is they didn't wanna compromise Nicole's integrity by making her an "accessory after the fact". (Nicole previewed that in her conversation with Vanessa in Thursday's show. "As the daughter of a senator and the mother of a congressman, I'm expected to act a certain way.") That also seemed to be Vernon's motivation in excluding Smitty. Vernon said something to the effect of, "We shouldn't have pressured you to leave Smitty out of this." To which Martin said, "Smitty wouldn't have gone along with this big cover-up." Vernon nodded and said, "And he would've been right." (I think this story has been very interesting in terms of "what would YOU do" in a situation like Martin & Vernon were in, and whom would you tell about it afterwards.)

Wednesday was the first time I saw the gun. I had to back-up, because at first I thought Martin had confiscated the pistol from the racists and was beating them with it. Then I realized he was using the tire iron. We never really saw what became of the gun. After watching that flashback a couple of times, I started wondering who's now got possession of it & if perhaps it's a stolen pistol in a database somewhere.

Have we been told what happened to the pistol they pulled on Vernon? I'm figuring the brother's corpse, the gun, Joey, and the possibility of another witness (or rural surveillance camera) could still blow this poorly kept secret up.

Most of y'all are WAY more understanding than I am. If MY spouse came home one day after an aborted press conference in a soul food restaurant & revealed she'd killed a dude with a tire iron beside the highway two years ago (and beat yet another guy till he required facial reconstruction) and placed my teenage son & (elderly) daughter in perpetual danger and never got around to mentioning it to me, her ass would be spending the foreseeable future with Grandma & Grandpa too. From Smitty's point of view, he's got no reason to believe Martin has been honest with him about anything that's happened since 2023. STD's? Affairs? Embezzlement? For all Smitty knows, Martin's got a whole STASH of additional secrets he ain't got around to divulging yet. Today's episode was well-written (in my opinion), but I wish they'd have given Smitty a line like, "What else have you keeping from me, or lying to me about?" to drive the point home.

Especially when she's got Zucchini & Onions as her featured side dish!

I figured he was a goner merely because of his last name (Kane). Once it became clear Billy Flynn would be playing CANE Ashby, it seemed pretty obvious the "other Kane" (Damian) was out the door, lol. You never they never intended to have two Canes/Kanes.

I wish the director would tell him to "underplay" his scenes rather than what he's attempting to do (reaching for something he simply isn't capable of conveying effectively).

She didn't even pop her brakes, lol. But that's the way the Duprees roll, so maybe it's our first shot of character development. I wouldn't have even made Martin a Congressman yet, if they'd asked my input. I would've started him out in the state legislature, where President Obama was circa 1997-2004. There would've been a lot more room for growth in his character (and in his career) if he were a rising young state rep or state senator from a prominent family who is harboring a secret that could potentially derail him before he ever even has a chance to run for Congress. Also, I can't shake the feeling that it was a mistake to make him Anita & Vernon's grandson. I think the story would be served better if he were their youngest child, the "pampered baby" with a pair of older sisters. I saw that opportunity as a "miss" on Day 1, and I still see it that way. I'm not bothered by much of the Articulettes backstory, except as someone said above, their success should've been more understated. There was no need to make Anita an all-out Diana Ross. It would've been just as effective (and more believable & relatable) to have the band be a minor Motown act from the early 1970s.