This topic has been buried in the Y&R thread, but I think it deserves to have its own discussion. Before I launch into my diatribe of why I don't believe LML knows what the HELL she is doing with Dru and Neil...I will give her credit for actually writing for them (although, I think Dru is a character that they can't exactly ignore without catching drama).

Now on to the subject at hand...this Dru, Neil, Carmen mess. I'm siding with Dru on this one, but I won't deny that she has acted high school (I won't say ghetto...because if she were ghetto...Carmen's face would have been slashed) with cutting up Carmen's clothes and trashing her place. But looking at all three characters...and their actions over the past couple of months, I'm just frustrated and thinking WTF...

Carmen...Miss Carmen Mesta...she came on the scene as some hard nosed PR person and one week she hated Jack, the next she was bedding him, the next she set her sights on Neil. OK...fine...she could admire him from afar, that's fine...but she started losing my sympathy when she sabotaged Dru's early homecoming so she could make time with Neil; smiled in Dru's face and tried to cozy up to her KNOWING she was after her husband and having the nerve to be offended when Dru calls her on her ish. Then Ms. Mesta continued to sniff around Neil and even kissed him AFTER Dru showed up back in town confronting her. Miss Mesta can't have it both ways...she can't claim the innocent act and then on the sly give kisses and night club advice to the man. All that being said, Carmen called the cops on Dru...well that's nice of her...but you know what, she brought this on herself...don't mess with a MARRIED MAN!

Neil...*sigh*...Neil has always been a character that was in the middle to me. I never loved him, but I never hated him either. I understand his anger at Dru regarding the paternity thing, but I don't agree with his Passive Aggressive behavior. It's annoying and its so pathetic....he wants Carmen, he doesn't want Dru...he could have avoided all of this drama by telling Dru that (well...some of it). However, his attitude changes day by day...one day he's kissing on Carmen and swearing to EVERYONE that he and Carmen are doing nothing wrong. In addition, he says on another day..."Dru's the one who has given up"...No...Neil gave up as soon as he stuck his tongue down Carmen's throat. Now...today...I get 'I have half a mind to smack you up!"...Neil may be a lot of things, but threatening to smack up Dru? No way...I won't buy that one. This is getting out of hand and for what? I need to know. Neil is cheating on wife plain and simple and it should have been his clothes.

Dru...I don't know what they are doing with her. One day, she's the strong Dru that I know and love...and the next she's pleading to Neil about wanting her and being sorry. What in the hell aside from Paternity Secret does she need to be sorry for? Calling Neil and Carmen out on their crap? Forget that, Neil is not HIDING anything...he goes to lunch with the chick in the breakroom, in the club...in his own home...seriously, Neil (and Miss Mesta) have disrespected her for weeks now and she's the one apologizing to him profusely over and over again. Puhleeze. As for her ripping up Carmen's clothes, I think she should have taken another route...I'm also suprised that Dru did that...I would take her as more of the 'smacking a !@#$%^&*]' type. To me, her hate for Carmen boils down to respect...Carmen never respected Dru from the door...at first she tried to play the Phyllis 'I'm Your Friend' Summers game, by smiling in Dru's face and when that didn't work...she just decided to still go about her business with Dru's husband, but play the denial game and now that Dru has confronted her (privately) she's just playing the all around 'I'm not doing anything' snot routine. Dru's tired of Miss Mesta trying to play innocent and she reached her drunken point.

I don't understand where they are going with this...but I hope it's divorce #2...and I am SICK of Neil being some violent man every time he gets angry with Dru...is he going to smack her next? And will she plead with him to not leave her? GMAFB.

And what's funny about all of this...the writing for Sharon was much more dignified (Sans the sleeping with Brad) than the writing for Dru. Sharon never touched Phyllis or her clothes (and she had a license to wreck shop with Phyllis)...but when it comes to Dru and Neil...I get this...this...this...convulted mess.

If Neil did put his hands on her, that would be utter BS. Victor is going psycho from his meds, points a gun at Nikki, but has never laid one hand on her.Now, all of a sudden, Neil is going to start whupping Dru's tail?

Bull........[!@#$%^&*].

I now don't like this story at all, and it all comes from the writing. LML is really starting to make me wonder. How can her writing be so hit and miss? Dru is acting like a junior high school girl, but why is everyone in this story so damn one-dimentional?

I hope LML or her people read this and other boards (which I think they do), because this is starting to be a turn-off, and if it does turn violent, I'll protest by tuning out.

I haven't liked this story for a while... and even though VR did wonderful with the drunk scene, to me, it just make Dru look like a total fool. The fact that Dru still wants Neil is causing me to lose a little respect for her day after day. I'm tried of the "Carmen's a man stealing !@#$%^&*], Neil's the love of life" [!@#$%^&*] from her. With all the wrongness and disrespect he's been given her; Dru should have taught his ass a lesson by now... and the fact that she hasn't, and it's been mostly about her punishing Carmen and not enough Neil, has me disgusted.

First, he cries to Carmen about not wanting her because he wants to patch things up with Dru... and yet today, he tells Carmen that he was going to tell (or thinking about it) Dru that they should see other people... ugh, whatever. Then Neil threatening to "smack" her just about took the cake today. I was totally disgust by his words, and then by yet again seeing Dru cry and cut up Carmen's clothes over his pathetic ass. Nothing, except divorce and no contact for a while, can save this relationship to me.

In this story they just destroyed two characters: Neil and Carmen, and one their way to Dru.

I really and truly did not appreaciate the way he put his hands on her, and I don't like how Y&R is presenting what he did as justified and something to be glossed over. He continues to sling her around and humilate her. I hate the way they are writing Dru, this begging and pleading for this jackass' attentions. Casey, you make excellent points, especially in how these people are in her home having dates for goodness sake and she's the loon. What is going on here? As you said, it is undignified. Dru always was a very proud woman. She at times does stupid things, but never would Ms. Drucilla Winters lower herself to this point. I am very disappointed in this.

I completely agree with your points Casey and the others as well. I've been going on and on about my disappointment in Neil's passive-aggressive behavior, Dru suddenly becoming this weak, desperate woman, and Carmen's skanky tail. LML has come on and changed a lot of the character's personalities for God knows what reason. But, the reason Dru and Neil bother me even more than someone like Phyllis (and she has done a complete 180) is that I'm seeing them quickly turn into these stereotypes.

Dru's the crazy black woman fighting over a man that treats her like crap. Now, she goes to a business party drunk and acting a fool (it's not like her Genoa City peers gave her much respect before all this, now she probably has none), and breaking and entering into Carmen's apartment slicing and dicing her clothes. Somehow for me that's even loonier than if she had just went up to Carmen and just smacked the taste out of her mouth. And this is all over a kiss. Most characters don't do half this stuff if they caughter their husband actually having sex.

And Neil is the angry black man threatening to smack his wife and man-handling her all over the place. Not to mention that he's now too lazy to put on a suit and tie at work like the other top executives and has a sudden interest in jazz clubs.

For a while, LML seemed to struggle with finding a story for Dru and Neil. Now that they have story, it seems more a consequence of a writer that threw something together after having a stereotype brain-storming session than someone that took the time to figure out who these characters are and have become from 15+ years of history and creating a story upon that.

I'm late. Everyone has pretty much covered the same way I feel about this whole mess, so I'll just co-sign and get some lunch before today's episode comes on.

I can't do an indepth response yet but I sure will later!

And Neil is the angry black man threatening to smack his wife and man-handling her all over the place. Not to mention that he's now too lazy to put on a suit and tie at work like the other top executives and has a sudden interest in jazz clubs.

And this is something I didn't even notice...now he's too lazy to put on a suit and is talking about opening a jazz club. The jazz club thing would be fine, IF he was still in the business world.

Something is pretty wrong here and I think I need to write to CBS Letter Rip.

Not to mention that he's now too lazy to put on a suit and tie at work like the other top executives and has a sudden interest in jazz clubs

That's less about laziness and more about the fact that Carmen suggested he dress that way. Just like it was her idea to open a jazz club. he seems to take her word as gospel without a second thought. If she mentioned he'd look nice with his hair cornrowed, you best believe he'd be boppin' up in Newman the next day like

That's less about laziness and more about the fact that Carmen suggested he dress that way. Just like it was her idea to open a jazz club. he seems to take her word as gospel without a second thought. If she mentioned he'd look nice with his hair cornrowed, you best believe he'd be boppin' up in Newman the next day like

Carmen has Neil sprung.

What I find ENLIGHTENING is that Daniel & Lily come of as the most mature couple on Y&R these days.

The teenage combo who got a insta-wedding is now the pillar of sanity in Genoa City. I don't know if this irony is intended or just a sign of wiriting a tad too convulated for Bell soap/Y&R standards...

Daily are fine because they're barely on. They don't have the airtime to be bi-polar characters.

Daily are fine because they're barely on. They don't have the airtime to be bi-polar characters.

Semi-true but I mostly refered to how they SOLVED thier problems instead of throwing hissy fits, shagging their way through GC ect.

Daily are fine because they're barely on. They don't have the airtime to be bi-polar characters.

That's why I'm so afraid of wanting to see more of Daily. I'm afraid of what LML will come up with. I want to see Daily with more consistent airtime, but I shudder to think of Lily acting the way Dru's been acting, or Lily putting up with Daniel threatening to smack her.

*shudder shudder*

I have loved the character Dru since the moment she appeared on my screen. I've also HATED the character Neil since the moment he belittled Dru, treated her like dog shyt because he felt that he was better and deserved someone with Olivia's training.

I now can't stand to watch Dru. Watching her beg Neil makes me turn off the set. I will not watch. I cannot watch. I'm embarrassed for her, and I shudder to think that VR approves of this story. I shudder to think that VR subscribes to the motto that it's okay to denigrate the black woman, as long as the black union continues on, in all it's grotesquely stereotypical plot formations.

I shudder to think.

I ask myself what I am watching Dru make a fool of herself over and over and over again instead of her moving on to a new man. I ask myself why someone like Jack was NEVER an option for Dru. I ask myself why someone like Paul was not considered an option for Dru. I ask myself why it is the Dru character must be degraded just because there is no available black male on the show for her to turn to.

I've always found Neil to be a disgusting, tightwad hypocrite.

But now I shed tears because Dru is willing to degrade herself over this guy.

And if she's willing to do that, she is NOT my smart, tough, and strong Diva. She is a pathetic hasbeen idiot.

Back to Daily: I want to see more of them so much.. and I want to see them in a good dramatic story.. a story I thought would happen when Alex came into town, when Alex broke into the loft and ran off with Lily's hairbrush, but.. but .. but I'm afraid to write in, for fear of what LML will come up with.

And while I'm getting things off my chest, I have one more thing to say about this whole Dru/Neil/Carmen/Daily mess...

DIE DEVON DIE DIE DIE DIE!!! I can already see this ingrate becoming Neil. He does the same tired crap as Neil. His crackhead nose is as high up in the air as Neil. He dresses like Neil. He walks like Neil. He talks like Neil. He smells like Neil. He's as lame as Neil. He's so self-important like Neil. He ain't got no friends just like Neil. He's as hypocritical as Neil. And if Lily EVER allows that punk to get in her business, let alone mandhandle her the way Dru allowed Neil-- brother or no brother-- brotha' or no brotha'-- I will have to cut the little sister loose.

After these last two days, Dru is ruined for me. Temporarily. But if she doesn't divorce Neil and find a new love, she will be PERMANENTLY ruined for me. I DO NOT LIKE THE MESSAGE THAT THE DRU/NEIL MARRIAGE IS SENDING to young black women.

I swear I feel like I'm watching a bad Terri McMillan novel. Neil/Dru so remind me of that tired couple in Disappearing Acts. He treated that woman the same way Neil treats Dru, and I find myself keep wondering why why why is Dru putting with him? Why isn't Dru given an honest to goodness second chance at finding a stable and realistic love with someone already on the canvas? Paul is SINGLE! Playboy Jack is SINGLE! Surely Dru has better options than a handsome dayplayer that will probably be gone by the time Devon has his crisis.

Lily, grab your husband and your mother and stay the hell away from the punkass men in your family! Neil, Devon, Malcolm.. ALL three are useless, bullying, tired punks who the Barber women should have NEVER touched.

Dru has lived in that ridiculous apartment for how many years? Why does a top executive live in the same tiny, yet space-defying expanding apartment he's been living in since the moment he came on the show? BECAUSE HE'S NEIL! BECAUSE HE'S KNEEL! BECAUSE HE IS SHYT! AND NOW HE HAS IT ON DRU!

Devon, Neil, and Gloria. I wish ALL three a speedy travel to Lucifer's den. I hate them. Can't stand them. Won't ever stomach them.

Sorry everyone. I've been holding this in far too long.

I hate that this has turned into a "black/white" arguement, forget it I'm staying out of this one.