My wish is that the lack of details signify this:

Brad was at the lowest ebb in his life. In his mind, he was estranged from Ashley and Abby, had said "farewells" to Traci and Colleen, and had basically been ground to cinder in the business world. Genoa City held nothing for him. Moreover, he has some big blackmail targets on his back: the killing of the Kommandant's son and henchman and Jana's father in Kutna Hora, and the illegal hacking of Newman computers. He also has to be *mindful* of his backstory getting out at all times (which is why he squashed Korbel's book), lest his mother come to harm.

I can see Brad coming to the conclusion...just as George Kaplan did nearly thirty years ago...to PRETEND to be dead...and use it to start over. Let's face it...he needed to start over. (Yes, I'm thinking "Jason Bourne").

This is an ideal setup. His body would be trapped beneath the ice. With a blizzard (and cold snap) they could drain the lake. If there is any kind of undercurrent, it could push Brad's "body" far from the crack in the ice.

So, then, authorities would probably need to wait for the Spring thaw...and by then, realistically, what might be left of the corpse. The freeze-thaw-bloat would like skeletonize the body quickly. So, if the body were never found, that would not be unexpected.

Previews for next week (not a spoiler!) use the term

"Memorial Service"

. On soaps, they almost always only do that when there is no body.

Meanwhile I could see George Kaplan assuming identity #3, maybe with the help of his mother and his long skills of remaining hidden.

I feel Brad's exit story was written in such an interesting way -- high drama with so many on the canvas -- that this is an IDEAL way to "rest" a character that Maria Arena Bell clearly didn't want on the front burner...and whose exit was probably financially encouraged by the economic downturn. I have no doubt that ... if Abbotts and Newmans and Carltons remain on the canvas in the future ... that some day Georgie might turn up again.

Given a press interview (where Bold and Beautiful was mentioned, and Diamont said he'd "love to stay in the Bell family" but also that the audience needed some time to "forget" Brad) I totally would not be surprised if a physically altered Brad (beard? dye job?) showed up in LA a year or two from now...playing a different character...but we'd all wonder if this wasn't the third incarnation of Georgie.

That's my hope.

But my hopes will be dashed if they find a body. And I'm very, very worried that they WILL find a body. This is not one of those deaths where I need "closure".

Brilliant post Mark! I actully cried when they showed the "light" go out. I love that he's going out a hero. Like him or not, Brad has been a huge part of Y&R for years. I understand why MAB wrote him off - LML truly assasinated Brad Carlton. and I F***in' LOVE that there has been absolutely no reference to the evil Nazi's or his "secret past" - just good character based-drama. Brad really made a mess of things. He's getting older and he realized he had nothing going on in his life. He was clinging to his daughters for dear life. The playboy turned into a caring father. I'm glad he'll "die" a heroic death and that no one will forget him.

The only thing that doesn't seem to add up is that Brad consulted a lawyer about getting custody of Abby. Is this going to come out? Is there going to be some murder angle with that action becoming a motive for murdering him?

Oh, and nuAbby needs to be brought down a peg. She's seriously obnoxious.

I'm glad he'll "die" a heroic death and that no one will forget him.

Brad Who??

I hope this guy doesn't show up on B&B, they have enough lousy actors over there for KKL and SF to prop up.

After years of disliking Brad, I'm sad about his departure. Even if they do find a body, soaps have so discredited themselves by resurrecting everyone who dies that I know Brad can still return.

Edited February 1, 200916 yr by Ann_SS

You and me both, Cheap. I wasn't a fan of Brad during LML but everytime DD and SC had a scene, their chemistry was supercouple-worthy. That's not a phrase I use often.

Even a few months ago, they had this scene at Crimson Lights where they'd been catching up over coffee and Sharon said something like "This has been really nice," and Brad responded with "I've missed this." Then they didn't say anything, but they just looked at each other. The look he gave her was especially resonent. Phyllis came into CL and knew instantly that she had spied something significant.

Man. I really wanted Brad & Sharon!

yay another Brad/Sharon fan. I loved her and Nick and was sad to see them end, but the only good thing out of that would have been seeing her with Brad. I cant beleive they tortured us with Nick/Phyllis for all these years but couldnt throw the Brad/Sharon fans a bone. I hated when she took that horrible detour with Jack which never should have happened. Theres no need to get rid of Brad bc theres unresolved issues with Sharon that can and should still be explored

I was afraid to say anything so I am glad you guys did!

I loved Sharon and Brad too.

Brad and Sharon... what could have been....

OH I'm totally with ALL of you. SHRAD forever! Seriously though, DD & SC had oodles of chemistry, dating back to their sudden friendship when Cassie died. She should have never ended up with Jack, just like Brad should have never married Victoria. The opportunist in him would have gotten to have his cake and eat it too with the huge divorce settlement I'm sure Sharon got due to Nick's indiscretion. What a shame and a missed opportunity.

I hope beyond all hopes that my Brad shows up in Genoa City again someday, or even on B&B. Can you imagine the chemistry he'd have with KKL and Leslie Kay? DY-NO-MITE!

I've realized yet now that the wrong year is in the title.

Susan Flannery - ABSOLUTELY, but Katherine Kelly Lang does not have enough acting power to prop anyone. She's awardless with no nominations for a reason.

ANDREA

Susan Flannery - ABSOLUTELY, but Katherine Kelly Lang does not have enough acting power to prop anyone. She's awardless with no nominations for a reason.

ANDREA

IA. I dont see whats so good about KKL. I find her acting annoying and not that impressive. Now SF is in a league of her own and outclasses everyone on that show

So, Don Diamont should be paired with Susan Flannery? I'd watch that.

I wish they were writing him out in a way that would allow him to cross over to B&B.

that all sounds great and I would it if only to give hope that he will return. I dont want his death to be final. The only thing I dont like about this is Brad doing this to Abby and Colleen. Its pretty cruel letting them think he's dead if he isnt

Well, there are lots of ways to play it.

(1) He was so depressed, so at a crossroads, he thought his daughters would be better off if he started over...built up his base of support. (Or, he could surreptitiously let at least Colleen know he is alive).

(2) His car died because it had been tampered with ... by Nazis ... by Jana's Czech relatives ... by Lisa Mansfield (is she still alive?) ... and these people have taken him

(3) Plain and simple....exposure....reduced blood flow...history of heart attack....he has a cerebrovascular incident that affects his memory. He starts a new life with his rescuer. (Think Carl Willliams).

I don't reall care :-). I just don't want this character wiped out permanently. Or else we'll get his Scottish actor lookalike some day...and I'm not so thrilled about that.

I don't reall care :-). I just don't want this character wiped out permanently. Or else we'll get his Scottish actor lookalike some day...and I'm not so thrilled about that.

That, or some DAYS OF OUR LIVES-ish return-from-the-dead... And, quite honestly, I rather Y&R not start doing that.

I don't reall care :-). I just don't want this character wiped out permanently. Or else we'll get his Scottish actor lookalike some day...and I'm not so thrilled about that.

Uh. Who? Ian Buchanan comes to mind and now I'm confused.

RIP, Bradski.

P.S.: I was disappointed by the whole Noah-falls-through-the-ice sequence. Brad crawling towards him was quite tensely (and well) done, but when we didn't see the fall through the ice itself, you knew that Y&R's budget cuts were hitting deep. Five years ago on GH, Carly (then played by Tamara Braun) fell through the ice and the viewers saw the whole thing. I did like light of the lamp going out at the every end of the epiosde, though.

Sorry to bump up last week's thread, but something has been weighing on me... I also apologize for the length. Rather than get p*ssed of by it, just skip it, okay .

Less Joshua Morrow is always a positive thing for me, but I can endure. The storyline is good.

I want Nick dead. I want him to die slowly. Painfully. I'm not all that protective of the Phyllis character, but I'm so damn tired of Nick's pompous, self-righteous, nausea-inducing personality. How DARE he pin the blame on Noah and Eden's disappearance on Phyllis and Michael! As if he was model father to that child. Perhaps if he decided which woman he wanted in his life, he would be able to pay more attention to him. Perhaps if he could see how his actions are torpedo-ing his marraige NOT JUST his wife's manipulation, than maybe it could be salvaged. How any woman with half a brain would find such a horrible person attractive is truly beyond me. Not to mention that horrid Joshua Morrow couldn't act his way out of a burlap sack. He can only do angry and irritated well. In fact, he HAS NO OTHER EMOTION. RAH!

I liked when Sharon was writing her letter and the flashbacks they used. For the first time in forever, I thought Joshua Morrow actually tried to act in this episode too.

I also thought Joshua Morrow actually attempted to act in this episode, which he hasn't done in FOREVER. He wasn't great, but he tried.

I have never been a Morrow fan. I hold him in the same esteem as David Fumero. Guy who got VERY lucky.

Now, it is funny, because in one press interview, Morrow almost agreed with all of you. At the very least, in a self-deprecating fashion, he said that Nick could be played by "any guy with abs".

But here is the thing: You're all wrong .

Full disclosure: I LOATHED Joshua Morrow's Nick almost from the beginning, and I thought he was a horrible actor. Recent flashbacks (like when he proposed to Sharon, or carried her over the threshold of their cottage) affirmed that for me. He was all dimples and sappy line readings...but there was no genuine emotion underneath the performance. I also hated that (newly-revealed) pickup-truck driving Nick was such a far cry from what I believe would actually have emerged from a Swiss boarding school education. where was the class and the culture?

Second full disclosure: After totally digging Nick these past few years, I also am very angry with the character right now. I think the way he is treating Phyllis is AWFUL. He married her! He should have put on the brakes with Sharon. But even beyond that, he should not have gone STRAIGHT HOME and PLANNED TO LEAVE! Just how little commitment does this donkey have anyway??? One f*ck, and he's off??? Argh!

But, even with those acknowledgments, I honestly believe that Morrow is one of the best actors on the show, within a certain context.

Said differently, Y&R has (among its capable performers) two kinds of actors. It has the "genuine thespians", who give naunced performances and for whom every single line reading is obviously a carefully thought out set of choices. Peter Bergman and Christian Leblanc are obvious examples. I like them both...but they are mannered actors whose process is, for me, very much at the forefront. In that sense, I view them as performers...not characters or flesh-and-blood living creatures.

Then we have actors who basically just play themselves. Eric Braeden is the quintessential example. When I watch Victor, I lose the sense that this is a performance. I realize that discredits Eric's process and work, but really, I just see the character. For me this is the highest mark of a performance...when I can't tell that someone is acting.

So it has become with Joshua. He used to be nothing but a line reader...but there were flashes in the mid-to-late 90s when I started to notice a chance. The first scene that sticks in my head was when little Cassie had a slumber party, and the girls were all shrieking over the Spice Girls Movie. Morrow played that he was in hell, but also that he loved his girls. It was a rare bit of humor for the then-staid Y&R, and it was one of the first times I felt Morrow's natural 'cut up' personality was allowed to seep through. And in that moment, there was an instant likeability for me. It felt real.

Then, when Noah was born, and he was premature, and Nick and Sharon felt he had died, and they fled the hospital to grieve with one another. Morrow let himself go in that scene, and he was good. That scene had some personal resonance for me at that time...and I'm here to say, it was a genuine performance.

Somewhere around the time of Cassie's death, and with LML's transition, Morrow got the instruction (or the inclination) to start playing himself. Suddenly, we heard the "dudes" and "chicks" and all the Morrow-isms that have come to infuse Nick. Rather than view that as "can't act", I viewed it as "beginning to BE rather than PRETENDING TO BE". As soon as that happened, Nick felt real and relatable and honest...not a performance. And I have loved Morrow ever since.

I really think Morrow deserves a second look from all of you detractors. I really think he brings a verisimilitude...an absence of artifice...that many daytime males would be wise to emulate.

I close with the master, Eric Braeden's, own views on this topic:

MICHAEL FAIRMAN:

“On-Air On-Soaps” voted Joshua Morrow the Most Underrated Actor of 2008. He delivers consistently great work, and yet he never really gets the recognition he deserves. Would you agree?

ERIC BRAEDEN:

You bet! To be honest with you, I called him two nights ago and said, “What you have done the last few days is riveting and just fantastic. You should submit that stuff and keep it for reel.” You are right. I have talked to Joshua about this before,”Embrace what you have,” and he has done that more lately. He is an athlete, and some of us are sort of reluctant to embrace the whole acting thing. The best thing to do in those circumstances is to stop hiding it and embrace it. I think he has a big future, to be honest with you.

Edited February 7, 200916 yr by MarkH

I'm glad someone likes Joshua for something besides the abs. Although, I could literally watch that classic reveal twenty times a day...

This week, though, he wasn't as expressive as I would've liked. I mean, Sharon tells him that he's the love of her life and he didn't react in a way that I thought not only he should've but he could've. Then when he faced Phyllis, it was the same blank expression on his face. Very unfortunate.

My favorite scenes of Joshua's definitely revolve around Cassie's death. Her final hospital scene and the scenes when he lost his memory and he finds out she died again. There was something so real about those moments. I wish he could express those emotions of anguish as well as he would guilt or fear or relief or confusion or disgust. Like when he found Victor on the ground from suffering an epilepsy spell last summer. I wish he was more torn about it than he expressed. He definitely doesn't have a range. But he's not the absolute worst on Y&R.

And I'd rather watching him nowadays than the habitual performances from LeBlanc and Bergman.

Actors are supposed to breathe life into their characters and those two have stifled them to death. I agree MarkH, Morrow has breathed life into his character. But he has a long way to go still.

And I'd rather watching him nowadays than the habitual performances from LeBlanc

Rikaart & Chapman are bad influences on Leblanc.