Y&R: Week of April 06, 2009

[brimike]

I get that, but I'm not sure how that props Mac. Chloe-as-Kate happened what? Eight months ago? Long before Mac came back.

[dm.]

?? When exactly do you think they made her into a gold digger? We must be watching a different show, because Chloe never was one. Plus, I agree with others, Mac wasn't even in plan when that whole thing started.

[Money]

As much as I hated Jill and Kay's loving relationship I've grown to accept it because it took years to unfold, however Jill wanting nothing to do with her is really unrealistic given the past 6 years of watching their pain and struggle to get to the place where they are now. I don't even understand her motivation to severe ALL ties with Katherine just because they aren't related. She's not even happy that Katherine is alive and as a matter of fact she even said it would have been better if she were dead. All this sudden anger and animosity because they're no longer related, even BEFORE the final results came in is too much too soon. The only saving grace is that Walton is playing it as if it's too painful for Jill to accept Katherine because she loves her so much so she resorted to what she knows best - lashing out.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't know if I see her as a social climber either. I mean, she did spend most of her life in posh boarding schools paid for by Kay.

I think there's a sense of neglect in her life that she blames Katherine for her, and she's using that neglect to weave her way into Katherine's family (or extended family in this case now).

[Greg's GL]

Oh yeah. Amber, Lily, Chloe, Sharon and now Mac. I'm so happy Y&R snapped him up - he has made this role his own, IMO.

IA with some of the things you said, Money. But I think the last bit is the underlying intention of the writers/directors. Not that JW isn't a great actress, but I feel that was the intention all along. The writers are getting back to Jill's old traits, and lashing out when faced with situations that make her uncomfortable is one of Jill's things. JMO.

[CSF]

Mac? That has nothing to do with Mac.

[brimike]

I also think her priorities have changed now, and with that, her goals.

When she met Billy in New York, I think it's exactly how Y&RWorldTurner put it. I don't think she ever expected to really fall in love with the guy.

And what she did with Cane ended up putting the screws to both Jill/Katherine (in terms of being the maid's daughter sent away) and Lily, which was gravy at that point. Plus, it gave her kid a father who was a Chancellor, assuming Billy was never going to come home to Genoa City again and he was out of her life for good.

Then Billy came back, throwing her for a loop. And once Cordelia was born, I think everything changed. She loves this baby, she had no problem coming clean with Cane once the baby was born. And even at the cabin, she willingly admitted everything to Lily.

These last few weeks, I haven't gotten any vibe at all that Chloe's end game has anything to do with righting some wrong from her childhood, like it was in New York City. I think it all has to do with Billy, the guy she loves, now. ANd keeping this family unit together.

[CSF]

I see what you're saying but I look at it this way:

Chloe spent her life in an elite boarding school, but she isn't an elite. It may have been paid for by an elite, but looking at it from a person of a primitive and rigid society's perspective, Chloe will always be an outsider. She isn't part of the jetset, she isn't in the Social Register. She didn't have a debutante ball. Her peers in school had those things, but really even they aren't her peers, socially. Chloe is striving for acceptance into a very jaded enclosed society. Her marriage to a Chancellor will unlock those narrow gates.

[Faulkner]

I want Noah slapped into the next millennium.

Can someone arrange that? Thanks in advance.

[BadZoe]

David Tom Who?? LOL. I loved David back in the day, but BM now owns it, but If he wants a job back on a Bell soap, I think he'd make a great CJ recast on B&B.

[Money]

Greg, I hope you're right because far it seems the writers just want to undo the mother daughter thing and have Jill go back to her bitchy ways so they can get more mileage with their feud. Walton and Cooper are excellent when their character are feuding but I hope they don't completely erase the connection that they built for the last 6 years. It would be great if the writing (and not just Walton's nuances) underscored Jill's love for Catherine beneath all the bitterness and and animosity I know is coming.

[Ann_SS]

I keep saying this, I can't help myself. I adore Katherine and Murphy. They are the sweetest couple. I'm only watching Y&R for them and for Chloe.

These two women let Nick humiliate them. I don't care that Nick feels conflicted, he is a disgusting man whore. Phyllis and Sharon should have more pride.

[MarkH]

Did someone say there was a problem with Amanda Beall??

Tuesday's Y&R was written for me. I imagine some folks won't like how "talky" it was...but that is exactly what I love.

1. The parallel conversations between Jack-Nick and Sharon-Phyllis were amazing. Jack-Nick was better, because Bergman played some of his affection for Nick. I was disappointed Morrow didn't reciprocate. It was the first time in a while I actually felt some of the "Neanderthal" type limitations some of you have met. But I guess Jack is getting ready to "move on".... handy that Mary Jane showed up

What I liked, with Phyllis and Sharon too, is that people aren't yelling. They're talking...they sound like conversations I might hear in my life.

2. Yup, Murphy and Kay are having sex . But they're also TALKING and playing gin!

Here's where Y&R taught me something today: People decry that AMC or GH or ATWT all neglect their veterans. We don't get to see that anchor generation, people we have loved for decades, serving as "talk-to"s to others.

Well, Michael Fairman does EVERYTHING for me that a 30-year veteran does. And suddenly I learned that a well-acted and well-cast mature actor can be just as good as a true veteran. What Fairman does is enrich his portrayal with such a sense of being a "Mensch", and he carries some history in his face, and that is enough. Indeed, he's MORE interesting than a veteran, because we still have layers to peel in his onion.

And he just plays a good egg so beautifully. Patient, slightly bemused. I felt so good that the talked fondly of Amber and Kevin...because now I know those two young people (whom I love) are going to be okay. Murphy and Kay will take care of them!

Show me bed scenes with Kay and Murph every day. I never thought I would say that.

3. Mac! Clementine does Mac very well. Mac could be a little rigid, a little judgmental...always protected by that tough, unsmiling exterior she had fabricated. And I saw that beautifully in Clementine.

She was good on her third day...and she'll be better as time comes. She has so much to play, too. She has a history with Colleen (she was a positive force for Coll' when CeeCee was a troubled teen). She has a history with JT (yowza!). She is one of the only friends to Keven.

Watching Clementine and Billy today, both gave me a sense of truly inhabiting their characters and their pasts. This can only go up, and that is from a solid baseline.

4. Normally, I hate "made up memories". But the Chloe flashbacks were delightful. As someone else said upthread, the triangle has INSTANTLY become Chloe-Billy-Mac...and it is instantly compelling. No one there raises a "huh"?

Contrast that with Cane -Lily. We don't know what Lily and Cane see in each other. We don't know why Cane squandered his future for Delia. It all was so loose and flimsy. They are absolutely not missed. Indeed, including them in this triangle would be a distraction.

So, it's time for them to go. Just go. Sadly, that weakens the Winters further, but it has to happen.

5. I love Kevin Schmidt's Noah. He's so natural, and I like that he is empowered and being written as "real". He elevates both "Edens".

I wish Noah could appear more often. It was kind of a pleasure to see "young love" (even though I also feel the Kevin-Eden foundation is flimsy...we never sort of were explained their insta-couple status)...if only as a reminder of where Billy and Mac's connection came from.

[brimike]

I totally agree with everything you said, Mark. 110%.

RSinclair has posted examples of why he hates Beall's writing (and I agreed that it wasn't good dialogue), but especially after today's episode of Y&R, I have to believe that it was either the work of the breakdown writer she was forced to write from, or that the script editor there did her wrong, or maybe that actors rewrote things on the floor. Because I've seen nothing like the juvenile, catty, sitcom-y dialogue R's posted from AMC in Y&R. IN fact, today, I thought, was a character-driven masterpiece, from start to finish.

[MarkH]

Good point. Yes, you're right. For all those who decry plot-plot-plot...there was virtually none today (except maybe Chloe seeing Billy and Mac, and recognizing that there is a new threat in town). And even there, we got some more insight into her "bag a Chancellor" motives.

What I am also enjoying is the "symphonic" structure of the show, if that's the right phrase. So Friday was a huge crescendo using many of the instruments in the orchestra, but by Tuesday we get a nice, gentle quieter stretch. Kay Alden alluded to this in her MIT talk (it shows how starved we are for this kind of meta-talk, if we're still referencing Kay's colloquium over a year later). We need time to breathe and process the big events. Tuesday gave that to us. Beautiful.