Y&R: Week of April 27, 2009

[MTSRocks]

Okay so somebody on another board compared the Ashley/Adam/Estella story to that of the novel "Rebecca." Haven't ever read the book, does anybody else see the parallels?

[MTSRocks]

Me too! I loved it. I just wish the scenes had more impact.

Wouldn't it be interesting if it wasn't Adam nor Estella behind the gaslighting of Ashley, but rather her husband Victor? It would be hard to explain the crying baby, but it could work.

[brimike]

There's definitely a "tying up loose ends and beginning to introduce new stories" feel to this week. Nothing's really driving. Which is weird, the week before Sweeps. But like MarkH said, the spoilers for next week sound like things start to move pretty quickly. Still - there is a different feel to this week. It doesn't feel as "smooth" as previous transitions. (Whatever you thought of the Chipmunk stuff, the transition from Katherine's story to Kevin's story was pretty much seamless)

It'll be interesting to see how Sweeps turns out. This might be one of those time periods where there's lots of spinning wheels to save the good stuff for Sweeps. Which I understand, but is also frustrating, since in a perfect world, these time periods would be taken into account when figuring out long-term story. But we all know it's far from a perfect world in daytime.

[MarkH]

I'd like to pretend that, when someone laid out that dress for Ashley, Adam and Estella were "busy" with his accident .

I really don't want Adam squandered for this, and I really want Estella and Rafe to be the "seeds" of a new Winters- or Williams-style family...working class, diverse.

But, I'm along for the ride and asking questions...so kudos to the writers for bringing us to that point.

[MarkH]

Well, I think I actually posted myself, when the Terrible Tom/Clint arc started, that it was a terrific way to use the sunsetting Kay/Marge story to do something very interesting, rooted in Kevin's history. His first few days in that closet were heartbreaking. Others don't like the Fishers or don't want to revisit Kevin's history...but for me, the SOLE false note was the chipmunk. I liked the rest of the story.

The idea of gearing up for--and saving momentum for--sweeps is an interesting one.

But here is where that is quite a break from the past. Bill Bell explicitly eschewed sweeps. I remember how often his major beats would not hit in November, March or May. I even thought LML kind of ignored sweeps, since she put on Out of the Ashes in October.

So, "gearing up for sweeps" is something a bit new for me with this show. But, if they're winding up the toy, I can't wait to see what happens when they let it go.

[brimike]

Yeah, Y&R has never been one for a "Sweeps" month. But that was back before CBS was as heavily involved as they have been since Bell, Sr's death. LML definitely geared her stories to come to conclusions during Sweeps (whether they were good conclusions or not is another story, but yes, they were conclusions).

February/March Sweeps (however you look at it) had Brad's death. Katherine getting her life back.

I'm trying to remember back to last November Was last November the Paris remote? And Nick/Sharon kissing? Was there any other November Sweeps Y&R moment?

[MarkH]

Yes, Paris was November!

[brimike]

It was the last Thursday in October -- which is the day November Sweeps begins. Sweeps always start on the last Thursday of the previous month. (Last Thursday in Jan for Feb sweeps, last Thursday in April for May sweeps, etc)

ETA: Or at least it used to. I'm not up on my Nielsen facts anymore. LOL!

[MarkH]

OT: This watching live thing is totally freaky. First, I'm watching alone...which I never do. So, there's not the usual "snark" in the room . Second, there are these interminable pauses (something called commercials) that I haven't regularly experienced since 1983 .

But now I know what Orencia is....

ETA: Four pieces of greatness:

a. Neil having the chutzpah to sell himself to Kay--with confidence

b. "Mary Jane" laughing that she is not married...Jack realizes he was entrapped...and I think he's beginning to sense the psycho

c. Ashley's REALLY getting screwed...the dress, the credit card...and beginning to doubt herself

d. The Estella/Ashley hostility out in the open

It's all going so very nicely .

[sheilaforever]

Huge Hitch fan and indeed loving this story to pieces. It's moving too fast though or - as some of you noted - started not early enough to prevent the show from having this in-transition-feel.

I love the creepiness of it and Eileen Davidson will rock the ranch, for sure. I also loved the Brad/Olivia/Ash flöashback on Monday...

[AllAboutAngst]

Well it's about time Neil grew a pair of balls. One of the reasons Neil has always bugged me is his lack of drive and the fact that he always seemed perfectly content being second or third best at Newman (that second or third of course depending on how much nepotism was going on at the moment - whether both Nick and Victoria were promoted over him again or perhaps Victor was upset with one). FINALLY! He grew a pair and quit, and good for him for lobbying for the CEO position at Chancellor. I'd rather it be Jabot, but I'll certainly take Chancellor.

The minute Tyra appeared on screen, I did one of these Eva's awful, if we must keep this character, they really do need to recast.

I can't tell if it is Adam gaslighting Rebecca or Estella, or maybe both of them and their conversation today was just to throw us off, but seriously, why the hell would Victor even think Nikki would do that? I mean, she's come a long way from her terminal illness-faking days.

Is anyone else worried that with

, they're never going to address her mental issues? I'm a little worried that now that she realized she's stealing and they resolved it somewhat (since Lauren dropped the charges) that they're never really going to explain WHY she was stealing in the first place and losing time?

You know, I bitched about there not being enough Victoria, but the more she's on the more I'm reminded that AH's Victoria is NOT Victoria and the role desperately needs to be recast.

Small moment that I loved, and it's the reason why I think MTS might not be the greatest actress in the world, but she rocks so hard as Nikki. Nikki has always been so entertaining to me, because sometimes I absolutely love her and other times I just want to slap her for being such a ridiculously prissy, snotty snob. When Estella dropped the mail on the floor, Nikki did not even attempt to bend over to help her pick it up. In fact, she just looked down at her and talked while Estella crawled around the floor gathering the mail. I thought that was a very very Nikki thing to do.

[Adam]

From your lips and avatar to Maria Arena Bell's ears and eyes

[MarkH]

No.

Tognoni is great, but Heather Tom is across the hall.

[dm.]

Exactly. She must be dying there anyway, so why not correct two mistakes with one move?

[MarkH]

Yes.