Y&R: Episodes discussion., Week of June 29,2009

[Greg's GL]

Call me crazy, but I absolutely loved today's show.

Yes, alot was going on but that's the reason why it kept me glued to the TV the entire hour. I remember a time when the complaint was that NOTHING HAPPENED during the show. Now that things are happening, there's complaints against that as well. Hmmm.

I thought the MJ reveal was well done. Loved her talking to her kitty about the pills! SH is kicking ass in this role and I believe is adding depth to the character. Mary Jane is definitely not a cookie-cutter villian and she's playing it very well. I just have to about not using the original scenes for the flashbacks. It's so en vogue to bash Y&R these days, that nothing falls through the cracks - not even that. The problem is that this isn't just this show - NO SOAP would ever show flashbacks when all the original players are now gone. NONE. We can't pin this on MAB and Co.

Josh Morrow was riveting. The first time I think I've ever uttered those words!

Finally, I was worried about the Phyllis scene in the hospital "getting arrested" based on previous posts. Honestly, I didn't have a problem with it. First of all, she wasn't ARRESTED. She was taken down to the station for questioning. No handcuffs. And the scenes with Nikki/Victor and Phyllis were well done. Phyllis asking Nikki to be there when Summer woke up? OMG.

The Cane DNA stuff was great. Loved it. So they called Paul to talk about problems with the blood - so what? It's not implausible. He was helping Nina get the test done in the first place. The authorities wanted to keep the results quiet so.....

Overall, bravo. Great show.

[alphanguy74]

I agree, and I totally understand why MAB and Co. didn't use a flashback scene. The actress they got DID give the impression of Stern under that veil... I just think if it were me, I'd have used some pre-wedding flashback clips of Stern and Davidson, or Stern and Conwell. They still MIGHT. Since it's obvious Patty's physical appearance has been altered, flashbacks showing Stern I think would be OK... however... the difference in the voice is quite jarring, and maybe that's why they're hesitatiing. I tell you... there are TWO people that are DESPERATELY needed on this canvas right now, and that is Julianna McCarthy and Carolyn Conwell. They need to be brought back temporarily for the climax of these SL's! Once everything Victor did to Patty Jane comes out, I would dearly LOVE to see Paul just beat Victor's ass into the GROUND, put the old bastard in the hospital. But I'm sure Braeden would never stand for that, he's always got to be the biggest cock on the walk. (Although I'm sure Doug Davidson REALLY gets that award! )

[Cashton]

I didn't expect them to use original flashbacks and i thought the way they did it was creative and pretty cool. Especially as Toups pointed out they remembered it was Patty and Jack's anniversary. but I thought since they made such a fuss about hiring a younger Patty that they would use her more to show those moments.

I feel utterly ROBBED that those scenes aren't anywhere online!! SO I wanted a more straight-forward flashback and really get more detailed, but it in no way kept me from enjoying the episode.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It's never a good thing when things are to the extreme of either sides of the spectrum. I think a lot of us who complain about it want a balance, and we don't perceive the show giving that to us right now. I know I feel like too much happens, and it happens too fast. At the end of it, it seems false and plot-driven to me, very life-less. But that's just me.

In the hands of a lesser actress this storyline would be a lot more cartoon-ish, but Stacy Haiduk sells the stuff they give her and she does it well. But let's see where they take her from here, her "redemption" arc will have to be successful for her to be a viable long-term characters. Let's hope they don't go the Jana route by giving her some stupid brain tumor.

But realistically, would a non-family member be able to get information like that so fast? I don't know, I think the unbelievability factor on this show right now is turning many off, even in the smallest of situations. As MarkH pointed out, all of the major storylines require a heavy dose of suspending one's disbelief, even by traditional soap standards.

[Cashton]

I think any storyline, if you have lesser actors, they can make a story "cartoonish".

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I like all of the actors in the Scobby gang, but it doesn't stop that art story from being one big cartoon.

[Greg's GL]

That would be great to see, and easy enough to explain. Interesting....

I thought so as well.

Can I just say that I love it when you take time to discuss things like this? I love that!

I can completely understand your perspective about the pace of the storylines. Alot of the time I agree that things are too rushed - one story in particular was Victor's return to GC from Mexico. They do need to work on that, but I didn't feel that there was "too much" in today's show.

I think we agree on Stacy Haiduk's performance. Like you, I do NOT want to see it explained away as a brain tumor and I honestly don't think that will happen (at least I hope not). Again, IA that if another actress were in this role, it could easily come off as cartoonish. What else has SH done? She's awesome.

Lastly, I suppose over the years while watching GL, I've grown used to suspending belief with stories. And when I have to do so with this show, it isn't near as much of a stretch for me.

Anyway, good post.

[Cashton]

Yeah - proves my point. You need good actors and a good story to be a success. SH alone doesn't make a win - see All My Children. And a bad story with good actors - we can use your example of the scoobys in the art tale - is still not a success.

MAB is doing right with this MJ tale. All of it can't only be attributed to SH's portrayal, though she's a big part of it!! LOL!

[MarkH]

You keep saying that, but I honestly don't think it is "dropped". I think it is "banked". She lost time. It happened in the past. It will happen again. Because she has not taken her therapy seriously...

IMO, it is all going to come up again when Sharon realizes Cassie had a twin, that was taken from her by the same shifty black-market lawyer who took Cassie and gave her to Alice.

(Since my Patty-is-Tawny dream never came true, this is my new one...for five years from now when this "dark period" is past...)

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't know, sometimes I perceive stories to be a success based purely on the acting. Like you mentioned, no matter how crappy Jack is written and the bad storylines they give him, Peter Bergman sell that sh!t in a way that makes everything believable. Bad writing might still be there, but the actors and their belief in the insane material they're given make it all seem real and something that's of substance.

I guess it's all up to interpretation, because I'm not particularly moved by the story per se, but Stacy Haiduk makes even the smallest of stuff interesting to me. I'm watching the story more for her than for the story, which I've developed some problems with, but we won't go into that now.

[Cashton]

+1 for you Alvie!

[alphanguy74]

I don't think this part is unbelieveable. I think the crucial point is the fact that the lab CALLED PAUL. Nina was the one who arranged for this test to be done, and undoubtedly she gave permission for Paul to have access to all information. since he's a private investigator, and this case could possibly turn into a crminial investigation (missing corpses and all) I think there's a good chance that Paul forewarned the lab to look for anything unusual or suspicious. Now HERE is what I don't believe... Jack can screw Patty Jane and not realize he's had that "kitty" before?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

But Sharon's problems seem to have disappeared once she knew she was pregnant. There wasn't any follow up as to what her blackouts were about and why she was stealing and sleeping with all sorts men. It seemed they gave us these big things, and then they took it away and didn't explain why. She might have tried therapy once, but we know these problems don't go away like that, and we never got an explanation for them and they appear to be miraculously gone. It leaves one to question, what was the purpose?

[rhythmchyc]

Sharon's problem will be brought back out of the blue in a few of months, end of the year maybe, when something crazy happens and we'll all be like what the f*** is Sharon doing then remember that she was stealing earlier this year and thus begin this whole conversation all over again on how MAB sucks with pacing, etc., etc.

[DRW50]

The Mary Jane story has a good creepy atmosphere, and SH is doing a great job, but I'm not sure if the story itself works. Like Adam's reign of terror, her actions don't match up to what her motivations are supposed to be. Adam torturing Ashley has done little to hurt Victor or Jack, and Mary Jane going after Phyllis has just pushed Jack further towards Sharon, the woman he's obsessed with. I think Y&R uses the psycho characters to move plot forward but beyond the smoke and mirrors, the stories start to crumble. They also have both characters do crazy things to get attention, but which make them increasingly hard to watch. That hasn't happened with Mary Jane yet, but if the rumors about

turn out to be true, I think that will happen.

I think MAB and Sheffer and the rest are better at throwing ideas around than they are at knowing how to implement them.