Y&R: Episodes discussion., Week of July 6

[Antoyne]

I finally watched Monday's episode yesterday and honestly, I was a bit let down..

I feel like I was supposed to feel something from this P3 reveal and I feel absolutely nothing. Tricia Cast is outshining everyone, and the best moment came from the hospital scene where she screamed "You're so full of crap."

My biggest issue with Bierdz is the man's diction. It's awful...and occasionally I saw some sort of emotion but usually I ended up distracted by the stroking of his goatee or the furrowed brows..And that hair...His performance wasn't AS bad as I was expecting, but I wouldn't call it good. I feel absolutely nothing for the character.

I've never been a big fan of DG, but honestly this man is now playing the most hated character in town and he's doing an awesome job. I was thoroughly impressed with his performance on Monday. Billy Miller also did a great job..I'm confused as to why the writers have made Lily turn this whole situation into being about her? When exactly was she expecting Cane to say, "Oh hey I'm actually not Phillip III, but don't tell anyone. I love you."..She's just coming off as an annoying little child.

[brimike]

I agree with this 100%. Phillip being gay doesn't bother me at all - in fact, I think it tracks beautifully with the Phillip I remember in the 80's. Yes, it's a history rewrite, but it makes sense. When I think of so many scenes with Phillip back then, I see a lot of myself in my teenage years in him.

The whole "letting his family believe he was dead" part is the only part of it that I still struggle with, but like I said before, as long as we see the journey Phillip goes on, as he realizes the extent that he made people suffer, and there's some redemption at the tail end of this, I'll be fine with it.

[MarkH]

Nah. Kay had her own lesbian flirtation. Kay would be the LAST PERSON ON EARTH to judge P3...both by her nature, and given that history. Uh uh.

I think both Khalil and Goddard are FINE. Bryton was great yesterday. I loved Neil as protective-daddy-with-big-guns! It all worked. This has been a shot in the arm for the Winters. I don't understand the specific CK-hatred these last few days.

Chancellor mansion wasn't P3's childhood home. He lived at the Fosters' house until Jill married John, then he got shipped to boarding school (and PREFERRED not to come home for Xmas.). True, when he returned as a young man (Bierdz) he lived in the Chancellor mansion...but I'm not sure he would have formed a huge attachment to it. Indeed, it wouldn't have bothered me if he looked at it with a mixture of loathing and regret...in light of how unhappy he apparently was there. But I can accept that he has a weak attachment to the house. He only lived there for three post-adolescent years.

My understanding is that Cast does not have children. Her husband is a much older man. Can you confirm that she has kids? Because, honestly, I don't think there are ANY kids keeping her in Tennessee. But I could be wrong.... Tricia has had one of the most universally applauded returns I have EVER seen on soaps.

Nothing about Patty resembles "psychopath". Adam is closer, but given that he has all these tinges of regret, the label doesn't even fit him. Adam occasionally demonstrates psychopathic behavior (lack of conscience and empathy), but not in a clear way. (Damon Jacobs correctly noted that such behaviors almost always stem from childhood abuse--which makes me wonder if step-daddy Cliff didn't occasionally bugger Adam behind the barn...that would explain a LOT...including Adam's willingness to bed down with Rafe).

For Patty, she is clearly psychotic in parts--as in detached from reality--but she is far from a psychopath. She feels too keenly.

Many have fallen in love with her...I'm sure she'll be there for the long haul.

WIN! WIN! WIN!

You get it!

Did I mention, WIN?

Yes, exactly. The Phillip-Cricket "romance" (where he had to booze up to be around her) could ABSOLUTELY have been as you describe. I'm not "rationalizing" the retcon. I remember thinking this even back then. Why does he need booze to be with his girl? Something is awry. Even is impregnation of Nina was done while drunk.

Ah, some will say, but he had sex with Nina when they were married! Well, that describes about 50% of the gay men of Bierdz's generation! It doesn't mean a thing. I have more problems with the "I paid off a cop with non-existent money to play dead" part of the story than the "I was secretly gay" part of the story. It fits Bierdz and P3 beautifully.

For all the audience members who feel deceived--like, "Hey, I was watching, and I never noticed he was gay". Well, HELLO! Welcome to the reality of the closet!

[brimike]

Whoops! My bad. You are correct, Mark.

Oh, I can't confirm it. You could be right. Others said "she doesn't want to uproot her family" and I just assumed that meant kids. Shouldn't assume things...

[MTSRocks]

I don't mind the story, but so far only Tricia Cast and Jeanne Cooper are selling it for me. Khalil isn't nearly as bad as people are saying.

[Leia]

Thanks for saving me a post. Beautifully said!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Meh, screw the gay aspect, it's the whole storyline, the sh!tty rewrite, the horrendous explanations, Bierdz's crap acting, the shoddy execution, and gag-worthy dialogue that make this storyline suck so much for me.

Again, thank goodness for Tricia Cast, without her, nothing in this storyline would be remotely watchable, IMO.

[Soapsuds]

An excellent post and I totally agree.

[Sylph]

YES! You got that right! Time for someone to wipe off the crap from some of these posts!

Open your eyes, people! Some will rationalize everything. Everything. The story is pure sh!t, one of the worst ever in daytime, and is making Y&R sink faster than Titanic. This show is drowning in sh!t. Monday episode, with all of Janice Ferri trademarks (like unpolished, un-actable lines & tons of expository dialogue), was appallingly bad, made worse by Thom Bierdz. Who couldn't act if his life depended on it! There was zero emotional connection and Nina should have slapped him so hard and said: Snap out of it! His speech in the hospital was mind-boggling sh!t.

[DRW50]

I thought that relationship ended because Brock convinced her it was unnatural, and all misplaced. If Phillip ever learned of any of this I'm sure it just reinforced his doubts.

[jadia]

Word, I know CK is not a popular subject around here but I frankly thought she was great both days as well. I felt every emotion from her hurt to anger, betryal, everything. She brought up her game like everyone else in this story except for drum roll...TB. I heard all the hype and when he finally showed up, just dropped a big ole stink bomb, I'm willing to give him a chance cause CF has clearly improved as well. But then they should have waited before dropping him in the middle of a dramatic storyline like this, he brought everything down being the centerpiece. He is just not very good and that's all I'll say on that. But ita to whomever who said that DG is the mvp so far to me, he's really brought it and truly looks and act like a man broken and desperate.

Basically.

[MTSRocks]

Tuesday's episode was pretty good. Bierdz isn't as horrible. His speech is a bit stilted, but he's not horrendous.

LoL at the post telling us to open our eyes and stop rationalizing. Cause we're such mindless zombies, LoL.

[lmfan]

And he made it sound like he decided to kill himself and they when he realized he was alive decided to buy off a cop and doctor who just happened to be in financial difficulties. This kid was depressed, an alcoholic and all of 18 yet he managed to come up with a plan that is almost impossible to pull off.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't understand Maria and Company's purpose for creating this ridiculous rewrite, especially when she only gave Bierdz a 6 month contract. What is she trying to accomplish that she couldn't do without Bierdz being there and pissing on a ton of history? If Bierdz is gone in 6 months, what did storyline really accomplish other than messing with already troubled history (thanks initially to Latham), make Phillip III an even more unlikable character, and forcing so many unrealistic excuses and holes in this storyline on the audience?

[Soapsuds]

Yup,

We like what we like....not too fond of someone else trying to tell me to open my eyes. Kind of telling us we are stupid for liking the story. That's the way I see the post coming off.