Y&R: Episode discussion for week of July 27

[rhythmchyc]

"You and your brother are losers. Between the two of you, you don't have half a brain."

Never in a million years would I have thought Victor would say "loser" and use the "half-brain" line. It's all about the silver spoon line. I was never under the impression that Victor believed Jack to be an idiot. What a stupid-ass line.

[ian]

I stopped taking Victor seriously sooo long ago. I just laugh at him most of the time. I'm glad Eric Braeden feels like he's doing something being on that show though lol

[Y&RWorldTurner]

God, today's show was such a HALLOW and RUSHED disaster.

They cram TOO much into each episode, so the scenes between Billy and Victor, which should have lasted longer, flew by and too much was said in just one or two scenes. How are we supposed to get the meaning or any reasonance out of storytelling like this?

Phillip and Nick's RUSHED wedding had no emotion, if was just stiff, and done to please one fanbase.

Nick (to Noah): I know, it's confusing!

Um, that's an understatement in this case, Nick. NOTHING in this storylines makes any sense, especially why any of these women want to be with Nick after he's treated them like sh!t repeatedly and they keep on taking him back.

Those Sharon and Jack scenes should have meant something, but they were rushed and stiff too. You're telling me Jack and Sharon said all they had to say in two little scenes?

Again, here we go with the extra Billy pimping that this crappy writing regime has to do with this character. Billy with Victor, Ashley, and Podtoria, then Billy with JT (though that was like 2 seconds), then Billy with Mac, and then Billy with Jack. Oy! Stop stretching this character too thin, idiot head writers!

Noah (to Nick): I don't think this is gonna last.

You're right Noah, IT WON'T. How they expect us to buy this rushed wedding and that Nick is supposed to be OK with this 5 minutes after Sharon left him, is ludicrous storytelling and it's been going on and on for months.

For the record I hate Phyllis and Nick, and I hate the giddy schoolgirl Michelle Stafford comes off as when Phyllis is happy with Nick. There's nothing more sickening than that, especially with this current inane storyline.

Was there a point to Ashley's hallucination? At least when Ashley lost her mind before, the story was well told, and yeah we had better writers. Not to mention, there was a point and motivations weren't fumbled.

GO AWAY ADAM!I know he hasn't been on much this week, but every time he's on now, I just ROLL MY EYES. What a lame and one-note cartoon. No depth or layers whatsoever with him. You know this idiot writing regime is probably thinking how hardcore they are for writing this character and how cool he and this storyline is, when it's not.

Also, was their a point to Nikki visiting Victor, when we didn't even really see them interact for more than 10 seconds today? Stop pimping Nikki's love for Victor, especially after he's treated her like sh!t for so long and blamed her for stuff that was never her doing. How sickening is the writing for women on this show? And then Nikki, two minutes later was at the ranch for this inane wedding. Ugh!

These Deacon/Amber scenes are just appalling. See, I know they were going to have Deacon repeatedly haunt Amber and try to make her fell like crap, after he SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER. This is the kind of lame and low storytelling Hogan Sheffer does and Maria Bell lets happen. Eveyone has to trash on the rape victim, and we're supposed to believe Deacon is so badass, what the f.uck ever!

Could these JT and Victoria conflicts be anymore contrived? First of all, maybe they would have meant something if we actually saw JT AND PODTORIA'S MARRIAGE DEVELOP ONSCREEN! But no, they're already having too many problems and, they're alreay trying to make DEMON or DESCUM happen with Victoria. Sorry idiots, but Amelia Heinle has yet to sell a storyline, and Deacon has already been botched.

Oh, and you know Jack will go back to being Sharon's doormat soon, so why the hell so I care?

Jack: I deserve better!

Yes, you do, and so does the entire cast that is written for.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

They don't write for characters anymore, rhythmchyc. Everyone is a virtual pod and everything is about progressing some inane plot.

Again, Y&R has some of the most horrible character writing on daytime right now.

[rhythmchyc]

Y&RWorldturner, Victor doesn't have to be in character and it doesn't have to be a plot point for Victor to incorrectly assess Jack as an idiot. He got Billy right, not Jack. That was just lazy writing.

It's a real shame what's happened to Adam since Muhney's come on. He's done scheme after scheme way too quickly, with no remorse and no fall-out. I think all of the s/ls are playing out with the same immediacy but for Adam, it seems just plain wrong to me. You can't have a schemer on a show and not display all of the beats for it to work.

I caught up with all of the earlier episodes this morning and I was riveted by MG's performance when confronting Amber in prison. But it's just plain lunacy for him to even be rational enough to meet her at Crimson Lights so soon after learning of her betrayal. Then to learn of her wild history, and to learn of it from the man who's blackmailing her, then to punch Deacon, then to go to a ceremony where his mother was renewing their vows only to decide that Amber should move out?????

What the hell? That seems like a very rational response to this whole mess of a story. Daniel should've been screaming at Amber for weeks about what she did, even after finding out the truth, and there should've been a scene where we see her getting kicked out of the apt. Not some five second statement that has no emotional resonance.

Plain lunacy.

[dm.]

I'm serious. Christopher Goutman has taken over the show (or Lynn Marie Latham) and now demands to have ten thousand stuff to happen in a week.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

.

But did we expect anything else? LOL!

These scenes are too short, the characterizations are all over the place, I don't know anymore. So much has been flubbed lately. It doesn't help that they cram so much into one episode.

I've always maintained that these current group of writers do not understand the Jack/Victor dynamic and feud, and more and more, I feel like I'm being proven right.

As DeeeDee would say, Amen!

Classic Hogan Sheffer to have the sexually assaulted victim being trashed by both her aggressor and then her supposed boyfriend/ex-boyfriend.

Yes, everything was rushed, but did we expect anything differently from this writing regime?

You can say that again.

[DRW50]

I think the show sees Jack as an idiot, so Victor will by default. Jack has to look dumb to prop others, like Victor or Nick. When Sheffer was at ATWT, he adored Craig, and he loved to make Jack Snyder look like a loser in order to prop Craig. The same has happened with Y&R's Jack (this Jack will soon be repeating one of ATWT Jack's all time worst stories). I remember the shift last year, when they had the inane fake diary storyline, where the heavy implication was that we could see how stupid and weak Adam was going to become because he chose worthless Jack over his wonderful father Victor. And that's what we've had since. Jack as default to Sharon. Jack as nothing to Phyllis but pity sex. Jack only attracts the affection of a lunatic who likes to harm children and kill pets.

The real tipoff was all the scenes of Jack pleading, and crying, and almost pleading with Sharon for any chance. The character was so degraded, treated as disposable.

So many of Jack's defining traits, like his love for his family and his wit, they're gone now.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Peter Bergman obviously pissed someone off at this show to be fed such horrible crap. He's propping this stupid quad, propping a one-note psycho, and has no life outside of that.

And of course, the Victor/Jack feud is just pathetically and horribly portrayed by these current writers.

What was the use of giving the Abbots back Jabot if they weren't going to do anything with that? This writing regime really doesn't know how to do business intrigue, and quite frankly, it sucks that these are the people in charge of this show.

[cara mia]

Neither Billy or Jack are idiots. Or rather, they shouldn't be. Victor should have attacked them for being spoiled and soft, not for being stupid. Victor's not an intellectual himself. His attacks on people should always about how pathetic, weak, or spoiled he thinks they are.

I know Adam has to stay on canvas long enough to switch the babies but after that, they have got to get rid of this character for years and years. The difference between Engen's riveting multi-dimensional monster to this Cardboard Cutout is beyond depressing.

Maybe Daniel is on drugs. How else to explain it?

The cast is far too large. Instead of rushed stories for Phick and Damber, use all of that time for Phick. Days of Our Lives cut John & Marlena and the ratings went up! We don't need the Scoobies or Glo/Jeff or Tyra/Anna. Get rid of all of those characters. Use Michael & Lauren as support for Phick instead of Scooby support. Put Neil with Nina. Their families are intertwined already and it would just make it all the more richer. Use the extra time you got from dumping the Scoobs and put it back into showing the beats of Phick/Shick/Shack.

[rhythmchyc]

The thing is Jack on ATWT wasn't the smartest guy in the room ever. He always played the down-home all-around G-man. When Hogan adapts his recycled storylines for Y&R, he has to put the damn characters' histories into consideration before making them do all of these incredibly lame-ass things and then force us to accept it with this ridiculous pacing.

This is why I enjoyed the fake-diary story. I understood Adam to be naïve to Jack's wit because he didn't expect to be played. He didn't know Jack to stab people in the back so he underestimated him. And the fake diary story had Jack covering his ground pretty thoroughly, I think. And, probably most importantly, there was solid motivation and really solid pacing and fallout. I didn't think Adam to be an idiot for becoming Jack's victim at all. So if Victor was Nick and Sharon was the one Adam tortured, I'd totally buy that because Nick's a dolt and Case has played the woeful heroine perfectly for years. But you can't expect me to buy a former CEO's crying for her baby without fighting and a legendary mogul to continuously to act like he's doing a rendition of Helen Keller.

You can't make Victor the naïve victim because he's a seasoned schemer. He takes everything with a grain of salt. This is why I think this is an epic fail. Adam should have way more obstacles blocking him from torturing Ashley.

What's really maddening is that these character assassinations, primarily Victor and Jack's, could've been done so well if someone spent time explaining why they've changed. It could've been Victor never wanting to take his family for granted after losng Sabrina and Hope in the same year: that's why he wants to assume the best in Adam.

[YRBB]

He should be careful, then, because they'll kill him off too.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Since Brad was already frozen to death, come November sweeps, Jack will fall into a vat of hot oil and he'll be fried to death.

And then Victor will take his remains and feed it to his new dog, since you know Zapato is dying soon.

And you know it's sad when I'm actually expecting this current writing regime to go there.

[rhythmchyc]

Billy should not be involved in this storyline at all. It is just criminal how tptb ruined the potentially great s/l where Jill would blackmail Victor with what she knew about him ousting Ashley at Jabot. And to drop it into Billy's lap, for him to use it so haphazardly, with ni forethought, no plan to use it as leverage? No plan to use it to get Ashley out of the mansion for real???? It seemed like an impulsive idiotic move to me. It's not as if Billy doesn't know what Victor is capable of. If he was smarter, he would've played his cards better so that they wouldn't stack up against him like they are now.

And, as Y&RWorldTurner said, for all of this to come out in two brief scenes, and for Ashley to run off and fall into her crazy spells, yet again victimized, rather than going to Olivia or her family for support??? Yet again, no fall-out. She goes back to the mansion?????

I don't even know why I bothered this morning, catching up this week. Neil's scene with Lily, Nina's scenes with just about everyone, and Chloe's light performance on Monday were the only bright spots I'm glad I didn't miss. Especially if Tyra saw Neil crying for his dead wife means she'll move on for good.

And I really like Driscoll. I can't wait until he's frontburner and gives Miller a run for his money.

[DRW50]

You're right about ATWT Jack, but everything about him became irrelevant when Hogan decided he needed a punching bag. He became this loser who made his wife crazy and deserved to be raped by her and who would never have a woman's heart unless she was a nut. I don't think any of Y&R Jack's stories since Hogan's arrival have had anything to do with Jack. Even the diary stuff I felt like it was more, "Adam is the stupid son, Nick and Victoria are better, this proves it! Victor is awesome, he's a good man, he wouldn't do these diaries! Sharon deserves so much better than this loser husband!"

There no longer seems to be any character Jack.

I think if I hadn't been so disgusted by the Sheffer writing at ATWT and DAYS and if I hadn't been so sickened by the Victor propping and Adam ruining I would have enjoyed the fake diary story more, but as it was, I couldn't. I became too cynical to invest.