Y&R: Episode Discussion for the week of August 3rd

[brimike]

Meanwhile, in spite of the horrors of Zapato looking directly into the camera before he died (talk about unnecessary shots), I did want to commend the editors for the wonderful job they did on all the Victor/Nikki/Paul flashbacks. That had to be a bitch to put together. I thought they were all appropriate scene choices, and went through almost every time period seamlessly. Brought back a lot of memories, and I found myself looking forward to each new Nikki scene today.

[DeeeDee]

[DeeeDee]

Attempted murderer, Attempted murderess, Rapist.

It can happen.

[lmfan]

Yep, but she went after a child and a dog. Big no nos in soaps. People don't like characters who go after true innocents and the writers know this, so I don't get why they are doing this with her if they wanted to keep her around. So maybe they don't want her to stick around.

[lmfan]

Yes, I liked the flashbacks quite a bit just don't know why we haven't been seeing them as they should have been used as the relationship between Nikki and Paul was developing, but instead much of their relationship happened off screen. These three actors are the same actors from three decades ago and they wait until this one episode to use them and their history. Back to the problem with pacing and development of story.

It is just so contrived. Victor, in just this past month stops looking at Nikki with disdain and bad mouthing her, so they can have Nikki conflicted about this wedding which we just heard about this week. It is just as bad as Summer being diagnosed with a peanut allergy just before Sharon and Nick find out about the baby. I don't even like JT and Victoria, but now all of a sudden they are having marital problems so a month later they could be split. And Victor and Ashley being married in a half of an episode so that Ashley can see MJ looking like Sabrina through the window. What the heck is the rush with everything?

They have this great history, these veteran actors who go way back and all these potential flashbacks they can use to write wonderful character driven drama, but instead it is all plot, plot, plot.

[cara mia]

We should count our blessings those verbs weren't switched. Of course, give it time on this freak festival.

It's quite ridiculous to compare Patty Jane to other past characters that were redeemed. First off, those other characters were Bill Bell characters. He knew how to make magic. This current regime can't tell their left from their right. Second, by the time Paul raped Cricket, for example, he had already been established as a complicated and popular character. People were predisposed to forgive him. Patty Jane has been on for a short while and most of it was spent committing mayhem. SH is gorgeous and doing the best she can under the circumstances but the character is just plain old distateful. Of course, I would rather keep her than the horrible recasted Adam, but really, they can both go.

[MoTheGreat]

I have an issue with Billy anger.

Wasn't it that John who convince Jill to let him take Billy as a young boy out of GC? Is Billy mad that she just gave him up without a fight? & did John the one sent him to boarding school because I don't remember it back in the day that Billy mention boarding school.

[DRW50]

They don't mention all this, it's easier to just make it seem like Jill ruined Billy's childhood.

[MoTheGreat]

I think TIIC are making up history about Billy because John isn't around to defend what really happened.

[BadZoe]

I still don't get why they made Mary Jane Patty instead of Mary Jo Buttface.

And what kind of bastard is Victor letting Ashley go on believing she killed Zapato instead of saying he thinks its the crazy woman who poisoned Summer.

[alphanguy74]

I don't know why you keep assuming they are going to redeem her. I don't think they have any intention of redeeming her. I think they thought Patty was an interesting choice because Andrea Evans would not be brought back with Amber on the canvas, and Lilibet Stern has retired and has no intrest, so they probably figured this would be a creative way to dispose of a character the viewers always wondered what became of. Nice idea in theory, but it was played way too fast, and WAY too hard. And the fans love Haiduk, but seem to have no problem whatsoever with the fact that Haiduk is 6 inches taller and has a voice half an octave lower than Stern... or Evans, for that matter. And I don't think Zapato being killed is the worst thing in the world. It's sad, yes... but I also hate dogs, so I guess I'm kind of biased on the subject.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I realize that contracts mean nothing, but I believe they signed Haiduk to a three year deal, so that tells me they initially planned on having this character around for a while.

And if she's indeed here to stay, they've done a pretty good job of writing the character into a corner and making her increasingly irredeemable.

Others have also been calling for a redemption arc for her, but with the way this show is paced and how things are dropped, you know a redemption arc will either never happen or happen in 5 minutes and she's back to being an integrated member of society.

She's committed way too many crimes in such a short amount of time with almost no remorse.

I agree with BadZoe, Patty Jane should have been Mari Jo Mason instead of Patty Williams. I don't understand bringing this character back and almost never showing Paul or hardly any Williams family dynamic, even if Paul is the only true Williams on the show.

I don't understand bringing Patty Williams back and turning her into a one-note psycho.

ETA: Adam is also another one that's irredeemable, with all he's pulled this year. I'm so over him and his one-note psycho villian antics as well.

These characters are completely written into a corner and show no remorse for it. They suck and need to be locked up in prison off-screen for years.

[y&r_fan]

I can't imagine MJ sticking around much longer now. Killing Zapato has made her completely irredeemable (and I'm not the only one who thinks so).

[DRW50]

I don't think Y&R has any long term story plans. At one time they may have planned more for MJ but they won't now. I think she will be around for a while because they need a lunatic to run around and advance the plots. The same for Adam.

Never did I think I would see the Newman family as this completely vacant. Victor is now such a weak character that everything in his story has to be propelled by headcases. The only story which is about him, Nikki realizing she still wants him, he has a passive role in, he barely manages to treat her in a way which rises above contempt. Nick -- no one home. Victoria -- no one home. Abby -- like, totally, no one home. Adam -- destroyed beyond repair.

No wonder they killed Zapato. He was probably the most popular Newman child.

[cara mia]

Maybe MAB intends to destroy the Newmans because sooner or later EB's going to leave, so what's the point of the family, right? It's like an extreme case of Mary Sueism/Fan Fiction, where MAB is taking an axe to the Newmans so she can build the show around the Chancellors and the Scoobies with a side of Abbotts.

If a real writer gave a damn, the Newmans could be fixed. Recast Victoria and write her as a strong woman. Give Nick a credible rival for one of his wives and stop making him ping pong. Recast Abby and make her smart. Adam, sigh. The character really died when Engen left. The failure of a good actor like MM to make Adam remotely tolerable tells me the part is just too revolting to recast successfuly. Nikki is a weird case. It's tough watching her be pathetic, yet when Nikki's in character, that's who she is. She is a pathetic mess and MTS finds a way to make it work. EB really needs MTS more than she needs him. She brings out the best in him. Ashley is a cancer for the Newman family. Send her back to the chemistry lab already.