Y&R: Episodes discussion, week of August 17

[Cheap21]

I just saw Friday's shw and what a horrible ending that was. Some bad acting from Paul Davidson and the direction was all wrong

[Greg's GL]

Why is Victoria acting all holier-than-thou with JT when she did the same thing with slime ball Deacon. Ugh. Deacon needs to take his rapist ass back to where he came from. I have absolutely no interest in anything he does now.

And IA with the art story. What a confusing, steaming pile of cow [!@#$%^&*]. The Ryder/Kevin dynamic, at least to me, is interesting. I think they have good chemistry in their scenes and both are good actors. That's the only good part of this story. Why the whole run-around with Amber/Deacon/Daniel is beyond me. What a waste.

IA with everyone that the Patty/Paul scenes on Friday were quite good. And actually, I thought the entire episode was alright - not the best, but certainly not as bad as some of the recent bullshit shows we've seen.

[DRW50]

The histrionics may have been a Rauch influence. He loved his OLTL and many of his GL stories to have that mania, everything has to be broad in case the audience doesn't get it.

I think SH and DD were good, I don't mind overacting (we barely even get acting on some soaps now), but I agree that I didn't really think this had anything to do with their past relationship or their history. Other than a weak attempt to try to give her an excuse for wanting revenge on Jack, I don't think the show ever had any reason to make her Patty Williams. Those at Y&R have no respect for history. If I ever thought they did, I stopped when they brought Phillip back from the dead to be greeted with little more than shrugs.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

I agree. The Paul/Patty scenes left me cold, too. I was expecting so much more after reading some of the posts about how amazing Doug was. His reaction seemed false somehow. But that's in keeping with Y&R these days for me. Nothing rings true anymore. The writing, direction, production, even the acting just doesn't cut it like it used to. At the core of the problem is the writing. All the heartbeat is gone. There's no real romance. Plenty of twisted sex, but no sweeping, romantic stories that have always been the signature of this soap. As for Victoria (AH), I thought she was appalling in Friday's air show. I don't buy anything this actress sales, or tries to sell. She's lazy, and not the least bit invested in the character. Making it worse, the scene between Victoria and JT was dreadfully overwritten. As has been noted so many times, Y&R is a creative mess right how, and has been for a while. It's plot driven, not character driven. And many of the story choices are huge turn-offs. (Please, no cancer stories. Many in your audience have loved ones, or have had loved ones, who've faced cancer and either won or lost the battle. Watching it for a couple of hours on a LIfetime movie is doable; watching it week after week on a daytime show is just insensitive to your audience.) Hogan Sheffer has got to go. So many of these stories have his fingerprints all over them, and not in a good way. He was marginally successfully at ATWT for a few years, then destroyed that show, too. It's happening at Y&R as well. Give Scott Hamner the boot, too. He's not delivering, and never has. Also, look at your breakdown writers and scriptwriters. Too many are "imports" from other shows who just don't get Y&R. (Yes, TC, that includes you.) Also, your script editor needs to be someone who knows the show like the back of his or her hand. There are a few old timers left (NMS, JEF, EF & LS). Promote one of them to script editor, let them do their thing. But the buck starts and stops at the top. CBS/Sony need to make some changes. Fast.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

I hate what this show has done to the character of Deacon. On B&B, he was a flawed character, but not "evil" like Y&R has made him. He's now one note. Nothing complicated or complex or intriguing about him at all. Shame on the writers for doing such a hack job on this once fascinating character.

[lovely_m]

Risk sounding like a 'fanboi', sweetie that ship sailed a long time ago. I'm glad that you found people who have been enjoying Tammin's performance, but I can't say that I'm one of them. To me she plays Colleen like a mean girl in high school, especially in this storyline. It sounds like she is saying 'aw' in words that don't have an 'aw' sound in them, that could be the accent thing though. She is a good actress, just miscast.

I'll agree with you about Christel not cutting her hair. I don't care if she does or does not, the problem for me is that they showed her cutting a wig. The wig and bald cap looked so fake it just made the whole scene eye roll inducing. They should have had her wear a do rag over the bald cap.

I honestly think that if Maria, Scott, and Hogan want to keep him they will find a way. It's like Amber, the writers tried so hard to find a place for her until she clicked. I know this regime is different, but both have the same love for the character. I think it will be the same for Deacon.

[sheilaforever]

Double UGH for Heinle's sh*tty acting... I mean seriously, is it too much to ask her to ahem act!?

Thad Suckinbill has actually been doing great with this story. There I said it. I still hate him or his overblown character though.

[alphanguy74]

I think the reason those scenes left you cold becaue you read spoilers and knew they were coming. And your'e too young to have any real connection to Patty, since her front burner development was from 1979-84. And all of her's and Paul's interatcion came during that time. God help me... the blonde wig HELPED me in that regard, even if Haiduk didn't look like Lilibet Stern, at least her HAIR did! Another reason is that youv'e utrned yourself off to Patty Jane if your'e PREPARED to hate her, then you will. You have to leave yourself open to changing your mind about a character, seeing things you didn't see before.

[rhythmchyc]

Nah, he's just over it. I thought the scene was very powerful and I wasn't even born in 1979. I really hated the Patty-Cake crap, though. Like I said, I didn't watch the show in the 70s or early 80s but I KNEW that they made that up for this episode. Damn them!

[MarkH]

Interesting that the writers are now trying to a neurologically based explanation for Victoria's lackluster nature and personality change.

Her traumatic head injury!

You know, I could buy that. Since we're apparently only ever going to get Amelia in this role, then they might as well use a plausible on-screen explanation for why all personality has left the building (where she is concerned).

[DRW50]

They should just say Nick, Victoria, Abby, Victor, and Ashley all have serious head injuries. That would explain why they have all become so lackluster and useless.

lovely_m, they may have some plan to keep Deacon around, I don't know. The writing for him is so awful. I have no idea what they are doing, and I doubt they do either.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't think time has anything to do with it, MarkH, SOAPSFOREVER, and others who were old enough to recognize the character in the 80's had similar reactions. It wasn't an acting choice, it was more of a writing choice. Those scenes were too short and too crammed, they lacked emotion for me personally, and knowing they won't be followed up on Monday makes it WORSE. You're telling me they couldn't cut some of the Scobby, Lily, or Victor/Colleen scenes on Friday to accommodate more Patty and Paul?

It seemed like they gave the short end of the stick to the most important story on Friday's episode.

I also didn't read the weekly spoilers to know what was coming on Friday this week, I've lost interest in even keeping up with most weekly spoilers. I'm not prepared to hate anyone, I just think Patty Jane is a totally irredeemable character that has committed too many unforgivable crimes in such a short period of time, and I do not want to see them whitewashed.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Agreed 100%

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Sean Kanan is only recurring and he said they never offered him a contract, which tells me he might not be around too much longer. Which would be the best thing, IMO. They've totally botched this character.

[DRW50]

Sean also said he has no idea what the story is and he wasn't happy about what Deacon has done. So that does sound like he's probably not going to be around long.

I still don't know why they did this. Deacon was such a fascinating bad boy, he helped keep B&B going for several years. Now he's just this generic, leathery rapist/perv.