Y&R: Actor talks about the return

[Toups]

It's true.

With that said, I can't help but still like Eric Braeden/Victor Newman. Yes, he can be a jerk, be demanding, or arrogant but it's just something about "being the man" that I admire about him.

[CSF]

Eric Breaden is one of the worst actors on Y&R IMO. I never, ever understood his mumbling appeal, and the character of Victor Newman is the most misogynistic in daytime history. I can't stand characters like Zach and Sonny on ABC, but god forbid Victor and EB should ever be confronted and put in his place.

[Khan]

Eric Braeden: Some people you get along with better than others, but in the end I don’t give a damn, and in the end it doesn’t make any difference. What’s important—the only thing I care about—is what comes across on screen.

I'm glad somebody said it.

[Sylph]

Funny how he doesn't mention another Bell who helped him come back.

[MarkH]

???

Whom are you alleging?

[soapydoc]

Thanks for confirming that, Toups. I'd posted that here several months ago to some disbelief. That really chaps my hide that he wouldn't do that scene. Not having it happen has affected the Phyllis character.

But, frankly, the show has not been the same with out EB. I can't believe how excited I am for the Victor to come back.

[MarkH]

EB's refusal doesn't chap my hide...and here's why. (I know, on this writer-centric board, I'm in the minority. But so be it).

The Victor of the last 6-12 months prior to his departure was not Victor. Victor was ruthless but NEVER reckless. Bringing Patty to town was a reckless act, and while Victor's quest for revenge was logically motivated (Jack's framing him for murder), bringing on an obsessed psycho didn't seem like Victor's MO. Victor would have hit Jack where it hurt--with Jabot or the Abbott legacy. Or maybe Victor would have brought Kyle to town and mentored him...building a stronger bond with Jack's son than Jack had.

The final months of Victor were all about making him vile, blind, unable to see what he had wrought. This was an unredeemable Victor. As Braeden has said, he's fairly sure Victor was written that way to make Braeden's expected departure easier to take.

Thus, I see Braeden dialing back on the derogation of his character as the actor-preserving-the-throughline of the character when the writing refused to do so.

These long-running shows owe more to their actors than the writers, sometime, in maintaining continuity and the truth of the character. Thus, if Braeden refused to play "chastened" under Phyllis' tongue...works for me. It is about preserving the character.

ALSO, it is a better dramatic choice. Now, Phyllis' rage can fester...and that can drive story in the future. I much prefer that to the way they resolved the Nikki-Phyllis relationship post-LML. LML had Nikki send Phyllis to jail (that was when I realized Y&R had totally gone off the rails), but when MAB took over, there was a quick scene of forgiveness and it was done.

[Sylph]

No ideas?

[MarkH]

There is a finite list of candidates, ranked in my order of plausibility

Billy Bell

Lee Phillip Bell

Brad Bell

Lauralee Bell

[DRW50]

Why would Braeden allow this to be mentioned again? Even if it was, wouldn't it bother you if the show says that a woman being upset about her brain damaged child means she is a bad person?

I don't know if the writing for Victor near the end was all that different than usual. They bent over backwards to make sure Jack got more of the blame for MJ/Patty then Victor.

Victor is their fantasy man, and is now all about plot. Was the garbage from late 2008, with Victor repeatedly telling Nikki to go die and pouting in dark rooms, really any better for the character?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Exactly.

[MarkH]

Victor turned particularly vile JUST BEFORE the epilepsy. I realize now that was done to create a contrast with "sweet Victor".

After the epilepsy tale (which I liked up until, I'd say, the "gamma knife"), Victor set his sights on revenge against Jack. That made perfect sense, given how Jack had taken advantage of him. But that, in turn, led to Braeden leaving to make his movie and Nikki taking up with David Chow.

When an angry Victor returned, vile as you mention, the character has been a detestable wicked pig ever since.

I really hope we can get past that, and back to a more rootable Victor, now. I'm not holding out much hope though...

[Sylph]

[bellcurve]

It was really Caroline Bell. She convinced Eric Braeden to return.

[MarkH]

I thought the ghost of Bill Sr. himself might have risen from the grave, Jacob Marley-like, admonishing Eric to return to the show before all was lost.