Y&R: December 2013 Discussion Thread

[jcren]

It was Grace who introduced Alice to Michael Baldwin, right? She wanted to destory the Newmans and sent Michael in her direction. My memory is a bit fuzzy. But yeah Christine was Shick's lawyer and Michael was Alice. Grace and Nick's affair basically ruined their chances to keep Cassie. Michael painted Alice like a damn saint. This was back when he was still awesome and slimey. He was also crushing on Grace at the time. Grace ended up regretting it when she realized that Shick were losing and Cassie was going to be ripped from her family. The smartest thing Christine did was put Cassie on the stand because after she basically begged the judge to let her stay with the Newmans is when Alice folded and signed away her rights. She picked Cassie's happiness.

I remember after Cassie died that Nick went to see Alice secretly. They had a nice heart to heart about Cassie's first years. I remember being happy that the writers remembered Alice and let us (the audience) see that she knew what happened.

[full hearts]

Yep. All the Newmans had gone off on Grace about the affair so she wanted revenge. Take them down a peg. Once Michael learned that Chris was representing Sharon/Nick he immediately decided to represent Alice.

[Juliajms]

Seriously. There is no way Victoria is going to give up her child. I find the suggestion absurd. People are always talking about character's being ruined, but I can't think of anything that would ruin a character faster than returning a child like he's a purse.

I agree that Billy would not try to take Johnny from Victoria, but even if he did, he doesn't have any more standing as Johnny's parent than Victoria does. That's what adoption means. If they had a custody battle Billy would not come out looking good. He bought one child and Delia died on his watch.

Chelsea is a legal non entity here. Y&R can be campy at times, but I cannot see them making a mockery of adoption. I'm not even an adoptive parent and I find the thought of it outrageous.

[ajsp35801]

Well, I admit to an agenda that outweighs common sense and borders on the ridiculous where Johnny is concerned. :-)

[YRBB]

Grace didn't send Michael to Alice to get revenge against the Newmans. It was much more complicated than that. Grace was angry at them and really wanted to hurt them but she refused to do anything that would jeopardize Cassie. So she asked Michael to broker a deal in which Alice would get paid off in exchange for signing over her parental rights. Alice wanted the money but also wanted Cassie and only went along with it because Al insisted they take the money and run. Grace also wanted to keep her involvement in this a secret.

He also didn't decide to represent Alice because of Christine. Grace BEGGED him to represent Alice but throw the case to make sure Cassie stays with Nick and Sharon. Michael agreed and probably had every intention of doing so until he found out Christine was representing Sharon & Nick. It was a lot of fun watching Michael lie to Grace as he navigated the hearings.

They wrote Michael as much more than crushing on Grace. He really, really liked her (which is why he agreed to throw the custody case) and they dated for a while and had sex. Grace broke things off because Michael put her on the stand and tore her to shreds, which is when she realized that he was lying all along and really intended to win this case for Alice. They had a few fabulous, nasty arguments.

[full hearts]

Blast from the past. I forgot a lot of this. Thanks.

[jcren]

Ah yes! Nasty Al. I remember it now. I fully admitted my memory was fuzzy. I also remember now that toward the end Alice actually began to change a bit and sincerly wanted Cassie back. She was given visitation and they always went south. That is when Alice started to realize that it was not going to work but she kept trying to force the issue. Didn't they have to schedule a session in which Sharon attending because Cassie was so anxious due to Alice? I have a memory of Alice being pissy because she felt like her time was being wasted because Sharon's presense was ruining her bonding time.

The good old times. I look forward to watching this 1998 episode.

[YRBB]

You're welcome! It was fun to actually think about it; it was such a well-plotted story.

No worries--I have horrible memory and it took a while to bring all the details back.

I believe the visit you are referring to was the first and Alice did get pissy. It was truly amazing how, as the custody case went on, the writers were able to show a different side to Alice and humanize her (instead of turning her into more of a villain, like they would have done today). There is a scene a few months later, where Alice has fully committed to winning custody and raising Cassie, but Cassie only cares for Millie. After the visit is done, Cassie and Sharon go to the kitchen to bake cookies and Alice, apart from observing their close relationship, is left alone to look at the house she will never be able to afford. I dare anyone to watch that scene and not feel empathy for Alice. Tamara Clatterbuck was brilliant.

[jcren]

I remember liking Alice at the end. That is the kind of writing I long for now. People were truly flawed but flawed didn't mean evil or bad. Alice was not a horrible person. She was just horribly influenced. In the end she proved that she truly did love Cassie by letting her go. That is why I liked when Nick went to visit her after Cassie died. That was just a nice scene that probably wouldn't have happened until the current regime.

Side note: It's cute that Sharon Case, Tamara Clatterbuck, Jennifer Gareis and Lauren Woodland are bestfriends in real life.

[Juliajms]

Well, the little tyke can head off to boarding school, before too long. That seems like a fair compromise.

[jcren]

I agree. It is just not going to happen. Besides as we have established on this show that adopted and non traditions families are pretty much the normal and you rarely see the kid taken away unless it is some crazy extreme circumstance like Lucy, which was because she was not legally theirs.

Brad was Abby's adoptive father and stayed that way until his death. That is when she got close to Victor but even then he was always in her life. So it was not a huge stretch.

Tucker was revealed to be Devon's father and that changed nothing in regards to his relationship with Neil. The same with Lily. Neil is her father eventhough biologically he is her uncle.

Daniel and Danny are father and son. The truth changed nothing.

And we all know Cassie and Nick..

Ronan discovered Nina was his mother and they never really bonded despite both his adopted parents being dead.

Time will tell with Nikki and Dylan but I get the feeling the opposite will happen and they will bond.

Victoria has been Johnny's mother all his life. I don't see a custody fight between them anyways but if it were to come to that I don't see Victoria laying down and taking it. The Newmans have claimed Johnny as their own and they will come guns blazing to make sure he stays that way. And we all know it. But in all seriousness Billy would never tale Johnny from her. This summer showed us basically how their divorce would be like. Victoria has custody and Billy has vistation.

[ajsp35801]

I'll take it...

[DeeeDee]

Yep

He would sit in his office drawing sketches of her.

[DeeeDee]

Alice was never a horrible person.

In fact the reason she wanted to adopt Cassie in the first place was to make up for her bad relationship with Millie.

No matter how greedy & focused on winning Alice became she always had a soft spot for Cassie.

[Sinny]

Oh I think it is very obvious they are pairing Miss Devon with Hilary. Too bad she gets the wimpiest guy on the show. Hilary had potential, but being stuck with that schmuck did not help her out.