Y&R January 2018 Discussion Thread

[mango]

 

There's definitely a sinister vibe happening. A good villain will keep everyone on their toes. 

Being as meticulous as she is in a lab, I'm surprised Ashley didn't notice what was missing right away.

[ChitHappens]

Nikki, Victor and Reed today was the best thing I've seen in  a long time on a soap.  It's high time we see adults show a kid he really doesn't have any problems and is just spoiled.  Victor letting Hairy Potter know that he's cutting that mop, doing all the chores, including cleaning the chit in the stables and not to even think about running off again because Victor will find him.  I absolutely loved it because Reed's angst is a figment of his imagination.  I caught it today while home and had to rewind it about 10 times.  I should have DVR'd it.  

 

 

[Soapsuds]

Too bad Nikki and Victor didn't do that with Nicholas. If they had he wouldn't be the spoiled brat frat boy he is now.  I blame Nikki though because she always took his side over Victor.

[DramatistDreamer]

Maybe I'm just tired and cranky but today's episode seemed uneven.  Some segments kept apace and others, oddly, dragged.

 

DD must no longer be pleased with his role on the show, lol.  

 

Victor and Reed's interactions seemed authentic.  It seems like the stance Victor would take, creating a personalized boot camp for his wayward grandson. 

Nikki, nah, it wasn't coming off as genuine at all.  Maybe she was horrified by the DUI but it wasn't coming through that way.  Perhaps had she shown up in court.  I'm sure nobody told Maddie yet she managed to find the date and time of Reed's court appearance. This is another example of what details go missing when you're furiously trying to punch a time clock with each day to day episode.

 

Cane didn't need to be on today. At least it was relatively brief yet still unnecessary.

 

It was no mystery that it was Graham who broke into the lab. 

 

JT and Victoria are great at fighting, shouting, lmao.  The romantic passion is meh.  He had hotter physical chemistry with Adrianne León.  Colleen and JT's shower scene was more memorable than any sex scene he had with Victoria.  

[ranger1rg]

I think Amelia Heinle and Thad Luckinbill DO have chemistry, and they seem really comfortable in their scenes together. If their real marriage is over, I’m even more impressed.

 

Since we found out in one day who trashed the Jabot lab, I don’t think it was ever intended to be a mystery.

 

This was a good week for Y&R — the best of all 4 soaps by far.

[DramatistDreamer]

I don't disagree that Victoria (A.H.) and J.T. (TL) have chemistry, I just happen to believe that their antagonistic chemistry is stronger than their romantic chemistry.

 

It was a flopped attempt, but I do believe there was a modest attempt at a red herring with Reed leaving his Mother's in a huff, carrying essentially the same black duffel bag that Graham has.  It didn't work but the attempt was made.

[ranger1rg]

 

Are you saying that they wanted us to think Reed might have broken into the lab? If so, I don’t ge5 it. Why would Reed do that? Why would anyone even think Reed could have done it?

[DramatistDreamer]

I'm saying that for a few brief moments, they may have wanted to create a seed of doubt, anything to divert attention from the viewer jumping to the obvious.

It was a blink and you miss it moment that by the episode's end didn't amount to much but yes, if you watch any Hitchcock movie, you'll see that even a blink of an eye red herring moment can keep a viewer off-balance and intrigued. 

It's a device. 

[KMan101]

I have to chuckle at Doug Davidson because I figured he was getting his hopes up way too high when MY became HW. Did Doug forget that Mal was also the EP during Sally's run?

 

@ChitHappens excellent post on Nikki/Victor/Reed. I haven't seen the scenes yet but I think I'll like them because like you said Reed's teenage angst is all in his head and it's time he got a rude awakening.

[ChitHappens]

 

It was glorious. Reed had to admit that Victor's reaction is not what he had in mind.  Really good scene! 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

EB looked like he was having so much fun with that scene.  I wonder whether they'll show Reed actually getting a haircut-- because they should, LOL.

[Soaplovers]

Do you think Doug d. Would be happier if the show tried to put him back with Lauren?  Granted, the ship has sailed on that..and I like the occasional scene of the two as friends (though my late mom held out hope they would reunite)...but just having the two maybe get carried away remembering the good old days...would be nice...maybe make Michael jealous.  

 

Of course, MY would mess it up.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

You're right to think MY (and most of today's soap writers, TBF) would mess it up.  I see that happening too.

 

This may benefit DD and Paul but I don't really see what it do for Lauren, TBH.

I've noticed that soap fans are by and large, harder on the female characters than they are on the males.  I'll take a recent example-- while I'm no fan of Lily, I've noticed (excluding this board) a lot of fans have been harsher on her for her indiscretions than they have been on Cane who practically drove her to the nuthouse at one point.  He had a child with another woman, yet there are loads of fans who think she should just get over it and help Cane raise the kid already.

 

I mention that because if Lauren steps out Michael, it's likely that her character would be shunned for quite awhile (as happened with Carmine), and the only thing that might come out of it would be a momentary blip of a story for Paul.

 

The only way I see this working is if there is a long setup and a gradual build.  They've only shown one or two conversations (one was a sort of lunch at the GCAC) between Lauren and Paul, but they'd have to interact regularly.  If we see Michael spending so much time on the arbitration/mediation at Jabot as Jack and Ashley fight for the CEO position and he neglects Lauren, and we'd have to see this (e.g. not offscreen), it becomes believable that it could happen.  On the other end, if Paul is frustrated in his job and that frustration has spilled into his domestic life (as he and Christine often work together on cases-I don't know how but they do), then it becomes likely and, in a way, justifiable.

 

There'd have to be a well-invested set up which I'm not sure today's soaps (or audiences) are into spending the time to let this all unfold.  If it were the days of Bill Bell Sr. storytelling, this thing would play out over at least 4 months.

[ranger1rg]

I don’t see this show as investing any significant story on either Paul or Lauren, and they won’t break up two good marriages for a repairing no one wants to see.

[Taoboi]

Sorry. I'm behind and my work week is already looking like it's heavy so question...

 

...are they dropping hints that Graham just might be poisoning Dina?

 

*fingers crossed*