Y&R April 2018 Discussion Thread

[Chris B]

 

I posted about the show and only the show and you decided to quote my post and I found your tone to be rude which why I said what I said. You could’ve responded to what I was saying about the show with something other than “so what?” Which IS meant to invalidate my opinion. 

 

Now back to the actual show, I do find the show very watchable but I put that down to the familiarity of the cast. I don’t think it’s good or very entertaining overall but Y&R is lucky it hasn’t had the turnover of other soaps in their later years. That definantly goes a long way when it comes to the endless writing and producer changes that inevitably change the tone of the show. 

[Taoboi]

Your thoughts are just fine, @Chris B.

Please register in order to view this content

 

 

That said...I am caught up and finally had time to say a few things...

 

I liked that it appears that Fridays have become Friday cliffhangers again. 

 

I now know what most of you meant about Hillary/Devon. Darn, I got whiplash. This was a chance for the writers to write them out of the rut that usually apparently happened with them, but alas...it seems. 

 

I liked Nikki v Jill if it means two divas have something to do. 

 

I'm here for the slow burn of Sharon/Nick, but I'm gonna need Phyllis to butt out. 

 

While I liked the cliffhanger, writing JT into a corner, are we? I do like that after people mentioned that TL was not playing guilty, he started doing just that in the last few episodes.

 

I guess right now, I tune in for Hevon, the Abbotts, and Sharon/Nick now which given that I wasn't watching at all there for a moment, it's something.

 

ETA: Still liking new Kyle. I can't remember if he is from the States (the actor that is) and maybe it's a region dialect or maybe he's foreign and hiding his accent?  I know people were wondering why he talked the way he did.  That said...why wouldn't Kyle be in the mold of an Adam? His mom was a bitca and his dad is Jack who can be ruthless?

 

 

 

 

 

[ajsp35801]

Phyllis had things to do when Sharon was on the sidelines doing nothing. She doesn't need Sharon to be relevant. If anything, having Phyllis obsessed with nick gives Sharon a foe to win out over and prove she's "strong and sane" when otherwise she'd be playing needy  teen ingenue to Nick's Tim the Tool Man Taylor. Something we just saw and most complained about. 

[bluejeanbaby3]

 

 

 

I disagree. Hillary and..... Sharon, now that I think about it, have had snarky scenes with others where they did not seem junior high-ish. Even Eileen Davidson's Ashley in snarky scenes with Victoria has seemed junior high, as well as Victoria with Abby and Jill and Nikki. Don't know if it's the writing or the actresses or both. There are aspects of MY's Y&R that come off as very amateurish daytime TV.

[ajsp35801]

 

Sharon, I'll Grant you. But everything Hilary has done since tripping Mariah has been petty, jr high, mean girl behavior. Nothing that says I'm a mature adult woman about anything Hilary does. Every stunt and manipulation is small. She's a perpetual 13. A thoughtless one that lacks impulse control at that. 

[bluejeanbaby3]

 

Yeah. I posted in the spoiler thread the reasons I think this SL is ridiculous.

 

 

Yes that was OTT. I was thinking of more recent catty conversations between the female characters and agreeing with Chris B.

[ajsp35801]

 

Okay. I get it. 

[Roman]

what you said is why I cannot get behind Hillary at all. it seems like all she does is get off into this petty, childish crap. a grown woman and it was necessary for her to mess with that girl like that? what did that woman do to her for her to behave this way? go on a date with Devon, whose stupid tail once again did as he was told, sat at the bar and let her off the hook. it's so old now that I'm starting t just FF through their scenes. 

[Cat]

 

I like that Friday cliffhangers are back, too. Cliffhangers keep you invested into the next episode, and as a British soap stalwart, Mal should know that.

 

JT, sigh. Going to enjoy TL's stellar contribution to this SL while I can!

 

I don't dislike Nikki vs Jill, but the face-off felt meh. I loved seeing the rain, but the two divas couldn't really tussle while holding umbrellas and shouting over the showers. It was kind of cartoonish, and when Nick held Jill back from going after Nikki, I was like 'Can someone tell Nick to not lay hands on a woman against her will??" I did like Esther telling Jill at the end "Mrs. C would have loved it!" lol.

 

Monday was a noticeably Newmans-heavy episode. I really am hoping Sharon/Nick are the slowburn! I got some latent 2009 feels of visceral hatred for Phyllis when she started getting involved. Phyllis, Billy and Nick talking about gaming was cringeworthy. Phyllis is SO what Amazing Amy in Gone Girl was talking about in her 'Cool Girl' speech -- the girl desperate to be the chick guys want her to be:

 

Please register in order to view this content

[Cat]

Bwahaha! 

 

Victor in his hospital bed, unable to speak.

JT: So you were telling me about Victor's speech therapy?

Abby: Yeah, it was a great start.

JT: Was he able to say anything?

Abby: Not yet.

JT (goes over to look right at Victor): This must be killing you.

[ajsp35801]

 

Devon didn't let Hilary off the hook. He basically dumped her AGAIN. 

[titan1978]

Watched the first 20 minutes of today’s show.  First time I’ve watched

more than clips in ages.  I will credit Mal for one thing- the show is back to being lush compared to GH and DAYS.  Not as richly lush as it used to be, but it looks way better than it did the last time I watched it under JFP.

 

The best thing was I saw so many long term characters in those 20 minutes, alongside newer characters.  Which is how soaps used to be, before TBTB all freaked out about older characters.  Still driving story.  When you intigrate a newbie with people the audience already likes, it’s always going to help that new character.

 

There were times I could turn on this show, DAYS, or GH and see nobody worthwhile for longer than 10 minutes of the entire episode.

 

Its never going to be Bill Bell or even Kay Alden’s Y&R again.  But this isn’t as awful as it has been.

[mango]

A number of solid moments from Tuesday's show:

 

Sharon looked fab in that dress. Mariah was a hoot. It's too bad we couldn't actually see Sharon out on her date, though. 

 

Victor with tears, while Abby was talking to him, was touching. 

 

Kyle continues to charm. 

 

JT is a creep, which means TL is doing a tremendous job. It was puzzling why Victoria was asking Nick so many questions about their dad's condition. Wasn't she there when the doctor gave them the news? I must've missed something.

[Roman]

and I KNOW that Devon will let Hillary back into his life, she will do something truly foul (like use someone else' sperm), impregnate herself and then lie to Devon saying it's his baby, only to be exposed down the line, he cusses her out, dumps her again, and then forgives her and takes her back. one perpetual cycle. the writing needs to change.,

[ajsp35801]

 

Hilary's through line is fighting (read, scheming)  to get the things she wants in life but never getting nor keeping it if she gets it because of the very methods (read schemes) she employs. She's beautiful, smart, talented and the world should be her oyster. But because she's self sabotaging, it's not.  If this was a movie, she'd learn from her mistakes and finally win out. Because this is a soap, this cycle will continue indefinitely with her never truly learning. She will have short periods of happiness but will eventually self sabotage again with her schemes to lose it all...only to have to fight (read, scheme) to get it back again. 

 

Devon is only supporting to Hilary's story so he will never have a defined through line. He's a plot point. Sadly. He's something for Hilary to win or lose. Something to fight for in her story. He has no real motivations or POV for anything her does. 

 

With that said, yes, what you describe is going to happen. Expecting it not to is like expecting Nikki not to enter a real marriage with victor again. They've had the exact same dynamic of victor screwing over their family  and Nikki angry and leaving  him only to return again for a good 15 years real time now.  

 

I wish the show had chosen something else for Hilary. Mostly because the show makes her the villain in every story she gets which makes it impossible for viewers to root for her. If they insist on telling this repetitive frustrating story, the least they can do is make the character sympathetic and rootable so that viewers can feel something other than contempt stemming from year after year watching the character make the same mistakes.