Y&R: March Spoilers

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There was another new Canadian episode today. This one should air on Tuesday in the US. According to soaps.com on this episode,

 

Mariah will talk with Nick at Crimson Lights. He will thank Mariah for taking the stand the other day but won't say where that leaves them. After they talk, Tessa will rejoin Mariah and complain that Nick hates her. Mariah will be glad that the truth about the video didn't come out. Tessa will be concerned about Victor and will be sorry about the blackmail. Mariah will try and distract her by suggesting fantasy vacations they can take together. Tessa will thank Mariah for trying to keep her  mind off of going to jail. Mariah and Tessa will decide they should go to San Francisco once the trial is over and Tessa will  get a phone call. 

 

In an interview room, Nikki will tell Michael why she confessed to killing JT. She wants him to put her on the stand. Michael says Christine will discredit her. Victoria will want to be put on the stand and say she wants to tell the Jury about being scared. Michael says that Christine will send him a gift basket if he puts Victoria on the stand. He will have an idea, though he says the ladies won't like it. He will want them to take a plea deal, where Nikki receives a minimum jail sentence and Victoria gets probation. The women agree to this deal. Meanwhile Brittany will ask Sharon about what happened the night Rey came over and she confessed to him. Sharon will tell her that Rey admitted his love and Brittany will talk about finding the cell phone bill and speculate that he may have used Sharon. Sharon will think this is not the case.  

 

Michael will tell Brittany about the plea deal and she will be surprised and not want to do it. She will say she thinks that Sharon can be acquitted. Michael will present the deal to Christine who will tell him things are going well for her and she will not take him up on the offer . Later Sharon will end up being aghast when she finds out that Michael wanted Nikki/Victoria to be plead guilty and Nikki/Victoria are surprised that Christine won't take their plea deal. Nikki asks what Michael's next move is and Michael says he's already made it. Mariah and Tessa will go to the courthouse and Tessa will tell Mariah that Michael has a plan that involves Tessa testifying about what she did.

 

At Jabot Summer and Phyllis will discuss what might happen with the court cause. Summer will say that if the women are acquitted it's will because of Phyllis. Phyllis will be upset about how Nick looked at her. Kyle will show up and say she has a business question. Summer will tell him that she's a match for Lola  Kyle will not believe her at first, but she will insist it's true. Kyle will be overjoyed and hug her. Summer will say that this major surgery is a big decision. Kyle will want to got the GCAC  to talk it over with her. She agrees.  Phyllis will go to Nick's place and want to talk things out with him and says she thinks they have something that is worth fighting for. He will not really want to hear her out and say he will send her things to her. 

 

At the GCAC Summer will say that she thinks that Kyle hasn't been treating her well lately. Kyle will apologize to her and tell her he thinks she still a good person. They will talk about her reluctance to get the surgery. Kyle will say he will do anything to get her to be the donor, even marry her if that is what it takes.

 

 

 

 

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Here is the newest promo for next week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like they will have Rey change his mind again, and now say he can't be with Mia because he loves Sharon. Maybe he will admit this after he admits on the stand that he loves Sharon. 

 

They are also having Victoria take the stand as part of Michael's defense strategy. And have her talk about being abused by JT. I wonder if they are going to try and paint JT as more abusive than he was, by having Victoria lie and say things like he gave her a back handed slap when he didn't. Or if that really did happen, but they didn't show it at the time and she has been hiding that part of the abuse from everyone. Also, I wonder if these are scenes that Thad filmed when he was on set this latest time. 

[Darn]

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Agreed, Summer.

[DramatistDreamer]

OMG, this JT story is actually getting worse and I didn't think that was possible!

 

Kyle offering to marry Summer if she agrees to be the donor for Lola is so regressive.  Is this the caliber of storytelling that they are offering to the 20-something set...in 2019??!! 

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I'll stay unbothered to watch for the foreseeable future.

[Darn]

Why would Summer, or anyone, debase themselves enough to marry some guy in order to save his girlfriend’s life? It’s just so stupid. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The main problem seems to be that the writer(s) don't seem to know whether Summer is a heroine or a vixen so they choose some weird middle ground that is neither and therefore bound to be unsatisfying.

 

Earlier I said this storyline was regressive but I actually think it's worse than that--even in the 1980s Jill would never go for that deal.  F*ck Kyle and his hand in marriage...Jill would've wanted stock in Jabot and a seat on the board with voting rights, she'd want a corner office.  Maybe because Jill was a striver who had to claw her way up from doing rich ladies' nails at the salon (rather than a trustafarian kid) but she was so much more interesting a character.

These characters today are all so vapid.

[ajsp35801]

Summer isn't desperate enough to marry a man so in love with another. And especially not to force him to be with her to save some girls life. 

 

And I'm sorry, I don't buy Lola and Kyle as some undying all consuming love. 

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Some people think that Summer may end up asking Kyle to help keep Phyllis on as CEO of Jabot. I don't want that to happen as Phyllis IMO has no business running Jabot. But that is the lesser of the evils, than what could possibly happen like Summer forcing Kyle to marry her or be with her when he doesn't want to or him marrying her because he wants to save Lola. He doesn't want to keep Phyllis as CEO but that is actually less terrible than the other two options.

 

The show continues to treat Kyle terribly when it comes to romance. He's been mistreated by a woman who he has continuously  supported/loved (Lola) and now he's trying to force himself may be forced to be with a woman he doesn't really want to be with, who had her chance with him, but chose to harass/sleep with her mother's boyfriend (Summer). All so he can save the life of the woman who doesn't accept him for who he is. (Lola) It's unfortunate that they are doing his character like this. This is not romantic.

 

It would have been more romantic, if Summer had agreed to be the donor, without stipulations, maybe had some complications herself, and Kyle realized he has deeper feelings for her than he originally wanted to admit. Or he ends up developing deep feelings for her because she did something selfless.

 

I was actually liking Summer this time around, but I will definitely not like it if she forces him to do something he doesn't want to.

 

After the way both of these women have treated him/will possibly treat him he shouldn't want anything to do with either one of them. He should stop entertaining both of them. and go help his family get their company back. And then maybe fall for someone like Mariah. 

 

I agree ajsp35801, Kyle and/Lola are definitely are not some a super romantic love story. She has treated him too poorly for that and they have been broken up too many times in a short amount of time. Plus she doesn't accept him for who he is.  That is not true love.

 

Neither is Summer potentially forcing Kyle/letting Kyle do something he doesn't want to do. If she really loved him like she says, she wouldn't be trying to force him to do something that would make him very unhappy. There shouldn't even be a deal. Either do the transplant, because you love Kyle/truly care about his happiness or don't do the transplant.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Kyle has been hard-done??  I don't even watch but I often hear "Poor Kyle...poor Jack".  The storylines on this show are still so male-centric.  Then they wonder why the ratings continue to drop, year over year. It shouldn't come as a surprise.

 

How about neither of these options?  They're both dull.  How about Y&R actually attempt to bring this show into the 21st century or at least something less...Victorian era.

How does throwing Phyllis into this storyline give Summer or Kyle and/or Lola anything interesting to do.  There just doesn't seem to be anything truly interesting going on with the 20-somethings on their own merits.  Y&R seems incapable of writing a decent storyline for its younger cast.  It shows.

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This version of Kyle has been treated like crap by his female love interests/potential love interests. And it doesn't make any sense, because he hasn't done anything to them to warrant being treated like that by them. He has been an excellent boyfriend to Lola, and has been nothing but supportive to her. He gave Summer emotional support when her plan to get Billy blew up in her face.   He's a good friend to Mariah and Tessa. He doesn't deserve to be treated like crap by two women he's has supported. 

 

And I don't think they are writing things like this just to try and make him look good, as they have had Lola constantly berate him and have him act like he's in the wrong for being rich and wanting to give her nice things. Not to mention almost her whole family has treated him poorly. And Lola is rarely ever called out for anything she does and almost everyone on the show praises her and/or props her character. 

 

The main stories right now are mostly centered around females, they just aren't writing the females to be very likeable. Lola, is very unlikeable. Mia is not likeable, Summer is not written well. Phyllis has done a lot of unlikeable stuff. I think that's the problem, a lot of the women are written awfully. I think that Mal's idea of strong women is a bunch of unlikeable shrews.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

When the viewers sympathies lie with Kyle, that is centering him.  He is the protagonist in the piece.  

 

The stories may feature female characters but can still be male-centric.  Even with the women Nikki, Victoria, Sharon and Phyllis, JT is at the center of it all.  A (presumed) dead character!  I've heard people complain for months that Victoria's D.V. story has been an afterthought in this murder mystery.  Her P.O.V. has been lost.  Sure, the previews show her recounting details of the abuse but after all this time of having Rey go around as the hero detective out to crack the case, it's too little too late to make it all about Victoria.

 

Mia is caught between who?  Arturo and Rey.  It's more Rey's story than Mia because whether that relationship survives or fails, it will ultimately be up to Rey, not Mia.   Mia can be as bold as she wants to be and still lack agency.

 

Even Phyllis, who seems to be in everyone's story, has very little agency.  If Jack and Billy seek to toss her out on her a*ss from Jabot and Nick kicks her out of the apartment (Phyllis keeps getting kicked out of her partner's home, seems to be a recurring theme), how does that center her?  Where is her agency? 

 

I disagree that the stories are centered mostly around females.  Females are crowded into the stories but that doesn't mean it is all about them or their sense of agency.  The men in these stories mostly pull the strings.

 

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I don't think it was Mal's intention for viewers to sympathize with Kyle more than anybody in his romance with Lola. I think this may be a case of a writer trying to heavily push/prop a character Lola (and it really backfiring). And a lot of the viewers don't like what's playing out on screen (her treating Kyle poorly) and forming their own opinions. People see it happening all the time on soaps. The show tries to push/prop one character at the expense of others and it backfires. 

 

Lola is the most propped the character on the show right now. IMO, it's not even close. Almost all the characters on the show prop/sing Lola's praises/ sympathize with Lola. Even the Hamilton/Winters family is offering to be tested to be donors for her. Kyle was made to feel in the wrong by even the people closest to him for wanting to be a good boyfriend to Lola and give her nice things. Including Abby and at various points Mariah. (Though she did end up defending him recently to Lola).  Kyle has constantly tried to change himself for and has been told he needs to change. And she is rarely ever called out by anyone for her behavior. Even when she kissed Fen to hurt Kyle. She's not viewed as type of villain/antagonist by the other characters in this storyline. (Outside of Summer). The past several shows have been mostly about everyone running around trying to save Lola/figure out a way to save Lola, (and the JT trial.) I believe the writer's intention was for people to really sympathize with Lola. 

 

Also, most of the men just recently got involved in the JT murder storyline. For months, it was mostly about the women banding/together and keeping the secret. I think that JT is mentioned quite a bit because he is the person that was killed. Victor was off screen for a bit and wasn't as involved. He was actually missing for a bit. Nick/Billy just got involved not too long ago. And Billy really doesn't have any influence over anything in this storyline. Neither has Jack who hasn't been shown much lately. (Except for a few scenes with his family and Kerry). The only thing that Billy/Jack are doing in regards to the JT murder storyline is showing up and supporting the women they care about. There is a spoiler that says that Billy/Nick will team up to help the women. But for the most part, the men outside of Nick and Victor to a degree, haven't been heavily involved in this storyline. Especially not the Abbott men. 

 

I think that Phyllis was centered when she was given a company she didn't deserve. (Instead of someone like Ashely or Jack). They had her controlling things at Jabot, and talking to Billy and Kyle anyway she wanted to. And not giving Billy credit for his idea of Jabotiques. (Which eventually she did). She also was the one who convinced Kerry to come to take the job as the chemist at Jabot even though both Jack/Billy tried to get her and offered her large sums of money to join the team. She is the one who also convinced the rest of the women to not come clean when JT was killed. She is the one who tried to dictate to the other women how they would go about keeping his death a secret. And she is the only one who has gotten immunity of all the other women, because she turned on them and was mainly looking out for herself. 

 

It's true she got kicked out by Nick and Billy and Jack are going to try and take Jabot from her. (IMO, as they should, that is their family company). But that has happened very recently. Prior to that for the past few months she has had a solid presence in storylines and has been running some things on this show. Including Jabot.

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There are some new spoilers from Lynda Hirsch's soap column that says that Kerry will have doubts about Phyllis ability to run Jabot and deal with the trial. Phyllis will try and secure Kerry's loyalty by promising to treat her in Jabot as a partner going forward. There is also a spoiler from SID that says that Jack questions Kerry's loyalty. I do wonder what decision Kerry ends up making. I wonder if her and Phyllis will actually end up running Jabot together for a bit or if she will side with Jack and the Abbotts.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

As a writer, I can tell you that no one ever writes without intention.    Now, if Mal is the type of writer who can only truly write the perspective of someone he relates to, or can identify with, that may be at the crux of the problem.

 

When I say that a character is centered, I mean, they are driving the story, they are the protagonist and the viewer/audience/reader is meant to see things through their perspective.  I just don't believe that someone who has been in the business as long as Mal Young writes without intention, or writes a story haphazardly and just happens to have the viewer identify with one character over another.

 

Look at 1980s Jill vs. Phyllis now.  Phyllis may be absorbing countless hours of screentime, that doesn't mean she has genuine agency.  Maybe the character of Phyllis was never meant to be a long-term character and is inherently, fatally flawed in regards to being truly useful. Prime Jill, Nina, even Lauren--at their peak badness, had something that the viewer could relate to (a back story, a background), on some level, even when they made terrible choices and even, when they were written as not being likeable ( a character does not have to be likeable to be engaging--the character only need be multi-dimensional).  Does anybody have any use for Phyllis?  Or is she just there? Phyllis was making decisions, what type of products was she putting out.  Jill had The Men's Line, what did Phyllis have?  From what I remember, she peddled out Billy's ideas (the silly Jabotique, etc.).

 

And honestly, I saw some of that "Coven" storyline and the times that the story didn't involve a male character, the women's storyline just seemed spinning in circles and the story was going nowhere.  Is it any wonder that there are photos being put out there of Thad on set?  Because I've seen a lot of complaining about how the story was endlessly going nowhere. The fact, that the women had some time without a direct male presence in their story doesn't really speak to whether there was actually any real action going on until Rey happened.  From what I remember, comatose Victor absorbed a whole lot of the story's focus in the interim.

 

I'm still not seeing where the stories are being driven by the women.  I'm not saying that male characters can't drive story but it's just very strange for a genre that is ostensibly marketed to women where the female demo is still what the advertisers focus on, that there would be so little agency for female characters.

[ajsp35801]

 

If Lola and Kyle had blazing chemistry or at the least, fought hard to be together prior, then their big love might be believable. As things stand, they've got nothing. Not much chemistry nor does the story support it. Why does Kyle want this girl so bad? What's special about her for him? I don't see that.