Y&R April 2019 Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

It's obviously for plot purposes to have Devon and Elena living together. I actually don't mind having lots of people living together on a soap. But I see it as the plot device it is, when they don't need it. 

 

Under what regime did Winters Wednesdays start? Was it Griffith? I have a hard time keeping track now because of the last few years of writer/producer roulette ...

[xtr]

 

The other day on twitter someone told him to come back as Fen and he said he would very soon. So hopefully, that's a sign he's coming back.  The way Michael  and Lauren were talking about it, made it seem like he would appear again. They went in some depth about he's unhappy on tour. I really enjoyed him as Fen and his chemistry with Ana. I would like to see him come back, maybe work for Fenmore's/interact with the young people again and continue getting to know Ana. I could see him competiting with Kyle professionally and mixing it up with Lola/Summer/Ana. Him and Ana have the best chemistry but I thought he had chemistry with Summer as well. I don't think he really has much chemistry with Lola, and I don't like Lola.

 

 

I think that a lot of characters can actually be held back if they aren't at some point at least romantically pursued/put in a pairing. Not only Ana not even being looked at a romantic option by anyone she's not even interacting with the other young people in her age range.  The only person she interacted with like that was Fen. I believe her storyline was better and more interesting when she was interacting with him.

 

Lately, for the most part lately she's been hanging underneath Devon and not doing much else. Besides being sneaky and interacting a little with Jett/Elena.  (Nate did the mostly the same thing lecture Devon and work at times and I believe that cost Brooks Darnell his job. IMO, It wasn't his acting it was the limited writing they did for Nate.)

 

I think that If Ana's in a pairing/being romantically pursued, or at least interacting with other people outside her family, she has more storyline potential. Take Summer for example and how her storyline has opened due to her relationship with Kyle. Not only could she be involved with Newman stuff, she's now involved in Jabot business storylines, due to her association with Kyle. She's connected to multiple families and potential storylines. 

 

IMO it's ridiculous that Ana isn't at least interacting with characters from the Kyle/Lola/Summer/Mariah/Tessa/ group. She should be friends (or an enemy lol) with at least one of them.  Plus, I'm seeing some icky comments from people regarding the "inappropriate" chemistry they say they see between her and Devon. There are actually people saying they want her and Devon to not really be siblings so they can get together. They say that her and Devon act more like a couple because of how much time they spend together and they are upset that Ana doesn't have a love interest. I want her to get a love interest, but I don't want them to go that far. I still remember the ickiness of Devon/Tyra. That type of talks makes me uncomfortable. If they get can Ana at least interacting with other people outside of family, maybe that type of talk will die down.

 

 

 

 

 

[KMan101]

 

Very much agreed that Ana seems too in Devon's bubble ... that's a problem (though on the flipside, everyone would bitch if they didn't share very many scenes ... but a balance is needed). I agree it opens up storyline potentials. I just wish characters could exist as you know, a character in their own right for a while (just in general, not really saying Ana). I do think it's time for Ana to get a coupling. There just seems to be a fixation on "you have to have a success coupling otherwise you fail" both from bts and from fans. I love a lot of couples but I also enjoy seeing a character developed on their own. Like, Chelsea. She exists for Adam. It's a shame because they could have done a lot more with her. (A lot of times I feel they just cast a love interest and not a character, if that makes any sense ... lol). Anyway, just one of my rambling side rants

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But I do agree with all of your points about Ana. And um, no to Devon and Ana. I do think they have nice chemistry but nooooooo .... LOL. Noooooo ... I even have a problem if they decided to try Ana and Nate (though I imagine it will be Nate/Elena/Devon ...) ...

 

I've seen a lot of positive feedback for Tinker as Fen and I've seen a lot of people want him back. So I hope they listened and he is. It does sound like that he's probably coming back, so that's good. I will give Mal credit for finally trying to invest in the actual YOUNG in Restless ... 

 

EDIT: Very much agreed about Brooks Darnell and Nate. The writing was limiting. Not sure what they were trying to do there ...

[ajsp35801]

 

They're related. They're a family of black people. They're going interact the same way we see Abbots interact with each other. Who has jack been in scenes with other than his black love interest and his son, brother, and sister and their love interests? Yet, no one complains. It's so odd to me. 4 black folks, WHO ARE RELATED, sharing scenes is segregation. 4 white folks sharing a story is....what? Expected? Acceptable? Kerry who is black NEVER interacted with Devon, Ana, lily, or the twins. She ran into Nate once as every other woman between a certain age regardless of race. You know why that is, cause she had zero reason. Not related or screwing any of that Hamilton Winters family.  I just don't get this issue with black folks sharing scenes. 

 

I do get the one about them being related and living together. But not sharing scenes or story. 

No, Josh gave them story and airtime. It was MAB 

[KMan101]

 

I think for some it's more about their isolated bubble. They rarely interact with characters outside of that Winters bubble. Maybe not always accurate. Why doesn't Ana interact with more people, for example? For me it's not about them sharing scenes together all the time, but mix it up. It's limiting. I think you took the segregation thing differently than the poster intended. IMO. They feel separated from the rest of the canvas most of the time. Not that they should be separated from each other. I like them all under the same roof, even if it's plot driven.

 

At least Hilary had relationships with Jack and Phyllis. She mixed it up with Mariah and Sharon, etc. I think the problem is it feels like they're just interacting with each other most of the time (but then we'd bitch if they didn't interact ... lol)

[Fevuh]

Writing is noticeably better.  Lily to Cane “Prison didn’t end our marriage.  We did.”  Even Hunter King delivered to me - and I don’t like her character or the actress.  I really wish they had taken the opportunity to have it being Graham was drugging Dina Instead of staying with Alzheimer’s.  Marla is too fabulous to lose. 

 

I would love to know who did the actual dialogue writing today. 

[KMan101]

 

Very much agreed. I always wished they had just done the 'Graham drugged her up". Josh washed away Caroline's diagnosis on DAYS so hopefully he does the same here.

 

Ah thanks.

 

[ajsp35801]

 

 

Nate interacted with women his age range. They chem tested him around. He just failed. Once he failed, they started using him in a more limited capacity. 

[xtr]

 

I definitely didn't like those types of "inappropriate chemistry" comments I was seeing from people regarding Ana/Devon. I think that the mess with Tyra really hurt his character and if something like that happened with him and Ana, I think it would be worse. Thankfully, I believe the show will keep them as siblings. I don't want to see Ana/Nate either. Hopefully, they won't try and pair them. She did mentioned she viewed as a cousin. And I could see them maybe trying to do a Devon/Nate/Elena triangle too. And I wonder if the chief resident Elena didn't get along with is actually Nate. Though, I wouldn't mind if they actually tried and maybe tested Nate with someone else. Maybe Abby or even Mia (if she stuck around).

 

I am also glad that Mal did try and focus on the Young people on the show, even if I didn't care for the way he wrote the show as a whole. 

 

Outside of having him initially interact Hilary, they only tried attempted and Victoria. And I put that more on AH/Victoria than him. She didn't bring any energy to their scenes together. He had one scene with Abby, where I saw chemistry and was introduced to Mariah but that was it. 

[KMan101]

 

Makes sense, I guess. They didn't see where they could pair him so they lost interest. 

[ajsp35801]

 

Everyone is in a bubble and have a handful of characters they interact with. That's a soap. When characters start interacting with more than their usual 4-6 people is when you start hearing cries of "this person is everywhere and needs to be dialed back". 

 

Again, it's odd to me that only when black people interact with their 5 who are so black it become a problem. When Sharon interacts with the same 4 or 5 people, no one says a thing. And I noticed Jack's isolation to only Kerry and possibly Kyle for months. No one said a thing. 

 

 

[KMan101]

 

Yeah, I saw the anvils dropping as Elena talked about not getting along with the chief resident. I have a feeling that was Nate. But who knows? lol. But sometimes it's pretty easy to predict where they are heading ... I think they want to recapture Neil/Malcolm with Devon/Nate but I don't think that's quite possible ...

 

I despised Mal's Y&R. But I will always thank him for dumping Kevin and Chelsea 

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 and finding a Kyle that has lots of potential. Summer nearly took a nosedive but that's since recovered. Abby's still kinda just ... there. I liked the rage aspect where she smashed his truck. I think Abby as a character has a lot of potential but they seem too focused on finding a pairing for her that works instead of developing her as a character. IDK ... And he actually brought Nate on instead of just a guest star. So I give him some credit for some things. The writing was atrocious and he was very damaging, like I expected he would be. Maybe not to that extent, but still ... lol

 

I will forever be furious he dumped Mishael and killed Hilary, though. How on earth they didn't see her as the future of this show I'll never ever know. So absolutely bizarre. They should have moved heaven and earth to keep her.

[ajsp35801]

 

Nate got a lot of play as a doctor and self help guru. He interacted with victor, Nikki, nick, Vikki, Abby, Rey,Lola, Arturo, etc outside of winters.  I can't think of anyone onset he didn't interact with. Mal intentionally wrote him in story. And those are alot of women you named. Compare that to Ana. 

[KMan101]

 

So we're wrong for wanting them to mix it up?

 

I don't get you sometimes

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I want them interacting and sharing scenes.

 

Yes, isolation is a problem on soaps. I don't mind it sometimes, it works in some cases. 

 

I'd think you'd agree with us on this, so it's kind of bizarre you're arguing about it. I truly think you're taking this all the wrong way and making it something it's not meant to be.

[xtr]

 

 

Yeah, my biggest problems with the writing for her is that ever since Fen left she's mostly only interacted with her family. (An exception being when she showed Kyle some support when he was looking for a donor for Lola). Only having her interact with her family is very limiting. And it makes it seems like they don't care much for writing/giving the character much of a storyline outside of them. 

 

I was speaking along romantic lines, he really wasn't tested with much of anyone romantically outside of Hilary/Victoria. I actually thought his best scenes besides the initial ones with Neil and the Winters was with the Newman family. I liked his scenes with Victor and Nick when Nick thanked him for helping his family. I had saw some potential there for him and Nick to possibly be friends.