Y&R February 2020 Discussion Thread

[ranger1rg]

I’ve just seen the beginning of the gala so far, and I think it’s good. The set looks great, and so is wardrobe and makeup, and there are plenty of regulars and extras around to make it a party.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

So sickening. Has everyone in Genoa City forgot what Victor Newman has done to them? Victor is not a good man! 

[Soapsuds]

It was nice seeing Julia and Matt but their airtime was so disappointing. And the hairstylist on the show should be fired. Julia looked like a hot mess and so did Jill. Ashley with the straight wet look looked awful. It's a shame YR didn't keep Matt back in the day.

[BoldRestless]

I'd rank this episode behind Nikki's but above Jack's.  I think Nikki's was better in part because it was her memoirs, so she was able to contemplate the entirety of her life.  Victor's was a little formulaic with each person giving a little speech and then a clip playing.  I wanted to see a good long scene with Victor holding Julia's lover in the dungeon (seems like we only ever get 5 second clips) and some of his other misdeeds, some of his "deaths," Ashley's abortion confrontation, and more of the downs in his and Nikki's relationships.  But in the context of having a party celebrating his corporation's anniversary, that wouldn't have made sense ("Hey, remember when I aborted your child and had a nervous breakdown? Mazel tov!").  Everything was more on the positive side or if that was something negative, it was to show how he overcame it.  They should have opened or closed with scenes of just Victor thinking about his life.  Maybe there will be more tomorrow.  I'm watching unspoiled.  

 

Very puzzling how they spent time having him escort Julia out, and didn't use that opportunity to show an older clip of just them.  That was such a miss.  For the newer viewers did they even explain she was his first wife?!  The scene with Neil was too short and they should have picked something much older, and there was just a blip of Kay.  But points for showing Col. Douglas Austin! They really should have cut that art installation out and showed more clips, why even waste the budget on that? 

 

I really loved the scene between Victor and Paul, that was a surprise.  I think there was a script of that scene floating around FaceBook, didn't think we'd ever see it!  Who knew these would end up being two epic characters?  And of course the scenes between Victor and both parents were fantastic.  There were some nice choices of scenes I wouldn't necessarily have picked that were a really pleasant surprise, like the Nikki as a maid scene and the flirting scene with Jill.  The show was so good back then that any throwaway scene like that was still just awesome.

 

Complain as I might, it's fantastic that they do this.  How I envy the person that is responsible for watching and picking the clips! And I'm amazed how good the old scenes look.  You'd think they were filmed in HD.  The quality looks fantastic, this would be great on streaming... sigh.

 

 

[kalbir]

Just watched today's episode. Loved the flashbacks, esp. from the 1980s. One of the best episodes in a long time.

 

Can't believe they showed the clip that lead up to Victor and Jill's brief relationship (and for years the speculation that it resulted in Jill becoming pregnant w/ Billy, which thankfully did not happen). Jess Walton was rocking that big ass hair in the early 1990s 

Please register in order to view this content

 

I would've liked to have seen clips from Eric's first episode, which I don't believe has surfaced anywhere online. I think Victor and Katherine's first meeting was shown once, maybe during Jeanne Cooper's tribute episode?

 

Did anyone else notice a bit of a resemblance between Matt and Adam? That Miller/Newman DNA is strong haha.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by kalbir

[Planet Soap]

Much like they've done with Sharon, the writers have really destroyed Victor's character over the past few years. He went from being an anti-hero To a miserably evil old man. With that being said, though Nikki's flashback episode was probably better, yesterday's episode was pretty great! Any opportunity to see the classic y&r on modern y&r is a privilege. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by ironlion

[Paul Raven]

Thw whole build up to Victoria's stabbing was poorly plotted and executed.

Had Ripley been a threat to Amanda for months and this was culmination of his misdeeds... instead he was some cardborad villian who was a threat to Amanda  ( a new character)for reasons unknown - we know little of their history.

Then to mistake Victoria for Amanda  - really??

Are we now going to have the usual cast in evening clothes waiting at the hospital scenes?

What will be the fall out of Victoria being stabbed? If she were a good friend to Amanda there would be weight to Amanda feeling responsible. They are sort of rivals, but could anyone blame Amanda for what happened - probably not so there is no dramatic consequences there.

Of course Victoria will be up and around in weeks, unless Josh wants to do a Billy style struggle to regain her 'self'story...

 

[DramatistDreamer]

From everyone's descriptions, it appears that Victoria's stabbing will be angst for Billy and will ultimately be about him and his ties to both women. Nothing in the description makes me believe that TPTB care one whit about Amanda. Victoria's stabbing is in service to Billy's angst.

[ajsp35801]

 

YES! THIS! 

 

The show turned what could have been interesting story for Amanda to give viewers glimpse into her life prior to the show into a story about more of Billy's main pain! This entire Amanda and Billy relationship is all about more story for Billy. Both Victoria and Amanda are plot points. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

One of the key reasons why I asked how long Ripley had been on the canvas before committing this stabbing was because it's clear that the longer he was on before he committed the crime would be equivalent to the amount of interest and investment to his character and the character closest to him in connection-the shorter the amount of time, the less amount of interest and investment. Based on Ripley's all of two weeks before committing a crime, it's obvious which one of the two this one falls under.

Compare it to Abby's pimp/procurer boyfriend who was in GC for months meeting, courting, dating Abby before everyone in town discovered his crimes. He wasn't just a garden variety villain, he had a past (which tied into Tessa's past) and a personality.  I remember lots of people even claim that they found him charming.  Did Ripley get any of that complexity in the writing about him?

 

Had TPTB really cared about Amanda, they would have had Ripley in town under the guise of seeking redemption and forgiveness from Amanda but his true motive would be to insert himself back into her life by attempting to win back her trust.  He proceeds to make all the moves indicative of a person who has turned his life back around. He: gets a job in CG, gets to know more about Amanda's circle of associates and friends, maybe tries to form a friendship with Nate or Phyllis, etc. Amanda is uneasy but does not want to block Ripley's chance to rebuild his life and make a living yet hopes that Ripley does not intend to try to reconcile as that 'ship has sailed'. Ripley seems to have successfully 'rehabbed' his reputation, he is now know as a nice guy, charming, he even seems to have gotten a hold of his hair-trigger temper... until he sees signs of an intimate relationship between Billy and Amanda.  At first, Ripley convinces himself not to jump to conclusions and goes about a 'fact-finding' expedition to verify the nature of Amanda's ties to Billy. This can lead him to irrefutable proof that there is an intimate relationship between the two and Ripley tries to contact Amanda, who is busy and cannot answer her phone.  The night of the gala, Amanda eventually gets a message from Ripley that they need to talk but puts it off, saying that he'll have to wait until tomorrow. 

[ajsp35801]

 

Very good. 

 

He was onscreen 3 or 4 episodes, I think. Most of the arc was Amanda talking to Billy about it. They gave Amanda one day to "regain get power" with Ripley. But no effort was put into their connection. The writers has ignored developing any relationship between Amanda and anyone else to keep Billy onscreen. Very unfortunate because the story could have been good. 

[Aback]

 

Big agree. Is this what constitutes 'drama' for these people? lol

[Khan]

All I can do is sit and imagine how Bill Bell and/or Kay Alden might have written this story w/ Amanda and Ripley.

[xtr]

I think that the past few days at the Gala celebrating Victor's anniversary have been good. I enjoyed today's show overall, except for Amanda and Billy.

 

I liked the opening scenes and how everyone found out that Victoria was stabbed. It was nice seeing Paul/Christine again and seeing Paul spring into action to help comfort Victoria and try and figure out what was going on. It was also nice seeing Nate and Amanda come to the rescue and help save her.  Hunter King did a nice job showing Summer's horrified reaction to Victoria being stabbed. The scenes of the Newmans being united as a family at the hospital were good, even Adam was welcomed there. And Sharon scenes with Noah/Faith were also enjoyable. 

 

Worst part of the show as Amanda and Billy. Together and individually. This story for them is not working. Their angst especially Billy's angst feels like fluff and he's doing stuff that doesn't make sense. Him wanting to abandon his life with Victoria all of a sudden so he can hang around Amanda, who he doesn't have chemistry with, does not make sense. And they really do not have any chemistry. IMO, they have less chemistry than Kyle and Lola or Nick/Chelsea. (And I can't stand K o l a, lol). He's basically has hijacked her story line and it's not any good. It's a shame that she's not allowed to spend more time with Nate a man she actually has good chemistry with. Nate going up against Ripley would be more interesting than this story with Billy. 

 

Amanda being upset today, didn't do anything for me either. Her angst over Victoria being stabbed because she was mistaken for Amanda, (who wasn't even invited to the gala) felt hollow. It felt like much ado about nothing, which is what this story is for the most part. A bright spot is that I am actually enjoying the Newmans in this story, but Amanda/Billy continue not to work. And Billy looks bad going to Amanda's hotel room, instead of going home and being with his kids. Their mother's life is hanging in the balance and he's decided to spend the night with Amanda, which is dangerous, considering how jealous Ripley is of their relationship. Billy could be inviting more danger, is Ripley finds out if he's with Amanda again.  Amanda and Billy need to be cautious and keep their distance until Ripley is caught. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by xtr

[DramatistDreamer]

I enjoyed seeing those clips, and hearing about Victor's road to success (selling soap, how apropos for a soap opera, lol) and for some reason I really enjoyed seeing Jess Walton's reaction to Jill's memories with Victor. 

 

It's funny how for years I've been saying that Noah should have remained a photographer and "Boom", suddenly he's back to being a photographer! Hm. It would have been a better touch to have actually seen that decision made onscreen and have Malcolm show up with an offer for Noah to accompany him on a photojournalism assignment somewhere but I know that TPTB couldn't be bothered to write such a think.  RA has such easy chemistry with his onscreen parents, siblings and his onscreen grandfather. Too bad the writing for Noah is often so lazy.

 

This episode was also interesting because Matt Miller and Julia, Victor's ex-wife made appearances. I realize that the actress who plays Julia (by the way, hair and makeup and wardrobe did this woman a grave disservice!) couldn't stay long but judging by Robert Parrucha's tweets, they could've kept Matt around for a few more days.  Too bad they didn't. I realize that Y&R doesn't have the budget to put on a lavish spread with dignitaries the way they did for Victor and Nikki's wedding, so I took it for what it was, an acknowledgement, which some characters never get.

 

The second episode after the festivities were over and leading up to the stabbing, I just wasn't as engaged, I found myself ff a lot of material.  Also, I couldn't help notice that Victoria's ponytail clearly was a slightly different color/texture than her own hair. Maybe it's the black woman in me that can recognize when a ponytail doesn't match. Victoria's look of shock after being stabbed was apt and was the most convincing part of that entire sequence, the rest of it looked clumsily staged, tbh.  I guess the entire point of it is to see how this affects Billy anyway.