Y&R July 2021 Discussion Thread

[Faulkner]

Elizabeth Leiner gets a lot of deserved criticism for her low-energy performance but I find Burgi extremely wooden too.

[Chatty Cakes]

Phyllis is acting like her dotter was trafficked to Italy instead of accepting a great job in the industry.

Also who was she making a drink for? If I was a customer watching her shake the shaker like it was Nicks penis and had to wait, I’d be pissed.

[Faulkner]

That is so on the money.

[FrenchBug82]

Indeed. Which makes Phyllis look dumb and hysterical but most importantly completely voids the entire storyline of any emotional investment.
Why do they expect the audience to care or be particularly angry at Sally? It was a sneaky way to get out of town but it was enough of a great opportunity that Summer CHOSE to take it despite having reasons to stay in town.
Fact it came from parties with an agenda is irrelevant. So why are the writers thinking this is somehow a high-stakes conflict?

[Faulkner]

They have ZERO idea what to do with Phyllis (or anyone really, but Phyllis sticks out, as they made such a big deal in luring back MS and ousting GT).

Edited July 27, 2021 by Faulkner

[FrenchBug82]

I find this so striking too.

While I preferred GT's version, I can hear the case for luring back an OG when possible but the minute she came back, the character - who had been in front-burner story the entire time GT was playing her - suddenly had nothing to do.
 

[Broderick]

 

Yeah, hopefully they got Stafford at a deeply discounted, fire-sale price, because she's pretty much contributed nothing since she came back.  

[Paul Raven]

Well, as an avowed Phyllis hater, I have to say I am enjoying Phyllis as busybody in recent eps. Her sweety/bitch persona around Tara is amusing to me.

Once again we have declared statements of wealth with Victor saying having a private jet means they can leave for Italy whenever they like.

But there is Nikki with a pile of luggage in the only room we ever see.Surely staff would have whisked it from the bedroom to the limo.

Victoria's house has been reduced to a few walls and some furniture. Couldn't they do the same for some other characters without homes?

Oh, and a shout out to Lily for her advice to Moses along the lines of 'you have to give girls surprise presents-they love it'

Really, that sexist nonsense has to go.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Paul Raven

[ranger1rg]

I’ve enjoyed Stafford a lot in the past couple weeks. She’s back to being the conniving and over-involved Phyllis, and I love it.

I have no problem with a mother being upset that her daughter is now in EUROPE and not closer to home. The stakes aren’t high? Uh...Tara and Sally effectively ended the relationship and pending marriage of Kyle and Summer, and that’s plenty enough to make Phyllis pissed.

I agree that MS has had too little to do since returning, but that’s not her fault. Yes, I liked Gina Tognoni a great deal — but she’s gone. I can’t deny that Michelle Stafford feels like Phyllis to me.

[FrenchBug82]

No. It is not her fault. We were reflecting on how weird it is for the show to have made those moves and not use her.

As for the current SL, I am not questioning why Phyllis would be pissed at these two for being manipulative. That's fine. It is not absurd and I kind of agree Phyllis on the warpath have some entertainment value. But it is hard for me to drudge much emotion over "OMG These bitches got my daughter her dream job in Europe! Oh the humanity!".

Summer is the one who ended her pending marriage. Which is not to say Tara and Sally did not connive and should not be criticized obviously - they did and they should - but when it came down to it Summer made that completely unnecessary call. There was NO reason for her to walk away. I am no Summer fan but she could have wiped the floor with Tara if she had wanted. She gave up - which is bad writing but now that's what occurred on-screen so it is canon.
And Summer looked at the job and wanted it. Again, the fact those who offered it to her had their own agenda is irrelevant to the fact that Summer looked at the situation and thought that was the best thing for her. They didn't force her. Phyllis has her own selfish agenda in not wanting her to take it too after all so it works both ways
In the end if Summer herself thought breaking off with Kyle and taking the job was a better path for her future than staying in GC, why should I be upset?
Sorry, it is not high-stakes. 
Summer sleeping with Billy was high-stakes. Phyllis being raped was high-stakes. Those were situations where people suffered because of actions by others. 
Here Summer is not suffering; she is thriving. And it was her own choice.

It is a criticism of the writing btw, not of Phyllis. Phyllis' reaction is reasonable enough in the situation but from the beginning of the Phyllis vs Sally story they have been stretching to find a good reason for them to feud and I have yet to see something that has me emotionally invested one way or another.

[Chatty Cakes]

The problem is Phyllis used to fight for stuff that mattered a bit more. Like her granddaughter Baby Lucy who had been sold into an illegal adoption. 
Now she’s stealing phones to get to the bottom of her daughter taking a great job that’s probably a dream job for Summer. Her real problem is that her daughters a wimp who couldn’t stand up to Tara or even tell her mom that Tara had threatened to take Harrison away from Kyle. Is it worth getting to the bottom of? Sure. Is it worth numerous scenes, drawing Billy into it and acting like the world has ended? No.

[Liberty City]

Josh Griffith essentially de-matured Phyllis and returned her to a child-like position, which also suited Michelle Stafford's preferred acting. What annoyed me about her return was that she said she'd never return, yet, at the drop of a hat (or so it seemed) she walked back in, and Gina Tognoni was tossed out on her backside.

Griffith and Anthony Morina wanted the headline. Now that said-headline is gone they have nothing to follow it up with.

[FrenchBug82]

Said better than I did. 100% agree.

I mean, these are distinct issues. This is obviously true and its own tragedy but even having made that mistake to suit MS' version of the character - what is done is done - there is nothing that says they can't do something with it. I mean, as grating as Phyllis can be, she has successfully driven story in the past.

Heck, I don't even think the Sally/Phyllis thing is a bad idea in theory. There is after all something intriguing about Phyllis developing an instant dislike to someone she doesn't realize is a younger version of her.
But they decided about the end game - the feud - without figuring out how to get there and basically they haven't written anything compelling to explain it. They just told us they disliked each other and... now we are supposed to care!
The reasons they are coming up to justify it after the fact are so lame that it defangs the entire emotional investment in what happens.

[Faulkner]

Yeah, if this was part of a greater story (like Phyllis falling for Jack again and Sally is the obstacle—everything is in place to tell that story), it would be fine. Right now, I feel like they are hedging their bets on pretty much every story.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Faulkner

[Antoyne]

I actually not minding scheming Phyllis, at least she’s actually doing something now.