Y&R: December 2023 Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

She simply stated that she enjoyed her time at Y&R but has no interest in returning for cameo appearances. 

Re Mamie. this has been a failing of Y&R (and all soaps) for years. Characters who have  family connections and have been important to the canvas are pretty much forgotten once they leave, with nary a mention.

If Mamie had have been mentioned at least, let alone make some appearances over the years her return would have had more impact. 

Now I know budget and availability come into play also, but Mamie being at Neil's funeral,a Xmas visit  etc creates a feeling of family and history. A Xmas card to the Abbots etc

I think it was Agnes Nixon whoo said too much mention of past characters drags the story down and short visits can make viewers think the character is back for good but I disagree. Appropriate mentions/visits add to the story.

 

[Lye-C]

Thanks. Sounds like she would be willing to return on contract. 

[Faulkner]

Mamie’s return feels kinda thrown in, and her main raison d’etre is to be a nostalgic, 50th-anniversary thorn in the side for her longtime rival, another recurring character (Jill), with a secondary purpose as co-conspirator to Tucker. Her relationships with Devon/Nate/Lily are merely incidental. Only maybe Nate grew up knowing her. (Mamie’s relationships are with their parents, one of whom has been dead for nearly two decades and the other hasn’t been seen in over a decade.) The show should have invested time in getting Mamie thoroughly acquainted with Devon/Lily/Nate away from the business realm, but as we all know, JG sees Y&R solely through the lens of corporate drama.

They aren’t really delving into the family history in any meaningful way either. It would have been intriguing if Mamie was more apologetic about her absence in their lives or if the story really delved into the family’s intergenerational trauma (similar to how Dina’s return, the prospect of her memoir, and the specter of family secrets lit a fire under the Abbotts initially—but nope). And that’s not even touching upon what Mamie’s been up to in her years away, and the unsavory characters she might have encountered as an investor, which could be its own story.

The Winters/Barber family has been taken for granted for years. They were expecting Neil to be their Traci or Jill, a stabilizing figure they could use on a recurring basis to half-ass a sense of family, but KSJ/Neil’s death showed how underprepared Devon/Lily were to be tentpoles. They can’t just shoehorn Mamie into that position all of a sudden with no setup.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Faulkner

[1974mdp]

And, this is what I just don't understand. How do TPTB think that all of these non-stop corporate "stories" will be interesting to the viewer? I get so, so tired of hearing who will work where. That's when I hit the FF button which means some days I may watch only about five minutes of the show! 

[Beachstorm]

Why on earth did Cole have to go all the way back to Oregon to get something with Claire's DNA on it when she plainly agreed to take a DNA test? How would Cole know which items would have Claire's DNA on it back at that lake house? That part is REALLY dumb.

[janea4old]

The jail set being shown for Claire .... is in Oregon.
Apparently flying back and forth between Genoa City Wisconsin and WhateverTown Oregon is quick with the Newman jet.

There are no cops in Genoa City (well Chance said he was giving notice to the GCPD so they could find a replacement)  But ... I bet there's no GCPD set being used.  Would they staff the PD with dayplayer cops?

[Taoboi]

12-8

 

Well due to the CBS player being at it again which means I'm having to jumped episodes rme, I'm actually pretty caught up. More or less. lol.

 

Well looky looky!!! Newmans FINALLY got interesting. This Claire storyline suuure has brought some interesting developments now that we are dealing with fallout or Act 2 (Act 1 being the intro/reveal which was surprisingly well paced). Cole is back! Nikki is off the wagon! Jordan (oooh I'm loving me sum CZ) is on the loose! Claire could be dead baby Eve! Victor having an adversary that ain't taking his lip. Now I'm wondering if Nick being hurt and trying to hide it will turn into a new storyline a la hooked on drugs. Who knew this would get this interesting since I was saying a few weeks back where the Abbotts were since they were more interesting.

 

Speaking of the Abbotts...due to the missed episodes...I'm a little confused. Is Kyle still working with Tucker and Audra? Definitely feels like Kyle vs Billy is still on. And now Jill (welcome back in the flesh) wants Billy over at Chancellor-Winters?

 

Speaking of the Winters, so much going on. All the storyline leading up to Nate's potential return to Chancellor-Winters. Those were some good scenes leading into Devon/Nate reconciliation. It was also good to see Devon/Victor scenes because I always forget their history. Meanwhile, ooooooo at VB's side-eye when she saw Lily had keys to Daniel's place. It might be moving slow for me, but I'm loving that Lily/Daniel/Heather storyline. And now...Lily is off screen because Mamie is in danger. Uh oh.

 

Another triangle I'm liking...Christine/Danny/GigglyHeffa. If looks could kill, Christine would have been dead that episode when Phyllis walked into Crimson Lights and saw the Danny/Chris kiss. And I thought it was adorable to see Danny make dinner for Christine. And dance with her. It just takes me back and I just swoon.

 

At this point...does everyone BUT Chance know about Summer's feelings for him? 

Hehe...every time I see Lily/Daniel/Heather, I think of you because it slowly seems to be going down the way you suggested.

 

And the side-eye VB gave last week when she saw Lily had a key to Daniel's place...lol. 

[Lye-C]

Has Heather shared scenes with Adam yet? I was a huge fan of that couple when it was Chris Engen. Amazing chemistry.

[Taoboi]

I want to say at least one scene. But I could be wrong. 

[BoldRestless]

They haven't shared scenes. I wish they would.

[Taoboi]

Thank you. I wasn't sure.

[DramatistDreamer]

Are we to assume that Nikki takes car service to and from the office? If she’s going to day drink, why doesn’t she just stay home? Audra has obviously been doing whatever work (what do they do anyway?) there is to be done at that company anyway. And Victor apparently doesn’t notice that Nikki has been swigging vodka from that bottle. This isn’t the first rodeo for any of these Newmans, so you’d think Victor, while he’s complimenting Nikki’s mental fortitude, would just say, as an extra safeguard, that he’s going to remove the alcohol from the bar. The story of Nikki’s alcoholic relapse is fast becoming a reductive one.

Abby, skilled as she is in snatching other women’s men, had her eyes trained on Heather since she and Daniel walked into Society.

Nate’s rushing to the office to work on…what? What do any of these companies actually do? I know Daniel’s video game can’t be the only product. Is Jabot still a cosmetics company? It seems like the only things that both these companies make are plans. And these plans seem to focus on fending off Tucker McCall. With all the competition in the cosmetics industry alone, Jabot should be strategizing on innovating products, creating new ones, improving existing ones. Geez, Fenty must be eating their collective lunch! Soon they’ll be like Max Factor, if they don’t pay attention.

That is, no member of the family actually running the company.

Edited December 14, 2023 by DramatistDreamer

[Taoboi]

 

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[soapfan770]

It probably would have been far more interesting if Jordan was Ashland Locke’s sister while Claire was Ashland’s illegitimate daughter getting revenge on the Newmans and Abbots alike and had dug themselves deep into both companies….I mean Jordan could easily be a well know business woman with the Newmans skirting and spooked by her presence in GC knowing what happened to Ashland.

Instead we’re given a very improbable retcon complete with a failed psycho. Typical Josh Griffith. Diane’s back from the dead story was crazy, yet it actually worked out thanks entirely for Susan Walters carrying the whole thing. Here we have the improbable story with the Newmans falling off the grid and the strange quick going back and forth between Oregon…? Yikes! 

Every single one of JG’s crazy sweeps stories in the past year has been awful. Ashland dies a Falcon Crest rip off style death and mystery and nobody cared except Chance? FAIL. Phyllis fakes her death and kills her gaslighter Jeremy? FAIL. Cameron Kristen returns, kills a cat, and puts a bomb on a teen? FAIL. Victor fakes dementia? FAIL. Jordan and Claire are Eve Howard’s evil lost relatives? FAIL.

Thankfully this week of December 11th hasn’t been too bad, the definite highlight obviously being it being more focused on the Abbotts and Chancellor-Winters. Just having Jill on makes the show feel like Y&R again as does having Ashley around.  I actually have enjoyed the Nate and Devon dynamic here this week. I’m actually mildly interested to see where Christine/Danny/Phyllis is going if anything. I had to laugh out about Abby telling Devon she’s always left out of the Newman loop. I love how Audra is involved in almost everything. 
 

Nikki and her flask feels overdone for this story. I have no clue why JG killed Sally’s daughter if Adam and Sally are now back at being endgame. And finally I guess they decided to give us our monthly Chelsea scene to remind us as viewers she still exists lol. 

Edit: Sorry didn’t realize how long my post and rant was till I posted it.

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[janea4old]

A good rant.  Great points!