Posted on: HollywoodLife
The Young And The Restless Weekly Blog
Restless Rant
Week of May 27 – 31:
“Y&R” felt different this week, and notably, Genoa City hasn’t been an overly happy place to visit. Some balance is needed, as well as a re-commitment to having core characters leading the charge (and behaving like themselves) so the show doesn’t become unrecognizable to established viewers. The loss of some important veteran actresses and the steady parade of newbies is making fans feel wary. Thoughts:
Putting up walls.
The Newman storyline is becoming stale what with Victor’s uncharacteristically benign and laid back behavior, Adam moping and angry, and the juvenile quibbling between Victoria and Adam. Watching, you feel like you just want them all to snap out of it. It makes no sense for Adam to be mooning after Chelsea like she’s his great love, when even she knows she’s not; Sharon is. Chelsea’s a plain Jane con-artist, not a romantic heroine or leading lady type character. As for Victor, he may want his family together, but it’s still weird the way he’s mooching around after Adam’s behind, not to mention his attempts to share warm fuzzy father/son bonding sessions. For her part, Victoria is definitely shrewder than to sabotage her own agenda by having petty squabbles with Adam as though they’re back in the sandbox. Guess it’s the hormones making her so emotional, right? Sigh.
Working out.
The four-way workout session at the GCAC with Adam, Billy, Nick, and Dylan was nothing to complain about, though it was a little annoying to have Dylan jammed in there with the other three, who have legitimate history together. In the end, it only made him look even more clueless when it was revealed that Chelsea had also bore Billy’s child, and Dylan of course had no idea. This guy is buying everything she’s saying and running around town defending her without really knowing who she is at all.
Foolish.
Chelsea’s psychic told her all this bunk about Adam, and she went running straight to Chloe to rehash it. Of course Chloe told her to ‘stay strong’ and stick with Dylan. Is anyone else confused as to why Chloe seems to have such a huge stake in keeping Chelsea away from Adam? Wouldn’t most friends tell the person to do what makes them happy? Just sayin’.
Becoming irrelevant.
Chloe and Kevin have needed to split up since they got together, but most wouldn’t have chosen to have it happen via this character regression fest. The whole idea that he wants to steal for kicks is offensive; and now Delia’s stealing too? Awful. As for the coffee house, if it’s suddenly become ‘irrelevant’, it seems unlikely that Dylan Do-Good would be able to salvage it by serving up his special brand of humble pie, yet something tells me that’s exactly what will happen…
Hard dose of reality.
It seemed a little strange that Phyllis would be the one to suggest talking to Summer about Cassie, but it was a good storyline tie-in on the whole. The talk with Summer was interesting, and Sharon watching Nick and Phyllis together was distracting, as it made you wonder what she was thinking. Anyway, Summer seemed to ‘get’ it, but it may not change how she does things. She didn’t seem to learn anything from Jamie nearly doing himself in, so why should this be any different? What did you think of the idea of talking to Summer about Cassie’s death? Let us know by voting in Soaps.com’s Y&R The Talk poll.
Surprise!
It was great that Neil gave Devon space to make a decision, but Roxy whining at Devon took some viewers aback; what was that all about? Anyway, it’s bad news for Devon that he’s turning down his dream job to save Lily from herself or Tyler or whatever. Why not just talk to her about what he's seeing and his concerns? It was also strange that Cane didn’t pick up on the fact that for Tyler to stay on the campaign, Lily had to be reassigned, and question that. In any case, it was Cane and the gang who found themselves surprised rather than the other way around when a tipsy Lily came through the door with Tyler… Oops!
Avery’s idea.
Well, I hope Avery knows what she’s getting into going into business with Leslie. Neil will be dropping by to make out with Leslie regularly. Gah. It’s hard to get excited about anything Avery does; she’s just so wishy-washy, but maybe they’ll work on some interesting cases.
Who I am now.
Michael and Lauren confiding in their friends was good this week, but it's time for their dialogue to change; they're stuck. Carmine interacting with Fen remains interesting, because we know Fen will go ballistic when he gets the full story. Phyllis paying Carmine a visit also caught the attention; mostly because of the sexual tension. It would have been fun if she’d decided to play him; or even got him into bed for whatever reason... much more exciting than constantly reassuring Jack.
The Abbotts.
Thank goodness for Traci, Billy, and Jack who provided the most authentic interaction among core characters this week. It was great that they raised the issue of why Traci had come to stay, and if she was having trouble at home, because we've all wondered that too. The best scene was Traci and Lauren revisiting their difficult past. It was timely and a nice nod to the history of the show.
Jeanne Cooper tribute.
Thank you to CBS Daytime for the special episode in which we got a glimpse into the relationships Jeanne shared with other cast members. Viewers were very moved by the tributes, but it was Jess Walton (Jill) looking up the empty staircase at the end of the episode that brought me to tears both times I watched.
Let us know what you thought about "Y&R" this week by posting below.
Find out which actress returns to DOOL this summer.
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- Candace Young
