The Young and the Restless Weekly Blog!
Addam's Family: Yes, the Ranch and its inhabitants have become more like the Addam's Family of late, with the lurky Estella and the petulant Adam seemingly behind every corner. So, hot on the heels of Adam's barbfest with smilin' Jack, and his sulky scenes with Heather, came his strange and awkward birthday party. What a cast of characters at this shindig! Bitter and creepy Estella, her gay nephew, Rafe, the perky and persistent Colleen, as well as Morticia look-a-like Victoria, and her doormat husband JT! Adam, who hasn't changed his spots a bit, mockingly points out the absence of Nick and Phyllis, before royally ticking off his dad by having Heather appear! Victor sure is expending a lot of energy these days hating on these two young women, Heather and Colleen! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that JT will cause oodles of controversy by refusing to dish the dirt on his former flame! Victoria will hate that too - especially after catching them in a hug at Jimmy's - sounds like a good story to me! Anyway, not sure what Adam is up to - or what the 'haunting of Ashley' is all about yet - but looking forward to more being revealed! I did notice that Estella left the house to walk Zapato right before Ashley went outside and heard the crying baby…hmmm…
Sharon/Phyllis/Nick: I enjoy both Sharon and Phyllis as characters individually, and love to watch and see what they're going to do or say next. I'm eagerly awaiting the further development of Sharon's story with the mental illness, and I'm happy to see the return of the volatile and more entertaining Phyllis. I even like Nick from time-to-time. I also love a good triangle, but this one needs to end. I'm sick of Nick standing across from Sharon or Phyllis with that shell-shocked look on his melon. He needs to pick one of these women and get us out of limbo, or both women need to kick him to the curb so they can all move on separately. Please.
Lauren and the Charges: Nice to see Lauren getting some more meat in her scenes again! From Michael and Lauren's point of view, they are justified in pressing charges against Sharon, who has been very outspoken regarding her dislike of Eden, and who appears to have let the girl purposely take the fall for shoplifting. They aren't privy to the stress that Sharon has been under, or her recent mental state. As for the blackouts, Sharon barely understands that aspect herself! I think the writers did this to add another notch of contention between the parents of Noah and Eden - or should we call them Romeo and Juliet? Anyway, once the truth comes out Lauren will likely drop the charges, after all, the Baldwin clan is no stranger to mental illness themselves! Noteworthy: Michael's line to Nick about the cape and tights - hilarious!
Kevin's Story: I will say that at least the writers are keeping the exchanges in the padded cell short. There have been some good ones, such as Jeffrey and Kevin, and some dumb ones, such as Jana bringing Kevin bangers and mash, but no matter - the acting still rocks. Still too dark a story for my taste though, and Friday's episode was diminished for me with the depression factor of this tale. I got a chuckle out of the chipmunk head for about five minutes this week - especially when it called Kevin 'zombie boy', but ultimately, I was wishing it had been the one to jump out of the ambulance and become roadkill! A highlight for me this week was the acting of Michael Graziadei as he depicted Daniel's frustration - great scenes!
Marge's Memorial: Almost forgot to mention the memorial! I was hoping for a little more with this, but overall it was good - and I love the diner scenes! I'm so looking forward to Katherine and Murphy's wedding, and I laughed at Amber's enthusiasm about planning the dresses! Nikki's upbeat outlook is refreshing too, and nice touch that she thought to ask about Jill before accepting Katherine's request to be Matron of Honor. Nikki is being supportive and Jill's not - so it made sense to me.
Here's hoping the writers keep it up with the improved balance of emotional elements - it really is a recipe for success! Looking forward to May sweeps and the weddings! Be sure to leave your own thoughts about this week below!
-Candace Young
Restless Rant
Week of April 20 – 24:
Well! I enjoyed The Young and the Restless much more this week than last. In fact, I’m going to deviate from form just a bit in order to center out Monday’s episode – shout out to Tom Casiello, who wrote it – as being a classic ideal of the sort of balance a soap needs to be successful. Unfortunately, by Friday, things had darkened considerably again, but here’s how it looked from this point of view:
Monday’s Episode: Great eppy – I was riveted, and when all was said and done, each essential element had been represented: the emotion-evoking serious drama of Ana’s custody being decided, and of Karen leaving Neil; the happy, uplifting, ‘feelgood’ moments of Chloe’s relief at Cane dropping the custody suit, and Cane/Lily/Billy/Chloe celebrating and embracing; and the classic comedic zingers from old faves such as Jill, “What’s wrong, Ashley? Satan’s spawn giving you indigestion?” and Jack, telling Adam he could always turn Zapato into a seeing eye-dog. We even experienced a touch of outrage as Tyra, Devon, and Ana walked in to witness Karen’s humiliated anguish – so many feelings were drawn from the viewer! After an episode like this you feel exhilarated, like you’ve been on a roller coaster ride – it was very well done, and not just by the writers – the acting was superb – here we give a shout out to the departing Nia Peeples (Karen) who probably did some of the best work of her career!
Cane/Lily/Chloe/Billy/Mackenzie: Cane caught my attention right at the start of the week with his idiotic grinning! Discussing Jill and Katherine’s tense situation – and he’s grinning. Discussing the upcoming custody suit with his mother – and he’s still grinning! I found myself wondering if he was on ‘happy’ pills – but alas, it turns out the Aussie bartender was simply overjoyed because he’d recently purchased a dive all of his own – Jimmy’s! It’s a perfect fit – he’s still in charge, while being true to who he is deep down. As for Cane and Lily, I thought they were a total snore the first time around, but I am feeling it more this time – I’ve also sensed a difference in Christel Khalil’s interpretation of Lily which is helping me along. Chloe and Billy are growing on me as they share more connecting moments, however, the complication the writers are trying to impose in the form of Mackenzie is still not working for me. The character of Mac just seems to be written as though she is perpetually bored and half-asleep – I just can’t get interested in her – even her scenes with Katherine aren’t very compelling! That being said, I’m not blaming the actress – I’ve almost always found this character to be a bore – with the exception of a period of time during Rachel Kimsey’s tenure as Mac, when the character was written more upbeat.
Neil/Karen/Tyra/Devon: The storyline reached a fantastic pinnacle this week, but how will this now continue forward in a compelling way? Tyra and Ana have not caught on with most viewers, and the events of this week did nothing to help that cause. Neil did the right thing by insisting that Ana be placed with Tyra, but most still think he’s been a total jerk. Karen is gone. Devon is somewhat interesting (let’s see more of him and Roxanne), but on the whole, the writers have dealt themselves a tough hand – a group of characters that viewers aren’t too thrilled with! Here’s hoping that something surprisingly great happens with this bunch, because the actors certainly have it in them – Bryton embodies his character, Devon, and Eva Marcille and Kristoff St. John both did a wonderful job in the courtroom scenes.
Jill: Jill’s been at her campy best in some scenes this week – sucking back drinks at the GCAC bar and eyeing up Jack and Ashley, before slipping off the bar stool and wending her way over to drop the bomb that Victor was the one who bought the Jabot stock from Gloria. Of course, she never got the chance, but it was fun watching her salivate over the idea of it as she exchanged barbs with the Abbott siblings! I still take issue with her interactions with Katherine though – her anger seems illogically over-the-top to me – especially when she insults Murphy. It comes across like manufactured conflict between Katherine and Jill for the sake of re-establishing their old rivalry. I don’t think there is any need to go to those lengths – there is a natural competitiveness and irritability that these actresses play in their scenes that supersedes the need to create phony issues between them.
Mary Jane: She’s starting to show her horns and I’m excited to see what’s in store for Jack – I still think she’s Mary Jo!