The Young and the Restless: Crazy Like a Fox
Crazy is as crazy does, or so they say. Here’s what I see. Ian’s days are, for sure, numbered. Will he end up dead? Who knows? If he lives, it is not clear to me that his days will be worth living. He is one part cocky and two parts crazy! Than never bodes well for a villainous soap character.
Nikki’s unequivocal F-U to Ian and her glaring declaration that she is not afraid of him is the best thing that could have happened for viewers! Strength and courage, forget cowering and waiting for the big bad Newman men to save the day! Oh sure, it was a HUGE thrill to have Dylan and Nick show up at the door at the end – Ian’s facial expression was priceless. It was more of a thrill to know that Nikki didn’t need them.
Before their arrival, she charged into Ian’s office like she owned it. She batted his lies like flies. Someone should have warned Ian that Nikki has been married to Victor Newman, off and on, for more than 30 years soap time. She has already survived one big bad controlling and scary man (a man who leaves me alternating between hating and loving to hate him). Sir. Ian is a rank amateur by comparison — no matter how beautifully seamless Ray Wise’s Ian is as a villain. Someone should tell Ian to stick to mind-blanking young and vulnerable people who are “confused and searching” as he helps “put them on their paths”.
Someone should also tell him to avoid messing with the Newman clan. These people have killed before and they will kill again I’m sure. There is always the option of leaving him imprisoned in a basement cell where no one will find him! (What I wouldn’t give for Victor to build a cell for Ian!) I fully expected this storyline to continue on and on with Nikki being afraid for herself, or Dylan. Thank you writers, for letting Nikki be proactive in protecting Summer and the rest of her family.
Also, how good is it to see Paul, Lauren and Michael together? I won’t lie. There is a part of me that so fondly remembers Paul and Lauren as a couple (as well as Paul and Nikki) that having them find their way back to each other would feel like old home week for me. There are times when I, for a moment, wish for a Lauren and Paul reunion. I never thought that I could grow to love Lauren after her treatment of Tracy Abbott, but Paul was the beginning of her redemption. Lauren learned to become human, with Paul. It helped that Lauren was fed back some of the crap she dealt out to Tracy, in the form of Mary Williams (the working woman version of BnB’s Stephanie Forrester). Now when I see Lauren, I don’t see the mean spirited young adult who was filled with anger and ill will. I see the woman who became a wife and mother, who apologized to Tracy for having victimized her for many years, and I love the growth that YnR characters have made Lauren in particular. I have tried to avoid being dragged back into daytime, but the BnB and the YnR are making it tough for me to stay away.
The Bold and The Beautiful: The Douglas Problem
I’m not sure if it is intentional, but whatever the case, it is certainly interesting that there is a strong connective history when looking at the Douglas bloodline. Stephanie Forrester’s father was a cruel and nasty S.O.D. who abused and humiliated his eldest daughter for reasons that are still not clear (realistically so. Many survivors of abuse are left trying to make sense of their abusers’ cruelty – forced to try to give meaning to something so illogical and so vile). John Douglas was clearly a man who refused to control his impulses – giving way to his anger at his daughter for daring to have her own opinions and ideas. It is a tragic behavior pattern that Stephanie followed in her own later life. The revelation of Ally’s continued difficulties ties so neatly into the troubled Douglas history. Stephanie’s mother was as troubled as John and as troubled as Stephanie and Pam became over time. Not only did Mother Ann refuse to protect Stephanie, she accepted a lonely Ann’s devotion and watched as Ann gave up all dreams of a family and children to care for her mother.
At the time of the confrontation between mother and daughter, it seemed that Mother Douglas’ only goal was to protect herself and the memory of a perfect marriage and perfect family life. I now have to wonder if the writers want us to rethink the entire Douglas lineage! That Ally’s psychological issues are being addressed (and that Ally flips out in the presence of not just Wyatt, but the Stephanie Douglas Forrester jewelry collection was BRILLIANT!) It makes sense that a child who lost her mother at such a young age is so badly hurt by that loss and that the pain doesn’t simply dissipate.
Are Ally’s psychological problems the real reason she didn’t continue on to Law school and came home to join the family business? Had she had a break just before coming home? This kid has had so much to deal with in such a short life. Ally’s pain was compounded by the fact that the first woman she allowed to become her new mother was a woman who deceived her, only to try to replace the mother she was still grieving. Ally must have surely felt betrayed by the ease with which her father forgave the woman who left her mother dying on the highway.
Is that why Ally clings to Hope? An innocent Hope was the only person Ally could rely on and trust in, at that time. Everyone else behaved as if it was normal for your father to marry the woman who killed your mother. Hope told Ally the truth no one else would tell. Is Hope’s perfect life one Ally has imagined having for herself instead of the crap storm Taylor’s actions and her father’s thoughtlessness left her? Is she living vicariously through Hope to the point of imagining a happy Hope and Liam living the life that would have made her happy, too? From Vicious John Douglas, to Mother Ann Douglas to the psychotically violent Stephanie, the murderous Pam, and now the unhinged Ally Forrester. WOW!
I’d jokingly said before that if Ally starts wearing pantsuits and a brooch, I’m going to cry, and then fear for Hope’s safety. I now see that I will have to fear for Wyatt’s safety. I’m not sure what Wyatt triggers in Ally ( his deceit = taylor’s deceit?). Does watching Hope forgive Wyatt anger her because, as she lives vicariously through Hope, and it reminds her that she accepted Taylor’s lie? Whatever is it, the writers will let us know soon enough, but I have to say that it is beginning to become deliciously uncomfortable.
I can say that prior to Ally’s explosive rage, it was fun to watch a little innocent romance with #HOTT. They started strong and ended strong, today. I can’t wait for the next episode to see where this is headed. Something tells me to not expect an apology from Ms. Ally. Who stands with Wyatt if (when) the -ish hits the fan and the Forresters rally around Ally to protect her? How? Most likely by firing Wyatt to help Ally heal, if the question of whether Wyatt should be fired, posed in the twitterverse to fans, is any indication. The only supporter he has ever had prior to meeting Hope? His mother. She’s ride or die for her son so I’m sure she’ll stand with him, should it happen. Would Hope stand with him or would her loyalties be divided? Will his donor father come to his aid? Given Bill’s consistent trashing of Wyatt, I wouldn’t count on it. If it happens, I’m sure surprising battle lines will be drawn.
Soap crazy Part 2? Bill Spencer. Seriously, after today, this guy goes on my FastForward filter. He is such an loser that it’s hard to fathom where the writers feel this character fits in a genre that is about romance, a bit of cheesecake, and the occasional bit of insanity. How many times in one lifetime will a man get to say, “We’re not family, you’re just the mother of my child”? It’s a grotesque thing for him to say to a woman with whom he has had no serious conflict and who saved. loved, and nurtured a child he claims to now love, as well. Even referring to her as a very distant relative would have been better. (and yes, ship docked in the nearby harbor would have still worked).
Bill Spencer is exhausting. He is a combination low-rent comedic version of J.R. Ewing (original Dallas) and womanizing Don Draper of Mad Men. He’s anachronistic! Everyone else seems to be operating in the 21st century. Bill is almost 19th century in this thoughts and actions. I’m sick of his male equivalent “Forever 21″wardrobe, the ridiculously compulsive (and unnatural) grooming, and the tired juvenile dialogue – what grown ass man has to tell a woman that she’d better not show up in a couple of months pregnant with his child? (If you can’t control it? CAP IT!) People, I just can’t with this guy. I.can.NOT! (My comments are not about Don Diamont, who is a true hottie. His own look is so natural and gorgeous. Google him.) Bill Spencer is too much of a put on. It throws me every time I look at him.
Bill’s comment that Quinn was not his family was almost as repulsive as his line that Quinn didn’t give him a chance to be a father. As I recall, she did. He told her to abort their child. No matter how good looking he is with his shirt off, he is a little bit of a sidewinder, otherwise, and for a man who is such a misogynist to be treated as either a hero, or a man at all, runs counter to what a romantic lead is in daytime. Who the hell wants to spend their days battling the Bill Spencers of the world, only to watch them celebrated? Difficult men? Ok, outright misogynistic pigs? Keep ’em, you can have ’em. I have to paraphrase my new fave quote (THANKS @MrJeromeTrammel for articulating my thoughts better than I could have): “There Is No Shortage Of Good Men, It’s Just That The Ignorance Of No-Good Men Is Promoted So Well.”
Quinn’s dialogue, returning fire for fire, was about the only useful thing to happen in the conversation between the two. I do believe she is right. Bill has never met a woman who is his match. Katie tried to humanize him, but was shut down. Brooke only gave in and gave him what he wanted – physical contact – no attempt to humanize him at all. Quinn is too good for Bill. I hope the guy either grows up or goes.
Sorry, folks, but as I said above, Bill has hit my FastForward Filter. He is too much of a bad thing. I can’t be bothered to watch this guy any more.
If anyone wondered why Ashlyn Pearce was cast in the role of Alexandria Forrester, I’m guessing that’s now officially answered! SO, in the event that you get out of line with comments or in email? Remember this face:
Don’t make me send Ally after you!
The one who got away turned into two… and then two turned into three… and then three … You get the picture. OLTLers will most likely feel nostalgic at the sight of Renee Elise Goldsberry (ex-Evangeline Williamson). REG’s Evangeline was one of the most unique new (female) characters in recent OLTL history, not to mention in recent soap history. She.Had.A.BRAIN! Not only did she have a brain, folks, she wasn’t afraid to use it!
First the good stuff. I don’t know why it’s never dawned on me before, but why or WHY hasn’t DAYS – which happens to be in striking distance of the BnB in the ratings, taken advantage of the colossal blunder made by the BnB’s sister soap, the YnR? Why hasn’t DAYS hired Victoria Rowell as a new character? YnR’s PLTB (Powerless That Be) are determined to not bring Rowell back to daytime in a role she made iconic. Why not hire Ms. Rowell for DAYS and tie her to honest Abe Carver. His image has been a little ‘too clean’ for a soap character. I don’t want him to become a bad guy, or learn that he was ever a ‘bad’ man. It might be worthwhile to find out that Abe was once a conflicted man. He was in love with a woman with a shady past and did things he’d never expected to do. Maybe Abe demands perfection in Lexie because he’s loved a woman who’s driven him down the wrong path before and is afraid to go there again.
Every (soap) family has that one philandering dolt who makes you feel dirty just by shaking his hand – which is a bad move since you never know where that hand has been. You just know that it’s been a lot of places you’d never go. On the BnB? That would be Eric “naked on the ledge” Forrester. Eric’s treatment of women is, and always has been, rather shabby. He’s been cheered on as a romantic hero, but he’s neither romantic, nor a hero as far as I’m concerned. I think fans are finally beginning to see Eric as the lowly worm he truly is. Is he only more clearly viewed as a Lothario because he has yet to change his behaviors? A man his age, who still can’t be faithful to a faithful wife is far from appealing. His actions include:
5. He later married Brooke’s sister, Donna Logan, but only after cheating on Stephanie (who was in hiding after facilitating Brooke’s sexual assault). What lousy circumstances under which Eric took Donna Logan to bed. It was mere weeks after finding that that Donna was sleeping with his youngest son in order to use him to tear the Forrester family apart. A heart-broken Thorne dumped Donna at the altar – Eric slept with her.
Oh come on, DAYS FANS, you knew it was coming! The scurge that is EJ so perfectly fits this category. I love that Will has no use for the man who violated his mother. Sami’s oldest child so clearly understands what kind of man EJ is and wants him GONE. Good boy, Will. It would be a HUGE mistake, for a show that’s doing so well, to try to sell the audience on the notion that Will wants to eventually become buds with the man who raped his mother and produced one child – and manipulated and violated his mother to produce another. I know that Sami feels ‘trapped’ in some way because she’s had two children with EJ , but she really needs to let them visit with him at his place. EJ’s presence is a constant reminder of what he’s done to young Will’s mother and I can’t believe any caring parent would let that happen.
It’s not often that I actually praise a soap in its entirety. OLTL is good, and I enjoy more of the show than I dislike of it… but it’s not GREAT. Which soap is, in my opinion? Hands down, Days of Our Lives has to be the best overall soap in daytime! It’s such a great soap that the things I hate about it are the things you’re SUPPOSED to hate about a soap or about the show’s characters. What makes DAYS such a great soap? Two words: consistency and BALANCE!
While DAYS held on far too long to the ‘Sydnapping’ storyline, overall, the fact that the show has been consistent and balanced allowed fans, like myself, who were tired of the storyline to focus on something else. Knowing, last month, that the storyline would continue a while longer, I began tuning it out and focusing on other big onscreen news. I don’t know what it is about ‘Daniel’ and ‘Melanie’, but I think it’s sheer genius to pair them together as father and daughter (and yes, I’ve been reminded that she once flirted with him when neither knew they were related). Something about his presence in her life finishes Mel’s character profile out nicely. She’s been two characters in one during her tenure at DAYS. There is the manipulating and selfish Mel, and then there is the vulnerable and melancholy Mel. In some ways he softens Mel, but she does the same for him. Shawn Christian (as Daniel) hit his stride perfectly in the hospital visitation scenes, after finding out that Melanie was his child. His eyes were soft and a bit weepy, his tone of voice was relaxed, and it was easy to believe that he was in awe of the young woman in front of him, one he’d only recently found carried his genes in her DNA. That he was the doctor who operated on her and saved her life made the scene all the more meaningful. Melanie looked vulnerable and frail and in need of someone to protect her. He looked ready for the job. Priceless.
I’m partial to the third option. I’d love to see Stefano strip Ej of his money and power. DAYS’ writers have been relatively creative in their storytelling. What could they do with a powerless EJ, who no longer has the ability to manipulate and/or offend the women of Salem? The writers could continue to move EJ on to the next storyline but in the end what good would it do if Ej isn’t completely deconstructed and rebuilt? He’s currently an (evil) freakshow! What would life look like from the other side, a man without resources at the mercy of the power brokers? Nothing could give him greater insight into what his negative influence has been over others than having him fend for himself against the next ‘Ej Dimera’. His deconstruction could also lead him to find real love for the first time, a woman he doesn’t have to force to have sex with him.
With Hope defending Bo and asserting that he is (professionally) an ethical man, will Bo begin to realize that he may be professionally ethical but that he’s lacking personally? For most of their adult lives, Hope has been defending their marriage against each of Bo’s new ‘great loves’ and any children that are born or resurface as a result. He has yet to have to do the same because she has centered her life around him. Is there some point in his life when he realizes that he’s taken more from his marriage than he’s ever given to Hope?
OLTL’s Tea Delgado just helped free Todd, who recently violated his former rape victim. That storyline I could do without. It’s enough to make me want to revoke her bitch goddess status. She is, however, using that bit of tasteless work as cover for going after a different target – another potentially innocent woman who is the victim of a questionable man. Oh Tea. While I don’t like her behavior, it’s been a while since we’ve seen such a powerful and devious woman in daytime. We typically get one or the other.
1. All My Children. I’m torn. Reese’s secret? Jesse and Angie sharing their home with dying Rebecca (love the writers for this one and as gut wrenching as this storyline is, I want them to save her!). I’d even take David falling in love with <GULP!!!!!> Krystal – and I like Krystal about as much as I’d enjoy contracting malaria. That’s a huge compliment to the AMC writers. I’d take David and Krystal even if I have to hear them uttering my least favorite four letter word over and over again: Babe!
3. General Hospital. The Maxie/Mac/Robin scenes were so unusual for GH. No one was killed. No explosions. No melodramatic calls for revenge. Seeing this family together in the Scorpio home reminded me of the old GH. I remembered veteran characters I once loved and favorite moments. The scenes had an honesty and purity about them that I’ve come to miss about GH. I wanted to see Robert and Anna there with them.
5. The Bold And the Beautiful. I just posted about the stellar performances of Ronn Moss and Jacqueline MacInnes Woods a blog or two ago. Let me add Kyle Lowder to the list. As much as I despise Rick, Lowder came as close to making me feel some sympathy for the character as I ever have.
8. Days of Our Lives. Another tough choice. Sami and Rafe? I love them and I don’t know why. I want Sami and Lucas, but it’s a sure bet that the writers don’t. Rafe comes as close to sharing real moments with Sami as any other man since Lucas. On the far opposite end of the spectrum is my absolute adoration of Nicole, but disgust at her treatment of Brady. At some point, these two WILL end up together. The writers can’t take Sami and Lucas away and not give us Brady and Nicole.
Clearly there are new writers on board. There HAVE to be! How else can you explain the highly emotional grief scenes following Phoebe’s death!?!? It’ s been a long time since I’ve cried over BnB scenes because they were so highly emotional. Usually if I’m crying over a BnB scene, it’s because of the self-pity I feel knowing I haven’t been able to break my BnB viewing habit.
I’m sorry. I think I’m losing my hearing. I thought I heard Lauren express shock at Gloria’s self-centered behavior and her willingness to allow an innocent party to be blamed for something they hadn’t done. I was shocked that SHE was shocked. Two words: Ashley Abbott… Two more: Face Cream.
Oh sure… kill off Nash, bring back Tess, add new alter for Jessica, and then hook her up with the ‘new Nash’. In this case, I think the writers think WE’RE new. Can Jessica please have a love life that doesn’t revolve around alternate personalities and psychiatric care? Please? I’ll admit, I love Jess/Tess/Bess and Brody, I just wish the writers hadn’t used the same plot line they used to pull Tessica and Nash together.
Oh, I should have known. Nicole Walker Dimera (emphasis on Dimera)! What have you done? WHY, writers, WHY? She loves Brady so much, to think that she would try to send him back to his addiction to protect her pregnancy lie? That’s far too vicious, even for Nicole. How could I have fooled myself into thinking the writers would make the character capable of anything else? Oh well… I’m in for the long and the short of it. Nicole will have to face whatever she has coming. It will be well deserved. If she succeeds in the long run, move me to the ‘love to hate’ column for a while. Eventually I’ll find a way to forgive N.W.D. for her dastardly actions… I’m so weak. The writers always get me when it comes to this character.
Parker has to humiliate his mother in front of Janet and Liberty. Great. He forged the signature on his trust fund check to make Liberty happy… and that’s Carly’s fault. They were willing to continue lying about it until they were caught… and that’s Carly’s fault, too; she’s just an evil angry jealous bitch out to stop their happiness (uh, huh, despite the fact that she AGREED to let her jackass ex- take out a second mortgage on their house to pay for his wedding to another woman). This is the man who attacks Carly for the kind of mother she is, NEVER thanking her for raising a child HE brought into their marriage (JJ) after initially abandoning her and their other children, for JJ and his mother, batshit crazy Julia2.
Coffee At Cafe Russe 