The Demon Grifter of Genoa City

The Young and the Restless has done many cruel things in the past few months (firing Adrianne Leon and replacing her with Tammin Sursok, promising us that nothing in Genoa City would remain the same when they all came out of the ashes and immediately taking it back, continuing to pass JT and Victoria off as true love) but the meanest of all is putting out into the universe the idea that Gloria could be accidentally murdered. Like, "So she's going to try to set Jeffrey up for her murder, but what happens if, whilst framing him for her death, she accidentally dies?! That would be awesome!"

And then I remember that one of Gloria's nutbar schemes not working to her advantage would be like Victor losing, or Sharon's hair looking like human hair, and then I get upset that Y&R even got me excited for a second about the delicious possibility of no more Gloria. In the words of the second rate boyband of the 90s*, quit playing games with my heart.

I still haven't quite worked out any part of this story: why does Jeff want to marry Gloria so badly? Can't he just blackmail her without making it legal? Can't he, possibly, blackmail her and get a huge payment and then turn her into the authorities, or at least allow all of the Abbotts to line up in the GCAC and clock her? You know Abby could cause some damage. I bet she fights dirty. And, in a world full of logical plans to deal with smarmy blackmailers, how and why did Gloria and Kevin land on "frame him for murder"?

Should I continue asking questions that I know will never get answered even though I run the risk of driving myself madder than Celestia Heche? Whatever happened to Nick's amnesia? Or the suggestion that the Newman plane going down and killing (except not) Nick was due to sabotage? Am I the only person who remembers Plum? If I can accept that people don't know that Clark Kent is Superman, why do I still find it so unbelievable that Cane and Lily don't know that Marina is actually Amber in disguise? I like Sharon, but why does Brad go to such lengths to stalk her and win her love? Does he have a thing for self righteous girls with synthetic weaves? When given the choice between staying comatose and reading Don Quixote, isn't it understandable that Victoria would choose to remain comatose? Does anyone in the world really believe that there is a chance Victor killed Ji-Min? Do the writers think we don't already know that the culprit was either David Chow or some nameless random extra? Why would Nikki marry David Chow? Even if she's on the rebound, aren't there more eligible bachelors in Genoa City? Am I supposed to take ADA Barbie seriously when she looks eighteen and uses the word "gnarly"? John Abbott never sucked in life, so why is Ghost John so unbearable? Why hasn't Lauren run for the hills, far away from the family of sociopathic criminals she married into? Why does Tracey E. Bregman get prettier every time she is onscreen?

*Yeah, BSB fans, I went there!

Comments

[Deborah J. Reyes]

Personally, if I were writing Y&R - the person who would be guilty of Ji Min Kim's murder would turn out to be --- Jill! I would say that Jill came back to their room unexpectedly and caught Ji Min with the forbidden stash of loot. They argued, and during the argument, Jill bashed Ji Min in the throat and he died at her feet. Jill became traumatized and ran out - then blanked out everything which had happened. Jill's 'dreams' about watching Ji Min die wouldn't be dreams - but - rather - actual memories which Jill has convinced herself are dreams. After Jill ran away and blocked the incident out of her mind, she returned to the room in time to find Amber standing over the body. This would always give Jill an out, since, when she regained her memory of the incident, it could always develop that Jill struck back in self-defense.

I also thought the fact that BOTH of Victor's sons turned up missing at the SAME time and that Nick ended up being discovered MILES from the spot where the Newman Jet was last seen would have been a GREAT story. This could have been a plot being carried out by some old enemy of Victor's, packing a king-sized grudge. The story could always develop that the pilot, etc. on the plane were a part of some old rival's band of trusted supporters - and that the old rival of Victor wanted to get even with Victor and needed information which the rival believed that Nick could supply. So Nick was kidnapped and interrogated. When the rival discovered that Nick didn't really know anything after all, Nick was given a drug which wiped out recent memories - then turned loose near a spot where the rival KNEW the lady doctor was camping out and would discover Nick. (Remember - Nick only forgot the LAST TWO years. Nick remembered Sharon and Noah - just didn't remember that he had kicked over the traces with Phyllis, etc.) ALSO - another dangling thread to that whole schmear was the news about Victor, Jr. The last report we had from THAT front was that Victor, Jr. was STILL missing! So Victor was all up in the air about the fate of Nick and Victoria but immediately forgot all about poor old Victor, Jr.? Doesn't seem like anything that Victor would do.

And I hate, hate, HATE like poison that TIIC are going to make David Chow a bad guy who has pulled the wool over Nikki's eyes so that poor stupid Nikki will end up NEEDING to be rescued by big, brave but blustery Victor! If David was going to be a con artist, I wanted NIKKI to be the one who found out and rescued HERSELF from the con man's clutches. Although, story wise - it would have been MORE interesting if David had been sincerely and honestly in love with Nikki and could have presented a viable alternative to Victor as a love interest for Nikki. After all - a TWO legged 'tri'-angle is NO fun at all - because all that happens is that TWO of the legs get together and beat up on the third leg! BORING! No doubt, one of the bad habits which LML acquired while toiling at ABC in the olden days! (ALL ABC 'tri'-angles end up with ONLY TWO legs! BORING!! BORING!!)

These are NOT people who learn anything worthwhile with any kind of speed - but I HAVE heard that LML will NOT be returning to Y&R once the strike is over. So - I guess you COULD say that Y&R at least has the POSSIBILITY of moving waaaaaay ahead of ALL of the competition once again. Just think how much better GH could be if TIIC decided that Guza did NOT need to return to GH or that the Soap Assassins did NOT need to return to AMC once the strike is over! With Y&R - at least there are occasionally small favors which you CAN be thankful for!

Sincerely, Deborah

[Danny]

Okay, called David Chow as the killer and the party responsible for Clear Springs months ago. As for Plum and the whole sabotage/amnesia storylines... you realize it's a good thing they dropped those, right? Unbelievably, I think they might in fact be worse than the diarrhea soup the writers are trying to pass off as entertainment these days.

BTW, how old is Tracey Bregman? Smokin' hot.

[L2_S&K]

I love nutbar Gloria! I do lol whenever anyone from that family claims to be smarter than Jeffrey and still end up in deeper trouble. But, yeah, what is the point of the marriage blackmail? How did Lauren end up in this crazy family? Don't you think JT and Victoria have more chemistry now than ever before?

[Carrisa]

I quit watching Y&R about 3 months back because I just could not keep up with all the primetime shows on my dvr and this one everyday. Also because the storylines were bothering me. But now I'm sad that I don't know all that's going on.

I should resume watching this show again since those writers don't seem to be coming off strike anytime soon.

[Charlee]

The other day my friend and I were watching Y&R off of the DVR, and we went to Fast Forward through some boring stuff, and before we knew it the show was over.

[Michelle]

yeah, i stopped watching this show a little bit after the Clear Springs fiasco. what happened? this show used to be so good!

i cannot STAND Gloria and i want her to die and go away and for no one to miss her. i like Michael Baldwin a lot, and i flove Lauren, but Kevin is pointless and Gloria is just plain annoying. i really don't want Jack to give her the inheritance.

JT and Victoria are a joke. i hate that they are putting them together. i never really like seeing real-life couples act as on-screen couples. it's just weird. it feels forced between storyline-wise it would never work, but just because the actors are together they try to make it work.

i'm still waiting for a better Colleen and the JT/Colleen reunion we never got.

and why has YR allowed Amber to cheapen and trashy-up the show?

only thing i like, as usual, is Jack/Sharon, Nick, and Nicki.

[David]

I agree with Michelle, I do NOT want Gloria to get the inheritance - she is gold digging scum. Secondly, I find John Abbott to be intolerable these days, he's so holier-than-thou its sickening. Also, what is the point of Brad on this show? He has no love interest, everyone hates him, even Colleen can't stand him. I don't understand why Gloria just doesn't put all her money in Michael's name - or write a will that would give all the money to Michael and Kevin - that would be an easy way to end this retarded storyline.

As much as I used to hate Amber, she has really grown on me. I find the Winter's unbearable and wish that Cane would take Amber back. Speaking of the Winters, anytime Karen and Neil are on screen or Lily and Colleen acting like they are in highschool I reach for that fast-forward button.

[Danny]

Seriously, when is the recast of Colleen coming? There's no way Adrianne Leon or Lyndsy Fonseca are coming back, but what about Alexandra Chando from ATWT? She's an Emmy nominee, looks like Colleen, and has an American accent.

[Goddess]

There are days I wish the whole damn cast would "turn up missing."

[jackpeyton]

Q. Why does Tracey E. Bregman get prettier every time she is onscreen?

A. Shes flawless. the hair, the style, the skin, the everything. she has only gotten better looking with time. i love that even tho shes recurring she is on as much as she is. Lauren Fenmore = Best Char in Y&R History.

[esther]

I absolutely adore Tracey Bregman. It's actually her choice to be recurring. She wants the freedom.

And while I adore Judith Chapman as an actress, man, Glo-ho could go anytime.

[jackpeyton]

I am going to see The Catsonville 9 play on sat, and its fll of Y&R stars. im so happy! JC is putting it on.

[Carl]

"John Abbott never sucked in life, so why is Ghost John so unbearable?"

The same John who spent years and years going on about "my beauty" and doddering on self-righteously about Jack's mistakes? If you ask me, he was always a waste of time.

To the people who said they stopped watching the show and the show was so awful, I hope you consider watching again, because it is MUCH better now. The characters behave more logically and the pacing is much better.

The Gloria/Jeff story does have holes, but then, all soap stories do, especially these days. It's very well-acted, entertaining, and has many fun moments, which is more than I can say for a lot of soap stories today.

[Megan]

What's really going to piss me off is when they say that Ji Min's death was not murder after all, but accidental!

And I'm fast forwarding through the show a lot these days too.

[Elsa]

Y&R could use Jack F. Smith as headwriter along with Josh Griffith. Lorraine Broderick or Meg Bennett, or even Sally Morina would be welcome additions.

David Shaughnessy back as EP? Not a bad idea.

Bring back Victoria Rowell, Adrienne Leon, Davetta Sherwood (I can't stand Indian Lily!), Ashley Abbott and some normal blue-collar characters.

Get rid of Brad. There is no longer a storyline for him.

Make Jill and Kay enemies again. The current situation is insane.

[Goddess]

I'm ff'ing a LOT through the show now, too, and seriously considering not watching any more at all. So many things make no sense. How could they have allowed Jana to sit in prison all this time without any sort of a hearing, then suddenly proclaim, they didn't have enough to prosecute? And shouldn't Michael have been the first to learn his client was free, instead of his brother? How does Lily expect to grow up "independent" of dear old Daddy when she doesn't even have a job to support herself? And Daniel making a deal with Amber to find him a job..uh, hello? If there was a better job to be had in GC, wouldn't SHE have it herself?! Gloria forcing herself to marry Jeff? Why? He doesn't even have any concrete evidence. What an ass. All this and the stupid Victoria storyline tossed in makes me shake my head at the writers. And turn off the tv permanently.