While The Young and the Restless hangs in a holding pattern waiting for (hopefully) better storytelling under its new showrunners, there's a burning question that all fans need to answer: Is there anything left to like about Genoa City? It's time for our columnist's answer in this week's Two Scoops.
It seems that a good many fans are fed up and disgusted with much of the current crop of storylines. For those fans still holding on by their fingernails, I'm guessing they, like me, are hanging their hopes of a possible turnaround on the arrival of the shows penned under the direction of Phelps and Griffiths. Internet chatter says that will happen mid-October.
Although, in my opinion, the soap fare on the table has been particularly awful of late, I'm an optimist, ever searching for the silver lining in the stormy clouds. So, while I wait with great anticipation for a return of good, solid, character-driven tales to be spun for my viewing pleasure, I will attempt to find a nugget or two of gold-like ore in the drivel we've been offered for far too long.
First up, Sharon and the latest version of Newman Takeover, No. 999. This one has been tried so many times, the scribes need only pull out a version from the archives, dust it off, then run it through several rounds of global search and replace. In this particular case, I don't think the scribes had to dig very deep for inspiration. When Adam tried this not so very long ago, Jack was the puppeteer pulling the strings with that silly forged diary fiasco. This time, it's Tucker supplying the wind for Sharon's billowing sails.
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There are other obvious similarities as well. Taking advantage of Victor's absence, like Adam, Sharon seized control of the ranch and the company, firing Victor-approved minions willy-nilly. Apparently in possession of the same script used back then, she, again, like Adam, was heard mumbling nonsensical words about how Victor would likely be proud of her efforts. Me, I just sat there shaking my head at her delusion. No one who dares to fiddle with Victor Newman's company or fires his precious progeny has ever escaped punishment. I doubt Sharon will be the exception to Victor's iron-fisted rule.
But, I said I was going to find some gold, so here it is. It's a tiny crumb, but it will have to do. Although I know Sharon is going to face severe and likely long-lasting punishment for her audacity, it has been a nice change to hear her respond in kind to the insults of those who have always treated her as if she had little worth, simply because they had married into or been born into prosperity.
Victoria and Nikki have left a long, littered trail of men they've used and discarded behind them and, thus, have little room to point a promiscuous finger at Sharon. Abby is a miraculously cured drunk, who once tried to mow down a man with her car. The same Abby, who along with her siblings, banded together to rob their father of a billion and a half dollars that they hadn't earned. Oh, the children are so concerned now for the man and his company. But that concern was conveniently missing when they were emptying the company coffers.
And what did they do with their ill-gotten, though legally obtained, gains? Well, let's see, Abby has used it to help her Uncle Jack steal even more from her father's company, his beloved Beauty of Nature. Victoria has done little more than sit on her assets and whine about one thing or another. As for Nick, when he's not playing a subservient Tonto to Phyllis' Lone Ranger, he has occasionally shown his face at Newman to play a quick game of Top Executive.
Like I said, this isn't likely to end well for Sharon. Already despised by one and all, Victor was the sole resident even halfway kind to her. We've seen Sharon's little silver box of stolen trinkets. Hidden in plain sight, I might add. Which means it will easily be found by her enemies and used against her, probably in the middle of a court proceeding. So those, like me, who are weary of the endless flogging of this character, are probably going to have to suffer through even more before and after Victor returns.
In another case of haven't we been here before, as suspected, Victor is clearly experiencing some form of amnesia. Perhaps Romeo was so distraught and preoccupied with the loss of his Juliet to Jack, he was scraped off his horse by a low-hanging tree limb, and came to only partially cognizant. Victor regularly disappears of his own free will at least once a year, returning just in time to exact retribution against those who attempted to wrong him in his absence. This time, as Sharon's bad luck would have it, is different.
To make a bad situation worse, Victor's health seems to be deteriorating. Fans have frequently commented that a man who received a new heart, among his other health issues, should be taking daily medication, and without it should be suffering some ill effects. The scribes seem to have heard and are heading in that direction. This is likely going to mean one more nail in Sharon's coffin, for calling off the search. In fact, if I cock my head to the side and listen carefully, I can almost hear the strident accusations coming from every Newman quarter.
The next nugget I picked up and placed in my drawstring bag had Jack's name on it. When Jack coldly told Nikki "all your things are packed and ready to move out," since he couldn't stand up for himself, I jumped to my feet and pumped my pom-poms until my arms gave out. The look on nitwit Nikki's face was worth my wasted time listening to her wedding-day lies.
Oh, boo-hoo, Nikki cried to Kay about Victor: "I don't know how I would live without him." I laughed, and told her televised image to shut up. Now she wants to weep and wipe her mascaraed eyes. She could have spared us all by simply going back to Victor when he practically begged for her worthless hand. Nooo, instead she insisted on making a pretend marriage with Jack, and then pilgrimaged all over the world, looking for Victor, leaving her bridegroom behind. Yay, Jack!
Speaking of Jack, Kyle moving out of Eden's apartment and home with his father was a gold nugget of sorts, though I'm still on the fence about Kyle. So far, I've found his love life boring, but I like the way he took a stand about the killer of his mother. I know those who hate Sharon felt he was right for telling her off, but I tend to disagree. Regardless of his opinion of Sharon, as Victor's current wife, she has more right to be in the Newman house than a guest who only consented to move there to get back at the father he was then mad at. One thing that does bother me about Kyle: Victor treated his mother atrociously, and perhaps Kyle doesn't know that, but because I do know it, it grates on my nerves every time Kyle champions the man.
I know it's not a gold nugget to all, but the Cane mystery is a decent-sized piece worth adding to my bag. Who is toying with the Ashby family and why? Caleb is dead, or so we've been led to believe. Although in this family, people don't seem to stay dead. So did Samantha really die, or was her death some huge cover-up perpetrated by Caleb and Colin? What if she's alive and believes her beloved brother and mother were part of it and is angry at their abandonment of her?
Colin, of course, is another obvious choice for mystery culprit. He would definitely have a reason to want revenge against Cane and Genevieve for turning him in to the authorities and robbing him of his fortune. At any rate, this storyline has my interest piqued, and I'm crossing my fingers it will eventually have been worth the watch. I'm glad that Lily is involved, and though Ronan isn't currently on my most liked list, any role where he's not diminishing himself for the love of Phyllis is all right with me.
One last nugget. Did Cane actually say: "who shoves a ghost in someone's face?" This from the man who pretended to be a ghost and actually haunted his wife into a mental ward! If the scribes were purposely trying to be funny, it worked for this fan. Although the funniest part for me was that Cane could say it and Lily could hear it and neither of them broke into a prolonged spate of hysterical laughter. Still, that single line was worth dropping in my bag.
Finally, Adam is always a nugget, and though sightings of him were few, I enjoyed every one of them.
Well, unfortunately, what I like doesn't amount to a lot, but my hopes are high that improvements are on the way. It's hard to imagine that things could possibly get any worse.
So, I'm curious, fans. We've all been quite vocal about all the things we currently hate. Is there anything left you like? And why? While we wait impatiently for the new stuff to show itself on our flat screens, we here at soapcentral.com would really like to know what gold nuggets are nestled in your drawstring bags.
Until my next time in this space, please enjoy the opinions of a few of your fellow fans. There are always enough to fill an entire page, but here are just a few examples of what they had to say. We love hearing from you, so keep them coming, fans.
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