Okay. Let’s review all the contrivances and coincidences that made up this past week’s episodes of Y&R.

Ashley gets admitted to the same mental facility where Sharon is already housed. Ashley manages to avoid any kind of check-up that would reveal her non-pregnancy. Sharon goes in to real labor early at the exact same time Ashley goes in to fake labor. Although they are in a hospital with psychiatrists (who have gone through med school, and could certainly deliver a baby,) the staff chooses to let a doctor whom they’ve never met, never seen credentials for, and know nothing about to deliver a child…with absolutely no other hospital staff members in attendance. There is no security, as all the patients have been abandoned while the staff (including all the doctors and nurses) searches for a supposed escaped patient…who apparently was far crazier than the other patients, yet allowed to roam around unsupervised.                                   

How do we know all these things are mere plot devices designed to drag us to the writers’ intended destination? Two glaring facts. The first is Ashley, who has decided that a singular evening in the psych ward, during which she underwent a stressful labor, was enough to cure her of any psychological disturbance. She says she feels fine now, and there’s no need to go back to the mental hospital. Just forget about those pesky hallucinations and the delusions that she may have killed someone. Meanwhile Sharon also underwent a stressful labor…and hers was compounded by what she believes is the death of her child. One would think that, since she was already being treated for mental problems, these latest stressors would be of concern to her doctors. But, no…they believe that giving birth under the less than ideal conditions, and the overwhelming grief of losing a third child, means Sharon SHOULD BE RELEASED EARLY. What this tells the viewers is the “mental problems” from which each woman ostensibly suffered was penned only to make it easy for Adam to steal the baby from Sharon and pass the child off as Ashley’s. (On line this is incorrectly being called a “baby switch.” There would have had to have been two babies for a switch to have taken place.  In terms of the rule of law, this is a straight up kidnapping.) So I’m calling shenanigans…because this was one of the sloppiest, most ill-thought-out set-ups I’ve ever witnessed.                                             

Now let’s examine some of the other flaws in this tale. Without being too graphic, how does Ashley think she gave birth when she has no physical symptoms of having done so? Aside from the mess on the sheets and clothes (which mostly blind Adam claimed to have cleaned up) there would be stretching and tearing of her personal parts, especially during a natural childbirth. Hysterical pregnancy is one thing…but with the exception of the fake labor, I’m betting her body didn’t pretend to expel a six pound baby, and manifest all the evidence thereof. Ashley has really given birth before, and would certainly be familiar with the sensations and discomfort that follow.  She should, at the very least, marvel at how easily she’s up and strolling about, seemingly pain free. It’s insulting to her (and really to all women) that she’s being written not just as suffering from mental illness, but as having the mental acuity of a Styrofoam cup. And again, I point out Ashley should have been examined by someone ON STAFF at both the mental hospital and at Mercy hospital (where she was taken following the fake birth.)                                  

The mental hospital ostensibly had a patient try to bolt. Because of that, there would certainly be security personnel watching the cameras focused on the halls. (And make no mistake…even as upscale as it was supposed to be, the hospital would have security cameras everywhere.) Miraculously, no one notices the doctor who isn’t on staff bringing a baby out of one patient’s room, and a mostly blind visitor snatching the baby from the doctor and taking the child into another room. In fact, Mostly Blind Adam manages to get around all kinds of unfamiliar facilities with amazing ease…until it was convenient for him to fall over an I.V. stand in front of Nictoria.

But, wait. That isn’t the end of the list of contrivances.

What are we to make of Sharon being sent across town to a different hospital than Ashley? Was it so Nick wouldn’t be around when Phyllis showed up? I can’t think of any logical reason for her to be sent someplace different from Ashley. It isn’t like they were both trauma patients, and the emergency room might have been overwhelmed by having two births a once. The births had already taken place…and Sharon’s medical records are already at Mercy.  Yet she was sent to St. Mary’s. Sharon should find it suspicious that all her ultrasounds throughout her pre-natal care showed a healthy baby, and the baby was active throughout the pregnancy. There was no indication of any abnormalities, and the baby looked perfect on the sonogram photo Sharon was passing around to the prospective fathers…yet this stranger, Dr. Taylor, is claiming her baby was so malformed it never even took a breath.              

We’re also supposed to believe the infant was immediately cremated. I’ve never known a hospital to have a crematorium on site…and I know from my family’s own experience (my brother and sister-in-law’s first born) that a child born that late in the pregnancy can be given a regular burial. The parents would have had to meet with the funeral home to decide whether or not to cremate the child or bury it in a casket…and since when does Sharon make drastic decisions of that kind without consulting Nick? Normal doctors also encourage the parents (both the father and mother) to view the child when it dies at birth, because it’s better for the parents psychologically.                  

On top of everything else, now Ashley has suddenly decided against naming her (non)child after one of Victor’s ex-wives…somehow selecting out of all the thousands of names available the VERY SAME ONE Sharon was intending to use. Place that in the same category as “prophesies” and Ouiji boards.  Out and out crap.

I cannot fathom how TPTB expect us to meekly accept this lengthy list of problems inherent in this story.

Incidentally, Adam, for me, passed the point of redemption long ago. He has been instrumental in sending two women into the hands of known sexual predator (Dr. Taylor)…knowing what the “Doctor” had already done to Adam’s “dear friend” Skye and to other women. That in and of itself is too much for this viewer to ever forgive and forget. The additional crimes of facilitating the death of his unborn sibling, intimately “cleaning up” his stepmother after the miscarriage, and stealing Sharon’s baby put Adam into the category of lost cause.                             

As if the utterly absurd baby theft story wasn’t enough, we’re also expected to embrace the idea that the heart of a 100 pound young woman is being placed in the chest of a 68 year-old man who’s around 170 pounds. Never mind it’s the very man who helped bring about the girl’s death, and the million to one chance that the two are a genetic match when they’re not related.  Size-wise, it simply will not work.

Hearing the Newmans as a group, and Nick in particular, express the kind of arrogance we’ve long suspected really made me uncomfortable. “Michael,” Nick pouted, “This is Victor Newman we’re talking about.” As though that makes his life far more important than anyone else in need of a heart. The whole thing was repulsive…especially the speed with which Nikki slunk to Colleen’s hospital room in her attempt to guilt the family into handing over the dead girl’s heart. Couple that with the heavy-handed dialogue wherein Nikki was exploiting the memory of the dead son she shared with Jack. The vast and pervasive sense of entitlement in the Newman scenes of late has made me come to despise the lot of them. They acted like if Victor didn’t get the heart, then the heart would be wasted. Choosing to donate a loved one’s organs is a selfless act, no matter who the recipient may be. And I agree with Billy…there were far more worthy choices than Victor Newman.                       

I have some lingering questions. For example, where is Noah?  He’s been oddly absent from the hospital. Why hasn’t he been at Victor’s bedside with the rest of the family?  And he is Sharon’s next of kin…yet he apparently wasn’t contacted when she was taken to St. Mary’s. Jack wasn’t called, either.

Nikki has claimed several times that she “sent letters to The Ranch.” We only saw one envelope delivered. Are we to infer that there were more, but Mostly Blind Adam managed to intercept ALL of them? There has been no explanation given as to why she would send letters intended for her son, daughter, grandchildren, and possibly her best friend to the home of her ex-husband…or why she didn’t bother communicating with her sister, Casey at all.

I’m still annoyed we’ve seen NO law enforcement investigating what happened with Patty and Colleen, and how Jack and Victor happened to be there. And why have Paul and Heather disappeared?

There’s been a little speculation on the Internet about who Ryder might really be…not much talk, though, as most viewers don’t seem to care. Some fans think he might be Sheila’s offspring…but that wouldn’t fit into Sheila’s history (not that these writers give to hoots in Hell about history.)  Here’s what I think should be done to make Ryder more palatable, and tie him firmly to the other characters: reveal that Ryder’s DNA test (like so many DNA tests performed on Genoa City residents) was faulty. He isn’t really Kevin’s brother.  He’s actually Kyle…Diane and Jack’s son. Not only would it remove Ryder from the Scooby Gang, it would give Jack something to do other than pine for Sharon.

Little things bother me, as well…like the costume department has decided that all casual wear for the males of Genoa City needs to be basically the same muddy colors.  It’s all gray-brown, brown, or purple-brown, as evidenced by this still shot of Adam, JT, and Nick who are all basically wearing nearly the same ugly shade. I would like to see some greens, reds, and varying shades of blue…maybe even (gasp) the occasional not-black T-shirt (usually two sizes too small. Yes, Cane, I’m talking about you.)                                               

Praise For The Cast

The scripts continue to deteriorate, but most of the actors and actresses on this show remain dedicated to turning in top-notch performances. Beth Maitland as Traci was heartbreaking during her monologue when she struggled to decide whether or not to grant the Newman Family’s request for Colleen’s heart.  Sharon Case let her alter-ego’s pain of losing yet another child show in her every movement and facial expression. Even Thad Luckinbill has stepped up as JT grieves the loss of his first love…while dealing with the jealousy of his wife.

The frustration and boredom of other actors, however, is becoming apparent.  Joshua Morrow seemed strangely disconnected as his character was informed his infant daughter hadn’t survived. We’ve come to expect more from him, and he’s shown in the past he knows how to plumb the depths of emotion when it comes to loss. I’m also not feeling the level of angst I expected from Melody Thomas Scott’s Nikki. She is indisputably one of the best actresses on daytime…yet her bedside vigil for Victor has been tepid, bordering on bland. I also suspect Michael Muhney (Adam) would give us more if he wasn’t saddled with such a wretched creature as his assignment.                   

This show can’t afford to lose the interest and desire of its cast, as the actors are the only thing keeping Y&R viable.  If the level of commitment from them continues to wane, the game is over…and those calling for an end to daytime dramas will have won.  I cannot say this strongly enough: TIIC need to wake up and replace the writers now…and return the former producers to their rightful place.  The only hope for salvaging this mess is to hire people who understand and WILL HONOR the show’s history, and will respect the fans…instead of spitting on the show’s past and continually insulting the viewers.

From You, The Readers

Li, a regular poster in the poll section, analyzed the show thusly:

Well, Kitty, you have to give the writers some credit. They are relentless in their pursuit of rock bottom. The stories being displayed on screen are sure-fire ways of making the audience run away in droves. By adding the Victor's heart storyline, they are merely putting more in the cesspool and gleefully anticipating the demise of this show.

When I began watching this show, it was mostly to mock my mom and grandma's strict regimen of watching Victor and Nikki, Brad and Ashley and some person named 'Cricket.' They loved their show and when 12:30 came, time stopped. You wouldn't dare disturb them. It was their loyalty to this show that made me finally sit down and watch and episode. I have been hooked ever since...

...Well, until now. I cannot tune-in anymore. Watching a clip online of Sharon and Nick look at one another longingly or Jack and Victor ripping into one another with their talons doesn't excite me. Sharon and Nick's romance has been watered down to two adults acting like horny, self-absorbed immature idiots. Jack and Victor's feud has been transformed to a new installment of Freddy Kreuger vs. Jason Voorhies!

No longer are the stories based on boardroom acumen and passion and thoughtfully planned vengeance. When Nikki gave 35 million dollars to the Abbott family to keep Jabot afloat, I was riveted. I knew this meant a bigger battle between Jack/Brad and Victor. Furthermore, I knew this would create even more animosity between Nikki and Victor. Great avenues for storytelling came from this device. When John Abbott began falling for his housekeeper, Mamie, the writers created an honest-to-goodness romance. The same can be said about Sharon and Nick as high-school sweethearts; their romance was sweet and innocent. The tides have certainly changed.

Currently, there is not prominent romance on Y&R. Michael and Lauren are the only viable couple on the show, and they are rarely seen. Instead, you have people going straight for their victim's juggular without any thought of execution or consequence. Instead of being manipulative and multi-layered, villains are one-dimensional and use innocent people as bait. Victor may have rattled Jack by bringing Patty to town, but it was Colleen who drowned, Zapato was poisoned, and Summer is suffering mental retardation. Victor will get a new heart from one of his victims as a result of his actions. No comeuppance is in sight.

Given what the writers created with the Victor/Patty storyline, perhaps Ashley's eyes will be used to restore Adam's eyesight. Yes, it is ridiculous but these writers don't care. The stories involving the Terroni painting, Ryder's paternity and Silver Chipmunk, Philip Chancellor III's Outback Adventure are evidence these writers don't care about crafting a ridiculous storyline.

But the writing is only one of the reasons I don't watch The Young and The Restless anymore. I couldn't after the Winters family was thrown onto their own island away from the rest of Genoa City. There are so few minorities that Tyra slept with Neil and Devon, the young man raised as her nephew! Surely Devon could have been paired with Colleen. Colleen hasn't had a fling since Daniel, her best friend's ex-husband! I completely agree with Bryton James' assessment: the Winters' clan should be allowed to intermingle with all Genoa Citians. Lily has dated Kevin and married Daniel and Cane. Why not allow Devon and Neil some romance with the available women on the show? I think Neil and Victoria were a great couple once upon a time, how about revisiting that!

Then again, Lily is currently the only member of the Winters' clan being featured. The writers have decided to remove the Winters instead of creating riveting stories for them, further alienating many more viewers.

Well, Li…I’m with you on every point. And from the other posts on the poll and the e-mails I’ve been receiving, we’re not alone.

For the next two weeks I will be letting you readers have your say. I’ve gotten dozens of outstanding letters already, but it isn’t too late to send me your opinion. In addition to breaking things down (like Li has,) I’d like to know if you’re still watching daily, and why or why not. Please use the e-mail link at the bottom of this column and submit a few paragraphs. Maybe if TPTB see I’m not the only discontented viewer, they’ll do something. We can only hope.