The GCEh?C: Canadian Episodes (Spoilers for Non-Canadians)

[Anna Yolei]

52 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I dunno, I'd put the part about Prick in the good column. He was always dickish to Drinki, but he wasn't always a psychopathic asshole to everyone else. Up until Shictor, I always found him rootable.

I concur.

He didn't used to be an unrelenting asshole with only revenge against Jaggabot and Billy Boy on his mind or completely hateful to his kids.

[peacheslatour]

He used to be more multidimensional. He would stand up for people who were getting screwed over. And I always felt better when he stepped in, because I knew he could, by god, get shit done.

[bannana]

But wait, what about keeping that guy imprisoned in his basement and feeding him dead rats?  I think that was when he first arrived in GC, no?

I think at one time I found him intriguing.  A long time ago.  But my hatred has been longer.  Long before Shictor even, and that was truly awful.  I don't want him adored by his loving family.  I want him alone and depressed, like he was after his young wife died--what was her name?  Vic's best friend.  Prick was despondent and suicidal and that suited me just fine!  Or I liked the making paper snowflakes era too.  

But I do realize he is extremely popular with a large fanbase so they have to make him somewhat redeemable.  We'll just all pretend he didn't cackle when he was being given daily reports of Jack being tortured.

Edited December 6, 2016 by bannana
my unrelenting disdain for Prick makes me keep going

[Anna Yolei]

Victor has never been a saint, but his motivations used to make more sense and as peaches said, he was a more rounded character. If they can make the character not be a complete idiot, it'll still be an improvement to what he's been written as.

[Big Blue Plate]

 I did think breakfast was beautifully handled... even in the spillover with Jill and Billy.  But reminiscing about John Abbott won't entertain for long.  (I do like to imagine Jack's line 'it's hard to believe Dad's been gone ten years' was subtext for it's hard to believe you killed him at all, Knots Landing woman.)

Mrs. Martinez, after all these years, is NOT what I expected.  I thought stouter, older, long hair up in a bun, in a grey maid's uniform with the white cuffs. Anyway, she is who she is.  But I predict - long shot prediction - they cast her because family is coming.  They love either Romeo and Juliet or Cinderella story....

Fuckin' Traci.  Kicking ass and taking names... OK I agree she might be pushing a little given Billy's sin... but I think that was probably the best scene she's had on the show (either side of Colleen's death... did she win an Emmy for that?  She should have done.)

I thought they nicely dialled Nick down a bit, that Billy showed some shame and humility (OK ducks)... and dammit Victor made me laugh with his inability not to say I told you so... but he owned it!

Overall today I just really enjoyed characters talking to each other... even shouting at each other (I love Traci even more than ever.!)

Edited December 7, 2016 by Big Blue Plate
more blather

[jewel21]

Oh, yawn. I watched two episodes and somehow it took me three hours. WTF? I swear I was fast forwarding through some commercials and everything.

Anyway, Victoria is sad and mad. Travis is trying to win Victoria back by sending her flowers after flowers. That is soon followed by a model ship with a note for them to sail away together. She ain't having it, y'all. She sends the flowers away in a fit of anger while Billy silently looks on. Victoria texts Travis to meet her at the park and tells him to stop. She tells him she's been cheated on more than once and she thought he was better than that. It's over.

Billy tries being nice to her and they have a discussion at one point in the park. Billy has been invited to family breakfast at the Abbot house and he's hesitant to attend. Victoria thinks he should. Later, Victoria shows up at Victor's to tell him about her break-up. Before she confesses, she tells him she doesn't want to hear an "I told you so." Fat chance of that.

After all this build up and court scenes regarding Christian, we don't even see the judges ruling. We learn from Sharon and Dylan that while the restraining order has been lifted, they were not given visitation. Dylan is sad and Sharon is halfheartedly putting up Xmas decorations for Faith. Dylan finds an ornament they made especially for Sully's first Christmas and wants to get rid of it, but Sharon doesn't want to erase Sully like he never existed.

Nick is happy to get sole custody and no visitation but he's upset his mommy didn't side with him and seems to be supporting her other son. Poor, Nick. Suck, balls. Nikki apologies to him and he graciously forgives her, blegh. Dylan, who was just telling Sharon how surprised and grateful he was to have Nikki in his corner, goes to the ranch to thank her. Dylan sees Nikki hugging Nicholas with baby Christian through the window. He looks sad.

It's an Abbot family breakfast. We get lots of flashbacks of John Abbot, hear some lovely past dialogue, get some of Nadia's theme, and see Mrs. Martinez for the first time ever! We learn the family breakfasts started because John wanted the family to all be together and the mornings were the only time he would get away from Jabot. Abby, Jack, Traci and Ashely reminisce. It's kind of nice. Then Traci brings up Billy's name and Jack snaps at her. Traci says she invited Billy to breakfast since he is still family. Jack yells at Traci. Jack, I know you were wronged, but you do not yell at Traci. It's like yelling at a puppy. No, just no!

Billy, having taken Vicky's advice, shows up to breakfast. His key doesn't work and Jack tells him he's not welcome. Awkward.

Cane keeps pushing himself, gets into a fight with Lily over his obsession with work, and she storms off. He hurts himself at work and Billy drags him home. Lily and Cane make up.

Not sure if anything else happened, it's all I recall.

All mistakes are my own. I only got two hours of sleep last night after the kitten adventure, and I took half a xanax before writing this.

[MollyB]

20 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

He used to be more multidimensional.

I liked him somewhat when he had Douglas around.  He was still a nasty controlling bastard (see:  Nikki the stripper and Ashley the abbott) but somehow Douglas balanced that.  I miss Douglas.

[pearlite]

30 minutes ago, MollyB said:

I liked him somewhat when he had Douglas around.  He was still a nasty controlling bastard (see:  Nikki the stripper and Ashley the abbott) but somehow Douglas balanced that.  I miss Douglas.

To me, one of the critical aspects of the loss of balance in an overall sense with Victor was killing off John Abbott. John's character, even without referring to his actions, was enough for viewers to feel there was a counterweight to Victor.

And yes, I snorfled on hearing his voice and seeing the pictures at the start of yesterday's CDN...

#bringbackjohnfromthedead

[Anna Yolei]

I'm all for bringing John from the dead. Maybe that prince who was obsessed with Taylor Hayes on B&B kidnapped him for reasons too. :p the actor himself has been in great shape all these ten years...there was no reason to write him out.

[peacheslatour]

Also Catherine being gone is making him worse, I think Victor honestly cared about what she thought of him. Without her, he has no moral center.

[PatsyandEddie]

My beloved Abbotts give me such feelz! They cry,I cry. 

[Capricasix]

I always hated Douglas's stupid cravats ?

[bannana]

I do feel a shift.  They are definitely trying to humanize Prick and I think we are meant to forget his evil and illegal deeds.  It just upsets me that Drinki looks like she will remain a Stepford Drinki forevermore.  

Some nice family scenes, and just scenes where people chat, like Ash and Prick.  Traci being back is a welcome addition and makes Billy tolerable.  All the house decorating stuff was nice.  I had hoped Traci would find an ornament with Colleen's name but no, this was all about poor Billy having no ornament.

The callback to Ashley's parentage was also good.

Even Lauren and Michael didn't nauseate or bore me today.

Gina T looked very nice, she has different hair and looks softer.

So if Phyllis is single, and Victoria is single, I guess they will need to bring new guys into the picture?

Let's see what happens tomorrow, when we have the B cast:  Cane, Lily, Devon, Mariah, were in the previews.

[valleycliffe]

1 hour ago, Capricasix said:

I always hated Douglas's stupid cravats ?

isn't that like an ascot?

[Gam2]

Unless this show has an abrupt change, I just can't watch it anymore. Supremely boring. Especially Victoria and Billy. And her makeup is still awful. I don't know why I find it so distracting what with the eyebrows, eyeliner, lipstick, etc but it just seems so unkempt for a major player on one of the few soaps left. Clean her up and fix her teeth and I might care about her. Ok, I will never care about her. But at least I could look at her. Perhaps if the story lines were more compelling, I wouldn't be so fixated on her looks? Ya think?

[Capricasix]

47 minutes ago, valleycliffe said:

isn't that like an ascot?

Yeah, I think so!

[Big Blue Plate]

So when I loved today's show I loved it but then they delivered some magnificent clunkers....

Loved:  

Billy and Jack.  I know this board isn't emotionally ready for anyone to say this, but I really enjoyed Billy giving Jack as good as Jack gave Billy.  It doesn't lessen the impact of what Billy did to his brother, but it's fair that Billy resents the extent of Jack's anger (and Jack's anger is perfectly and naturally massive and not ready for any fairness or reason at this point), given that Jack did something Biblical with his father's wife.  (And sorry, I don't buy Jack only screwed his own father's wife that one time, Billy screwed his own brother's wife a lot of times.  They both screwed somebody they had no business screwing ever... once is not better than ten times.)

The general Abbottness of the show... their heavy presence, their house restored, the references to John's marriages and wives

I like the strands they seem to be identifying to subsequently weave... Billy feeling second string (a belated development but you gotta give them some retcon-ability even if you do hate JT with the heat of a thousand Staffords); Jack a bit of a rogue and aware if not quite resentful of Ashley's dominance in their father's affections; Ashley's slight unease about her status... that chat with Victor... are they setting up Ashley and Jack as rivals again?  Ashley and Victor... look Braeden is past his prime and stumbles over and jumps on everybody... he and MTS in particular... but yet he and Ashley have a nice vibe together.

Loved Victor today... and I hate Victor... but Braeden was quite funny with his stuff and even some of his ad libs had me laughing out loud.  Which puzzles me, as hate Victor and not that big on EB. 

They even breathed some interesting purpose into Lauren... she had a moment or two there.  

HATED:

Are Jack and Phyllis really over or is this the set up for the long slow crawl back to love?  Because I don't think I am emotionally ready for the end of Jack and Phyllis.  The actors work so well together... I'd hate the squander that.  But then I always felt that about John and Jill... that was a wasted up and down relationship that could have gone on to great entertainment for a long time... God knows his subsequent wives were all bad ideas and kind of demeaned the character... he went from the abandoned husband who let his guard down to a serial marrier.

Mariah as TV hostess?  That's a Prattian development... perhaps a MariaDingDong development... anyway, whoever's bad writing it mimics, what a bad turn on a dime idea. 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Big Blue Plate
clarifying blather

[peacheslatour]

Quote

even if you do hate JT with the heat of a thousand Staffords)

I love this.

[Big Blue Plate]

3 hours ago, Gam2 said:

Clean her up and fix her teeth and I might care about her. Ok, I will never care about her. But at least I could look at her.

So LOL... honestly.  LOL! 

[jewel21]

I ended up failing asleep and didn't get to watch. I'll try and recap tomorrow. Sorry. I've been exhausted all day for some reason.

[miamama]

I wouldn't count out Phack. That would mean Philly killed them and that is lame. Jack needs to react to his trauma (as PB put it) of the betrayal. He needs to be Jack again. Snark and pettiness and revenge. There's plenty of time for coupling later. But he comes off as a chump if he's all "I wuv Phyllis who cheated on me repeatedly". The reminder of Phick really hit that point. He won't be anyone's bitch any more. 

So I do think Phack had a clean break to get past Philly. It defined them totally.

They both need fixing first, then maybe together again. Or not. Lol. But I think yes.

[HeatLifer]

Just now, miamama said:

I wouldn't count out Phack. That would mean Philly killed them and that is lame. Jack needs to react to his trauma (as PB put it) of the betrayal. He needs to be Jack again. Snark and pettiness and revenge. There's plenty of time for coupling later. But he comes off as a chump if he's all "I wuv Phyllis who cheated on me repeatedly". The reminder of Phick really hit that point. He won't be anyone's bitch any more. 

So I do think Phack had a clean break to get past Philly. It defined them totally.

They both need fixing first, then maybe together again. Or not. Lol. But I think yes.

Yeah, exactly. It's too soon for Jack to just be back to normal with Phyllis. They need a break.

[Big Blue Plate]

That's cool... that's how they should write it.  It was an epic disruption for both of them... It should take more than Christmas to get them back together.  One of them should be on the verge of marrying again before they get together... or married in a disaster that ends in murder before they get together... Bill Bell would know how the drag this out... #daytimetvthevirusthatcausesdelay.  

Did love Jack's bitch slap about Phyllis leaving with Nick... bitter becomes him, it really does! I loves me snarky writing, no matter which character gets to deliver it.  Snark is fun! 

[HeatLifer]

9 minutes ago, Big Blue Plate said:

Did love Jack's bitch slap about Phyllis leaving with Nick..

I loooooooved that. I despised Phyllis and Nick.

Edited December 8, 2016 by HeatLifer
I can't spell.

[valleycliffe]

so, i was reading at a different board and there is speculation that the old ranch house would be rebuilt..

spec. is because they have been talking about the old house and now vic is taking nikki away on vacay and he said something about a surprise when they get back...

didn't watch show so i am only going by what others have posted..

i know lots of viewers were upset when jfp had the set destroyed to make room for nick's dive bar ala hollywood heights..

pissed me off she used sharon to destroy it.

[boes]

4 minutes ago, valleycliffe said:

so, i was reading at a different board and there is speculation that the old ranch house would be rebuilt..

spec. is because they have been talking about the old house and now vic is taking nikki away on vacay and he said something about a surprise when they get back...

 

While a better set would be nice, what would be even nicer would be if they returned from vacation and Nikki had Victor, umm.....repackaged for easier handling while away on their tour of the world's hottest mausoleums....

Awright?  Sa right!!

That WOULD be a nice surprise.

[basiltherat]

Senor Wences!

Thanks, Boes.

[bannana]

I don't know, today's show was kind of boring but it had some good moments.

• Lily's delight when she learned that Hillary was fired by Devon.  I have always loved snarky Lily, and I realize that I am mostly alone in that, but I am okay with it!
• Giving Mariah more story, but I am not sure I will like it if Hill causes her humiliation.
• Sharon acting more normal.

The not so good:

• Cane's soon to be addiction story with the weirdly sexified and grinning PT.  I go to physio  on a regular basis and we sure don't have convos like that.  The good part of this is I want him to become addicted and hang out in back alleys and such.
• This Fenmore's story.  It's a pretty weak plot line that Lauren was so busy maintaining long term business relationships so that she never had time to develop her online business plan.  Fenmore's is all over the country but is more than a decade behind in online retailing?
• So much Paul and Dylan although I guess this is to help us
  Spoiler

  usher out Dylan.

   

• Devon.  Why is a billionaire producing a second rate local gossip show?  Shouldn't he be setting up a foundation a la Bill Gates?  How about focussing on all the things that he had to endure, and his mom endured, like addiction and homelessness?
• Neil planning a New Year's benefit for his Foundation....IN DECEMBER????  At least Lily pointed out he is six months too late, but he is still going to do it, and I know for a fact that is not possible, not if you actually want to get people there and raise money.

Edited December 9, 2016 by bannana
revealing a spoiler...doh!

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I have always loved snarky Lily, and I realize that I am mostly alone in that, but I am okay with it!

Nope, right there with you.

Quote

Neil planning a New Year's benefit for his Foundation....IN DECEMBER????  At least Lily pointed out he is six months too late, but he is still going to do it, and I know for a fact that is not possible, not if you actually want to get people there and raise money.

Christ, what a moron. I used to have brides come into the shop a week before Valentine's Day who wanted their big, fancy wedding to be ON V-day. Yeah, right, on what fucking planet?

[Big Blue Plate]

23 minutes ago, bannana said:

Lily's delight when she learned that Hillary was fired by Devon.  I have always loved snarky Lily, and I realize that I am mostly alone in that, but I am okay with it!

 Gotta go back and find that then as started ff'ing as soon as Cane got on the table.

But I did like to imagine Sharon was reading us when she said:  People on the internet who don't even know me, hate me!

[Big Blue Plate]

27 minutes ago, bannana said:

Fenmore's is all over the country but is more than a decade behind in online retailing?

 The new team is definitely honouring the tradition of telling business stories that couldn't even pass as decent fiction. 

[miamama]

6 minutes ago, Big Blue Plate said:

 The new team is definitely honouring the tradition of telling business stories that couldn't even pass as decent fiction. 

This was sooooo stupid it was embarrassing. A department store chain with no online platform? RME.

[Big Blue Plate]

The thing is I recall most of the soaps with conglomerates (that I watched) never had to resort to improbable, badly done writing to sustain their corporations... I'm still not sure what Spaulding Enterprises or Walsh Enterprise did but they enterprised away and people had offices which were used primarily to bitch and scheme about stuff outside of the office and sometimes women wore hats to board meetings.

And it really worked.  

Edited December 9, 2016 by Big Blue Plate

[bannana]

All they had to do with the Fenmore story is have them grow too quickly, which is a real thing that businesses do, and then some fail because they cannot manage that growth.

For the Foundation benefit, they should have just had it that the benefit was already planned, but the venue was accidentally double booked by some junior staffer, leading them the need to find another venue at the last minute.  

[miamama]

Just now, bannana said:

All they had to do with the Fenmore story is have them grow too quickly, which is a real thing that businesses do, and then some fail because they cannot manage that growth.

For the Foundation benefit, they should have just had it that the benefit was already planned, but the venue was accidentally double booked by some junior staffer, leading them the need to find another venue at the last minute.  

Yeah, it's not that hard. And Lauren could have lost a VP who handles the online platform and deals with the techies and marketing etc. And Phyllis figured she'd like to go back to that kind of work. Whatever. Lots of ways to not look stupid.

[Gam2]

Gosh, why don't the writers hire these savvy people commenting on this site? Y'all are much smarter and more accomplished than whoever they hired to write the SM parts of this show. No kidding. Y'all may have new careers on the soaps! Good luck in your new careers, friends.

[DivaT]

This Lauren story seems more like a reason to throw Phyllis into Jack's orbit more. It hardly makes sense. But it's a story for Lauren. I do like how she's actually on and having business meetings. 

[Anna Yolei]

Lauren and Michael have been so sideline much of the time. Especially Lauren. But I'm glad she's getting something to do, even something as dumb as this. I'm glad they remembered the Michael/Phyllis friendship. I miss platonic relationships.

[boes]

2 hours ago, miamama said:

Yeah, it's not that hard. And Lauren could have lost a VP who handles the online platform and deals with the techies and marketing etc. And Phyllis figured she'd like to go back to that kind of work. Whatever. Lots of ways to not look stupid.

I was assuming that all this was going be laid at Cane's feet for quitting on her and joining Ass and Bossy.  Remember how upset she was with him?

[valleycliffe]

2 minutes ago, valleycliffe said:

 

 

 

wrong thread

Edited December 9, 2016 by valleycliffe
wrong thread

[Big Blue Plate]

So I am really glad that in addition to honouring the credible business writing tradition, they're going to honour the we write comedy well tradition... because that business with Jack, Cougley and Geek Boy - oh, my sides!!!!

What is the point of Grinchary messing with Mariah's shoes?  Poor girl was made to wear a housecoat, for God's sake, hasn't she suffered enough?  I hope Adam left a decent sized estate because Chelsea won't be able to live on what she earns as a designer - I've seen scarecrows in better turn outs. 

What a great episode!  What can I say, they write Abbott breakfasts really well.  As for the rest of it.... this was pretty much as mediocre as any mediocrity from anybody before.  

[Anna Yolei]

Eh. It's only been three days. Between JFP, Pratt and the other rotation of idiots who have waged war on Y&R, the new folks have a helluva bunch of mines to clear. SullyCAN and #NotMyBilly are the two biggest bombs for sure, but Sharon's writing g has been garbage for most of the past decade, and Victor has become increasingly vile.

[Big Blue Plate]

I know and I kinda thought that but I don't buy it.  They know the show.  They know the state it is in.  The know the environment daytime is in generally.  They have had a fair amount of time to think, plot and write.  So in my view you come with your A game and you kick the shit out of it for six weeks running to get people talking.   Other than a strong first episode I find days two and three not particularly distinct from anything else.  If they screw this up, I think that's the end of the show. 

[Anna Yolei]

True, but at the same time, it's a huge clusterfuck to inherit. Like I said earlier in this or the American episode thread, I feel like we're getting the Star Wars Episode VII treatment with the callbacks and references and nods to history ( like Lauren and Michael's anniversary, and Jack bringing up Phyllis leaving that wedding all those years ago with Nick). Given the task at hand, that's a far better transition than when Jill Failure Personified took over and cut the long awaited Phyllis hit and run plot abruptly short. Mileage varies, but I think wel, have a better sense in a month or so where things are headed.

[jewel21]

I finally caught up and watched all three episodes. Definitely better than the last several months. Just a brief summary below:

Cane's physiotherapist shows up at the apartment and Lily is surprised to find out Jessie is short for Jessica. Jessica works out Cane pretty good but he's not feeling any pain because he took a pain pill. Jessie warns him not to take them anymore and instead just take some over the counter pain meds but Cane says he's fine. Cane is an idiot.

Lauren and Michael celebrate their anniversary but Lauren is distracted because Fenmore's is in trouble. They're in the red and she's trying to come up with ideas to get profits to increase. She even shows up at Chelsea's studio to try and broker a deal where Chelsea's label will be sold exclusively at Fenmore's, but Chelsea and Chloe are preoccupied and not sure about it.

Jack asks Lauren for a donation to his organization but she admits she's not as liquid these days. Jacks sees a crack and tells Ashley he wants to buy the company and have it under the Jabot umbrella.

Phyllis, who is trying to help Lauren with her website and online sales, overhears and doesn't look too thrilled.

Hilary is fired from the GC Buzz (yay!) and is being a pain in the ass about it. She finds out Mariah is going to be interviewing Chelsea and Chloe live and modeling an outfit and is trying to psych her out. She shows up at the taping and even looks like she wants to sabotage Mariah's 6 inch heels in the process but Sharon catches her holding them and asks what she's doing.

Live, on air, Mariah goes to model the outfit in said heels and falls on her face. Everyone looks on in horror and Mariah knocks her head so hard on the floor, all she sees of Hilary is a judgmental, blurry shape.

Victoria tells her parents she and Travis are done and she's sworn off men.

Ashley and Jack talk with their app designer and he is smitten with Ashley. Jack looks on in amusement.

And that's all for today folks.

[NinjaPenguins]

Quote

Victoria tells her parents she and Travis are done and she's sworn off men.

Unfortunately that doesn't rule out reuniting with Billy.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, NinjaPenguins said:

Unfortunately that doesn't rule out reuniting with Billy.

Heh. Good to see you NP!

[bannana]

Holy Face Plant!  I don't why Mariah didn't just refuse to wear the shoes but I am hoping from the previews that she gets up and dusts herself off and says something self-deprecating to the live viewing audience.  And I agree, those fashions were seriously ugly, especially Mariah's dress/housecoat.

I am still not sold on the show runner/writers;  the look and feel is better but the plots seem ridiculous and not in a good way.

I am thinking that they are going for Shick, with Dick completely overwhelmed by parenthood, and eventually seeking help from Sharon, and then, well, the writing is on the wall.  When Adam returns, Sharon will be destroyed all over again.

[DivaT]

Those clothes were horrid. And Chelsea was not very eloquent in explaining herself. 

Now watch the majority of the audience swear that Hilary sabotaged Mariah by doing something to the shoes although we see that she didn't. 

Nick has globs of money. His house shouldn't be in disarray. hire some domestic help. I think the show is finally. going to play the beat of Christian missing Sharon. That has to be what the crying is about. Cause surely they won't just *insert Chelsea here*. 

 

Ashley and Ravi. I guess... But now Sally's interview makes more sense. Ashley would meet a soul mate guy which opens her up to a love of  your life pairing. didn't make sense then though. 

[DivaT]

I also forgot to mention that Phyllis sitting on the park bench silently crying was eye rolling. The show has turned that character into its lead heroine. Poor MS. I'm sure she's somewhere sitting on a park bench alone crying as we speak.