3 of 2015's most underrated movies

With 2015 coming to a close, I thought of a few movies I saw this year that were drastically underrated. Here are my picks for 3 of 2015's most underrated movies:

1. The Age of Adaline: Blake Lively stars as Adaline Bowman, a woman who, after a chance accident, became immune to the effects of time. In other words, she does not age. After a few run-ins with the law, she realizes she has to live a quiet existence, changing her identity every decade. She soon meets Ellis Jones (Michael Huisman, TV's Orphan Black) who won't let her go without a fight. Adaline gives in and decides to let herself fall for him, only to discover she knows his father (Harrison Ford). The movie had an absolutely lovely magical feel with romantic undertones. The storyline and performances were definitely superbe, but The Age of Adaline only received mixed reviews with critics.

2. Ricki and the Flash: Meryl Streep stars as Ricki Rendazzo, a woman who left her husband and kids to chase her dream of becoming a famous rock star. That didn't exactly work out; she now works in a grocery store and performs with her band, The Flash, in a bar most nights. But Ricki can't escape the fact that she once had a family: her daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, also Streep's real-life daughter) has just been abandoned by her husband and her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) asks Ricki to come to Indianapolis to help her recover. Time doesn't heal all things, especially when Ricki's two sons, Josh (Sebastian Stan) and Adam (Nick Westrate), are hesitant to see her and accept her into their grown-up lives. Rick Springfield co-stars as Ricki's singing partner and on-again-off-again boyfriend, Greg. The movie was visually stunning with both great performances (who knew Meryl Streep had such a killer voice?!) as well as a fairly descent story crafted by Diablo Cody (Juno). But I believe the movie was so good because it relies on how the love a family shares never truly dies despite everything, and anyone who has ever been apart of a dysfunctional family will appreciate it. Ricki and the Flash also only received mixed reviews with the pace of the storyline being criticized, but Streep's performance received praise.

3. Love the Coopers: Love the Coopers features an ensemble cast led by Diane Keaton and John Goodman, an older married couple with grown children and grandchildren. While the movie brings to mind Keaton's previous Christmas family comedy The Family Stone (2005), Love the Coopers manages to portray an accurate portrait of a dysfunctional family in present day. The script definitely makes use of its all-star cast, including Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Alan Arkin, Ed Helms and Jake Lacy. Unfortunately, it received negative reviews from critics, despite being a quite adorable warm-hug of a movie that makes you feel warm all over on a cold winter night.

Sheldon and Amy got busy on 'The Big Bang Theory'... Now what?

I've stewed over writing anything about this because I really didn't know how I felt about it, but now I realize that The Big Bang Theory is just getting worse and worse by the episode.

Everyone on social media seemed to have the same opinion: Sheldon and Amy "finally" having sex on the fall finale of TBBT was great, about time, and perfectly written. It wasn't awfully written, I'll give them that, but I just don't get the point. Does anyone know what the television sitcom means anymore? I won't go into intricate detail and repeat what I said in my previous post, but I just don't see why Sheldon and Amy had to eventually sleep together. They spent the first three years creating and showing the audience how quirky a person Sheldon was, then they gave him a female companion, and yet somehow just because they're a "couple" means they eventually had to have sex? Yes, I know, Sheldon once told Penny that it was a "possibility" he might eventually sleep with Amy and it became a common joke amongst the characters PLUS the fact that Amy was obviously always open to a physical relationship with him, but I just don't see why they eventually had to have sex just because that's what normal couples do. I thought the whole point of their very existence was to portray an obvious abnormal couple.

Not only has season nine of the top CBS comedy been fairly crappy up until now, but it's almost like it's becoming the season of unfinished business. I suppose they were planning on having Sheldon and Amy eventually do the deed, but it just seemed out of touch with everything the show spent nine years building. Sheldon just all of a sudden decided he was ready to have sex? The man who was once incapable of handling another human's touch on his shoulder? "I'm ready to have coitus with Amy." Just out of the blue? I don't buy it. I just don't. And I don't believe this is me giving it too much thought, this is me believing that a major milestone in what became the show's breakout pairing was completely unrealistic in contrast to what Sheldon and Amy once were.

That's not even the worst part... Now that Sheldon and Amy have slept together, are they just supposed to go back to their version of "normal"? Or are they going to become a couple that has coitus all the time? Sheldon did say that he couldn't wait until Amy's next birthday when they have sex again, but that doesn't mean Sheldon and Amy losing their virginities was just a one-time, "let's get it over with" kind of episode. This will now bring reprecussions to their storyline that, based on everything we've seen so far this season, will probably not be very good. Sheldon and Amy aren't even the worst part of season nine. The group doesn't even spend that much time together anymore, they've all split into their own separate storylines and, apart from Leonard and Penny's enduring chemistry and likeability, are all terrible. Howard and Raj are in a band now? What? A band? Are you kidding me? Ridiculous, stupid and an obvious example of how the writers are running out of creative fuel.

I recently saw an article by The Hollywood Reporter saying, "Should The Big Bang Theory go off the air after season ten?" I say hell yes. This was a show that was a strong comedy, but now, as I've pointed out, has been running low on creative fuel. It's super obvious in season nine, and we still have another season to go. CBS should most definitely say goodbye to The Big Bang Theory after season ten next year. Watch it Thursdays at 8/7c.

Wishful Storytelling for 'The Young and the Restless': Adam by day, Gabriel by night

It's been quite awhile since I've done a wishful storytelling for The Young and the Restless and has been several months since I've done any writing about the soap opera itself, either. The past few months I really didn't have many positive things to say about Y&R, so I figured I'd adopt the six-year-old's life lesson of if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

Ever since Chuck Pratt took over as head writer of the top CBS soap earlier this year, the storyline direction of the show is hard to follow. He spent most of his first few months as head writer trying to get viewers emotionally invested in a storyline in which Victor (Eric Braeden) finds a Jack Abbott doppelganger (Peter Bergman) in a Peruvian prison by the name of Marco Annicelli, who turns out to be a largely wanted drug lord who is now posing as Jack Abbott so Victor can gain control of the Abbott family company, Jabot Cosmetics. Doppelgangers and evil twins have pretty much been beaten to death in the soap opera genre, but if Pratt was hell bent on doing one, I could've gotten behind it if it at least was written well, which it wasn't. We're supposed to believe Jack has a doppelganger that's a Peruvian drug lord and never once knew about it? That's a large stretch, even for a daytime soap. Not only that, Marco turned out to be the killer of two youngsters who were murdered in a widely panned Whodunit? storyline that had been going on among the set of younger characters on the show. No thanks.

Anyway, ever since we were given foreshadow that Victor had been in correspondence with someone secret around January and February of this year, I was holding out hope that he had discovered Gabriel Bingham was in fact his presumed dead son Adam (Justin Hartley) who had assumed a new identity. But no, this foreshadow led into the painful Jack/Marco storyline. My theory was that Victor had somehow figured out Gabriel was in fact Adam and not only that; he discovered that Gabriel was in fact alive, too (Adam had major reconstructive surgery to look like Gabriel Bingham after he was killed trying to save Adam from the very car accident that led Genoa City to presume him dead). My hope was that Adam lied about Gabriel being dead because he desperately needed a plan to return to Genoa City to be with son Connor and wife Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan), and maybe he had been holding the real Gabriel hostage somewhere. But that didn't happen.


I'm still fascinated by the idea of the real Gabriel Bingham being alive, because all we have is the word of Adam and Sage (Kelly Sullivan), who was romantically involved with the real Gabriel and helped Adam return to Genoa City with a new face, that he was killed trying to save Adam from the car wreck. Currently, "Gabriel" was exposed as Adam when he tried to take down Newman Enterprises with the help of evil mastermind Ian Ward. He is now standing trial for the murder of Delia Abbott (Sophie Pollono), who he accidentally struck with his car over two years ago in October 2013. My idea now is that Adam is able to avoid legal custody... because the person going to prison is the real Gabriel Bingham. As soon as he knew he was going to stand trial for Delia's murder, he gets the real Gabriel to be the one who stands trial (Why would Gabriel agree to that? Who knows, maybe he's had him doped up on drugs while he's been held captive. We must not forget that Adam has always been crafty.) Adam is now on the run, waiting for the chance to come back for Chelsea and Connor and send Chelsea into more emotional turmoil, because she can't bring herself to let go of her love for Adam despite what he's done.

It would be a nice twist, in my opinion, but Pratt is probably too busy writing Neil (Kristoff St. John) as a sociopathic psycho who's taken his ex-wife Hilary (Mishael Morgan) hostage. Don't even get me started on that. Watch The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS.

Amy Schumer warms the house as host of 'Saturday Night Live'

Last night, comedienne and actress Amy Schumer hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time and it was AMAZING. Maybe amazing isn't even the right word. It gave me life, let's just go with that. 

Amy Schumer is a rare breed of comedienne that is almost impossible not find funny, much like Melissa McCarthy or Roseanne Barr. In other words, even SNL couldn't make Schumer unfunny last night, which is pretty impressive considering they've made quite a few big stars severely unfunny with stupid sketches and stupid jokes. But considering that Schumer was with Vanessa Bayer and Taran Killam for most of her sketches in last night's episode, it would've been pretty hard to go wrong considering Bayer and Killam are two of the show's strongest actors. (Jeez, how many times did I use the word 'considering' in this paragraph?)

Long story short, Amy Schumer's episode of SNL was the first episode of the show that I've enjoyed in a long time, especially since the season premiere last week with Miley Cyrus was quite disappointing (but that was really no surprise, they've made her unfunny several times before). The last time I remembering enjoying an episode this much was Anna Kendrick's turn as host in the spring of 2014 and before that was Melissa McCarthy's numerous turns as host. It all depends on how funny the host is as an actor. So, SNL, get us some funny people as hosts this season! Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC. 

'The Big Bang Theory' is headed into dangerous territory and we should be scared

My oh my, what has happened to The Big Bang Theory? 

Last week, the top CBS sitcom started its ninth season with a pretty depressing premiere: Amy (Mayim Bialik) has broken up with Sheldon (Jim Parsons), meanwhile we rejoin Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) in Las Vegas, where, in the season eight finale, they were headed to finally get married after a year-long engagement. Things headed into rocky territory when Leonard chose to reveal that while on board that ship he was on (the summer between season six and season seven, to be more precise) he made out with another girl; he wanted to start things off with no lies. Penny reluctantly decides to oversee Leonard's betrayal and they finally tie the knot, only to find out after in their hotel room that Leonard in fact works with the woman in question at the university and sees her all the time. Aaand...the honeymoon ended. 

The newlyweds returned home to their separate apartments, where things had gotten pretty bad between Sheldon and Amy. For starters, Sheldon was deliberately left out of the group gathering to watch Leonard and Penny's wedding (they chose a package where their wedding is streamed online), not to mention Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), Howard (Simon Helberg) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) had all pretty much taken Amy's side and treated Sheldon like, for lack of a better word, shit. Why, why, why, WHY. 

Where's the Sheldon Cooper we've grown to love these past nine years? It was an honourable decision for the writers to evolve his character, he couldn't have remained the strange, anal-retentive man he was in the earlier seasons, but I think they've taken it a step to far. The writers have also subsequently spent the last nine years making us see that Sheldon isn't like other people. Then they gave him a girlfriend (okay), they edged closer and closer to a somewhat physical relationship (strange at first, but okay), now, Sheldon and Amy are no different from any other characters. 

Does anyone remember the Amy Farrah Fowler we met in the final episode of the third season? She was just as strange and socially challenged as Sheldon. They evolved her too, of course, but not one bit of that character we met back in season three and four is visible today. Not one. You can't just write a character one way and then completely drop valid character traits over the course of a few seasons. Sheldon is a different story. While becoming more evolved, we still knew in our hearts and on our screens that Sheldon would always be Sheldon, and that was evident in what we were watching. But now, in the season nine premiere, we see Sheldon as a petty, immature man who has been dumped by his girlfriend. Nothing about him was recognizable to me. Not to mention the way he was treated by Howard, Bernadette and Raj was disgusting; those were Sheldon's friends first and not one of them even liked Amy when she first debuted. Just another example of how unrecognizable all of the characters were in the season premiere.

I'm not saying evolving characters is a bad thing, it's what you have to do to keep things interesting, especially on a sitcom. But there comes a certain point when you have to stay true to the people you created and introduced to us at the beginning of your show. You can't just evolve a character into someone we don't recognize, as they have done with Sheldon and Amy. Not to mention that it doesn't even make sense that Leonard would be the one harbouring a secret about cheating on Penny, as Penny was the one who has had serious doubts about their relationship since, well, ever. As late as season six she was thinking about breaking up with him, but she stuck it out, and that was the last we heard of that. Now we find out Leonard is the one who got drunk and had a moment of weakness? Please. 

I'm not about to write off The Big Bang Theory forever, but I really hope season nine goes down a better path than it seemed to introduce in the season premiere. Catch it Mondays at 8/7c on CBS. 

'Life in Pieces' Review: Another dysfunctional family sitcom, but you know what -- it's good

This week has seen the premieres and debuts of a number of television series. CBS' new sitcom, Life in Pieces, which was heavily promoted over the summer, had its premiere this Monday and I already feel a grand success coming on. 

When I first saw the commercial for Life in Pieces, I thought, "Oh great, just another one of CBS' crappy attempts at a hit family sitcom." In the past two years, they've tried both The Millers and The McCarthys, both of which have been cancelled because, let's face it, they were nothing special. And at its premise, Life in Pieces isn't anything special either. But the writing is sharp and the actors are quite good, namely Dianne Wiest, who was the perfect pick to play the family matriarch. 

It's quite obvious this is CBS' attempt at a competitor for ABC's hit family sitcom Modern Family, which is entering its seventh year, and maybe that's okay. Modern Family's premise as well as its single-camera setup and lack of laugh track made it quite unique, so much so that it was almost surprising that no other network had come up with something to counter it. I'm kinda glad CBS has finally taken a shot at it. I'm eager to see what's ahead for Life in Pieces, as not only does it have an accurate portrayal of all the different phases of adulthood, the characters themselves are quite different and hilarious, which makes everything better. Catch it Mondays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS. 

My First Visit to Hot Topic

This week, I went to a Hot Topic store for the first time. For those who don't know, Hot Topic is a chain of stores that sells a bunch of different music and pop culture merchandise. So for fangirls and fanboys, it's the ideal spot to lose yourself. Not to mention there was a "buy one item, get one item half off" deal that I definitely took advantage of.

I had known from online browsing that Hot Topic carries Orphan Black merchandise, which was great. I ended up leaving with a Pop! Vinyl figurine of Rachel Duncan, who in my mind had the coolest figurine, as well as a glass that says "sestra" on it in the way that Helena would say. Also great. In addition to that, I'm also a Disney nut so I left with an Alice in Wonderland tea mug. Because what other famous tea party would I want on my mug. All of these purchases can be seen in the photo above.

Hot Topic is also known for its pins. They look like any other kind of pin, but when you look at them, they have the coolest things. (The photo didn't want to upload, but just know the ones I picked out were great.)

I will definitely go back to Hot Topic if I have the chance to. They don't have them where I live, so it makes for a nice treat.

'Still Alice'

Last week I finally watched Still Alice, the film adaptation of Lisa Genova's bestselling novel (which I also read, albeit very late).

At first, I didn't want to see the movie because I just could not picture Alec Baldwin portraying the husband of the main character, but eventually I figured I might as well just swallow my pride and watch it. For those unfamiliar with the plot of the movie/novel, Still Alice follows the life of Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a psychology professor and world renowned linguistics expert who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of fifty.

The film adaptation had its strong points, and definitely had its weak points. I don't know who chose to cast Kristen Stewart as Alice's youngest daughter Lydia, but they have my eternal gratitude because she was absolutely amazing in the role (betcha didn't see that turning positive when I said Kristen Stewart, didn't you?) I didn't picture Lydia like that at all while reading the novel, but she and Julianne Moore shared great chemistry and portrayed their shaky-turned-strong relationship quite well. I also quite enjoyed Hunter Parrish as Alice and John's middle child and son Tom, who made the character interesting. Tom was arguably the most boring and under-developed character in the novel.

However, my prediction that Alec Baldwin would not be good as Alice's husband John was completely. My personal feelings and opinions about the actor aside (I loathe him), I just don't feel Baldwin was the right choice for the role. I could've seen someone like John Cusack or even George Clooney portraying John, but not Baldwin. He just wasn't the right fit, in my opinion. In addition, I still don't understand why they wrote the character of Alice and John's eldest child and daughter Anna the way they did. She was so bitchy and full of herself in the movie, and I did not feel any of that in the character's persona in the novel. At all. That was a hit and miss there, if you ask me.

But my biggest problem with the film adaptation of Still Alice? The plot was waaay too rushed. The movie was only an hour and forty minutes long, which was quite surprising to me. I was expecting it to go past the two-hour mark for sure. Granted, the novel was short and sweet, and intended that way (292 pages), but this is a story that I could've done with its film adaptation going above and beyond the novel. The ending of the movie was perfect in every way, but everything leading up to it was so rushed. I would've preferred the filmmakers going past the two-hour mark and developing characters more than they were in the novel than just changing a few minor details and keeping to the exact tone of the novel.

For example, one major plotpoint was that Alice's mother and sister were killed in a car accident when she was 18, and as her memory began to wander she constantly mistook her daughter Anna for her late sister, Anne. Without reading the novel I would think someone watching the movie would be a little confused with that part of the story, because I feel they should've developed that more. But, perhaps there was a valid reason the filmmakers did it the way they did it. But, weak points aside, the film adaptation was very good, considering how complex the novel was. Julianne Moore's performance was breathtaking, she definitely deserved the Oscar she took home for her performance in Still Alice.

3 reasons why I'm in love with season 3 of 'Orphan Black'

If you're not watching Orphan Black, I really don't know what you're doing with your life. The Canadian sci-fi drama series, which originally premiered in 2013, is currently in its third season on Space (Canada) and BBC America (US). Orphan Black follows a series of women, all identical to each other, who discover they are in fact clones that came out of an illegal experiment thirty years prior. The key word in that sentence is identical: all of the clones are portrayed by actress Tatiana Maslany. They're have been countless female clones in the three seasons that have aired, but the most notable are Sarah, Cosima, Alison, Helena and (of course) Rachel.

The first two seasons of the series mostly followed the women discovering the origins of the clone experiment that resulted in their births. Sarah is arguably the most interesting clone, having been raised by foster families and become a streetwise con artist, as she is the only clone who is able to conceive biological children. All of the clones were designed to be sterile, but Sarah has a biological daughter, Kira. The end of season one and beginning of season two began with clone Rachel, who was raised self-aware that she was a clone in an experiment, attempting to get Sarah to surrender herself to the Dyad Institute, the lab that "owns" the clones. Rachel became ruthless in her pursuit and this eventually ended with Sarah stabbing her in the eye with a pencil in order to escape. And now, in season three, we've learned that while "Project Leda" is the experiment with female clones, "Project Castor" is the experiment with male clones. Dun dun dunnn. Actor Ari Millen portrays the male clones, all of which are incredibly sly and rather hypnotizing.

I'm loving the third season of Orphan Black because now that the origins of the clones and the experiments are somewhat explained, there is room for other story aside from the entire focus of the show being the clones and how they came to be. Here are three reasons why I'm loving season three:

1. Alison and Donnie's storyline. Like I said above, now that most of the clone drama has subsided, there is room for other story and one that is certainly enjoyable to watch is that of female clone Alison and her husband, Donnie. The first two seasons saw their storyline revolve entirely around her being a clone, but now, they've started their own under-the-table drug dealing business after Donnie lost his job (which is ironic, as Alison dealt with prescription pill and alcohol addiction in season two). While the clone business is still going on, this storyline has given viewers a chance to see inside Alison and Donnie's world, who they really are, and of course, watch Alison say, "What the dickens?"

2. The male clones. Just like the female clones in the first season, we knew next to nothing about them and it was oddly scary yet entertaining to watch. Ari Millen's portrayal of the male clones are pretty creepy, yet at the same time, hypnotizing. I can't help but wonder where the mysterious "Project Castor" boys will lead us next (hopefully to a psychiatrist, these boys could definitely benefit from that).

3. Tatiana Maslany, of course. It can't be said enough about how Maslany is just flawless. The way she transitions from clone to clone is just pure magic; Sarah is a streetwise con and Alison is a tightly wound housewife; for a brief moment, you might forget they're both played by the same actress. Same goes for the rest of the clones; Helena, the damaged girl with the sketchiest of backgrounds, scientist and part-time nerd Cosima (who has dreadlocks), and ruthless Rachel, who, I believe, will end up being the key to all the unknowns that this season has brought (right now she's a little disabled and wearing an eyepatch so we'll give her some time to find herself). And, I must say that I hope Maslany is not subbed YET AGAIN for a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Taylor Schilling from Orange is the New Black is great, I'm sure, but does she play over nine different characters and make them all shockingly unique?

Catch Orphan Black Saturdays on Space (Canada) or BBC America (US).

 

Why the final season of 'Desperate Housewives' was the absolute worst of the series

As some may know, I'm a big fan of the ABC dramedy/primetime soap Desperate Housewives. I rewatch the series constantly because I love the concept of it all; a soap based off of what happens behind the closed doors of seemingly perfect suburban homes. Creator Marc Cherry stated on many occasions he first got the idea for the series while watching a news report on Andrea Yates with his mother. Yates was an American mother from Texas who was secretly dealing with postpartum psychosis after her pregnancies. In 2001, she snapped and drowned her five children in their bathtub. She wasn't convicted, however; she was deemed insane and sent to a psychiatric hospital. Cherry's version of that became an American mother, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), with a beautiful home with a beautiful husband and son unexpectedly committed suicide one day, and so began the saga of Desperate Housewives.

Anyway, for the first time ever, I've rewatched the entire season from the first season to the last season. I've always attempted to avoid the final season when rewatching because, personally, it's the worst of the series. It had become apparent in the seventh season that, story-wise, the show was starting to die. The seasonal mystery was Paul Young's (Mark Moses) return to Wisteria Lane after years in prison, as well as addressing several other plotpoints that had been left unresolved since the first years of the show. Unfinished business, one might call it. It was then confirmed that the eighth season would be its last, and maybe that's what plagued its final season. The seasonal mystery (even though it wasn't even a mystery) was the 4 main housewives covering up a murder. Wacky and out-of-touch with the traditional approach to storytelling, but okay. Then, Bree (Marcia Cross) receives a letter identical to the letter Mary Alice received on the day she shot herself; "I know what you did. It makes me sick. I'm going to tell." So, clearly, the writers were trying to have the housewives face a "desperate" situation much like the one Mary Alice faced, which didn't work. Not at all. The end result was more like having the girls face a situation like the one the teenagers in I Know What You Did Last Summer faced. Then, the secret tears the women apart. They don't speak anymore. Bree becomes depressed, falls off the wagon and contemplates suicide herself in a hotel room, where she talks to Mary Alice's ghost. I'm sorry, what?! She doesn't do it, thank god, but thereafter she sleeps with a string of men and never calls them again. That's right; conservative, Christian, well-kept Bree Van de Kamp becomes a slut. Talk about unrecognizable. Later on in the season, Bree is on trial for the murder and is about to be convicted when longtime neighbor Karen McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten), whose health was whithering, gets on the stand and confesses, knowing full well they wouldn't pursue convicting her given her age and condition. Yeah. Okay. That's...just no.

Not to mention Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and Tom (Doug Savant). The couple that had endured everything from day one had separated and were on the verge of divorce, all because Tom got a new job and made more money than Lynette ever did. She could no longer control her marriage, or her husband, and Tom had finally stepped out of his "I'm forty-five years old and still don't know what I want to do with my life" phase. I'm not saying having these two facing divorce wasn't a good idea, I'm saying they should've done it earlier on and not saved it to the last season when everything was ending (including the show's once soaring ratings). They reunite by season's end and everything is okay again, but everything in the middle is pretty hard to sit through. Much like the rest of the season. To me, it seems the producers saw they had one last season, so they figured they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it. Just like on Roseanne, when the once working-class Conner family had won the lottery and were more than financially secure. It just doesn't work. The Desperate Housewives producers still managed to put on a fairly good series finale after wrapping up the murder cover-up mess, but it would've felt a whole lot better if everything that preceded it had been a better storyline.

'Pitch Perfect 2' hits the perfect note (pun intended)

Last weekend I saw the much anticipated Pitch Perfect 2, the sequel to the mega popular 2012 musical film that gained a large cult following. Both films follow acapella groups at the fictional Barton University, one of which is an all-female group, the Barton Bellas. The second installment saw the return of all the same cast members as well a new 'Bella', Emily Junk (Hailee Steinfeld, Begin Again), daughter of one of the Bellas' most prominent alums (Katey Sagal). 

Generally people find that sequels aren't as good as the first. Which is very true in some cases. Sequels of super popular movies with funny jokes also tend to not be as good as filmmakers now know what people found funny and overcompensate in their sequels. And that definitely happened in Pitch Perfect 2. They knew that Fat Amy (played by Rebel Wilson) was popular with viewers and so they gave her more of a storyline in the sequel as well as making her much more crass than we knew her to be. But you know what? At the end of the day, the movie was still just as funny and entertaining as the first one. Anna Kendrick was still glowing as Becca, the leader of the group, as well as Brittany Snow as mousy Chloe, who must deal with the fact of finally saying goodbye to university and leaving the Bellas (something she had previously avoided for seven years). 

Rumors of a third Pitch Perfect are currently underway, and in all honesty, I'm totally here for that. The cast has great chemistry, the songs are beautiful (especially the original songs introduced in Pitch Perfect 2) and it's just genuinely funny and enjoyable to watch. I definitely recommend watching both movies if you haven't already. I have yet to meet a soul who didn't enjoy them at least a little bit! 

Fox prepares to say goodbye to 'American Idol'

This week, Fox announced some big news: they decided to cancel their iconic American Idol and confirmed that its fifteenth season, scheduled to air next year, will be its last. The final season of the once most popular show on television will see the return of the same judging panel as the last three cycles; Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick, Jr. 

It's the truth. Idol was once the most popular show on television, and was dubbed Fox's "Death Star" as no other show from any other network was able to outbid it in its timeslot. Over 35 million people watched Idol each week in 2007, and in recent years, those numbers started to go down. Drastically. For seven seasons, the show's judging panel consisted of the brutally honest and hard-to-impress Simon Cowell, record producer Randy Jackson and recording artist Paula Abdul. Arguably Idol's most popular panel of judges, by 2010 both Cowell and Abdul had left respectively. Ratings began to go down thereafter, despite Jackson remaining on the panel and the addition of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. 2013 saw the addition of Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Mariah Carey to the judging panel, which arguably became the most controversial season of the series. Jackson left the panel after that year after thirteen seasons (but remained briefly with the show as a mentor). Since then, the panel has consisted of Urban, Lopez, and Connick, Jr., and despite them having great chemistry together as a whole, it didn't save the show's continuously falling ratings.

When Fox announced their decision to cancel Idol this week, people on Twitter were buzzing so much that "Fox cancels American Idol" was trending. But mostly with negativity... Many people were saying they were surprised Idol was even still on, and it should've been ended years ago. Yes, the show undoubtedly ran way longer than it should have. Yes, the quality definitely decreased the past few years as well as the talent levels of contestants. But why so negative? American Idol paved the way for basically every other talent competition show on television in the 2000s. Sure, it had become unpopular in the past few years, but it was once the most popular show on television. Without a doubt. Fact, not fiction. And yes, it's definitely time to retire the show. Its ran its run. But what we should be buzzing about is the impact its had on American television. Without American Idol, there would be no America's Got Talent, no Dancing with the Stars, and certainly, most definitely, no The Voice (which essentially took over most of Idol's viewing audience after 2011. Congrats, NBC. Someone over there finally outbid what was once outbidable.)

The fifteenth and final season of Idol is scheduled to air on Fox in 2016, with special guests and events planned to pay homage to the long-running series. 

Jack Abbott takes a turn on 'The Young and the Restless'; He has a doppelganger

A few weeks back on The Young and the Restless, viewers learned that businessman Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) has a doppelganger, found by the one and only Victor (Eric Braeden). It seems that Victor must have a correspondant in the National Registry of Lookalikes. First was Patty Williams and Dr. Emily (Stacy Haiduk, although if I correctly recall that involved some plastic surgery). Then came the girl he convienently ran into that looked remarkably like his late granddaughter Cassie (Camryn Grimes), whom he paid to torture Cassie's mentally ill mother Sharon (Sharon Case). The girl in question turned out to be Mariah Copeland, Cassie's previously unknown identical twin sister who was stolen at birth. Of course, Lauren Fenmore (Tracey Bregman) also had a doppelganger in 2010, Sarah Smythe, who was somehow involved in her long-standing feud with Sheila (Kimberlin Brown). Now, Victor has come up with a Jack lookalike, which he apparently found in a Peruvian prison, to help him in his plot to merge long-feuding conglomerates Newman Enterprises and Jabot Cosmetics. The catch? The Abbotts think this lookalike is in fact the real Jack, when the real Jack is being held hostage in a shack by a beach by (you guessed it!) Kelly Andrews (Cady McClain), who is most definitely mentally unstable since Jack broke up with her.

The general consensus of the latest doppelganger storyline is, to say the least, mixed. It is of course just another recycled plot (as you can infer from above), yet, it's hard to tell the direction of where this story could be going. It's hard to tell where any story on Y&R is going these days, especially since Chuck Pratt, Jr. took over as head writer. Pratt, notoriously pinned by daytime legend Susan Lucci for destroying All My Children while he was head writer of the ABC soap, was hired to head write the top CBS soap last September. His material finally commenced airing in February, during which viewers saw a plane crash, a roof collapse and a murder all on Valentine's Day. Since then, Jack has a doppelganger, and Sharon is being accused of said murder that happened on Valentine's (because, according to Pratt, "Sharon is much more interesting when she is crazy!" Lemme not comment on that.)

Of course, viewers have had certain doubts of the story direction of The Young and the Restless since Pratt took over. In a recent interview with Michael Fairman's On-Air On-Soaps, Pratt basically said that while he has to please viewers, viewers also have to understand that we have to like the story directions he chooses. Terrific logic. Not to mention he thinks Sharon Newman is much more interesting when she is crazy, which is the biggest load of crap since Maria Arena Bell wrote for the show. Lord help us and give us strength. Catch Y&R weekdays on CBS.

The Influence of Soap Operas on Everyone's Taste

It's no secret that the soap opera is pop culture's bastard genre. When someone tells you they watch soaps, you either get a judgy look from said person or the subject is immediately changed. Because, unfortunately, the soap opera has gotten a bad reputation throughout the years: they're campy, ridiculously outlandish stories told on TV during the daytime for housewives. Which is definitely how they started, but in the years since, things have definitely changed.

Yes, soaps are legendary for plot twists; characters coming back from the dead 25 years later and people plummeting to their death off cliffs. But people who don't watch daytime soaps fail to realize that a lot of the storylines with said plot twists stripped down to basics are what many people call "top notch TV". There's been several primetime soaps over the years, some of which people don't even realize are essentially soap operas. And a lot of the plotlines people find edge-of-your-seat entertainment are really plot twists once originated on soaps.

 

Gone Girl, a bestselling thriller novel and later a major motion picture, essentially tells the story of a couple; the man is having an affair and the woman fakes her death to implicate her cheating husband. Critics called it "sinister" and "original"... Nope. It's really not. I can't tell you how many times I've seen that happen on assorted soaps. Yet people who most probably don't watch daytime soaps read the book and see the movie and call it top notch entertainment. So, do said people really reserve the right to hate on daytime soaps? I should say not. (I almost regret using Gone Girl as an example because I hate it with every sense of its being.)

Of course, obviously some people have made this connection I'm making and just don't like soap operas in general; daytime or primetime. But my point is... Viewers and critics today seem to love thrillers and dramas with plot twists left and right yet they give soap operas a bad name (or just don't give them the time of day, frankly.) So for soap fans, like myself, to see thrillers and dramas with plots already done on soaps is sometimes aggravating. But there are also original pieces that makes it better. Yet today people must realize the influence of soap opera's on everyone's taste.

That strange relationship between Snow White and Grumpy we should probably talk about

 

I was feeling under the weather last weekend so I decided to watch one of Walt Disney's most proudest achievements; his first ever animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I've seen it thousands of times, most of them in childhood, some of them even recently. Yes, recently. (Movie reference. Don't mind me.) For the first time, I noticed something new; the strange albeit not-so-strange relationship between Snow White and Grumpy, one of the dwarfs.

No, I'm not talking about some twisted fanfiction I found on some dark hallows of the Internet. I'm talking about how little let-ups in the movie's script that leads one to believe the relationship between Snow White and Grumpy was different from that of the rest of the dwarfs. Give me a minute to prove my point before I completely lose you now:

1) Upon first meeting, all the other dwarfs are absolutely delighted at having Snow White stay for them and keep house for them. Grumpy is not. We assume he's just being 'grumpy' and hesitant to accept change. He refuses to follow orders from Snow White, too.

2) The first night Snow White spends in the dwarfs' cottages, she says a goodnight prayer which ends in, "Oh, and please make Grumpy like me." Why? Did Snow White have some strange need to please people and have their approval? (That wouldn't particularly fit in this telling of the fairy tale as even when the Evil Queen and Snow White's stepmother made her dress in rags and work as a scullery maid, she still seems oddly content. To be content in a position such as a scullery maid would not make any normal person feel such a way. At least not in the Disney Princess universe.)

3) As the dwarfs are leaving for work in the mines the next morning, Snow White kisses all of them goodbye. All of them enjoy it, specifically Dopey, who sneaks back for seconds. Grumpy procrastinates and is finally forced into a kiss, which he doesn't appear to like.

4) When the dwarfs get word that the Evil Queen has found Snow White and attempted to destroy her, Grumpy is noticeably the first to lead the group back to the cottage to rescue her. (Maybe he didn't dislike that kiss as much as he lead on...)

5) Moments before the Evil Queen disguised as a witch comes to the cottage to lure Snow White with the poison apple, she is seen making a pie for Grumpy with his name on it. Buying a man's love with food. Very coy of you, girl.

6) When Prince Charming comes riding through the forest, awakens Snow White with a kiss and asks her to leave with him to be married, she says goodbye to all the dwarfs. However, we distinctly hear Snow White say, "Bye, Grumpy!" And Grumpy doesn't exactly appear to hate the woman anymore either. He's just as affectionate as the rest of them.

I'm not trying to make this sound all twisted. I know it's a children's tale and Disney made this feature with children in mind. I just couldn't help noticing all these little plotpoints thrown into the movie dealing with Snow White and Grumpy. Obviously Snow White became a surrogate mother to the dwarfs in the short, short time she stayed with them... Was Grumpy the exception? He went from hate to love in the matter of a short time that included a tragedy. Sounds like a minor league love story if you ask me.

And, as by evidenced by the photo above, I'm not the only one who's noticed this before. (Although I don't entirely agree with what the photo says. Ah, Tumblr.)

'The DUFF': The classic teen tale with a modern twist

If you saw a preview on TV for The DUFF, starring ex-Parenthood star Mae Whitman, you probably thought to yourself, "That looks kinda dumb." But I guess it was one of those movies that you have to see to fully believe in it. I was actually pleasantly surprised.

Whitman stars as Bianca, an average teenage girl trying to survive her senior year in high school (with a seemingly bad sense of style). Her best friends, Jess and Casey, are always turning the heads of boys in the hallways, and Bianca is always the one no one gives a second look to. She never really gave it a second thought until one night at a party when Wes (Robbie Amell), Bianca's former childhood buddy, neighbor and "man whore" of the school, tells her she is a "DUFF": designated ugly fat friend. The approachable one who'll never have a chance with the popular people but can divulge any information to people wanting to date her hot friends. She's horrified and denies this is a thing...until she realizes it's 100% true. She decides to cut Jess and Casey out of her life and start over by asking Wes to help her become anything but the DUFF, much to the dismay of queen bee, mean girl and Wes' on-again off-again girlfriend Madison (Bella Thorne).

The movie has every plot element just about every other teen comedy flick has ever had: the social awfulness of Mean Girls, the "not giving a damn about your reputation" quality of Easy A, the loveable nerdiness of Never Been Kissed, and the nerd-makeover goofiness of She's All That. Yet at the same time of channeling all of these other great movies, The DUFF managed to still be fully unique. While Mean Girls will always be an amazing, socially relevant film, we can't ignore the fact that it was made in 2004. Therefore it couldn't have covered the widespread use of social media that we have today. And that's just what The DUFF did. It had everything every other teen comedy in history has...with the perfect addition of social media. Without spoiling the plot of the movie, let's just say something awful happens to Bianca in the movie that has a large part to do with the use of social media with today's youth. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and countless others have great uses, if you use them for the right things. And obviously stupid teenagers don't always follow the rules of morality. And that's exactly what is shown in The DUFF. And it was perfect.

I'm a sucker for a good comedy that ends up having a deeper, heartwarming meaning. I recommend you see The DUFF if you loved any of the teen flicks I mentioned above. Mae Whitman was absolutely the perfect choice for the lead role and I hope we get to see her in much more fun roles in the future.

CBS' 'The Odd Couple' remake was just plain bad

I wasn't impressed by the latest remake of The Odd Couple, which premiered last Thursday on CBS. The series, which stars Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon as Oscar Madison and Felix Unger, was to say the least, not good. Honestly, it felt like sketch comedy after awhile. The writing was recycled, boring and contrived. And the acting? Also pretty bad. Perry and Lennon had previously starred alongside each other in the 2009 comedy film 17 Again, and I was looking forward to seeing them together again. But I guess you can't make magic happen out of a bad script.

This has to be Matthew Perry's fourth new sitcom in which he is the lead star since the conclusion of Friends nearly eleven years ago. So far, one of the four have been good. First was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip during the 2006-07 season, cancelled after one season. Then came Mr. Sunshine, which aired as a midseason replacement on ABC in 2011. I genuinely enjoyed that one, honestly. Perry starred as the manager of a sports arena, with Allison Janney as his co-star. It was actually funny. The cast had chemistry, which is more then I can say for the ratings. It was cancelled after 9 episodes. Next was Go On on NBC during the 2012-13 season. It starred Perry as a man who joins a grief support group and thereafter followed the group's misadventures. It was good for those who could see the reality in it, but for the rest, it was dull. That too was cancelled after only one season. 

And now comes The Odd Couple. A remake of a classic sitcom from the 70s, and definitely not the first remake, either. There was genuine chemistry between Perry and Lennon (which makes sense), but yet there is nothing unique to the show. When you're remaking a classic, you have to have something memorable. If you don't, why would you want to watch a remake? People can just watch a rerun of the original. Maybe I should give it another episode, and maybe I shouldn't. The contrived writing and overacting (on Perry's part, unfortunately) was a little too much to handle. "This is a mess even Felix can't fix," says Deadline. Catch The Odd Couple Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS. 

Sharon loses custody of Faith on 'The Young and the Restless'

There must be some kind of bet in the writing room of The Young and the Restless to see who can cause the most pain and/or destruction to Sharon Newman, portrayed by Sharon Case. And the person who does it must get some sort of salary spike. This week, viewers saw Sharon lose custody of her youngest daughter Faith (Aly Lind), with the judge giving full custody to her anything-but-courteous father Dickolas *cough* Nicholas (Joshua Morrow). Sharon lost. Again. And we weren't shocked.

The destruction of Sharon Newman is nothing new. I suppose we should be directing initial blame toward Maria Arena Bell, former head writer of the top soap. In 2009, she had Sharon sleep with 3 men; ex-hubby Nick (which we were all pretty happy about), then-current hubby Jack (Peter Bergman), and Jack's younger bro Billy (then Billy Miller). Perhaps this was the start of the insipid babbling that Sharon is a slut. Sharon became pregnant (with Nick's baby) and then, Bell gave her kleptomania in which she started stealing from her friends. 2010 was pretty much occupied by her whirlwind relationship with Adam Newman (then Michael Muhney), in which Sharon experienced more out-of-character behavior by sacrificing everything to be with Adam (this, actually, pretty much continued until early 2013). 2011 saw Sharon convicted for the murder of Adam's ex-wife Skye (Laura Stone), who fell into a volcano in Hawaii but Sharon was believed to have pushed her. Not only was she wrongly convicted for murder, she escaped legal custody and was presumed dead when she was carjacked and her car later exploded (the person who stole her car, burned beyond recognition, was believed to be Sharon). Presumed dead and on the run from Genoa City, Sharon found shelter with a loveable ranch hand named Sam (Sean Patrick Flanery). While she was away, Adam worked tirelessly to prove Sharon's innocence, despite her "death". Eventually Sharon was found and returned to prison in Genoa City, just as Adam had found proof that she didn't kill Skye, but when he found out that she had been with Sam, he threw the flash drive that proved Sharon's innocence into a river and let Sharon rot in a jail cell, and later tricked her into a jailhouse wedding only to leave her there looking like a fool. Does this sound like the Sharon you knew and loved? It certainly didn't to me.

But oh, it doesn't end there. It gets a lot worse. After finally being released from prison, Sharon married Victor (Eric Braeden), her ex-father-in-law with whom she always shared a special relationship. The marriage was quickly annulled after Victor was released from prison for a murder he knew he didn't commit, and Sharon reunited with a blind Adam, despite Nick demanding she stay away from him for the sake of their daughter and everything he put her through. Alas, their reunion didn't last long and Sharon started a geunine relationship with Victor, which was universally panned by, well, everyone, and caused a bunch of controversy. Before long, they were married. Again. Then came the straw that broke the camel's back. Victor later went missing and Sharon jealously thought he was abandoning her. She burned their prenup, and decided to take over Newman Enterprises. Not only did she take it over, she started plotting with Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols), who was really just playing her to buy up stock from the company. Victor was eventually presumed dead and Sharon planned on marrying Tucker at Victor's funeral, shocking all of the Newman family, but Victor returned in time to stop it all. Victor annulled the marriage and took back his company, only to find out Jack had bought up enough stock to take over as CEO. Sharon was shunned by the entire town, had a breakdown and burned down the Newman ranch. Adam saved her from another conviction by getting her the help she needed, leading to her diagnosis with bipolar disorder.

Things started to look up from there...we thought. Sharon's airtime decreased and she basically became Adam's sex toy again after his divorce from Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan). Then she was chem tested with Dylan (Steve Burton), which was nothing but a dead end. But then began the dark times that basically have continued to this day. Sharon became obsessed with winning Nick back, who at the time was engaged to Avery (Jessica Collins). At the time, Nick revealed that 18 soap opera-ized years ago, he lied about daughter Summer's (Hunter King) paternity. A second test revealed that Jack was in fact her father...or so we thought. Sharon got a hold of this second test and tampered with it; she thought that making Jack the father would give her and Nick back the life they used to share. Phyllis (then Michelle Stafford) learned Sharon's secret, but she fell down a flight of stairs and into a coma while trying to stop her. This mess went on for over a year; a year which saw Nick and Sharon get back together and Sharon finding out she has a long-lost daughter, Mariah (Camryn Grimes). Victor, however, spent this year trying to find out Sharon's secret, taking some pretty drastic mesaures which included giving Phyllis a special treatment to help her out of the coma. She eventually woke up and returned to Genoa City, crashing Nick and Sharon's wedding and later revealing Sharon's dark secret (which she forgot; after a serious breakdown, Sharon received electro-shock therapy and lost her memory). After Nick learned the truth, he too shunned Sharon and therefore sued her for sole custody of daughter Faith. Nowhere is it mentioned that Nick lied for 18 "years" about the fact that there was a possibility Summer could have never been his daughter.

Long story short... Sharon continues to be a scapegoat; despite the fact that she was geuninely ill while she tampered with Summer's paternity test, had electro-shock therapy to help heal herself for Nick. Nick, the man who slept with the mental patient who repeatedly told him she had a devastating secret she tried ever so hard to remember to avoid hurting him. All this to say, isn't it time for Sharon to move on from the B.S. of the Newman family? Sure, Sharon burned down the iconic Newman ranch but hell if I were in her shoes a lot worse would've went down, trust me. It's only February, so I don't think it would be too much to ask if Sharon could get her own independent story away from the Newmans in 2015. It's time for her to move on. Seriously. Time for her to move, the hell, ON. Catch Y&R weekdays on CBS. 

Lifetime's 'Whitney' biopic aims high, but falls unfortunately short

 

It's nothing new that Lifetime makes made-for-television movies. It's also nothing new that from time to time, these movies are biopics. After much anticipation, the cable TV network debuted a new biopic based on the turbulent life of Whitney Houston, Whitney. Directed by Angela Bassett and starring Yaya DaCosta as the namesake Ms. Houston, the film has received quite a bit of controversy (and this is also nothing new; a few months back Lifetime debuted a biopic based on the life of recording artist and actress Aaliyah, which was universally panned and described as "disgusting and disgraceful" by several critics). The controversy surrounding Whitney has been mostly fueled by the Houston family, who have said the TV film is terribly disrespectful and went to extensive lengths to make the media aware they were NOT okay with the making of Whitney.

And in truth, there was a lot of things wrong with the movie. They were extremely generous in the portrayal of her drug use, even for a cable television movie, and the entire plot of the movie was based on her romance and messy, messy, messy marriage to fellow recording artist Bobby Brown (played by Arlen Escarpeta). And honestly, I don't really believe Yaya DaCosta was the right choice to play an R&B legend. Her acting was great and she channeled the late singer's mannerisms fairly well, it's just, I didn't buy her as Whitney Houston. I just didn't. Maybe if I were to watch it again she'd grow on me, but that first time I wasn't feeling it. But it seems to me she was the only one close enough to play her in a way they were looking for.

DaCosta's singing was consistent. Mostly. They completely butchered "I'm Every Woman" (like, in every way possible) but the legendary "I Will Always Love You" was actually pretty descent (I would say it was pretty good instead of pretty descent, but I'm a tough critic when it comes to music legends.) But the movie's biggest fault? It wasn't long enough. Whitney had a wild life, that's no secret. But two hours (including commercials, so a little less) just wasn't enough. It felt like it was brought to an end too quickly. And it probably was, because it's a Lifetime movie. I'm probably going a little too hard on a cable television flick. But we're talking about Whitney Houston here, that girl deserves a big screen biopic with Oscar noms! (Not that the Houstons would allow that, either...)

But, in honesty, Whitney wasn't THAT bad. The acting was very good, and Angela Bassett's direction was visibly well done. I just wonder if they know that there was a whole lot more to Whitney Houston than her incredibly ugly marriage to Bobby Brown because, as previously stated, that's basically what the movie was about. Would I recommend it? Yes. I would. I would just say to keep in mind that it's a Lifetime movie, and that comes with certain obvious expectations. 

CBC's 'Schitt's Creek': Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara debut in new comedy

 

Canadian comedy sensations Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara have come together to form into one great television sitcom, Schitt's Creek, which premiered last Tuesday on CBC (it comes to the U.S. on February 11th on PopTV). Levy and O'Hara star as Johnny and Moira Rose, a high-class couple with two kids (Dan Levy and Annie Murphy) who have all their money stolen by their business manager. All they're left with is a small town Johnny purchased as a joke for son David some twenty years ago; Schitt's Creek. With nowhere else to go, the family of four pack their bags (what's left of their bags, anyway) and head for the small town... where life isn't exactly what they're used to, to say the least.

O'Hara and Levy (both of them, father and son) have created comedic magic, in just the two premiere episodes we saw last week. The strangeness of a small town has definitely been captured, and it is particularly hightened when you have a family of spoiled, rich people. It's not exactly your typical comedy, either. It doesn't have a lot of old-style sitcom cracks and jokes, so I wouldn't go in looking for that. Honestly, it's just a serialized, fun comedy about a rich family stripped down to their bare essentials, and in today's age, that image would certainly not be pretty.

And the best part of Schitt's Creek? It tackles a big philosophical question... If all of our possessions were taken away, how much of ourselves would be left? I fear maybe less than we think. Especially with the Rose family. And oh, did I mention it's really funny? CBC must also have a lot of faith in the new comedy, as they renewed it for a second season, to air in 2016, before the first episodes had even aired. Canadians can catch it Tuesdays at 9/8c.

The Downward Spiral of Kelly Andrews on 'The Young and the Restless'

Crazy was never a good color on you, Kelly.

  
Is it just me, or is Kelly (Cady McClain) one step away from frying Jack's (Peter Bergman) pet bunny rabbit on the stove on The Young and the Restless? And if you ask me, Kelly's descent into love life anarchy was a long time coming. 

Let's see... Kelly Andrews made her debut in November 2013, portrayed by former Guiding Light and Lost star Cynthia Watros. She ended up becoming Billy's (then Billy Miller, now Burgess Jenkins) support buddy after losing daughter Delia and she having lost her son, Sam. You see where this is going, don't you? She and Billy succumbed to flirtation and had a fling which ultimately destroyed his marriage to Victoria (Amelia Heinle). At the same time, we find out she had a fuzzy history with Stitch (Sean Carrigan). Just when we thought this annoying, clingy woman had no more purpose, the writers decided to pair her with Jack, who hadn't moved on from Phyllis (then Michelle Stafford, now Gina Tognoni) who was comatose at the time. This storyline commenced just in time for Watros' departure to work on her MTV pilot Finding Carter, and former All My Children star Cady McClain to take over the role of Kelly. 

What can I say about McClain's portrayal of Kelly Andrews? Well, at first, it was ordinary. Nothing special. Watros put a certain something into her portrayal that made you kind of feel bad for her at first, but then a whole other side came out that was dormant before. McClain channeled none of that. Which made me a little disappointed, especially when it was revealed Kelly and Stitch are in fact brother and sister. Then, by October, Phyllis made her long awaited return to Genoa City and Jack and Kelly's relationship was torn apart. Jack couldn't make a decision about who he wanted and eventually he just returned to Phyllis, not giving Kelly closure, or even having the descency to tell Phyllis that he moved on. Nope. That left Phyllis to figure out about their tryst by herself. If I'm going to be honest, McClain didn't knock it out of the park during this story. She overacted he hell out of it and it was bad. Just my opinion.

And now, Jack and Phyllis are engaged. And to top it off? Kelly thinks Jack still loves her, and is out to destroy Phyllis. Of course, Phyllis sees right through what Kelly is up to, because let's face it; she wrote the book on how to be a homewrecking slut. But both Jack and Billy think there is no cause for concern; Kelly has accepted that Jack is back with Phyllis, they say. But has she really? You be the judge; the photo of her at the top is her expression while watching Jack and Phyllis kiss. So I'm gonna go with no... She hasn't accepted anything and is out to destroy their relationship. And with McClain's formerly-ordinary-now-over-the-top portrayal of the character... I see nothing but anarchy for this so-called triangle in the future. Can't Phyllis just hit her with that rental car from 1995 and put us out of our misery?

Watch The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS.