Jamey, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for writing this! This is one character MAB has so wrong its not funny.

You have a sexy man(actually soaps' sexiest if TVGuide is to be believed), a capable actor, and what appears to be a really great human being in DG. He made sweeps work last week. Not to put anyone down, but Cane's scene after the reveal, was owned by DG! He's been on fire this whole week.

Billy Miller and Elizabeth H. are very capable of fleshing out their characters, without making Cane look like a chump! MAB's writing team should work to tell a compelling story that honors these talented people instead of destroying something great just because it wasn't her idea. That goes for Lane too!

I beg to differ on the Lily thing. If you think Cane was emasculated by Lily, that doesn't compare to the Eunuch he became after being with Chloe. That's probably why he couldn't work up the stomach to kiss her after 8 months of celibacy!

Thanks again Jamey, and I hope MAB doesn't steal your balls and put them in the jar where she has Cane's.

I agree with everything but the stupid part, Cane became a doof with the emergence of Chloe, she has made this man look dumber and dumber every day of that marriage.

I have no idea why those around Chloe must act stupid for this storyline to work, it is nerve racking to see

This is so typical of DC! Blaiming LILY for the mess MAB has made not only of the Cane, but Lily character to float this crappy S/L is a bit much, don't you think?

Cane, an idiot when he was with Amber, became a man with Lily, with LML and Josh at the helm, and now, thanks to the writing (and I use that term loosely) of MAB and Ho-Again Sheffer, he has been emasculated and become a baffoon to float their pet and this insepid, stupid S/L which never should have seen the light of day! The Cane TAICs have penned in the last few months is a joke, as is the Lily character--no one is that sweet or forgiving! Despite all the accolades those of DC and their ilk like to give to the talent-challenged 'writers' of the current regime, it is the consensus of the viewers that the Writing BLOWS, and no effort is put into Lily and Cane, nor LANE for that matter, despite the fact that the pair are immensely popular with viewers!

So, get it right--place the blame where it belongs--tell MAB and Co to get off their lazy asses and earn their pay! Give Cane his balls back, Lily her spunk, and balance out the Quad that really isn't (since both brothers want Lily)!

One more thing I must point out! Failure to recognize the acting talents of Christel Khalil and her portrayal of Lily Winters is very tiresome, for it is CK'S LILY WINTERS fans tune in to see, with Cane Ashby! This Young Lady, the Hunk Maker, always knock it out of the park even though she, along with Goddard, have the worst scripts to work with week in and week out! Billy Miller, a welcome addition to be sure, is another. EH's Chloe--Puh-Leeze! FF fodder if I've ever seen it!

Thanks for bringing this topic up, Jamey.

Cane has been unrecognizable but DG is doing great with the crappy material. However, I don't agree that the assasination of Cane started when he hooked-up with Lily. If anything, that made Cane worth watching. TPTB just need to give Cane his balls back and Lily a backbone to make this s/l more interesting.

Preach Brittany, apparently being snarky and sarcastic is the same as good acting. Not! But CK who carried countless major SLs in 2008 is a slouch. For all her "emasculating" prowess, she is the only female who has never had a dud romantic pairing. She makes everyone hot. You can sell Chilly/Bloe all you want EH & BM have no sexual chemistry. DG and EH have no sexual chemistry.

CK has it in spades with everyone. So I guess you're right that it is a magic box. Don't hate appreciate!!

Cane is apparently one of those rare breed of men, who look forward to being a father. t was obvious when he stepped up when Lily got pregnant, and di the same for Chloe, even though he didn't remember their so called "night of passion".

The poor git just fell in lovwe with his baby girl in utero. When he explained it to Jill the other day, I got it.

I blame the writing for Lily. There is no woman I know, who would be so selfless in this situation. Would you ever just give your beautiful hunky fiance to some skank? You're pregnant?, okay, so we will lobby for partial custody.

What this story needs is a good dose of Chloe gets a dose of her own medicine. Why should she get her happily ever after, when she has succeeded in making a mess of the lives of 3 other people, not to mention her beautiful daughter.

See I think Cane was watered down to make way for Billy. Lynn it seemed was going into the direction of Cane being a con artist who was probably not even Jill's son but the new team changed that. They made Cane the "good son" so that when Billy would come back into town he'd be the wild child.

Thank GOD you said it Jamey. I am watching and thinking to myself, "What the HELL is the child on!?" Any guy I know would snatch that ring off Chloe's finger, toss her crap in the strees and fly not walk or run but FLY their tails down to the courthouse and file for divorce. Season, I'm gettting that vibe about Cane. I wish they wouldn't have Jill make Cane so blatantly her favorite kid. That's low..

Sally-Sing-Me-A-Song LOL 

The writing for Cane and Lily is pretty bad, IMO... I know they have a lot of fans, but I am not buying their current predicament...

Season could be right - they watered down Cane to provide a contrast to "edgy" Billy.

 the Hunk Maker
***
Is that the name of the porno site Daniel started visiting when Lily nagged him until his brain bled?

Jamey,

If you call Lily out for Nagging, call Chloe out for stalking. Her incessant neediness, and self-absorption kills hard-ons faster than any nagging Lily did. For all her nagging, they keep coming back! Trust, Billy wishes he could still get a sniff!

Jamey,

If you call Lily out for Nagging, call Chloe out for stalking. Her incessant neediness, and self-absorption kills hard-ons faster than any nagging Lily did. For all her nagging, they keep coming back! Trust, Billy wishes he could still get a sniff!

***
Okay, this post was never a slam at Christel Khalil, y'all read into that. This was strictly about the character of Cane, who in my opinion, lost his edge the moment he fell all 'one true lovey" in with Lily. They were both on the rebound, him from Amber, whom he had insanely hot chemistry with, and her with Daniel, the love of her life, who I liked her with, until they started writing Lily to be a nag. Chloe is definitely a stalker, LOL, but she's FUN, ENERGETIC, and APPEALING. I would rather have a half crazy stalker drive story than a nag any day.

If you'll remember I said Christel did a great job during the baby reveal, she actually brought FIRE to her performance for a change. This post was a critique of Cane, not Lily, but if I'm forced to point out what's glaringly wrong with that character, then I will have to go there.

'Where's all my SOUL sistahs,
Let me see y'all GO sistahs..."

Can't argue with your opinion Jamey, but you are asking the Quad to be driven by a one dimensional character that has no depth and no romantic chemistry with anyone in the Quad. Appealing? There, I'm going to definitely disagree. Ce la Vie!

Soul Sistah Over here! Jamey, Thanks for writing this. CK fans appreciate it. You guys at DC can come off a little unfair sometimes. But it's nice to see you have a heart and compassion for the diverse fan base you have.

I really don't see Chloe as one-dimensional. I totally see what makes her tick. She was the maid's daughter, who was shipped away, so she built this faux fabulous life to hide her shame and abandonment issues. I also get Billy's issues. He had a seemingly sainted father (although John was no saint) and got into loads of trouble as a teen, that branded him a badseed, so many times people continue to live down to the expectations people put on them. His mother is the ultimate hypocrite. "How could a son of mine act with no integrity", uh, hello, Jill, you screwed your benefactor's hubby and also had sex with Jack while married to his daddy! Billy's one, saving grace and redemption was Mac, who he learned was his cousin, or so we thought, and that sent him right back to the jerk he was in high school. Lily, on the other hand, I don't get at all. She grew up with a larger-than-life mother in Paris yet she comes off as frigid, much to old for her years and a killjoy. I'm not totally blaming the actress, because the writers could definitely make her less preachy and boring, but if anything after learning about Malcolm being her father, Neil's alcoholism, her mother's death and her bad experiences with Kevin and Daniel, I would expect Lily to be a LOT more interesting and relatable.  Just My Opinion

I fully agree with you Jamey.

DG is a good actor, but he has a stupid and dumb character to play, very hard to root for Cane. Cane has NO common sense. All his decisions are a proof of it! Falling for a 20 year old, Lily telling him to marry Chloe and doing it, and his last attitude NOT regrouping and thinking hard about what to do next but JUST reacting. His lack of common sense are too numerous to list!

I pity Lane fans because I saw the way he proposes and frankly it is pitiful! But what can I say, probably dumb will say yes, and dumb and dumber will be happily after or will they?

Cane is the new Austin Reed.

Cane as the New Austin ROLTFLMAO! That is so mean but true.

I am not even going to go there about the character of Lily, Christel or any of the other actors or characters involved in this story line. I do not doubt that Cane and Lily have a big fan base and they want them back together real soon. Well, they are making love next week and he asks her to marry him so all you Lane fans should be rejoicing. MAB IS doing what you want but to criticize the writing of this show in anyway tells me that either some naivete, blind love of this couple or inexperience or new viewing of this soap or any soap is guiding some fans.

I am 37 going on 38 in May. I have been watching soaps or at least paying some attention since I was 7. Do the math. That is 30 years of soap opera viewing. Over the years, I have probably watched every soap on air at some point or another except for AMC, which just never floated my boat. I have been watching Y&R since summer of 1981, 10 years old along with DOOL, AW, Ryan's Hope. MAB and Mr. Sheffer have totally and completely revitalized and put major focus back into this show, they are doing a brilliant job of writing this show as a fleshed out canvas of multi-generational, many-layered, character-driven, purposeful, poignant daytime drama with psychological undertones, sub-text and great story-telling. They deserve the entire industry's kudos as well as the viewers. The Chloe/Billy/Cane/Lily s/l, to me, is a perfect example of what a quad should be. 4 archetypes clashing, fighting and harboring the love of the one they cannot have. Chloe has grown so much more vulnerability and heart since the got rid of that fly, LML. MAB gave her a complex back story that puts all of her actions into context. Lily and Cane needed some spice mixed in with their sweetness. Unfortunately, to me, they have zero chemistry and it is not the actor's fault. They simply do not radiate heat when they are together.

This post is about the character of Cane and I entirely agree. Why the hell should he care or want custody of Chloe's baby? He is being portrayed now as spiteful in wanting to get back at Chloe and Billy by taking their baby. Other then that, I do not understand his motivation. I also thinks that this amazingly furthers the story and lets it organically blossom into a new arc. This is a soap opera. No one is supposed to live happily ever after. There are supposed to be obstacles, troubles, insecurities, tragedies, heartbreak and all that involved. This quad is providing all of these factors. Christel Khalil is a good actress but she is not as sassy and aggressive as her mother was. Not sure if that is the writing or the actress' interpretation of her lines but she did bring it ON these past few weeks at the cabin, during the birth and at the hospital. A little bit of toughness came out of her and maybe it will stick. I will not blast the writing team for making Y&R one of the only 2 watchable soaps right now because of one s/l or one popular character. I watched Y&R through all of LML's crappy plot-driven messes and still did not complain. I am a fan of the show as a whole not a pick and choose fan for different couples from different shows.

Just my opinion....

I've made my opinion known before... I HATE the character of Cane Ashby, and I would fast forward through all of his scenes if it weren't for him being opposite Billy Abbott so often

That being said...whenever I detest a character this much, I always have to give credit to the actor for making them real enough to inspire such passionate feelings....

congrats DG! Because I HATE your character's GUTS!!!!!

I hope Billy gets Delia, changes the name, and then leaves the Ashby-match-made-in-hell right in the dust....

One more thing - you guys at DC are the best soap opera website available and also the site that mostly tries to give equal time to all of the soaps, even the British and Australian ones so keep up the amazing work.

Critiquing is part of an art form. There are art, restaurant, movie, theater, dance, TV and yes, even soap opera criticism. Unfortunately, the major newsstand soap opera magazines have shied away from criticism due to their incestuous ties to some of the soap's exec-producers who ask for good coverage of their show if they promise an exclusive. SOD used to do this great critic column and SOW had the best one, Mimi Torchin and als they would do a feature called "The Current State of..." whichever soap they were concentrating on that week. It was such good criticism written by someone who loved and was passionate about soaps like Jamey is. I appreciate everything this site has to offer from the polls to the spoilers to the breaking casting/story news and especially the critiques posted by Jamey, J Bernard and the others. Once again, keep up the great work and continued success!

I agree, Chloe has a great backstory. I don't deny anything you say about the richness of her character. I question the delivery of her as a one dimensional snarky superbitch, who just hurts people for the sake of hurting them. The baby made her more understandable but if she didn't love Cane, why did she go after him when she wasn't even pregnant. This revisionist BS to prop up a character who is utterly unappealing, is not working for people who were watching when LML was writing.

That's all I'm saying. Just like Lily, Chloe has a great backstory, but if the actress only delivers snarky, then its a one dimensional character. I find Chloe quite vacuous!

After DG acted his azz off last week, Chloe dryly says, sorry she's not yours. Everything after her initial confession was utter BS and I don't understand why when one actress constantly delivers the goods in a more subtle fashion and has a large fan base, why a one dimensional montonously snarky delivery gets kudos. I just don't think its fair.

I don't understand why when one actress constantly delivers the goods in a more subtle fashion and has a large fan base, why a one dimensional montonously snarky delivery gets kudos. I just don't think its fair.
***
See, I guess there in lies the problem. I don't see Chloe or the actress who plays her as montone. I think, second to maybe Adrienne Frantz, she is the best young adult actress Y&R has. She can play snarky, vulnerable, bitchy, comedic, all at the drop of a hat. I hate to go here again, because this wasn't the intention of this post, LOL, but if anyone is one note it's Christel Khalil. All she knows how to play is preachy bore. Have you seen it when they try to give Lily some personality? She comes off wooden and forced and badly in need of listening to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Those god awful scenes where she and Devon chase each other around Neil's living room as she feigns laughter make me want to dig my eyes out of my head with a rusty pocket knife and feed them to my parrot, if I had a parrot, which I don't. The character is popular, but Cricket Blair was popular and wooden too.  

AF always makes you feel, she does trainwreck exceptionally well.

I will watch Youtube again, but sorry, I don't think EH did half the job CK did during sweeps. It fell flat to me.

I loved VR and miss her on the show, but if everyone expects Lily to be Dru 2.0, then they will be disappointed. When Lily had to confront Chloe in the early days, (pre MAB) she was very good at giving it back to her, Lily can dish it, but she's not a sistah girl!

She's a debutante and she can do a decent mean girl, but she of course is not going to match the range and depth of an actress 10 years her senior in life experience and work experience! She is right where she is supposed to be right now and she is Lily! She is written weak, but she demonstrated during sweeps if she has to carry a scene, she will rise to the occasion. She's still learning, and she's only 21.

I agree with KingTV. I love this storyline. Truthfully, I didn't like Cane much during LML's reign. I hated that she rewrote history. I hated that Cane was never fleshed out as a character. In my opinion, he was chopping block material at one time.

I do admit, I never really understood why Cane left Lily to marry Chole. But again, that had more to do with the character being somewhat ambiguous at the time. MAB was still fleshing Cane out. Her version of Cane is that of an honorable guy and in buying that version of him, I buy his motivation to wanting to raise Cordelia. Nuff said.

In my opinion, the only part of the show that doesn't work, it the beat to death, Tyra/Ana stuff. Its such a sore point in what is otherwise a fantastic hour of tv.

Thank you Jamey, now that I've read all the posts to this thread, there's a mix of "Lady Marmalade" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" playing in my head, which is preeetty weird, trust me .

I think what they want us to think with the whole Cane thing is that he lost a baby once and it was really horrible for him and now he believed for seven months that he'll finally have that baby of his and so now he doesn't want to give her away, because it was this big dream of his to have a child. Or something along those lines. But I still don't buy it. I mean no matter how big this dream is, I'd rather try and have a baby with the love of my life or adopt one with her or whatever than raise the child of a woman who trapped me into marrying her and my brother who I hate!

Great post! I agree that Cane has his head up his arse right now, but I've been thinking he was in a bad case of denial. He doesn't want to admit he gave up everything for a baby that wasn't even his. But I also think it makes no sense that Cane, who both grew up not knowing his real parents, would then want to deny Delia her own parents.

I'm still loving this quad though because it is giving Billy and Chloe such a chance to shine. Sure they can be real jerks, but they are layered, interesting, fiery jerks acted wonderfully by the actors playing them. This quad just highlights that even more when compared to booring, self-righteous, doo-gooders Cane and Lily.

I loved VR and miss her on the show, but if everyone expects Lily to be Dru 2.0, then they will be disappointed. When Lily had to confront Chloe in the early days, (pre MAB) she was very good at giving it back to her, Lily can dish it, but she's not a sistah girl!

***
My take on CK's Lily has nothing to do with VR. I admit her opinion expressed in our interview defiinitely resonated with my concerns about the character, and that of a large amount of the fans. I know she has her fans, but I've also read a lot of fans who wish Lily more relatable to the black experience. I am sorry, but except for her scenes with Neil, there is nothing that tells me this is a black character, and while I definitely know black people in real life come in all different flavors, on daytime, when there are so precious few roles for people of color, can't this part at LEAST appeal in some way to the half of the audience that would like to see her have some sort of zest or flavor? It's like CBS's answer to diversity is to ignore that there black characters are black. No one even flinched that Marcus is half black on B&B, I just realized Jade was mixed last week and Lily has never dated one single black man on this show, and before anyone says it, I have NO issue with interracial dating, but COME ON, Ray Charles could see this show is taking great strides to make this character come off as post-black or neutral as possible, and yes, when Shemar Moore and Victoria Rowell BROUGHT the flava as her parents it sticks out, I'm sorry. Plus CK did herself no favors when she chose to leave and they replaced her with an actress who did resonate with black audiences.