I was ok with Friday's show. But today, with Chip Hayes as scriptwriter, the writing was not subtle and overall, not good, IMO. I can go along with Zach feeling especially wounded that someone he trusted betrayed him and put his casinos (which he built from scratch) at risk. I can go along with Josh needing a lesson. But Zach as gangster didn't work at all for me today.

I had no sympathy for Josh because I thought his "I have no family" speech and how he can't trust anyone came out of left field by way of Mars. It's all plot contrivance. I see that.

The writing for Zach was designed to fabricate trouble for Zen which I didn't think they needed. I don't believe this is who Zach is. I see why Zach needs to handle this internally, and I see why this is personal to him, but the need to kill Josh is ridiculous. Plot-driven bullshit. Kendall didn't know who she was talking to, and neither did I. I'd rather not see this "activated" version of Zach again, Mr. Pratt. He can stay on the couch if this is where you're going with him.

I will admit that Kendall was one feisty lady today, and I liked that, but I did think it came at the expense of shitty writing for Zach.

And when Zen are written badly, I don't care about any other character on the show. It's just how I'm wired.

Again, I ask, are they trying to destroy AM's Kendall? Because using Zach to do it is surely putting the fanbases at odds and turning off viewers!

ETA: I understand why Kendall feels torn, but to have her give Zach and ultimatium is awful. They are BOTH having problems they have caused in their marriage, but it is killing me how it is all on Kendall's shoulders. EVERYTHING is her F-ing fault!

WHY is Frons such a crappy buttwad!?

I STILL call :bullshit

I'm in total agreement with you, Jules. While I truly enjoyed Kendall standing up to Zach today, I do think it is absolutely ludicrous for us to believe that Zach would off Josh. Is Zach capable of being a killer? Absolutely. But do I honestly believe that Josh would make that short list? No freaking way.

Josh having no family and no one to trust.... pure crap. Obviously Pratt didn't watch any of those heartfelt scenes we watched over the past year.

Zach going all mob like on someone he considers part of the family.... pure crap.


But I must say, although I thought the plot to be total crap, I totally dug the scene between Lish and Colin today. They have chemistry in spades. And I'll forever hate Pratt for ridding this show of what could have been one of the best sibling relationships ever on any daytime show.

Honestly, I have no possible explanation for why Kendall or Zach is being written as we're seeing them right now. The scriptwriter f--ed up bigtime today, but as we've said before, he's just following the HW's vision, and the HW is a hot mess if this is who he thinks this couple is (although I think Zach got the worse writing between the two of them). I've never seen this version of Zen before, and I've seen alot of different takes on them.

It was Zach a couple of weeks ago that told Kendall that her sharing her thoughts and fears with him was possibly enough to make him leave her, basically he gave her an ultimatum. So I don’t see what the big deal is about her trying to get Zach to back off her brother. She loves her brother no matter what he has done and she is also trying to keeping Zach out of trouble by stopping him from doing something potentially illegal to Josh. I am with Kendall on this one, her ultimatum makes a lot more sense than Zach's did. I don’t like that she felt that she had to give Zach and ultimatum, however because of the writing for Zach today, I understand her reasons for giving Zach an ultimatum. She had to let Zach know he had gone too far.

My brother and I don’t get along but even I can’t imagine me allowing my husband to make my brother disappear. I could not have that on my conscience and have my brothers sudden disappearance be my fault. Plus I may not get along well with my brother but I do love him despite our differences and I can’t imagine his not being around anymore and especially because I allowed my husband to go all postal on my brother. Zach has every right to his anger towards Josh, however he should either go to the police or else leave it the hell alone. JMO

I also call :bullshit on Zach killing Josh. The Zach I know and love would never kill Josh!! I know the Zach Kendall knows and loves would never kill Josh. Scare the hell out of him, sure, kill him, never!!

Zen did not need this story with Josh since they have enough angst going on right now and if they wanted Josh off the canvas there are hundreds of ways they could have sent him off. This is pure :bullshit and once again we are being deprived of a good character and a good brother/friend to both Kendall and Zach for no good reason other than to give Ryan and GB more airtime (one less person to worry about) and so now Zen have no friends but them.

Ever since Zach came to PV it's been implied that he might off someone and we have yet to see that even with people who have really screwed him and now they want us to believe that he would kill Kendall's brother and they also want us to believe that Kendall believes that. If Zach didn't kill GB after almost killing Spike and Ian, can anyone believe that he would kill Josh over money.

If this is Pratt at his best, then he is failing miserably. I don't think there's a sole buying this garbage.

Me again.

I remember a few months ago, we were talking about what Zach meant when he said that Richie needed to disappear and he needed Ryan's help to make that happen. I felt very sure he meant he was going to kill Richie, and I was K.O. with that except that he was keeping alot from Kendall, and I wasn't K.O. with that. I kept an open mind, read other posters on various boards, and convinced myself that Zach wouldn't kill Richie after all.

Different HW, different times, but still, I can't accept that AMC sees Zach as wanting to kill Josh. No freakin' way. It's not even a remote possibility to me. But Kendall had no choice but to try to save her brother, and I also think she had no choice but to tell Zach that this is a marriage-breaking moment for them. Killing your brother over stolen money? Yep, I don't know how you come back from that. ONS can be forgiven, but this? No. So I don't see Kendall written badly here. I hated how Aidan talked about her to Greenlee, but in her scenes with Josh and Zach, she was letter-perfect.

I'm not giving away spoilers here, but from what we know comes next (and I don't just mean in the Zen/Josh story), I don't think that we're supposed to be too "OMG!" about Zach in this story. Sounds like everyone moves on to other problems and other people's troubles. Which is yet another reason why today's show pissed me off. If this isn't who AMC actually thinks Zach is, then let's not give us a show like today. If this is plot-driven shit to get Josh out of town and have Kendall and Zach fight, it's awful writing and needs to be called as such.

I don't think Zach meant he was going to eliminate Josh in terms of a literal death. I felt he meant he was going to eliminate him in that he no longer exists, he'll never be contact with his family again, no sign that he ever existed or that he will exist again.

What I don't like is that Zach seems to expect Kendall to be okay with him not only making her brother disappear but not knowing exactly how, where. Doesn't he think that would make her grow to resent him (more)? I feel like this part is in character though, the depth of what he expects out of her despite the lack of what he's giving her.

If Josh had more power and was going to elimate someone Kendall loved, like her husband, from her life because of what adds up to a business issue I'd expect her to tell him if you make my husband disappear it's over. No problem with her giving it to Zach. There's some lines you don't cross in a marriage/relationship and one of those lines is making a family member disappear for something as insignificant as money and business, even if that business means a lot to you.

You may be right, Angela, and yet, I still have a major problem with it. There was violence in how Josh was plopped in Zach's office, and violence in how he was removed. And Zach deciding how to eliminate the problem, even if it's not an execution, is still pretty ugly to me.

Maybe Chip Hayes thought he was softening it with his explanation as to why Zach feels this way. It was a good explanation, but it doesn't justify the violence I saw and all that was implied, because even if he drops Josh on an island for the rest of his life, to be isolated and without any family contact ever, that's pretty severe, and not what I want to see from Zach.

I don't have much to add, but I felt Kendall was written very well today. She listened to both of them, took into context both of their feelings, but still launched forth doing what she felt was right. Saving Josh likely saves Zach as well from doing something he's right now too emotionally charged and bullheaded to realize he'll later regret.

As for the ultimatum, I do think she was merely trying to make him stop and think, but I'm glad she was ready to use that option.

TK, AM, and CE did a good job today. I'm eager to see what Lucci brings to the storyline.

Other stories:

I liked the Ryan/Annie scenes today and MCE has been slowly but surely pulling me into this thing I thought would be open and shut. I don't condone her decisions and definitely not her likely next course of action, but the calm manner in which Ryan just washed his hands of his wife, and walked out after everything left me cold on him as well. I should expect it, but AMC selling me "honorable man, good father, and prince of peace" just didn't fit the guy I saw today. Neither of them feel like the right party.

Aidan resorts right back to the meek idiot in his marriage. His Kendall remark didn't sting me because Kendall had just blamed herself for her own Rendall break-up using the ultimatum as a lesson for what Aidan shouldn't do. I think he was simply regurgitating that fact. I don't agree with the revisionist history lesson on Rendall, but when Kendall says it out her own mouth there isn't much I can do to argue. She's been owning that break-up for some time now.

I feel the same way, make no mistake. I'm one of those who from the start didn't think murder was the only way Zach would be shown to be going too far.

Something that's been wrong with the show since B&E came in is Zach's always right no matter what, Kendall's always wrong no matter what. That gets exhausting. I didn't mind today as long as they don't write Zach was right no matter what at the end of this. Eliminating Josh figuratively is not much better than eliminating him literally for something as insignificant as business and money, but it is a little better and I can rationalize he's just over-reacting (hyper sensitivity) because of other issues. I don't want to just rationalize so I'm hoping as we go into the next few days of this story they also tell us that. I'd like that as much as I'd like good back story to Kendall's over the top meddling with R/G/A/A.

Evaluating today’s show with an open mind is not an easy venture. Some things have come to light where the writing is going. Josh’s arguments were not believable nor defendable. He could have gone to Zach, Kendall or Erica and asked for seed money to open his own business without stealing from the casinos. His retort to Kendall about Madden’s money, which he gave away, did not make sense either. If he was willing to steal from a family that loved him, why was Madden’s money so repulsive. Josh’s contention that he was never accepted, because of the circumstances surrounding his birth, is a lot of BS. His family accepted him as did the audience for the most part and the character was becoming popular once he became acknowledged as a Kane/Slater.

Zach’s explanation of why Josh had to “disappear” and could not be given over to the police made sense. The casinos have enemies and disclosure of their workings to prying eyes, such as gaming commissions etc, could prove fatal to their survival. Zach knows that the missing money will not be a secret for long and his enemies must be made aware that theft and betrayal will not be tolerated…there by the presence of the accountants and the goon squad.

Kendall, though she doesn’t know, did Zach a big favor. She saved face for him in front of those present and prevented him from doing something that she believes he may regret later. I don’t for a minute believe that Zach planned to kill Josh. and no stupid innuendo writing will convince me otherwise. I think the use of the word “disappear” was to leave the audience guessing. Of course Zach haters will interpret it differently. In 2004 Bobby stole from Zach and he fired him and gave him two weeks severance pay and Bobby was not family.

Deep down Zach will feel that Kendall did not trust him to take care of Josh himself and that will hurt, but I think he will come to realize that Kendall acted out of love for both her brother and her husband while caught in a no win situation. Her threat to leave him if he goes after Josh was IMO something you say in anger and desperation and perhaps also to keep him from doing something that she believes he may later regret. IMO Zach will eventually be grateful for her actions because he was able to save face in front of his enemies, who will believe that he had every intention of punishing Josh, but his wife helped him escape. All blame will fall on Kendall’s shoulders….. as always.

Today's acting by TK and AM was extraordinary. What hurt was that I did not recognize the Zach that I saw on may screen today. I reviewed 2004 episodes of when Zach first came to PV and nowhere did I find a Zach that we saw today. With the swipe of a pen they turned him into what appears to be a cold, heartless character with a mob mentality. Kendall pleas for her brother's life seemed to fall on deaf ears. For the first time I heard Zach treat Kendall with disdain when he told her that it wasn't her business andto go home. The writing lacked IMO respect for a character that had evolved over the last four years through the love of a woman who gave him a family to love. A character that was dark and lethal to his enemies, but would make any sacrifice for those that he loved. He was willing to deny his son to protect him from his father's legacy, the Cambias curse. I hope that today was an aberration and in ensuing episodes I hope to get back the Zach I recognize.

I guess being absorbed with Zen today I failed to mention the most ridiculous quote which came from Aiden. He told Greenlee that what he did to Kendall was to comfort her. In what universe is first beating down an emotionally broken grieving woman and then taking advantage of her considered comforting.

I don't think that Ryan's character ever looked more pathetic than today. I had to agree with Annie for a change.

Greenlee... what a lot of hogwash was she feeding Aiden today about her feelings for Ryan. Is there anyone out there who actually believed her? She gave him the best defense for her intended infidelity.LOL

Diva,

Well thought out post with some good points.

Jules and Dianna, ICAM.

However my feelings on this show are not deep or thoughtful.

For me other than Lish's performance, the show was pure contrived :bullshit

Susan

Plot driven crap. Well-acted, but plot driven crap just the same.

There was no build up over time to establish this storyline of Josh "The Evil Embezzler", to where you almost would've bought it. Instead we've had Josh the brother, Josh the friend and Josh the brother-in-law who was always reliable and loved his family. We get something so far-fetched to rid the screen of a character TPTB no longer wanted. "I have no family"? Bullshit. Does anyone who writes this show actually watch it?

They should've just sent Josh off with the money and done it all off-screen rather than asking us to swallow this.

That statement, coupled with Josh saying that Kendall could not understand how he was feeling, had me scratching my head. Um hello, Kendall was a child born out of a rape, she was adopted and felt abandoned and felt like she never fit in growing up and I am suppose to believe she can’t understand where Josh is coming from? :bullshit !! I also can't buy that as a plausible excuse for Josh stealing from his sister. Josh has been amazing with Kendall and now they have him steal from her and her husband and all because he did not feel like he fit in and he felt unwanted? :bullshit !! I think he was just trying to play on Kendall's sympathies with that excuse. I hate that they are writing my Joshie this way and it makes me mad. Colin, Lish and TK deserve better than this. Zendall have enough internal conflict going on right now to cause plenty of problems, this whole Josh thing is unnecessary.

I loved feisty take no prisoners Kendall and I loved her pepper spraying Zach's thugs. Lish was fantastic today. But dangit Josh not only disappointed Kendall today but he disappointed me as well. I still love Josh I am just sad that this is how they have decided to write him.

Well, since it's been pretty well covered by you guys already, I'll just agree to/add a few things . . .

TK, AM, and CE were fantastic. This storyline still has holes big enough to drive a truck through, but they rocked those scenes. I was actually gasping at times. Zach was trying to keep in control, but you could see the pain on his face. Kendall was trying to understand what the hell was up while making no one the bad guy, which was ripping her apart. And Josh was just unable to come up with any reasonable excuse for what he'd done, but you could still see him hurting too. (Am I completely crazy, or could this still be a big show put on for those nameless enemies Zach mentioned today? I mean, remember when JR came to ask Zach for help taking over Chandler a few months ago and Zach made a phone call and told the person on the other end--presumably Josh--to prepare for a war? Could it be? Please??? I just can't seem to let that last bit of hope die just yet . . . )

Oh, and I don't think Zach ever intended to kill Josh, that Kendall ever believed that, or even that Josh ever really believed that. Hyperbole in the heat of the situation. I don't know what the amorphous "disappear" did mean, but while I'm pretty sure it didn't mean death, I'm also pretty sure that it wasn't going to be super happy fun time at the theme park or whatever either.

Graidan make me ill with their constant Kendall bashing and their oh so soulful talk. And yes, Aidan should be summarily shot for his revisionist 5MS crap. Gag. I give them a month at the longest.

Ryan and Crazy were both pathetic today, but I do still flove ghost Richie. I'm gonna miss BM.

Erica and Sam sure seemed to fizzle quickly, but I liked that they were mature about it until Erica's Jack fantasy crap. Ugh.

Pete and Colby are getting stale--too much of the same convo day after day.

Angie needs to stop shrieking so much. I don't think they'll end up sending Frankie though--not after all this Randi buildup. Whatever. I liked Jake.

GO TEAM SLATER!!!