Step lively, folks, and come in and praise the phenomenal acting of the lovely Lish and Thorsten Kaye. Today was a day unlike anything I've ever seen on AMC or Daytime. Two people, both in the know, both waiting (one for the right moment to confess, one hoping to hear an admission), each reacting to the other (she shamed one minute, strong and determined the next, him devastated one minute, furious the next), and through it all, so much love shown between them.

I've said it elsewhere: the words of the day are teamwork and partnership. Watching AM and TK in today's show, I was watching a Montana to Rice pass for a 50 yd. touchdown. I was watching give and take, action and reaction. Each word, each movement was precise and yet instinctive between the actors. You can have a soap actor memorize a ton of pages (and I'd love to see the script for this show!) and talk at his/her partner, without feeling the emotion or connection between them. Lish and TK were looking, touching, speaking and listening in the most natural example of teamwork I've seen in a long time.

We've had Kendall confront Zach when Ryan waltzed into his own funeral. We've had Zach's confession of love, and Kendall's confrontation with Zach at the Mardi Gras. But this? Today? Was in a league of its own.

Thanks to Joanna Cohen, TK and of course, the amazing Lish for today's show. It was sweet agony, and it was everything I'd hoped the reveal would be. Thanks for doing us proud. :thumbsup

Today's script was amazing. Joanna Cohen deserves our praise. It was character-driven and performed with precision and sensitivity by two actors that have developed perfect timing between them. There was no over the top emotion, as we have seen with other couples on the show, but powerful in it's quiet deliverance and the beauty of facial expression, that both TK and AM do so well. They are indeed a team as actors and the two characters they portray are a true super couple. Today's show left no doubt in my mind.

Today’s show is not easy to review, because words alone cannot describe what we saw on our screen. You have to see the performance.

Zach and Kendall today faced the greatest obstacle in their relationship…trust . It was clear that though the knowledge of Kendall having slept with Aiden, no matter what the circumstances, was painful for Zach, the fact that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him was the real betrayal.

Zach told Kendall that by revealing to her his dark side he trusted in their love and took a risk of losing her. She rewarded that risk by trusting him her heart. She on the other hand has failed to trust his love by not taking that same risk and thus took away their ability to deal with the presumed infidelity together.

Towards the end of their conversation today it became clear that Kendall still hasn’t grasped that concept. Her guilt all along was over the wrong betrayal and that is going to be the biggest obstacle that they as a married couple will have to face and overcome.

The writing on the show today IMO was so mature for a soap opera and I am so glad that someone finally noticed the great potential that the Zen relationship has to bring us not only good story telling, but powerful and worthwhile adult relationship material as well. Thank you Joanna Cohen for your writing and Thorsten and Alicia for your amazing performance.

Diva you said it all. Thorsten and Lish were so powerful together today I was and still am amazed. They have alwasy had Trust issues but today it just hurt. I called the comment line to thank them for allowing thse two to have the screeen today to tell their story alone together.I am still breathless.

I really have nothing of substance to add. Today's show was really well written and Lish and TK did a brilliant job bringing forth all of the emotions

You guys have said it so well. I totally agree. It was a Broadway play come to daytime TV. I haven't watched any show before 4pm ever that had a scene with that much impact. These two are amazing together. It kills me to think that someone who "doesn't quite get it" could ever think of putting them with other people. But that's for another discussion.

I know you've all watched and listened a thousand times already, but do yourself a favor and just watch the physical stuff they both did today. I think of what Erica said, "And how will his eyes look back at you?"

His eyes when she changes the subject and brings up the party. Her face when she nervously says she'll take a drink. His eyes and how they change a little every time Aidan's name comes up.

How he kisses her and is still touching her after as if he's angry, jealous, disappointed, desperate and afraid that she has feelings for Aidan.

How she taps her chin when she has to say it. I could on and on.
Damn, I can't wait until tomorrow.

Phyllis I think that's a wonderful analogy! It really was more like a great play on Broadway than a soap & AM/TK just absolutely nailed it & knocked it slam to the moon! It took my breath away! They are so far superior to everyone else, there's no comparison & I don't mean that to be a bash, but a huge compliment! It was passionate & powerful & riveting. Superb performances by the two best Actors in Daytime or anywhere. This is Oscar caliber & I know it has to be award winning. Stunning to witness their personal agony & despair on such a level as this. I felt like an intruder into their private hell.
I salute the best in daytime!! Bravo!

Today's show was simply fabulous. The pain was so real; the emotions so very raw. Zach and Kendall, both, were torn between revealing the truth and living with the secret.

Kendall struggled from the moment she walked in the door with it. She mentioned everyone in their lives in a way to avoid the inevitable. She flirted with the idea of once again keeping it to herself, but finally the truth set her free.

Zach wanted to hear the truth. He needed to hear it come from her. But even he felt the need to delay it. When Kendall spoke of Aidan and how she drove him home the night he was so very drunk, he rushed to stop her words with a kiss. His fear took over in that moment and Zach felt the need to kiss his wife, to tell her that he loved her one more time, just in case he was going to lose her forever. He feared hearing of what happened between Kendall and Aidan, just as much as she feared telling it.

Then the words were said and the confusion set in for Kendall. She needed to explain why it happened, why she did what she did. And he was tortured by her explanation and his anger grew. And there she sat, unsure where she stood with him. He didn't run away from her and yet he didn't want to be near her. And despite his anger, he felt her pain too. When she told him that she was scared she had lost him forever, he flinched. But he couldn't allow that. He couldn't allow her pain to override his. And so he silenced her.

Until tomorrow.....



I know you are all probably shocked that I wrote a freaking dissertation on this show, but quite honestly I can't remember a time when I craved a conversation like this and actually got it. Mardi Gras Ball came close. At Zach's condo following Ethan's death was a lot closer. This episode, featuring these two phenomenal actors, most certainly delivered far above and beyond my expectations.

The only way it could have been better? If they had been in period costumes, standing in a meadow, at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean, in the rain.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Jane Austen. And this show today came pretty damn close to it for me!!


ETA: BTW... can we say Emmy????

Awesome post Cheryl! I'm going to writing about this week for days. LOL

Damn, Cheryl. That sounded like a chapter from a really good fanfic. I'm not very poetic and I don't have any pretty words to describe today's show so I wont even try.

Awesome show. AM and TK really brought the house down.

I'm still a sobby mess LOL

Jules and Cheryl awesome posts :thumbsup

Joanna Cohen deserves a promotion or something ;)

That's what sucks about many of these writers working from their homes all over the country and not out of the AMC offices. I f I knew for sure where Joanna Cohen worked, she'd have a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates on her desk tomorrow morning.

I'm not good with words, so I was pretty much shaking my head and going "Damn." It was just that good.

The first couple of minutes where they barely said anything, just simply shared looks and that was all they needed. You could feel a distance and tension between them and I wasn't even in the room. They kind of did make you feel as though this were all real and you were intruding on something, didn't they?

I knew when I read the spoilers that Thorsten and Lish would do an awesome job because of how well they work together, but wow. Today they brought it to a whole new level. I've watched these two grow as performers over the past few years so I've seen a lot of great work, but I really believe that this was the best work they've ever done together. They've always had great chemistry but they just click and are on when they're being Zen and today was no different.

Yeah, I have to thank the editing team for giving them the entire opening today. To cut to anything else at that point would have been wrong.

Des, I think of the scenes in the hospital ER when Zach and Kendall just looked at each other as Ethan was dying, and that's all they did for an entire episode, and the scenes when Kendall showed up at the casino with Zach's signature on the divorce papers and they just stared at each other for an interminable amount of time. TK and AM know that silence doesn't mean nothing's going on. When they're acting in silence, everything is going on.

Cheryl, thank you for breaking the writing down so well for me. I've only watched it twice now, and your explanation makes perfect sense to me. The writing and acting were on another level. It's hard to believe this is the same show that gave us pole dancing and 6 people stuck in an elevator playing "let's swap partners".

LMAO!! Yeah. A bit of a sharp contrast!!

Great recap Cheryl. Jules, Phyllis, Diva loved what all of you said.

I had been on the LD and couldn't wait to get home to watch but still I wasn't prepared. Last year I thought the balcony scene at the end of the SS story was one of the best I had seen and I totally loved the connection TK and Lish had but this was even beyond that. I sat watching and I think I forgot to breath. They do say so much with their eyes and body language and today was no exception. I too felt like I was intruding on this married couple and had no business being there.

So who the hell is going to sleep tonight. Not me. I can't wait for tomorrow.

All I can say right now, having just finished watching, is that Lish and TK managed to do something damn near impossible: They exceeded my expectations. You sit there, expecting the sun and moon, and they give you the whole f'n universe. That's the only was I can describe it at this point.

Awesome.

Your posts are all so true. I knew AM and TK would be great, but they were better than great.

I'm sure there are ways we can find out out where to send her something ;

Seriously I'm starting to think she should be HW. Just damn, I expected TK and AM to hit it out of the park, but never expected the writing to be just as good

The show today, was perfectly amazing and unexpectedly well written for this couple.......the opening scene, I thought did me in, but when Zach, started speaking of pain, despair and agony,,,,ohhhh, just sent me over the edge......Kendall, I thought was going to throw-up right there when she was trying to get out the words and describing how she came to commit the act......perfect....... and then again, at the end, when he yelled for her to shut up, again a perfect and real moment.......



....and, I too, thought Greens was going to interrupt the Slater's, so glad the writing team thought better of that action.........tomorrow, horrifying, but, actually am looking forward to it.........

just, once again want to say, the SHOW, was Amazing............

Absolutely amazing. I think the most moving show in I don't know how long.

TK and AM were amazing. I think today were their best scenes together. All of the emotions were laid out for all of us to see, the love, the guilt, the hurt and the anger.

Zach not wanting to hear, but needing Kendall to tell him, knowing she needed to tell him, and giving her the courage to tell him.

If tomorrow is a good as today, I definitely will need another box of Kleenex.

The rest of the show was good for me, if only to give me a chance to collect myself between Zen scenes.

So many wonderful posts! You ladies have said it all so beautifully!!!

I have nothing more to add other than to reemphasize how awesome today's show was!!! Lish and TK gave it all they had and it showed, body language and all. They totally rocked those scenes.

It has been a long time since I have rushed home, nearly killing myself, to watch an episode of AMC. Today's show was well worth it. Many many applause to AM and TK!!!

Spellbinding is the only word I can even come up with as I just finished watching the show.

Zendall - TK and AM completely blew me away today. They exceeded my expectations--and that's saying a lot, I have high expectations. I have never seen anything like it on a soap. They deserve the highest praise in every respect. Every emotion, every expression, and every nuance was intense, passionate, and beautifully painful. Every look, every word, and every gesture was absolute perfection. The kiss was amazing.

Talk about the agony and the ecstasy. I was riveted the entire time. In fact, I could barely handle it, because TK and AM sucked me right in and had me feeling their emotions as they felt them. I was incredibly pissed off when my phone rang.

The issues of trust and miscommunication have hurt Zach and Kendall so badly in the past, and now they're hurting them again. The problem, for me, seems to lie in the fact that they don't/can't understand each other right now.

Zach thinks that Kendall doesn't trust him, and that's not really the case. To me, as for many of you, it seems that Kendall doesn't trust herself; she doesn't feel worthy of Zach; she doesn't feel worthy in any respect. Her self-confidence, her faith in her own judgment, and her understanding of the world have all been so damaged (ever since the return of DFS sent the whole universe of PV straight into hell), and she didn't have enough faith in herself to really know what the right thing to do was until now.

Conversely, Kendall thinks that what she did that day with Aidone is the betrayal, and that's not really the case either. Zach's capacity for understanding and empathy is incredibly profound and always has been. He can understand what happened with the ONS because of the circumstances, but has a more difficult time with the conscious choices that Kendall made afterward to keep the truth from him as he's had experience with that himself in the past.

The never-ending cycle of crises that have hit the Slaters kept both of them from ever gaining solid ground under their feet for such a long time, and the more time that passed, the worse things got until they reached this heart-rending, gut-wrenching, soul-crushing point.

I felt for both of them today; they were both right, they were both wrong. After the hideously bad writing that got them into this mess, it was exquisitely painful to see what unexpectedly good writing could do to get them out of it.

GO TEAM SLATER!!!
ALWAYS ONLY THEM!!!

P.S.
Ryass is an ass.
Graidone makes me sick.
DFS2 a bitch, but has amazing insight into DFS.
Tad was much appreciated today--apricot and teal (ha!), and "the calla lilies are in bloom again." Stage Door is a great movie and that quote had quite the double entendre in it, didn't it? "The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower--suitable to any occasion. I carried them on my wedding day, and now I place them here in memory of something that has died."

I agree with everything everyone has said about their scenes. It was better than I could ever have imagined. Wow. They do make me like an intruder. I feel like that often with these two because AM and TK make Zen so real. They blow me away. I need more tissue.