The Young and the Restless fans got their first glimpse of Mishael Morgan as Hilary today. Wait, that was a different character, not Hilary Winters, but rather Amanda Sinclair? Could have fooled me.
Why bring back a fan fave to play a look-alike character, and I don’t mean one with the same face. What was different really about Amanda versus Hilary? Same designer duds, same polished makeup, and no, straightening her hair didn’t make her different enough to constitute a whole new character.
Well, maybe that’s how the writers intended it? I suppose Amanda could be Hilary, or Hilary’s twin, or someone with a Hilary mask, or someone who had plastic surgery to look like Hilary. I’ll stop now, you get the soapy picture.
But why? Why repeat history when you can make history?
Amanda, or whoever she is, could have burst on the scene with a jaw-dropping entrance worthy of a cliffhanger Friday.
But no, she knocked on Devon’s (Bryton James) door, he stared at her, she stared at her computer, they exchanged a few awkward words, and the big reveal was over faster than a cheap carnival ride.
I wanted a carnival ride for Mishael’s return! A debut full of stomach-churning twists and turns, gasps, ah’s and goosebumps. Fans have been clamoring for Mishael’s return, and this is what we get?
Where was the jaw-dropping shock and awe that should have been permeating the screen as the whole town laid eyes on Amanda, Genoa City residents stunned to their cores that this chimera was in their midst?
Oh well, maybe Monday.
In case you missed it, Amanda is the lawyer representing Chance Chancellor who is claiming that Katherine’s (the late Jeanne Cooper) will was a forgery courtesy of Devon’s bio dad, Tucker.
Having Devon interact with Hilary, oops, Amanda, in a solo scene limited to the living room couch might have looked good on paper. In execution, this momentous debut needed a bit more oomph to make it memorable.
What do you think of this latest incarnation?
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.
Tanya Clark
Tanya is a freelance writer, therapist and educator. The L.A. native was born at General Hospital, foreshadowing her obsession with writing about soaps, something that makes her feel young, restless, bold and beautiful, a state of mind that hopefully remains that way all the days of our lives.