Y&R Hits It Out of the Park With Chelsea Lawson and Elena Dawson

Both Chelsea Lawson and Elena Dawson have been experiencing big feelings for the past couple of weeks in Genoa City and there have been some incredibly well-written dialogues for them both as we are given a birds-eye view of what makes them both tick.

Chelsea Lawson — A Woman On The Edge

The downward spiral that Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) has been traveling down has been heartbreaking to watch as she takes hit after hit. Not only have the men on the outskirts of her life been questioning her sanity, but the boys she gave birth to have also called her on her baloney — and it’s been glorious!

While we feel sorry for Chelsea (sort of; she is the master of her own downfall, after all), we can’t help but applaud the performances we’ve been getting out of Egan and all those around her, especially recent Soap Hub performer of the week honoree, Paxton Mishkind (Johnny Abbott). These conversations are why we watch soaps! While we often take The Young and the Restless to task for seemingly having given up on long-term story arcs, we appreciate that the day-to-day dialogue never lets us down.

Elena Dawson — Standing Her Ground

Another recipient of that stellar writing has been Elena (Brytni Sarpy), who has tried her darndest to explain to her boyfriend Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic) why she can’t simply give lip service to his big plan to essentially stab his family in the back! This is not the man she fell in love with — the healer.

This new businessman in his place is someone she doesn’t want to know, never mind be with, and the pain is evident every time she is with him. She is the voice of the audience, so listening to her say the words we are all screaming at the TV as we watch Nate do the unthinkable has been cathartic. Sarpy’s delivery shows us how Elena is torn to leave the man she loves but also her unwillingness to watch him blow his life to hell.

It feels like the pieces are all there for Y&R to be a great soap — terrific actors, wonderful dialogue, and compelling characters we have loved for decades. If they could just see things through with a long-term vision that pulls it all together, making for the complex drama on a daily basis we used to be able to rely on but haven’t seen in many years, it would make all our soap dreams come true.

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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