It was Jason Thompson’s (Billy) time to have a standalone episode on The Young and the Restless and this past Tuesday, Thompson shined in a performance that took an emotional toll on his character of Billy Abbott and for many in the viewing audience.  The last time we saw Thompson given anything near this; was actually his first episode on The Young and the Restless when Billy was hovering between life and death and as he confronted his family, they did not hear what he was saying to them.

Now in September of 2019, Billy has been overcome with grief over the death of his daughter Delia and getting revenge against Adam (Mark Grossman) that he developed an alternate personality who is the tough guy who would do things Billy in his right mind could never set out to do.

Photo: JPI

In the episode, Billy (who is still in a cabin) admits to Victoria that what Chloe said about him is true . He lured Adam to the route where Delia died and tried to kill him.  Billy reveals that there is a whole other Billy who takes over, who wants to punish people, and does some very bad things.  Victoria urges Billy to confront that part of himself.  Since he has not eaten in several days, she leaves him behind at the cabin to go bring him back some food.  And thus ,the standalone episode begins to really kick-off.

Alone, Billy closes his eyes and in tears, sees a more grown up version and vision of Delia.  But she is not happy with him.  While she says she understands why he went after Adam the first time after her death, she does not understand why years later he is still trying to kill him.  Delia explains that going to heaven is beautiful; but he will never be reunited with her if he continues to have malice in his heart and soul.  Billy is devastated that his beloved daughter, who he grieves so much for, is disappointed in him. But then, so too is Jack!

Next, Billy envisions Jack (Peter Bergman) in the cabin with him, and Jack really hits Billy below the belt and tells him what a miserable failure he is and calls him “weak”.  We then see the character switch and the gum-chewing alter ego pushed to the brink and so that Billy fights back.  Jack continues to barrage Billy and then Billy shouts, “Screw you, Jack!”  Billy thinks Jack’s jealous of him. Jack hollers, “Who are you!? Pick one and be done with it.”  It was a difficult to scene to watch, because Billy while battling his demons, he is hearing such terrible things inside himself from those he loved; like his older brother.

Photo: JPI

Then, comes his mother, Jill (Jess Walton)! All of a sudden she appears and is also extremely hard on Billy, and she tells her son that Victoria can do better than him, and that as a partner for Victoria he is an absolute dismal failure.  Jill really kicks him by saying that he always ends up back in the gutter with a mountain to climb.

All of a sudden, an evil Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) emerges in front of Billy.  She really plays up his addiction to gambling, entices him to a poker game and he loses, which further sends Billy spiraling.  He becomes more agitated as she laughs in his face.  Next, Adam appears shouting at Billy, “What is going on in your skull?”  Billy replies, “I’m not a monster.” Adam says, “Neither am I.”  Then, viewers see Adam strangling Billy, but then it is revealed that Billy is being strangled by the alternate version of himself in a fight for power and control.

Photo: JPI

Just then, Victoria (Amelia Heinle) returns as Billy battles with himself and remembers those who just ‘visited’ him.  Billy comes up with the inner strength to throw off the alter and not give in.  Finally, Billy punches him and the alternate Billy sort of melts away. Billy confesses to Victoria he doesn’t want that part of himself to ever return, and if there is anything good left in him it is because of her.

Throughout the hour, Jason Thompson illustrated once again why he is one of the finest actors in the genre, delivering an extremely complex performance and taking the gut-punches thrown at him by the other actors through their characters while taking the audience along with him and Billy’s inner struggle.  Whether you like the storyline, or not, you cannot take away from what Thompson did through his work in a performance that could have easily been just as powerful in a stage play in a theatre, as it was on TV.

What did you think of Jason’s ‘Power Performance of the Week”? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

ABC’s Grand Hotel ended its season with several plot twists that kept the hour soapy drama in a fast and furious pace to give viewers the answers they had been waiting for, and if the show was picked-up, a cliffhanger with multiple suspects who could be responsible for this new crime.

If you have not watched the finale and intend to, do not read any further, spoilers contained herein:

Danny is finally revealed to Santiago and Gigi to be the brother of the deceased Sky.  Alicia decides to help Danny figure out what happened to his sister on the night she died in the hurricane.  Through flashbacks, we learn that Sky discovered the suicide note that Beatriz had written inside a closet full of jewelry while on a date with Yoli.  Sky used the Intel in it to blackmail Gigi, but Gigi says she does not have access to that kind of cash.   The letter contains the damaging proof that Mrs P and Santiago had a child together, Jason.  Santiago did not know.  To make matters even worse in current time, Santiago just made Gigi’s daughters: Carolina and Yoli part of his new will.

It seems that Mrs. P and Gigi kept the secret of Jason’s paternity and did not want to come out.  Helen put the hotel on lockdown, leaving Sky trapped and having to go through the only available exit to get out of the hotel, which led her into the night and the hurricane.  There, Gigi confronts her at gunpoint. However, there is a scuffle, and lo and behold, Mrs. P husband’s, Malcolm steps out of the shadows after overhearing that his wife had an fling and child with Santiago and clubbed Sky in the back causing her death.

After Gigi admitted to Santiago, while he was trying to push Danny over the hotel balcony, that she did not kill Sky, Gigi eventually reveals who it was, leading Danny and Alicia to later head to the hospital where Malcolm is dying.  Alicia confronts Mrs. P about her lies and how she hid Jason’s paternity from him and Santiago.  Meanwhile, Danny decides not to tell Malcolm’s family that he killed his sister, because as Danny says, “the universe had already found another way to punish him” – and with that – a few moments later, Malcolm dies.

Photo: ABC

Now that Santiago had learned that he is the bio-dad of Jason, he won’t forgive Gigi, who clearly does not want Jason getting more of the pie than her daughters if Santiago were to have the opportunity to adjust his will.  Meanwhile, Santiago has finally blackmailed Mateo out of his job at the hotel, but Mateo does not want the evidence on the flash drive Santiago has in his possession to come out of the deed that he has done.  Mrs P. also gets into a very intense phone conversation with Santiago and they agree to meet downstairs at the hotel.

However, as Santiago walks through the dark halls, out of the shadows gun shots are fired, and he is left bleeding out on the floor.  Did Gigi, Mateo, Helen or even someone else shoot him?  Maybe Carolina and Yoli’s father is the culprit, who is said to be returning home after finding out his daughters are now in Santiago’s will and who has no love lost for the guy!

In other stories, Javi was seduced by an older woman who turned out to be an alcoholic and Ingrid’s mother, a pissed Ingrid then hooks up with Mateo.  And  finally, as Danny goes to the ocean to say goodbye to his sister Sky by throwing her lighter into the sea, Alicia asks, what he is going to do next?  He says, he will return home to Chicago, but at that point the two of them share a passionate kiss.

Throughout the episode, the emotional heart of it was played to perfection by Lincoln Younes as Danny, who as the brother trying to avenge his sister’s death, played all the beats of his story arc.

So, what did you think of the Grand Hotel finale? What did you think of who was revealed to have killed Sky? Who do you think shot Santiago? Comment below.

Now here’s a ‘cliff’-hanger moment for a Friday soap, that brought with it what could be a game-changing moment, certainly for the relationship of Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Ridge (Thorsten Kaye), and what looks like for Thomas Forrester (Matthew Atkinson).  For months, Thomas had become more obsessed and unhinged over keeping Hope (Annika Noelle) from her child Beth and away from the man she truly loves, Liam (Scott Clifton).

Many of Thomas’ acts have been truly despicable.  But now after a wake-up call conversation with his son, Douglas, and an attempt to set things right with Hope, who wants nothing to do with him, things take a turn when at Steffy’s,  Hope screams at Thomas to stay away from her. He tries to explain he just wants to talk to her, but she wants nothing to do with him.

We then see Brooke making it to the house, and seeing the ensuing argument,  She fears the worse and becomes in-between her daughter and her stepson, as Ridgeis also heading to the house to make sure nothing happens between Thomas and Hope.

But then, in a push/pull moment, Thomas goes over the cliff.  Brooke is mortified. And from the promo for next week’s B&B, Thomas is unconscious and might not make it, as Ridge sits by his bedside.

So, what is this twist all about? Either, Thomas choreographed the fall to gain sympathy and knew exactly what he was doing, or it was an accident, that might look like an attempted murder for now, and that will cause trouble between Brooke and Ridge, but also, and perhaps through testing in the hospital it might reveal, Thomas had a brain tumor causing him to act erratically?  Or, could it be that on Friday’s episode Thomas truly had a quick come-to-Jesus moment and had already realized the horrors of his way and was truly trying to set things right?  Or, could someone sneak into hospital room and snuff him out with a pillow? Many theories!

Now watch below the final moments when Thomas takes a major tumble and next week’s promo for B&B.  Then, weigh-in: What do you think the show will do with the character of Thomas now? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.