Much has been made of Y&R’s wunderkind, Billy Miller, but I’ve got to give a major shout-out to Daniel Goddard, who has never been better as the conflicted Cane. Goddard’s been absolutely wonderful at playing a man desperate to keep his secrets — and his newfound family’s love. He always looks worn and beaten and sad; his hair even looks like he ceaselessly runs his fingers through it. I know that when the truth about Phillip III inevitably comes out, Lily — who can’t stop raving about Cane’s honesty — and Jill and Kay are going to be devastated and likely turn their backs on him, but I just feel so darned sorry for this guy. Con artist or no, he’s sold me on the fact that this is the first time he’s felt worthwhile and loved.

And in other Y&R notes, today we also had the first stirrings of the much-talked about Rafe/Adam story, as Rafe told Adam he couldn’t represent Newman and his aunt Estella at the same time. I totally sensed some sparks, that will no doubt light into flames when Michael Muhney takes over on the 25th and really gets the ball rolling. Regardless of what went down between Chris Engen and Y&R, I feel like this is a classic soap story that just happens to involve two men. I mean, how many times have you seen a daytime villain or villainness put the moves on someone to keep from getting exposed? It’s a soap cliché! It happens all the time! The difference is that, this time, it’s a man manipulating another man to cover his hide. And to really move forward with equal LGBT representation, we can’t just tell coming out stories, safe stories of a gay teen’s first love, etc. Soaps have to be unafraid to tell the messy stories, too. So, kudos to Y&R for taking a risk. I can’t wait to see exactly how far Adam is willing to go to cover his tracks…and if he can ever come back from all this Ashley insanity.

Of course, if Todd can become OLTL’s leading man and GH’s Ric can avoid getting killed off after the Panic Room, I’m thinkin’ Adam probably has a long future in Genoa City!

originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com