HOLLYWOOD—This week’s leading ladies gold standard goes to two actresses who portrayed characters who chose not to give up this week on their dreams and what they wanted to accomplish. On “The Young and the Restless” Sharon Case, who portrays Sharon Newman, decided to ignore her ex-husband Adam and to spend more time with another ex, Nick. Sharon also put her daughter Faith before her own worries and she does this time and time again. While on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Susan Flannery, who portrays Stephanie Forrester, decided she’s going to fight stage-four lung cancer, but not the way her daughter-in-law and longtime enemy, Brooke, wanted her to.

Sharon Case is a beautiful, dynamic and exciting actress to watch. Fans have been in awe of her acting skills for decades, and this week Sharon opened the door of her home only to find her ex-husband Adam there, begging for her help. Sharon listened to his plight, then realized that it has been a year since he kidnapped her daughter Faith and gave her to Ashley, who had miscarried. Sharon couldn’t forgive Adam, and after initially listening to him, she finally threw him out of her home.

Then Sharon made the decision to go out on a date with her daughter and another ex-husband Nick, who is Faith’s father. Sharon and Nick were soon being stalked by Adam. It’s so much fun to see Sharon Case playing opposite two handsome leading men, who make her storyline even more exciting.

Kelly Lang and Susan Flannery’s scenes on Monday had me in tears. Brooke begged Stephanie, who is as stubborn as her late mother Ann Douglas was, to go to the doctors and fight her stage four cancer with chemotherapy and radiation. That’s too easy for Stephanie. She has decided that she’s going to die with dignity and she doesn’t believe that she has a chance to beat the cancer. She also told Brooke to back off and that she’d be the one to tell her family when the time was right for her.

Kelly Lang’s emotional scenes as Brooke begged Stephanie not to give up were heartbreaking to watch. Susan Flannery is daytime’s best actress, and she immerses herself in the role, one that she’s nothing like at all. Stephanie’s broodiness and reluctance to listen to good advice was heart wrenching. Brooke cried and told her mother-in-law, “you need to fight!” Stephanie did fight back this week. If it wasn’t cancer, it sure was the meddling advice she received from a woman she sometimes loves and sometimes loves to hate. Susan Flannery’s going to get an Emmy next year, and Sharon Case should be nominated right alongside this great star.
Photographs are Courtesy: Sharon Case by CBS and Katherine Susan Flannery by Gilles Toucas, Bell Phillip Television Productions