Daniel Goddard on how secrets and a new head writer may forever change Cane and Lily

The Young and the Restless' Cane and Lily have survived it all, but will they be able to last through yet another new head writer? Daniel Goddard shares his thoughts.

The calm before the February Sweeps storm is nearly over in The Young and the Restless' Genoa City, meaning it's only a matter of time before the storylines twist and rock the town to its core. And judging from Soap Central's conversation with Daniel Goddard (Cane Ashby), his popular on-screen relationship with Lily (Christel Khalil) may be receiving more devastation than anyone saw coming. Will the couple continue its seven-year tradition of overcoming obstacles -- or will 2015 be the year that finally breaks LANE apart?

Nobody ever said marriage is easy, but poor Cane and Lily have had to work at it more than most. However, while other couples have seen their road bumps turn into road blocks, LANE has been able to keep speeding along, despite the constant potholes that get in the way. But Cane's recent decision to keep quiet about Hilary (Mishael Morgan) and Devon's (Bryton James) affair is one that the businessman may soon be regretting, as it might be the final straw for the usually steadfast couple. "Cane knowing about Devon and Hilary, it is going to lead to a detrimental effect on his relationship," Goddard previews of the effect his alter ego's decision will have on the pair. "Lily has said to Cane in the past, 'Don't keep secrets from me. Tell me what's going on, let me be part of this.'"

So then, why the heck is he choosing not to listen to his wife's most important request, especially considering that the affair is duping Lily's dad, Neil (Kristoff St. John)? "In this particular circumstance, he knows that this information will crush her, and he knows that this will break the Winters family apart, so as much as his judgment tells him, 'Do not keep secrets from her,' you could say he's doing or trying to do it for the right reason," Goddard explains. "But I think it's about to bite him in the butt!"

There's no question that Cane's decision to keep quiet is going to royally upset his wife. But will the show's new head writer, Charles Pratt Jr., take the fallout to breakup level? "Isn't that the billion-dollar question?" Goddard asks with a smile. "Whenever you get a new head writer coming in who has what they think is a good vision for the show, you always wonder how much they sit down and say, 'What works, what doesn't work, how can I make that better, and how can I fix what's not working?' versus saying, 'Hey, let's put a bunch of names in a bucket, draw them out and say, They'd be good together.' So we'll see. I think Chuck has an excellent rsum... so I'd like to think that moving forward, there's an understanding of where we've been and what we've gone through."

He continues, "Cane and Lily have been together for seven years now, and we are an anomaly in this business. And I think that the fans have made it very clear in the past as to what they expect from Cane and Lily. However, they don't want them sitting on the sofa singing 'Kumbaya' and holding hands and knitting sweaters. They want a balance of love, they want a balance of honesty, they want a balance of drama, they want a balance of all the things that make a dynamic, loving, strong couple better."

Because, as the actor points out, though viewers crave drama and upheaval, they also need lightness and joy. "There are a lot of people walking around this world that have a lot of strife, and a lot of people still tune in for the love in the afternoon," he opines. "There was a period on the show, maybe three or four years ago, where every single character was either sick, about to get sick, or had something tragic happen. And there was so much betrayal, that you could see the effect it had on the ratings. I study analytics extensively, I watch the show's ratings, I track storylines, I see the effects of different social media attractions, and you can't negate the fact that people on this planet like to feel good. It's great to tease them and make them feel like there's jeopardy, but at the end of the day, no one goes to see an action movie, knowing the hero is going to die. They want to see him almost die, they want to see him almost be overcome with complete trauma and extreme circumstances, but the safety you have in going to that dark room is that good will prevail."

However, every now and then, a situation comes up where viewers might not root for the "good guy." Take Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), for example. Though he's not necessarily known for doing the right thing all the time, he's still insanely popular with fans. That's something that adds an undeniable entertainment factor to the Victor versus Cane and Jill (Jess Walton) storyline currently brewing, and Goddard attributes it to Braeden's acting.

"I remember my first scene with Eric years ago. I was so nervous," the actor shares. "And now when I see Eric -- Eric and I have a very good relationship, and we laugh a lot. We have scenes that we're playing now, and he'll start smiling, so I'll start laughing, and then we'll laugh and smile through it. And then you realize that what comes across when you see the scene is [Victor] knows what's going on, I know he knows what's going on, but I don't think he's good enough to stop me, because I think that we have an upper hand on him, because I can manipulate him with this, and he can manipulate me with that. So you start to realize that iconic people [like Braeden] bring such a sense of truth and history to their characters, that it's more than just carbon copies of Victor Newman. It's these real life human characters that color the storylines in ways that fledgling people who have just arrived at the show could never do, because they just don't have the intrinsic capacity to color. Their colors might be six, while Eric's is 1,000. He's muddled so many colors over the years, he's created new colors that now he can draw upon."

Whether or not Cane will be able to thwart his nemesis remains to be seen -- especially because Colin (Tristan Rogers) will once again be stirring up trouble for his son. "What I like about what Chuck's done with the Jill/Cane thing is that Colin is in the middle of this," he previews. "We had a scene the other day where I find out that there are certain stipulations that now will take place if we get Chancellor, and how then does that affect my relationship with Jill, knowing that her allegiance may be lying toward Colin more than me? And at the same time, how does that affect Colin and Cane's relationship? Because Colin and Cane have a very interesting relationship... and I like the fact that this Jill/Cane/Chancellor thing will come to a head, and this Colin thing will be the cancer that could erode it all once it succeeds."

Trending

The father/son dynamic may seem trivial to some when it comes to the corporate takeover story, but Goddard feels that it's character relationships just like Cane and Colin's that keep Y&R going strong. "I'm a big stickler in history, and I probably don't say this to the people that I need to say it to, because I don't believe it's my place to tell writers how to write a show, but all you need to do to write a show well like The Young and the Restless is to go, 'What has happened to this person in the past? What is at stake if this comes out? Who are the people they have relationships with?' and then the show writes itself," he says. "We don't have to sit down and say, 'Well, if an iceberg fell into a city and half the town was frozen, who survives?' I mean, who cares? It comes down to 'Who is in a situation where they could lose everything they have, where an audience champions that person to overcome adversity?' and people will watch. That's just how it works. And I think we're doing that now with this Cane/Lily/Neil/Devon and Hilary storyline, because everybody is vested for their own personal reasons. Everything will eventually come to a head with everybody having something nasty to lose, and I think Chuck is doing a great job with it."

What do you think of Cane's decision to keep Hilary and Devon's affair a secret? And do you hope that LANE has the power to stay together? Or would you prefer to see Cane and Lily go their separate ways? Share your thoughts in our Comments section below, on our message boards, or by submitting Feedback..

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback