Artificial Intelligence takes a winter break: The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the week of January 19

The Young and the Restless showed us last week just how quickly a frontburner tale can take a break (even a brief one), and how quickly the backburner blues can melt away for characters who've been missing in action!

What happened on The Young and the Restless

Esther Valentine (Kate Linder) is running Crimson Lights like a well-oiled machine on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

We've been hearing about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Cane's (Billy Flynn) plan to rule all of Genoa City by bringing the town's elite business people to their knees since last summer. The AI ball has been volleyed back and forth, finally ending up in Victor's (Eric Braeden) hands. He used it against Cane, but now, as a result, the program is backfiring on Victor!

Throughout this time, we haven't seen many of these business folks actually working. Occasionally, Jack (Peter Bergman) and Diane (Susan Walters) will be seen at Jabot talking business, but it's rare to see, for example, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) actually running Chancellor Enterprises.

Frankly, the hardest working person in Genoa City is Esther Valentine (Kate Linder), who can be seen handing coffee to patrons at Crimson Lights. Oh, sure, the interpersonal dynamics are fully in play in the show's business storylines. It's fascinating watching Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) play cat and mouse with Cane, and to watch her lord over her foes about being the one who will run Newman.

But would it hurt to actually see the Newmans, the Abbotts, et. al., actually doing work? We see Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) and Adam (Mark Grossman) talking to underlings at Newman Media, but rarely do we actually see folks working.

Devon, Abby, and Dominic

Dominic (Ethan Ray Clark), Devon (Bryton James), and Abby (Melissa Ordway) on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

On Friday's episode, the show shifted some absent players to the forefront. We're talking about finally seeing Devon (Bryton James), Abby (Melissa Ordway), and their son, Dominic (welcome to daytime, Ethan Ray Clark), having some overdue family time.

These weren't the only three to pop up on our screens after an absence. It looks like Mariah's (Camryn Grimes) obsession with Dominic, whom she carried to term after being held hostage with him. Who other than troublemaking Ian Ward (Ray Wise) put this idea in Mariah's head? Real or not, it's always great to see menacing Ian back on our screens. Why, just when he says someone's name ("Oh, Nicole"!), we get a chill up our spines!

We know Ian escaped death the last time he was on the show in the flesh. He can pop back up as the real deal in Genoa City anytime, as far as we're concerned!

A for Amy

Amy Lewis (Valarie Pettiford) and Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic) on The Young and the Restless | Image: JPI

It was also terrific seeing Amy (Valarie Pettiford) back on the scene in Friday's episode. Amy's son, Damian (Jermaine Rivers), may be gone, but Amy still has plenty of other relationships in town. We saw her dole out advice to surrogate son, Nate (Sean Dominic), and begin to make inroads with Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver). It would have been so easy for Y&R to just ship Amy out of town, but keeping Daytime Emmy nominee Pettiford on the canvas enriches it. Viewers watched Amy's cancer battle with great interest, and we were rooting for her!

The Winters clan, including Nate Hastings, needs a family matriarch. Amy fills this role nicely. She has roots in the community; she's friends with Traci (Beth Maitland), Danny (Michael Damian), and Lauren (Tracey Bregman), and has been for decades. Here's hoping we see more of Amy in the future!

Boxing day

Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) learned how to box from the best -- his father, Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

We still don't know how Matt Clark faked his death and remade himself as Mitch Bacall. What did he do for money? Didn't he need a Social Security number to get a job? Anyone who thought that it would have been easier for Y&R to have created a brand new villain may have had in mind the value in using flashbacks in this story.

We're not talking about using flashbacks of Matt (he was played by Eddie Cibrian and Rick Hearst, now, Ric on General Hospital in the past). But Y&R still effectively used flashbacks by digging into the vault and using scenes of Victor (Eric Braeden) teaching Nicholas (Joshua Morrow) how to box after he suffered a defeat from, yep, you guessed it, Matt Clark.

A show's strongest asset, after great writing, of course, is its veteran cast and history. Y&R gave veteran viewers a treat by showing flashbacks of Victor instructing his son on the finer art of fistacuffs. Victor not only showed his son how to box, but he also told him about the merits of only using your fists when it's fully necessary!

Surprise twist

Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) could be throwing away the best thing that ever happened to him -- Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope), on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

Billy (Jason Thompson), Billy, Billy! We thought we knew you! You promised to stand by Sally (Courtney Hope) and put her ahead of your burning desire to stick it to Victor and Newman Enterprises by getting Chancellor Industries, the company your mother, Jill (Jess Walton), sold to Victor.

It's hard to wrap our heads around why Billy is so obsessed with Chancellor. Were he and the late Katherine Chancellor (the late, great Jeanne Cooper) particularly close? Or is this really about Billy having a self-destructive side that he doesn't even see?

We're not sure which person we feel worse for -- Billy or Sally, who gave her all to Billy. And now, he's throwing it all away. (Read our Performer of the Week for Y&R story on Courtney Hope here.) The worst part is that Billy doesn't even see what's going on! He thinks he can run Chancellor and stand by Sally, who's running Abbott Communications at the same time. But it's not just running Chancellor, is it? It's getting back into the ring with Victor. He won't let the company go easily, and Victor will also increase his vendetta against the Abbotts -- if such a thing is possible!

The Un-welcome Matt

Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) and his reign of terror in Genoa City may not be over just yet on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

It's great having Roger Howarth back on our screens. The actor has been playing baddies we love to hate since his Daytime Emmy-winning turn as Todd Manning on One Life to Live in the early 1990s.

It's frustrating to watch the Newmans have control over Matt only to watch him slip away. We're guessing that Victor has Matt locked up in the basement, where he once kept Michael Scott (Nick Benedict) and, years later, Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk). That dungeon isn't fool-proof, though. Could Matt escape again? Will said escape be tied to the AI program?

While the Matt and AI stories are far from over, we're hoping that Y&R continues to remember what the show did on Friday's episode, and that's that there are a lot of other characters in Genoa City, including Devon, Abby, Dominic, Lily, Esther, Holden (Nathan Owens), Amy, and Nate!

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.