Two Scoops: Employment Opportunities and May/October Romances: The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the Week of September 14

We have less than two months before the stories of The Young and the Restless new head writers begin. We can't help but wonder which of the show's current tales will still be on the front burner when the transition continues. Maybe some of them. Maybe none of them. We can't help but wonder what the new writing team will do with the current storylines. We know what we would do.

Who's Minding the Story

We actually do see Jack, Ashley, and Traci at their family business, Jabot Cosmetics | Image: JPI

We keep the TV on after Y&R airs each day, and watch The Bold and the Beautiful. Almost every day, we see the Forresters and Katie Logan Spencer working in the fashion world. The show is set in the design world, in case you didn't know. You'd only need to watch a few episodes to figure that out, as characters are seen designing, adjusting gowns on models, and holding fashion shows.

We're damned if we know what the businesses on Y&R do. Well, that's not entirely true. We know what Jabot Cosmetics does. They make cosmetics and perfumes. We don't see them working often, but we see the Jabot logo in the office.

But the rest? What does Newman Enterprises do? Or Chancellor Industries? Or Winters? Bill is determined to run Chancellor Industries, but it might help if we knew what the company did. No, we don't need to be presented with the minutiae, but give us an idea of what the companies are all about.

We're expected to believe that there are all these high stakes in the business world in Genoa City. But there's no real connection between the executive characters and the audience because the viewers can't relate to what's going on.

May/October Romances

Nate and Stephanie are playing doctor | Image: JPI

In the grand scheme of things, there's not that much of an age difference between the actors who play Nate and Stephanie, and Victoria and Kyle, but there is something very May/October about their on-screen relationships.

When Dr. Stephanie Simmons was first on Y&R in the mid-1990s, Nate was a toddler. She's got about 24 years on him. The show's addressing that. And we've seen older male characters take wives who are young enough to be their daughters numerous times. But we saw Stephanie on the show when Nate was in diapers. The show's moving forward with "Stephanate." (That's the "smush" name we're giving them!)

Ditto. Victoria and Kyle. Let's suggest "Kicki" or "Kictoria" as a "smush" name because "Vyle" sounds, well, vile to us. There's roughly a 19-year age difference between Kyle and Victoria, as he was born in 2001, and she was born in 1982. As we did with Stephanie, we saw Vicki as a grown woman when Kyle was a mere infant.

How will Claire and Summer respond to the fact that the man they both loved is now with Victoria? Claire is Vicki's daughter. Summer was Kyle's wife and is Vicki's niece. Paging Leanna Love! This relationship is a scandal that needs to be reported by Spectra Charles Communications!

Of course, Kyle and Vicki aren't the only "Vyle" thing that's vile that's going on in town. Phyllis's support of Matt Clark is, at best, admirable. Phyllis truly believes that Matt has genuine remorse for his past actions.

As someone who has lived outside the law and gotten away with attempted murder (rental car, Christine, Paul, remember?), Phyllis is going to be sympathetic to Matt. We're surprised she is, though, because the one person, outside of her kids, whom Phyllis loves the most in the world is her ex-husband, Nick Newman.

Matt turned Nick's life upside down. Let's not even address his horrific crimes in the 1990s and early 2000s. Let's talk about what he did this time around. He ran Noah off the road and nearly killed him.

He caused Nick to run his car off the road, which resulted in Nick needing surgery and then getting hooked on pain pills. Matt fed Nick's growing addiction to pain pills and managed to get someone to sell Nick some pills that were even worse than the ones he'd been taking.

Matt kidnapped Noah and Sharon and locked them in an abandoned garage. He then set off a bomb, nearly killing Sharon, Noah, Adam, and Nick. He's got Phyllis's support because Sienna conked him on his head, and he got amnesia and then had an epiphany that he'd done some very bad things.

If he's truly had an epiphany, he should want to leave town. In fairness to Matt, he's offered to do that. He's talked about it. But Phyllis keeps begging him to stay. We've seen her show bad judgment before, like when she allied herself with Jeremy Stark. What happens, Phyllis, if Matt gets hit on the head again and turns bad?

A Place for Patty and Kitty

Patty has someone to talk to now that she's found another Kitty | Image: JPI

Jack faked a heart attack, hoping to draw Patty out of hiding. How was that going to work? Once Mr. Furley found out that Jack was up to another ruse, Patty was going to stay far away. Seriously, Patty didn't fall for it! Why haven't the Abbotts hired personal security to protect them 24/7 since Patty is so quick with a knife? Sure, Jack mentioned that he had security in the front of the house, but we might feel more confident about that if we could actually see them.

Patty certainly had no problem getting a package delivered to the Abbott dining room table. WHERE is the security team? Jack shouldn't have opened Patty's letter. The police should have -- for, you know, clues.

Phyllis and Matt had a plan to bring Patty to justice, which would endear Genoa City society to the duo. Who's going to tell them that's not how it works?

The plan to get rid of Patty is quite simple. Just get her a job working at a company in Genoa City. Then, she'll never be seen again!

The Nick of Time

Nick's out of rehab. Yay! We've seen him reunite with his parents and with his, ex, Sharon. Nick is ready to resume his life and viewers are ready to see him stop wearing baseball caps backwards and casual clothes.

Does Nick have a sponsor as he transitions back into the world? Maybe he should have Nate as a sponsor. Nate went through major surgery and doesn't seem to be suffering any pain management issues. He could help Nick with some guided visualization and show him how to stay on top of his recovery.

Matt thinks it'd be a great idea if Nick and Sharon got back together. So does a large portion of Y&R's fan base and, naturally, all of the "Shick" fans out there. Matt has said he's leaving town. He probably can't find work. All the good jobs are taken.

Nick recounted meeting Marie and how she affected his life. Marie called Nick out on his hero complex. "Good. Somebody needed to since you wouldn't let me visit," Vicki quipped. Marie had a big impact on Nick's life. It's hard to conceive that we've seen the last of her. We'd love to see her come back, perhaps with a baby on board? That would throw a wrench into Nick and Sharon's inevitable reunion

Nick's big desire to return to the business world seems odd. Nick's never had a big interest in Newman Enterprises the way Adam and Vicki have had. Nick made a big deal out of starting his own company, Dark Horse. He got an office in a skyscraper and he shaved off his facial hair Nick was also set to conquer the business world. But...that venture didn't last long, did it?

Victor's afraid of the stress that Nick would be under if he returned to Newman? He shouldn't be. It doesn't make a difference if Nick goes back to his dad's company. As we stated early on this Two Scoops column, we hardly ever see anyone work in Genoa City!

Should Y&R show the appearance of characters working at the various companies that they own? Sound off in the comments section!