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The Young and the Restless prides itself on keeping a focus on veteran players. It's rare not to see Jack, Victor, Nikki, Nicholas, Sharon, Phyllis, Lily, Lauren, Cricket, and other familiar faces in the forefront. Last week, Y&R gave us the return of another familiar face, whom we need to see more often. Yep, we're talking about Nina Webster, played by Daytime Emmy-winner Tricia Cast.
Girls Night Out
Traci (Beth Maitland), who is not only the heart and soul of the Abbott clan but is also, in many ways, Y&R itself, Cricket (Lauralee Bell), and Nina spent a fun evening testing out cocktails for Danny (Michael Damian) at The Shadow Room, now that he's taken over as part-owner/manager.
It felt like there was a fourth at the table -- the viewers, who picked up with pals as if no time had passed since they were all first on the show, starting in the 1980s!
The show got an "A" for history in that all the past storyline references, both spoken and unspoken, were there as the trio reflected on their lives. As Danny is going to be staying in Genoa City more often now, as he's pulled back on touring, and Christine is the city's new district attorney, it only makes sense for Cricket's bestie, Nina, to move back to Genoa City, too.
The show teased us that Nina's found a new love interest, or at least a good pal, as she mentioned she'd met someone in grief counseling who is helping her move forward in life following the death of Chance.
She's Unstoppable
There's so much that Nina could do when she's in town. First, let's not forget that Cast can go up against pretty much anyone and hold her own. As a teenager, the storyline had her pitted against the combined efforts of both Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper) and Jill Foster Abbott (Jess Walton). We'd never say that Kay and Jill were outnumbered, but they came pretty darn close, given that Cast brought such passion and willfulness to Nina.
We saw last year Nina rip into Cane (Billy Flynn) for his inadvertent role in the death of her son, Chance (Conner Floyd, now Chad on Days of our Lives). Is Nina really going to let Cane off the hook with that one scene? Cane brought Chance to France last year because he thought his life was in danger. But...it wasn't. The killer, who destroyed three lives, including his own, was Carter (Vincent Stalba), Cane's misguided aide. Carter wasn't going to kill Cane; he was out to kill people who he thought were a threat to his boss.
Take a Chance on Chance
Something doesn't add up. Plus, Cane's memorial was in Los Angeles. Why? Why not have him be buried in Genoa City? Far be it from us to pitch a storyline beyond what we've written so far, but it only makes sense for Y&R to bring Chance back if there's going to be a war over Chancellor Industries. He and his father, Phillip III (Thom Bierdz), are the last in the Chancellor bloodline!
Could that battle have an ally in Nina as Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) goes to war against Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) for control of the late Katherine's company? Nina inherited millions from the "late" Phillip III, who turned out not to be dead. He's living back in Australia, where he escaped to in 1989, so he could live his life as a gay man without family pressure.
Times have changed. Perhaps Phillip can come back, and he and Nina can be the ones to make sure Katherine's legacy remains intact. They knew her far better than anyone else currently on the cavas save for Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), Danny, and Cricket.
Hard Work Pays Off
Many of the business power players in Genoa City, except for Victor Newman, a self-made man, all have inherited wealth. All the Abbott siblings inherited Jabot Cosmetics from their father, John (Jerry Douglas). Even if Billy takes control of Chancellor Industries, it'll be because he is John's heir.
Lily, Devon (Bryton James), Kyle (Michael Mealor), Abby (Melissa Ordway), Victoria (Amelia Heinle), and others are all business players in Genoa City, but they're only in those positions because their parents or grandparents became successes in their own right. Even Adam (Mark Grossman), who graduated from Harvard Business School, got a leg up by being Victor's son.
Rare exceptions are Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) and Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver), who came from nothing and fight for what they want.
Traditionally, soaps have been about "haves" and "have-nots," e.g., the upscale Forresters who run Forrester Creations vs. Spectra Fashions, "the affordable line" by upstart Sally Spectra (the late, great Darlene Conley).
Nina Brings Something Unique to the Canvas
Y&R needs a "have-not." (Actually, it needs a whole "have-not" family.) Sure, Nina inherited Phillip's wealth, but what's the status of that, as Phillip, you know, came back from the dead? Through Nina's writing, which brought her to Hollywood, she became a self-made woman, financially independent. Despite her being a success, you never get the sense that Nina's not a scrapper. She's someone who's going to fight for her friends and family to the end.
Cricket sure could use her friend sticking around town. Katherine's legacy could use her. Ultimately, Y&R needs this character. Dan O'Connor and Jamey Giddens, the ball's in your court!
Monopoly Board Game
Meanwhile, Genoa City power players in business continue to talk about trading, buying, selling, renaming, and taking over companies like they're playing Monopoly.
Even the classic Monopoly pieces are similar to the Y&R characters. Victor's the Top Hat, as the hat is an iconic symbol of wealth from the game's early days. Phyllis could be the Battleship as the fiery redhead takes no prisoners when she's out to get what she wants. Billy's the Scottie Dog because every time he comes up with a new plan, he's a "dog with a bone," and will not let go of it. There's no walking Billy out of his current scheme. All it's going to take is for someone to find a cancelled check from Chancellor Industries to John Abbott to end Billy's current quest to win his mom's approval.
Business stories and power struggle tales become highly unrelatable for two reasons. We rarely ever see anyone actually working. People just talk about it as they sit around the bar at the GCAC, having dinner at Society, or grabbing a latte at Crimson Lights.
We know Jabot Cosmetics is in the perfume and cosmetics business, but what do any of these other companies do? No one knew how to run an oil company after watching Dallas all those years ago, but didn't the show have a way of seamlessly working into its scripts things like drilling for oil, tankers, variances, refineries, and government bids for offshore drilling so that you could appreciate the stakes that were involved when the Ewings, Cliff Barnes, and the cartel would go to war?
We don't want to watch accountants balance books for quarterly reports. That'd be a snoozefest. However, there should be some semblance shown to viewers of what all these power players do!
Play It, Don't Say It
We saw Phyllis close a few deals from Victor's office. And we saw Jack and Diane discuss a lipstick that could hold a Jabot perfume product? It was a while ago. We may not have that right, but the important thing is showing the Newmans, Abbotts, et. al. at work will help us become more invested in the business/power storylines. Just who are we rooting for and why?
Last year, Cane threatened to use AI to take over all the companies, and everyone would work for him. He felt this was going to get Lily back in his life. It turns out all he needed to do was donate bone marrow to Malcolm (Shemar Moore).
Now, Billy has found one document that has him convinced that he and his siblings own Chancellor Industries. We're guessing that in real life, such a document would be challenged in court by the players involved. Meanwhile, all the thousands of combined workers at Chancellor Industries, Newman Enterprises, Winters, Inc., Summers Conglomorate, Jabot Cosmetics, Arabesque, and probably even Crimson Lights live in fear over how the power plays create stress and pain in their lives.
Another Tie to the Past
We can't see Billy and Lily not ending up in court. Paging Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) -- whose side will he take? And the show will need at least one other lawyer to represent the other side. Maybe Robert Gant could reprise his role as Mitchell Sherman's (William Wintersole) son, David?
Trending
Mitchell was a fixture on Y&R going way back to 1975. It would only make sense to bring his son back because he'd have access to some of his father's old records, which could hold the key to this loan that John Abbott made to Phillip Chancellor II (Donnelly Rhodes).
Just like it'd only make sense to have Nina living in Genoa City once again.
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