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AlsoThe Young and the Restless has some of the strongest male characters on soaps -- there's Victor, Jack, Nick, and others. But let's not forget the dynamic women on the canvas. Two in particular, Victoria and Abby, caught our eye this week. And they're not the only ones who are in the midst of some sudsy drama!
What happened on The Young and the Restless
Victor Newman’s (Eric Braeden) daughters took center stage in Genoa City as Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Abby (Melissa Ordway) deal with frontburner dramas!
Let’s start with Victoria. We were a little frustrated by Vicki backtracking on her plan to use Johnny (Paxton Mishkind) and Katie (Sienna Mercuri) as pawns against Billy (Jason Thompson). When she told them she had every intention of making sure Billy’s kids knew how he’d hurt their grandfather, we felt for sure that she meant it! Billy wasn’t happy about his ex’s threat! Then…Vicki told Nate (Sean Dominic) she backed down. She didn’t want to drag them into this mess, and she was shipping them off to boarding school.
But then, Vicki reminded us why she is indeed Victor Newman’s daughter. She shared with Chelsea (Melissa Ordway), Adam (Mark Grossman), and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) her plan to fly to Italy and enlist Summer (Allison Lanier) in her quest to make Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) give back the company. It’s actually a very smart move. Billy can’t do much to get Newman back to Victor and his family. It’s all in Phyllis’s hands since she’s the AI-stealing whiz.
Does this mean Lanier is set to pop up on-screen again? We hope so. As both Nick and Phyllis’s daughter, Summer brings a unique perspective to the drama.
We’ve seen Vicki get in Phyllis’s face like she never has before (but then the stakes have never been this high either). Phyllis claimed that she didn’t need security to toss Vicki out of Victor’s office, but we’re not so sure about that. Queen Victoria is not going to let Phyllis and Billy get away with what they’ve done!
Dear Abby
Abby and Devon (Bryton James) have been simmering on the back of the stove for too long. Before the story of Dominic’s (Ethan Ray Clark) kidnapping by unbalanced Mariah (Camryn Grimes) started up, we couldn't think of the last time the Chancellor mansion set had been seen. We feared it’d been forgotten in light of the makeovers the Newman ranch and the Abbott home received. Had Katherine’s home gone the way of Paul’s office and Cricket and Danny’s apartment, the one where the elevator opened into the living room?
Sure, soaps aren’t about sets (except sometimes they are). The Chancellor Mansion dates back to 1974 – that’s over 50 years! Sure, there have been renovations here and there, but you can’t tell us that if someone was flipping channels and they spied the black and white squares on the Chancellor Mansion floor, they wouldn’t stop and say, “Hey! I remember that!”
And Y&R sure gave Abby and Devon (Bryton James) a dramatic storyline! Thankfully, it’s not tied to Artificial Intelligence or boardroom battles or back-from-the-dead villains, which we have plenty of on our screens!
You can read about Ordway’s work as Abby here in our Performer of the Week for Y&R feature. But it bears repeating that the actress is hitting this story out of the (Chancellor) park! (Pun intended!)
The Bobbi Adler “Told You So” Dance
We need a scorecard to keep up with the AI battles on Y&R. Cane’s currently the odd-man out, and Victor and Nikki reveled in Cane’s (Billy Flynn) defeat. Cane went over to the Newman ranch to ask Victor to let Lily (Christel Khalil) and their twins, Charlie and Mattie, go. Nikki and Victor both rubbed it in Cane’s face that he shouldn’t have gone after them, and he never should have trusted Phyllis.
True to form, Victor is demanding that Cane get him his company back if he wants to see Lily and the kids (Charlie, played by Noah Alexander Gerry, and Mattie, played by Lexie Stevenson) again. Cane saying he had no power didn’t make a difference. As far as Victor is concerned, Cane still has to make it happen. “Figure it out! Find a way!” Victor barked at Cane. Wow! Ruthless, Victor!
Kudos to Y&R for keeping Lily an important part of the storyline while Khalil is temporarily away from the show.
Also, Nikki had a standout scene this week when she blasted Billy (Jason Thompson) for gloating over taking charge at Chancellor, the company of her late friend, Katherine.
Read all about it
If Sally (Courtney Hope) is so opposed to Billy’s dirty dealings with Phyllis, why did she accept Newman Media from him? It sure worked out for Audra (Zuleyka Silver). Sally was able to hire her pal, and if there’s anyone in town who deserves a break, it’s Audra.
While we applaud Sally for walking out on power-hungry Billy, who can't see what's truly important, the fact that she's hanging onto Newman Media is curious. Perhaps Sally has a plan? We wouldn't be surprised if that were the case!
Maybe she hung onto Newman Media because she's walked away from Billy. She told Audra he needs to do what's best for him. Maybe Sally needs to do the same?
In defense of Victor
We’re not graduates of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, but we’re not sure how this AI-stealing companies story would play out in the real world. Billy, Cane, and Phyllis are all quick to say that Victor losing everything is payback for all the things he’s done in the past. But has Victor made moves in the business world that are illegal? Ruthless? Sure. Unethical? Probably. But illegal?
So, what is the business high ground that Billy, Phyllis, and Cane are standing on right now? Jill (Jess Walton) legally sold Chancellor Industries to Victor. Billy has no right to be a part of stealing the company and then claiming it’s all justified.
Hate the game – don’t hate the player.
Plus, who is running all these companies when all we are seeing is people fighting over who owns them? Yes, we get that budgets for day players are likely small these days, but why can’t Y&R show us employees of these companies (Newman, Chancellor, Newman Media) holding down the fort while the “grown-ups” figure out who owns what?
Victor, Jack (Peter Bergman), and other players in this are all multi-millionaires (well, we think they still are). But what about all the little people who are making the companies run on a day-to-day basis? Who are they? How are they making this work when the ownerships of these companies keep changing as quickly as they do?
Nick Newman, Highs and Lows
We’re not sure if Y&R is advancing with a storyline with Nick getting hooked on pills or not. Maybe that’s the point? If Nick is on pills, then he’s going to appear pain-free when he’s riding high. However, there are days that he seems to be in a lot of pain, more pain than he was in the day before. Do we need to page the continuity police or a therapist to get Nick the help he needs? Either way, Morrow has been hitting this storyline out of the park! The actor hasn’t submitted his name for the Daytime Emmys in a while (he was robbed of a nod when Cassie, played by Camryn Grimes, died). Hopefully, he can be convinced to throw his hat in the ring next year. The man has been doing award-winning work.
The Honeymooners
It’s great to see Danny (Michael Damian) and Cricket (Lauralee Bell) back in Genoa City, following their honeymoon. Daniel (Michael Graziadei) certainly needs his dad, Danny, as he’s in love with Tessa (Cait Fairbanks), who feels that she and Mariah (Camryn Grimes) have hit an impasse.
Tessa’s right, by the way. How many times did she beg and plead with Mariah to open up about what happened to her on that business trip? Mariah kept crying and crying, but it took her forever to share even some of the details. Then, Mariah went off to get help, but that didn’t work. (Right, Abby, Devon?) Honestly, Christine should represent Mariah in a lawsuit against that last clinic that "treated" her. Mariah did not leave there a well woman!
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The timing of Cricket’s return is working out for Mariah, though. She is being handled by one of the best (and compassionate) attorneys in Genoa City. But Mariah needs more than a good lawyer. She needs a solid therapist. Hopefully, Y&R can cast a day player psychiatrist and help Mariah have the breakthrough that she so desperately needs.
Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.
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