The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the Week of February 23: showdowns, a surprise spring, Summer and Shrek 

The Young and the Restless continued to mix corporate intrigue with interpersonal relationships with key power players. Plus, a surprise return is on the horizon!

What happened on The Young and the Restless

Victoria (Amelia Heinle) had a great idea when she conceived her plan to go to Italy and enlist Summer (Allison Lanier) as an ally to get her mother, Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), to give Newman Enterprises back to Victor (Eric Braeden). So what's the holdup? The longer she waits, the more time Phyllis has to negate Vicki's plan.

Vicki's been talking about going to Italy for at least a few days now. What's taking her so long? Soap viewers are used to seeing characters make cross-country trips and overseas journeys during a show's prologue! Why haven't we seen Vicki's plan be put into motion? It'll be worth the wait if it brings Daytime Emmy nominee Allison Lanier (Summer) back to Genoa City!

Sally v Chelsea

Sally (Courtney Hope) has the upper hand with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) now that she's accepted Billy's gift (Jason Thompson) of Newman Media. The two women have mostly acted cordially to one another, no easy feat given that Chelsea slept with Adam (Mark Grossman) when he was still with Sally. When the two had a showdown at Crimson Lights, the two women got heated with one another, but they tried to find common ground -- like helping Billy. Sally reminded Chelsea of her con artist days, noting that she's not so perfect when it comes to underhanded deals. Esther (Kate Linder) could have charged admission to this face-off!

Mariah's madness

Mariah (Carmyn Grimes) kidnapping Dominic (Ethan Ray Clark) cannot and should not be treated lightly. Abby (Melissa Ordway) was right to point out that the long-term damage to her son was unknown. That point got driven home when Dom had a nightmare and ran to both Abby and Devon (Bryton James) for support.

Soaps used to be morality plays. Characters would do something bad, and they would have to pay for their wicked ways, one way or another. Mariah truly needs to realize that what she did was wrong. Soap fans love a good redemption storyline, however. Let's hope that Mariah is given a chance to get her act together!

Mind games

Phyllis might need a mental health day when she's done overseeing the running of Newman Enterprises and all the other businesses she picked up using Cane's AI program. Her talk with Sharon (Sharon Case) was fascinating -- and earned both Stafford and Case our Performer of the Week honors for Y&R.

We couldn't tell if Sharon was playing Phyllis or if she was genuinely trying to reach her. We may never know because Nick interrupted the two just as Phyllis was getting truly pensive.

Thank you for being a friend

Sharon may not be the only one playing Phyllis, or the only one trying to be her friend. We were reminded that Lauren (Tracey Bregman) and Phyllis have been pals for quite some time. Phyllis has had a lot of interactions with folks who aren't her pals. It was nice to see Lauren be there for her friend. We shouldn't have been surprised that Phyllis offered her pal a job. The question remains is whether or not Lauren will accept.

This could be the biggest Trojan Horse move that Y&R has pulled off in a long time. Phyllis doesn't trust Cane. She doesn't fully trust Sharon, and she knows she sure can't trust Nick. Some may have forgotten just how manipulative Lauren can be. If she were able to return control of Newman Enterprises to Victor, she could ask the mogul for anything -- like leaving her husband, Michael (Christian LeBlanc), alone!

Cane hires Shrek

Phyllis' overtaking Cane with chloroform was a power play that has forever changed their relationship. There's no way he can ever trust her again. We doubted that Cane was serious when he left those friendly messages on Phyllis's voicemail. But clearly, he's not going to be used by her again. That's why when Phyllis dropped by Cane's train, she found that he had a big bodyguard working for him now. Phyllis tried to make light of the guard's presence, calling him 'Shrek," referring to the oversized Disney character.

But Phyllis knew she wasn't going to get past the large guard easily, so she gave Cane some time. This makes us wonder again why the Newmans, the Abbotts, and anyone else who can afford personal security doesn't employ it? Devon and Abby are also two people who should make sure there's a guard around. Mariah's still out on bail, after all!

Soaps 101

Soap fans have come to expect powder room showdowns between dueling divas on their favorite daytime dramas. That's what we got when Diane (Susan Walters) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) went at it in the ladies' lounge at the Genoa City Athletic Club. Not every showdown in Genoa City can take place at Crimson Lights. Y&R can revisit this set anytime!

Jack and Victor got in on it, too, as the Abbott exec made some digs against Victor now that he doesn't have control of his beloved Newman Enterprises anymore.

A kiss is just a kiss

One of the many, many subplots related to the whole AI storyline is how it's affecting Vicki and Nate's (Sean Dominic) potential new romance. The two have been slowly working their way back towards each other and even shared a kiss last week (yay!), but Vicki knowing about Victor using Lily (Christel Khalil) as a pawn and not telling him could torpedo the duo's blossoming romance.

A bad penny

Trending

We learned off-camera that Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) has once again managed to elude the police. The character is even a bigger threat to the Newmans than the AI program is! It's a smidge anticlimactic that such a twist takes place off-screen! Watching Matt smirk his way to freedom as the Newmans watched helplessly in court would have been a delicious scene!

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

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

Quick Links

More from SoapCentral