This past week on The Young and the Restless, everyone seemed to be picking a fight with someone -- but was the drama fun or cringe-worthy? A little of both, according to our Two Scoops columnist. Read on as he breaks down the latest happenings in Genoa City!
There was an interesting mix of storylines this past week on The Young and the Restless. It's hard to believe that we started the week with the Lucy/Faith underage drinking drama and ended up embroiled in the latest catfight between Phyllis and Diane -- especially because there were so many other people fightin' it out throughout the week!
I do have to wonder where exactly this storyline with Lucy and Faith is headed. Maybe nowhere? Maybe this is it -- just some simple drama between a teenage girl desperate to have an older friend? It certainly doesn't seem like it's going to be a cautionary tale about underage drinking because that blip in this storyline came and went within two episodes, and in a very anticlimactic fashion, everyone came out unscathed. I'd say I'm thankful that this tale didn't go as tragically as Cassie's storyline did when she died all those years ago, but I feel like it all has been a little lacking so far and could use something to make it more interesting.
They have set this storyline up to parallel Cassie's death storyline in a lot of ways, so it just falls a little flat when longtime viewers are comparing it to such an iconic storyline on the show. And it falls particularly more flat when all the buildup doesn't really lead anywhere interesting or worth caring about. Like, oh no, I'm so sad that Lucy had to leave a concert early and that Faith was minorly inconvenienced for a couple of hours by trying to do a nice thing for someone who looked up to her and wanted to spend time with her (yes, that was sacrcasm). Other than that, I'm sure Daniel will have some stern words with Lucy that includes grounding her, and I'm already bored just anticipating those scenes.
I do get why Faith is irritated with Lucy, though, and why she had some harsh words for Lucy when she found out what Lucy had done. After all, she had specifically told Lucy that she isn't into drinking alcohol, so it's definitely odd and off-putting that Faith would have even considered it. Of course, Lucy insisted that she brought the alcohol with her to "loosen up" and appear more fun so that Faith would want to hang out with her again. But if Lucy is trying to impress and befriend Faith, then she may want to start by listening when Faith talks and take her seriously when she says she doesn't think alcohol is cool because of her family's history. Teenagers can be pretty short-sighted sometimes, but Lucy just completely ignored every clue that would tell her this was a bad idea.
To be fair, it could be premature to say that this storyline with Lucy and Faith is headed nowhere. Maybe I'm being too picky because, as I mentioned earlier, it's hard not to compare it to the Cassie and Daniel storyline. But maybe the storyline doesn't need to go anywhere else. Maybe this is just meant to be a quick, one-and-done storyline that was written in an attempt to entice younger viewers to watch, which is a common practice each summer on soaps. It's also common for those teen summer storylines to be very hit-or-miss, so only time will tell which this ends up being.
While Faith was dealing with Lucy's bad decision, her mother, Sharon, was dealing with her own problems at home. Although, I guess you could call it more than just a problem that Sharon is seeing and being taunted by the ghost of the man she recently killed to save Faith's life. I didn't expect this twist when Sharon went off her bipolar meds, but it has certainly been devilishly fun. After all, it's always good to see Linden Ashby back in action as the dastardly Cameron. He's such a creep (Cameron, not Linden)! And I do wonder what Cameron keeps hinting at when he says Sharon summoned him in her mind for some reason. I'm afraid that he might drive her to do something awful before anyone is able to get her some real help. Bickering with a bloody ghost on a regular basis is likely to lead her to an even more severe breakdown than she's already having.
I keep wondering if this storyline will culminate in some sort of full-circle moment wherein Lucy ends up in grave danger because of Sharon, similar to how Cassie's life ended up in danger because of Daniel. Of course, Daniel wasn't directly responsible for what happened to Cassie in the way that I think Sharon may end up being responsible for something happening to Lucy. I don't think the current writers are brave enough to do something like kill off Lucy, but I do think something tragic is on the horizon. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking because I want this Lucy storyline to get more interesting!
Perhaps Nick will come to Sharon's rescue before anything too serious happens. Her other hallucinations she's been having about kissing Nick and getting back together with him seem to indicate that is what she wants to happen. But will Nick become too tied up in Summer's latest drama instead, as his daughter gears up for a custody battle with Kyle over Harrison? After all, everyone else in Summer and Kyle's orbit seems to be getting pulled into their messy situation.
I just think this whole custody storyline is ridiculous. I used to be a big fan of Summer's, but she has gotten more and more annoying in recent months. It's crazy that she is trying to get sole custody of a child that is not even biologically hers without just cause. I get that she has adopted Harrison and is legally his mother/guardian now, but Kyle is his biological father and has done nothing to warrant having his son taken away from him. What is Summer planning to tell the judge -- that she doesn't like the woman Kyle works with? I literally roll my eyes almost every time she is on-screen now.
Kyle hasn't exactly been an angel, but most everything he's thrown at Summer has been as a reaction to the actions she is taking. And at least he has other storylines going on that are separate from the custody drama. Of course, that might not be true anymore now that his two worlds have collided after Summer went running to her grandpa Victor -- Kyle's new boss! -- for help with the custody battle. I have a feeling that we weren't shown the full conversation that Kyle had with Victor during Friday's episode, and I'm nervous to find out what all was said. Kyle seemed pretty cool and collected afterwards when he met up with Claire and Harrison at the park, but he tends to hide his more negative emotions when he is around his son, so who knows how he was really feeling. Now that Summer has received a text from Kyle saying that they need to meet and talk, I am anxious for next week's episodes to see what Victor's influence is going to have on this storyline. Hopefully it will end it!
But it won't be the end for Summer, even if the matter of custody is resolved soon. I fully agree with Phyllis that Summer was foolish to go to him for help and that he will expect a favor from her in return in the near future. Phyllis knows how Victor operates all too well, and Summer should definitely heed her mother's warning about her grandfather. Summer was nave to think otherwise, and I can't wait until Victor comes to collect the debt she now owes him!
Even if the merit of the custody battle is absurd and Summer is mostly just annoying now, the storyline as a whole hasn't been terrible, and there are beats of it that I'm enjoying. I absolutely love how Diane called out Phyllis for "poking the bear" and encouraging Summer to go after full custody. She wasn't wrong in anything she said about Phyllis, but Phyllis gave it right back and pointed out what a hypocrite Diane was being when she called Phyllis out for faking her death and abandoning her family. At the start of the episode, when Phyllis congratulated Jack and Diane on their one-year wedding anniversary, silly me thought that they were actually going to all be able to have a cordial conversation. I definitely should have known better, because whenever Phyllis and Diane are in a room together, they can't seem to stop themselves from attacking one another.
It is crazy that it has been one year since Jack and Diane got married, though! Time really flew by because that feels like it was just a few months ago. It was nice that they were given some romantic scenes together this week and that their whole anniversary wasn't ruined by Kyle and Summer's (and Phyllis') drama. There was actually a surprising amount of romance this week mixed in with all the other craziness (maybe even a possible new romance forming right under our noses)!
Why does it feel like the writers are toying with the idea of putting Billy and Sally together as a couple? Ever since Adam and Chelsea had a one-night stand while they were out of town, we've been seeing Billy and Sally commiserate with one another about their relationships on quite a few occasions. This week, Billy even consoled Sally with a hug and was there for her with a shoulder to cry on when she confided that it had been one year since her child with Adam had died and that Adam hadn't brought it up at all yet. She is leaning on Billy for emotional support while Adam is embroiled in trying to support his son, Connor, as he adjusts to moving back to Genoa City while managing his OCD diagnosis and symptoms.
I was happy when Adam finally got clued in as to why Sally was a little "off," and they were able to give us some good scenes between the two of them as they discussed the child they almost had together. I'm still really upset about the loss of Ava, too, because we need an Adam/Sally child on the show! The writers have been putting such a distance between them lately that we haven't seen much of them to root for lately. I'm a little sick of the "on-again, off-again" game that the writers keep playing with them.
I'm still really annoyed that Adam and Chelsea slept together -- and she better not end up pregnant! It's hard for me to believe he would cheat on Sally, but I also know how much Adam hates Billy, and I wonder if subconsciously, he just wanted to "one-up" Billy by having a drunken one-night stand with his girlfriend. If Billy wants to hold on to his relationship with Chelsea, he may want to stop pressing for answers about what happened between her and Adam when they were in Baltimore together. But, of course, Billy thinks Adam has done something wrong, so he's like a dog without a bone, looking to uncover what's hiding in the dirt.
Billy wasn't just arguing with Adam this week, either! He and Lily also went to blows over his role at Abbott-Chancellor. I appreciate the effort he is making to eliminate some of the drama he brings to the table by taking on a "silent partner" role at the company, but does that mean they will also remove "Abbott" from the new name "Abbott-Chancellor"? From a business perspective, giving their customers familiarity by reinstating the name Chancellor Industries would do far better for them than rebranding yet again. Having Abbott in the name is enough to make Victor come after the company, so Billy may as well just maintain his position, because Victor is not going to slow down his efforts to acquire the company and grow the Newman Enterprises empire. Lily is about to learn firsthand just how ruthless Victor can be once he has his sights set on something.
Well, that's all from me for this week, folks! Don't forget to hit the Comments here on the site and on social media posts throughout the week to share your opinions, too!
Until next time,Vance
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