Have Faith, but leave it up to Chance: The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the week of January 6, 2025

What a week on The Young and the Restless when Sharon got a blast from the past, Billy told everyone his secret plans, and Nick wanted everyone to stop talking.

Faith No More

Sharon’s been missing since New Year’s, and depending on who you are in Genoa City, the concern level will vary. If you’re Faith, you’re hysterical. Wait, no you’re not. Yes, you are. Settle down. Now shriek. Your choice, it’s completely interchangeable. One second, Faith was yelling at Mariah and Tessa like she was unhinged, and the next, she was sitting in an armchair, noting that Ian sounded reasonable. Who is this girl? She had the right message, but the delivery confirmed she wasn’t swapped at birth.

Although shrill about it at times, it seemed like Faith was the only one who cared that Sharon was missing. Mariah and Tessa came over after calling Sharon all night to avail, only to tell Faith to calm down and stop overreacting, then went back to talking about Tessa’s not-an-asthma-attack. Nick tried calming Faith down at one point by suggesting that her mom just wanted some time alone. Huh? I know none of them have had a good night’s sleep, but that made no sense.

Faith recapped, but let’s do it again: Sharon was feeling better and wanted to meet them at Society to celebrate. She left after Mariah and before Nick and Faith. Sharon didn’t arrive at Society, but guess who did? Family archnemesis, Ian Ward. This was the easiest bouncing ball to follow, but somehow, Nick dropped it.

Not A Chance

Nick met with Chance, who’s back on the case, in his favorite non-disclosure booth at Crimson Lights. “The case” is supposed to be about Heather’s death, but the lines are getting blurred now. He’s got the murder investigation, the running-Phyllis-off-the-road mystery person, Sharon’s disappearance, and the why-is-Ian-Ward-here question. Granted, the last one isn’t really a case, but it’s going to be.

So Nick finds out from Chance that they pulled Sharon’s car from the river, but she wasn’t in it. Nick wonders if that means Sharon didn’t drown. Chance shrugs that the doors and windows were closed, so maybe she made it out before the car took a nose dive off the bridge. Maybe?? She’s Sharon, not Houdini. And then Nick started guessing all these scenarios like she could have hit her head and is stumbling around town, forgetful of who she is and how to answer her phone. Or maybe she is knocked out somewhere. Or maybe she’s at the spa.

The conversation went nowhere, so Nick invited Chance back to the ranch, apparently, and it’s a good thing he did. Nick was never going to mention to Chance that Ian was back in town. So you can imagine Chance’s surprise when the first thing out of Victor’s mouth was that Ian Ward paid a visit, and he thinks Ian killed Heather and kidnapped Sharon. Say what?! Chance is blown away. I’m not sure if it was because he believed Victor at face value or if it was his New Year’s resolution to accept it when he was given a clue. Regardless, Chance wanted all the details.

And for some reason, Nick said no. Shut it down immediately. And why? He was tired of talking, and it was time to take action! Nick stormed off in a huff, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if he was suddenly fired up to actually find Sharon, or if he legitimately didn’t want the cop in the room to have a good lead on her disappearance. Even Michael and Chance were confused, so Victor told all of us he was pretty sure Nick was going after Ian.

Knock Three Times

Keeping in mind that Victor’s security guards are supposed to be watching Ian’s every move, one would think that they would notice various women coming and going with coffee throughout the day. Alas, they have not. So Jordan has managed to come and go in disguise to get her oolong tea with a double shot of sassafrass without anyone bothering her. But when Nick came a-knockin’, she was rattled. She hid in the bathroom while Nick tore into Ian, accusing him of taking Sharon. But, Nick forgot to do the one thing when looking for someone that’s missing, and that was to actually look for them.

So Ian just clutched his Bible and offered thoughts and prayers, and Nick threw out some threats and then left without looking under the bed, in the closet, or opening the bathroom door to see why Ian took a moment to answer the door to begin with.

Don’t Make Me Repeat Myself — Again

Ian implies some weird stuff. I mean, yeah, it’s Ian, but still. He does that eye twinkling, too, when he says creepy things and that look of delight when his evil plan is working — I love it. So he ran into Tessa and Mariah in the park, and he couldn’t help but rile up Mariah for his entertainment. When he said something about their same-sex marriage, we weren’t quite sure where he was going with that. But Mariah didn’t care what he meant, she was just sure she’d had it. I thought she was going to knock him out for a second there. I don’t like that he’s coming after her, and yeah, he’s a special sort of twisted, but we could do more with that fiery side of Mariah.

As for Tessa…girl, please just stop before you even get started. Abby was right: for the sake of her and Mariah, she better wake up and stop finding sympathy for Ian or she’s not only going to be endangering herself but Mariah and Aria, too. And probably Abby. And her marriage.

The Count of Genoa City

Nate finally met his brother Damian, and two things happened that I didn’t see coming. First, Lily lost it for no apparent reason. There wasn’t one bit of her that was supportive or helpful about the situation and it was all based on the fact that Nate was going to offer the guy a job. She just got her own job back a nanosecond prior, what is she worried about? Devon reminding her that they hire people every day and don’t know anything about them was true but funny. Still, she persisted. I’m going to guess she’s going to have her back up when Damian arrives, and they’ll have some sort of contentious introduction, be forced to work together, and then — surprise — wind up liking one another.

And the other thing I didn’t see coming was Nate thinking he was so covert. Nate needs to just stick with being on the up-and-up. His undercover headhunter attempt was lame at best, and Damian was swatting him around like they were a cat and mouse, almost amused at Nate’s attempt to trick him.

That said, Damian made a good first impression, and I’m looking forward to him joining the Hamilton-Winters-Hastings clan and seeing where all of this leads. Maybe he can put a smile back on Lily’s face and keep it there a while.

The Trusty Sidekick

Sharon was in crisis and feeling alone, and just like that, the ghost who can see his own shadow reappeared. Cameron came to the place where Sharon stabbed him in the heart and helped her with her latest drama, bringing a toolkit of ideas, rational thinking, and, most importantly, sarcasm.

Probably not likely, but if he could just follow her around all the time and throw in some one-liners for our benefit, I’d be okay with that. Just maybe change the shirt?

Evil Plans, or something like it

Billy’s a modern guy, so maybe there’s some new way to exact revenge plots that I’m not up to speed on. Call me a traditionalist, but typically, when seeking to rally the troops and declare war on someone, you try to keep it under wraps during the plotting stage. Not Billy. His new motto is ‘expect the unexpected,’ and he’s got no qualms about telling anyone and everyone what he’s up to.

Luckily, the last thing he cares about is anyone’s opinion, so when they disagree with him and tell him to be like Elsa and move on with his life, he just ignores the advice and finds someone else to tell instead.

As usual, Phyllis is the only one interested, but she seems to be the one he’s least interested in. It’s such an odd dynamic there. Billy’s championing himself because he’s tired of everyone dumping on him when he’s trying, and then Phyllis shows him 100% loyalty, and he ditches her when she needs him. He got mad at Jack for saying his revenge on Victor was okay, but Billy’s wasn’t. Then Billy told Phyllis her revenge wasn’t okay, but Billy’s was.

Billy’s still the proud owner of the Inconsistently Consistent Award. I wish he’d pick something and run with it. I’d be Team Billy most likely, I just want to know what we’re rooting for.

And they’re off…

Daniel had to say goodbye to his dad and Christine while they hit the road on tour again. He invited Daniel and Lucy to join them, and for a brief moment, I envisioned that: Danny and Lucy performing on stage while Daniel watches somberly from the side of the stage with Cricket dancing in something shiny next to him. Maybe it was seeing Traci, Danny, and Lauren together on New Year’s that brought back the memory of the era of concerts. Rock on.

Until next week!