Take a Chance on Nina, Phillip, and Ronan: The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the week of August 4, 2025

Now that everyone’s back stateside on The Young and the Restless, it's time to heal, mourn, and draw new battlelines. Who is going to win as Cane goes up against the Newman, Abbott, and Winters families? While the show gave us the return of one beloved fan favorite last week, we wanted a few more!

The Young and the Restless Post-Dumas Era

Well, despite Nikki saying she never wants to hear the name “Aristotle Dumas” ever again, she may not get her wish. Cane says he’s going to keep the company name. Maybe he’s right about that. “Dumas” looks more imposing on the side of a building than “Ashby” might.

Nikki also may have lost out on her argument with Victor. She told him Chance’s death was a reminder that life was short and begged him to accept Kyle and Claire as a couple and to also put down the feud with the Abbotts.

Sorry, Nikki. Victor will give you a nice car and a big party for your birthday, but you’re not going to get what you truly want. Viewers, however, can’t say the same. It’s enjoyable to see Victor and Nikki squabbling with each other after so many months of lovey-dovey harmony. We’re not saying we need to see a romantic foil come between the married duo who’ve walked down the aisle with each other numerous times, but it’s great to see them in conflict.

Take a Chance on sadness

It’s a genuine head scratcher as to why we didn’t see Cole’s memorial/funeral on Y&R. Heck, Victoria and Claire waited until their family and Kyle got back from France before having the ceremony. Viewers loved Cole. Having an on-screen memorial for him helps bring closure. Is the show afraid a funeral would be too depressing? If that’s the case, why even kill him? Maybe today’s economic realities don’t allow for a church set.

But it wouldn’t have been used for just Cole, would it? Chance also died, and viewers were robbed of a memorial for him, too (unless it's coming next week?). We’re over the moon that Jess Walton reprised her role as Jill, and we got to see Jill’s grief over the death of her son’s child.

Longtime viewers may recall that if the script ever called for Jill/Walton to use the word “grandson,” the actress changed it to “my son’s child.” It was a subtle but nice touch as we saw Jill, who didn’t want to ever identify herself as a “grandmother.”

And while it was great to see Jill, we are asking, where in the universe are Nina and Phillip, Chance’s parents? Nina was close to Cole, too. The show would have gotten two mourners in one if it had reached out to Nina! Jack said in France over Chance’s death that Nina and Jill would be devastated. We know Jill is. Why aren’t we seeing Nina?

When Days of our Lives bid farewell to Doug Williams (the late, great Bill Hayes) and John Black (the late, great Drake Hogestyn), the show invited numerous beloved favorites back for their on-screen memorials. Why couldn’t Y&R bring back Tricia Cast’s Nina and Thom Bierdz’s Phillip? The show jumped through hoops over a decade ago to prove that Phillip had faked his death so he could live openly as a gay man in Australia. Phillip was unable to attend Abby and Chance’s wedding many years ago due to some kind of illness. Why bring him back from the dead if we'll never see him?

Has another illness kept him from coming back to Genoa City? We’re 100% certain that Cast would have delivered an award-winning performance as Nina mourned Chance. There are other missing mourners for Chance, too. We haven’t seen ex-wife Abby’s reaction to his passing. Melissa Ordway is recurring as Abby, so the show uses her on occasion. Chance’s death? It’s a great occasion to see Abby!

Ronan empire

And let’s not forget about Chance’s older brother, Ronan, played by Jeff Branson. He could be there to bid farewell to his nephew and help support his mother. The Nina/Ronan dynamic never played out as much as we would have liked once it was revealed that Ronan was the long-lost son Nina had before Chance.

Viewers think of all of these characters like family. We want to see them in triumph and tragedy. Comments from Esther and Nikki about the late Katherine and her fondness for Chance were nice, but they were not enough. This is daytime drama, people! Give us the drama!

Phyllis, it sure isn't you

Phyllis always manages to catch our eyes when she’s in a scene – even if she’s not saying anything. When Billy had Jill on the phone and was arguing with her, and bringing Cane into the mix, we saw Phyllis soaking up every moment. Her wheels are constantly spinning. How will this conflict benefit me? That's a question Phyllis is always asking.

We saw Phyllis being fully aware of the tension between Billy and his mother, and Billy and Cane, the man he once thought was his brother, but still sees as a rival “sibling.” We’re not “accusing” Michelle Stafford, who plays Phyllis with gusto, of “scenestealing” – which is not always a bad thing. But it was fascinating to watch Phyllis be fully present and aware in a scene that wasn’t about her character necessarily. Brava!

Gilded Lily

Lily has proclaimed she doesn’t want to see Cane and wants nothing to do with him. Good. But, as this is a soap opera, she probably won’t keep that promise. Cane has bought the Genoa City Athletic Club, so she’s bound to run into him there. If only (Society) there were another eating establishment (Crimson Lights) that Lily could go to (maybe eat at home) so she wouldn’t have to see Cane.

Victor suggested to Lily that she spy on Cane so they can learn what he’s up to. There has to be another way. If Victor were smart (and he most certainly is), he’d hire Audra Charles, the alluring Zuleyka Silver, to infiltrate Cane’s operations and report back to him.

Audra is ambitious, and Cane could use an attraction to Audra to make Lily jealous. Plus, Audra’s a hard worker. Someone’s going to need to get the work done, which brings us to something else that’s been weighing on our minds.

Who's minding the store?

Why do we hardly ever see characters working? Occasionally, we’ll see Adam make a call to a colleague at Newman Media and order this person to either run a story or hold off on a story. We’ve seen Diane and Jack discuss cosmetics stuff at Jabot. We saw Kyle and Audra discuss a Vibrante/Jabot fragrance war. But that never got off the ground. Who kept Newman, Chancellor, Winters, and Jabot running while everyone was in Nice getting lost in the maze of shrubbery?

And speaking of business, how is Cane going to get all these privately held companies under his control? It may be easier than it looks if Nikki’s going to sign over Chancellor to get Nick back, and not understand how an agreement made under duress would never hold up in court. We can see the lawyers in this town cleaning up big time if Cane is going to spend all his resources trying to acquire all these companies. And to what end? To re-win Lily’s heart?

Sam, do you know where I am

Speaking of Cane’s children, where’s Sam? Has there been any mention of him? Sam, as you likely remember, is the love child of Cane and the late Juliet. There was always some question in the air as to whether or not Cane truly was Sam’s dad, but Juliet died in childbirth, and there were no other candidates. Sam, we think, is living with Juliet’s parents, but why isn’t his billionaire father taking an active role in Sam’s life?

Sure, Lily might not like seeing a living reminder of Cane’s supposed infidelity, but why should Sam have to pay the price for that? Y&R has dropped remarks about Christian Newman being at basketball camp, so we know he’s old enough to dribble a ball. Harrison seems to be loving being away from his family while visiting Summer in Europe. Perhaps, when they are aged and they return to Genoa City, they could be joined by Sam, anxious to put his mark on the business world and reconnect with his pops.

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