The Maze of Shrubbery and Mariah's Tears: The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the week of June 16, 2025

A lot went down in both France and back in Genoa City on The Young and the Restless. We finally (!) got to learn the identity of the enigmatic Aristotle Dumas, and some great drama played out stateside with Mariah and Tessa. Kudos to the No.1 show for giving us the best of both worlds.

Maze of Shrubbery on The Young and the Restless

Dumas’s party invitation may have read Friday, June 13th but viewers had to wait a bit longer for our heroes to arrive at his estate. The show rolled out various groups of characters, all appropriately paired (Newmans with Newmans; Abbotts with Abbotts; maverick Phyllis rode alone, etc.) as they rode an elegantly decorated train car.

Carter, who needs to work on his people skills, greeted guests and sent them into what we’re calling the “maze of shrubbery” to get to the party. The tall shrubs added to the sense of mystery.

For this story to work, we have to suspend a bit of belief. Why would the Newman, Abbott, and Winters families and other characters spend tens of thousands of dollars to attend a gala thrown by someone they’d never met? Well, they thought they’d never met their host. If it wasn't the money, they were walking into a potentially dangerous situation.

Nick, ever the voice of reason, announced that if Dumas didn’t show up by morning, then, he was out of there! Some guests agreed with him. Billy and Phyllis have stakes in meeting Dumas and working with him, so they were staying put.

Trains, Boats, and Planes

The scenes on the trains were quite entertaining. The sexual tension between Kyle and Audra is growing. Poor Kyle and Claire. We get the feeling that Audra knows exactly what she’s doing and exactly what buttons to push when it comes to Kyle. Claire's beau may think he’s got this under control, but does he? That’s the $5 million question.

Diane thought that the social media contest between Audra’s new perfume and a tried-and-true product from Jabot had merit. But does it? There are more potential negatives than positives. Jabot would be lending its well-established name to an unproven upstart. Where’s the benefit for Jabot in that?

And what if Dumas, who has kept a low profile, chooses Audra’s scent for that special woman in his life? Why did Audra and the Abbotts assume that Dumas even had a special woman in his life? Maybe he’s single? And now that we know he's Cane, who loved Lily, we can't see Lily approving of a fragrance that backs a company funded by Victor. Jabot for the win.

Past Imperfect

We learned during the train rides that some things never change. Nick is the most easy-going guy on soaps. No wonder Sharon and Phyllis are still both quite fond of him. We also were reminded that Nikki, like many (most?) mothers, likely won’t find any woman who is good enough for her son! Nick expertly deflects his mom away from that topic when she brings it up.

Victor manages to make every seat he plants his butt in look like a throne. Throughout the week, the mogul was in command of everything. He sold us on why a man of his stature would make this trip. Given what happened to the Newman clan with both Jordan and Ian Ward, we do wonder why the Newmans (and other families) don’t travel with security guards. Audra could use a hunky Abbott bodyguard to make Kyle jealous.

Scenes from a marriage

Back in Genoa City, there was plenty of angst going on with Mariah and Tessa. We’re still no closer to learning what Mariah exactly did. Money fraud? Murder? Did she bring more than a dozen items in a “12 items or less” checkout line? We are clueless as to what she did except we know that it’s so bad that Mariah feels she has to separate from Tessa and their daughter. Mariah must be trying to protect her family, but from what? It truly looked like Tessa was going to convince Mariah to stay with her by using her love, but she failed.

Soaps don’t always remember where characters stand with each other, but not Y&R. There were so many references included in scenes throughout this week that show us the writers do their homework. Lily referenced being in an elevator with someone who had a panic attack when Damian was going through his. That friend was Tyler Michaelson. Peppering in references to other folks in Lily's life helped make the Cane reveal all the more shocking!

The imperfect friendship

The Sharon/Phyllis dynamic was forever changed by the duo’s kidnapping ordeal. They agreed not to be enemies anymore. As a result, the two greet each other positively. However, the two then dance around issues that could easily cause them to go for the other’s jugular! They're not ready to rip up their peace treaty just yet, but some days it feels like it's going to happen.

Fathers and sons

Back in Genoa City, it was nice seeing Danny and Daniel catch up over dinner. Y&R remembers that Danny got custody of Daniel and raised him until his teen years when he returned to Genoa City. There’s a nice, easy-going rapport between the two men who are both fully aware that Daniel’s mother, and Danny’s ex-wife, Phyllis, is a handful! But they love her.

Daniel opened up about Tessa teaching him to play guitar. Danny wondered if the teacher/pupil relationship was more than just friendship. Does Danny know that Tessa is a lesbian and married to a woman? Then again, maybe Danny’s just keeping an open mind about people. He’s probably seen a lot over the years, being on the road, and visiting different places throughout the world.

Coffee to go

There were a lot of nice touches throughout the week. Who knew you could be a fan of a coffee shop? Well, Damian is and he was thrilled to meet Sharon and Nick, who have so much history there. Damian's claustrophobia, which we saw, humanizes him. Audra's desire to call home to check on Nate and Amy shows she's not all bad.

We have more questions than answers now that we know Dumas is Cane Ashby. Will we be seeing his and Lily’s children, Charlie and Mattie? Has he been in touch with them? What about Sam, the little boy Cane fathered with Juliet? That story ended rather abruptly with her death and Sam being taken in by Juliet’s family. Or is he away at the Swiss boarding school that Victoria went off to and came back a few years later as a teenager? If Sam’s dad is a billionaire, perhaps Cane would want custody of his son and raise him.

Also, what does Cane want? Why has he assembled Victor, Jack, Devon, and other power players at his chateau? Why didn’t he just come home and invite everyone to the Colonnade Room (remember that place?) or the Genoa City Athletic Club?

A man’s shrubbery is not his chateau

We’ve seen a few new sets this week on Y&R. There was the lavish train cabin, the courtyard area, the maze of shrubbery, and Dumas’s office with his monitors. But what about his actual chateau? Sure, it’s summer so outside sets are fine...but are we going to see the interior of Dumas's home? In the meantime, there needs to be a few more chairs in the courtyard and a few more benches among the shrubs if our characters are going to be spending more time there!

What's next

According to the show’s previews, we’re set to see more characters enter the maze of shrubbery; Lauren, Michael, and Abby are joining the party. But glaringly missing from this group is Jill Foster Abbott. She believed Cane was her son at one point. Why wouldn’t Cane reach out to Jill to invite her to this reunion gala?

And wouldn’t Summer want to join her parents, Nick and Phyllis, as they were so close to her in Italy? Summer would be an interesting wild card to add to the mix in terms of Audra and Kyle. Summer could block Audra’s scheme to expose Kyle as a man who is unfit to be with Victor’s granddaughter.

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