And so it begins, again... (February Sweeps)

As January came to a close and February Sweeps began this past week, The Young and the Restless gave viewers plenty to talk about -- but will the show deliver the high drama fans are craving during the month of love?! Or will some intriguing new stories dry up just as soon as they start to get juicy? Join our Two Scoops columnist as he examines the latest happenings in Genoa City and muses about the Sweeps month ahead of us!

I can't believe it's February already! There's a lot to be excited about this coming month, but before we dive into discussing the final January episodes and potential February Sweeps storylines, I want to bring attention to the photo accompanying this week's column. The pictures of Billy, Chelsea, Adam, Sally, and Nick are from Y&R's 50th anniversary photo shoot! The show's official anniversary is next month, but I love that they have gotten a head start on the celebration, and I think the photos turned out great! The whole cast got together for a big cast photo, but each actor on the show got their own personal photo, too! I am going to try to incorporate more of these 50th anniversary cast pictures in the photo for my columns, when appropriate, as we inch closer and closer to the show's 50th anniversary on March 26th!

But enough about that. Let's talk about this past week's episodes! Mariah and Tessa popped up briefly at the beginning of the week, and we got an update on Delphine, the mother who is carrying the child they hope to adopt. She and the baby are doing well -- and Mariah and Tessa even had a sonogram to show off to Elena! I hope that the writers have more in store for these two than just the occasional check-ins with them here and there that we've been getting. Of course, they have been through a lot to get to where they are now, and they deserve some peace for a bit, so I am happy that they are settling into married life peacefully. But I would like to see them get a juicy storyline again soon, too!

It was nice to see Elena, Mariah, and Tessa reconnecting and chatting as friends. Lately, it feels like Elena is in her own little world, apart from all the other characters on the show, because we usually only see her with Nate. Elena confided in them that she is worried about Nate having hired Audra to work at Newman Media because she doesn't trust her. Little does she know that the one she really needs to be worried about is not Audra -- it's Victoria! I was actually surprised during Friday's episode when Victoria kissed Nate! I was starting to see some sparks fly between them recently, but I wasn't expecting things to escalate so quickly (even though they tried to pretend it hadn't happened immediately after the kiss)! I guess the writers wanted to start February Sweeps off with a little added shock value to get us excited for the drama ahead!

Part of the reason I was thrown by Victoria and Nate's kiss is because, like Elena, I assumed Audra was going to be the one causing trouble in Nate and Elena's relationship. It seemed like a love triangle was brewing there, and I was excited that Audra was potentially getting a new storyline outside of the workplace. I must say that the Victoria angle is much more interesting. I definitely find Nate and Victoria more interesting than Nate and Elena; plus, Victoria needs a new man in her life! I'm excited to see where this may lead for both of their characters. I was definitely feeling the chemistry that they had together as they patted themselves on the back and celebrated their plans to "steal" Daniel and the development of his video game concept, Omega Sphere, away from Chancellor-Winters. That is, if they can beat Tucker in his attempt to do the same! Daniel certainly seems very interested in Tucker's pitch for Omega Sphere's future.

Chancellor-Winters is going to be so embroiled in all their infighting that they won't even see it coming when Tucker and the Newmans make a play for their up-and-coming gaming division! It's a shame that Lily and Devon didn't work things out this week. I really thought that after Devon talked to Abby and she relayed to him Lily's reasoning for not wanting him to reverse the merger that he was going to have a change of heart. I was excited when he showed up at Chancellor-Winters and told Lily he knows that the reason she doesn't want him to reverse the merger of their two companies is because she wants to work with her brother and build a family legacy. Unfortunately, he still feels that, even if that is what Lily really wants, she is going about it the wrong way. He insists that going through with the IPO and taking their company public will ensure that they can't build a family legacy because they will lose the control to steer the company the way they see fit. And, for the first time in a long while, I empathized with Devon and could start to see both sides of the siblings' argument!

I am torn about what I want to see happen regarding their company now, but I still think it will be a huge mess to try to undo the merger that took place less than a year ago. And all of this upheaval certainly doesn't spell good news for Daniel's hot commodity, Omega Sphere, having a future at Chancellor-Winters. I don't see how Lily could continue to try to develop a new gaming division for the company just as they are preparing to get into what will likely be a major legal battle with Devon. I am bummed about this because I was hoping that their close working relationship would lead to a romantic reunion! But maybe it is better that they aren't working together if they do end up reconciling -- that certainly didn't end well for Lily and Billy! Plus, Daniel still has a lot of issues to sort out with Heather (and likely even more so now that Phyllis is sticking her nose into her son's broken marriage)!

Normally, I'm in Phyllis' corner and support her crazy schemes because they are typically a lot of fun to watch play out. This week, though, I was definitely agreeing with Michael, Lauren, and Summer when they all urged her not to meddle in Daniel's marriage. I know she is only trying to help put his marriage back together, but flying all the way to Portugal to try to convince Heather to give him another chance just seems a bit cringey and, well, not a good idea at all. Phyllis' approach is typically a bit abrasive and off-putting (basically the opposite of helpful) when she becomes confrontational. And I can't imagine Heather will be too pleased that Phyllis is making their marriage her business.

I'm also a little disappointed that Phyllis is traveling to Portugal to see Heather because I was hoping to see Heather return to Genoa City. Still, I am excited to see Heather again because we haven't seen the character in years! I am hopeful that Phyllis' trip isn't a complete train wreck and that she actually convinces Heather to make a trip back to Genoa City. However, this does not mean that I want to see Daniel and Heather reconcile.

As a viewer who watched Daniel and Lily's love story from the beginning when they were both teens, I am still very much on Team Lily when it comes to Daniel. I'm hoping that Heather's return could mean some closure on her relationship with Daniel. And it would be great if she sticks around town to mix it up with other characters from her past -- maybe Adam?! I discussed my thoughts about Adam and Heather crossing paths again in my previous column, so I won't go into that again here. Plus, Adam has his hands full plenty already and will likely have a lot more going on in his life soon...

Aside from all the drama of Victor trying to get Adam fired from Jabot and back to work at Newman, Adam may find himself the third person in two separate love triangles soon! He doesn't even realize how embroiled he still is in the love triangle with Nick and Sally because she hasn't told him that she is pregnant (and that he could be the father) yet! And each time we see him interact with Billy and Chelsea, he seems to be very perturbed at how close the two of them are getting. Could Adam make a move to resume his romance with Chelsea before Billy has a chance to reclaim her heart?

Billy and Chelsea certainly doth protest too much when it comes to their relationship. I do think it is smart for them to take things slow and keep things in "the friend zone" for a while longer, but it seems inevitable that love is on the horizon for this pair. Their "non-date" was cute, and I think they are good for each other. Will the spirit of Valentine's Day bring them closer later this month? Or will Adam find a way to stand in their way?

I go back and forth on whether or not I might want to see Adam back with Chelsea. I loved them together back when Justin Hartley was in the role of Adam, but they don't have quite the same chemistry now. And I'm still trying really hard to remain an Adam/Sally "stan" during these trying times, but the writers have made that an exhausting task over the past year. If Adam does turn out to be the father of Sally's baby and the ultimate goal is for them to find their way back to one another, then the writers have a hefty task ahead of them to bring back the magic that they've worked so hard to tarnish between them.

Things are definitely going to start getting complicated for this trio now that Sally has finally confessed to Nick that Adam could be the father of her baby. I'm still dumbfounded that Nick didn't assume that was a possibility outright and never questioned whether he or Adam was the father. And in the "Next Week on Y&R" preview, it seems that a paternity test is already being scheduled, which is also something I didn't expect to happen so fast! Does this mean that Sally confesses to Adam about her pregnancy finally? Or is she just going to ask Nick to test discreetly so that they don't have to tell Adam unless they have to? Furthermore, is it going to be difficult to determine who the father is with 100% accuracy while the baby is still in utero, since Nick and Adam are brothers?! This could get very interesting, indeed! I just hope the writers don't hold back on the drama like they have with so many other stories of late.

It really does seem like the writers have gone out of their way to avoid drama in some instances. Do they not know what viewers are tuning in for?! The Jeremy Stark mess of a storyline continued to be a letdown this week when Nikki and Diane had a confrontation over Diane and Jack's involvement in having Jeremy arrested. Nikki even indicated that she has footage of the robbery that would implicate Jack -- but she is not going to do anything with it! I understand why Nikki would not want to hurt Jack just to get revenge on Diane, but the casual way in which she brushed it all off just left an even more sour taste in my mouth after the dismal and anticlimactic way the show wrote Jeremy off. Why are the writers shying away from the meatiest parts of these storylines they are concocting?! It's so frustrating!

Aside from that debacle with Jeremy, I am otherwise loving the Jack and Diane storyline. I thought the show handled a number of things right this week by having Kyle sit down with each of his parents individually and express his concerns about their romantic reunion. Kyle's feelings of abandonment are absolutely valid, given how Diane left his life so suddenly when she faked her death all those years ago. I can certainly understand why he would be concerned that she would pick up and leave town if things don't work out between her and Jack. But I think both Diane and Jack did a great job of assuring Kyle that he has nothing to worry about and that they will both be there for him even if they don't work out as a couple.

But I really hope that Jack and Diane do work out as a couple. Friday's episode was so sweet when Jack surprised Diane and they had a heart-to-heart about their current feelings and potential future together. Susan Walters gave another stellar performance as Diane confided in Jack that it scares her to be hopeful of the future because of how many times she has been hurt in the past (often due to her own shortcomings and machinations) and she doesn't feel worthy of having a happy ending. You could almost see Jack's heart break for her when she confided that to him.

Peter Bergman delivered a great performance in these scenes, too -- I love Jack! As a hopeless romantic myself, I have often related to the character of Jack, so it makes me extremely happy to see him potentially getting his happy ending at last. I especially loved when he told her why the timing wasn't right when they were first together all those years ago. They needed to be apart all these years to experience life and become the people they are today so that they could finally be the partner that the other needs. I definitely got a little teary-eyed during their scenes this week! Aside from the fun drama that soaps bring us, this type of raw human emotion is the other aspect of these shows that keeps viewers tuning back in -- and Y&R is one of the best at it more often than not. Jack and Diane could truly be one of Genoa City's new power couples (if the writers don't screw it up, of course)!

Well, that's all from me this week, folks! Don't forget to hit the Comments (here on the site and on social media) to share your opinions, too! It's always fun to hear what other fans of the show are liking/disliking about current storylines (even if we disagree sometimes). I've got my fingers crossed that the show will give us all something to love during February Sweeps!

Until next time,Vance

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