Young & Restless Gobsmacker: Victor’s Unbelievable Next Move — Plus, Kyle’s Chaos, Phyllis’ Plot, and Sharon Unhinged
Credit: CBS screenshot
Young & Restless was trying to stir the pot a little more this past week, with some of the plot points hitting and others… not. There remains entirely too much focus on business and mental health stories. Let’s take a look at what went down and what’s coming up.
Kyle’s Chaos
In his desire to push Summer’s buttons, Kyle has plunked Claire square in the middle of their messier-by-the-day situation. This means she’s either going to find herself back in a feud with her cousin and/or hurt when she discovers that her feelings for Kyle aren’t being returned and that he was just using her to needle his ex. With any luck at all, this will trigger her Jordan training and Scary Poppins will actually become scary again.
Phyllis’ Plot
Although temporarily sidelined by lunch with Nick and a startling encounter with Sharon, Phyllis will undoubtedly be back on track very soon and tackling her next mission: “Helping” Summer by ridding her life of the villainous Audra Charles. I can’t help but see the irony in Phyllis taking issue with a woman she described as “vicious”, which is not unlike the way Genoa City residents described Red at various times in the past. One vixen going after another! Of course, Phyllis is way off base where Audra’s relationship with Kyle is concerned… the woman wants nothing to do with him romantically, or with Harrison, but she’s unlikely to realize it as Audra swore Nate to secrecy about their involvement. It makes not a lick of sense, but let the games begin!
Sharon Unhinged
Sharon’s behavior is becoming more erratic by the day, so it’s only a matter of time before something goes seriously sideways. Her mixed-up meds are messing with her mind and moods… and those cray cray eyes she keeps making during conversations are a tell-tale sign that she’s just this side of snapping. While the last thing anyone wanted was yet another mental health storyline, it’s past time Sharon got something to do besides popping up to give snippets of advice to other characters. Case will slay this material, and the fact that it’s pulling in Nick, Phyllis, Faith, and Daniel’s family via Sharon’s fixation on Cassie’s death is intriguing. In related, Lucy pestering Faith made for some amusing scenes. Expect Sharon to go more off the rails as we move forward and find out why we’re predicting a a tragic repeat of history here.
Victor Unleashed
We already know that Victor’s gunning for Jack on multiple fronts, but his next move is shaping up to be a doozy… and it’s going to create even more messiness. To recap, the Mustache maneouvered Adam into a position of power at Newman Media in order to have him pimp his new company, Glissade, which is being helmed by Jack’s disgruntled son. It’s all aimed at taking down Jack and his company in the most humilating way possible, aka, doing it with the help of people he cares about. As we look ahead at Victor’s endgame, this week’s preview hinted at what might be the icing on his cake… and it’s unbelievable.
It appeared as though Nikki and Adam decided to confront Victor together to question him about next steps… and were blindsided by an announcement. It seems Victor is angling to hand Glissade to Nikki down the road. Presumably, he intends to keep Adam at Newman Media where Victor has always thought he belonged, and dangle a bigger, better company in front of his wife to appease her. Judging by the look on Nikki’s face, it’s not going to go over as hoped… and there’s going to be outright chaos when she discovers she has to deal with Audra and Kyle again… and when they find out they’re about to be demoted in favor of the Newman who fired them both in the past. While there may be more to the story yet, at least part of Victor’s endgame appears to be putting Nikki in charge of the company that takes down Jack’s legacy. Ouch.
Guilt Overload
I love a good cheating scandal as much as the next soap fan, but this Chelsea/Adam stuff is kinda falling flat and just feels icky. Not only was it unbelievable that Adam would cheat on Sally at this stage of their renewed relationship, but Chelsea’s guilt, which has been front and center, isn’t evoking much in the way of emotion. Are we really supposed to forget that Chelsea was trained as a world-class con artist from the time she was in diapers? This situation would be child’s play for her. This could have been the “juicy” story Young & Restless has been promoting it as if they’d allowed Chelsea to remain a sneaky pot-stirrer. Writing her as a tragic romantic heroine has sucked the enjoyment out of watching this character. Finally, having Billy tell the woman who once raped him that she’s too good for him, only served to remind me of what a terrible idea this relationship was right from the get-go.
Coming Up: A Parkposal
As Chance wrings his hands over the fate of Chancellor Industries, Devon appears to be quite content with the split and is moving on to solidify other aspects of his life. Namely, putting a ring on it. The preview shows him suggesting to Abby that they get married as they cuddle on a park bench. The expression on Abby’s face could have been “shocked and pleased” or “shocked and horrified” that he didn’t get down on one knee and produce a rock. We shall see!