A Critic’s Review of Young and the Restless: Make It Make Sense

When it comes to Young and the Restless, every fan has their own opinion – and Soap Hub is no different. For five days, we sat and watched the good, the bad, and everything in between, and now we offer you a handy review, and a cheeky critique, of Y&R’s week that was.

The Young and the Restless: A Critic’s Week In Review

So, I’m now 99.4% sure that The Young and the Restless is poised to reveal that Ashland Locke (Richard Burgi) never had cancer and that he’s been pulling a long con. Now, let me tell you, and the Y&R writers why that makes no sense at all.

We watched Ashland struggling to breathe when he was on his own, and we watched him faint onto the floor after being seized by a coughing fit. Are we really expected to believe that Ashland is such a good actor that he took time out of his day (even when no one was around to see) to pretend that inhaling air was a chore or that he spent what could have been hours laying on Victoria Newman Locke’s (Amelia Heinle) floor just for the fun of it?

The whole thing is just ridiculous, and the only thing I can fathom is that The Young and the Restless decided they liked having the character and needed to a) figure out a way to keep him alive and viable, and b) figure out a way to have him FINALLY live up to his Locke-Ness Monster persona.

The only saving grace in the storyline is the inclusion of Michael Baldwin. I’ll take any excuse to have Christian LeBlanc on my screen…and if they’ll throw in Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren Fenmore Baldwin) to boot, all the better…though I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out what a dang hypocrite Lauren has been of late where Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) has been as of late. Also, why does Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan), who stole from Lauren, get a free pass – or seventeen – and Sally doesn’t?

Further Y&R Musings

* If The Young and the Restless is purposefully looking to alienate their LGBTQ+ audience, then congratulations…making Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks) and Mariah Copeland’s (Camryn Grimes) entire storyline all about Noah Newman (Rory Gibson) and his creepy obsession with the latter is exactly the way to do it.

* Is Y&R really cutting Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), one of its (very) few catalyst characters, loose?

* That look – you know the one – that Chelsea shot Chance Chancellor (Conner Floyd) when he said that Dominic was with his, “other dad,” is surely that same look that many a fan has made while being forced to sit through this “Chancellor Baby Crew” storyline.

The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Genoa City, check out all the latest that’s been posted on Y&R spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.