A Critic’s Review Of The Young and the Restless: Cornerstones To A Good Soap

When it comes to The 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

Conversations, confrontations, and collusion are three cornerstones of a good soap opera, and The Young and the Restless had those in spades this week. There was also some good old-fashioned romance which is always welcome.

I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland) — I’ll take any excuse to have Maitland on my screen — and Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) and Tucker McCall’s (Trevor St. John) tense tête-à-tête was a delightful treat.

I also relished Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) and Summer Newman’s (Allison Lanier) catty exchange, and I would be remiss if I didn’t praise Hope’s penchant for pitch-perfect longing. She wants Adam Newman (Mark Grossman), really she does; but what of his brother, Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow)? She aches for him almost as deeply. Whatever will she do?

For the first time, in a long time, I find myself rooting for both potential couplings made possible by a love triangle.

But the best of the best was that long in coming blowup between warring cousins Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic) and Devon Hamilton (Bryton James)…even if the majority of the complaints leveled, the accusations hurled, and the past events thrown up had been previously covered. And I did have to stifle one heck of a guffaw when Devon opinioned that Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) wouldn’t forgive Nate, his betrayal of the family when Neil forgave Devon for sleeping with his wife. If that can be forgiven, Nate’s momentary lapse in judgment certainly could be.

You know what…I’ve changed my mind. The true best of the best was Jill Abbott (Jess Walton) popping up on Zoom and giving Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) holy hell. Is bombastic Jill on a roll? Now that’s classic Young and the Restless.

Further Y&R Musings

* As much as I get a kick out of watching Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson), Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), and Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) getting together and scheme, what I’m really going to enjoy is them inadvertently saddling themselves — and the rest of Genoa City — with an even more unmanageable problem than Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) in the form of James Hyde’s Jeremy Stark.

* I am more than a little hesitant to invest in Mariah Copeland’s (Camryn Grimes) and Tessa Porter’s (Cait Fairbanks) maybe baby storyline if, for no other reason, than the fact that the couple is so rarely onscreen. If The Young and the Restless really wants me to care, show this all playing out. Don’t have the couple pop up every three to four episodes to issue an update-cum-monologue to Sharon Rosales (Sharon Case).

* I’m still not sold on Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver) as Noah Newman’s (Rory Gibson) ex, and I’ll readily admit to being Team Audra when it comes to her versus milquetoast Allie Nguyen (Kelsey Wang) — though I honestly don’t know what either one sees in Noah.

* Sorry, but it’s an easily verifiable falsehood that Lily and Nate were raised together. She grew up in Paris; he in Genoa City (for the most part).

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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