A Critic’s Review Of The Young and the Restless: Juicy Opportunities & Intrigue

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 Personal Highlight

As far as weeks go, The Young and the Restless’ most recent offering was all right. Granted the Jeremy Stark (James Hyde) storyline seemingly limped to an ignoble end, but I predicted that before the character even made his debut, and it’s hard to disappoint someone when they don’t put any stock in your inability to deliver in the first place.

I must say that I was particularly enamored of Monday’s airshow, for I found myself suitably entertained from start to finish, which is in and of itself a bit of a miracle considering I normally find an episode of Y&R a mixed bag at best and wholly skippable at worst.

But what was it about the first of the week that so proved so appealing? In the pre-credits scene alone there was Adam Newman’s (Mark Grossman) terming Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) a bore, Summer Newman Abbott’s (Allison Lanier) laughable incredulous response over Victor’s (Eric Braeden) plan to sabotage Adam’s efforts at Jabot — has she ever met her grandfather? — and the transition from Summer offering her opinion that “A family can’t be brought together through deceit and manipulation,” to Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) attempting to fully ingratiate herself with the Abbotts by deceiving and manipulating big bad Jeremy.

Then there was the delicious awkwardness between Billy (Jason Thompson) and Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Daniel (Michael Graziadei), Adam reading Victor and Billy like an open book and Billy doing likewise with Adam, Abby (Melissa Ordway) trying to boost Devon’s (Bryton James) spirits with a joke at Victor’s expense, Abby actually interacting with one of her many family members, and Summer and Kyle speaking for the audience when they questioned Jack’s (Peter Bergman) continued and unceasing loyalty to Adam.

I also appreciated the true-to-life reference to the weather and I even found myself moved by Devon and Tucker’s (Trevor St. John) scenes, very much in contrast to the indifference that their previous, histrionic-filled confrontation evoked.

Not even the ridiculousness that was Jack successfully thieving from the Newman family’s Chicago stronghold and his and Diane’s celebratory kiss could dampen my enthusiasm — though it did irk all the same.

Further Y&R Musings

* Maybe I’d care more about Mariah (Camryn Grimes) and Tessa’s (Cait Fairbanks) journey to motherhood if it actually played out onscreen rather than off.

* Now Chance (Conner Floyd) decides that he can no longer work in law enforcement? Not before it led to his and Abby’s estrangement? Seriously?!

* Oh, the juicy opportunities that Victoria Newman’s (Amelia Heinle) resentment of Chelsea and Johnny’s (Paxton Mishkind) growing closer could bring and will no doubt be glossed over and/or ignored completely because why have drama on a soap opera?

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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