A Critic’s Review of The Young and the Restless: Romance & Repetition

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

It’s hard watching characters who should – and characters we’ve been told do – know better play right into their rivals’ hands.

Granted Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) has always been a character who’s ultimately hoisted by her own petard, but it’s usually down to the fact that her schemes become far too overblown and intricate, and not because she was stupid enough to shout something that she knew would get her into trouble…and in a public place no less.

Ashland Locke (Robert Newman) was heralded as The Young and the Restless’ next big bad – a Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) 2.0 if you will – and even given an ominous sobriquet, and yet he does the one thing that he knows will result in the Abbott family raining down their wrath upon him i.e. visiting Harrison…and in a public place no less.

Further Y&R Musings

* I’ve very quickly deduced that The Young and the Restless is positioning Noah Newman (Rory Gibson) and Allie Nguyen (Kelsey Wang) as Love’s (Latest) Young Dream, but I’m just not feeling them as a couple.

Maybe it’s because their relationship, so far at least, has followed the exact same beats as Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Lola Rosales’s (Sasha Calle). Maybe it’s because the chemistry isn’t crackling.

Is it too late for The Powers That Be to reverse course, bring back Crystal Porter (Morgan Obenreder), and pair her with Noah? Or, at the very least, get her back on the canvas as a spoiler.

And speaking of couples and a spoiler…I’m very much looking forward to this loooooong teased Elena Dawson/Nate Hastings/Imani Benedict love triangle – but I’m also not holding my breath that The Young and the Restless will do right by the trio. Look how little they invested in the Nate/Elena/Devon Hamilton/Amanda Sinclair quad.

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.