A Critic’s Review Of The Young and the Restless: Where’s The Sizzle?

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: The Critic Ponders

To quote Tucker McCall (Trevor St. John), “Hope springs eternal,” — which is why, aside from the obvious fact that it’s my job to do so, I’m sticking around and holding out for a February Sweeps that sizzles instead of fizzles. So far, so very disappointing.

I had high hopes that the battle raging betwixt Lily (Christel Khalil) and Devon (Bryton James) for control of Hamilton-Winters might invoke the corporate wars of old, but so far it’s boiled down to scenes of Lily and Devon each putting their foot down and making threats like a petulant child. Not exactly an appealing storyline.

Then again, maybe The Young and the Restless are concentrating on their efforts in the upcoming Newmans vs Tucker, winner takes all showdown. Maybe, maybe not. So far, it’s been all talk, all planning, and no decisive action.

I was similarly hopeful that the fallout from Kyle’s (Michael Mealor) collusion with Victor (Eric Braeden) would provide some much-needed dramatic oomph to that floundering corner of the canvas, but with Adam (Mark Grossman) taking the high road — figuratively and literally — it seems paid has been put.

And all we got from that diversion was Jack (Peter Bergman) speaking to his son harshly a single time and lots and lots of Summer (Allison Lanier) pouting in her husband’s direction. Hardly heady stuff.

It’s also obvious, painfully so, that there’s more to Diane (Susan Walters) and her endgame than meets the eye, but I just can’t bring myself to hope for any kind of earth-shattering reveals because…because I don’t think the current Young and the Restless team are quite capable of manufacturing those.

And what can be said about Sally (Courtney Hope) and Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) predicament, other than, if there’s any hope for some substantial spectacle, the baby has to be Adam’s.

Further Y&R Musings

* Chance Chancellor: License to…Code? Okay, can’t be any worse than sad sack Chance mopping around various sets.

* It warms my heart to see Jess Walton [Jill Abbott], really it does. I’ll take her any way that I can get her. But what will it take to get her physically on set interacting with fellow actors? Jack is in desperate need of the kind of admonishing that only Jill can provide, and I desperately need to see Jill register her displeasure with Victor face-to-face.

That said, I may or may not have squealed when Jill recounted her time spent as the head of Jabot’s Menswear Line and the fractious relationships she shared with John and Jack.

* Though she’s always going to have a hypocritical streak a mile wide (courtesy of her pops), I’m hoping [there I go again. Has writing this column taught me nothing?!] we haven’t seen the last of self-aware Victoria. How nice it was to hear her cop to errors in judgment (Hello Ashland!) and jealousies (yea, for a time I liked the Billy that Billy was when he was with Lily too). Now, if she would only not repeat the error that is Nate (Sean Dominic).

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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