Young and the Restless Brain Trusts: How Some Characters Have Wised Up

We realize there would be no story on The Young and the Restless if nobody ever did stupid things or made dumb decisions. And, the fact is, real-life people do stupid things and make dumb decisions. All. The. Time. However, we were particularly pleased to see a good number of Genoa City citizens thinking, for a change, and thought we’d call them out.

Young and the Restless: Short Term

We all knew that Diane (Susan Walters) would eventually fall for Phyllis’s (Michelle Stafford) lies about Kyle (Michael Mealor) because otherwise all her plotting with Jeremy (James Hyde) would be for naught. But we did appreciate Diane asking obvious questions, poking holes in Phyllis’s story, and even texting her son to confirm. In that same vein, we compliment Jeremy and Phyllis for anticipating her disbelief and taking the trouble to steal Kyle’s phone. A show of intelligence all around!

Behind the Scenes

Also, good for Ashley (Eileen Davidson). She bought Tucker’s (Trevor St. John) debt and is now using it to manipulate him. That’s the Ashley we know and love. The one we had for the last few months, where she just sat around and waited for Tucker to do something before wagging her finger at him, was a waste. This Ashley isn’t just toying with Tucker, but with Victor (Eric Braeden) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), too. Clever girl.

Manipulation Expectation

A thumb’s up to Audra for trying to manipulate Elena (Brytni Sarpy) into bringing JT (Thad Luckinbill) back into Victoria’s (Amelia Heinle) orbit. Audra is smart enough to know that if she reunites JT and Victoria, that will take Nate (Sean Dominic) out of Victoria’s sites, and Audra can move in.

And a thumbs-up to Elena for realizing exactly what Audra was doing – and why, but then decided to do it anyway…for her own reasons. Both women are driving the story and proving that they are nobody’s fools. Which is exactly what we like to see.

Smart characters lead to smart stories…and viewers who don’t feel that their intelligence is being insulted.

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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