The Young and the Restless Week In Review: Daunting Situations

Watching The Young and the Restless, everybody’s got an opinion…especially where their favorite daytime drama is concerned – 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 a Genoa City week that was.

The Young and the Restless: A Critic’s Week In Review

Let’s face the facts, Abby’s (Melissa Ordway) surrogacy plot is questionable. There’s no conceivable reason for Abby to embark on this endeavor without her husband, Nina’s (Tricia Cast) inclusion just isn’t hitting the right note, and the fact that everyone seems gung ho to have Devon (Bryton James) be the biological father has just pushed this story to its limits.

How Mariah (Camryn Grimes) can reckon with the prospect of being impregnated with her former rivals egg and her ex-boyfriend’s offering is a stretch, and though we appreciate the writers confronting the issue of the Chancellor’s raising a mix raced child head-on, the whole thing still feels like it needs a bit more meat on the story.

This is a shame because Y&R is firing on all cylinders with its two other “A” stories. The fallout from that Shadam kiss has been epic…even if there were a few stumbles out the gate.

We’re not crazy over the complete absence of Faith’s (Alyvia Alyn Lind) reaction to the revelation – outside of her pitiful, “How could you?!” to Sharon (Sharon Case) – but the writers really delivered with the subsequent confrontations between the interested parties.

But as satisfying as it was to see Rey (Jordi Vilasuso) unleash his anger on Adam (Mark Grossman), and as entertaining as the prospect of Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) bidding her time until she can utterly annihilate the man who has become her jailer, the real pièce de résistance was the confrontations between Rey and Sharon.

Particularly tickling, and galling, was Sharon’s reaction to Rey’s plea that they see a marriage counselor. She was all for forcing Faith to attend therapy, but when she’s the one facing the prospect of having her psyche plundered she’s all, “No, no, I don’t think that’s really necessary.” HA!

Meanwhile, there’s the delicious prospect that Kyle (Michael Mealor) might have fathered a child with the wife of a mad, and bad, and utterly psychotic businessman…and there’s every likelihood that that man is on his way to Genoa City courtesy of Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). Double HA! This is shaping up to be some great soap.

Further Y&R Musings

* Do you agree with Victor’s insistence that Victoria (Amelia Heinle) has within her a desire to destroy Billy (Jason Thompson)? And if so, do you think that she will actually act on it? The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listing for air times.