Young and the Restless Flashback Storytelling Technique Needs Work

The Young and the Restless recently started telling stories in an unusual new way. Instead of having characters talk about important things that happened off-screen, they began showing flashbacks. While we like it more than talking about big plot points, the flashbacks strike us as needing some work in some cases.

Young and the Restless Flashbacks: The Good

We noticed Y&R employing this method of storytelling with the big Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) breakup. At first, we worried that the split was another instance of something big happening off our screens. However, when both Phyllis and Nick began flashing back to their memories, we breathed a sigh of relief.

For the breakup, that perspective was interesting. It allowed viewers to see the same situation through the perceptions of both Nick and Phyllis, which we loved. It shows how different people see the same events differently. Bravo Y&R!

Y&R Flashbacks: The Ugly

While we enjoyed the breakup story this way, watching Amanda Sinclair (Mishael Morgan), Michael Baldwin (Christian Le Blanc), and later Devon Hamilton (Bryton James) relive Amanda’s testimony against her grandpa this way didn’t feel as engaging.

Instead, showing Amanda’s time in court felt more like a money-saving device. Instead of needing a judge, jury, and defense lawyer with a courtroom set, Y&R got away with using a small witness box, showing only Michael and Amanda in it. While we appreciated seeing the testimony at all, this felt cheap and less dramatic.

We also understand that the choice might have been due to COVID-19 restrictions. If so, perhaps it is the best the soap can do at this time. But we’ve been dealing with COVID for a long time now — so why pen this tale in the first place?

Young and the Restless Flashbacks: The Ugly

Finally, in a flashback we all deserved but never got, we still haven’t seen anything from Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Summer Newman’s (Hunter King) intimate Italian wedding.

The latest detail we learned about their wedding came from Nick — instead of getting anything resembling a flashback. He visited Abby Chancellor (Melissa Ordway). In an attempt to distract her from her worries about Chance, Nick relayed a sweet story about Summer running back and grabbing her forgotten bridal bouquet.

So far, all we know of their wedding, we’ve heard second-hand, and we’d love to have this flashback technique employed here since we couldn’t have the wedding itself.

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.