The Young and the Restless Is Leaving Us Dazed and Confused: Pop a Coupla Aspirin, and Let’s Review All the Ways It’s Hurting Our Heads
Wednesday, March 30th, 2022
Is it asking too much for the soap to make sense… ever?
The following may read like a crankypants article trashing The Young and the Restless. It honestly isn’t meant to do that.
We root for the show to be great five days a week (and yes, even on weekends). We remember what a glorious drama it once was, and we see in its stellar cast and rich history the potential to be fantastic again. But to achieve that lofty goal, it’s going to have to… well, make sense. Seize rather than flee from opportunities. Engage rather than enrage (or, worse, bore).
Suddenly, the reliquary storyline isn’t lookin’ so bad, is it?
Credit: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
In recent years, we’ve too often felt compelled to scratch our heads over the goings-on in Genoa City and write stories that ask, “Why, when A, B, C and D would make sense, does the show throw up its hands and latch onto E — utter nonsense? Why, when there’s an interesting option, does the show run with an uninteresting one? Why, when a plot has been built up and built up, does it get torn down without any payoff?”
More: Soaps’ all-time worst storylines [PHOTOS]
We know that the soap can do it. We remember what it was like when the late, great William J. Bell was turning out storylines that reeled us in. It was epic. It was exciting. It was romantic. And it is in the hope that it someday will be that good again that we shine a spotlight, however ruefully, on the happenings (or non-happenings) that already in 2022 have made us grimace, groan and/or shake our heads in disbelief — and not in the fun “I can’t believe they did that!” kinda way.
Click below to review Young & Restless‘ most confounding moves of the year… so far.
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
1/41
<p>Even if we could overlook how uncomfortable it appeared to be for Devon and Abby to hook up on the stairs of his penthouse, that still didn’t make the tryst make sense. On the plus side, hey, at least something <em>happened</em>.</p>
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2/41
<p>Make that… something <em>briefly</em> happened. Amanda busted Devon, read him for filth and skipped town so quickly, we thought that we had accidentally been watching with the fast-forward button pressed.</p>
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3/41
<p>Instead of just have filthy-rich Jack throw money at Jeremy to make him go away, the tycoon “borrowed” a necklace from ex-wife Nikki — aka Diane’s mortal enemy — and used it to frame Mr. Scary for theft. Because sure, <em>that</em> makes sense.</p>
Image: Sonja Flemming/CBS
4/41
<p>The show did a whole promotional push reintroducing Diane as the ultimate bad girl… and then played her as a victim rather than a victimizer. Huh?</p>
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5/41
<p>Despite the many times that Adam and Victor have screwed one another over, Dad still launched an elaborate scheme to bring sonny boy back to his company. Because… what? He <em>likes</em> constantly putting his legacy at risk? He doesn’t want to see Adam succeed on his own the way that he himself had to? #nonsense</p>
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6/41
<p>Traci, the character to whom we most relate — that’s who. Yet she’s only used as a talk-to for other characters. What are you saying, <em>Young & Restless</em>? Is that what you think of your audience? That we’re just props for others?</p>
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7/41
<p>“Nah,” said <em>The Young and the Restless</em>. “Let’s have Michael and Lauren’s son come out off screen, have everybody shrug and say, ‘Whatevs,’ and introduce his boyfriend… but not like a character or anything, just as a plot point. Yeah, that’s good drama right there.”</p>
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8/41
<p>Speaking of off-screen goings-on… as far as we could tell, the show didn’t think we needed to see “Teriah’s” journey to motherhood played out on air. Lame.</p>
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9/41
<p>On what planet would Phyllis be reduced to a cartoon character whose sole purpose is to meddle in the lives of her children and engage in a vendetta against Diane that makes zero sense, considering that she herself once tried to murder Christine in cold blood? Take <em>all</em> the seats, hon.</p>
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10/41
<p><em>Young & Restless</em> couldn’t have been more tone-deaf in the way it had Billy shrug off his rape by Chelsea in order to set them up as a potential couple. (And not even for the first time. Is the well of new ideas <em>that</em> dry?)</p>
Image: © XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
11/41
<p>Apparently, not for informing their former lovers that their longtime tormentor/attempted murderess is alive and well, because <em>Young & Restless</em> has never played a beat in which <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> fashionisto Eric has tipped off Lauren that Sheila is alive and now missing a toe along with those cards from her deck. Then again, <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> has never played that beat, either — double demerit!</p>
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12/41
<p>Considering the show’s love of playing drama off screen (Naya’s illness, Fen’s coming out), why on earth did it bring Heather back to Genoa City to break up with Daniel when <em>obviously</em> fans were going to wonder why we didn’t get to see her reunite with MIA dad Paul.</p>
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13/41
<p>Oh, right. Adam and Sally had to have a goodbye shag just so the show could play a “Who’s the daddy?” storyline straight out of 1979 with them and Nick. This wasn’t a plot, it was plot point theater at its worst.</p>
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14/41
<p>He’s moving and shaking, talking about buying companies, and yet he’s… broke? And he’s dedicated to the idea of reuniting with Ashley and proving it by… sleeping with Audra? What are we supposed to think of this guy besides that he’s an idiot? (Or just <em>really</em> badly written.)</p>
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15/41
<p>Speaking of Audra, we welcomed her arrival in Genoa City as a precursor to something, <em>anything</em> happening with Noah and Allie. Yeah, that’s the end of that thought. The young couple has been completely sidelined while Audra moved into Nate’s orbit. </p>
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16/41
<p>Can’t say that we shed any tears when Billy hung up his podcasting mic. But we did ask a few questions, foremost among them, what was the point of this head-scratcher of a career detour?</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
17/41
<p>After introducing Ashland as more of a menace than an actual threat — and playing him that way for a year-plus — the show finally, <em>finally</em> showed us the monster in the Locke Ness Monster. And killed him off. Because we wouldn’t want to let things get too interesting, right?</p>
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18/41
<p>… but not in Grandpa’s house! Sheesh! We’re all for young love and getting frisky, but would Allie have felt comfortable shagging Noah in a bedroom under which Jack, Traci, Ashley… <em>anybody</em> could have been enjoying their afternoon tea!</p>
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19/41
<p>We were told that Phyllis loved being a <span style="text-decoration: line-through">hotel front-desk clerk</span> hotelier. But instead of just letting the lady in the green dress check in guests for a while as the boss spied on nemesis Diane in her new job at Marchetti, she up and <em>sold</em> the Grand Phoenix. Speaking of Phyllis’ big move…</p>
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20/41
<p>We know that nepotism runs rampant in Genoa City companies, but is it really a good look for a high-powered alpha female like Phyllis to be accepting a job from her daughter? And then her son? And worst of all, getting fired by both!</p> <p> </p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
21/41
<p>Our problem with Jack hiring Adam wasn’t the quantity of handsome men running around Jabot — that’s never a problem — it was the fact that it underscored the insane frequency with which characters switch jobs on the show. Their resumés must be so long, they come in volumes!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
22/41
<p>Considering what a dud Phyllis and Abby’s hotel feud was, we can’t fathom why the show would even have toyed with the notion of pitting Lily against the Grand Phoenix’s owner. Shouldn’t someone have had, ahem, <em>reservations</em> about the idea?</p>
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23/41
<p>After Phyllis manipulated a situation to ensure that Diane knew that she and Jack were together again in <em>every</em> way, he up and dumped the woman he loved. In other words, he dumped her, basically, for behaving <em>like</em> the woman he loved. Yet we were still supposed to root for them as a couple?</p>
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24/41
<p>In hopes of spicing up his snoozecast, Billy decided to team up with Chelsea. You know, the woman who drugged and raped him, then cheated on him after they’d inexplicably become engaged years later. Whatever is <em>less</em> than no sense, that’s what this made!</p>
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25/41
<p>WTH is Chelsea doing dropping her design career to work on a podcast? The only conceivable reason for it is the writers saying “We need A to happen so that B can happen.” Even though A is so silly, leaves us going, “WTH?!?”</p>
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26/41
<p>Well, sure, we <em>hear</em> that there’s a lotta emotional stuff going on between Imani, Amanda and Naya. But because it’s all played out off screen, we never <em>see</em> any of it. It’s “Show, don’t tell,” people!</p>
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27/41
<p>Maybe when you’re as rich as Kyle, you don’t bother worrying about the size of your paycheck or your job title. That’s the only way we can justify him taking what amounts to a demotion to run Marchetti.</p>
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28/41
<p>Who thought that it would be a good idea to have Billy host a snoozecast? Why did he start one knowing that he didn’t have an idea for so much as a second episode? And why on <em>earth</em> would Traci not be honest that it was boring as hell?</p>
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29/41
<p>Wait, so Diane’s master plan upon returning from the dead was to… ingratiate herself to old flame Jack by buying his dead son’s house and cozying up to his granddaughter? My goodness, she really <em>is</em> an evil genius! What next? Will she order lunch as a super sneaky way to stick it to Phyllis?</p>
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30/41
<p>We’ll find out eventually… probably. But till we do, we’re left to wonder: Where is a dead woman like Diane getting the money to go around purchasing real estate as part of what we’re to think is a diabolical plot? Wouldn’t Kyle have inherited anything she had upon her demise?</p>
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31/41
<p>As happy as we are to have Christian Jules LeBlanc on screen more, what in creation is Michael doing being Victor’s lackey? Michael’s a power player — or was. Now he’s reduced to generic henchman duties? Uh-uh, no.</p>
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32/41
<p>Why would Lily move heaven and earth to merge Chancellor Industries with Hamilton-Winters? Neil wanted his family to have something of their own, not get swallowed up by another family’s mega-company.</p>
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33/41
<p>On a related note, are Devon and Lily supposed to be terrible businesspeople? Why else would they want Nate, a doctor with no executive experience whatsoever, to be their COO? “You’re a smart guy; what could go wrong?” Err… <em>lots</em>?</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
34/41
<p>On second thought, <em>is</em> Nate a smart guy? He just moved himself and Elena into a penthouse across the hall from Devon… the boyfriend on whom she cheated… with Nate. If proximity to a former lover doesn’t diminish property value, what would?</p>
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35/41
<p>… Sally as COO is crazier. Why did she become a big kahuna at Newman Media aside from the fact that she was sleeping with Adam? The one company she ever ran (Spectra Creations) went belly up like a dead goldfish. And last time we checked, nerve alone doesn’t keep businesses in the black.</p>
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36/41
<p>After setting up Chelsea and Sally to feud like they were the next Katherine and Jill, the show totally dropped that plot in order to have Adam’s ex… start inexplicably mooning over <em>his</em> ex Sharon’s latest husband, Rey? Huh?</p>
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37/41
<p>Would Chelsea and Rey have worked in the long run? Could she have stolen him from Sharon? We’d never find out, because as quickly as her fixation with the detective started, the news broke that the show had let go his portrayer.</p>
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38/41
<p>We’re all for sensitive, enlightened male characters expressing their emotions. But the only kind of “feels” we got from the constant barrage of man pain Chance, Noah, Billy and Jack served up for ages was… annoyance.</p>
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39/41
<p>… there’s a way to craft an interesting story. Yet Dominic’s blink-and-you-missed-it ailment served no purpose whatsoever. No reveals, no “Are they gonna kill the kid?” concerns, not even any hospital scenes and <em>definitely</em> no impact.</p>
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40/41
<p>Victoria has been written as Victor’s ruthless Mini-Me. Yet she had no suspicions whatsoever that maybe she’d married a big ol’ liar, even as the evidence against Ashland piled up. That’s not just an insult to Victoria, it’s an insult to women! (On the plus side, later — <em>much</em> later — she did get the last laugh.)</p>
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41/41
