Brytni Sarpy Y&R
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

Elena joining the team could be a set-up for a soapy scandal.

In just one of the numerous job switch-ups on Young & Restless recently, a new podcast was proposed for Chancellor-Winters that left us feeling a little snarky. To be fair, we’re feeling snarky on the regular about the endless employment-go-round that has become the central focus of the show lately, but one move in particular gave our editor pause.

Billy’s podcast has left us all a little sour on the whole concept as a “storyline”, so it was daunting to have Nate take to the stage at the Chancellor-Winters launch party and announce there would be 50 more. He later discovered that number of podcasts hadn’t actually been prepped and approved, which left the new executive scrambling to save face.

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Enter Elena, his live-in love and respected doctor about town, who suggested that she would be willing to cut ties with Newman Media where she does the AskMD Now show and reduce her hours at the free clinic in order to come over to Chancellor-Winters to do a medical podcast which, in part, would explore rare and interesting cases.

Nate was keen, as was Devon, who makes the final decisions, and it was agreed that that it would be pursued. Our editor took to Twitter to question the move, and was firmly set straight by none other than Brytni Sarpy, who plays Elena on the soap. She pointed out that it was Elena’s idea and not Nate’s and explained exactly why her alter-ego was a good bet.

It makes sense that a doctor would field such a podcast, and Elena does have the experience of AskMD Now… but we also have to wonder if there wasn’t another — dare we say, soapier — motive behind all of this other than wanting to help Nate out of a tight spot.

Obviously, this would provide a way for Elena and Nate to see more of each other, which has been an issue in their relationship lately — two ships passing in the night and all that — but might this also have had just a teensy bit to do with the fact that a certain female attorney who works at Chancellor-Winters has been trying to move in on Elena’s man?!

Perhaps Elena, even subconsciously, wants to keep an eye on the situation — and who could blame her if she did? Practically speaking, the move also makes it that much easier for Young & Restless to set the scene for a developing love triangle, if there’s to be one. Elena being in close proximity would also make it easier for Imani to prey on her insecurities and/or to set up a situation where she catches Nate and Imani in a seemingly compromising position.

In fact, Elena’s potential move to Chancellor-Winters has already given us a chance to see the schemier side of Amanda’s sister, who is dragging her heels at trying to get her rival out of her contract at Newman Media, and will almost certainly use Nate’s request as a reason to “meet” with him while his lady love is away at her convention in Hawaii.

It’s been well-established that Nate loves Elena, but might he be tempted to stray? It seems unlikely, although certainly not impossible given that he cheated with Elena when she was living with his cousin Devon.

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Elena focusing less on practicing medicine in order to do a podcast may not make perfect sense in the real world, but in the reel world it provides the potential for some soapy goodness. What does Young & Restless have in store for this trio? We’ll have to tune in to find out. What do you think will happen?

Look back on soaps’ best love triangles, ranked in the gallery below.