Young & Restless Heats Up: Victor’s Plan Hits a *Major* Snag — and Ashley’s Alter Dials ‘M’ for Murder

Young & Restless Heats Up: Victor’s Plan Hits a *Major* Snag — and Ashley’s Alter Dials ‘M’ for Murder

Credit: CBS screenshot

Young & Restless has clearly been making a concerted effort to ramp up the drama for May Sweeps. But is it enough? Here’s this week’s look at what happened and what’s coming up.

Summer Blues

Young & Restless kicked off the next chapter of Summer vs. Claire when Kyle decided to overrule his ex-wife and tell Harrison that Claire would be his new nanny. Claire is currently being written like a Disney princess but you’re not going to convince me that she’s magically healed and 100% over a lifetime of programming by Jordan. Those impulses will still be lurking beneath the surface, ready to jump out if she’s provoked — and Summer may be just the person to do it. Find out why we think Summer and Claire’s feud will go nuclear here.

One Sighting, Two to Go

We caught a glimpse of Tessa this week when she had a chat with Daniel. Their discussion about Mariah being Cassie’s sister was, of course, a nod to his history with the latter, who died after getting behind the wheel to drive her crush home from a party. Sightings of “Teriah” and Sharon have been hard to come by lately, with fans becoming more vocal as time passes. So, it was nice to see Tessa at long last, and here’s hoping Mariah and Sharon are being rested ahead of their next front-burner story.

The Real Shock

The real shock for many viewers in the Chancellor-Winters drama this week was that, just for a moment, they actually liked Abby.

It made for a much more intersting scene when she unexpectedly voted against Devon and with Jill and Billy, and drove story, as there wouldn’t be any more drama if Lily and Devon took total control. With that said, not everyone is sure they want more of this particular storyline moving forward. As Twitter/X user Sugar Cookie complained, “They are as dull as dirt.”

While an effort has clearly been made to ramp up the twists and turns at Chancellor-Winters for sweeps, many feel the main players should just take the companies they came in with and go their separate ways. Fans have business story fatigue and care far more about the inter-personal relationships than who is actually running which company. Things have gotten so bad that many Young & Restless fans want the headwriter replaced.

Moving forward, we expect Devon’s decison to approach Tucker to come back to bite him, and for there to be more tension between him and his lady love. Find out why Abby’s curveball was just the beginning here.

Finding Phyllis

Love her, or love to hate her, Phyllis was acting much more herself this past week. Her involvement with Danny and Christine fell totally flat this time around, so it was with a certain amount of relief that we said goodbye as they headed off on tour. Phyllis snarked and sulked appropriately, but it was her other interactions that felt like the old Red. Going to the mat for her son and overdoing it to the point that she burned a bridge and wound up bent on revenge? Perfection. Feeding Summer’s growing discontent? Spot on. The comedic scenes with Nick catching her in the act of sabotaging Chancellor-Winters? Yes, please! As a bonus, she gave Tucker a juicy piece of intel that should help him in his quest to bring down Billy. But… will he get a chance to use it?

Dial ‘M’ for Murder

The last time we saw Ashley, her diabolical alter had taken over, and Ms. Abbott has only one agenda — killing Tucker. From the preview, we know that she manages to get him alone in the jazz lounge during off hours, which means no witnesses to whatever she’s planning to do to him. My guess is that this will end up as an attempted murder (because I don’t believe they’ll kill him off before he has a chance to do this), and Ms. Abbott will set up the disgruntled Audra to take the rap. Presumably, once the truth finally comes out, Alan’s purpose will be to testify in a professional capacity that Ashley had D.I.D. and wasn’t responsible for her actions, hence the actor’s stay being extended.

Major Snag

Victor is about to have a much harder time keeping his secret. Not only is Nikki headed home from rehab, but Cole is onto him. As we can see from the preview, Cole will see Victor carrying a tray of food as he lurks in the hallway. After that, it’s game over, as the inquisitive author is bound to investigate what’s going on in the basement. The big question is, “What will he discover and what will he do about it?” Find out what we think Victor’s bone-chilling plan for Jordan involves here.

The opinions expressed are my own. Please feel free to join the conversation in the comments.