HOLLYWOOD—I can officially state, all four soaps still airing on network TV are now back in business. I will admit I have NOT been a fan of the recaps the first premiere episode back on the air in months many of the soap operas have taken part in. If the storytelling is that strong, you really don’t need a recap. However, in the case of CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” I really needed this. I think the soap has been off the air the longest, so I was a bit off in terms of where things actually left off America.
Things kicked off with tribute being paid to the great Katherine Chancellor. Man that was the one thing about seeing those classic episodes; it became clear that Katherine was an iconic character on the soap. However, this was a bit of a dud week in my opinion. I mean there really wasn’t any juicy drama for viewers to sink their teeth into. After that dull of a ‘welcome back’ episode, things got into the effect on Tuesday of this week.
For starters, it was apparent that the writers are pushing some sort of Billy and Lily love triangle. All the teases are so obvious that if the writers are aiming to try to hide it, I’m secretly going to laugh inside. We know Sharon is still battling her breast cancer which is riveting to say the least, but you cannot chronicle that journey the entire week without the audience becoming bored. Abby and Phyllis are still mortal enemies, but let’s be honest, when haven’t these two ladies actually like each other, so there is no surprise there.
Something I predicted months ago is that Devon and Amanda would at some point get closer to becoming an item because the chemistry always seemed strong with Nate and Elena than it did with their counterparts. That was so evident, I even speculated that Elena and Nate might hook up. Do you honestly think you can have a Hilary lookalike and not par her with the love of her life in Devon Winters?
So this leaves us with the one family dynamic that never seems to disappoint, the Newmans. Before we had that really long break the audience discovered what was evident from the moment Adam attempted to make a power play against Victor Newman: he was the person that killed his BFF’s father when he was a kid. Victor just kept his mouth shut, just like any parent would do to protect his son. Adam tried to continue to work his magic behind the scenes, until Victor was forced to drop the bomb on his wicked spawn: you’re the guilty one!
Adam did not want to believe, neither did Chelsea, Nick, Victoria or Nikki. Chelsea didn’t like the thought of Adam being labeled a killer, but Chelsea take a look in the mirror at the man that you’re looking at. You know he murdered someone in Las Vegas, so why is this any different. Is it because it transpired when he was kid? Does that make things any better? Not if you’re asking me, it’s more worrisome.
However, Victor really has no reason to lie. Adam of course can’t remember his past misdeeds and turned to Sharon for help. I know fans were rooting for Rey and Sharon, but I’ve always thought Adam and Sharon would reunite at some point and it looks like that point is much closer than we ever expected. It would be asking for a bit much if there was a twist within this twist, where Adam wasn’t culpable, but I just don’t see how the writers would be able to explain that to the viewers and make it make sense so that we actually care. Give us the punch that we want as soap fans. After being gone for more than four months, I was NOT blown off my socks by what “The Young and the Restless” gave us this week.
