Before The Young and The Restless pairing of Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Claire (Hayley Erin) could even become official, it’s already starting to look as if Summer (Allison Lanier) may be ready to throw a giant-sized monkey wrench into their hot new romance. However, I can’t say I’m surprised.
From the moment Chance (Conner Floyd) went back to work for the Genoa City Police Department to investigate Heather’s (Vail Bloom) murder, I knew Summer and Chance would face hard times in their relationship. Sharon (Sharon Case) has done a pretty remarkable job of framing Daniel (Michael Graziadei) for the crime. Summer is understandably choosing to believe her brother is innocent while Chance is just following the evidence, and this puts the duo at odds.
Then in The Young and the Restless episode airing on November 1, Summer and Kyle looked like a pair of old friends as they laughed and talked in the Abbott Mansion before Summer sought Kyle’s counsel about Daniel and Chance. Kyle was more than willing to listen and the two even shared a hug before they were interrupted by Claire. It was clear that Summer appreciated the moment before leaving.
Now to Kyle’s credit, he reassured Claire that he’s just focused on her romantically as he planted a big kiss on her before the two took things up to his bedroom. However, by the episode airing on November 4, Summer returned to the mansion and let some air out of that romance ballon, claiming to be looking for her phone. Summer was able to deduce that she was the one interrupting things at this point between Kyle and Claire, and Summer was obviously a little bothered by the idea.
Summer’s reaction to Kyle and Claire, plus her relationship woes with Chance, have us thinking she’ll soon make a play for Kyle again. Not for nothing, she and Kyle have a history of breaking up to make up, and Summer has a knack for pushing whoever he’s with during one of their breakups out of the way. She may try to knock Claire out of the picture, although given Claire’s past, Summer shouldn’t be so sure she’d win a battle with her cousin.
However, for argument's sake, let’s say Summer somehow wins Kyle back and leaves Claire heartbroken. With Kyle being her first real relationship, she’ll probably be crushed and not sure she could explore future romantic feelings given the risks that come with love. However, I think I have the perfect person to help her get back in the dating game should Kyle return to Summer. I’m talking about Fenmore Baldwin (Zach Tinker).
Arguably no one knows more about being caught up in Summer and Kyle’s whirlwind romance than Fenmore. Although he spent years as her best friend and pining after for her, Fenmore and Summer could never get it right romantically, especially with her feelings for Kyle in the way. Fenmore may be able to relate to Claire if she comes to feel tossed aside in the Summer and Kyle love story.
Plus, I kind of like that Fenmore’s past is hardly squeaky clean. Both he and Claire have done some criminal things they aren’t proud of and have had to work to rehabilitate their reputations. They probably would be able to connect on this level in terms of their redemption arcs.
Just to add, I would also like to see what Fenmore has been up to these days. If he’s still pursuing a music career, I’d love to see how much progress he’s made. Should he be a star, that could provide quite the allure for Claire. And hey, if he’s a popular musician, he’d probably be able to work on some kind of deal with Devon (Bryton James) at Winters that could keep him in Genoa City for a little while.
Again, it’s not been confirmed that Summer will break up Kyle and Claire. However, if she does, I can’t picture Claire with anyone else currently on the show’s canvas, and rather not see her try to pair with Chance in the wake of heartache.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
