I’ll say it now and I’ll say it again, thanks to spending summers with grandma back when I was growing up, The Young and the Restless is an ingrained part of my childhood. Since then, I’ve kept up with all the drama in Genoa City and the various ebbs and flows of the Newmans, the Abbotts, the Winters, the Chancellors and others.
The reason I preface this article with that is to paint the picture that I’m aware of most of the plotlines that have played out on the series in my lifetime (some before I was even born). So when I read fan complaints from those tired of current arcs on the soap, with them largely grumbling they’ve seen similar stories play out already, I can sympathize in a way.
For example, on the one hand, I understand people are tired of seeing kidnappings. In the last two years, Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby) took Faith (Reylynn Caster) hostage, Claire (Hayley Erin) lured the Newman family to a lake house and locked Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) in a room, Jordan (Colleen Zenk) abducted Claire a few times and Harrison (Redding Munsell) once, Jordan chained Sharon to a pipe and now Sharon and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) have been abducted and stashed in a former mental health facility. Not to mention Ian (Ray Wise) held the Newmans up at the Newman Ranch, and Ashley (Eileen Davidson) was trapped in a house with Martin (Christopher Cousins). Laid out like this, and I’ll admit, Genoa City sounds like the perfect place for a Liam Nelson Taken sequel.
But on the other hand, I understand The Young and the Restless has been on the airwaves for over 50 years, airing episodes multiple times a week. You're bound to see some stories that feel familiar. Plus, soaps in general run through a cycle of storylines involving things like infidelity, paternity scandals, sibling rivalry, corporate espionage, attempted murder and murder. So I tend to give grace to The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and the others.
All things considered, I’ll admit, I’d love to see the soap liven up a bit, and I think I have three ideas for how that can happen.
Bring on a real challenge for Victor
Victor (Eric Braeden) is my favorite daytime character of all time, and even I am growing weary of him picking unprovoked fights and coming out on top. He stole Glissade from Tucker (Trever St. John) before booting Audra (Zuleyka Silver) as his thank you to her for her part. The Mustache then spitefully took Chancellor from Billy (Jason Thompson), burning Lily (Christel Khalil) in the process. And Victor is still obsessed with getting revenge on Jack (Peter Bergman), despite his archrival no longer desiring to go toe-to-toe with him.
The thing about all these people Victor is going up against these days, is that they aren’t really capable of taking him down a notch. This is why I’m hoping this mysterious Aristotle Dumas, Damian’s (Jermaine Rivers) boss, becomes a huge threat to the Newman patriarch. I’d love to see Victor go up against an unknown and lose (in business only). Should this happen, Victor would likely bounce back, but it could be entertaining to see him dealt a setback.
Less kidnappings and more romance
After Phyllis and Sharon are rescued, I’d like to see a temporary freeze on all Genoa City kidnappings. For that matter, no more murders for a while. Love in the soap world is a complicated beast and it can be quite dramatic on its own without felonies playing a part. I think the romance between Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Claire, and the pending love triangle with Billy and Sally (Courtney Hope) plus Phyllis, both bring with them lots of drama. Additionally, Lily and Damian’s pending romance is bound to have complications given his load of secrets. I’m just saying, it would be refreshing to see Genoa City residents walk around without these constant threats of abduction and homicide.
Bring back Ashley and get to the bottom of her childhood
Ashley’s story feels so incomplete. Just when I thought they’d go deeper into her childhood with the hopes of explaining what happened then to spark her dissociative identity disorder years later, she was placed into a mental health recovery center in Paris and disappeared. Then when she resurfaced for her daughter’s wedding, I assumed the story would pick back up after the festive events, but she again went to Paris. Considering Davidson was delivering some great work with this plot, I’d love for her to come back to Genoa City and finally finish what the soap started.
So what do you think? Are my suggestions ones you’d love to see play out?
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus
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