The Young and the Restless certainly isn’t short on feuds these days. Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Christine (Lauralee Bell) continue to swipe at each other, Victor (Eric Braeden) and Jack (Peter Bergman) have reignited their decades-old rivalry and for the past month or so, Summer (Allison Lanier) has taken aim at her new cousin Claire (Hayley Erin).
Despite all the protests from Victor, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), Summer is adamant that Claire is evil and cannot be trusted. Summer was quick to blame Claire for Harrison’s (Redding Munsell) kidnapping, and even after it was proven Claire had nothing to do with the traumatic event, Summer continues to place fault at her door. Although Summer may feel she has a laundry list of reasons to despise her cousin, we tend to think most of her hatred stems from jealousy.
Harrison has become incredibly fond of Claire and goes out of his way to seek her out, and Kyle (Michael Mealor) has become one of Claire’s fiercest defenders. For Summer it could sting to watch your son and your ex-husband cling to a new woman, and almost feel like you’re being replaced.
Between seeing Claire as a threat and letting jealousy fuel her emotions, Summer has strictly forbidden Kyle from allowing their son to hang around her cousin. Unfortunately for Summer, during the week of May 6, she catches Claire hanging around Kyle and Harrison anyway. Although to be fair, they meet during a chance encounter at the park.
However, Summer won’t seem to care that the park outing stems from pure coincidence, and she’ll go ballistic. It’s not hard to picture her letting her manipulative side kick in and her take matters into her own hands, first seeking an ally. Enter Diane (Susan Walters).
Diane may be Kyle’s mother, but she hasn’t exactly been thrilled with him these days either. The two continue to clash when it comes to their roles at Jabot, and during the week of May 6, Diane and Kyle go head-to-head over Jack.
She’s furious that her husband risked his sobriety and health to save Nikki, and although he’s not happy his dad took such a risk to save a friend, Kyle’s been rather understanding and sympathetic toward his father. The mother/son duo’s differing opinions on Jack have done nothing but further widen their divide.
All that being said, Phyllis meets with Diane in The Young and the Restless episode airing on May 10, and voices that Summer doesn't want Claire around Harrison and Kyle isn't respecting that. Diane initially claims to want to stay out of that fight, but we can imagine a scenario in which Summer meets Diane and vents about her battle with Kyle.
Diane recognizes that Claire is a victim of Jordan’s (Colleen Zenk), but has already expressed a little concern about Claire being around her grandson because of Claire's past. Would Diane go as far as to give Summer some advice on how to make sure Clarie stays out of Harrison’s life? Diane may be "reformed" these days, but her level of manipulation rivaled Phyllis in her prime.
Then there’s Diane at Jabot. Diane and Kyle are headed for an epic clash at Jabot as Kyle recently decided he wants to go after the co-CEO job she currently has. Jack may try to play peacemaker between his wife and son, or he may do as he’s been doing lately, and stay out of it. If he opts to do the latter, Kyle could try to rally the other executives at Jabot in an attempt to stage a coup to remove Diane and install himself. If that happens, Kyle will need the support of Summer as she’s CEO of the Marchetti division. Knowing that, will Diane get to Summer first and try to win her over?
It would seem only fitting that if Diane helps Summer with the Claire/Harrison situation, then Summer would return the favor and back her. Should our hunch prove correct, Genoa City’s corporate world will see more infighting. It’s bad enough that Chancellor-Winters is on the verge of imploding with Devon (Bryton James) and Billy (Jason Thompson) at each other’s throats.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
