It was less than a year ago when The Young and the Restless’ Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Billy (Jason Thompson) had big plans to take Chancellor-Abbott to new heights. Before Victor (Eric Braeden) came along and convinced Jill (Jess Walton) to give him the company, Phyllis and Billy were ready to take the Genoa City corporate world by storm, but we couldn’t help but agree with the naysayers that Phyllis and Billy working together could spell trouble. The two have a habit of encouraging each other to give in to their worst impulses, and they can both be wildcards.
Fast forward to the present, and with Chancellor-Abbott in the rearview mirror (at least until Aristotle Dumas officially arrives), Phyllis and Billy are focused on getting Abbott Communications off the ground. The company is Billy’s brainchild and funded by Jack (Peter Bergman), but Phyllis is fully committed to using her experience and savvy to help the company become a huge success. Unfortunately, it's already off to a rocky start.
During the week of April 21, Phyllis and Billy haven’t been able to see eye to eye on Daniel’s (Michael Graziadei) role in the company. Daniel has wavered about wanting to be a part of it from the beginning, and he’s recently made his hesitation more widely known. Phyllis is adamant that he needs work to help him get back in the swing of things and start to move beyond his heavy grieving stage for Heather (Vail Bloom). But Daniel just isn’t sure Abbott Communications should be the tool to help him “move on.”
This is becoming a problem for Billy, as he no longer has a vested interest in having Daniel at his new company. Not that Billy dislikes Daniel, but Billy can clearly see that Daniel’s heart is not in diving back into work. Billy knows all too well the face of grief, and references his own dark period of morning Delia in a conversation with Phyllis. He tells Phyllis that when he lost his daughter, work was one of the last places he wanted to be, and he assumes that Daniel is in a similar headspace. Being the mama bear that she is, Phyllis takes grave exception to Billy trying to cut her son out of Abbott Communications.
In a conversation alone with Sally (Courtney Hope), Billy asks for her opinion on the situation, and Sally reiterates what Jack, Diane (Susan Walters) and others have already stated. Billy should cut Phyllis out of his company, because she could cost him the whole thing.
Then in The Young and the Restless episode airing on April 23, Phyllis again meets with Billy to plead Daniel’s case, and tired of having this conversation, Billy tells her she either agrees to work at Abbott Communications and stop forcing the issue of Daniel, or she too can find employment elsewhere. She doesn’t give him a firm answer in the moment, but is left upset.
With all that being said, we think Billy’s firm stance on Daniel may push Phyllis to go into her bag of tricks and attempt to take Abbott Communications for herself, if not cleverly steal an ownership stake in the business. Ever since Phyllis was pushed out of Marchetti, she’s kind of been floating around the Genoa City corporate scene, unable to put down roots anywhere or be a part of something she can call her own. Unlike a majority of the players in town, she doesn’t have a family business she can always return to when employment options dry up.
It’s possible Phyllis decides it’s time for her to have a major business stake in town, one where she can go without fear of being fired and one where she can hire her family members at will.
If our theory rings true, it would hardly be the first time that Phyllis staged a coup of sorts. She previously managed to take over Jabot once upon a time. So Billy may want to watch his back.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
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