The Young and the Restless spoilers: Phyllis sabotages Sharon’s case, but it backfires in a major way?

Is the old Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) about to return to The Young and the Restless? Despite claiming to have turned over a new leaf after faking her death and killing Jeremy Stark (James Hyde) over a year ago, Phyllis’ determination to be this new modelesque citizen appears to be wavering thanks to Sharon (Sharon Case).

More than anything these days, Phyllis wants to see Sharon spend the rest of her life in a prison cell for the murder of Heather (Vail Bloom), the subsequent framing of Daniel (Michael Graziadei) and Phyllis’ life-threatening car accident. Ms. Summers blames the Crimson Lights owner for all the hardships her family has faced lately and wants her to pay. Unfortunately for Phyllis, with Michael (Christian LeBlanc) representing Sharon, and Sharon starting to develop memories for the times she blacked out the night of the murder thanks to Alan’s (Christopher Cousins) hypnosis, Phyllis may not get her wish.

As avid viewers know, Sharon is indeed innocent of most of her recent criminal behavior. Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and Ian (Ray Wise) killed Heather and are responsible for running Phyllis off the road. And while Sharon did frame Daniel for murder, Jordan and Ian had been lacing her bipolar medication with PCP for months, which is a solid defense.

Of course, no one knows yet that Jordan and Ian are back in Genoa City wreaking havoc, but Sharon and her support system at least know her medication was tampered with, and during the night of Heather’s murder, some mysterious figure was in the home with the two women.

Fast forward to The Young and the Restless episode airing on December 23, and Michael is catching Lauren (Tracey E. Bergman) up on the latest with Sharon’s case. As Michael shares Sharon’s firm belief that someone else is Heather’s real killer, Phyllis walks up and overhears.

Phyllis again blasts Michael for thinking Sharon is anything other than guilty. Michael doesn’t reveal too much to Phyllis about the hypnosis Sharon has undergone, but he does warn his longtime friend to consider getting protection for her family. Not surprisingly, Phyllis is adamant Sharon is the only threat to her family and eventually storms off to confront Sharon herself.

Left alone, Lauren asks Michael an interesting question. She asks if Michael believes it’s possible that Phyllis will stay out of Sharon’s case? Lauren’s words seem more like foreshadowing in our book.

We can imagine Phyllis refusing to let this case play out, especially if it starts to look like Sharon will be found not guilty. Thinking she has to do anything and everything to protect her family, Phyllis may start to tamper with the evidence that benefits her rival. She could hack the Genoa City Police Department and ensure they lose the toxicology report on Sharon’s meds. Or, Phyllis could opt to discredit Alan and his hypnosis tactics. Heck, it’s possible Phyllis goes so far as to manufacture evidence to ensure Sharon is found guilty in a court of law.

But as most show fans know, Phyllis’ plans tend to have unintended consequences. Should she go down this hypothetical rogue path, we think more of the same will follow, but in a major way.

For example, there’s a chance Phyllis could draw more attention from Jordan and Ian. If the villains find Phyllis to be a threat to their own plans, you better believe Phyllis’ life will be in danger. And it’s worth noting, there’s a possibility Phyllis’ actions may actually further delay the discovery that Jordan and Ian are in town, which would allow the pair to unleash even more chaos.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t bring up the prospect that Phyllis interfering in Sharon’s case could also land her in legal trouble down the road. Manufacturing evidence and interfering in a police investigation can carry some serious consequences if she’s busted. To our knowledge, she’s still on probation for faking her death, so she ought to tread lightly or she could wind up in prison.

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air on weekdays on CBS. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Paramount Plus.