If you look out your window, you may just see pigs flying as The Young and the Restless’ Summer (Allison Lanier) does something in the episode airing on May 24 that we didn’t think was possible — and yes it has to do with Claire (Hayley Erin).
Before we get there though, let’s start with the fact that in the episode, Summer sits down for lunch with Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). Summer’s parents have been worried about their daughter since all of the Jordan (Colleen Zenk) chaos unfolded resulting in Harrison’s (Redding Munsell) kidnapping. As Nick and Phyllis listen to their daughter talk about her maternal concerns, it finally dawns on Nick that a big point of contention for Summer is her new cousin.
As fans of The Young and the Restless know, Summer pretty much loathes Claire. She couldn’t stand Claire for what she did to the Newmans back in Oregon and she blames Victoria’s (Amelia Heinle) oldest daughter for Jordan targeting Harrison.
Nick shares his belief that he thinks Summer hates Claire so much because she has built up rage toward Jordan, but since Jordan is dead (which we as viewers know is furthest from the truth), Summer unfairly directs that anger to Claire. Nick even goes so far as to say that he actually thinks Claire should be around Harrison more to help the young boy move past his traumatic ordeal. He notes how obvious it is that Harrison cares for Claire.
Summer is taken aback by her dad’s words as she’s reminded of Kyle’s (Michael Mealor) position that Claire is good for Harrison. When she asks if her dad agrees with Kyle that Claire should be Harrison’s nanny, Nick stops short of saying that. He completely respects Summer’s opinion on that issue, but again thinks Claire and Harrison hanging out a little more could be beneficial in the boy’s recovery.
When Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) stumbles upon the trio, Nick and Summer are thrilled to see her fresh out of rehab. In fact, before Summer leaves, she continuously compliments her grandmother on her glow. After Summer is gone, Phyllis asks the Newman matriarch how she was able to get over her resentment toward Claire. Nikki replies that she learned that "Claire is really a very sweet, caring person, and I see nothing but good things in her future. Now that Jordan is out of our lives forever, I’m sure that Summer will see that too."
With all that being said, Summer shocks us in the episode’s end. She goes to the park and again runs into Kyle and Harrison with Claire. Instead of freaking out as she has in the past, Summer is actually nice to Claire and thanks her for being there for her son. Summer notes Harrison is happy and claims that’s the most important thing.
If that weren’t enough, Summer follows that up by telling Claire:
“Maybe you and I should get together later and talk about something more regular… I mean, Harrison needs someone other than Mom and Dad around, and it’s time that we start getting back to normal. We can see how it goes.”
That remarkably sounds like Summer is willing to offer Claire a trial run as Harrison’s nanny. It was just last week when Summer was blasting Kyle for the idea, so this is quite the turnaround. Unfortunately, Summer’s thawing sentiments about Claire may not last when she finds out Jordan is really alive. We’ll have to keep an eye out for that.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
