On The Young and the Restless, it’s like the start of a Terminator movie, but the real de-termination is coming from Nick, who apparently has some healing factor like a comic book superhero.
What Happened On The Young and the Restless
Straight out of a surgery that would keep a mortal human laid up for weeks, Nick (Joshua Morrow) ripped off the monitors, grabbed a pair of crutches, and checked himself out of the hospital. Why? Because the Newman legacy is wounded, and for some reason, he thinks he’s the only one who can staunch the flow. The visual of Nick hobbling into the Abbott mansion to confront the conspirators was pure gold, equal parts heroic and ridiculous. Like, for real, who is this guy, and what did he do with Nick?
The dawn of AI
We are neck deep in an “AI War,” with a storyline that has finally managed to do the unthinkable and the impossible: make Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) sweat. Cane (Billy Flynn) and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) have opened Pandora’s box, and a plague of biblical proportions has been unleashed upon Newman Enterprises, an AI program that is eating the company from the inside out.
Victor, for the first time in recent memory, has absolutely no control. He tried to write a check to make the problem go away, but Cane refused to sell. Cane isn’t interested in money; he wants to burn the kingdom to the ground. For me, getting to watch Victor scramble and react rather than dictate the terms was great television. I don’t recall how long I have waited for a moment like this.
I hate to steal the jam out of your donut, though, but the odds of Victor actually taking a permanent loss here are about the same as me winning the Powerball this weekend ( And I wouldn’t tell anyone, but there would be signs lol). We all know the drill: Victor is on the ropes, the enemies circle, and then, poof, he pulls a magical solution out of his pocket (or his tech team’s server) and wins. But for now, we can enjoy the sight of the aging relic trembling.
Nick Declares War
The real moment of danger for Team Cane and Phyllis happened when Nick confronted Phyllis. He didn’t just scold her; he declared war.
Phyllis is loving the feeling of exacting revenge, clinking glasses with Cane, and watching the Newman stock plummet. She felt justified. She felt powerful. But looking into the eyes of a furious, injured Nick Newman might be the one variable she didn’t bet on.
“You betrayed us,” Nick told her, and you could see the armor crack. Phyllis can handle Victor’s wrath; she expects it. She thrives on it. But Nick? That’s different. That cuts straight through the anger and hits directly in the heart.
The Million Dollar Question
Will this be the moment Phyllis blinks? I really hope it isn’t. This union between these two has been the best thing on The Young and the Restless for a while and making me belive that there is a chance that TGVN might just get humbled, even for a moment makes me wanna set the DVR and not miss an episode, like back in the good ‘ol days. Cane is more than fully committed to the destruction. He has nothing to lose anymore as I’ve said and when you back someone into a corner you really have to expect anything and everything, including the unexpexcted. Phyllis, however, still has ties to the people she’s hurting. Nick’s intervention, risking his own physical health to stand in her way, forcing her to choose between her vengeance against Victor and her history with Nick.
If Phyllis flip flops to save Nick’s peace of mind, she hangs Cane out to dry and saves Victor yet again. If she doubles down, she loses Nick forever and that’s the part that gives us doubt here.
For once, the drama isn’t about who is sleeping with whom, it’s about loyalty, legacy, and whether a man on crutches can stop a digital unravelling.
Watch full episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount.
Edited by Leigh Richdale