Just over five years ago, I spent a week watching The Young and the Restless every day. It was mostly an experiment in seeing if I could figure out what was going on. Soap operas have a reputation for very dramatic and complicated plots, and I wondered what it would be like to jump in with no additional research or understanding of the show other that what I learned from a week of watching.
I was surprised by just how much was happening on an episode by episode basis. Sure each episode was mostly people in three different locations cross-cut at specific moments to build tension, but something happened in almost every episode. There was a sense of forward momentum, even it wasn't always clear where we were going or where we were coming from. But there was plenty of exposition and I was able to follow the story lines well enough that by the end of the week I felt like I really had a grasp on where things were, even as they ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. I also learned that the show's cast rotated between episodes, so the whole cast was never in a single episode, but rather they would show up a few times a week, but rarely in every episode. And at the end of the week, I had become invested enough that I actually considered watching the show some more. I didn't do that, but I thought about it.
Looking back on my notes on watching the show from four years ago, There were a lot of classic soap opera bits either mentioned or depicted on screen. There was a kidnapping, a history of someone with amnesia, people pulling guns and big revelations.
So I was excited to try jumping back into the show this week, to see if it would catch my attention again. My original intention was to do what I did last time, keep a daily log and write up my thoughts every day to put into this newsletter. That didn't go quite to plan, as I ended up missing one day and having to double up. But I'll at least give you a quick breakdown of what happened each episode. I'm gunna use names, but one interesting thing about watching this show cold, is that I often spend the first half of any given scene trying to figure out who everyone is and their relationships to each other. But here I'll save you the work of figuring it out and just tell you. I'm also going to split it up by storyline, rather than jumping back and forth.
Monday: Summer arrives at the home of her child Harrison, and has a confrontation with Harrison's nanny, Claire. Claire's aunt kidnapped Harrison sometime in the past, but he seems to be doing a lot better now. Harrison's Dad Kyle shows up and Kyle reveals that he got fired by his mom, but has a new job lined up with Audra and a secret investor. Summer hates the idea and thinks Kyle is being erratic and threatens to renegotiate their custody agreement.
Meanwhile in an office, Billy and Lily discuss their plans to force a separation of their company into two corporate entities, something along the lines of when AOL and Time Warner split. The board meets and there is a contentious vote, with Billy's Mom makes it clear she hates the idea and votes against it. But the split passes anyway. Billy also reveals his mom is sick, something else she gets mad about.
Traci and her Niece Abby discuss Abby's mom's mental health, although in very vague terms, so I have no idea what is actually wrong with her. Alan shows up to take Traci out on a date, after giving her a nice scarf as a gift. Traci is a novelist (Oh, I remember that from when I watched last time, she had just finished the first draft of her book) and Alan has an evil Twin brother. Which is exciting, but we never see Alan or Traci at all the rest of the week, which is disappointing.
Tuesday: Jack and Jackie see each other in a bar and have a conversation. At some point in the past Jack almost killed himself by taking a bunch of pills to convince Jackie to get sober (which seems like a bad plan, but I guess it worked.) Diane, Jacks wife got really mad about it, and hasn't forgiven Jackie.
Speaking of Diane, she's meeting Michael in a coffee shop to catch up. Shes venting about being forced into firing her son Kyle. Diane is Kyle's mom from yesterday, so there's a connection we didn't have before. Michael reveals he only became friends with Diane because Victor ordered him to. They speculate that Victor might also be the secret investor in Kyle's new job and must be trying to get back at Jack because of the thing with the pills. (I guess Jackie and Victor are together?)
Victor meets with Kyle and Audra to discuss the announcement of their new partnership. Victor is the secret investor and wants to stay that way. Kyle doesn't trust him (because of history) but Audra is fully on board.
Claire is back home with her parents, but has a date with Kyle planned. Her parents are worried about her, despite the fact that she's in her 30s probably. But she had been raised by a crazy woman who tried to turn her evil. So I guess that's reason to worry. At the date Kyle explains what we already learned on Monday about his new job, and he learns that Claire doesn't drink when he tries to toast to his new freedom.
Wednesday: Audra meets with a guy whose name I never learned. They flirt a lot and the guy hints that big things are happening at his company but he can't share yet. (It's the company split that got voted for on Monday) They share a kiss at the end of the episode.
Summer meets Chance at a bar and recaps what happened with Kyle on Monday. Chance also tells her that the company is splitting. Lily is leaving her brother's half of the company to stay with Billy. Chance doesn't think Summer should get lawyers involved or renegotiate custody.
Billy and Lily meet to celebrate the split, but Lily has doubts about leaving her brother. They fight but nothing comes of it.
Kyle gets home to find his parents Jack and Diane. They all have a fight about Diane firing Kyle, and Kyle may be working for Victor. They think Victor is trying to start up The War again (I don't know what that is.) Kyle storms out and Diane tells Jack everything from her conversation with Michael. Jack gets a text from Victor wanting to meet. Thursday: Billy and Sally are meeting in a coffee shop. Their respective partners, Chelsea and Adam, are in Baltimore with their shared child, Connor, who is in intensive psychiatric treatment. Billy tells her about the company split from Monday. They discuss the possibility of flying out to Baltimore to surprise Chelsea and Adam.
Jack and Victor meet in Victor's office, they trade barbs and Jack tells Victor to stay away from his family (Kyle.) Jack still doesn't actually know if Kyle is working with him, but he fears the worst. Jack leaves and Nick, Victor's son arrive. They share some exposition about things, including Connor being in Baltimore with his parents.
Kyle and Diane keep arguing about the fact that Diane fired him, and when Jack returns from seeing Victor, Kyle demands his mom's job, which Jack refuses.
In Baltimore Adam arrives at Chelsea's hotel room and they share a bottle of brandy. They drink and worry about their son Connor What if things don't get better. They eventually have sex which is a big deal because it was previously established in this episode that they were each in a relationship with someone else (Billy and Sally from above)
Friday: Summer meets with her parents (including Nick, so we have a direct line of parentage from Victor>Nick>Summer) and she recaps the fight she had with Kyle almost beat for beat. But it takes a long time because she keeps not wanting to tell them but her parents keep pushing her.
Kyle and Victor meet, where Victor recaps his fight with Jack and that he doesn't trust Kyle didn't spill the beans. Kyle didn't (that we saw) and asks Victor if this is to get revenge on Jack. Victor doesn't answer. Claire comes back and runs into Victor (who is also her grandfather?) as he's leaving. Victor glares at her and Kyle through a window as they talk.
Chelsea and Adam get dressed, and talk about how sleeping together was a mistake, even as they don't quite seem to believe it. The episode ends with each of them back in their respective rooms calling Billy and Sally to say how much they miss their partners. Conclusions: This was not nearly as exciting a week of the soap as what I got back in 2019. It felt like every episode had at least one, but more often two story lines that were just people telling each other information we the audience already had. Someone learning new information can be a story beat, but if it's the only story beat you use as a writer, I am going to get real bored. The most interesting thing that happened was the company split, but that was on Monday and then people kept (not) talking about it all week. All of the drama around Kyle, who felt like this week's main character, was speculation or people arguing about what had either already happened or might happen in the future. Nothing actually changed from Monday to Friday. I guess Chelsea and Adam hooking up was a big deal, but also paced so weirdly. It felt like a Friday reveal, but it happened on Thursday and so we had an episode of them talking about it on Friday instead.
I don't think I'm nearly as excited about coming back to The Young and The Restless next week. Maybe I'll circle back in anther five years and see what is happening then.
