The Young and the Restless Two Scoops Year-End Edition-Causing Controversy With Conflicting Opinions.

he Young and the Restless gave viewers a mix of the old and the new, the familiar and the innovative in 2025. The show has never looked better and features a cast of beloved favorites while boasting some dynamic players who are newer, too!

The Young and the Restless, the wedding of the year, 30+ years in the making

A 31-year-old wrong was righted when Cricket (Lauralee Bell) and Danny (Michael Damian) remarried. They divorced by infamous overnight letter (remember those?) back in 1994 when Danny gave vague reasons as to why he and Chris had to go their separate ways. Soon, all was revealed. Well, not all, but we were introduced to Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), who, we later learned, had drugged Danny and lied to him that he was the father of her son, Daniel (Michael Graziadei). The truth came out as it almost always does.

Phyllis paid when she lost custody of her son after her lies were exposed. And then, Danny and Christine got back together. Oh, wait. They didn’t! Cricket had moved on to a life and marriage with Paul Williams (Doug Davidson). Danny left Genoa City with Daniel to go on a tour..

Missing in action, dearly departed

Nina losing Chance was referred to as her having lost her only son. Does this mean Ronan (Jeff Branson) had died? Or was it an oversight? We’re hoping for the latter as Nina shouldn’t have to go through a double loss…where was Phillip (Thom Bierdz) when Chance died? The show took a big leap when it revealed over a decade ago that Phillip had faked his death after getting in a car wreck so that he could live openly as a gay man in Australia. It’s a good thing he came home. Eventually, social media exploded, and he would have had to have, well, come out.

We also wanted on-screen memorials for Cole (we did get an episode showing the Newmans returning from his service, and they mourned his passing), and Damian (Jermaine Rivers). He wasn’t with us very long, but we’ve no doubt that Daytime Emmy nominee Valarie Pettiford (Amy), would have acted the heck out of a memorial scene. She certainly did in the park when Nate (Sean Domnic) gave her the news.

I love LA

Y&R viewers were in for a huge shock when the story shifted to Los Angeles. We’re not just talking about the resurrection of Matt Clark (Roger Howarth). Though we would like it if the show addressed just how the character went from Rick Hearst as Matt, yanking his tubes out, hastening his death, to becoming Howarth’s Matt.

We need to take death seriously on soaps. Otherwise, daytime dramas shouldn’t kill people off. For all we know, Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) is out there, having kidnapped Cole (J. Eddie Peck) from the hospital, and he didn’t actually die. (Peck floated this idea by Soap Central in an exclusive interview.) Ditto for Chance. Maybe Cane whisked the lawman away and is keeping him alive while he’s in a coma. Hmmm…Cane has been saying cryptic remarks like “all will be revealed” or words to that effect.

Artificially Inflated

 

Frankly, we loved Ashley’s (Eileen Davidson) idea that she go to Victor and plead the Abbott family’s case. It sure worked once before when the family needed an extension so that the Abbotts could reclaim Jabot in 1999. Ashley went to Victor and implored him to be there for him. Otherwise, what they had meant nothing! Swoon! Victor could not help but be swayed by the woman he once loved. We’d much prefer watching Ashley emotionally appeal to Victor than to see Jack sitting the back room of Crimson Lights at his laptop, trying to handle the matter that way.

Team Audra

The Y&R writers hand Zuleyka Silver’s Audra the best zingers on soaps, and the actress fires them off against everyone and anyone who dares to challenge her. (We’ve also seen a heart underneath Audra’s bravado.) Her main target is Claire. These two have terrific showdowns. No matter how things play out, Audra is an expert when it comes to reframing.

Things we loved & things we want to see more of in 2026

Mandi Line, Y&R’s Daytime Emmy-nominated costume designer, never fails to entertain us with the fab fashions worn by Genoa City citizens. Whether it’s a big event – like Cane’s chateau in France (we believed they were all summering in France based on their wardrobe alone!), Cricket and Danny’s wedding, Billy (Jason Thompson) and Sally’s (Courtney Hope) launch party with Abbott Communications – or just every day attire, Line crossed the finish line in first place every time!

There were so many dynamic performances on the show this year. Michael (Christian LeBlanc) and Victor’s “break up” showed that it’s not just romantic duos that can break our hearts when they call it quits, Diane’s (Susan Walters) efforts at redoing the Abbott mansion and how they were tied into her self-worth and her wanting to be a true Abbott were emotional, clearly showing why Walters is a Daytime Emmy-winning performer.

Sharon and Phyllis look like they’re finishing out the year (mostly) holding to the truce they made after becoming Martin Laurent’s (Christopher Cousins) prisoner. Brava to that story twist. Phyllis can’t be at odds with everyone all the time, can she?

Beth Maitland broke our hearts as we watched Traci come to realize that the chance she took on love turned out to be filled with deceit and broken promises.

Another welcomed return was Jess Walton’s Jill, who has a son by birth, Billy (Jason Thompson), in Genoa City, and one in name, Cane. Walton always delivers. If the show could lure her back for more appearances next year, bringing back the Chancellor mansion in the process, we’ll stand up and applaud.

And while we didn’t get Paul Williams (Doug Davidson) back on screen, Chris’s ex-husband sent flowers on his ex-wife’s big day. That was a nice touch. Though we wouldn’t have minded Paul standing up and objecting, maybe telling Christ that (gulp!) they’re still married!

Y&R delivered on special episodes with Michael and Lauren’s 20th anniversary show, and re-airings of Cricket and Danny’s original wedding in Hawaii. The bonus in that program was seeing Jack married to Nikki, and Victor married to Ashley (Brenda Epperson). Victor owned Jabot at the time, but that didn’t need to be addressed daily (like we hear with the AI program). Instead, it was all about the human dynamics and interactions. Nikki was not going to tell Victor she was facing a dangerous surgery. She couldn’t allow herself to be vulnerable, even though the audience was screaming at their TVs for those two lovebirds to get back with one another.

Another hit was the 2010 Christmas episode in which Victor played out a Scrooge/A Christmas Carol episode that gave us the brief returns of George Kennedy (Albert), Signy Coleman (Hope), and Raya Meddine, whose character, Sabrina, was taken from us way too quickly.