If you love me, set me free

This was a week of letting go and saying goodbye on The Young and the Restless. After being rejected by Adam, Chelsea made moves to relocate the fashion division of Newman Media; Michael said goodbye to his job as district attorney; Phyllis contemplated saying farewell to Genoa City; Abby and Chance struggled with letting Devon take Dominic; Noah tried to move on from his feelings for Tessa; and Adam lost control of Newman Media after Victoria purchased the company for Newman Locke. It wasn't all goodbyes, though ­ read on as we delve into all the happenings in Genoa City this week!

There's an old saying that if you love someone, you should set them free (rather than guilting them into staying with you or preventing them from making their own sound decisions). The saying continues that if they come back to you, it was meant to be. In soap operas, characters typically don't take this advice and, instead, tend to go to extremes to hold on to those they love -- or force others' hands into making bad decisions. Y&R is breaking that trend this week, as many of our favorite characters opted to try to let go of the past and move toward the future. Whether some of these characters will stay the course in their seemingly wise decisions remains to be seen, though...

...Take Chelsea, for example. I don't believe for one second that she wants to move Newman Media's fashion division for the sake of not having awkward run-ins with Adam at the office. After he rejected her attempts at a romantic reunion, it is more likely that her decisions are motivated by keeping Sally away from Adam as much as possible. She sees the spark between Sally and Adam and wants to do everything she can to stop the flirting between the two of them so that it doesn't turn into something more substantial. Were it not for Sally, Chelsea would undoubtedly insist on staying put at their current office space so that she could take full advantage of being near Adam daily to try to win him back.

Speaking of the Chelsea/Sally drama, I couldn't have agreed with Adam more when he told Sally he didn't want to hear anything more about her feud with Chelsea. The sniping back and forth between these two at the office has become irksome -- so I was happy to see Chloe stand up to Chelsea this week and tell her just that! Chloe has done everything to make their new fashion division a success, and Chelsea is more concerned with her personal drama than she is with focusing on the company itself. I hope that Chelsea really heard Chloe this time and starts being a better friend to her (and gives Sally a break -- at least when it comes to business), but I won't hold my breath, waiting for it to happen.

Just like Chelsea, Phyllis doesn't have me convinced that she is serious about moving on, either. Yes, the job she is being offered in Milan sounds great on paper -- and Phyllis is doing her damnedest to convince everyone it is what she wants -- but what Phyllis really wants is Jack (even if she is afraid to admit it). To me, it is no coincidence that Jack was visiting Milan at the same time Phyllis started making plans to visit there. Jack wasn't responding to her messages, and it was clearly getting to her that she hadn't heard back. Phyllis isn't one to put her heart on her sleeve, so when Summer offered her a job in Milan, it provided her with the perfect excuse to make her way to Italy (and Jack).

As the week came to a close, though, Jack returned to town! It was great to see Peter Bergman back on-screen after he'd had a few weeks off -- but Phyllis didn't seem quite so thrilled to see Jack back. Why? Because her trip to Milan was clearly just an excuse to run into Jack, who is no longer there -- and now she is stuck leaving town just as he has returned. These star-crossed lovers just keep missing each other lately -- and they seem to be taking it as a sign that they shouldn't be together. I'm still unsure of what the writers have planned for these two, but I'm very curious to see how it all plays out. As far as I know, Michelle Stafford is not leaving the show, which means Phyllis isn't moving to Milan -- so what may keep her from leaving town? Will she and Jack finally get out of their own way and give love another shot?

As of now, I am unsure of what I want to see happen for these characters. On the one hand, I love their chemistry together and have always thought they had a real, lasting love, but on the other hand, I also wouldn't hate to see either of them exploring new romances this year (if the right coupling were to come along for either of them). For now, I think I'm just going to continue to sit on the fence regarding this couple and see what the writers have up their sleeves.

I'm not so keen to continue sitting on the fence in regard to Noah, though. I don't really understand why the writers brought him back to the show if all he is going to do is look sad all the time about Tessa having moved on with his sister Mariah -- which is old news. Sure, Tessa and Maria are engaged now, so that made their love even more real to him, which I get, but I just want to see more from this character.

Are there even any fans that want to see Noah and Tessa reunite -- or that even remotely care about "poor Noah"? If so, please hit the comments and let me know why you feel that way. In my opinion, there's a lot more potential for him on the show than this half-assed storyline. The new actor portraying Noah, Rory Gibson, has been a great addition to the cast, but squeezing the character into Tessa and Mariah's storyline is not doing him justice. I know I definitely saw some sparks flying between Noah and Sally, Noah and Elena, and even Noah and Chelsea, so there are definitely a lot more interesting plots the writers could be throwing his way. I'm pretty sure Nate and Elena need a more interesting storyline now, too, so let's move on to an Imani/Nate/Elena/Noah plot soon and steer away from this train wreck of a story with Tessa/Noah/Mariah!

I really hope we don't get a storyline twist in the near future where Tessa cheats on Mariah with Noah -- especially after how cute Tessa and Mariah's scenes have been lately! I love that they both proposed to each other (Mariah's proposal was especially sweet). The chemistry between the two of them this past week was stronger than I've ever seen. I'm really enjoying seeing them plan their wedding and look into adopting a child, but the extra angle with Noah is souring some of it, so I hope we move on from that soon. Hopefully, Noah was sincere when he apologized to Tessa and told her that he doesn't want to make a big deal out of how he has been acting lately and that they should forget about what he said when he was drunk. And I'm right there with him, hoping that we can all move on! Fingers crossed!

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for Michael in his new career. It's great that he decided to retire as the District Attorney, but I am slightly concerned about him becoming Victor's personal lawyer. I am loving this storyline, though! It's been great to see Michael back in the thick of things on the show lately, and I love this new direction for him -- even if he may come to regret working for "The Mustache" again.

At least Michael can take solace in knowing that he won't be getting embroiled in a Newman family legal battle over Newman Media. At the start of the week, Victoria was ready to sue her father and brother for their use of the name "Newman Media" because she wants to rebrand the newly acquired ChanceComm as Newman Media to keep all of Newman Locke's divisions under the Newman name. Rather than going to war over the name of their company, though, Victor determined it was best to let Victoria just acquire Newman Media for Newman Locke -- under the condition that Adam remain CEO.

This, of course, means that Adam will become a member of the Newman Locke executive team -- something that Ashland didn't seem all too happy about when Victoria broke the news to him. Ashland is right to be worried about Adam because he will certainly seek out some sort of revenge against his sister for being slighted by their father in this way (which I am eagerly anticipating!), but something tells me there is more going on with Ashland lately. Ever since his terminal illness has become much less terminal and he has begun to regain his health, Ashland has been acting a little shady in regard to Newman Locke business.

I have a feeling that Victoria's supposed "Prince Charming" is going to end up being not so charming in the near future. Victor is likely right on the money with his suspicions regarding Ashland's intentions for the company. It has me wondering if the sale of Newman Media could be a trojan horse, of sorts, in an effort to plant Adam in a position at Newman Locke where he can keep a closer eye on Ashland for Victor. Or is Victor plotting something else entirely? I'm excited to find out!

Something I'm less excited about on the show right now is the baby Dominic storyline. I don't know if it's supposed to be sweet that Abby and Chance have decided to just roll over and give Devon shared custody of the child that he was supposed to be nothing more than a sperm donor and "uncle" to, but it is only coming off as aggravating to me. I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- I. Don't. Get. It! Abby doesn't seem to want to give Devon custody, but Chance has somehow convinced her it is a good idea because he isn't ready to be a full-time dad. Um, hello -- they both have plenty of other family members that would be willing to help out (that wouldn't demand a permanent custody agreement in exchange) while Chance deals with his post-traumatic stress. This whole plot seems so contrived and unnecessary.

As much as I wasn't on board for Devon fighting for shared custody in the first place, it would have been a much more satisfying story if this had become a dramatic legal battle that provided us with a satisfying ending. Instead, Abby has seemingly been given no choice but to just roll over and accept that Devon is going to be a permanent father figure to the child that she and Chance were supposed to raise on their own. And on top of that, Devon then had the gall to ask them to let Dominic stay overnight with him before the ink is even dry on the custody agreement?! The whole thing is truly nuts, and it is driving me insane that not even one person close to them has commented on how selfish Devon is being or how bizarre the situation has become. Where is Jill when we need her?!

One positive side to this story is Mariah's reaction to the situation with Dominic and Devon. I am relieved to see the Mariah I love back to her old self and no longer pining over baby Dominic. If you had asked me last year, I would have bet that Mariah would be the one embroiled in a custody battle over Dominic, and, to be fair, I probably would have hated that, too. But at least Mariah's battle would have made more sense after the traumatic experience of having been kidnapped while pregnant. Even though Dominic wasn't born yet, she bonded with him because he was all she had while she was being held captive by Abby's ex-husband. I can't get behind Devon's (and Chance's) reasoning, though. I don't remember the last time I've rolled my eyes so much when watching this show!

Well, before I pull my hair out thinking about Devon and baby Dominic, I'm going to sign off for this week. Hit the comments, and let me know what you thought of this week's episodes -- I'm especially eager to hear some other fans' takes on the Dominic storyline! In the meantime, I'll be praying to the soap gods that Jill, Nina, Phillip, or someone -- anyone! -- comes to town and talks some sense into Abby, Chance, and/or Devon so that I don't feel like I'm going crazy over here by myself with these thoughts!

Until next time, Vance

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