"Let it burn!"

It must be summer because Genoa City is on fire -- literally! Sharon set aflame Cameron's belongings, Tucker and Ashley put their plan in motion to burn Jabot down to kindling for their new company to gather, and Kyle lit a match to what was left of his marriage to Summer by doubling down on his "affair" with Audra. Take in the summer heat as our Two Scoops columnist breaks down all the hot drama coming out of The Young and the Restless!

Fun fact(s): The title of my column this week was intended to be an homage to a now-famous quote from Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie Halloween Kills (and it still is an homage to that), but my husband also pointed out to me that there is a very famous Usher song by the same name and that people are more likely to associate this week's title with that song. So, I looked up the Usher song (surprisingly, I wasn't familiar with it) and -- good news! -- the lyrics are actually quite relevant to some of the happenings in Genoa City this past week. However, I believe the song is actually titled "Burn" (even though the chorus repeats "Let it burn" over and over). Regardless, the point is that whether you are a horror aficionado or an Usher fan, this column's title is for you! And both references are relevant to the state of Y&R as summer heats up in Genoa City, so let's dive in and discuss our favorite soap!

Let's start by appeasing you horror aficionados and delve into how this past week's Y&R episodes related to the aforementioned horror franchise. While the real horror took place a couple of weeks ago when Sharon had to kill Cameron to save the lives of herself, Nick, and their daughter Faith, Y&R closed this chapter on Cameron when Sharon and Nick burned away the belongings he had left to her in his will. Some of the items in the box she received from the executor of Cameron's will included his diary and his dog's collar. That was an interesting wrinkle to Cameron's backstory that we got with the inclusion of the dog collar. Could he have been so obsessed with Sharon that he could kill someone else's pet cat just to get to her?! I just don't know how someone who loves any animal as family could do harm to someone else's pet. Creepy! Or maybe he's just not a cat person?

Cameron's obsessions for Sharon did run deep, though. Much like Michael Meyers was obsessed with killing Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode for decades, Cameron was equally obsessed with making Sharon his possession. How creepy of him to still be thinking of Sharon so strongly nearly 20 years after she sent him to jail. That's devotion right there, folks! It's a bit sad that Cameron felt he had no one else in his life to leave his belongings to other than the woman he was stalking. But, then again, it's also hard to have sympathy for such a psychopath who hurt so many people. He certainly got what he deserved.

I'm still not happy with how quickly the Cameron storyline was wrapped up (as you can read plenty about in my previous column), but it was nice to see this episode give Sharon closure to the whole ordeal so that she could heal emotionally and move on. I'm sure it was also cathartic and healing for Nick as he and Sharon burned Cameron's belongings together and were able to put that chapter of their lives behind them. That's the type of thing we need to see more of -- people dealing with their emotional trauma to improve their mental health. Bravo to the writer(s?) for that!

Y&R did a good job of handling mental health issues recently with Chelsea's depression and attempted suicide, too, so it's nice to see that trend continuing. Chelsea has made quite a turnaround since last year. She has gone from feeling useless and alone to being one of Genoa City's hot commodities in the business world. Just as her involvement in the Chancellor-Winters video game division is heating up, now Summer has approached her to offer the position of creative director at Marchetti (now that Kyle is stepping down from his position).

I'd rather see Chelsea working in the fashion world again because she is more knowledgeable and comfortable in that environment. I'm hoping she jumps ship and joins Summer's team (and brings Chloe on board, too). Daniel's video game, and the new Chancellor-Winters video game division, will be fine without her. Summer, meanwhile, can certainly use all the help she can get at Marchetti -- especially once she soon discovers that her personal life may need more attention than she thought it did. We'll discuss that more later, though, because there were some other business shenanigans going on this past week that we should talk about before we delve into the Summer/Kyle/Audra drama.

Of course, the other major business storyline I'm referring to is Ashley and Tucker's announcement that they've launched their own company. This duo is certainly trying to set the business world on fire. It was a great twist to learn that Ashley's plan is to use their new company to weaken Jabot so that they can ultimately acquire it and run it as they please without Jack and Diane's involvement. It's a bit convoluted, since Jabot is already doing well under Jack's guidance, but I'm still here for it! Jack and Ashley are sibling rivalry at its best. Jack should be very afraid of Ashley and Tucker because they can both be extremely relentless once they set their minds to something.

And not only is he relentless, but how charming is Trevor St. John as Tucker?! He is always so funny interacting with Jack! And when he was joking with Ashley and pretending to be Jack, I almost lost it. With any other actor, it could have been cheesy, but his scenes with Eileen Davidson's Ashley are always a joy to watch. I hope the show keeps these two around for a good while because, as a team, they really bring something special to the canvas.

But back to Jack and Diane (whom I do enjoy as a couple, but not nearly as much as Ashley and Tucker) -- they certainly do have a lot to be worried about at Jabot. I don't know if Ashley and Tucker's plot to take over the company will actually work out or not, but even if it doesn't, the Jabot Board of Directors will likely start to lose faith in Jack's leadership if Ashley makes a big enough impact. This could lead to Jack having to choose between his family's company and Diane. Given that he has gone from cad to hopeless romantic, my bet is that he would choose Diane over Jabot. But he certainly does like the power that he wields at Jabot, and it is important for him to uphold his father's legacy, so maybe Diane might not be the favored choice, after all.

Nick has a big decision to make regarding his career now, too. He and Adam have been on somewhat good terms recently, so should he try to do as his father is asking and join forces with his brother at McCall Unlimited (or whatever they end up calling it)? Victoria hasn't made it a secret that she's happy to keep him at arm's length in regard to Newman business, since she just put him on a mandatory leave of absence, so why shouldn't he try his hand in business with his other sibling? Adam may not be so welcoming of his brother, though, because of Nick's relationship with Sally, so it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Since we are talking about the Newman brothers, I suppose Sally deserves a mention. She cried and complained some more this past week, and that's pretty much all I remember when looking back on it. Remember when she was an interesting character before she got involved with Nick? I hope we see that Sally again soon. At this point, I'd even be happier for her to be single than to be with Nick. Their love triangle with Adam was just too forced, and I'm not committed to their story at all. If the writers won't put her with Adam, then they should just have her spend some time alone so we can remember what we like about her. After that, they can maybe introduce a new love interest for her (or finally put her back with Adam at that point -- just sayin')!

It looks like Summer is more likely to be declaring herself a single woman before Sally, though. Summer may think that she and Kyle will get over their separation and ultimately get back together, but she will likely need to start rethinking that now that Audra has her eyes set on Kyle! I'm sure the last thing that Summer imagined might come between her and Kyle was another woman! Their arguments thus far have mostly been about how she kept the secret about Phyllis having faked her death, which meant Kyle's mom had to spend more time in prison. And in my opinion, Kyle has every right to be upset with Summer, so I am loving this path the writers have taken him on.

I know some viewers may try to vilify Kyle and claim he is cheating on his wife, but like he told Audra when she was surprised that he didn't care about being seen with her in public, he has nothing to hide. Kyle told Summer that he wasn't sure that he could get over her betrayal, and he not only kicked her out of the Abbott manor, but he also asked for a separation and left his job so that he wouldn't have to be around her every day. While they may not be divorced yet, I would not go so far as to say the sex with Audra could be considered cheating by any means. Their whole situation makes me think of the infamous phrase from the sitcom Friends: "We were on a break!" (although Kyle and Summer are no Ross and Rachel).

Maybe it is just because I will always be a Kyle/Lola loyalist and I hate that the writers broke them up to put Kyle back with Summer years ago, but whatever it is, I am certainly enjoying this new storyline for Kyle. He and Summer have been so boring as of late that I'd forgotten why I loved Michael Mealor as Kyle in the first place. It was nice to see him shining and in his element again. He was certainly more fun-spirited in all his interactions with Audra. It almost reminded me of the passion he had with Lola, but a little more fun and a lot less serious.

Come to think of it, Audra has really been adding a bit of fun to a lot of scenes and storylines lately. And I think it has all been great! I thoroughly enjoyed her sparring with Adam over whose media company will come out on top; it was fun to see her interaction with Lily this week at Society as she nonchalantly gloated about her new job after Lily tried to put her down; and her conversation with Summer regarding the flowers and jewelry she had just received from Kyle were delightfully devilish. It's fun to have a "bad girl" to root for that isn't inherently evil or murderous. In fact, I shouldn't even classify her as a bad girl. She's just an independent woman going after what she wants in life. More of her, please!

While I am enjoying the Kyle and Audra twist and hope to see them sharing more screen time in the future, I don't necessarily think that they have what it takes to make a long-term relationship work. Their flirting and sexual escapades have been fun, and their "relationship" (or lack thereof) has been surprising to watch unfold, but I am more excited by the prospect of Kyle going to work for Audra at Newman Media. It would be great to see Kyle interacting with more of the cast, and this job at Newman would be a great opportunity for him to be able to do so.

Also, is anyone else picking up on the "are we flirting or not?" vibe between Summer and Chance? I like the idea of a storyline for these two playing out a bit more before I make a decision about whether or not I like their potential pairing, but it could certainly prove to be interesting. It's funny, I didn't expect to be calling any Kyle or Summer storyline interesting anytime soon because they seemed to go a bit stale and boring for a while; however, it seems that they both just tend to shine brighter without one another. Their characters are certainly more interesting apart!

Having said that, though, I can't wait for the fireworks that are sure to explode when Summer learns about Kyle and Audra's sexual relationship. Their storyline really does have a lot more entertainment value now with the inclusion of Audra, so, like Usher says in his song "Burn," all I have to say to Kyle and Summer concerning their marriage is this: "you know that it's over, we know that it's through, let it burn, let it burn, gotta let it burn." In fact, burn this whole town down if that's what it takes to get more entertaining storylines. After all, it has been awhile since Y&R has done a natural disaster storyline... hmmmm... maybe I'm onto something with this. Let it burn, let it burn, gotta let it burn!

Readers, what are you thinking about all this? Would you be up for seeing Genoa City being burned to the ground (both figuratively and literally) to make way for some fresh new storylines? If not a natural disaster to help provide a bit of a storyline cleanse/shake-up, what other suggestions might you have for the direction the show should take? Perhaps you like the show just the way it is right now? Be sure to hit the Comments (here below my column or on the various social media posts throughout the week) to let me know your thoughts! See you there!

Until next time,Vance

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