When your love triangle turns into an octagon...

The love lives of a number of Genoa City residents have just become much more tangled. Who will end up with whom? Which are the best pairings? And what other drama went down on this past week's episodes of Y&R? Join our Two Scoops columnist as he discusses this new "love octagon" that's brewing like a storm around Genoa City -- and everything else you need to know!

This past week on Y&R, Summer and Chance continued their flirtatious behavior and even shared a picnic together after Sharon told Chance she couldn't join him. Is this the beginning of a new love triangle in Genoa City? If so, then it is also the start of a larger "love octagon" that's taken shape that includes: Audra/Kyle/Summer/Chance/Sharon/Nick/Sally/Adam. Their relationships are all connected now, and anyone could end up together (well, anyone except for Nick and Summer, since they are father and daughter)!

Let's break down this "love octagon": Audra and Kyle are sleeping together now that he and Summer are separated; Summer has now begun to flirt with Chance; Chance is dating Sharon; Adam insists that Sharon and Nick belong together; Nick is dating Sally; and Adam is still plotting to win Sally back from Nick. I think that about covers it, yeah? How crazy -- and also fun! I've been enjoying the summer storylines so far, and I feel like there is a lot of great potential. But, of course, we'll have to wait and see how they all play out.

Summer and Chance flirting with one another while sharing a picnic this week isn't a total surprise because these two have been in each other's orbits for a while now. However, I was surprised with how quickly their subtle flirting ramped up and became more open and blatant. I don't hate that it's happening, but it just seems like odd timing for Chance to suddenly start flirting with Summer, given that the last few months, the show has been propping up Sharon and Chance as a new couple. Although I guess it does make sense, in a way, because this pair could quickly become boring if they slip right into happy couple mode. Sparks flying between Summer and Chance may be just what Sharon and Chance need to keep their storyline interesting.

But Summer may not be the only person making things "interesting" for Chance and Sharon's relationship. Their budding romance may be tested even further by Summer's father, Nick (if Adam has anything to say about it). Adam did his best to convince Sharon that, in the end, she and Nick will always end up together, and they are wasting their time dating anyone else. Of course, Adam certainly has something to gain if that is true because if Nick gets back together with Sharon, then that means Sally would be single again, and he may have a chance of winning her back. I feel like Adam showed us this past week that he is plotting to break up Nick and Sally.

But I am done getting my hopes up about a romantic reunion between Adam and Sally (even though they shared a really nice moment in the park this past week), so part of me just wants to see Adam move on and not be bothered by Nick and Sally being together. Adam could step right on out of this "love octagon" and try to capture the magic he and Sally shared with someone else instead. And his next love could already be in town -- Heather! I can't believe these two exes still haven't run into each other since Heather has been back in Genoa City. I am anxious to see what the dynamic is like between them after all these years and whether or not there is still a spark there. But I'd also be lying if I didn't admit that a small part of me still wishes for an Adam/Sally reunion, so I'm curious to see what comes of Adam trying to reignite the spark that Sharon and Nick have for one another.

With all these potentially fluctuating couples, who knows who will end up with whom. I find Sally and Nick to be boring together, so I am definitely down for a mix-up of all these couples. While I agree with Adam that Nick and Sharon are each other's "endgame" and will ultimately make their way back to one another, I am not sure if they are ready for their romantic reunion just yet. I wouldn't be upset if Sharon stayed with Chance for a while, and Nick started seeing someone new for now (like Elena, perhaps)?

If the show doesn't pair Nick with Elena, I hope they find something else to do with her character soon, This past week just proved how great Brytni Sarpy is in the role, and I want to see more of her as Elena. She has essentially become nonexistent on the show since she and Nate broke up, so it was a fun surprise when she was spotted eavesdropping on (and reveling in) Nikki lecturing Nate about his relationship with Victoria! And how great was it when she called Nate out on his phony "good guy act" when he tried to approach her and chat with her as if they were friendly!? I enjoyed that the writers gave her that moment, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they have more in store for her.

Nate did not have it easy this past week, did he? Not only did Elena shun him, but he also got the third degree when being questioned by Nikki about his intentions toward Victoria. He always manages to keep his cool, but Nikki did manage to get him a little flustered a few times as they discussed his relationship with her daughter. I really enjoyed these scenes they shared, and I appreciated their frank conversation about his feelings for Victoria. It was really good to hear that Nate isn't ready to use the "love" word yet but that he hopes he and Victoria will get there some day. Their romance has been a bit of a whirlwind that was surrounded in the drama of his breakup with Elena, so we haven't really gotten a good sense of their emotional connection. Given both of their track records in the love department, it's probably best that they keep taking things slow in that regard!

Could love be in the air for two other Newman co-workers, too? Kyle and Audra were in a similar situation to Nate and Victoria when they first started hooking up. Their connection is mostly just physical for now, but there is potential for it to turn into something more (although theirs seems less serious to me). These two were MIA this past week as they flew to New York together on a business trip, which is what prompted Summer to finally decide she needed to accept that her marriage is over and move on. It will be very interesting to see if Summer tries to move on with Chance and whether or not Chance reciprocates. If Sharon and Nick start up their own office romance now that they are working together, that could certainly push Chance toward Summer (and that would certainly make Adam happy).

The dynamic of Nick, Sharon, and Adam running a new company together definitely lends itself to Adam's advantage if he wants to find ways to put the two former lovers back together. That will certainly lead to some very interesting days around the office for all of them. Of course, I'm sure there will be no shortage of interesting days there, given that Phyllis will be working with them now, too. I love that Adam offered Phyllis the position of leading their IT department, and I think it is perfect for her -- let's just hope she can stay out of prison long enough to cash her first paycheck! I really want to see more scenes with Phyllis and Sharon together like we got at the end of the week. I forgot how fun they are as "frenemies," and I was laughing as they played nice with each other while also making jabs at one another. It's always nice to have some humor amidst all the drama, and Sharon and Phyllis can deliver it.

Things are actually looking pretty good for Phyllis overall after this week. Assuming Daniel doesn't do something to throw his mother under the bus because he feels like she is trying to avoid taking responsibility for her actions, I think she may actually avoid jail time for her scheme to frame Diane for her murder. And it will all be thanks to Adam, who was able to dig up dirt on Tucker by going through old corporate emails of his, which Adam has full access to now that he's running Tucker's company. And now that Phyllis has some blackmail of her own to use against Tucker, she can get him to reveal where he's hiding the witness that can clear her of the charges she is facing.

While I'm thrilled that Phyllis has gotten the upper hand over Tucker, I was a little shocked by what she is holding over his head: Tucker and Audra covered up a scandal involving one of their musical artist's statutory rape crimes?! I know that Phyllis needed something big to blackmail Tucker with, but I wasn't expecting something like this. I hope this doesn't vilify Tucker and Audra too much and that the audience doesn't disconnect from them a bit for this thing that they did in their past. They have both been a great addition to the cast, and their characters have had a lot of good growth, so I'd hate to see something like this lead to one or both of them exiting the show.

Thankfully, a good thing they have going for them is that they didn't actually cover up the crime itself. The PR team they had hired is really to blame because they knew about their artist having sex with multiple underage girls while on tour, and they chose to ignore it so that they could avoid revenue losses and bad publicity. Tucker and Audra learned about all of this after the artist had already been caught, and they are only responsible for covering up the fact that their PR team was aware of what was going on, which they did so their company wouldn't be held liable in any way. Granted, that's still not a great thing to do, but at least that is more understandable (and easier to excuse) than if they had covered up the actual crime and had been responsible for more young girls being take advantage of. That would have been a lot harder for viewers to get over.

I think Tucker and Audra will survive this, though. Tucker has every reason to cooperate with Adam and Phyllis because doing so will cause the least amount of damage to his relationship with Ashley. Now that he and Ashley don't need Phyllis to go after Diane anymore, he doesn't need to keep her witness hidden as leverage to get her to do their bidding anymore. Plus, I'm sure he probably doesn't want Ashley finding out about this dastardly deed from his past until at least after they are already married! It only makes sense that Tucker will do what he can to bury his secret yet again and make sure Phyllis stays out of prison.

Ashley and Tucker may not be going forward with their plan to use Phyllis against Diane, but that doesn't mean they have given up their fight against Jack and Diane. Now they are going a more covert route and installing Billy as a spy at Jabot. Little do they know that Billy is actually a spy for Jack and Diane, and he is helping them to ensure Ashley and Tucker don't win in this latest Abbott family war. Or does Ashley know? I have moments where I wonder if she is onto their game and knows Billy is not truly on her side. Hell, I even have moments where I'm not sure which of them Billy is being sincere with! Might he actually be playing Jack and Diane for fools in the way that they think he is playing Ashley for one? I'm very curious to see where all of this is headed, and I'm sure there will be a few more surprises in store for us.

Lastly, before I sign off for the week, I want to give a shout-out to Mariah and Tessa. It was great to see them again this week, and I am excited that Mariah took the job working for Sharon at her new company as the head of marketing! I hope they get an actual office set for them soon and that we will get to see all these new character interactions between Nick, Sharon, Adam, Phyllis, and Mariah all working together.

That's all for this week, folks! Don't forget to hit the Comments (here on the site and on social media posts throughout the week) to share your opinions, too. I'll see you there.

Until next time,Vance

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