Sweet but psycho: The Young and the Restless Two Scoops for the week of May 5, 2025

The Young and the Restless had another shining week of episodes that advanced plots, delivered emotional performances, and revealed character development. Among the standouts, there was Phyllis Summers. She had us captivated as we watched her revert to her deeply wicked ways. And she's not the only antagonist on the canvas either.

The Young and the Restless Phyllis 101

If you already know Phyllis's origins, get ready to stroll down memory lane. If you don't, fasten your seatbelts! Veteran viewers of Y&R can recall Phyllis exploding onto the Genoa City scene back in 1994. The character proved to be the greatest obstacle in the Danny and Christine love story.

The show loaded Phyllis with a compelling backstory filled with sex, secrets, and danger. Obsessed with Danny, she lied to him that they’d slept together and he was the father of their son, Daniel. By the late 1990s, Phyllis had paid for her deception and left town.

When she returned a short while later, the character, now a Web expert, was worked into other storylines involving Jack, Diane, and, later, Nick and Sharon. Phyllis wasn’t running people over with rental cars anymore, but the character hadn’t lost any of her spark, vitality, or passion.

As the years progressed, folks would write off Phyllis’s machinations as “Oh, that’s just Phyllis!” She worked people’s last nerves, but, as always, Stafford makes the character entertaining. We saw her vulnerability when she expressed her love for Nick, and Phyllis’s showdowns with Dru and Sharon were epic.

We say “were” because Dru is presumed dead and, in a move that nobody had on their Bingo card, Sharon and Phyllis have put their antagonistic past behind them. (For now).

The bitch is back…did she ever leave us?

This has been a big build-up to what we saw last week, but we feel filling in some backstory on Phyllis is more than worth it. That’s because we are witnessing the return of a potentially dangerous Phyllis. Why now? Especially as Phyllis has turned a corner with Sharon.

The fact is that Phyllis is never more threatening than when she feels cornered or betrayed. And these days, as you can see in her eyes, Phyllis is feeling both. She’s not only watched her daughter Summer leave town, but both she and Daniel are out at Billy’s new communications company.

We saw the wicked wheels turning in Phyllis’s head when she failed to enlist Tessa in her quest to help Daniel. (To paraphrase Oda Mae Brown, "Tessa, you're in danger!") The musician made a great point about letting Daniel discover his path without anyone's interference. Before Phyllis even said a word in response, we saw that “I’m not going to be ignored, Dan” look on her face. No one can tell Phyllis she's wrong in a moment like that. She's made up her mind, and no one should dare try to change it. She'll turn on you, too, if you do.

When Sally met Phyllis

Sally wasn’t around for Phyllis’s antics in the 1990s, but she’s witnessed firsthand how passionate her fellow redhead can be. Phyllis approached Sally and Billy’s table at the Genoa City Athletic Club, and while most of the dialogue took place between Billy and Phyllis, we couldn’t help but notice Sally absorbing every bit of Phyllis’s body language and words.

Sally is very savvy, but she knows what it’s like to cross a line, as evidenced by some of her experiences while living in Los Angeles. She's aware of when someone has the potential to snap. We felt bad for Phyllis when she retreated to Crimson Lights to collect herself. (We also felt a bit fearful for the barista from whom Phyllis firmly ordered her drink!)

When Phyllis sat in her booth alone, we saw confirmation of Sally’s suspicions. Phyllis is falling down a dark hole, it seems. She likely means business, and she’s not going to rest until she feels she’s been treated fairly. Watch out, Genoa City!

Victor, victorious

Of course, Phyllis isn't the only person to keep an eye on in Genoa City. Victor was loaded for bear this week with quite a few people. He demanded that Adam do his bidding to use Newman Media to take down Billy and his company, Abbott Communications. The mogul let his granddaughter Claire know that she'd disappointed him. (Ouch.) And Victor went into the ring with Jack and Kyle, ordering the younger Abbott to stay away from Claire or else.

Victor also took time to trade barbs with Billy. They were in public, so it didn't escalate into a screaming match. It wasn't necessary to deliver shouting drama. There's tons of history between Billy and Victor. For every barb or insult that Victor fired at Billy, he shot one back. You really can't go anywhere in Genoa City and have a pleasant conversation, can you? For soap fans, that's a good thing!

An offer he can't refuse

The power plays between Lily, Devon, and Nate continue. Lily wants to lure Damian away from the enigmatic Aristotle Dumas so that he can work for her family's company.

Executives moving characters around like checkers isn't thrilling in and of itself, but what makes Y&R's business stories so interesting is that they're about power, attraction, and people. Lily wouldn't have felt this way about wanting to give Damian a job a few weeks ago. She's softened towards him. Lily's less likely to believe Victor now. If her heart gets broken, we have little doubt that Lily will blast Damian for making her change her mind!

Speaking of Lily and her family, it's nice that conversations with Nate, et. al. are peppered with updates on Amy. And it's even nicer that these updates are all positive. We'd love nothing more than to have Amy get a clean bill of health. There's a lot for her to do in Genoa City. She can act as a go-between for her son, Damian, and his half-brother, Nate. Amy's a surrogate mother figure for Lily or, at the least, a good listener. Plus, as the show reminded us, Amy and Traci are longtime pals.

And while we're on the subject of returns, can Traci and Ashley do some healing in New York and then get back to Genoa City? They not only need to weigh in on the Abbott mansion in person (we know they liked the photos Jack sent them), but these two veteran players are synonymous with The Young and the Restless.

And Adam shouldn't think that he's in his father's good graces for very long. Not if he's going to do things like work with Kyle and Claire to sell them his home. Imagine what would happen if Victor and Phyllis teamed up. They'd be unbeatable!

Don't lie to me

Diane asked Billy for his honest opinion about the new Abbott mansion, which may have been a mistake. Billy unloaded his emotions on Diane, which kind of ruined her day. The resulting scenes between Diane and Jack were powerful. A character doesn't have to be on the witness stand or by someone's hospital bedside to turn out a powerful performance.

Love and War

Soaps are all about young romance, and that's why we like the Kyle and Claire story so much. It's got all the makings of a beautiful love story. They're two attractive, young people with everything to look forward to in life. They're tied to long-term families on the canvas. All that's standing in their way is the great and powerful Victor Newman.

It'd be nice if Victor could just give the duo his blessing and realize his feud with the Abbotts isn't necessary. He is truly mad at Jack for helping Nikki stay sober? That's, well, maddening!

Secrets and lies

While Y&R gave us some stories this week where we knew what was on the table (Victor doesn't like Kyle!), some tales have us tuning in tomorrow because we're not sure what's going to happen.

Just when the heck are we going to meet the enigmatic Aristotle Dumas? He's the most talked-about person in town for a long time, but who is he? And why have people given so much of their energy to him?

And just what is it that happened with Mariah while she was out of town? There was great character development in which we saw Mariah confess to Sharon not so much what she did, but why she did it. Mariah was not only nervous about Tessa finding out what she did, but she was stricken to her core that she'd allow herself to make such a mistake. This kind of introspective analysis is something only soaps can do. They have the luxury of time that other genres simply do not!

The logical question to ask is, will Mariah's actions prompt Tessa to turn away from her? Would she find emotional comfort from Daniel if that were to happen is another logical query.

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus