The Young and the Restless Best of the Week, September 22 to 26: Victor and Jack team up, Tessa and Daniel grow closer, and alliances shift! 

The Young and the Restless Best of the Week, September 22 to 26: alliances shifted in some surprising and positive ways in Genoa City!

The Young and the Restless Best of the Week

Welcome to the best of the Week for The Young and the Restless, where we highlight some of the week’s standout moments, scenes, notables, quotables, fashion, and more!

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS MOMENTS

Jack (Peter Bergman) arriving at the Newman ranch to see Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) was soap opera storytelling at its finest! Jack suggested an alliance with Victor to take down Cane (Billy Flynn), their common enemy. What's that old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my ally?

Of course, Victor and Jack will never be pals. Victor couldn't help but point out to Jack that while Victor is a self-made man, Jack inherited Jabot from his late father, John (Jerry Douglas).

Jack and Victor agree that Jill (Jess Walton) is the person who can bring down Cane. When was the last time those two ever saw eye to eye with one another? For the first time since Cane's enigmatic reveal as Aristotle Dumas, we're thinking the billionaire is outnumbered!

Not all characters have to be at each other's throats on Y&R. The Sally (Courtney Hope) and Audra (Zuleyka Silver) friendship continues to be a bright spot in Genoa City. The best part is that Sally, without judgment, calls her pal out of her stuff. That is being a real friend.

Billy (Jason Thompson) doing a turnaround and realizing he had wronged Sally was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. Their long talks at Chancellor Park and the jazz lounge, and their lovemaking scenes, are giving us hope for the duo!

It was sweet watching Lauren (Tracey Bregman) and Michael (Christian LeBlanc) chat with Fenmore (Zach Tinker). Ideally, we'd get Zack back in Genoa City in person, but we'll take watching his parents be joyful and excited by talking to their child. Bonus: Michael gave a shoutout to Trey (Julian Larach), Fenmore's boyfriend. It was over two years ago when the Fenmore/Trey relationship was first introduced, but we still know very little about it.

Watching Claire (Hayley Erin) even entertain going out of town with Holden (Nathan Owens), knowing full well how Kyle (Michael Mealor) feels about him, is like watching someone fall off a cliff in slow motion. Claire has made it clear to Kyle that going to Paris with him won't solve anything. She decided against going to Los Angeles with Holden (for now), but if she were to change her mind, well, we wouldn't hold out much hope for Claire and Kyle's future.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS SCENES

The week kicked off with Traci's (Beth Maitland) return to Genoa City! The show rehashed a lot of expository in the dialogue between Traci, Jack, and Diane (Susan Walters). We were reminded of Traci's ordeal with Martin (Christopher Cousins) and her past with Cane.

Traci and Cane weren't meant to be, but she commented that she got a book out of it, at least. She should be able to write a mini-series given what Cane is up to!

Michael buying out Society for the night so he could get time alone with Lauren was both romantic and dramatic. Lauren was not going to let Michael off the hook. She demanded to know what was going on. These two have one of the best marriages on all of soaps, let alone Y&R, because one way or another, they end up communicating with each other with honesty.

The showdown with Diane and Audra was a throwback to classic soap opera throwdowns! Diane refused to back down, no matter how many times Audra kept coming back at her. Imagine if Audra ever married Kyle, we'd get scenes like these every week!

NOTABLES

Don't ask us why, but we believe Billy's done a 180-degree turnaround on Cane and his wanting Sally back. Please don't break our hearts, Billy!

It warms our hearts to hear Jack and Victor talk about Jill. She's an original character on the show, and her portrayer, Jess Walton, has played the part for almost 40 years!

Michael leaving Cane's employ, and Billy doing the same, along with rejoining the Abbott fold, are two developments we didn't see coming. To quote Alice in Alice in Wonderland: "Curiouser and curiouser!"

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS QUOTABLES

Billy’s irate that he’s out with Cane

Billy: "Why is Michael here? You know he’s been Victor’s legal henchman for decades. You want him on the team?"

Michael: "Still in the room."

Jack listens to Traci recap her relationship with Cane

Jack: "To my thinking, no one is worthy of you."

Cane tells Billy that he needs someone level-headed, and that’s not him.

Billy: "Level-headed? Phyllis is still involved. Are you kidding me?"

Holden meets Vicki, Claire’s mother.

Holden: "Mother, really? I was thinking maybe sister or cousin?"

Victoria: "Does that old line still work?"

Holden: "Well, it got you to smile, so sometimes it does."

Sally urges Audra to apologize to Kyle

Audra: "Are you talking about karma?"

Sally: "I am, yeah."

Audra: "Don’t get all woo-woo on me."

Sally: "Hey, it’s not ‘woo-woo.’ It’s Buddhist."

Audra: "The universe owes me so much that it will never be able to pay me back, even if I live to 100. Besides, I make my own luck."

Sally: "That’s just another way of saying karma, but whatever."

Audra and Kyle go at it at the jazz lounge.

Audra (to Kyle): "You are not wired for a long, stable relationship."

Kyle: "Did Nate tell you that when he kicked your ass to the curb?"

Audra taunts Kyle for being alone.

Kyle: "Audra, I may be alone tonight, but you’re going to be alone for the rest of your life because no one needs you, no one wants you, no one cares about what happens to you...Face it, Audra. You’ll always be alone."

Audra: "Well, I’m not alone tonight, am I? I’m having drinks with my bestie. But you, you’re just drowning in your sorrows all by your sad self."

Sally: "You know, maybe we should leave."

Kyle: "No one sticks around in Audra's life for long."

Audra: "You’re so bitter."

Kyle: "Yeah? Where’s Nate?"

Michael tells Lauren that he's going to be Cane’s “problem solver.”

Lauren: “Oh, are you kidding me? You’re going to be his fixer! This just keeps getting worse!”

Michael meets with Cane on his train.

Cane: "How would you characterize me, Michael?"

Michael: "I'm not one for labels. Villians. heroes. It's all so black and white. I will tell you something: villains are always more interesting."

Cane: "How would you rate Phyllis on a scale of hero to villain?"

Michael: "Oh, no. I'm not going there. I doubt my old friend would appreciate being put on either end of that spectrum. Let's just say Phyllis is one of a kind!"

Sally and Billy agree to reunite and move forward once again.

Sally: "Let's dance."

Billy: "You lead. I'll follow."

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS FASHION

Check out Diane’s black cowl-neck dress that she wore during her showdown with Audra, who wore a blue floral halter top and maxi skirt set on The Young and the Restless

Kyle dressed casually when he went to the jazz lounge by wearing a plaid button-down shirt.

Daniel (Michael Graziadei) wore a casual Ralph Lauren shirt last week. Check out the garment's details here.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS MUSINGS

Mariah (Camryn Grimes), are you trying to put Daniel and your wife, Tessa, together romantically? Are you truly going to be surprised if and when that happens?

Claire might do well to take a step back and ask herself why she's giving Kyle such a hard time. She should be honest with him if she wants a break.

If Chancellor Park continues to be the place where big scenes are taking place, our friends in Genoa City are going to have to invest in some serious outerwear -- fall is coming!

Now that Traci's back in Genoa City, can she stay forever? Can Ashley visit, too?

What is Cane's ultimate master plan? Could it be the exact opposite of what he's been saying it is? It's starting to look that way.

Cricket's (Lauralee Bell) final wedding dress has been selected, but viewers likely aren't going to find out which gown made the final cut until the big wedding day! Let's see more ways for the show's fans to interact with Y&R and let their voices be heard!

Want more of Y&R? Be sure to check out The Scoop for spoilers, Daily Recaps, Two Scoops for Weekly Commentary, and The Young and the Restless page for Best of the Week and more features on Soap Central.

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