The Young and the Restless Recap, October 22: Ian taunts Mariah, while Daniel confesses his love for Tessa

On the Wednesday, October 22nd episode of The Young and the Restless, Ian haunted and taunted Mariah, Sharon made a difficult decision, Daniel professed his love for Tessa, and Nick started digging into Sienna's past.

What happened on The Young and the Restless

In Los Angeles, Sharon filled Nick in on Mariah's worsened state, and she expressed regret at being unable to be there for her. She couldn't leave Noah in his current condition, but Mariah asked for her directly, so Sharon's conflicted. Nick promised Sharon that Mariah would understand, but Sharon recalled how the pause in her voice may have influenced Mariah's mindset.

Nick urged Sharon to visit Mariah at the clinic if her worry continued to increase. He was certain that Noah wouldn't know the difference, but Sharon rebuked that notion. She said, "No, that is not true. He's in there. He can hear my voice even if he cannot answer, and he knows when it's my hand lying in his hand." Still, Nick felt like Sharon had allowed guilt to drive her decision-making.

Two of Sharon's children are in deep, unimaginable pain, and there was nothing she could do to fix things. She fell into Nick's arms and cried again. Sharon phoned the clinic to update them on her recent interactions with Mariah and hoped her information would aid in her daughter's treatment. With that out of the way, Sharon returned to Noah's bedside, and Nick made a call to Nikki with an update on Noah's crash.

Nick stood by his assertion that the "detective" asked a bizarre line of questions, and between that and the call from Sienna, things didn't add up. Everything felt off, and more questions kept arising about how Noah ended up fighting for his life. The man who claimed to be law enforcement wasn't forthcoming about anything. Sienna made things feel even murkier, so Nick wanted his father to run a background check on her to uncover her connection to Noah.

Sharon decided how to handle her conflict with Mariah. She felt like staying in Los Angeles with Noah was the best place for her. Noah's condition could change, and she needed to be there for him. Sharon thought Mariah was safe in Boston, so it didn't require her immediate attention.

At the Boston clinic, Ian taunted Mariah about the look on her face and urged her to remember how well he knew her. He told her that she had given herself a self-imposed loneliness, and she insisted he wasn't real. Mariah told Ian that he was in hell, where he belonged. Ian prodded Mariah to remember the courage she possessed and not to hide behind predictable arguments. Mariah didn't think Ian was real, and she thought her mind had tricked her.

Mariah attempted to reason with the situation by reminding herself that Victor shot and killed him. However, Ian reached for her hand and asked her to feel his living, beating heart. She wanted him to leave, but he refused. Ian brought up Tessa, leaving her behind, and used Mariah's shame to further lure her. He felt as if Mariah was trying to distance herself from everyone to avoid hurting them.

Ian wondered if he played a minimal role in Mariah's current ordeal. He questioned whether she mentioned him during therapy sessions because of their shared past. He ranted, "I am the guiding force behind your entire existence." Mariah refused to look at Ian, and although she tried to close her eyes and make him disappear, when she opened them, he was still there. She was locked inside a room with the face of her fears.

Ian looked to the floor and picked up the Queen of Hearts. However, this time, the card was whole, instead of torn from Tessa's pain. He teased that he'd be the key to helping her through the madness. Ian felt like nobody knew her better or longer, and he was all she had left. Mariah had had enough and stood up to say, "I can't get rid of you, no matter what I do, and I have done terrible things to try and get you out of my life. Things that I can't wash away."

Ian proclaimed he adored the darkness inside Mariah, and he praised her dark instincts. He reminded her of how she had haunted Sharon several years ago, pretending to be her dead daughter. Ian didn’t think the good girl act was meant to last, and she needed to embrace her evil nature. Mariah wanted him to stop talking, but he enjoyed how she pushed away Tessa and their daughter.

Since Ian felt like he knew all of the answers, Mariah asked how she should proceed. He wished for her to find a way to unleash her fire on the world. Unfortunately for Mariah, Ian picked up on her holding something back, and he wanted more details. She wouldn't give in to his pleas because to her, he didn't exist. Everything was about him and Jordan and how they committed heinous atrocities simply to get to her. She was overriden by guilt, and every thought and feeling left her wanting to escape. Alcohol wasn't enough of an eraser because the sickness he infected her with overtook every part of her life.

Mariah walked through her actions from the night she attacked the man and how he reminded her of Ian. He was a real person, but his existence was an echo of Ian, and she was left with no choice. Ian wanted more details and needed to know her method, and she confessed she lured him into a false sense of security. Once he invited her back to his room, Mariah knew the only solution was to kill the monster before her. He served as a surrogate for Ian, and killing him would make his influence disappear from her life.

Mariah wanted to be the one to kill Ian, but Victor beat her to the punch. Ian was shocked to learn that Mariah couldn't follow through with killing him. If she took that man's life, it would be giving Ian the ultimate level of control. He remarked, "Here we are, just the two of us, I know why you couldn't ill that poor man. Because you couldn't kill me. We're kindred spirits, you and I, and the darkness I've awakened with you, it's on."

She rebuffed any accusations that she was anything like him. Mariah didn’t follow through with the murder because she was a decent human being. She was filled with remorse for her actions, and being in the facility was the only way to move forward. Ian wanted to mold Mariah into an evil entity while he was alive, and now she is determined to prove she'd never be like him.

Mariah's last word to Ian was that he was nothing and no one, and she wanted him gone. She closed her eyes again, but this time, he vanished when she opened them. However, the fully intact Queen of Hearts remained, which left her questioning everything,

Daniel and Tessa continued their drunken liplock at the Athletic Club until Tessa backed off. They both tried taking accountability for the kiss, and Tessa settled on blaming the alcohol. Daniel said it was just a distraction, but she corrected him and revealed she had imagined the kiss for quite some time. It wasn't a random occurrence, and Daniel admitted he also thought about kissing her.

They both realized the other one had always had a desire for things to escalate. Daniel was certain it was wishful thinking, and Tessa wondered if acting on it was terrible. It was an awkward situation between them, but they decided to sleep it off and forget it ever happened. Tessa questioned whether Daniel could wake up and erase the kiss from his mind. The kiss jolted both of them awake, so they agreed to a walk.

Daniel and Tessa settled on Crimson Lights for coffee, but Tessa worried she had ruined the foundation of their friendship. Daniel felt like it would all blow over, but she was concerned it was too uncomfortable. She wanted him to be up front and not hold back his thoughts or feelings.

Tessa admitted, "I have feelings for you that I can't explain. There's comfort, but there's also excitement. I see your face and I hear your voice, and I feel relief because I know life will be brightened for however long I'm with you, and that feeling, it makes me float, but it also grounds me, and it's gotten me through so many moments, and so many days, it's wonderful, but it's awful too."

She agreed with Daniel that life was complicated, but he was the embodiment of reassurance because, despite all of the darkness, he still possessed light. Tessa called him her best friend, which prompted him to reveal he was falling in love with her, but he quickly expressed regret. He tried to storm off, and although she wanted him to stay, Daniel wanted to stay silent. Regardless, she was grateful for their time together, and in another universe, she could fall in love with him, too.

Tessa wondered if it helped knowing she'd love him in a different timeline or universe, but it didn't. He could only focus on his real life, and she was lost and undecided. Tessa didn't want to lead Daniel on and stated her intentions to fight for her marriage and family. He vowed to recover from the kiss, and if they couldn’t forget what happened, they needed to move past it. Daniel didn't want this blip to ruin the friendship they'd spent so long building.

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