Credit: CBS screenshot

As the tale of two Laurent brothers comes to a close on Young & Restless (or does it?!), the stories involving Damian and Aristotle Dumas, and Jack and Victor’s latest feud ramp up.

Forever Fighting

Victor’s sure he has the upper hand against the Abbotts, what with planting moles at Jabot and hiring Audra to torpedo Kyle’s love affair with Claire, but as with everything the Mustache plots, it’s a game of chess, never checkers, and therefore gets complicated. Michael expressed concern that the insiders they planted when Jabot absorbed Glissade might be garnering a little too much attention, and indeed, Kyle told Jack that he’s suspicious of said employees. It appears that Jack may put Victor in check next week as he’s clearly taunting the Black Knight in the preview. Has he indentified the moles and turned them against him? It seems possible. Meanwhile, Young & Restless’ has a deadly dull version of Romeo and Juliet playing out as Kyle and Claire struggle to forge a romance amid Victor and Jack’s feud. I have to say, I was gobsmacked that an entire episode was devoted to this plot this week. Merde!

Anyway, Victor’s tapped Audra to tempt Kyle and show Claire his true colors, but the real threat to their relationship might come from another direction: Summer admitted she has unresolved feelings for her ex-husband, and as Chelsea and Adam will tell you, the pull to put one’s family back together sometimes proves irresistable. As for Audra, I’m here for whatever she does, as she remains one of the characters on canvas who hasn’t gone completely vanilla and reformed, but I hope she’s not shooting herself in the foot here. P.S.: I love her friendship with Sally.

Dropping Deets

Why Lily thinks Damian has to answer to her is beyond me, but apparently he’s bought into the idea, as this week he decides to “tell her everything”. Presumably, that will bring us another step closer to understanding this convoluted Aristotle Dumas storyline. Given the writers’ track record, I can’t help but fear it won’t live up to the hype, but fingers and toes crossed. Honestly, I’d be more interested in seeing Holden and Damian get their own soapy storylines now that they’re on the canvas.

Double Trouble

Alan was revealed to almost certainly be Martin as the Laurent brother snapped in the face of Sharon and Phyllis’ heckling. I was glad they (and Ashley) got an audience with their tormentor, and Christopher Cousins’ performance was riveting, but there were a hundred more satisfying ways this could have played out. We could have had action, for example, rather than just more talk.

It also left us without answers to some burning questions. As Nish414 pointed out on BlueSky: “I still want to know where Martin got his information from about Phyllis and Sharon because neither brother was around back in the day.” Seriously. How did he know what song was playing when Phyllis argued with Sharon at the gala and fell down the stairs?!

My main concern is with the idea that Martin lived and Alan died. This does not jive with what we saw play out onscreen. They were wearing different outfits at the time of the fall. There is no way that Martin could have changed into his dead brother’s clothing and taken on his persona in the time it took for Ashley to run down the stairs and appear outside. That’s why I’m holding out hope for a twist. Perhaps they both somehow survived the fall and Martin took over Alan’s life at some point. That way, Alan could be found wherever his twin stashed him and Traci could still get her happy ending. Do you think Alan’s still alive? Vote!

The opinions expressed are my own. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this week’s Young & Restless in the comments.