Credit: CBS screenshot, Howard Wise/JPI
Disclaimer: The best and worst of Young & Restless was selected a week before the holiday season kicked in. Things that have happened in the past week were NOT taken into consideration. Enjoy reading Candace’s take and be sure to leave your best, worst, and honorable mentions in the comments!
Best Storyline of 2023
Claire and Her Great Aunt Jordan – Wow, wow, wow! Who knew Nikki hiring a perfect, though vaguely creepy, new assistant would turn into such a ride?! When Claire lured La Newman to the lake house in Oregon we were blown out of the water when soap vet Colleen Zenk turned up as the oft-mentioned Great Aunt Jordan in an episode cliffhanger. Things only got better from there as the source of psycho Jordan’s vendetta against the Newmans became clear — she wanted revenge on Nikki and Victor for their perceived treatment of her late sister Eve Howard! We began putting the pieces together and excitedly realized that Claire might be the daughter of Victoria Newman and Cole Howard. After the diabolical duo poisoned the Newmans and Cole whilst Nikki lay hooked up to a vodka IV upstairs, the sordid story came out of Jordan stealing Baby Eve from the hospital and switching her with a baby who died. Jordan raised Claire to believe that her parents left her behind because she was an embarrassment to the family, fuelling Claire’s desire for vengeance in the process.
Not only was Jordan one of the best new soap villains in a long time, but after the initial shocking plot involving the lake house, the tale continued to drive story as Nikki struggled with alcoholism anew and Victoria, Cole, and Claire worked to get their minds around the outcome of the DNA test that proved they are Claire’s parents (which creates conflict for the Newmans given that Victoria’s daughter tried to kill them all). Best of all, Jordan, who hid in a vent to escape the authorities, holed up at the GCAC in disguise to continue her reign of terror!
Honorable Mentions:
* The Return of Cameron Kirsten – When Sharon began receiving strange packages this summer it was not only the first sign of some truly soapy drama, but it was also the first hint of anything resembling a story for the popular character who had been relegated to endlessly doling out coffee and advice even after the sudden death of her husband. Cameron was, at long last, a properly sinister villian, who actually did more than talk a scary game. He killed a cat (RIP Borgnine), scrapped with Nick, kidnapped Faith and strapped a bomb to her, and held a knife to Sharon’s throat before she shanked him herself. Even after his death, Cameron drove story by leaving Sharon his company. Disappointingly, that didn’t amount to much save a brief albeit interesting interlude where Sharon worked with both of her exes, Nick and Adam. Nonetheless, the return of Cameron was a big winner that brought some very welcome and much-needed drama.
* Many Happy Returns – The entire 50th anniversary year has been one of fun returns and past characters popping up. From the aforementioned Cole and Cameron, to Malcolm Winters, Yolanda Hamilton, Mamie Johnson, Nina Webster, Danny Romalotti… the list goes on. Best of all, they not only showed up at Nikki’s bicentennial gala, but in the case of Mamie and Danny, returned to stories of their own later on. We’ve got Mamie vs. Jill round two, and Danny and Cricket falling for each other all over again. What’s not to love?!
Worst Storyline of 2023
Tucker vs. The Abbotts (and Everyone Else)The return of Tucker McCall started out with so much promise that it was extra painful to watch it all amount to essentially nothing. Tucker vs. the Abbotts became headache-inducing even as we rooted for McCall and Ashley’s love story to flourish against all odds. But after the dude lost it on her during their honeymoon, we were left with a bad taste in our mouth, and a sulky pseudo-villain who, in a year, hadn’t managed to do anything but lob one-liners and threats that left us rolling our eyes. He took over zero companies whilst his own went bankrupt, and the relationships that gave the character layers fell by the wayside as he split with Ashley and Devon dumped his dad as well. Likewise, his sidekick Audra, a promising pot-stirring vixen, has begun to suffer from her ongoing involvement with the guy who is all bluster with no real bite. The story benefitted from a last-minute acceleration before Christmas, which gave it some much-needed energy. But it may be too little too late after eating an entire year of airtime and pulling down the Abbott family with it.
Honorable Mentions:
* Phyllis Fakes her Death – from the minute Diane resurfaced, the writing for Jack and Phyllis become contrived as it endeavored to justify their break up and him forgiving Diane. It went from contrived to whacked out when Phyllis decided to do the exact same thing she’d been criticizing her rival for all along — fake her death and let her children think she was murdered. It made not a lick of sense and did more damage to the character of Phyllis than was worth it to “level the playing field” between the women. As a result, one of the best pot-stirrers on the canvas has been written into a corner and relegated to being on her best behavior, which has robbed us of all sorts of potential drama. I mean, we coulda had “Phucker” but, no.
* Billy Gets With Chelsea – The scenes between Billy and Chelsea in 2022 when he stopped her from committing suicide were incredibly moving, but what happened next was monumentally unpopular. Given that Chelsea raped Billy in the past, and cheated on him when they got together the first time (something that was never even addressed), viewers were understandably upset by the idea of these two pairing up again. Aside from those problematic issues, the pairing proved to be a snooze, as the writers mired them in endless scenes full of therapy-speak. While we’ve all gotten used to the idea of them as a couple at this point, it’s just not soapy to have two former pot-stirrers spending their time smiling at each other across a table and helping each other stay out of trouble. Zzz…
