What's cooking in Genoa City this Thanksgiving holiday? A whole lot of drama! How is Cole connected to Nikki's kidnapping?! Will Mamie convince Lily and Devon to team up with Tucker and oust Jill from Chancellor-Winters? And how fun was it to finally learn the details about Gloria's legal issues in Switzerland as the Fisher/Baldwin clan gathered for the holiday? On top of all that, the double-cross Audra and Kyle are pulling on one another could spell trouble for the future of Jabot -- will Diane be to blame? My goodness, Y&R certainly gave us a lot to dish about for the Thanksgiving holiday!
However, I don't know what else we could possibly start our discussion with regarding this past week on Y&R other than the return of Cole Howard! As a viewer who started watching Y&R in 1999, I just missed seeing J. Eddie Peck on the soap when he had his previous run as Victoria's ex-husband, Cole (who was also a love interest of Nikki and Ashley for a short time in the '90s). Although I had never seen him on Y&R, I had heard about his character and was somewhat familiar with the actor and his character's background on the show, so it was a fun surprise to see that his character had been lured to the same lake house that Nikki was being held captive in at the end of Tuesday's episode!
As I sat down to write this week's column, I first visited Soap Central's character profile of Cole Howard to get the lowdown on this returning character that hasn't appeared on the soap in over 20 years. I found it pretty interesting to learn that one of his last storylines was of him and Victoria losing their baby daughter, whom they had named Eve, after Cole's mother. Is it possible that the character of Claire could turn out to somehow be their presumed-dead child?
Is Claire really Eve? And how does Claire's "Aunt Jordan" play into all of this? Is it possible that she is Cole's mother, Eve (their daughter's namesake), who is also presumed dead? Could she have faked her death and run off with her granddaughter? From what I've read about her character, she was certainly capable of going to extremes to get what she wanted. But I wasn't watching back then, so that is a serious question to those of you that were. Hit the Comments at the end of this column and let me know what you think! Is it feasible that Claire and Jordan are Eve and Eve?
Or maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe Cole had a sister named Jordan, and she really is "Claire's" aunt. Or maybe this isn't related to Eve (or Eve Jr.) at all. Either way, I'm loving how many twists and turns this storyline has had ever since we saw that Claire was keeping a binder full of information about the Newman family and had sinister intentions for them. When she drugged and kidnapped Nikki last week, I was stunned at how quickly this storyline was picking up speed, and it's been a wild ride since then! I am thrilled that Collen Zenk has joined the cast in the role of "Aunt Jordan." I only watched As the World Turns briefly during its run, but she was always a joy to watch in her iconic role of Barbara Ryan on that soap.
Ever since Claire locked up Nikki at her Aunt Jordan's remote lake house, I was clamoring to find out who "Aunt Jordan" would turn out to be. I was expecting to see someone familiar from Y&R's history, but it was still a nice surprise to see a true soap opera legend joining the Y&R cast in a new role. And it turned out that the writers were saving the "big return" reveal as an extra surprise at the end of Tuesday's episode, which kept us hanging with a cliffhanger in the middle of the short holiday week, when none other than Cole Howard was lured to Jordan's lake house, where Nikki is being held captive and where all the Newmans -- and Claire -- are headed now for what is sure to be an explosive reunion!
I was a little bummed that the Newman storyline wasn't featured Wednesday, but I can't complain too much. I like the tease of waiting to learn the connection between Cole, "Aunt Jordan," and "Claire" when we return from the holidays next week. And Wednesday delivered a fun episode filled with just what we'd expect from a Thanksgiving episode -- families around town gathering to celebrate the holiday together in different ways. Thankfully, the holiday season provided plenty of drama to go around without focusing on the trap that the Newman family is about to walk into.
Mamie and Tucker have caused quite the commotion amongst the Chancellor/Winters clan -- and Jill may find herself as the odd woman out (more specifically, out of a job). It was interesting to see how Mamie handled herself and took control of the situation when Lily and Devon questioned her about her relationship with Tucker and his plans for Chancellor-Winters. It certainly seemed like she made an impression on Lily and Devon -- so much so that it seems she may have them considering going along with Tucker's plot to have Jill removed from her position at the company so that Devon can take control as Katherine and Neil's rightful heir to their joint companies!
I'm certainly not surprised that Devon is intrigued by this plot to oust Jill, but I am curious to see how Lily responds to what Mamie is proposing. Perhaps Devon and Lily will take joint ownership of the company to get Lily on board; otherwise, I am not sure how she will respond to Devon being her boss. Lily may end up siding with Jill if that is the case. And what role will Tucker have, if any? I'm curious to see where this storyline is headed -- especially as it seems certain to collide with Tucker's other plot concerning the Abbotts' family company, Jabot.
Tucker and Audra are assuming that Kyle is rejoining their plot to take over Jabot as a "double agent" for the Abbott family in an effort to thwart their plans. They assume they are one step ahead of the Abbotts by expecting Kyle to double-cross them, but what if Kyle is actually planning to double-cross his family -- and Tucker and Audra! -- so that he really can take over his family's company?
I like what the writers are doing with Kyle right now because I'm not sure what to expect from him. He seems genuine in his conversations with his mother, Diane, when he says he is only going along with Tucker and Audra's plan so that he can expose their plot to take over Jabot. But it would be pretty crazy if he is lying to Diane, and he really does go through with Tucker's plot! But will there be another twist that has him turning against Tucker and Audra, too, so that he can take Jabot for himself?
In a way, I sort of like the idea of exploring more of Kyle's dark side in this regard, but I have a strong suspicion that he really is "Team Abbott" and is working to stop Tucker and Audra from sabotaging his family's company. But if Kyle does go down a more nefarious path than may be expected, could Diane somehow end up facing some of the blame because she has been encouraging Kyle to deceive and double-cross Tucker and Audra so that he will be seen as Jabot's savior and worthy of a promotion? Y&R has been throwing some fun surprises at us lately, so it will be interesting to see if this storyline is headed in that more unpredictable direction or not.
Speaking of unpredictable, Gloria and the whole Baldwin/Fisher clan (including Kevin!) were featured in the Thanksgiving episode on Wednesday, and they were all a lot of fun (especially Gloria -- it is always a treat to have Judith Chapman back in the role)! Gloria dealt us all a surprise when she revealed that the "legal woes" Michael had been helping her with concerned an affair she had with a political figure. And, as always, Gloria proved she'll somehow find a way to outdo herself when she revealed that she also stole clothing from the wife of the man she was having the affair with. Gloria is always so much fun, and I hope we see more of her. She always has me cracking up, and I'm thankful that Y&R chose to include her in the holiday episode.
In fact, I'm pretty thankful for the state of Y&R in general right now. I like the few stories that have started recently, and I'm enjoying the mysteries that are being built as we near the end of 2023. The show is always more fun when there is an element of surprise to the storylines, and I'm excited to see where things stand as we head into 2024. But, again, I'll try not to get ahead of myself. For now, let's enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and continue to anticipate what surprises we're in store for on Y&R as the year draws to an end and as we begin to learn in the coming weeks exactly what's the writers have been cooking up for us. I hope it's something delicious!
Lastly, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read my opinions about the soap we love. I am certainly grateful for each of you this holiday season (and year-round, of course). I look forward to reading what you think, too, so don't forget to hit the Comments (here on the site and on social media posts throughout the week) to share your opinions, too!
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Vance
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