A foreboding first week of fall

This past week on The Young and the Restless, the groundwork was laid for some major storylines coming up throughout the new fall season! Mystery and intrigue surround two new arrivals in town, two characters received unsettling news, one couple broke up (sort of), and one couple renewed their wedding vows (unaware of the surprise visitor that is about to drop in on their ceremony)! Our columnist breaks it all down for you in this week's Two Scoops!

The month of September may not have gone out with a bang on Y&R, but plenty of "storyline explosives" were planted to cause damage in the near future as the month drew to a close and Kyle and Summer's vow renewal ceremony began. When we first learned that Kyle and Summer were planning a ceremony to renew their wedding vows just one year into their marriage, my first thought was "why do we need this?" But, of course, I should have known the answer right away. Any big event with lots of characters in attendance is the perfect setting for a lot of drama to unfold -- like, perhaps, a surprise shocking guest that shows up to make waves and/or wreak havoc?! As we saw in the "Next Week on Y&R..." sneak peek at the end of Friday's episode, someone makes a grand entrance by arriving to the outdoor ceremony in a helicopter!

That surprise guest at the wedding will most certainly be Diane's mystery man from Los Angeles that showed up at her hotel room earlier in the week. He is portrayed by Trevor St. John, who, as many of you likely already know, is a popular daytime actor from his time on One Life to Live. I have no doubt that the person in the helicopter will be he -- but who is he, exactly? Could his character also have ties to more people in town than just Diane? I'm betting that he does.

I must admit, though, that I was scratching my head about which character from the past he might be portraying, and I was coming up blank. Y&R has not officially announced St. John's role yet (and Diane hasn't said his name yet), so I did some searching across social media to see what other viewers' ideas might be. I should probably give a "potential spoiler alert warning" for the next few paragraphs as I discuss who he may be; however, it is all just speculation until the big reveal happens, which will undoubtedly unfold at the ceremony and/or reception as Kyle and Summer's celebration continues throughout next week's episodes (if the party doesn't come to a screeching halt)!

The popular opinion seems to be that Trevor St. John is stepping into the role of Devon's father, Tucker McCall, whom we haven't seen since he left town almost ten years ago! Even though we haven't seen him on-screen since 2013 (when he was portrayed by Stephen Nichols), Tucker was last mentioned in 2019 when Devon tracked him down at an ashram in Thailand. During his visit with Tucker, Devon learned that his father had given up on his company and all material things. Tucker always seemed to get involved in shady business dealings, though, so his claims to his son very likely could have been a lie to avoid criminal charges for tax fraud or some other business scheme gone wrong.

Since then, perhaps Tucker gave up on the ashram life and started a new company in London called Private Image Limited (which also happens to have a branch in Los Angeles)? As Nikki learned from her trip to Los Angeles this week, that is the name of the company that owns the Bentley that Diane was spotted being chauffeured around town in while she was living in L.A. Nikki also learned that the company was entertainment and art related, which happens to be exactly what Tucker's previous business dealings were related to. With not much else to go on, Victor told Nikki that he would investigate the company, and I am wondering if he will find out that Tucker owns it. Or maybe Trevor St. John is portraying a brand-new character -- or even a different character from Y&R's past. But I tend to agree with the fan consensus that he is likely to be revealed as a recast of Tucker.

Perhaps that is just wishful thinking on my part, though, because there are certainly a lot of exciting storyline possibilities if the mystery man does end up being Tucker. Aside from the fact that he is Devon's father and there is still plenty of storyline to build on from there, he has quite the rocky past with many folks in the Genoa City business community. Just a few months before he left Genoa City, Tucker nearly married Sharon as part of a plot to take over Newman Enterprises (and that was just a couple months after he had divorced Ashley)! Now that Sharon is recently widowed, it would be interesting to see these two characters reconnect and maybe even start a real relationship, since their almost-marriage in the past was not based in love. Their previous dalliance happened back when Sharon was a bit "unbalanced" mentally and was doing all sorts of crazy things, so it would be interesting to see what type of relationship (if any) they might strike up now.

Tucker has ties to the Abbotts already, too, via his marriage to Ashley. Ashley was Tucker's "great love" during his time in Genoa City, but, since Eileen Davidson is currently only recurring on Y&R in the role of Ashley, I don't imagine the writers would start up a big storyline between those two again (at least not right away). This mystery man certainly does seem to be interested in the Abbott family as a whole, though, which we saw when he was thumbing through their pictures on his tablet at the end of Friday's episode. His insistence to Diane that the Abbott family event was "the perfect time" for him to reveal himself does seemingly indicate even more so that he's got something planned for them.

Could Diane's involvement with this man be the real reason that she chose now to return to Genoa City and reveal she had faked her death?! Is it all connected to this mystery man's plot concerning the Abbott family? She certainly wasted no time getting a job within the Abbott family company, and if this man is Tucker, then a plot like this that involves corporate espionage would definitely be something he could be the mastermind of. If true, this could really shake things up and create a lot of crazy-fun drama! Bring it on!

I'm very excited about this speculation regarding Tucker's return, but I'll take off my "speculation hat" now and put back on my "gossip hat" so we can chat about this past week's episodes! (If you're spoiler free, it's safe to read now.) It was a slower week with mostly just a lot of setups for future storylines, but I am looking forward to what the show seems to be building to with a number of characters. One character in particular that I'm excited about is another new arrival in town -- Audra!

Zuleyka Silver joined the show as Audra this month, and, to me, she fit right in with the rest of the cast immediately and has kept me interested in each episode she has been in. We certainly saw a lot more of her this week as she continued to do business with Chancellor-Winters, and she wasted no time in flirting with Nate! Maybe it's because I found Elena and Nate to be so boring that I was excited about a potential Imani and Nate pairing right away, but I'm even more excited about a potential Audra and Nate pairing (or maybe even an Imani/Nate/Audra triangle). Their interactions feel much more organic and mutual, whereas most of the flirtation between Nate and Imani is usually one-sided (even though Nate clearly likes the attention from Imani and never discourages it). I guess when it comes down to it, I just don't like Nate and Elena as a couple, so I'm happy to see him with anyone else!

But Elena may not be standing in Audra's way of landing a date with Nate for very much longer, since she decided to pack up her things and move out of Nate's penthouse this week. I was nearly cheering and ready to push her out of his door myself by the time she finally left! I was really hoping that they would break up for good instead of just "needing space apart," but I'll take it. I wonder if Elena and Devon may get back together eventually now that Mishael Morgan has confirmed she is off contract in the role of Amanda and will only be recurring for the foreseeable future.

I think Nate and Elena will remain together for a little while longer, though. Nate may be subconsciously holding on to their relationship just because Elena knows the truth about his plan to take over the CEO position at Chancellor-Winters (via the insider trading scheme that he and Victoria have concocted). I'm honestly surprised that Elena hasn't already run straight to Devon to warn him about Nate's plot, but it is likely her conflicted feelings about remaining loyal to Nate that are holding her back. Nate may very well keep stringing her along until he has carried out his plot, but whether he does so intentionally or not remains to be seen.

Nate and Audra likely won't be a couple anytime soon, but that's okay because Audra may have her hands full otherwise for a while, given what we learned in the "Next Week on Y&R..." preview at the end of Friday's episode, which revealed that she is Noah's ex from London! We are about to find out just how much of a hold she still has on Noah's heart when he and Allie cross paths with her next week! The writers are wasting no time throwing her character right into all the drama on the show! In fact, I think I need to put my "speculation hat" back on briefly because, as I'm writing this, I've just realized another possible connection she may have to another major storyline on the show.

As I mentioned above, the company Nikki learned about in Los Angeles when she was digging up dirt on Diane -- Private Image Limited -- is based in London. Could Audra potentially work for Diane's mystery man, too?! Or am I just seeking out conspiracy theories now? The timing of her arrival in Genoa City just before Diane's mystery man arrived in town could be more than coincidental (especially because of their London connection). It will be interesting to see if Diane and Audra cross paths because their interaction could be quite telling about whether she is connected to this plot or not.

Elsewhere in Genoa City, Johnny learned that Chelsea is his biological mother. I can understand why the news was unsettling to Johnny, since he is still just a young boy, and although he knew he was adopted, he's just learned that his biological mother is someone he knows. But I do feel like it was the right decision for Victoria and Billy to make because he most certainly would have found out eventually otherwise, given how many people knew the truth already.

Johnny didn't have the best reaction to the news about Chelsea, which is too bad, but Victoria's reaction to Johnny's reaction was even worse. As usual, she overreacted and now wants to shut Chelsea completely out of his life and pretend they never told him about her. I think Victoria just needs to follow her son's lead, now that he knows the truth, and allow him to make the decision about his relationship with Chelsea. The news is fresh right now, but he may want a relationship with her once the shock wears off or as he gets older -- especially since he is friends with her other son, Connor. It would be a shame if he is shut out of Chelsea's life and loses a friend in Connor now that he has learned they are half-brothers. I'm really not sure where the writers are headed with this storyline, which is exciting because it has the potential to be a game-changer for a lot of characters.

I'm also not entirely sure where the writers are headed with the Nick/Sally/Adam triangle, either, but I'm not as excited by that. Hmmm... now I'm wondering if maybe the writers aren't entirely sure where they are headed themselves! Adam and Sally were one of the best new couples the show has had in years, so it was a really big blow to fans when their romance was cut short so quickly. Nick and Sally are just... fine. I don't hate them together, but it's just not the same level of chemistry, so it's hard to get excited. And it's hard to get invested when, deep down, I just keep hoping the tides will turn, and she'll end up back with Adam. I want to be happy for Sally because Nick is a good guy, but they are just not "must-see TV" like Adam and Sally were.

Maybe once other people in Genoa City start to learn about Nick and Sally's office romance (like Summer and Victor), things will start to get a little more interesting regarding Nick and Sally. Adam just all but received confirmation from Sally that there was something going on between her and Nick, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he starts sharing the unsettling news with others. I do like that Sally is standing up for herself, though, and telling Adam it is none of his business because he broke up with her. I am rooting for Sally in general (regardless of which man she is with), and I appreciate where she is coming from because Adam definitely blew it with her. He deserves to reap what he sowed. I love that whole "girl power" aspect of it, but at the same time, I am also still rooting for their reunion. This story has me so conflicted! Ugh!

On that frustrating note, it is time for me to bid you all farewell (at least for this week). Don't forget to hit the Comments and share your opinions, too (either here on the site or on the social media posts)! See you there!

Until next time,Vance

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